(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Last Week in Japanese News 04/02/2023-04/08/2023 [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-04-09 A light brown electric plug on a light brown wall. Hello, this is RWPOINTWOMAN, and this Last Week in Japanese News. Here is where I translate Japanese articles about Japan from the Easy section of the Easy Japanese news reader app from Japanese to English. On with the show! April 2, 2023: Starbucks to raise prices of 80% of standard drinks May 12. Plates also up ¥32. (Asahi) On May 12, the prices of 18 items including about 80% of standard drinks like lattes and frappuccinos and standard foods like sugar donuts. The price increases include 1 for the tall Starbucks latte of ¥416 to ¥446 tax excluded and ¥500 to ¥523 for caramel frappuccino and they range from ¥5 to ¥32 and ¥5 to ¥21 for standard foods. Furthermore, the price of drip coffee will remain. The main causes of these price increases are things like increased logistics and energy costs and these are the 1st price increases in a year. April 3, 2023: Preliminary calculations indicate increased food costs of ¥2,000/mo/household to start in April. (Asahi) Preliminary calculations have been released that indicate that households will face increase in the food cost burden of over ¥2,000/mo/household starting in April. According to Teikoku Databank, in the event that each household does not take economizing or other measures against price increases, their monthly food costs will rise by roughly ¥2,140 per household compared with last year and by roughly ¥26,000 over the course of the year compared with last year. Broken down into categories, the greatest increases were for processed foods like sausage followed by "alcoholic/other beverages" and "dairy products". It is believed that if companies keep passing on the increased costs of things like eggs and electricity, prices are going to increase furthermore. Monthly electricity rates to fall by between ¥400/mo and ¥500/mo in May. (NHK) 10 electric companies have announced their electricity rates for May. Each of these companies is also lowering its monthly rate by roughly between ¥400/mo and ¥500/mo compared with April. Chubu Electric Power charges households the highest average rate at ¥6,945/mo. The average rates are ¥6,809/mo for TEPCO, ¥6,781/mo for Hokkaido Electric Power, ¥6,494 for Okinawa Electric Power, ¥6,212 for Tohoku Electric Power, ¥6,053 for Chugoku Electric Power, ¥5,562 for Shikoku Electric Power, ¥5,254 for Kyushu Electric Power, and ¥5,236 for Kansai Electric Power. The cheapest is Hokuriku Electric Power at ¥4,590. These electric companies are buying electricity such as solar and wind. In order to buy the energy, users must pay a renewable energy levy. The cost of electricity will be lowered in May for the sake of lowering the renewable energy levy. However, 7 of them have petitioned the government to raise them. Because of this, they might go back up during the summer. April 4, 2023: New Children and Families Agency created. (NHK) On April 3, am opening ceremony was held for the newly-created Children and Families Agency. Prime Minister Kishida stated, "We must always think of what's best for the children. It is important to hear children out before working with them." 6 people including children and young people were also present at the ceremony. They wrote the kanji for the Children and Families Agency on signboards. About 400 people are to work at the Children and Families Agency. It will work to provide assistance children troubled by things such as bullying and poverty, pregnant women, and families. A male 6th-year student who came with his mother to Harajuku in Tokyo said, "I did not know the Children and Families Agency has been formed. I am happy because I want children's voices to be heard." April 5, 2023: ¥15 trillion public-private partnership planned to introduce hydrogen energy. (Asahi) The Japanese government revealed on April 4 that it had drafted a policy that would invest ¥15 trillion from public and private funds in order to fund a full-scale installation of hydrogen, a next-generation energy source. The outline of the new hydrogen strategy that they revealed at the relevant ministerial meeting was the ambitious target of installation of 12 million tons of hydrogen infrastructure a year until 2040. In addition, a plan to invest ¥15 trillion of public and private funds in order to pay for 15 years of expansion of the hydrogen is included. It is hoped that hydrogen will allow decarbonization and energy supply stabilization in tandem without emitting carbon. That's all for now. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/9/2161641/-Last-Week-in-Japanese-News-04-02-2023-04-08-2023 Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/