No boundaries to saving lives

On 8 October 1871, a small rubber manufacturer opened in Hanover, Germany, and began producing rubber horseshoes. Today, that same firm has some 193,000 employees worldwide and operates in 58 countries.

First elected to Japan’s House of Representatives in 1990, Nobuteru Ishihara has served his country as a member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) for more than three decades.

The recent jaunts of billionaires into space have attracted a great deal of attention — for ushering in the age of space tourism and also for how they starkly illustrate the inequality of life on Earth. But for the foreseeable future, human spaceflight, and unmanned missions to other planets, will represent a fraction of the rapidly expanding space industry.

Woman have made extraordinary contributions in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

This is a year of celebration. In 1981 — in fact, 40 years ago this month — the German automotive giant BMW launched its operations in Japan.

When people speak about Japan’s declining birth rate, it’s sometimes pointed out that there are now more pets than children in Japan. But, in reality, that is true of many countries, including France and England. Nevertheless, the Japanese pet market is a large one, with more than 9.6 million cats and nearly 8.5 million dogs, along with a host of other companion animals.

Since 1984, Ambassador of Japan to the EU Yasushi Masaki has been serving his nation in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He has held many positions throughout his career, including roles at Japan’s embassies in France and Iran, and has worked in Tokyo in the fields of international law, as well as economic and security affairs.

From January through May, people visiting Tokyo’s Aoyama district had the chance to see the next stage in the evolution of the premium automobile.

As the global coronavirus vaccination rollout continues, the issue of ensuring safe cross-border travel is garnering more attention. A key factor will be internationally accepted vaccine passports that prove travellers have been fully inoculated or are not infectious.

Based in Brussels, the Japan Business Council in Europe (JBCE) is a business organisation that promotes open trade and investment, and advocates for the interests of Japanese firms with operations in the EU. Last year, Chris Jackson, president and CEO of NEC Europe, became president of the JBCE. He is committed to strengthening partnerships between Japan and the EU.

With a business culture founded on in-person interaction and lengthy consensus-based decision-making processes, Japan Inc. wasn’t prepared to respond quickly to the changes the pandemic demanded of it.

The nearly week-long blockage of the Suez Canal in March delivered a sharp reminder as to just how crucial cargo shipping is to global trade: around 50,000 vessels carry about 90% of the goods that cross oceans.