The crackdown on yakuza, including the group called the Kudokai, which is registered as an especially dangerous criminal gang under Japanese law, has recently reached abnormal levels. However, the fact that the Kudokai is also an organization reported to have once had connections with Shinzo Abe before he became prime minister eludes most people.
Host Michael Penn interviews Yu Asabe about the eco-system for young entrepreneurs and technology start-ups in Japan.
Terra Motors expanded its shares in the international electric vehicle market, and predicts that it will make 30 billion yen (US$270 million) in this market period.
Well, they’ve done it again. Just when you see glimmers of hope that Japan’s opposition parties might just be getting their acts together, they go and show you once again just how incompetent they really are.
The declining workforce is already having an economic and social impact across Japan, and one industry which is already facing major changes is that of convenience stores, which depend on the existence of a pool of cheap labor in order to thrive. The largest chains such as Seven & i Holdings, Lawson, and FamilyMart are on the front lines.
Uniformed Self-Defense Forces officers are currently demanding a larger role in setting military policies, which will for the first time utilize the security legislation forced through the Diet by the ruling coalition last September. Civilian defense bureaucrats have so far rejected the demands of the uniformed officers, fearing that acquiescing will decisively tilt the power balance between the two sides within the ministry.
Host Michael Penn interviews columnist and book author Baye McNeil about the meaning and significance of Black History.
