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Nintendo announced its next-generation video game console Thursday evening, providing the first official details of the successor to the hugely successful Switch, which was released almost eight years ago. The Nintendo Switch 2 was shown off in a brief news release and promotional video that showcased the hardware design. The Kyoto-based video game company says it will release the Switch 2 sometime in 2025 and plans to provide more information on the system through an online broadcast on April 2. No pricing information was given. Unlike most of Nintendo’s home consoles, the Switch 2 does not represent a dramatic overhaul in its design or interface when compared to its predecessor. Similar to the original Switch, the new console is a tablet-style device with detachable controllers, and it can be played either in handheld mode or hooked up to a TV through a docking station. Source link

Three decades after the Great Hanshin Earthquake leveled Kobe and its surrounding areas, Japan has made significant changes to its disaster response policies and plans to create a new central government agency in 2026 to better respond when disaster strikes. The magnitude 7.3 quake struck the Hanshin region of Kobe and Osaka, as well as the Awaji Island area, at 5:46 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1995, killing 6,434 people, severely injuring 10,683 and damaging or destroying 639,686 homes. The devastation, with televised scenes of collapsed buildings and highways, shocked Japan and the world. Unprepared for the disaster, local authorities and the central government were initially slow to respond. Source link

Non-Japanese speakers were excluded from access to disaster information after the Great Hanshin Earthquake struck 30 years ago, and Japanese and foreign residents are still filling in the cracks. When the 7.3 magnitude quake struck Kobe at 5:46 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1995 — killing more than 6,400 people, including 174 foreigners — survivor Roxana Oshiro, a second-generation Peruvian of Japanese descent, did not understand Japanese. A Japanese man guided Oshiro and her husband to the closest evacuation center — a junior high school. However, Oshiro refused to enter, unaware that it was earthquake-resistant. Source link

Massive wildfires that incinerated broad swaths of Los Angeles are offering an early window into how President-elect Donald Trump plans to govern — and how Democrats eager to counter him intend to deal with the Republican. The blazes are on pace to be the most expensive wildfires in U.S. history. They have killed at least 25 people and burned more than 12,000 structures. Total damages are estimated at $250 billion, a number that could rise as hot winds fuel the flames. In response, Trump is deploying a familiar but politically potent playbook: seize on the anguish and despair of victims, weaken political opponents by painting the government as inept, and seek the upper hand in the inevitable negotiations over potentially tens of billions in aid. Source link

KKR is considering taking a stake in a proposal by Seven & I Holdings’s founding family to take the Japanese convenience store operator private, people familiar with the matter said, joining fellow private equity giant Apollo Global Management in the record buyout bid. The U.S. firm is discussing investing several hundred billion yen for an equity stake in the operator of 7-Eleven convenience stores, according to the people, who asked not to be identified as the information isn’t public. KKR’s possible involvement comes on the heels of Apollo weighing a commitment of as much as ¥1.5 trillion to the buyout, and reflects the growing legitimacy of a proposal that began as an effort to fend off Alimentation Couche-Tard’s interest in the Japanese retailer. Source link

On Jan. 17, 1995, as the Great Hanshin Earthquake ravaged Kobe, a baby named Mitsuaki Gatayama entered the world. Mitsuaki was given his name — which means “to illuminate brightly” — by his parents whose wish is for him to brighten up the lives of the people in Kobe. Thirty years later, he still carries that hope in his heart and lives with a constant smile on his face. Source link

The producer price index hit a record high for the third straight year in 2024, reflecting moves by companies to reflect higher material and labor costs in their prices, a Bank of Japan report showed Thursday. The producer price index, which measures the costs of goods traded between companies, rose 2.3% from the previous year to 122.6, against 100 for the base year of 2020. The index was up for the fourth year in a row. By category, nonferrous metal prices rose 12.2% because of high market prices of copper and aluminum. Agricultural, forestry and fishery goods prices climbed 9.7% mainly due to rice price hikes, while prices of food and beverages logged a 2.6% rise amid higher material costs. Meanwhile, lumber and wood products prices fell 4.0% following a slowdown in demand for housing. Also, electricity, city gas and water prices went down 5.2%, affected by lower prices of liquefied natural gas and coal. The index of yen-dominated prices at which companies import goods from abroad hiked 2.7%, hit by the yen’s significant depreciation, with the dollar briefly topping the ¥161 line last summer. “The yen’s weakening and moves to raise prices to reflect higher material and labor costs continued” throughout the year, a BOJ official said. “We will keep watching corporate pricing behavior and international commodity market trends.” In December alone, the producer price index rose 3.8% from a year before to 124.8, up for the 46th straight month. Of the 515 items surveyed, 389 saw their prices increase that month, while 103 logged declines. Also in December, electricity, city gas and water prices posted a 12.9% increase, reflecting the end of a related government subsidy program, and prices of agricultural, forestry and fishery products surged 31.8% due to higher rice prices. Source link

MUFG Bank announced Thursday it will punish executives, including President Junichi Hanzawa, for a former employee’s alleged massive thefts of customer assets from safe deposit boxes. Hanzawa will take a 30% cut in monthly pay for three months. The core unit of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group will also reduce the remuneration of other executives including Chairman Naoki Hori. On Dec. 16 last year, the Financial Services Agency ordered the bank to submit a report on the massive thefts under the banking law. Yukari Imamura, the suspect, belonged to the Nerima and Tamagawa branches in Tokyo from April 2020 to October 2024. She managed safe deposit boxes by herself. Imamura is suspected of opening such boxes without customers’ permission and stealing items stored inside repeatedly. The bank dismissed her in November last year. The Metropolitan Police Department arrested her Tuesday on suspicion of stealing gold ingots belonging to two customers, worth about ¥260 million. Source link

New York – On a chilly December night in Manhattan, I step inside a renovated carriage house in the stylish but understated Gramercy Park neighborhood and find myself on the first floor of Martiny’s. I’m among the first wave of the evening — all by reservation — to enter this handsomely appointed space of wood and brick, opened just a few years ago in 2022 by Tokyo native Takuma Watanabe. A staff member ushers me to my seat at the counter, where I’m offered an o-shibori (hot towel) to warm my hands. The tinkling piano and mournful sax of Duke Ellington’s “In a Sentimental Mood” along with the redolence of palo santo (Bursera graveolens) vegetation complete the ambience: at once timeless, polished and relaxed. For an opening foray into the substantial drink menu, the signature Grand Martiny’s makes for a natural entry point. It’s a concoction of Bombay Sapphire gin, La Cigarrera sherry, Churchill’s port, Hine cognac, St-Germain elderflower liqueur and whole grapes served in a classic martini glass. Cold, sweet and smooth, the cocktail strikes a fine balance with its array of ingredients and pays homage to the bar’s namesake — French American artist Philip Martiny, the former owner of this carriage house — as well as Watanabe’s mixology training. Source link

Ichiro Suzuki, the iconic outfielder who starred for the Orix BlueWave before embarking on a career in the major leagues, led the Class of 2025 into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame on Thursday. Ichiro was voted into the Hall in his first year of eligibility and will be inducted alongside former players Hitoki Iwase and Masayuki Kakefu and former Central League umpire Hiroya Tomizawa. Ichiro is widely expected to hear his name again when the results of the voting for the National Baseball Hall of Fame in the United States are revealed next week. He amassed 3,089 hits during his MLB career. Source link