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jp0009462
|
[
"world",
"politics-diplomacy-world"
] |
2018/10/05
|
With Kavanaugh probe firing up Republican base, Trump likely a winner whether judge confirmed or not
|
WASHINGTON - The ugly partisan brawl over U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation remains undecided, but President Donald Trump appears likely to come out on top regardless of the outcome. If Kavanaugh is confirmed by the Senate in a vote planned for Saturday, Trump will have succeeded in placing his second justice on the top U.S. court and fulfilled his pledge to solidify its conservative majority. But even if Kavanaugh is rejected, the battle to save his nomination in the face of sexual misconduct allegations has jolted a slumbering Republican base to life just ahead of the Nov. 6 elections, political strategists and new polls suggest. “This has done more to wake up complacent Republican voters than anything I have seen,” said Robert Cahaly, a pollster and senior strategist at The Trafalgar Group, a Republican-leaning consulting and polling firm. Trump’s pugnacious style is well suited to the messy drama, and his decision to stick by Kavanaugh, mock the woman who accused the nominee of sexual assault and use the controversy to fire up supporters could help Republicans in key Senate races in conservative states — even if it turns off independents and women voters in suburban House of Representatives districts that were already trending away from Republicans. Several recent polls show that Republican enthusiasm about voting, which had lagged behind Democrats, jumped after the dramatic Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last week in which Christine Blasey Ford accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault in 1982, and the Supreme Court nominee angrily denied her accusation and sexual misconduct allegations by two other women. The shift has bolstered Republican hopes of saving their Senate majority in the upcoming elections. Democrats must gain two Senate seats and 23 House seats to claim majorities in each chamber, enabling them to block Trump’s agenda and investigate his administration. Fueled by resistance to Trump, polls have found Democrats were far more enthusiastic about voting than Republicans for most of the year. But a new poll from NPR, “PBS Newshour” and Marist showed the Democratic advantage in voter enthusiasm slipping to only 2 points this week, down from 10 points in July. That newfound enthusiasm, which Republicans strategists say they are seeing around the country, could bolster Republicans in close Senate battles in Florida, North Dakota, Missouri, Montana, Indiana, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia — all states carried by Trump in 2016. “There is no question the Kavanaugh fight has provided a burst of energy to Republican voters at a critical time,” said Brian Walsh, a Republican strategist and former staffer for the party’s Senate campaign committee. Democrats contend that the Kavanaugh nomination and sexual misconduct allegations have motivated women and independents in contentious House races, many of which are in suburban and swing districts where Trump already was less popular. “I think women are going to turn out in very big numbers to express their opinion,” Representative Steny Hoyer, the No. 2 Democrat in the House, told reporters on Wednesday. “While I believe there is some energy on the other side as well, I don’t think it matches the energy that was created on our side that was already at high level,” he said. Trump has stoked outrage over the Kavanaugh hearing on the campaign trail, enthusiastically using it as Exhibit A in why Republicans need to retain control of Congress. At stops over the past week in West Virginia, Tennessee and Mississippi, Trump painted Democrats as villains who had to be stopped for trying to sink Kavanaugh’s nomination. “Democrats are willing to do anything and to hurt anyone to get their way, like they’re doing with Judge Kavanaugh,” he told cheering supporters in Johnson City, Tennessee, where Republican Marsha Blackburn and Democrat Phil Bredesen are embroiled in a toss-up race. A source familiar with Trump’s campaign strategy said that whatever drawbacks Republican candidates might face from standing with Trump were far outweighed by the benefits of energizing Trump voters. “Democrats can’t get more motivated,” the source said. “Who can be more motivated is Republican voters.” Republican Senate candidates in Missouri and Montana have made the Supreme Court fight part of their campaign message and released television ads referencing it. Incumbent Democrats Claire McCaskill in Missouri and Jon Tester in Montana have both said they will vote against Kavanaugh. “I will fight for the Supreme Court. It’s the last line of defense for our values,” Republican Senate candidate Josh Hawley of Missouri says in his ad. Given the tumultuous political atmosphere and short shelf life of controversies in Washington, it is possible, however, the fallout from the Kavanaugh fight could fade before the election. “The question is whether this will really last for another 30 days.” Walsh said. “There are still going to be about 100 news cycles between now and the election.”
|
congress;women;sex crimes;supreme court;donald trump;brett kavanaugh;2018 u.s. midterm elections
|
jp0009463
|
[
"world",
"politics-diplomacy-world"
] |
2018/10/05
|
Macron tells French to stop moaning and instead emulate Charles de Gaulle
|
HAUTE-MARNE, FRANCE - France’s President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday urged his compatriots to moan less, saying the country would be better off if they emulated wartime leader Charles de Gaulle. Macron — on a visit to the northeastern village of Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises, known as the home and burial place of the former president — made his comments after speaking to a pensioner who complained he only had a small pension. “The grandson of the general (Charles de Gaulle) told me a little while ago” that his grandfather’s rule was: “You can speak freely, the only thing we should not do is to complain.” “I think that the general had the right idea. The country would be different if everyone did the same,” Macron said. “We don’t realize how lucky we are. We are seeing more and more elderly people in our country in good health,” he added. Reacting on Twitter, the leader of France’s far-right National Rally — formerly the National Front — Marine Le Pen, wrote: “Those who complain don’t do it just for the fun of it but because they are the victims of nonstop tax rises and endemic insecurity.” Marcon’s comments came a week after the government unveiled billions of euros in tax relief for businesses and households, alongside more budget cuts. Pensions and welfare benefits will be shaved further in the 2019 budget — Macron complained in June that France spends “a crazy amount of dough” on social programs. In August, he also came under attack from the opposition after he described the French as “Gauls who are resistant to change” during a trip to Denmark. Macron made the comments in an exchange with French expatriates in the Scandinavian country, which he admires for its economic model that mixes a strong social security system with rules allowing companies to easily fire workers.
|
france;taxes;pensions;emmanuel macron;charles de gaulle
|
jp0009464
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/10/05
|
Number of foreign visitors to recovering Kansai International Airport returning to last year's levels
|
OSAKA - The number of foreign visitors to Kansai International Airport are now returning to levels seen last year, one month after a powerful typhoon caused the major hub to shut down. The number of flights to and from the airport in Izumisano, Osaka Prefecture, has also recovered to pre-disaster levels. Typhoon Jebi caused heavy rain and a storm surge, flooding the airport’s runways on Sept. 4. The airport was closed until it reopened partially on Sept. 7. But the recovery is not yet strong enough to reassure those involved with airport operations. “The numbers suggest recovery, but we actually expected growth to 110 percent” of levels the year before, Yoshiyuki Yamaya, president of the airport operator, told a news conference Wednesday. “We must achieve a stronger recovery,” he said. Since Sept. 21, when the airport fully resumed its operations, the hub has seen over 80 percent of the number of foreign visitors who used the facility in the previous year, according to the Osaka Regional Immigration Bureau’s Kansai airport branch. Visitor numbers slumped to 20 percent of last year’s numbers Sunday, when the airport closed to prepare for the approach of another typhoon. But the number bounced back to almost the previous year’s level the next day. “It’s great to see such a quick recovery,” a bureau branch official said. “But the figures are small, given that the number of foreign visitors has risen by over 1 million annually in recent years.” The Osaka Convention & Tourism Bureau and others are publicizing the quick recovery of the airport through social media to attract more visitors to the Kansai region. In terms of cargo operations, the airport’s handling capacity has recovered to about 80 percent of pre-disaster volumes. A temperature-controlled warehouse for pharmaceutical products was restarted Monday and put back into use Wednesday. But some 1,000 tons of disaster-hit cargo remain, blocking a full recovery of cargo operations. The airport also needs to win back firms that have already switched to different airports. The Kansai Association of Corporate Executives is calling on companies to switch back to using international cargo flights at Kansai International Airport. The airport operator has set up three teams to work out anti-disaster measures, planning to draw up an interim report by the end of this month.
|
tourism;kansai airport;typhoon jebi
|
jp0009465
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/10/05
|
Tokyo adopts ordinance banning discrimination against LGBT community
|
In a bid to curtail hate speech ahead of the 2020 Games, Tokyo on Friday adopted an anti-discrimination ordinance aimed at protecting the LGBT community. The rule is the first ordinance at the prefectural level to contain a stipulation prohibiting discrimination against LGBT people and other sexual and gender minorities. The Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly approved the ordinance at its regular session held Friday, despite criticism that there had been insufficient debate over potential conflicts between the measure and laws to protect free speech. The goal of the ordinance, which is scheduled to take effect in April, is to use edifying campaigns and education to realize the Olympic Charter goal of respect for human rights. The charter is a set of rules and guidelines documenting the fundamental Olympic principles. It states: “The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in the Olympic Charter shall be secured without discrimination of any kind, such as race, color, sex, sexual orientation, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.” In 2014 the International Olympic Committee added an anti-discrimination clause for hosts, after the global controversy that surrounded the Sochi Games following Russia’s passage of an anti-gay law in 2013. To ensure equal enjoyment of human rights, the Tokyo ordinance will regulate use of public spaces such as parks to prevent groups from promoting hateful rhetoric. The ordinance is designed to improve access for same-sex couples in situations such as hospital visits and shared renting of apartments as family. It also stipulates the disclosure of names of groups and individuals promoting hate speech if the governor deems their activities a violation of human rights. Under the ordinance, such groups can be required to remove hateful content from their websites. The ordinance includes awareness-raising measures to improve understanding of the LGBT community, and the metropolitan government also plans to set up centralized consultation centers for LGBT people to offer various forms of support for sexual minority groups. Although Japan doesn’t have laws against homosexuality or other sexual minorities, it also doesn’t have national-level laws to protect their rights. Lawmakers from Tomin First no Kai (Tokyoites First), Komeito, the Constitutional Democratic Party and the Japanese Communist Party backed the ordinance. “We can’t wait for the central government (to introduce such steps) as its timeline remains vague,” Hirotaka Motohashi of Tomin First said at Friday’s assembly meeting. He said that ensuring sexual minorities’ equal rights will become a legacy of the 2020 Games. The Liberal Democratic Party strongly opposed the ordinance, saying its content and preparation were sloppy, and stressed that the rule may curtail freedom of expression. Kagayake Tokyo, an independent assembly faction, abstained, pointing to lack of penal provisions and emphasizing that the topic requires more thorough discussion.
|
lgbt;gender discrimination;tokyo metropolitan government
|
jp0009467
|
[
"national",
"history"
] |
2018/10/05
|
Memorial for victims of Japanese vessel sunk during World War I unveiled in Wales
|
ANGLE, WALES - A memorial dedicated to the victims of a Japanese merchant ship sunk by the German navy in the final days of World War I was unveiled Thursday in Wales. The churchyard ceremony, which took place exactly 100 years after the sinking, was attended by descendants of the victims and members of the British royal family. Only 30 of the 240 sailors and passengers on board the Hirano Maru survived when the ship was torpedoed by a German U-boat in the Irish Sea on Oct. 4, 1918, just over a month before the peace armistice was declared to end the conflict. As Japan was one of the U.K.’s allies, its merchant vessels were targeted by the German navy. Residents of Pembrokeshire found at least 20 bodies along the county coastline, 10 of which were buried in the churchyard in the small village of Angle where Thursday’s ceremony took place. The wooden post erected at the time to commemorate the 10 victims rotted away and has now been replaced by a new granite memorial inscribed with a dedication written in English, Japanese and Welsh. Bouquets and wreaths were placed by Queen Elizabeth’s cousin Prince Richard after he unveiled the memorial, followed by representatives from the Japanese Embassy and Nippon Yusen K.K., the company that owned the ship. Only one victim is named in the church records and on the memorial, as the other nine could not be identified. Flowers were also left by Yoshiko Nakamura, 72, whose grandfather was among the victims. Shintaro Yamamoto, her grandfather, had been an officer in the Imperial Japanese Navy and was returning to Japan after visiting Britain on business when the boat was sunk, she explained. After seeing a story about the planned memorial in her local newspaper, she decided to attend the ceremony with her daughter to pay her respects. “My father, my mother, and all the people who remember the war have gradually disappeared,” she said. “I want to pass on this history to my daughter.” Funds were raised for the memorial by David James, secretary of the West Wales Maritime Heritage Society. “I feel a great sense of satisfaction … (to have) brought something to so many people,” he said. “Wars are easy. It’s the peace that’s hard to find and keep.” He said he was “humbled” to have helped Nakamura connect with her family’s history. “She came as an act of remembrance, which I find quite touching,” he said. The memorial was carved by a local stonemason and cost approximately £3,500 pounds ($4,500), paid for through contributions from residents and Nippon Yusen. A spokesman for the shipping company said it was “a great honor and privilege” for representatives of the company to be present at the ceremony.
|
wales;memorial;world war i;hirano maru
|
jp0009468
|
[
"business"
] |
2018/10/02
|
Nordic budget carrier Primera Air ends flights just after announcing trans-Atlantic routes
|
BANGALORE, INDIA - Nordic budget airline Primera Air said that it was ceasing all operations from Tuesday. “On this sad day we are saying Goodbye to all of you,” Primera Air said in a statement on its website. bit.ly/2P2AiZW Primera Air, which is Icelandic owned but based in Copenhagen, began in 2003 and has served 97 destinations in more than 20 countries. The airline announced last month that it planned to launch routes from Madrid to New York, Boston and Toronto next year at an introductory price of €149 ($172) each way. It also announced in September plans for direct long-haul flights from Frankfurt to New York, Boston, Toronto and Montreal from next year. Britain’s Monarch Airlines collapsed exactly a year ago, after falling victim to intense competition for flights and a weaker pound. Air Berlin, Germany’s second-largest airline, filed for bankruptcy protection in August 2017. ($1 = 0.8641 euros) (Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru; Editing by Adrian Croft)
|
iceland;copenhagen;primera air;budget airlines
|
jp0009469
|
[
"business",
"corporate-business"
] |
2018/10/02
|
Sharp acquires Toshiba unit to re-enter PC business
|
OSAKA - Sharp Corp. has completed its acquisition of Toshiba Corp.’s personal computer business, marking a return to the PC business after pulling out eight years ago. Aiming to nurture the PC operation as a new revenue source, Sharp will take over Toshiba’s high-profile Dynabook brand and adopt the business reconstruction methods of its Taiwanese parent, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Based on an agreement in June, Sharp acquired an 80.1 percent stake in Toshiba Client Solutions Co., a fully owned PC unit of Toshiba, for about ¥4 billion. Yoshihisa Ishida, executive vice president of Sharp, took up the post as chairman of Toshiba Client on Monday, the day the acquisition was completed. Until 2000, Toshiba held the largest share of the laptop market. In recent years, however, its PC business has stagnated amid price competition with Chinese and Taiwanese rivals. Toshiba Client plans to accelerate moves to develop products and services using cutting-edge technologies, such as artificial intelligence, by utilizing Toshiba’s human resources and technical capabilities, as well as introducing Hon Hai-style cost cuts and other reconstruction methods. Sharp made PCs under the Mebius brand but withdrew from the business in 2010 as competition intensified. The company began considering a return to the PC market after becoming a Hon Hai unit in 2016, a company official said.
