Koror - Visiting Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono announced that the next ministerial interim Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting (PALM) will be held for the first time in Fiji in mid-2020. Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and Palau President Tommy Remengesau Jr. Photo courtesy of Office of the President, Palau Kono first made the pronouncement during his trip to Fiji on August 4 as part of his Asia-Pacific engagements and reiterated it during his first visit to Palau on

Tokyo- Ms. Kyoko Amano had made up her mind to close her restaurant. If there ever was a time for closing the restaurant then this was it. Her restaurant, Ungai, a renowned upscale restaurant in Matsushima serving only vegetarian dishes inspired by monk’s food, had suffered major damage during the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. She said her restaurant suffered damage from the intense tremors as most of the structure – walls, doors and windows got separated from its seams r

Kume Island, Japan — This island in Okinawa, Japan’s southernmost prefecture, is one-fifth the size of Palau’s largest island, Babeldaob. In spite of its small scale, Kumejima, as it’s known in Japanese, is making a name for itself — not only for its white sandy beaches and balmy weather, but because of its remarkable strides toward creating a self-sufficient island community. The centerpiece is a unique business project dubbed the “Kumejima Model,” which began with the insta

Noda City, Japan -A little bit of thumping sound and you can hear an echo emanating from the immense underground discharge channel – an engineering marvel built to alleviate the rising of flood waters in the Naka and Ayase river basins. It is the world's largest underground flood water diversion facility built in Kasukabe city in Saitama Prefecture, to mitigate overflowing of the city's major waterways and rivers during rain and typhoon seasons. Over 30,000 homes are now prot

KAWASAKI, Japan — In 1997, after more than three decades of environmental decline, Kawasaki City finally drew up a plan to create a town where the environment and industry would coexist in harmony. The city of 1.5 million residents is just south of Tokyo. It was an ambitious undertaking that required cooperative action from industries and citizens for the improvement of the environment. Part of the shared roles is for local companies to invest in new ideas and technological i

TOKYO -- It was a significant achievement that came out of the 8th Pacific Island Leaders Meeting earlier this year that so far has not been accorded its due recognition. Takeshita Street, one of Tokyo's busiest shopping street. Although it’s not at the level of the European Union short-stay or the recent Russia visa waiver agreement that Palau has signed on to, it is progress nonetheless, as Palau nationals can avail of the new Japan’s multiple-visa entry program. In a round

Koror- While Palau President Tommy Remengesau Jr. stated that the multi million airport expansion project is well underway, members of the Senate minority bloc raises more questions on Tuesday by asking the court to review the airport documents. A rendering of the future Airport Expansion Project venture by the Palau government and two Japanese firms. The opposition senators alleged in their motion before the court ,that the documents reviewed held by the Senate legal counse

Koror, Palau- The additional patrol boat to Palau from Nippon and Sasakawa Foundation is being hailed as a boost in the fight against illegal fishing in the island-nation. Photo by Ongerung Kambes Kesolei The new patrol boat, PSS Kedam also amplifies Palau’s national marine sanctuary law- a signature policy of the government that will ban commercial fishing in its 193,000 square miles of its exclusive economic zone by 2020. The PSS Kedam is named after the Great Frigate Bird