News Headlines - 27 February 2021

▽Tokyo's population falls year-on-year | NHK WORLD

The population in Tokyo has fallen year-on-year for the first time in almost a quarter-century.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government says there were an estimated 13,952,915 people living in the capital as of February 1.
The figure represents a fall of more than 600 compared to the same month in 2020. It is the first year-on-year decrease since June 1996.

▽Japan gender equality minister opposes change on separate spouse surnames - BBC News

Japan's minister for women's empowerment and gender equality has joined a group of lawmakers opposing a legal change to allow married couples to have separate surnames.
An 1896 law in Japan says married couples must adopt the same surname... Tamayo Marukawa said her opposition was a "personal belief" that would not affect her duties, media reports say.

▽Suzuki Motor's CEO, Chairman Osamu Suzuki to Step Down - Bloomberg

Suzuki Motor Corp.’s 91-year-old chairman Osamu Suzuki is stepping down after leading an automaker for longer than anyone else in the industry... With almost half a century at the helm, Suzuki is widely credited with turning the carmaker into what it is today: one of the largest small-vehicle manufacturers in the world. Instead of taking Japan’s biggest auto giants like Toyota Motor Corp. head on, Suzuki worked to grow the company by finding new markets around the world for its compact automobiles, building a dominant share in India during his first of two terms as president from 1978 to 2000.

▽Monsters, mania and the unstoppable march of Pokémon - BBC News

Pokémon started life as an 8-bit video game in Japan - where players capture creatures and store them in pocket-sized capsules (Pokémon is short for "pocket monsters") - but has grown into a cultural megahit.
By some estimates, Pokémon is now the biggest media franchise in history, worth more than Harry Potter and Star Wars combined.
Over its 25-year journey, it has spawned several global crazes, involving celebrities paying millions for trading cards and people walking tens of thousands of kilometres in pursuit of rare monsters.

▽China suspends imports of pineapples from Taiwan

China on Friday said it will suspend imports of pineapple from Taiwan citing "precautionary measures."
The country’s Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council said Chinese customs authority has decided to suspend the import of pineapples from Taiwan from March 1 as a “normal biosafety precautionary measure," Chinese daily Global Times reported... In Asia, the largest pineapple markets are Thailand, China and the Philippines with a combined 59% share of the total market.
India, Indonesia, Vietnam and Taiwan together accounted for a further 34%.