|
electronics;toshiba;sharp;personal computers
|
jp0009470
|
[
"national",
"science-health"
] |
2018/10/02
|
Nobel laureate Tasuku Honjo hopes Japan invests more in science
|
KYOTO - Nobel Prize-winning scientist Tasuku Honjo voiced hope on Tuesday that Japan would invest more in science, a day after he was chosen for this year’s award in physiology or medicine along with American James Allison for their studies on cancer therapy. “I was able to prove that it is not rare for fundamental research to lead to applications,” Honjo, 76, said at a news conference held at Kyoto University, where he is currently a professor. “Science is an investment for the future.” News that Honjo became the 26th Japanese Nobel Prize winner was met with a shower of praise from cancer patient groups and the Japanese government on Monday. “Cancer patients are being saved by (the new cancer medicine) Opdivo, which originated from a study carried out by the Japanese researcher. We are delighted that it was positively evaluated,” said Shinsuke Amano, head of the Japan Federation of Cancer Patient Groups. When new medicine is developed abroad, it usually takes time to gain approval from authorities for its use in Japan. But Opdivo became available not long after its development and has proven to be effective, according to Amano. However, he expressed hope that further progress is seen in related studies due to the high costs required for the treatment, which are said to top over ¥10 million per person annually. In his youth, Honjo was not necessarily clear on what path he should take. After pondering what career to pursue — diplomat, lawyer or doctor — Honjo entered the Faculty of Medicine at Kyoto University in 1960 and moved on to the graduate course. During his university days, a fellow student died of stomach cancer, which led him to think that he would someday like to get involved in tackling the disease. After studying for a few years in the United States, where he was exposed to the latest research on genes and immunology, he decided to return to Japan and continue his research there, partly because he wanted to give his children a Japanese education. In 1992, when Honjo was a professor at his alma mater’s faculty of medicine, one of the members at his laboratory discovered the protein PD-1, which opened a pathway for a new cancer treatment that came to be known as immunotherapy. But at the time, the substance was just a byproduct of an experiment and no one knew what kind of function it had, according to Yasumasa Ishida, an associate professor at the Nara Institute of Science and Technology, who found the protein. The study was later joined by Nagahiro Minato, an expert on antibodies, who is now executive vice president of Kyoto University, and researchers found ways to enhance the human immune system to attack tumor cells through animal testing and other experiments. The process of making the drug was not easy. “Everyone thought it was a lie that cancer could be treated by immunity,” Minato said. But the researchers worked hard to pitch their findings to drugmakers. In 2006, their research was tested in clinical trials and the new medicine, Opdivo, was approved in Japan in July 2014 and subsequently in the United States and Europe. Honjo was “not interested in earning fame,” Minato recalled. “He probably thought it was his obligation to make medicine that is helpful.” At the news conference Tuesday, Honjo described his life as “blessed.” “It has been so fulfilling that I wish I could live this life all over again,” he said, while thanking his family for allowing him to focus on his research. Also attending the news conference was his 75-year-old wife, Shigeko, who said, “I have taken upon myself the job of supporting my husband, so I am very happy that he received the Nobel Prize.” Shigeko, who studied math and science at university, said the Nobel Prize made her think she can now settle down after years of supporting her family while Honjo went from job to job, forcing their children to change schools.
|
awards;medicine;health;cancer;nobel prize
|
jp0009471
|
[
"national",
"science-health"
] |
2018/10/02
|
Discoveries that revolutionized cancer care win Japanese and U.S. researchers a Nobel Prize in medicine
|
The two researchers, from Japan and the U.S., who won the Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday are credited for discoveries that have revolutionized cancer care, turning the body’s immune system loose to fight tumors. James Allison of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and Tasuku Honjo of Kyoto University learned how cancer can put the brakes on the immune system — and how to release those brakes. Their work, conducted separately during the 1990s, led to the development of drugs known as “checkpoint inhibitors,” first used to treat the deadly skin cancer melanoma but now used for a growing list of advanced-stage tumors, including those of the lungs, head and neck, bladder, kidney, colon and liver. The drugs marked an entirely new way to treat tumors, a kind of immunotherapy that uses the patient’s own body to kill cancer cells. Up until then, the standard arsenal consisted of surgery to remove the tumor and radiation and chemotherapy to poison the cancer. The research was “a landmark in our fight against cancer,” the Nobel Assembly of Sweden’s Karolinska Institute said in announcing the award. “Not all patients respond to this, but for the ones that do, it has made a huge difference to their lives,” said Dr. Arlene Sharpe, co-chair of microbiology and immunobiology at Harvard Medical School. “There are patients over a decade ago who had an incredibly poor prognosis and now, a decade out, they are living normal lives.” Dr. Jedd Wolchok, chief of the melanoma and immunotherapeutics service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, said, “An untold number of lives … have been saved by the science that they pioneered.” Indeed, a drug based on Honjo’s research was used to treat former President Jimmy Carter, who was diagnosed in 2015 with melanoma that had spread to his brain. A year later, he announced he no longer needed treatment. Allison, 70, who was at a New York hotel for a scientific meeting, said at a news conference that the Nobel committee evidently had trouble reaching him to break the news. But his cellphone lit up with a call from his son at 5:30 a.m., when the names of the winners were released. And soon, “there were people beating on my door at 6 in the morning with Champagne,” he said. At a news conference in Kyoto, Honjo, 76, told how a member of his golf club once walked up to thank him for the discovery that was used to treat his lung cancer. “He told me, ‘Thanks to you I can play golf again,’ ” he recalled. “That was a blissful moment. A comment like that makes me happier than any prize.” Scientists had been trying for a century to harness the immune system against cancer, but it was a struggle. Normally, key immune system soldiers called T cells seek out and attack invaders. But for poorly understood reasons, it was hard to rev them up against cancer. In an interview Monday, Allison said he wasn’t trying to cure cancer but to understand how T cells work when, at the University of California, Berkeley, he was studying a protein named CTLA-4. He learned that the protein could put the brakes on T cells, creating what’s called an immune “checkpoint.” He then created an antibody that blocked the protein’s action — in other words, it released the brakes so the T cells could do their job. Working separately, Honjo discovered another protein, called PD-1, that also hampers T cells’ ability to attack cancer, but in a somewhat different way. Allison’s research led to development of the drug Yervoy, approved in 2011 after studies showed it extended the survival of some patients with late-stage melanoma. A few years later, developers created drugs that release the PD-1 brake Honjo discovered — Keytruda and Opdivo, now commonly advertised on TV. Allison said the biggest challenge with immunotherapy now is to learn why it helps some patients but not others — and how to combine it with traditional therapies to improve outcomes and reduce side effects. “It’s a great emotional privilege to meet cancer patients who’ve been successfully treated with immune checkpoint blockade. They are living proof of the power of basic science,” he said in a statement.
|
nobel prize;tasuku honjo;james allison
|
jp0009472
|
[
"world",
"offbeat-world"
] |
2018/10/20
|
Carrot nanomaterial found to make cement stronger and greener
|
LONDON - Crunchy and tasty, yes, but could carrots also strengthen cement and cut carbon dioxide emissions for the building industry? A group of researchers at Britain’s Lancaster University has been using a household food blender to mix particles from the root vegetable with concrete to see if they can produce a stronger and more environmentally sound product. “We found out you could increase the strength of concrete by 80 percent by using a small amount of this new material,” said lead researcher Mohamed Saafi. The addition of carrots prevent any cracks in the concrete, the team said. It also means less cement is required, therefore lowering the global carbon dioxide output. Cement is responsible for 7 percent of total global emissions of carbon dioxide, according to International Energy Agency estimates. “Our preliminary results show that adding about half a kilogram of carrot nanomaterial will reduce about 10 kilograms of cement per 1 cubic meter of concrete,” Saafi said. The team have also tried sugar beet fibers in cement mixtures, with all their vegetables coming from food waste. They will continue to test their mixtures alongside their commercial partners, a Scottish company that makes paint using root vegetable fibres.
|
buildings;biotechnology;climate change
|
jp0009473
|
[
"national",
"science-health"
] |
2018/10/20
|
Europe and Japan send spacecraft on seven-year journey to Mercury
|
BERLIN - European and Japanese space agencies say an Ariane 5 rocket has successfully lifted a spacecraft into orbit for a joint mission to Mercury, the closest planet to the sun. The European Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) say the BepiColombo spacecraft successfully separated and was sent into orbit from French Guiana early Saturday to begin a seven-year journey to Mercury. The ESA says the €1.3 billion ($1.5 billion) BepiColombo mission is one of the most challenging in its history. Mercury’s extreme temperatures, the intense gravity pull of the sun and blistering solar radiation make for hellish conditions. The spacecraft will have to follow an elliptical path that involves a fly-by of Earth, two of Venus and six of Mercury itself so it can slow down sufficiently before arriving at its destination in December 2025. Newly developed electrical ion thrusters will help nudge the spacecraft, which is named after Italian scientist Giuseppe ‘Bepi’ Colombo, into the right orbit. When it arrives, BepiColombo will release two probes — Bepi and Mio — that will independently investigate the surface and magnetic field of Mercury. The probes are equipped with special insulation to cope with temperatures varying from 430 C on the side facing the sun, and minus 180 C in Mercury’s shadow. Scientists hope to build on the insights gained by NASA’s Messenger probe, which ended its mission in 2015 after a four-year orbit of Mercury. The first spacecraft to visit Mercury was NASA’s Mariner 10 that flew past the planet in the mid-1970s. Mercury, which is only slightly larger than Earth’s moon, has a massive iron core about which little is known. Researchers are also hoping to learn more about the formation of the solar system from the data gathered by the BepiColombo mission. “BepiColombo is coming like a white knight with better and more precise data,” said Alain Doressoundiram, an astronomer at the Paris Observatory. “To understand how Earth was formed, we need to understand how all rocky planets formed. … Mercury stands apart and we don’t know why.” According to Pierre Bousquet, an engineer at France’s National Centre for Space Research and head of the French team contributing to the mission, Mercury is “abnormally small,” leading to speculation that it survived a massive collision in its youth. “A huge crater visible on its surface could be the scar left over from that encounter,” Bousquet said. Finding out if this is true is on BepiColombo’s “to do” list. This scenario would explain why Mercury’s core accounts for a whopping 55 percent of its mass, compared to 30 percent for Earth. Mercury is also the only rocky planet orbiting the sun other than our own to have a magnetic field. It is the second recent cooperation between the Europeans and JAXA after the Japanese agency’s Hayabusa2 probe dropped a German-French rover on the asteroid Ryugu earlier this month.
|
space;mercury;jaxa;european space agency;bepicolombo
|
jp0009474
|
[
"national",
"science-health"
] |
2018/10/20
|
Japan to make charging for plastic shopping bags mandatory
|
A government advisory panel has approved a set of proposals for plastic recycling, including making it mandatory for retailers to charge for plastic shopping bags. The government plans to officially adopt the measures aimed at reducing plastic waste, crafted by the Environment Ministry, before a summit of the Group of 20 leading economies set for June next year in Osaka, it said Friday. The government believes the measures will help the country showcase its efforts on plastics recycling at the G20 summit. Japan has been under fire for being slow to deal with plastic waste. Japan and the United States did not sign the Ocean Plastics Charter, approved by other members of the Group of Seven nations at a summit in Charlevoix, Quebec, in June this year to promote plastic recycling. The ministry’s proposals call for setting a goal of reducing the volume of disposable plastic products, including drinking straws, plastic bottles and shopping bags, by 25 percent by 2030. The proposals seek to increase the percentage of plastic packaging products recycled to 60 percent by 2030 and use all forms of plastic waste, including the heat emitted when it is burned, effectively by 2035. It has not been decided when the mandatory charging for plastic shopping bags will start. Some relief measures will be taken for small businesses, according to the proposals.
|
pollution;environment;plastic;plastic waste
|
jp0009475
|
[
"national",
"science-health"
] |
2018/10/20
|
Spain expected to dethrone Japan in life expectancy rankings by 2040: U.S. study
|
LONDON - Spain is expected to push Japan to second place in global life expectancy rankings by 2040, estimates by a U.S. research institute show. Spain’s Mediterranean lifestyle is key to the change, according to the study by the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. According to the study, published in the British medical journal Lancet, the average life expectancy in Spain, which ranked No. 4 in 2016, is seen topping the list at 85.8 in 2040. Japan, which sat atop the 2016 list, will fall to No. 2 at 85.7 years, followed by Singapore at 85.4. Portugal, Italy and France also made the top 10 on the 2040 list. This suggests healthy lifestyles, such as vegetable- and fish-rich diets, contribute to longevity, according to the study. In Japan, “men are not doing so well,” Christopher Murray, a member of the research group that conducted the study, told The Guardian. “Smoking is probably part of that and obesity has gone up for men but really not for women.” For the study, the institute estimated average life expectancies for 195 countries and regions until 2040, based on analyses of data related to causes of deaths between 1990 and 2016.
