A graduate of the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City won Y200,000 (P112,344) for his essay about the vision of a new Japan after last year’s devastating magnitude-9 quake and tsunami.

To avoid long queues during the holidays, the Philippine Embassy in Japan advised Filipinos based there to make their consular transactions early.

Three nuns from the Oblates of Notre Dame (OND) were sent to Japan to serve Filipinos in the diocese of Naha, Okinawa, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said.

Filipino seafarers are still the top beneficiaries of Japan’s anti-piracy efforts as its defense force has been escorting sea vessels in the pirate-prone Gulf of Aden since 2009.

Former Philippine President Fidel Ramos received an honorary doctorate in International Studies from the J.F. Oberlin University Yotsuya campus in Tokyo, Japan.

A 16-year-old Filipino high school student bagged a special prize at a recent international arts festival in Tokyo, the Philippine Embassy in Japan reported Thursday.

Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Japan were encouraged to submit their nominations for this year’s “Bagong Bayani Awards” (BBA) before the end of July.

Consular processing windows at the Philippine Embassy in Japan will remain open to the transacting public at lunch hour.

Three months after the deadly March 11 magnitude-9.0 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the country gave the Philippines a clearance to send a 14-day medical mission to help the victims.

Four Filipino youth volunteers recently took part in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Youth Caravan of Goodwill, which sought to bring comfort to victims of the recent twin disasters in Japan.