Well, after nearly 40 years after her creation, the cat who is really a be-whiskered pre-teen British girl named Kitty White (yes, really, according to Sanrio), has been responsible for most of Sanrio's JPY60bn in sales last year.

The Hiroshima Prefectural Board of Education announced that it would open an International Baccalaureate school on Osakikamijima, serving local middle and high schoolers, not just expat kids.

For the Japanese, the Trump-Kim summit is a bit of a slap on the face as they are being bypassed by Trump in his eagerness for a North Korea deal. Essentially the White House is relegating Japan's interests to being of minor concern.

Few farming-marine sectors in Japan have seen such extreme boom and bust conditions as the pearl industry. A recent report in the Nikkei says that Japanese pearls are now experiencing a mini-boom.