|
diet;aging;spain
|
jp0009476
|
[
"national",
"science-health"
] |
2018/10/20
|
Okinawa's Tamaudun ancient royal mausoleum to be listed as national treasure
|
The Tamaudun ancient royal mausoleum in Okinawa will become the second cultural asset in the prefecture to be listed as a national treasure. The Council for Cultural Affairs submitted recommendations Friday for the national treasure listing, as well as eight designations as important cultural properties, to culture minister Masahiko Shibayama. The designations are expected to be officially announced soon. Built west of Shuri Castle in Naha, the prefecture’s capital, in 1501, Tamaudun was the mausoleum of the second Sho dynasty in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It has three chambers and is surrounded by stone walls. Bodies were first placed in the middle chamber. After the senkotsu bone-cleansing ritual, the remains of kings and queens were moved to the east room, and those of others to the west room. Tamaudun and Shuri Castle are part of the Gusuku Sites and Related Properties of the Kingdom of Ryukyu on the UNESCO World Heritage List. In Okinawa, Sho dynasty-related documents have already been designated as a national treasure. Tamaudun will be the first building to obtain the status there. The eight assets to be listed as important cultural properties include Osaki Shrine in the city of Mooka, Tochigi Prefecture. The shrine, which is said to have a history dating back over 1,500 years, is known for the colorful exterior decorations of its halls, including dragon reliefs and geometric designs. It is believed to have started the spread of decorative architecture in the Kanto region.
|
okinawa;history;archaeology
|
jp0009477
|
[
"national",
"media-national"
] |
2018/10/20
|
'Terrace House' opens its doors to LGBTQ members in Japan
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Warning: The following may contain minor spoilers for “Terrace House: Opening New Doors.” If you live in Japan and have either a passing interest in pop culture or a Netflix account, you’ve likely heard of “Terrace House.” The basic premise of this Japanese reality show is simple : Three men and three women are filmed living together in a spacious house as they go about their daily routines and, ideally, fall in love. The show doesn’t demand that the participants have to go on dates with one another — in every episode, a commentator named You says, “There is no script” — but it’s highly encouraged. The eligible bachelors and bachelorettes are a mix of regular people — college students, baristas, tap dance instructors and so forth — and a variety of plot-twist characters that you’re unlikely to run across on Tinder who are brought on to keep the show entertaining — a member of pop act AKB48 , the son of a wealthy CEO and a swimsuit model , among others. The latest member to put a fresh spin on the show is 21-year-old Shunsuke Ikezoe , an aspiring makeup artist from Tokyo who is openly questioning his sexuality and is leaning toward identifying as bisexual. (Ikezoe is later joined by 19-year-old fashion student Maya Kisanuki , who also casually mentions that she’s open to the possibility of being with a woman.) “Terrace House” has pretty much avoided any social commentary up to this point — none of its numerous hafū (mixed race) cast members have ever discussed discrimination in Japan, for example — but this time the TV program is consciously opening its doors to the LGBTQ community. In an interview on YouTube with more than 200,000 views, Ikezoe talks about his interest in hair and makeup, but also the discovery of his own sexuality. “If I lived in a environment with men and women, I thought I would be able to find something out about myself,” Ikezoe says in the video. “That’s the main reason (why I joined the show).” Social media channels, especially YouTube and Twitter, are infamous for being places where trolls can roam free and spread hate speech, but Ikezoe seems to have attracted mostly positive comments so far. His YouTube interview has a respectable ratio of 900 upvotes and only 100 downvotes. (Like many videos posted by corporate accounts in Japan, the comments section has been closed.) Ikezoe’s tweet announcing that he was joining “Terrace House” is full of messages of “Sugoi!” (“Wow!”) and “Ganbatte!” (“Good luck!”). “I’ve liked this show since forever ago, and this makes me happy!” wrote Twitter user @sakurappei . The same announcement on Instagram garnered equal amounts of praise, including comments from people who were happy to see LGBTQ representation on television. “I’ll start enjoying (the show) from now on,” wrote @hnka02. “I’m also bisexual, and I truly respect that you can say (you’re bi) with such courage,” wrote another user. Even Ikezoe’s co-stars gave him a warm reception after he explained that he is still trying to understand his sexual orientation. Cast member Noah Ishikura went the extra mile by mentioning that he has a bisexual friend outside of the show and later takes a bath with Ikezoe — just treating him like one of the guys. The panel of commentators on “Terrace House,” a group of TV personalities and comedians who dissect and mock every interaction on the weekly program, have shown great restraint thus far. They haven’t joked or acted puzzled about Ikezoe’s goal, a sign that the show is trying to keep up with the times. The positive response, both online and on TV, may reflect the open-mindedness of Japan’s younger generation. One survey from 2015 revealed that more than 70 percent of Japanese people aged 20-40 years old supported same-sex marriage. When taking all age groups into consideration, 51 percent said they were in favor. In addition, several cities across Japan have passed pro-LGBTQ legislation, including Tokyo with its new law that bans any discrimination based on sexual orientation. Meanwhile, other municipalities such as Sapporo and Naha have started issuing certificates that recognize same-sex couples. Ikezoe’s experience on “Terrace House” doesn’t necessarily mean it’s easy to be LGBTQ in Japan, however. The aforementioned 2015 survey also reported that 72 percent of respondents said that they would “feel reluctant to accept the fact their child is gay.” There has also been a recent barrage of anti-LGBTQ essays being published in Japan — backlash to which led to the suspension of Shincho 45 magazine . And a 2017 survey discovered that nearly 60 percent of LGBTQ people were bullied in elementary, middle or high school. Any potential for rude comments isn’t stopping Ikezoe from being himself on social media, though, whether he’s posting photos of him doing silly poses or pictures of his extensive makeup collection. In one Instagram post , Ikezoe thanks his online fans for being supportive and for coming up with cute nicknames for him. And he finishes the post by writing one simple and unapologetic hashtag: # burikko (#over-the-top cuteness).
|
social media;netflix;terrace house;japan pulse
|
jp0009478
|
[
"national",
"media-national"
] |
2018/10/20
|
Spotlight falls on Japan's female TV presenters
|
On Sept. 4, the new presenters for Nippon TV’s nightly news show, “News Zero,” were introduced at a press conference in Tokyo . It’s not unusual for TV stations to revamp current affairs shows, but the new version of “News Zero,” which premiered Oct. 1, has attracted more than the usual measure of attention because of its new anchorperson. Yumiko Udo was an announcer at NHK for 27 years before resigning in spring. Numerous media outlets competed for her services, with Nippon TV eventually winning. The network hired her for “News Zero” and then decided to replace most of the show’s roster, predominantly with young women. When it was Udo’s turn to comment at the news conference, she focused on age differences. Udo is 49, while the regular guest on the show, one of the few holdovers from the previous version, Sho Sakurai of boy band Arashi, is in his 30s. The other female presenters are in their 20s and, as Udo described them, “very fresh.” “I feel like the madame of a geisha house,” she said at the time. The comment was derided online and in various media. A show-biz journalist told Asagei Plus that Udo is a famously plain speaker, but she obviously isn’t good with metaphors — you can’t refer to newscasters as “geisha.” The new “News Zero” premiered without further incident and in its Oct. 6 “News Q3” media column, the Asahi Shimbun said Udo “made a good start.” Nevertheless, the Asahi Shimbun felt obliged to analyze her geisha comment and the reaction to it more closely. The column cited a tweet by former TV presenter Keiko Kojima, who questioned whether female newscasters were employed as presenters or offered little more than decoration, which is how she interpreted Udo’s remark. However, show-biz reporter Hiroyuki Sasaki believed that people were reading too much into it. All Udo was saying was that she was older than everyone else. Such self-deprecation was “typical of her style.” Columnist Nameko Shinsan surmised that Udo’s comment was a means of selling herself. She had secured a desirable job and needed to defuse any envious feelings on the part of viewers and fellow professionals. However, the remark highlighted something other than just the age discrepancy. Udo had burnished her brand as a “good talker” on NHK, where such a skill is difficult to cultivate owing to the public broadcaster’s overreliance on scripted content. For years Udo hosted NHK’s popular morning information show, “Asaichi,” where she developed a breezy style that kept things interesting and moving along. Thanks to her image, she was able to quit NHK in middle age without any negative career repercussions. NHK even released a statement after she announced her resignation on March 31 and wished her luck, an unusual move that, according to Gendai Business , indicated the broadcaster would welcome her back on a contract basis at any time. So, by referring to herself as a “madame” and her new colleagues as charges, a hierarchy was established, even if that wasn’t her intention. Gender studies associate professor Natsuno Kikuchi of Nagoya City University told the Asahi Shimbun that Udo’s remark was “careless,” since the geisha system was created under a patriarchy, and thus it reinforced the current structure of TV, where women are still hired for their appearance. Web magazine Litera made a similar point in relation to a different presenter. In late August, it ran a story about TV Asahi’s nightly news show, “Hodo Station,” which was also undergoing a makeover. The magazine had earlier reported that the show’s chief producer was being replaced by someone supposedly close to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. “Hodo Station” had always been a thorn in the side of the current administration and the content has since become less confrontational. In Litera’s view, “Hodo Station” has been dumbed down, with less analysis of current affairs and more sports. However, the most significant change has been the loss of presenter Ayaka Ogawa, who had been with the program since 2011. According to the weekly magazine Bunshun, Ogawa was bullied out of her position by anchor Yuta Tomikawa, but Litera prefers to think that TV Asahi’s management, in order to facilitate the new tone of “Hodo Station,” wanted to dull its journalistic edge and so transferred her to a different job within the company. Over the years, Ogawa had transcended her “decorative” function to tackle real reporting, usually on social issues. She was insightful, critical and questioning. Udo says she quit NHK to do newsgathering herself. After all, she originally applied to NHK for a reporter’s job . She may get the chance on “News Zero,” but so far the show is even fluffier than it was before she joined. Like many daytime “wide shows,” it spends most of its time on sensational stories, celebrity gossip and in-studio chatter, all of which Udo serves up with her legendary fluency. “News Zero” was never a model of hard-hitting journalism, but it’s now gone further into infotainment. By coincidence, another NHK veteran left the organization this summer, but with less fanfare and some bitterness on his part. Journalist Fuyuki Aizawa told another NHK alumnus, Jun Hori, during the latter’s radio program on Oct. 11 that he had been informed in May that he would be transferred to a nonreporting position within the company. Aizawa was responsible for an NHK scoop last year about the suspicious land deal secured from the government by private education corporation Moritomo Gakuen for a new school. Aizawa, who worked for NHK’s Osaka branch, believed that the story’s suggestions of favoritism in the government, which oversees the public broadcaster, had outraged senior NHK management in Tokyo, and he assumed that was the reason for the transfer. Since he wants to pursue the story further, he resigned and now works for a local newspaper. “I don’t hold a grudge against NHK,” Aizawa said. “I worked there 31 years. They trained me.” NHK made Aizawa a reporter, and then the broadcaster tried to take away his vocation. Udo also left NHK to do journalism, although it’s not clear at this point if anyone will let her.
|
nhk;nippon tv;yumiko udo;ayaka ogawa;fuyuki aizawa
|
jp0009479
|
[
"national",
"media-national"
] |
2018/10/20
|
Conservative magazines set sights on Ikegami
|
“I don’t watch much TV on my own,” writes university lecturer Atsushi Iwata in WiLL magazine (November), “but sometimes I watch together with my wife. I don’t particularly care about what she watches, but there are times when I ask her to change the channel — particularly when it’s a program with Akira Ikegami providing commentary.” Appearing in a collection of articles labeled “Media suicide,” which also attacked the liberal Asahi Shimbun as “An enemy of the people,” Iwata’s piece in WiLL was titled “What is it about Ikegami that’s impartial, fair and neutral?” That’s quite an accusation considering that the 68-year-old Ikegami is one of the most familiar faces on TV. A native of Nagano Prefecture, Ikegami joined NHK in 1973. From 1994 to 2005, he played the role of “Dad” in the half-hour “Weekly News for Kids.” Partly for this reason, Japan’s millenials grew up getting their news and commentary from a non-confrontational father figure, whose presence still resonates into their adulthood. In numerous popularity surveys, Ikegami has been ranked at or near the top as a critic, journalist and political commentator. In 2010, Ikegami’s trademark expression, “Ii shitsumon desu ne!” (That’s a good question!) ranked second in the year’s list of popular buzzwords. He was also rated first as the “ideal boss” in a 2012 survey by a major life insurance company. As it turned out, the November issues of two other conservative magazines, Seiron and Hanada, also ran articles critical of Ikegami’s journalistic ethics and credibility. It’s analogous to a slot machine hitting three lemons. Depending on the media format, Ikegami might be described a journalist, program moderator or commentator, although Japan Times contributor Philip Brasor uses the term “media explainer” to describe Ikegami’s most familiar role. It’s fair to say he’s extremely popular and attacks on him have been rare, up to now. What had Ikegami allegedly done, then, to warrant virtually simultaneous attacks in three magazines? At first glance, I thought the articles might be objecting to coverage of the late Emperor Taisho in his 253-page book, released on July 20, titled “Tenno to wa Nan Desu ka?” (“What is the Emperor?”). That book is part of a growing genre of printed matter about Japan’s Imperial family being issued in the lead-up to the abdication of Emperor Akihito, which is scheduled for next April. As reported by J-Cast News (Sept. 10), however, Ikegami appears to be embroiled in a dispute with Kazuo Yawata, a former Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry bureaucrat and currently a professor at Tokushima Bunri University. A day earlier, Yawata had posted on his Facebook page that a researcher employed by Ikegami had spent “considerable time” interviewing Yawata to obtain information for an upcoming program, but on that program Ikegami appears to have followed guidelines “so as to present the views expressed as his own.” According to J-Cast, journalist Kaori Arimoto also claimed she’d received similar treatment at Ikegami’s hands. And a large number of visitors went to Yawata’s Facebook page, leaving behind more than 2,500 likes within a few days of the posting. In the WiLL article, Iwata — not to be confused with Yawata — accuses Ikegami of engaging in kopipe (copying and pasting), that is, using source materials verbatim without giving proper attribution. His article devotes a full page to then-Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s meal schedule for the entire month of August 2010. Iwata’s intent was to debunk Ikegami’s praise of the prime minister as being a “regular guy” who often enjoyed a steaming bowl of ramen noodles. In fact, Kan did eat ramen — once, in Hayabusa-cho, near his office, on Aug. 27 of that year. On the other 30 days of that month, however, he dined at high-class specialty restaurants, in major hotels or at official functions. So, Iwata argues, for Ikegami to inform his viewers that the prime minister’s dietary intake was any more plebian than, say, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Taro Aso — who is privately wealthy and known for his high-rolling lifestyle — was, in Iwata’s words, an “editorial deception.” Meanwhile, in the November issue of Hanada — a spinoff founded two years ago by WiLL’s original editor, Kazuyoshi Hanada — an article by the same Kazuo Yawata mentioned in J-Cast News accuses Ikegami of engaging in “preposterous faking” and “ripping off material as common practice.” Another article by Yawata also appears in the 45th anniversary edition of Seiron, published by the Sankei Shimbun, which featured a special section titled “Media rhapsody” in which the aforementioned Yawata lambasted Ikegami for presenting “fiction” and labeled him with the creative sobriquet “ikega#metoo.” Without going into the specifics of his perceived injury at the hands of Ikegami, however, Yawata comes across as a bit touchy. While it’s probably no excuse, he surely realizes that in a tightly edited medium such as television, where literally every second of a broadcast counts, use of attribution can be daunting. The guidelines might encourage citing names such as Einstein or Newton, but refrain from mentioning obscure individuals who are unfamiliar to most viewers. As touched upon in this column two weeks ago concerning the demise of Shincho 45 magazine, Japan’s monthly A5 format periodicals have been struggling to maintain readership, and it may be that iconoclastic attacks on a popular TV persona are further evidence of a trend toward more abrasive reporting — a sign of the times that mirrors the media wars going on in other countries.
