Questions and Answers about
Japan
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in PoliticsThe Global Combat Air Program (GCAP) signifies a pivotal shift in which country’s long-standing policy, involving a partnership with the UK and Italy?
Answer: Japan is taking a bold step away from its post-war pacifist policies by joining forces with the UK and Italy in the Global Combat Air Program (GCAP). Initiated in December 2022, this partnership is developing a fancy new fighter jet, set to soar by 2035. This move allows Japan to export these advanced jets,…
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in SpaceWhat is Japan’s SLIM?
Answer: Japan’s SLIM (Smart Lander for Investigating Moon), affectionately dubbed the ‘Moon Sniper,’ made a historic landing on the moon on Jan. 19, 2024. This event was particularly noteworthy as Japan became the fifth country in the world to reach the moon. SLIM’s claim to fame is its exact landing, just 55 meters from its…
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in AnimalsWhat are raccoon dogs?
Answer: On March 17, 2023, scientists unveiled new data on the possible origins of the Covid-19 pandemic — and put this confusing creature in the spotlight. Raccoon dogs are members of the canine family, which includes domestic dogs but are most closely related to foxes. They are native to East Asia, including parts of China,…
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in PoliticsWho is this mother of 23?
Answer: Maria Lvova-Belova is a Russian politician and the Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights. She is accused of unlawfully deporting children from Ukraine to Russia during the invasion. The EU and Japan have sanctioned her, and the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against her and Russian President Putin on March 17, 2023. Lvova-Belova…
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in PlacesThe age of consent is 14 in Germany and China. What’s Japan’s age of consent?
Answer: According to multiple Feb. 21, 2023, news reports. a panel in the Japanese justice ministry wants to raise the country’s consent age from 13 to 16. The move comes in response to criticism that existing laws didn’t do enough to protect children. A series of reforms to the penal code will also make voyeurism…
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in FoodWhat’s another name for Wasabi?
Answer: Wasabi is Japanese horseradish. Japan saw a shortage in wasabi – an essential spice for many Japanese dishes – since Typhoon Hagibis slammed into eastern Japan in 2019. Along with a rural population drop due to aging, the output of wasabi farm-grown in clear-flowing water fell to half that of 2005, according to the…
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in BusinessThe American Dollar and the European Euro are the two most-traded currencies globally. What is the third?
Answer: The Japanese yen is the third most-traded currency globally. The currency fell against the US dollar to levels last seen in 1998. The Bank of Japan, on June 10, 2022, gave a rare statement that it may intervene if the weakness persists.
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in FoodWhat’s Coca-Cola’s first ready-to-drink alcohol beverage?
Answer: Lemon-Dou, Coca-Cola’s first ready-to-drink alcohol beverage, was launched in Japan in 2018. It was Coca-Cola’s first entry into the alcohol beverage market since the late 1970s when the company owned a winemaker in California. Coca-Cola announced its latest alcoholic product on June 13, 2022: a can of the iconic cocktail Jack & Coke. It…
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in PoliticsWhat’s the 4-nation Quad?
Answer: The 4-nation Quad, Formally the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, is a strategic security dialogue between Australia, India, Japan, and the United States. It began after the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami when the four countries joined together to provide humanitarian and disaster assistance to the affected region and was formalized in 2007. The nations regrouped in…
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in AnimalsWhat is the Joro spider?
Answer: Jorō spiders, or Trichonephila clavata, are Japanese spiders with colorful yellow, blue and red markings that measure three inches (8 cm) in length. Jorō spiders are venomous but pose little to no threat to humans._x000D_
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in PoliticsWhere was the Unification Church established?
Answer: The Unification Church was founded in South Korea in 1954 and came to Japan a decade later. Since the 1980s, the church has faced accusations of problematic recruiting and donations, often leading to financial strains on the followers’ families. On Aug. 31. 2022, Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said his ruling party would cut…
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in PlacesWhy did Japan launch a nationwide campaign to boost alcohol consumption?
Answer: The Japanese government has launched a nationwide campaign to encourage people to drink more alcohol after alcohol consumption had fallen to an average of 75 liters per person a year in 2020, accounting for 1.7% of Japan’s tax revenue, down from 5% in 1980. Japan’s health ministry hoped the campaign would also remind people…
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in PoliticsWhich is the only G7 country that does NOT fully recognize same-sex marriage?
Answer: Japan is the only G7 country (the world’s seven largest advanced economies) that does not fully recognize same-sex marriage.
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in PlacesPrincess Mako is a royal of which country?
Princess Mako is the niece of Japan’s Emperor Naruhito._x000D_
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in ScienceHow old are the world’s oldest female twins?
Guinness World Records has certified Japanese Umeno Sumiyama and Koume Kodama as the oldest identical twins at 107 on Monday, Sept. 20, 2021. The announcement was made to coincide with “Respect for the Aged Day,” a national holiday in Japan. Sumiyama and Kodama were 107 years and 300 days old as of Sept 1, breaking the…
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in SportsWhat’s NOT true about the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics?
Tokyo hosted the Olympic Games for the first time in 1964. 2021 is the second time Japan hosts the Olympic Summer Games. Japan also hosted the Nagano Winter Olympics in 1998. The 2020 Tokyo Olympics are also the first without spectators and the first to be played in an odd year._x000D_
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in SportsHow many Japanese Emperors have ever opened the Olympic Games?
Japan’s Emperor Naruhito made the opening declaration of the 2020 Olympic Games, Friday, July 23, 2021. He was the third Japanese Emperor to open an Olympics, following his grandfather Emperor Hirohito (1964 Summer and 1972 Winter Olympics) and his father Emperor Akihito (1998 Winter Olympics).
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in CultureMaki Kaji was the “godfather” of which famous game?
Modern Sudoku was introduced in Japan by Maki Kaji, president of the Nikoli puzzle company, in April 1984 as Sūji wa dokushin ni kagiru – Japanese for “Unmarried (or single) Numbers” – and in short, Sudoku. “Sudoku” is a registered trademark in Japan._x000D_
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in CultureWhat’s the meaning of Arigato in Japanese?
Arigato, in Japanese, means “thank you.”_x000D_
