i'm gene otani.apanese employees are readjusting to working without face masks one month after the government downgraded covid-19 to the same category as influenza. more than half of the staff at one tokyo trading house are without masks. now that the firm leads the decision on whether to wear one up to the individual. it deals with chemical products and scrapped its in-house coronavirus rules on may 8th. >> translator: when i talked to customers, i feel it's easier to communicate if we can see each other's facial expressions. >> translator: it is important not to make other people feel uncomfortable. our employees are accustomed to anti-infection steps, so i think they can use their own discretion in applying them. >> the company has recommended work from home and provided a range of starting hours at the office as part of its anti-infection efforts during the pandemic. sanyo trading says those options are still available for employees. >>> japan's hot spring resort is making a comeback as a popular

i'm gene otani.he operator of a major japanese conveyer belt sushi chain is suing a customer for damages after he posted a prank video on social media. the osaka-based company claims the video hurt its business and share price. they fileed the lawsuit with the osaka district court. it's seeking more than 67 million yen or about $480,000 in damages. the video shows a customer licking a soy sauce bottle in the chain's gifu city restaurant in central japan in january. they said the video led to a significant drop in customers nationwide and a sharp decline in the share price of its parent company. it says it suffered a loss about $150 million as a result. the company says the prank offended many of its customers and damaged their trust in its hygienic controls. the prankster's representative submitted a written submission to the court asking them to dismiss the complaint. the phenomenon is considered a social problem. >>> the japanese government has hammered out its latest strategy on protecting intelle

i'm gene otani. consumer prices continue to rise in japan in may, but the pace of increase slowed as some people saw lower electricity and gas bills. the amternal affairs ministry said the index including fresh food rose 2% from a year earlier. the figure was down slightly from the previous month. it's the first time that has happened in three months. this came after electricity rates dropped due to government subsidies and overall energy costs stabilized. electricity prices fell 17.1%. meanwhile most food prices rose. the figure excluding fresh items increased by over 9% from a year earlier. that's the biggest jump in about 47 years. cooked items gained by over 9%, and the cost of dining out was up more than 6%. egg prices soared by more than a third, and chocolate lovers should take note, the cost was up by more than 14%. it seems more companies in japan are feeling confident enough to pass on higher running costs to their customer. a restaurant chain operates more than 90 outlets in and around tok

it's not as if there were journalists of color chewing up to do this is not as if i was pushing otany real society i would not have done wasn't going to happen. what i did was approach people i have met in africatown, community leaders and others and sent i have this idea for the book i'm this white journalist, don't you have a connection to you, what about me doing this. i'm universally was look, we need a help we can get you going to tell the storyand responsible way we would love to have you . with that in mind i moved down and then i think that the gesture of moving down, the i guess the seriousness and dedication that showed o help me to continue to build trust when i was there. there were people who were of it people of the first it was for the most part people in the community that really were more open with me that i had any reason to expect them to be there were. often it was people who don't believe in africatown itself but more concerned about the community and see in the future who are concerned about me down as a white journalist telling the story but one of them i didn't