|
akira ikegami;will;seiron;hanada
|
jp0009481
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/10/20
|
For Kyoto, a chance to lead Japan in fight against food loss
|
Compared with constitutional revision, the economy, celebrity gossip and pontificating (if not panicking) over geopolitical changes in East Asia and Japan’s role in those changes, Japan’s mainstream media and politicians had, until recently, given environmental issues less attention. Suddenly, though, the environment is back on the agenda. A record-hot summer and natural disasters in Kansai and western Japan, including the flooding of Kansai airport, drove home the importance of dealing with climate change. But in cities like Kyoto, where international tourism drives large sectors of the local economy, waste and garbage and the environmental challenges it presents are the more immediate, pressing problems. Japan’s ubiquitous use of plastic and the environmental problems it creates has long been noted by those from countries with strict local ordinances or national legislation to control it. Related to the plastic waste problem is one that shocked visitors from countries where food shortages and starvation remain issues: Japan’s huge volume of wasted food that often comes in plastic containers. The Environment Ministry estimated food loss at about 6.46 million tons in 2015. That’s more than double the nearly 3.2 million tons of food assistance that was distributed worldwide in 2014, according to the United Nations’ World Food Programme. Local governments around the country are making efforts to reduce food loss and food waste, and Kyoto recently announced it will make reducing food loss a top priority. Earlier this month, Mayor Daisaku Kadokawa cited the 6.46-million-ton food loss figure in announcing new efforts. The city’s calculations are that food loss in Kyoto, with a population of 1.4 million, is about 64,000 tons annually — 1 percent of Japan’s total. Kyoto’s goal is to reduce food loss to 50,000 tons by 2020. To achieve that goal means pressuring food sellers and distributors to revise the so-called one-third rule, whereby the period from when a food product is produced to its designated “sell by” date is divided into three shorter periods. The first is the amount of time for food manufacturers to get the food to retailers. The second is the period in which retailers are supposed to sell the product. The end of the remaining period is by when consumers are recommended to eat it. Missing one of these arbitrary “deadlines” can mean food is thrown away, despite the fact that it remains safe to eat. Some supermarkets in Kyoto have responded to efforts to change the rules, and Kadokawa says they have the backing of most Kyoto residents. But the tougher problem, not limited to Kyoto, is getting convenience stores to rethink the way they operate so as to reduce food loss. There were more than 55,000 convenience stores nationwide as of August, according to data from the Japan Franchise Association. Kyoto Prefecture had just over 1,000, and unofficial estimates from Kyoto-based environmental activists say the city of Kyoto has at least 600 convenience stores. Aware Kyoto’s international reputation could take a serious hit if environmentally conscious customers, regardless of nationality, don’t see more efforts to combat food loss in restaurants, supermarkets and convenience stores — which is increasing due to the tourist boom — Kyoto at least recognizes food loss reduction is now a pressing economic, political and public relations, as well as environmental, issue. The next step is enacting even tougher legal measures of the kind found in other countries on food suppliers and retailers to control food and plastic waste. Japan’s convenience stores have benefitted from the tourism boom in Kyoto and elsewhere. They are politically powerful and will fight hard to ensure reduction policies are as voluntary as possible. However, if Kyoto is serious about becoming a role model for the rest of the nation in reducing food loss, the mayor and the city know that it’s now time to take that next step. View from Osaka is a monthly column that examines the latest news from a Kansai perspective.
|
waste;food waste;plastic;plastic waste
|
jp0009482
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2018/10/18
|
Tokyo stocks turn down on falls in Shanghai and profit-taking
|
Stocks turned lower on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Thursday, dragged down by profit-taking after a two-day rally and selling spurred by weak Shanghai stocks. The 225-issue Nikkei average lost 182.96 points, or 0.80 percent, to end at 22,658.16, after surging 291.88 points on Wednesday. The Topix index of all first-section issues closed down 9.23 points, or 0.54 percent, at 1,704.64. It added 25.96 points the previous day. After opening slightly higher, both indices slipped into the negative side as weak Shanghai stock movements battered investor sentiment, brokers said. The Nikkei and Topix accelerated their downswings in the afternoon amid a dearth of fresh buying incentives, brokers said. “I had expected Tokyo stocks to move on a firm note on the back of the yen’s weakening against the dollar, but it appeared that positive effects from a weaker yen were more than offset by bearish Shanghai stocks,” said Tomoaki Fujii, head of the investment research division at Akatsuki Securities Inc. The Chinese yuan dropped versus the dollar after the release of the U.S. Treasury Department’s semiannual currency report, which refrained from naming China as a currency manipulator. “How far the yuan falls warrant attention,” an official of a major securities firm said. “Selling on rallies and profit-taking hit the market after two days of gains,” an official at a bank-affiliated securities firm said. Some investors retreated to the sidelines ahead of earnings releases from major Japanese companies from next week, Fujii said. Falling issues outnumbered rising ones 1,313 to 709 in the TSE’s first section, while 87 issues were unchanged. Volume decreased to 1.228 billion shares from 1.290 billion shares on Wednesday. Semiconductor-related issues met with selling after their U.S. peers fared poorly overnight. Tokyo Electron slumped 1.7 percent, Sumco 3.78 percent and Screen 5.19 percent. Lower crude oil prices hurt oil names, among them JXTG and Inpex. Other major losers included industrial equipment manufacturers Yaskawa Electric and Fanuc, and cosmetics makers Shiseido and Kose. By contrast, major real estate companies displayed strength as they were considered to be undervalued, brokers said. Major gainers included Mitsui Fudosan, Mitsubishi Estate and Tokyu Fudosan. Also higher were megabank groups Mitsubishi UFJ and Mizuho. In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the key December contract on the Nikkei average dropped 300 points to end at 22,590.
|
stocks;tse;nikkei 225
|
jp0009483
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"science-health-asia-pacific"
] |
2018/10/18
|
A blue pill is stopping HIV, world-first study shows
|
SYDNEY - An antiviral pill taken daily by thousands of men across Sydney and other parts of Australia led to a globally unprecedented reduction in new HIV cases, showing that a targeted, preventative approach may accelerate progress on ending the AIDS epidemic. New cases of HIV among gay and bisexual men fell by almost a third to the lowest on record, according to the world’s first study to measure the impact of Gilead Sciences Inc.’s Truvada pill on reducing the AIDS-causing virus in a large population. The results, published Thursday in the Lancet HIV medical journal, may pave the way for other states and countries to stop transmission of the virus with the use of a treatment called pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). “The speed of the decline we’ve seen in new HIV infections in gay and bisexual men is a world first,” said study leader Andrew Grulich, head of HIV epidemiology and prevention at the Kirby Institute of the University of New South Wales. “These numbers are the lowest on record since HIV surveillance began in 1985.” Progress against AIDS over the past 15 years has inspired a commitment by U.N. member states to end the epidemic by 2030. The number of people newly infected with HIV fell to 1.8 million worldwide in 2017, from more than 3 million a year through most of the 1990s. While the study results can’t be generalized to indicate similar efficacy in heterosexual populations, they do demonstrate that PrEP is “highly cost-effective” in certain high-risk groups, Grulich said in a phone interview. New HIV infections occurred in 102 gay and bisexual men in the state of New South Wales in the first year after the study began, compared with 149 infections in the 12 months prior. “While we’ve known for at least three or four years now of individual-level efficacy of PrEP, there has been some reticence around the world by policymakers to properly fund the roll out of PrEP because the population impact hasn’t been shown — and that’s what we set out to do,” Grulich said. There were about 180,000 people in the U.S. taking Truvada for PrEP at the end of June, Robin L. Washington, Gilead’s chief financial officer, said on a conference call in July. The blue, oval-shaped pill is a fixed-dose combination of the drugs tenofovir, disoproxil and emtricitabine. Generic versions of Truvada made by Mylan NV, Cipla Ltd. and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. have made the medication available more cheaply. “We see the nice steady growth of Truvada for the use of PrEP,” Gilead Chief Executive Officer John F. Milligan told the Morgan Stanley Global Health Care Conference last month. Areas of the U.S. with the highest uptake of PrEP had achieved some of the best reductions in HIV infections, he said. “I’m more confident now that the policymakers are being very innovative in thinking about how to increase access to PrEP,” Milligan said. “So we’ll be working on a number of things in the coming year that could really increase the number of patients on PrEP and could be very good for preventing the infection, and of course good for our business as well.”
|
medicine;disease;hiv
|
jp0009484
|
[
"national",
"social-issues"
] |
2018/10/18
|
Women taking on more front-line roles in Japan's military
|
A growing number of women in the Self-Defense Forces are entering formerly male-dominated fields, with one recently becoming the country’s first-ever female fighter pilot. “I want to become a full-fledged pilot, no different from men,” 1st Lt. Misa Matsushima of the Air Self-Defense Force told reporters in late August after a ceremony at a base in Miyazaki Prefecture to mark the completion of a training course to become an F-15 fighter pilot. The 27-year-old Matsushima, who stands just 159 centimeters tall, had dreamed of becoming a fighter pilot ever since watching the hit movie “Top Gun” starring Tom Cruise, which portrays young naval aviators, when she was in elementary school. “I’ll be glad if more women are motivated to become fighter pilots because of me,” she said. The ASDF lifted the gender restriction on women operating fighter jets as well as reconnaissance aircraft in November 2015. Until then, the Defense Ministry had considered the conditions too severe for women because of the extreme G-forces involved in flying fighter jets, which at times make it difficult for pilots to even breathe. At the ministry’s Joint Staff, which is in charge of the SDF’s entire operation, some female officials from the Maritime Self-Defense Force and ASDF now occupy important posts. In the Ground Self-Defense Force, women have taken on roles across a wide range of activities. For example, the regimental commander for logistics support, who leads some 700 subordinates, is female, while women have also become attack helicopter pilots and restrictions on them becoming tank drivers have been lifted. The commander of the 1st Escort Division of the MSDF, a four-ship squadron including the flagship helicopter carrier Izumo, which has a crew of 1,000, is also a woman. The ministry has also started considering allowing women to work aboard submarines. If the plan is put into action, the only restrictions remaining for female members will be GSDF corps that handle dangerous substances and those dispatched to areas where the work involves inhaling hazardous dust particles, for example during tunneling operations. These two corps are subject to placement limitations under the domestic Labor Standards Law, which contains provisions protecting women from harmful substances that could affect pregnancies, according to the Defense Ministry. While the recent trend of promoting women to the front lines in fields of national defense reflects the government’s “female empowerment policy,” the ministry is also trying to utilize more female members to ease a human resources shortage. As of the end of March, the number of working SDF members stood at 226,789 out of the full quota of 247,154, a 91.8 percent placement rate. Women numbered 14,686, accounting for only 6.5 percent of the all members, although the ministry says it aims to have women account for more than 9 percent by 2030. To secure enough personnel, a high-ranking ministry official said it is “urgently necessary” to appoint more women to a wider range of jobs, including high-ranking posts, with the ministry considering measures such as raising the upper limit on the job seeker’s age and the retirement age. But obstacles stand in the way to adding more female SDF members due to a lack of women’s facilities, such as suitable lodgings. Even the National Defense Academy, the educational body located in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, that trains future officer candidates, has limited facilities for women. The academy restricted the quota for female applicants to 60 out of a total of 480 positions for the entrance examination held for fiscal 2018. Renovations are not only needed in the workplace to employ more women but also at some training facilities. “Although we’d like to boost the number of female officers, we can’t possibly manage it due to the significant amount of money required to renovate the facilities,” said another high-ranking ministry official. To create a more women-friendly work environment, the ministry set up day care centers for children inside some garrisons and bases, and revised its system so that it can re-employ former female members who have left to raise children. Four women were rehired from January through September based on the amended system. “When we have to dispatch our personnel for natural disaster rescue operations or international missions, female members are in demand because they are usually easier to talk with. We want to aim to be an organization with diversity,” said another top-ranking official.
