In the age of COVID-19, world leaders struggle to adjust to online diplomacy
In the world of diplomacy, gone are the days of handshakes, bilateral meetings or international summits attracting a horde of world leaders and diplomats to discuss issues of the day. Swamped by their desperate bid to contain the novel coronavirus outbreak within their borders, leaders ...
SoftBank’s super-fast 5G network isn’t very useful just yet
SoftBank Corp.’s fifth-generation wireless service in Japan is living up to the hype in at least one respect — internet speeds that are blazingly fast even by the standards of one of the most connected countries in the world. The carrier’s month-old 5G network topped ...
What Japan's hikikomori can teach us about self-isolation
A month at home in isolation may seem like an eternity for those unaccustomed to a lack of person-to-person contact, but the experiences of Japan's large numbers of hikikomori, or social recluses, may offer some hints on how to stay sane during the coronavirus ...
Japan NGO offers same-sex 'partnership certificates' to address gaps in current provision
Mizuho Financial Group Inc. is among companies participating in the initiative, with certificates to be created by Famiee Project.
Japan lists 10,000 clinics offering online diagnoses for new patients
The ministry said Friday that it will update the list of clinics providing telemedicine for first-time patients as it receives reports from local governments across the country.
Sharp adopts lottery system for face mask sales after massive demand crashes website
After starting to accept online orders for the face masks Tuesday, the household-appliance maker received far more hits than expected and had to suspend operation of its website.
Web-conferencing biz booming as pandemic sends Japan's workers online
Japan’s biggest power producer, Jera Co., holds executive and other important meetings on the internet and, except for power plant personnel, about 1,300 of the 1,700 employees at its headquarters and branch offices worked from home last week in response to the government’s call ...
Japanese-led online learning startup Manabie expands in Vietnam
Online learning startup Manabie International Pte. Ltd., headed by a Japanese entrepreneur, is stepping up its business in Vietnam, raising ¥520 million ($4.8 million) in its initial year with an eye on future expansion in Southeast Asia. Manabie, established in Singapore a year ago by ...
In era of COVID-19, a shift to digital forms of teaching in Japan
Even at the university level, where most students and faculty should have a degree of competency when it comes to digital tools, institutions fall short.
Strength in numbers: A more open approach to tracking the virus in Japan
Like many foreign residents of Japan during the early days of the country's COVID-19 outbreak, Shane Reustle and Jiahui Zhou recall poring over websites run by the health ministry and local municipalities to try to get a clear picture of how infections were spreading ...
Japan internet providers say they can handle coronavirus-driven surge
Internet traffic in Japan has spiked as more homebound workers and students rely on video meetings and streaming content amid the COVID-19 outbreak, raising the question of how much this will affect access to networks that may until now have been taken for granted. With ...
COVID-19 pandemic prompts a digital revolution
Even as the novel coronavirus pandemic throws the global economy into turmoil and as commercial activities are paralyzed in Japan under the state of emergency declared by the government, at least one sector is seeing an expansion in demand — “virtual” business models and ...
