JLGC Blogs

We all love Kyoto for its many world heritage sites, cultural assets, and traditional industries, and tourism has played a crucial role in supporting these. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has suspended cross-border travel, and Kyoto, usually thronging with people from all around Japan and the world, is now devoid of visitors. Tourism in Kyoto is heavily damaged and the city is facing serious financial difficulties. Kyoto is a unique place, a unique experience, with its traditional neighborhoods and historic sites, culture, and heritage. These have come to us across centuries, and have faced peril before. Now the city is striving to preserve these assets for future generations and they need… Read More »The City of Kyoto Needs Your Help

Tokushima prefecture, which is located on the island of Shikoku in Japan, has announced the following two initiatives. 1.Tokushima Pref. Produces English Booklet on Initiatives for Consumer Administration and Consumer Education The Tokushima Prefectural Government released an English booklet on March 5, 2021, to seek and promote two-way international exchanges. This is part of efforts to widely disseminate to the world the achievements of the initiatives taken by the Consumer Affairs Agency’s Strategic Headquarters for Frontiers of Consumer Policy and Tokushima Prefecture, and promote international information exchanges and coordination on consumer policies in the digital age. The Tokushima Prefectural Government has been carrying out innovative projects together with the Consumer… Read More »Please have a look! “Two initiatives of Tokushima prefecture”

The Japan National Tourism Organization will host an underwater photography contest centered around the oceans of Japan from October 15th through November 15th. Details can be found at the following URL: https://www.japan.travel/diving/en/photo-contest2020/ The contest seeks photos that showcase the joys of diving in Japan, from the gorgeous sights to the unique sea life. Photos submitted may be used by JNTO to promote diving travel in Japan.

The world has watched as Japan first took a very low-key approach to the coronavirus pandemic and then, more recently, has stepped up its efforts to aggressively confront the threat. Japan was one of the first countries to be faced with large numbers of infected patients, both from the cruise ship the Diamond Princess and then as more Japanese citizens fell sick through exposure to tourists from China and other vectors. Overall it seemed to face down these threats through a strategy that was not entirely clear to outside observers but involved face masks, requests for people to limit exposure to others, and an emphasis on contact tracing. Beyond these… Read More »Japan’s Response to the Coronavirus Pandemic

Overview New York City The City will provide relief for small businesses across the City seeing a reduction in revenue because of COVID-19. Businesses with fewer than 100 employees who have seen sales decreases of 25% or more and that meet certain other criteria will be eligible for zero interest loans of up to $75,000 to help mitigate losses in profit. The City is also offering similarly eligible small businesses in the five boroughs with fewer than 5 employees a grant to cover 40% of payroll costs for two months to help retain employees. NYC small business relief: https://www1.nyc.gov/site/sbs/businesses/covid19-business-outreach.page The City is providing information for parents on city schools, for… Read More »New York City and State Responses to Covid-19 As of March 26, 2020

As the Covid-19 response has ramped up, JLGC New York has moved to follow Governor Cuomo’s executive order and reduced our in-office staffing to zero. We will continue to work remotely until such a time as it is possible to have at least some personnel return to the office. Unfortunately, nobody knows when this might occur, so please check here for updates. During this period, you can still contact us through email using our general jlgc@jlgc.org address. You may also phone us at 646-856-3140. Again, this only applies to JLGC New York. For CLAIR Tokyo and other offices, please check with them directly. We want everyone to know we will… Read More »COVID-19 Update as of March 23, 2020

In response to the current situation, heeding recommendations by government officials to limit exposure through switching to telework as much as possible and cancelling or postponing any events, meetings, or other gatherings, JLGC has moved to have most staff work from home for the next few weeks. We will also postpone any planned events and business travel until it is safe to consider these activities again. There will be minimal staffing in our office, consisting of personnel who can most safely commute without using public transit, so please feel free to contact us through normal telephone and email channels (212-246-5542 for the office and any of our staff emails or… Read More »COVID-19 Update as of March 17, 2020

The latest JLGC Newsletter (Issue No.99) is out. Please take a look. Back issues are available here.

Superstorm Sandy hit the New York region on October 29, 2012. Although it had been downgraded from a hurricane, in the Five Boroughs alone it damaged or destroyed tens of thousands of buildings, paralyzed services, claimed 44 lives, and submerged large areas of coastline. The cost from damage and lost economic activity is estimated to be around $19 billion. In the years since, the MTA, ConEd, Verizon, and other service providers have worked diligently to restore and upgrade infrastructure and improve its resilience and survivability. This has taken place across the city, but the most ambitious elements of this effort cover the coastline of the lower quarter of Manhattan, the… Read More »The BIG U(n-simple Problem of Water): An interim report on the evolution of the BIG U resilience proposal

The latest JLGC Newsletter (Issue No.97) is out. Please take a look. Back issues are available here.

New York City Emergency Management (NYCEM) has issued a report on its Post-Disaster Housing Prototype Program, carried out with the New York City Department of Design and Construction (DDC) with support from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Titled “Close to Home: An Urban Model for Post-Disaster Housing”, the report outlines the roots of the project in the emptying out of many areas in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina when sufficient housing could not be provided in or near the city, through the “What If New York City…?” competition that brought together a number of ideas for mass-produced, readily-deployable urban housing options, to the design and execution of the urban… Read More »Modular Housing Construction: Everyday to Emergency

Japan has been looking at the concept of business improvement districts (BIDs) for at least the last 20 years, and JLGC New York has been extensively involved in supporting that effort to provide better service to local business communities and promote their revitalization. That is one reason we were interested to see the revision of the national-level Local Revitalization Law passed in February 2018 and now being implemented. Most fundamentally, the revision provides for a system similar to the one used here whereby local governments are allowed to levy a surcharge on businesses in certain designated areas to support the activities of a nonprofit group working for the betterment of… Read More »Improving Business Improvement Districts in Japan