|
gender;women;self defense forces
|
jp0009485
|
[
"national",
"social-issues"
] |
2018/10/18
|
Abe wants foreigners to bolster Japan's shrinking workforce but finds vocal resistance
|
A strict immigration policy has helped make Japan one of the world’s oldest and most homogeneous societies. Now, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s plan to invite as many as half a million foreign workers is testing the country’s tolerance for change. Abe is preparing to introduce legislation to allow migrants to start filling vacancies next year in sectors worst hit by the country’s shrinking population. While the government hasn’t released a target, local media including Kyodo News have reported numbers that would represent a 40 percent increase over the 1.3 million foreign workers now living in the country. In a sign of urgency, Abe’s government has announced an April start date for the policy even before debate has begun in the Diet. The proposal is among the first he’s seeking to tackle after winning a historic third term as head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party last month, paving the way for him to become the country’s longest-ever serving prime minister. If passed, the legislation would amount to Japan’s most dramatic immigration overhaul since the 1990s, when it let “trainees” from Asian nations in the country. Foreigners made up only about 1.7 percent of the country’s population as of April, compared with 3.4 percent in South Korea and about 12 percent in Germany. Abe got a reminder of the risks Sunday as more than 100 noisy protesters marched through Tokyo’s upmarket Ginza shopping district, waving Imperial army flags and urging the plan’s withdrawal. Although the group was outnumbered by police and pursued by counterprotesters chanting “racists go home,” they appeared keen to tap into anti-immigrant sentiments that have bubbled up elsewhere in the developed world. The organizer calls itself Japan First, an allusion to U.S. President Donald Trump’s “America First” policies. “Far-right parties have very little support in Japan,” said Eriko Suzuki, a professor who researches migration at Kokushikan University. “But there are a lot more people, a kind of reserve army, who are vaguely concerned about admitting foreigners. If the government doesn’t put together appropriate policies, that unease will increase.” The risks of inaction could be just as great, as Japan’s declining population takes its toll on the economy. In a survey published by the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry in June, two-thirds of companies said they were short of workers. The number of companies folding because of a lack of workers jumped by 40 percent in the first half of the financial year, compared with the same period in 2017, according to Teikoku Databank Ltd. Abe’s plan, set to be introduced in the parliamentary session beginning later this month, calls for creating two classes of foreign workers to serve in about 10 as-yet-unspecified industries. Lower-skilled migrants would be allowed to stay for as long as five years and barred from bringing their families. More highly skilled workers could bring family members and stay longer. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said earlier this month that the total number of new workers hasn’t been determined. “It’s a sea change in Japan’s immigration policy,” said Ippei Torii of Solidarity Network with Migrants Japan, who has for decades worked to support foreign workers experiencing problems. “Japan is finally getting around to thinking about how to deal with this.” Mikio Okamura, the head of the Tokyo chapter of Japan First, called for the government to spend money on improving pay and conditions for Japanese citizens, rather than relying on foreigners. “Before you let in foreigners, you should deal with Japan’s unemployed. We want them to use tax money to do that,” Okamura said. “Then, we would have Japanese people looking after the elderly. That would be the happiest result for the Japanese and for the foreigners, as well.” Other more mainstream groups have expressed concerns, with Japan’s Trade Union Confederation questioning the lack of public debate in a letter submitted to the government in August. The group, known as Rengo, has said that foreign workers shouldn’t be accepted without careful consideration. Japan has had a difficult history with attracting foreign blue-collar workers. The country invited in Brazilians and Peruvians of Japanese descent when the economy was growing, but ended up offering to pay them to leave after the 2008 financial crisis. A system of accepting mostly Asian “trainees” — launched in 1993 and officially intended to transfer skills to developing countries — turned out mostly to provide a supply of labor at less than minimum wage, while often preventing participants from leaving jobs where they were treated badly. Japanese media regularly report on foreign students struggling with massive debts owed to the shady brokers who bring them over. Some of these issues are tackled in an outline of the coming legislation published on Oct. 11. Under it, foreign workers must be paid at least as much as their Japanese counterparts, and they will be allowed to change jobs within the same sector. Nevertheless, their presence will hold down wages, some economists say — working against Abe’s six-year push to raise incomes and fight against deflation. The influx of labor will also hold back necessary progress in improving productivity, said Yoichi Kaneko, a former lawmaker and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development economist, who now works for an IT firm. “The labor shortage is a reality, but if you bring in foreigners, working conditions will not improve and the minimum wage will not rise,” Kaneko said. “That may be good for companies, but for the workers it’s not good at all.”
|
shinzo abe;rengo;foreign workers;labor shortage;japan first
|
jp0009486
|
[
"national",
"crime-legal"
] |
2018/10/18
|
21-year prison term upheld for ex-NHK reporter found guilty of raping three women
|
SENDAI - A high court on Thursday upheld a lower court ruling that sentenced a former reporter for public broadcaster NHK to 21 years in prison for raping three women. The defense for Yasutaka Tsurumoto, 30, claimed someone with a grudge against the former journalist may have left materials carrying his DNA at the crime scenes, but the Sendai High Court rejected his appeal. “No involvement of a third party was possible as materials derived only from the defendant were detected,” Judge Fumio Shimahara said in handing down the ruling. Tsurumoto’s defense team said they will discuss it over with the defendant and decide whether to appeal. According to the rulings, Tsurumoto broke into the residences of the women, each in their 20s, and sexually assaulted them in three separate incidents — in Yamanashi Prefecture in December 2013 and October 2014 and in Yamagata Prefecture in February 2016. Two of the victims sustained injuries. Tsurumoto worked at the broadcaster’s Kofu and Yamagata bureaus after he was hired by NHK in 2011. He was dismissed in February 2017. The defense denied the rape charges at the Yamagata District Court and the high court.
|
rape;ruling;nhk;yamanashi;sendai;yamagata
|
jp0009487
|
[
"world",
"offbeat-world"
] |
2018/10/27
|
Possible world's oldest woman turns 118 in Bolivia
|
LA PAZ - The oldest woman in Bolivia, and perhaps the world, turned 118 on Friday, remaining lucid and in good health, authorities in the South American country said. Julia Flores was born in 1900 in a Quechua family in the mining region of Potosi in the country’s south. Known as “Mama Julia,” Flores celebrated her birthday among family, friends and local authorities from Sacaba, where she now lives in the center of Bolivia. In a country where the average life expectancy is 71, Flores is an exception to the rule. If her age was officially recognized, she would be the oldest living person and third-oldest of all time, but she hasn’t been confirmed by the Guinness Book of Records. “It’s a day of recognition for us, to celebrate the oldest woman in our country,” Juan Carvajal, a public employee in Sacaba, told the Los Tiempos de Cochabamba newspaper. Dressed in traditional Quechua clothes, complete with white sombrero, Flores played the charango — a type of Andean lute — at her party and tucked into a birthday cake. She lives in a small mud-brick house with a tight garden where she keeps dogs, cats and chickens that her 65-year-old niece, Augustina Verna looks after. The Bolivian Andes is no stranger to longevity; the region produced Carmelo Flores — no relation to Mama Julia — from the Aymara people who allegedly lived until 123, which if recognized would have made him the oldest person ever. The oldest person ever, as recorded by Guinness, was Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment, who was 122 years, 164 days when she died in 1997.
|
aging;bolivia;records
|
jp0009488
|
[
"world",
"offbeat-world"
] |
2018/10/27
|
Balkan chefs break pancake record
|
SARAJEVO - A team of Balkan chefs rustled up a record number of a pancakes on Friday, making 14,186 in eight hours at Sarajevo’s tourist fair. Using 300 liters of oil, 600 kilograms of flour and 400 liters of milk, the 140 cooks from Bosnia, Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Slovenia kept the frying pans turning in an improvised open-air kitchen under autumn sunshine as 15 judges looked on. Many of the pancakes were served to visitors to the fair and organizers — who must await ratification of their claim from Guinness World Records — said they would hand the rest to volunteer organizations for distribution to vulnerable groups. The existing official record of 12,716 pancakes was set in Moscow in 2017.
|
food;records;stunts
|
jp0009489
|
[
"asia-pacific"
] |
2018/10/27
|
Malaysia to phase out imports of plastic waste from developing countries
|
KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia is taking steps to limit imports of plastic waste, which has flooded the country since China stopped taking in foreign scrap for recycling, housing minister Zuraida Kamaruddin said on Friday. The nation will phase out imports of all types of plastic — including “clean” plastic — in three years, the minister said. Malaysia has become the top destination for plastic waste exporters such as the United States and Britain, having received nearly half a million tons from its top 10 source countries between January and July. The trigger was a Chinese ban on waste imports from the beginning of this year. China took 7 million tons of plastic scrap last year. At a news conference on Friday, Zuraida said Malaysia would stop issuing new permits for importing plastic waste. It already had a three-month freeze on imports that ended this week. “We will limit the import of plastic waste from developing countries. So we will limit the imports to only from the United States, Europe and Japan, for quality plastics,” said the minister, who oversees the waste management department. The United States, the world’s top exporter of plastic waste, sent 178,238 tons of it to Malaysia between January and July, nearly twice as much as it sent to the second-top destination, Thailand, according to the United Nations trade database and the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries. Britain sends a quarter of its waste to Malaysia. Dozens of factories have opened up in Malaysia to handle plastic waste, many without an operating license, using low-end technology and environmentally harmful methods of disposal, Reuters reported on Thursday. Minister Zuraida said authorities would take action to shut down illegal plants.
|
malaysia;china;pollution;recycling;waste;plastic;plastic waste
|
jp0009490
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"social-issues-asia-pacific"
] |
2018/10/27
|
Hundreds of thousands march for marriage equality in Taiwan amid referendum debate
|
TAIPEI - Hundreds of thousands of people marched through Taiwan’s capital on Saturday to press the government to deliver on its promise of marriage equality amid an increasingly heated debate over whether civil laws should recognize same-sex marriage. In Asia’s first such ruling, Taiwan’s Constitutional Court declared in May last year that same-sex couples have the right to legally marry, and set a two-year deadline for legalization. But the self-ruled island will hold a series of public votes on same-sex marriage on Nov. 24, after its election authority approved separate referendum petitions from both conservative and rights groups. The move has revived a debate over a possible separate law for civil unions between gay couples and presents a challenge to President Tsai Ing-wen, who rights activists say has made little progress on the issue despite campaigning on a promise of marriage equality in the run-up to elections in 2016. The 16th annual parade in Taipei, the largest of its kind in East Asia, featured colorful costumes, musical performances and rainbow flags as protesters gathered near the Presidential Office. Many called the proposal to make a separate law for gay marriage “discriminatory,” citing the 2017 ruling that current laws violate the right to freedom of marriage and equality. Carrying banners saying “Vote for your happy future,” the marchers shouted “Defeat discrimination.” “We will use our vote to tell Tsai Ing-wen’s government that people want marriage equality,” said Miao Poya, who joined the parade and was one of the activists who proposed a referendum in favor of same-sex marriage. Organizers said some 137,000 attended Saturday’s parade. Society is still divided on same-sex marriage, Tsai said this year, but the government will abide by the constitutional court ruling of May 2017. The public votes will coincide with mayoral and magisterial elections on the democratic island, which is seen as a beacon of liberalism in the region.
|
taiwan;same-sex marriage;taipei
|
jp0009491
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"crime-legal-asia-pacific"
] |
2018/10/27
|
China to expel former Interpol chief Meng Hongwei from advisory body, doesn't say where bribery suspect is being held
|
BEIJING - China will expel former Interpol chief Meng Hongwei from a high-profile though largely ceremonial advisory body to parliament, state media reported, after the Chinese government put him under investigation for bribery and other violations. Under President Xi Jinping, China has been engaged in a sweeping crackdown on official corruption. Earlier this month, Interpol, the France-based global police coordination body, said that Meng had resigned as its president, after French authorities said the Chinese official had been reported missing by his wife after traveling to his home country. It is unclear where Meng is being held and it has not been possible to reach him for comment. It is also unclear if he has been allowed to retain legal representation. In the latest move by the Chinese government against Meng, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, which advises parliament though has no legislative powers, has decided to dismiss him from the body, state media said late on Friday. The decision still needs formal approval from the body’s standing committee, the official Xinhua News Agency said, though this will only be a formality. Meng had been a member of the body’s foreign affairs committee. Members of the advisory body do not enjoy immunity from prosecution, unlike members of China’s largely rubber-stamp parliament. Meng, 64 and a deputy minister of public security, became president of the global police cooperation agency in late 2016 amid a broader effort by China to secure leadership posts in international organizations. His appointment prompted concern at the time from rights groups that Beijing might try to leverage his position to pursue dissidents abroad.
|
china;corruption;interpol;meng hongwei
|
jp0009492
|
[
"national",
"science-health"
] |
2018/10/27
|
Salivary glands and other organs grown in laboratory
|
When, in the 20th century, cell biologists learned to grow tissue samples in the laboratory, it transformed our understanding of how cells grow and how they react to disease. Crucially, it allowed us to test drug treatments on living cells before risking them in a person. But tissue samples growing in petri dishes are two dimensional; they are poor substitutes for the solid organs in our bodies. So scientists have recently started coaxing cells to grow in three dimensions. The blobs of tissue they create are called organoids; they are not fully-functioning organs, but nor are they mere sheets of cells. There are organoids of heart, kidney, liver, breast, retina and even brain tissue. Scientists use organoids to examine organ development and growth and, when investigating diseases such as cancer, the effect of genetic tweaks can be much more easily assessed. The dream, however is to grow organoids in the lab and transplant them into our bodies to replace damaged or diseased tissue. If you have kidney disease, you could get a transplant of a brand new kidney grown from your own tissue. If you have heart disease, you might get healthy new heart tissue. Or if you have a brain injury or degenerative disease such as Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s, it might even be possible one day to have your brain augmented with a brain organoid. Now, scientists at Showa University School of Dentistry in Tokyo and the Riken Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research have for the first time successfully grown organoids of salivary glands and transplanted them into mice. The organoids produced saliva like normal glands. Salivary glands — the things that make your mouth water when you see (or smell) delicious food — are important for digestion and for swallowing, but can be damaged. Kenji Mishima of Showa University says at least 8 million people in Japan suffer from “dry mouth” condition. “We would like to develop a new treatment for severe dry mouth patients using regenerative medicine,” he says. Mishima, in collaboration with Takashi Tsuji of Riken, took on the challenge of re-creating salivary gland organoids. They grew the tissue from embryonic stem cells — special cells that have the ability to develop into different kinds of tissue in the body. Once they managed to control the genetic switches that lead to the growth of a salivary gland from a stem cell and tested that the organoid it was very similar to actual salivary glands, Mishima and Tsuji transplanted the tissue into mice that lacked salivary glands. The scientists found that the implanted organoids connected to the mouse’s nerve tissue, and when the mouse was fed they secreted real saliva. “It was incredibly exciting to see that the tissues we created actually functioned in a living animal,” says Mishima. “This is an important proof of concept that organoids are a valid alternative to actual organs.” Mishima and Tsuji are now attempting to grow salivary glands from human stem cells. They hope to try transplanting a human organoid in a patient with dry mouth syndrome very soon — perhaps within a year. Organoids of human brain tissue have already been grown. A Chinese team earlier this year used brain organoids to study the effect of nicotine on brain development. (Their work shows that exposure to nicotine impairs fetal brain development.) A project at the Salk Institute in the United States, also earlier this year, successfully transplanted living organoids of human brain into the brains of mice. The organoid brain tissue continued growing and connected with the mouse brains. OK, it was only tiny blobs of brain tissue implanted into brains the size of the end of your thumb, but it’s a big deal. Imagine when in the near future we start to try similar transplants with humans. Also consider the ethical issues raised by growing living chunks of brain in the lab. If scientists take your stem cells and use them to grow a brain organoid, is that your brain or theirs? And how big does the brain organoid have to become before you start worrying about its rights? The field of regenerative medicine is moving fast and is incredibly exciting. It will open the doors to all kinds of advanced treatments, as well as medical ethics questions that people are only just starting to think about. So far, however, the work of Mishima and Tsuji is proving less ethically challenging. Tsuji, who has worked on ethically “safe” tissues such as hair and skin, says, “We continue to work to develop functional tissues to replace the functions of various organs, and we hope that these experiments will soon find their way into the clinic and help patients suffering from a variety of disorders.”
