August 31, Thursday, 2023

1. The labor union of the Sogo & Seibu department store chain has staged a one-day strike. The flagship store in Tokyo’s Ikebukuro district was shuttered on Thursday. The strike is in response to the planned sale of the struggling chain. Sogo & Seibu’s parent company, Seven & i Holdings, decided in November to sell it to a US investment firm. 2. East and West Japan Railway company officials say an extended Shinkansen line along the Sea of Japan coast will be up and running on March 16, a year later than planned. The new section of the Hokuriku Shinkansen runs between Kanazawa in Ishikawa Prefecture and Tsuruga in Fukui Prefecture. 3. Japan’s Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has visited a wholesale market in Tokyo and vowed to draw up support measures for those affected by China’s suspension of Japanese seafood imports. China has been the largest importer of Japanese seafood. Last year, Japan exported marine products worth 87.1 billion yen, or about 595 million dollars.