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IMF-World Bank In Tokyo
By JUN HONGO
When Japan last hosted the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group in September 1964, Tokyo was in the midst of preparing for the Summer Olympic Games which were to kick off a month later.
By MINORU MATSUTANI For Tokyo, 1964 was definitely one of the biggest years. In October, Japan's volleyball team, dubbed the "Oriental Witches," won a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, heating up Japanese spirits. Shinkansen bullet trains began operating that same month.
For foreign ministers and others who have come to Tokyo to discuss international cooperation on difficult subjects such as the European debt crisis, the Japanese government has prepared some entertainment.
It's the extreme weather season in Asia again. Deadly cyclones, blinding rains, ensuing floods and mudslides are becoming the norm from Nepal to Fiji. During this same time, the world's finance ministers are preparing for their IMF-World Bank meetings in Tokyo. While their discussions are unlikely to touch on the storms and floods that are sweeping across Asia with increased regularity and ferocity, the extreme weather patterns should be on their minds, and in their budgets.
Japan is hosting an annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank for the first time since 1964. A lot has happened in the intervening very nearly half a century ― to both Japan and the IMF. Yet both Japan and the IMF do not quite seem to realize just how much has happened to them over those years.
One lesson learned from the tragic Great East Japan Earthquake disaster on March 11, 2011, is that hardware alone does not suffice to save the lives of so many people in affected areas.
As a way to demonstrate its commitment to the growing corporate and social requirements for business continuity plans (BCP), Kajima Corp., Japan's leading general contractor, conducted a large-scale anti-disaster drill on Aug. 30. It was conducted on the assumption that a magnitude 7.3 earthquake with the intensity of upper 6 on the Japanese scale (7 is the high), were to hit Tokyo at 9 a.m.
Sake, like Japanese fashion, anime or even sushi, can be an acquired taste. Just like those other cultural exports from Japan, sake comes in a wide variety of different styles and flavors, and while your first taste may not be precisely what you're looking for, it can be rewarding for those who keep an open mind and are willing to explore.
The Daishichi Sake Brewery Co., located in the castle town of Nihonmatsu, Fukushima Prefecture, sits at the foot of majestic Mount Adatara. Daishichi was founded in 1752 by Saburoemon Ohta, who hailed originally from a samurai family. Since then, 10 generations of the Ohta family have overseen the business.
Participants from around the world attending the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group in Tokyo were treated to award-winning sake during a hospitality event in the glitzy Ginza shopping district on Oct. 11.
While much has changed since Japan last hosted the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group in 1964 — a year that symbolized the nation's achievement of reconstruction after World War II through the hosting of the meeting and the Summer Olympics — art has always reflected, reviewed and foreseen the times.
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