|
disease;cancer;dna;organs;tissue
|
jp0009493
|
[
"national",
"media-national"
] |
2018/10/27
|
Some YouTubers in Japan have taken going for a drive to the next level
|
Ever wanted to escape the stress of life in the big city, spend some time in the countryside and just … cook up a Philly cheesesteak and play video games ? Well, that’s what the creator behind YouTube channel TerusanTV does on a regular basis. The Tokyo resident uploads videos often starting with shots of the capital overlaid with text outlining how exhausting life as a salaryman can be. To remedy it, Teru- san makes a beeline for the countryside. Once he arrives at locations in such places as the Chiba coast or the Yamanashi mountains , he just relaxes in his car, prepares some food using a selection of portable kitchen tools and occasionally even enjoys a beer. TerusanTV has charmed many, both domestically and abroad . The channel currently boasts more than 133,000 subscribers, while uploads typically record six-digit view counts. Comments posted under each clip are a mix of awe at what he’s doing, and a desire to follow his lead and indulge in similar activities. Pages online are devoted to learning more about him, while users on Twitter gush about how his content gets them nostalgic for youth or helps them with daily healing . His channel is just one of many — both intentionally and unintentionally — helping those in Japan imagine life outside of sprawling cities. It’s a trend that has been growing outside of the internet in recent years, but not everyone is able to pack up and ship off to the countryside. Many turn to YouTube to live vicariously through others who are able to experience a bit of the slow life. And this desire is propelling a number of creators forward. These creators often have more to offer than just snapshots of a simpler life in the countryside. TerusanTV is one of several high-profile names in the world of videos starring people who basically camp in their motor vehicles. Even more prominent, however, is a channel called Runtime , with more than 145,000 subscribers. The Okayama-based creator behind the channel shows how one can live life from the backseat, whether that’s by demonstrating how to cook oden in a motor vehicle or how to get through a typhoon . There are also camping YouTubers such as Hiroshi Channel and Kentarou In The Woods , who rough it in the wilderness outside of an automobile. One of the big attractions to these videos is the adventurous spirit demonstrated by the creators. Runtime’s Twitter profile mentions it specifically, stating that they have the ability to wander as freely as they like (at least in the videos). Given how many people have to move to major cities to pursue work and other opportunities — Tokyo and its vicinity is the only metropolitan center in Japan that recorded a growing population in 2018 — watching someone else live how they want must be appealing. It helps that the speed of life in rural parts of the country looks significantly slower than urban life. Being envious of how easy-breezy those in the countryside have it isn’t a new development — it has been a central theme to all sorts of Japanese pop culture creations, from enka music to the animated film “Your Name.” — but the internet has made it easier to take a sneak peek into other people’s lives. In my opinion, no channel on YouTube does this better than Momo And Ten , which focuses on a dog and a cat in Kagoshima Prefecture. Their videos have becomes staples on daily trending rankings, and that’s probably because of how cute the animals are . Still, I’m also charmed by their owner’s spacious, old-school house, surrounded by fields and trees. And then there’s their general easy-going life . Maybe it’s a bit ridiculous to be jealous of two pets, but I don’t think I’m alone in wondering what it would be like to just ditch the crowded trains in favor of incessant insect noises. Online, there are no shortage of ways to indulge in the simple life. You can watch YouTubers wander through small towns or, if you prefer not to listen to people babble, watch a slideshow . The countryside has proven popular with non-Japanese creators too, while a recent “walking simulator” called “ Nostalgic Train ” is built around a longing for the countryside ( you can bet that people film themselves playing it ). The Instagram hashtags for rural life , meanwhile, make it look like a dream. However, like most fantasies, this longing for life in the countryside is probably best experienced digitally. Moving away from social media, you encounter stories of young folks who did relocate to the countryside, only to find that it doesn’t match up to their expectations at all. Even videos outlining the pros and cons of the city vs. the country remind viewers that all the good parts (no congested trains) are countered by less than stellar realities (everything closes early, everyone knows what everyone else is doing). Maybe seeing it through the eyes of other people — and pets — is actually the best way to go?
|
youtube;terusantv;momo and ten;runtime;hiroshi channel;kenatrou in the woods
|
jp0009495
|
[
"national",
"media-national"
] |
2018/10/27
|
Proposed reform to Japan's immigration law causes concern
|
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe receives a lot of grief from left-leaning pundits who consider his policies and outlook regressive, but right-leaning commentators aren’t always enamored of the country’s leader either. They voice frustration at his refusal to visit the controversial Yasukuni Shrine and find it humiliating that he gives in to U.S. President Donald Trump on matters they see as being vital to Japan’s interests, especially those having to do with trade. Their biggest beef at the moment is the proposed revisions to Japan’s immigration laws , a description that makes sense only in English because the government has never used the word “immigrant” ( imin ) in the context of the laws. The aim of the revisions, which are now being discussed in the Diet, is to increase the number of foreign workers in Japan. Many conservatives are upset because they see the revisions as inevitably leading to more foreign people moving to and eventually settling in Japan, a situation they oppose. Economist Takaaki Mitsuhashi represented this view in an Oct. 11 post on his blog , arguing that the Abe administration was intent on advancing an “immigrant policy.” He says the government is anxious about the labor shortage brought on by the low birthrate and subsequent loss of “productive-age workers.” Mitsuhashi blames this situation on the private sector, which, following the austerity policies implemented by the administration of Ryutaro Hashimoto in 1997, has neglected to invest in resources that would increase productivity. The growth rationale of the business community since the dawn of the new millennium has been based on keeping costs down, chiefly by suppressing wages, he says. “Some services in Japan are cheaper than those in Southeast Asian countries,” Mitsuhashi writes in the blog post, and thus Japan has become “poorer” due to deflation. Nevertheless, he adds, Japan’s “excellent” human resources means Japanese goods and services remain superior in terms of quality, which is one of the reasons for the recent foreign tourist boom. If owners properly invested in productivity improvements, he argues, the labor problem would not be as bad, but they see less risk in holding down pay, and so to them the only solution to the resulting labor crunch is more foreign workers, who toil for less money. Other media have expanded on this theme. Last week’s issue of the weekly magazine Shukan Shincho made the case that increasing the number of foreign workers in Japan will place downward pressure on wages for all workers in Japan, in turn creating conflicts between Japanese and foreign residents. The Sankei Shimbun editorialized that Japan should figure out a way to survive with a dwindling native population. These economic arguments don’t usually channel the cruder protests of far-right groups , who simply say they don’t want Japan to be overrun by hordes of foreign workers bringing their families and destroying the cultural purity of the nation, but, in a sense, they imply the same thing: Foreign workers are inherently bad for Japan. In his blog, Mitsuhashi points to problems with guest workers in Germany as an illustration. In a long front-page feature published on Oct. 21, the liberal Asahi Shimbun pondered the possibility of foreign people coming to work and staying to live permanently, an option partially addressed by the proposed revisions. In principle, foreign workers are not able to live in Japan for more than five years. The article provided detailed examples of foreign nationals who have come to Japan with specific visa statuses, from “specialists” to “trainees” to “students,” and concluded that, with 1.28 million foreign workers in Japan as of Oct. 2017, Japan is already a “mixed society.” The reality of productivity decline has necessitated the “acceptance” of more foreign workers who make their homes here, but the government position is that Japan does not accept “immigrants,” and so it does not address these workers’ situations, in particular “co-existing with Japanese people.” The government’s vague position in this regard is to rely on independent organizations to help foreign workers cope with life in Japan, but if the government does nothing to solve inequalities, they will lead to problems with genuine social costs. In a continuation of the piece published the next day , the Asahi Shimbun acknowledged that hiring more foreign workers at lower wages could jeopardize the jobs of lower-paid Japanese contract and temp workers, who increasingly constitute a large portion of the country’s workforce. As the business structure becomes more reliant on cheap labor, more people will find it difficult to make a living. Is the Asahi Shimbun’s position substantially different from Mitsuhashi’s? Both contend that the proposed revisions regarding foreign workers will lead to social problems and imply that the government is too beholden to the private sector, which, in the form of the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren), is demanding greater access to foreign labor. The difference is that Mitsuhashi thinks acceptance of foreign workers should be limited in order to avoid problems, while the Asahi Shimbun says the workers are already here, so these problems should be confronted. The administration does not address the issue because it believes the Japanese public does not want more foreign nationals living here. During a discussion on the Oct. 15 edition of the TBS Radio show “ Session-22 ,” Koichi Yasuda, a journalist who covers foreign workers, said that Japan avoids the reality of foreign workers in Japan by framing the issue as one of “public safety.” Although many of these workers came to Japan through government programs that define them as “students” or “trainees,” by now everyone except the government recognizes that they are here to work. Under the present situation, the authorities seem to be wearing blinders, so the system is subject to abuse by both sides of the employment transaction. The revisions may only exacerbate that situation.
|
immigration;foreign labor
|
jp0009496
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2018/10/11
|
Nikkei briefly sheds over 1,000 points on Wall Street tumble
|
Stocks turned sharply lower on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Thursday following an overnight plunge in U.S. equities, with the benchmark Nikkei average briefly losing over 1,000 points. The 225-issue Nikkei average tumbled 915.18 points, or 3.89 percent, to end at 22,590.86, marking the worst finish since Sept. 10. The key index incurred the biggest daily point loss since March 23, when it dropped 974.13 points. On Wednesday, it had risen 36.65 points. The Topix index of all first-section issues closed down 62.00 points, or 3.52 percent, at 1,701.86, after climbing 2.74 points the previous day. The Tokyo stock market was hit by heavy selling after the Dow Jones industrial average ended 831.83 points lower — its third worst daily point loss ever — in New York trading on Wednesday amid worries about higher interest rates. Investor sentiment was also battered by the yen’s sharp advance versus the dollar, brokers said. Higher interest rates “eroded the value of stocks, prompting institutional investors to place a massive amount of sell orders,” an official at a bank-affiliated securities house said. Tomoaki Fujii, head of the investment research division at Akatsuki Securities Co., said, “Futures-led selling accelerated amid a risk-off mood.” Stocks fell “too much” and the market got “out of control,” Fujii said. Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management Co., expressed the view that buying on dips was overwhelmed by hefty selling. Stocks are likely to show volatile movements for a while following Thursday’s setback, Ichikawa noted. Falling issues far outnumbered rising ones 2,050 to 56 in the TSE’s first section, while four issues were unchanged. Volume jumped to 1.952 billion shares from Wednesday’s 1.345 billion shares. Sentiment was dampened by a profit warning from Yaskawa Electric, an industrial robot-maker considered to benefit from the yen’s recent weakness, brokers said. Yaskawa Electric lost 6.07 percent after revising down its consolidated operating profit forecast for the year ending in February 2019 to ¥59 billion from ¥65.5 billion on Wednesday. Export-oriented names, including automaker Toyota, semiconductor manufacturing equipment-maker Tokyo Electron and electronic parts supplier Murata Manufacturing, met with heavy selling on the stronger yen. Also on the minus side were clothing store chain operator Fast Retailing and mobile phone carrier SoftBank Group. Among a handful of gainers were department store operator Matsuya and discount store chain Don Quijote. In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the key December contract on the Nikkei average tumbled 950 points to end at 22,580.
