More Japanese companies have decided against sending executives to Friday’s opening ceremony for the Tokyo Olympics as concerns about holding the games during the pandemic grow, Bloomberg reported. Senior officials from Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp., Fujitsu Ltd. and NEC Corp. will skip the event given that organizers decided to hold the games without spectators, spokespeople for the technology giants said Tuesday, a day after Toyota Motor Corp. announced its top executive wouldn’t attend.
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Japan's financial regulator and central bank will launch a sweeping investigation into how well anti-money laundering measures work at regional banks and other local financial institutions, Nikkei has learned. The probe, which comes amid a spate of fraudulent money transfers in the country, could get underway this summer. An international assessment by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on money laundering, scheduled to be released in August, will likely point out inadequate internal control systems at Japanese financial institutions.
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Until last year, Kyoto basked in the glow of being ranked as one of the best, if not the best, places in the world to visit, the Japan Times reported. Polls like one by the U.S. travel magazine Conde Nast in 2020 called Japan’s ancient capital the world’s best city. One estimate showed that the city went from about 30,000 available rooms at hotels and traditional inns in 2015 to over 53,000 last year.
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Japan's household spending rose at a double-digit rate in May as consumers bought cars and mobile phones, though the pace of growth slowed from the prior month as a new wave of COVID-19 infections weighed on consumer confidence, Reuters reported. Japan's economy is struggling to shake off the drag from the coronavirus pandemic after the government put in place "quasi-emergency" measures in Tokyo and other major areas to curb a resurgence of infections. Household spending grew 11.6% year-on-year in May, the third month of gains, after a 13.0% rise in April, government data showed on Tuesday.
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Japan cleared the way for holding the Summer Olympics on schedule by setting an end to its state of emergency and lifting vaccinations to about a million shots a day, the Wall Street Journal reported. Thursday’s developments, combined with falling Covid-19 infection numbers and rising public support for the Games, make it highly likely that the Olympics will start in Tokyo on July 23 as scheduled, barring a last-minute surprise such as a renewed coronavirus wave.
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Brazilian metropolitan rail company Supervia filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday, the company said, as traffic was sharply hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, Reuters reported. The company, controlled by a Japanese group that includes a subsidiary of Mitsui & Co 8031.T and West Japan Railway Co 9021.T, will restructure 1.2 billion reais ($237.4 million) in debt. Before the pandemic, Supervia, which operates in Rio de Janeiro metropolitan area, had around 600,000 passengers a day but now the number has dropped to 300,000.
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Japan extended a coronavirus state of emergency in Tokyo and other areas for 20 more days on Friday, with infections still not slowing as it prepares to host the Olympics in just over 50 days, the Associated Press reported. Cases remain high and medical systems in Osaka, the hardest-hit area in western Japan, are still overburdened, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said in announcing the decision. “I am aware that many people are voicing concern about holding the Olympics and Paralympics,” he said.
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The trustee presiding over the Mt. Gox civil rehabilitation case has taken the next step toward partially reimbursing victims who lost money to the cryptocurrency exchange in hacks that date back nearly a decade. As of today, claimants can begin to vote on whether or not they will accept the civil rehabilitation proposal, Coin Desk reported. The deadline for claimants to cast their vote online is Oct. 8.
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New figures reveal that 1,500 companies in Japan have gone under due to the coronavirus pandemic since February of last year, NHKNews reported. Credit research firm Teikoku Databank says the businesses have either already declared bankruptcy, or closed down to prepare for liquidation proceedings. The dining industry has been the hardest-hit, with 250 businesses failing. It is followed by construction with 140, and accommodation with 89. Monthly totals have been rising since January. That's when the second coronavirus state of emergency started for the Greater Tokyo Area.
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Japan stands to lose 1.8 trillion yen ($16 billion) if the Olympics were cancelled, but that would pale in comparison to the economic hit from emergency curbs if the Summer Games turned into a super-spreader event, a top economist estimated, Reuters reported. Takahide Kiuchi, executive economist at Nomura Research Institute and a former Bank of Japan board member, said that the first nationwide state of emergency last spring had caused an estimated 6.4 trillion yen loss. Further losses have resulted from the second and presently third running state of emergency.