|
stocks;dow jones;tse;nikkei 225
|
jp0009497
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2018/10/11
|
Nikkei posts biggest one-day loss since March following plunge on Wall Street
|
The Nikkei stock average plunged nearly 4 percent on Thursday, posting its biggest one-day loss since March. Stock markets in other parts of Asia also tumbled, after Wall Street’s worst losses in eight months led to broader risk aversion, a rise in market volatility gauges and concerns over overvalued stock markets in an environment of rapidly rising dollar yields. The Nikkei 225 stock average ended down 915.18 points, or 3.89 percent, from Wednesday at 22,590.86. The broader Topix index of all first-section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange finished 62.00 points, or 3.52 percent, lower at 1,701.86. Every industry category in the main section lost ground, led by oil and coal product, mining and machinery issues. Tokyo stocks plunged from the outset of trading with investor sentiment dampened after the Dow Jones industrial average on Wednesday dived 831.83 points, or 3.15 percent, recording the third-biggest point decline in U.S. history. In volatile trading, the Nikkei average finished at a one-month low, posting its largest loss since March 23 and its third-biggest one-day point fall for the year. At one point it nose-dived over 1,000 points as Tokyo stocks extended losses in the afternoon in tandem with a sharp fall in other Asian shares, brokers said. “Investors could not buy Japanese stocks on dips today before seeing if the Dow’s plunge stops when the New York market opens later in the day,” said Mitsuo Shimizu, an equity strategist at Aizawa Securities Co. The yen’s advance against the U.S. dollar to the lower 112 level also put pressure on export-related issues, the brokers said. “Market participants also grew cautious about the possibility of a successive plunge such as (the one that) occurred on Wall Street in February, while institutional investors — like U.S. mutual funds — rushed to lock in recent gains and prompted the global sell-off,” Shimizu added. Rekindled concerns over trade tensions between the United States and China also dented market sentiment, after the Financial Times reported Wednesday that U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin warned China not to engage in devaluations of its currency. “Investors adjusted their positions by unloading risk assets including stocks, as U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration continues to escalate tensions with China in various fields including trade and currency,” said Hiroaki Kuramochi, chief market analyst at Saxo Bank Securities Ltd. However, both Shimizu and Kuramochi said they believe a steep fall in the global market is not likely to continue as U.S. economic conditions remain solid. On the first section, more than 97 percent of issues dropped, with declining issues outnumbering advancers 2,050 to 56, while four ended the day unchanged. Technology stocks met heavy selling following a sharp fall in their U.S. counterparts, with TDK falling ¥700, or 6.2 percent, to ¥10,540 and Fanuc dropping ¥1,395, or 6.8 percent, to ¥19,005. Cosmetic producers sank as investors were worried that the number of Chinese tourists to Japan could decrease on a possible slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy. Shiseido lost ¥521, or 6.6 percent to ¥7,317, while Kose plunged ¥1,340, or 6.7 percent, to ¥18,810. Bucking the downward trend, Don Quijote Holdings jumped ¥630, or 10.4 percent, to ¥6,680, as major retailer FamilyMart Uny Holdings said Thursday it will sell the entire stake in its supermarket unit Uny to the discount store operator. Trading volume on the main section rose to 1.952 billion shares from Wednesday’s 1.345 billion shares. Meanwhile, sinking global shares have raised the stakes for U.S. inflation figures, due later on Thursday, as a high outcome would only stoke speculation of more aggressive rate hikes from the Federal Reserve. “We’re all just watching the Fed. We’re all watching the U.S. economy; we’re worrying about an inflation spike or a wages spike that will come through,” said Rob Carnell, chief economist and head of research at ING in Singapore. But he said that he expected the data to show inflation peaking rather than moving sharply higher, which “could restore a little bit of calm.” On Wall Street, the S&P 500’s sharpest one-day fall since February wiped out around $850 billion of wealth as technology shares tumbled on fears of slowing demand. The S&P 500 ended Wednesday with a loss of 3.29 percent and the Nasdaq Composite 4.08 percent, while the Dow shed 2.2 percent. The blood-letting was bad enough to attract the attention of U.S. President Donald Trump, who pointed an accusing finger at the Fed for raising interest rates. “I really disagree with what the Fed is doing,” Trump told reporters before a political rally in Pennsylvania. “I think the Fed has gone crazy.” It was hawkish commentary from Fed policymakers that triggered a sudden sell off in Treasuries last week, and sent long-term yields to their highest in seven years. The surge made stocks look less attractive compared to bonds while also threatening to curb economic activity and profits. “The rise in Treasury yields has been the primary catalyst for the sell-off in equities, since higher yields suggest a lower present value of future dividend streams, assuming an unchanged economic outlook,” said Steven Friedman, senior economist at BNP Paribas Asset Management. “It is also possible that equity investors are growing concerned that the Federal Reserve’s projected rate path will choke off the expansion.”
|
stocks;tse
|
jp0009498
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"crime-legal-asia-pacific"
] |
2018/10/11
|
Myanmar arrests three journalists over report on Suu Kyi protege, raising more press freedom worries
|
YANGON - Myanmar police Wednesday arrested three journalists after their paper criticized the financial management of Yangon’s government, which is overseen by a protege of leader Aung San Suu Kyi, in the latest case to spark concern over press freedom. Rights groups criticized the detention of the three from Eleven Media, which comes as the latest in a long series of cases brought against the media under vague and outdated laws. Executive editors Kyaw Zaw Lin and Nayi Min and chief reporter Phyo Wai Win were hauled in before a Yangon court in handcuffs on Wednesday morning to hear the charges against them before being carted off to jail. Defense lawyer Kyee Myint told AFP the case was filed over an article published Monday about the funding behind the city’s bus network, a scheme run by Yangon chief minister and Suu Kyi confidant Phyo Min Thein. “All three of them were sent to Insein prison this morning after a case was filed against them under section 505(b),” defense lawyer Kyee Myint told AFP. The trio could be fined and jailed for up to two years if a court rules that their story was published with intent to cause — or was likely to cause — “fear or alarm to the public. Their arrest is an “affront to press freedom” and a sign the government is “close to becoming an authoritarian regime,” Ravi R. Prasad from the Vienna-based International Press Institute said. “The whole media industry is under threat,” said Hlaing Thit Zin Wai, founder of the Protection Committee for Myanmar Journalists. “I even have a bag packed at home as we cannot predict when it will be our turn,” he added. The arrests came just a few weeks after the sentencing of two Reuters journalists to seven years in jail at the end of what was widely seen as a sham trial, during which a police officer testified that they had been set up. Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, had been investigating the extrajudicial killing of Rohingya men during a violent military crackdown last year against the stateless minority. Civilian leader Suu Kyi — a figure once lionized by the international community for her commitment to human rights — has caught ire over the jailing, with the U.N. blasting Myanmar for waging “a political campaign against independent journalism. In an interview with Japanese news outlet NHK published Tuesday, Suu Kyi said “there is a lot of press freedom in Myanmar” and suggested that those criticizing her government “study what the press is doing from day to day in the country. It is not the first time Eleven Media Group has been targeted by the authorities. In November 2016, the paper’s then editors were jailed over a column that accused a government official of receiving a watch worth $100,000 from a businessman who later won plum contracts. Yangon authorities said they were unable to comment on the latest charges at this stage. The next hearing will be on Oct. 17.
|
myanmar;press freedom;nhk;aung san suu kyi;journalists;japan
|
jp0009499
|
[
"national",
"science-health"
] |
2018/10/11
|
Asteroid touchdown by Japan's Hayabusa2 probe postponed to January
|
Japan’s space agency said Thursday it will postpone space probe Hayabusa2’s touchdown on the Ryugu asteroid to around late January from October due to the difficulty in finding a good landing site. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said the surface of the asteroid, about 300 million kilometers from Earth, is rougher than initially thought, and more time is needed to ensure the precise control of the probe. Hayabusa2 will conduct two landing rehearsals this month, JAXA said. The agency will not be able to communicate with the probe in November and December when it will be on the other side of the sun from Earth. Ryugu, with an estimated diameter of about 900 meters, travels around the Sun once every 16 months, passing near the orbits of Earth and Mars. Hayabusa2, launched from the Tanegashima Space Center in southwestern Japan in December 2014, is to make multiple landings to collect rock samples, which the agency says may provide new insights into the origin of life. The probe is now programmed to keep a distance of 20 kilometers from the asteroid. It has approached Ryugu six times since its arrival in late June to collect and analyze data for landing. Two rovers released from Hayabusa2 successfully landed on the surface of Ryugu in late September. A different explorer developed by the German and French space agencies and carried by Hayabusa2 also landed successfully earlier in the month.
|
jaxa;hayabusa;hayabusa2;ryugu
|
jp0009500
|
[
"national",
"politics-diplomacy"
] |
2018/10/11
|
Japan considers permanent residency for skilled blue-collar workers
|
The government is considering allowing blue-collar foreign workers with certain skills to live permanently in the country with their families, as Japan struggles with a serious labor shortage amid a declining population, sources said Thursday. In what would represent a turning point for the country’s immigration policy, which more or less sanctions only the entry of highly skilled professionals, the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is seeking to open the door to blue-collar foreign workers by introducing a new system next April. The government is studying two new types of residence status for foreign workers, who must have Japanese language proficiency as well as knowledge and experience in one of more than 10 fields. Those sectors include nursing care, agriculture and construction, according to the sources. Those who qualify for the first type of residence status will be issued a visa valid up to five years but will not be allowed to bring their family members. Those who qualify for the second type — namely, highly skilled laborers — will be offered permanent residence status and allowed to bring their family members to Japan. To qualify for either, workers must be able to speak conversational Japanese and pass exams conducted by ministries overseeing each industry. Those who hold the first type of residence status will also have a chance to apply for the second type. Foreign workers staying in Japan under the existing government-sponsored technical training program will also be able to obtain the first status. If successful, they would be able to work in Japan for up to 10 years, the sources added. Companies wishing to employ them will need to meet some conditions as well, including paying wages equal or in excess of those offered to Japanese workers. The Justice Ministry is planning to set up an affiliated agency that will be solely tasked with accepting foreign workers. To create the new residence status categories, the government aims to submit bills to revise relevant laws when an extraordinary Diet session is convened later in the month. It will present the outline of the measures at a meeting of the Cabinet ministers concerned on Friday, the sources said. The government also plans to provide livelihood support to foreign workers under the new system. As of October last year, the number of foreign workers in Japan hit a record 1.28 million, doubling from 680,000 in 2012, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. The figures include part-time workers with student visas and trainees under the technical training program. Of them, Chinese accounted for the largest group at 372,263, followed by Vietnamese, Filipinos, Brazilians and Nepalese.
|
population;immigration;immigrants;foreign workers;skilled workers
|
jp0009501
|
[
"national",
"politics-diplomacy"
] |
2018/10/11
|
Japan's top government spokesman denies Trump asked Abe to 'strongly consider' giving casino license to one of his benefactors
|
The top government spokesman Thursday denied a report that U.S. President Donald Trump asked Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2017 to “strongly consider” affording one of his biggest sponsors a license to operate a casino in Japan. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga responded tersely to the investigative report by U.S. nonprofit organization ProPublica during a regular press briefing, referring to Abe’s past denial in the Diet of the allegation. “The prime minister responded to the matter before. That’s all I have to say,” Suga said. According to the independent outlet, Trump, upon meeting Abe at his private Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida in February 2017, surprised Japanese officials by abruptly mentioning a bid by his major benefactor and casino tycoon Sheldon Adelson — who runs Las Vegas Sands Corp. — to make a foray into the Japanese market. In December 2016, Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party and its pro-casino allies, amid fierce wrangling with the opposition, passed a broad bill to legalize casinos. Abe “didn’t really respond” to Trump’s pitch and said “thank you for the information,” ProPublica quoted an unnamed source with knowledge of the meeting as saying. If true, Trump’s push for Adelson, who is said to have contributed $20 million to his victorious election campaign in 2016, is “blatant” and “incompatible with the traditional norm of diplomacy,” said U.S. politics expert Kazuhiro Maeshima, a professor of international relations at Sophia University in Tokyo. “That meeting with Abe in February 2017 also coincided with a deepening sense of urgency over the North Korea situation, meaning Japan was in a very vulnerable position security-wise and couldn’t really say ‘no’ to the U.S.,” he added. “Taking advantage of Japan at difficult times like this and trying to negotiate the interest of a specific company deviates from America’s traditional attitude.” At the same time, the professor said he wouldn’t be surprised if Trump — then just a month into his presidency — had the gall to comment on Adelson’s plans during his meeting with Abe. “That would’ve been so Trump,” he said. Meanwhile, a senior Japanese official close to Abe, speaking on condition of anonymity, took a dim view of the ProPublica report. “There is no way (Trump) would have named a specific company in a summit meeting” with the prime minister, said the official, who was not present at the meeting. This is not the first time Trump’s alleged backing of Las Vegas Sands during the 2017 meeting with Abe has come under scrutiny. The influential Nikkei business daily reported in June 2017 that a smiling Trump congratulated Abe on the passage of the bill and said: “Hey Shinzo, do you know these companies?” Trump, according to the daily, then went on to identify Las Vegas Sands and MGM Resorts International, another major casino operator, leaving Abe’s aides scrambling to take note of the names. But Abe, when asked about this communication in a July session of an Upper House committee, flatly denied the Nikkei report, saying “such an exchange never took place between President Trump and me.” Separately, Adelson himself “raised the casino issue” during a breakfast meeting between Abe and a small circle of American CEOs and business executives in Washington in February 2017, according to the ProPublica article, titled “Trump’s Patron-in-Chief.” Abe, reflecting on this exchange, told the same Diet session that, although the American business community “welcomed” the legislative step Japan had taken toward casino legalization in December the previous year, they “never made what can be described as a petition to me.” At least 13 companies, including giants like MGM and Genting, are reportedly vying for a casino license in Japan. “Even though Sands is already a strong contender because of its size and its successful resort in Singapore, some observers in Japan believe Adelson’s relationship with Trump has helped move Las Vegas Sands closer to the multibillion-dollar prize,” the ProPublica article said.
|
shinzo abe;yoshihide suga;casinos;sheldon adelson;donald trump;propublica
|
jp0009502
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2018/10/29
|
Tokyo stocks end lower in absence of buying incentives
|
Stocks closed lower on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Monday amid a dearth of major buying incentives. The 225-issue Nikkei average lost 34.80 points, or 0.16 percent, to end at 21,149.80, the lowest finish since March 28. On Friday, the key market gauge shed 84.13 points. The Topix index of all first-section issues closed down 6.45 points, or 0.40 percent, at 1,589.56, after retreating 4.91 points the previous trading day. The Nikkei average gained over 280 points briefly in early trading, backed by buying on dips and buybacks, market sources said. But the closely watched index shed the gains later due to selling pressure that built up in line with falls in Chinese stock prices and closed the morning session lower, according to the sources. In afternoon trading, stocks showed directionless movements amid a dearth of major buying incentives. Market players “took a wait-and-see stance” ahead of the release later this week of earnings reports from major Japanese companies, said Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management Co. Ryuta Otsuka, strategist at the investment information department of Toyo Securities Co., said that “continued selling apparently by foreign investors” pushed down the key market gauges. Otsuka also suggested that there seems to have been exchange-traded fund purchases by the Bank of Japan in the afternoon. “Stocks have been oversold” recently, Otsuka said, noting that the market is ready to rebound at any time now. Falling issues far outnumbered rising ones 1,402 to 638 in the TSE’s first section, while 69 issues were unchanged. Volume dropped to 1.37 billion shares from 1.70 billion shares on Friday. Office equipment manufacturer Ricoh tumbled 10.61 percent as its operating profit estimate for the year through March 2019, announced on Friday, was far short of market expectations, brokers said. Other major losers included mobile phone carrier SoftBank Group and employment information service firm Recruit Holdings. By contrast, semiconductor-related Shin-Etsu Chemical closed 8.01 percent higher after revising up on Friday its operating profit forecast for the year through March 2019 to ¥390 billion from ¥360 billion. Also on the plus side were industrial robot producer Fanuc and clothing store chain operator Fast Retailing. In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the key December contract on the Nikkei average sagged 130 points to end at 21,100.
|
stocks;nikkei;topix
|
jp0009503
|
[
"business",
"corporate-business"
] |
2018/10/29
|
Japanese housing firms target Asian markets due to shrinking business at home
|
OSAKA - Japanese housing manufacturers have been strengthening their overseas businesses, tapping into potential growth in China and other Asian countries as demand for new construction declines in the shrinking domestic market. Property developers such as Panasonic Homes Co. and Daiwa House Industry Co. have been trying to meet a variety of overseas needs, from single homes to condominiums and prefabricated apartments for construction workers. “We want to improve the severe housing environment for construction laborers in China, which has also become a social issue,” Daizo Ito, managing executive officer of Panasonic Corp., said when he visited a construction site in Xi’an in mid-September. In a departure from makeshift apartments, notorious for poor air and sanitary conditions, Panasonic set up prefabricated housing for construction workers, with glassed-in outer walls and well-lit, heat-proof rooms, pitching comfort for long-term lodgers. The buildings are also equipped with solar panels and heat-insulating materials, helping local general contractors reduce costs. The Osaka-based electronics manufacturer sees its housing business as a new growth sector after its home electric appliances sector began losing out to Chinese and South Korean rivals. It made PanaHome Corp. into a wholly owned subsidiary in October last year and renamed it Panasonic Homes in April. Panasonic hopes to capitalize on the growing demand for housing amid a construction boom in China. The company is well known in the world’s second-largest market, as it was the first foreign company to establish a factory in Beijing after World War II in 1987. Daiwa House Industry Co., which has built condominiums in the United States and China, kicked off a large-scale residential and commercial complex project this summer with 5,000 rooms in Jakarta’s southeastern area of Cipayung. The major property developer has been expanding its business by meeting local needs such as installing ceiling fans inside homes in Malaysia to improve ventilation. Sekisui House Ltd. has been involved in building multicomplexes combining commercial facilities and condominiums in Australia and other countries. In China, where air pollution is severe, Sekisui House sells condominiums using materials that contain reduced amounts of chemical substances in consideration of the environment. The domestic market in Japan, meanwhile, is shrinking fast due to its falling population. The number of new housing starts decreased to 950,000 in fiscal 2017 from its peak of 1.29 million in fiscal 2006. Nomura Research Institute estimates that the number will fall to 550,000 by fiscal 2030. Panasonic and Toyota Housing Corp., which have previously focused on their mainstay steel-frame housing, said earlier this year they would newly build lower-priced, wooden housing aimed at expanding their target range of customers. But there is no guarantee they will succeed due to a limited market share for vying companies. “We are forced to fight a severe battle,” a major housing company official said. “In Japan, it has become more difficult to make profits in the housing business as people who can spend money (on housing) are decreasing,” said Masahiro Mochizuki, an analyst at Credit Suisse. “Because of political risks and issues with regulations, the ratio of overseas operations is still small among Japanese housing companies, but from the long-term perspective, they have no choice but to expand into foreign markets.”
|
china;housing;panasonic;asia;daiwa house;sekisui house
|
jp0009504
|
[
"world"
] |
2018/10/29
|
Three Gaza boys killed in Israeli airstrike on tinderbox border: medics
|
GAZA - Three Palestinian boys were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Gaza Strip frontier on Sunday, medical officials in the Hamas-run enclave said, while Israel said it had hit suspected militants trying to blow up part of a border fence. The Gaza Health Ministry said two of the dead were aged 13 and one aged 14. Gaza medics have tallied more than 216 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces at the frontier during almost seven months of Palestinian protests against Israel’s blockade of the territory and in support of a right for Palestinian refugees to return to lands in Israel. One Israeli soldier has been killed by a sniper. Israel says its lethal response is necessary to prevent armed infiltrations from Gaza. The violence has occasionally escalated into shelling exchanges that Israel has warned could trigger war, while Egypt and the United Nations have repeatedly mediated truces. In Sunday’s incident, an Israeli aircraft struck “three terrorists adjacent to the fence who were trying to sabotage it and were apparently planting a bomb,” the Israeli military said in a statement. Four Palestinians were killed at the border on Friday, and a Gaza militant group responded by firing a volley of missiles into Israel, prompting scores of Israeli retaliatory air strikes on Saturday, although nobody was killed. Two million Palestinians live in Gaza, most of them stateless descendants of people who fled or were driven from homes in Israel at its founding in 1948. The narrow seaside territory has been ruled by Hamas, an Islamist group, since 2007, during which time it has fought three wars against Israel. Israel and Egypt have maintained a blockade for security reasons, which the World Bank says has brought the territory to a state of economic collapse, nearly entirely dependent on international aid and without adequate electricity, health care or clean water.
|
conflict;israel;gaza;palestinians;hamas;airstrike
|
jp0009505
|
[
"world",
"crime-legal-world"
] |
2018/10/29
|
U.S. Muslim groups raise tens of thousands for synagogue victims
|
WASHINGTON - A crowdfunding campaign by two Muslim-American groups has raised almost $80,000 for the surviving victims of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting and the relatives of the 11 killed. The campaign on LaunchGood ( www.launchgood.com/project/muslims_unite_for_pittsburgh_synagogue#!/ ) reached its initial goal of $25,000 within six hours, its second goal of $50,000 after a day, and is now targeting $100,000. It was organized by CelebrateMercy and MPower Change, Muslim-American nonprofits. “We wish to respond to evil with good, as our faith instructs us, and send a powerful message of compassion through action,” the groups said in a statement. Fundraising proceeds will go toward meeting the short-term needs of the injured victims and grieving families, including funeral expenses and medical bills. “Through this campaign, we hope to send a united message from the Jewish and Muslim communities that there is no place for this type of hate and violence in America,” the groups said. “We pray that this restores a sense of security and peace to the Jewish-American community who has undoubtedly been shaken by this event.”
|
u.s .;jews;muslims;crowdfunding;pittsburgh synagogue massacre
|
jp0009506
|
[
"world",
"crime-legal-world"
] |
2018/10/29
|
Saudis vow 'complete' probe of Jamal Khashoggi murder at their consulate: Jim Mattis
|
PRAGUE - Saudi Arabia has promised a “full” investigation into the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Sunday following talks with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir in Bahrain. “We discussed it … the need of transparency, full and complete investigation. Full agreement from FM Jubeir, no reservations at all,” Mattis told reporters following the talks, during which he warned the Saudi kingdom that the murder attributed to the Saudi authorities risked destabilizing the region. “No reservations at all. He (Jubeir) said we need to know what happened and it was very collaborative, in agreement,” the Pentagon chief told reporters on a flight from Manama to Prague where he will mark the centenary of Czechoslovakia. Speaking later on Sunday at a joint press conference in Prague with Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis, Mattis gave a nod to Turkey’s probe into the murder. “Certainly Turkey with the evidence that they have compiled will ensure that there is more than one review of what is going on there and I am certain the investigation will include the evidence that Turkey has put forward so far,” Mattis said. Saudi journalist Khashoggi, 59, who had criticized the kingdom’s powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, had lived in self-imposed exile in the United States since 2017. He was murdered after entering his country’s Istanbul consulate on Oct. 2 to obtain paperwork to marry his Turkish fiancee. Gruesome reports have alleged that the Washington Post columnist was killed and dismembered by a team sent from Saudi Arabia to silence him. After weeks of denials, Riyadh has sought to draw a line under the crisis with an investigation. Prince Mohammed, heir to the oil-rich nation’s throne, publicly denounced the murder as “repulsive,” while the Saudi prosecutor acknowledged for the first time last week that based on the evidence of a Turkish investigation the killing had been “premeditated. But Riyadh on Saturday dismissed Ankara’s calls to extradite 18 Saudis being held over Khashoggi’s murder, as Washington warned the crisis risked destabilizing the Middle East. Addressing a forum in Manama on Saturday, Mattis warned that “the murder of Jamal Khashoggi in a diplomatic facility must concern us all greatly. “Failure of any nation to adhere to international norms and the rule of law undermines regional stability at a time when it is needed most,” he stressed. The murder, which has tarnished the image of Crown Prince Mohammed, has sparked a wave of international criticism and affected Washington’s relations with the kingdom. The United States relies heavily on Saudi Arabia to counter Iran’s influence in the region and to defend the security of Israel. Mattis did not have a formal bilateral meeting with Jubeir on the sidelines of the Manama forum, where he met with several Arab and European leaders. The two men spoke at a dinner gathering all the ministers.
|
u.s .;murder;saudi arabia;turkey;istanbul;prague;jim mattis;mohammed bin salman;jamal khashoggi;adel al-jubeir
|
jp0009507
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"science-health-asia-pacific"
] |
2018/10/29
|
Hunt to trace origins drives many Chinese to turn to DNA testing
|
BEIJING - Chinese executive Miao Qing spits into a specially designed container, destined for a lab where her saliva will be analyzed and sequenced, offering an insight into her genetic make-up and — more importantly — her ancestry. A combination of factors — a lack of formal records or destruction during China’s wars and the Cultural Revolution — have meant there are few ways for Chinese to trace their genealogy in the ethnically diverse country. But with a growing middle-class, an increasing number are now keen on tracing their roots, and DNA testing companies are cashing in. China’s DNA sequencing market was worth about 7.2 billion yuan ($1.05 billion) last year and is forecast to grow to 18.3 billion yuan in 2022, according to estimates by Beijing-based CCID Consulting. Over-the-counter genetic testing kits are not new — users simply buy the kit, spit into the provided container and mail the sample back. Their growing popularity in China has meant tests now cost as little as 199 yuan ($29) and can be easily purchased on e-commerce apps like Taobao and JD.com . But the success of a test is very dependent on the data pool of the company offering the service, which allows a basis for comparison. While firms like 23andMe and Ancestry DNA are popular globally, they have a relatively small Asian pool that lumps all Chinese into a single category, according to Chen Gang, the chief technology officer of Shenzhen-based WeGene. “There’s a difference in the genetic makeup of Caucasians and Asians. For example people who get flushed easily after drinking alcohol,” Chen said. “This gene has a higher mutation rate in Chinese people, but it is not as obvious in Caucasians.” DNA tests tailored to the Chinese market are able to discern different ethnicities, right down to whether one is a northern or southern Han Chinese. And while people are freely giving their DNA for the genealogy kits, human rights groups have voiced concern about China’s use of a national DNA database — which authorities say is especially aimed at helping people find missing children — and the collection of samples in Xinjiang, a region dominated by the Muslim Uighur ethnic group. Other tests have an element of novelty — GeseDNA, which roughly translates to “Personality DNA,” works with behavioral geneticists who analyze the way they say genetics may affect one’s behavior, from personality right down to spending habits. Although many experts dispute the extent to which genes influence or predict behavior, others insist reliable forecasts can be made from a DNA test. “People have a misconception that physiology and psychology are separate . . . but this is an incorrect assumption,” said Zhang Leilei, Gese’s research and development director and a behavioral geneticist. “Just like height and your looks, whether you’re an introvert or extrovert, whether you’re competitive or have a stable temperament and communicate well with others, this is all affected by your genes.” In Miao’s case, the test was prompted by the desire to discover her heritage and possible genetic issues with her future children. “It was driven by a curiosity and three philosophical questions: who am I, where did I come from, and where I will go,” Miao said. “Since I grew up in the south, I was quite certain that I’m a southerner, but I just wanted to be extra certain,” she said. But when results of the test came back, Miao had 60 percent Manchurian ethnicity — a northeastern group. This led to a search of her grandmother’s surname, which revealed that she was descended from the Red Banner — a division of Manchu society during the Qing Dynasty period. “I was curious about the whole thing and this has helped answer a lot of questions I had. It’s a good experience so I’ve just bought another kit that can reveal your personality,” she said. “Who knows what else I’ll find out about myself!”
|
china;genetics;ethnicity;dna
|
jp0009508
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/10/29
|
Halloween revelers overturn small truck near famed Shibuya 'scramble crossing' in Tokyo
|
A small truck was overturned and five people were arrested for alleged groping or similar offenses over the weekend, police said, as scores of people clad in Halloween costumes gathered in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo — a hub for the celebrations. The small truck was besieged by several people, with some riding on the rear deck in a shopping center near JR Shibuya Station at around 1 a.m. Sunday. While the driver left the vehicle to alert police, the group, including several young people, overturned the truck leading to damage, authorities said. Video footage posted to Twitter showed two people standing on the overturned vehicle, dancing and shouting. No one was injured in the incident, but the truck’s left door was damaged. The police are investigating the case on suspicion of property destruction. Out of the five arrested — all men in their 20s to 50s — three were held for alleged violence, and two others were suspected of groping women or trying to take photos or videos up their skirts during the festivities in the area. Police officers tasked with crowd control, including those dubbed “DJ police,” called on people to follow traffic signals and walk slowly as waves of Halloween revelers, including foreign nationals, flocked to the famous scramble crossing outside Shibuya Station. The festive gatherings, usually held over the weekend ahead of Halloween, have taken root in Shibuya in recent years. Around 70,000 people visited the district on Halloween in 2015, with the numbers increasing every year since, according to the Shibuya Ward office. The police are maintaining vigilance until Halloween day on Wednesday.
|
violence;shibuya;cosplay;halloween
|
jp0009509
|
[
"national",
"science-health"
] |
2018/10/29
|
Japan puts upgraded greenhouse gas observation satellite Ibuki-2 into orbit
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The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) successfully launched on Monday an H-IIA rocket carrying Japan’s Ibuki-2 greenhouse gas observation satellite and an Earth observation satellite made by United Arab Emirates, putting both into orbit. In a live JAXA webcast, the rocket was seen lifting off at 1:08 p.m. from Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture. The satellites were subsequently separated from the vehicle some distance apart from each other. Ibuki-2 is the successor to Ibuki, which was launched in 2009 as the world’s first satellite dedicated to monitoring greenhouse gases. Officially named Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite, or Gosat, the Ibuki series is a joint project of JAXA, the Environment Ministry and the National Institute for Environmental Studies. The satellite is designed to gather data on the densities of carbon dioxide and methane at 56,000 locations in the Earth’s atmosphere to help international efforts to fight global warming. The data will be used to see how countries are doing in terms of fulfilling their commitments to reduce greenhouse gases under the 2015 Paris agreement, an international framework aimed at keeping the rise in global average temperature to within 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. JAXA says the second version of Ibuki has higher levels of accuracy due to the enhanced performance of observation sensors installed aboard and can also measure densities of carbon monoxide and PM2.5, which refers to toxic particles measuring 2.5 microns in diameter or less. The mission allows governments and international organizations to work with accurate and consistent data for carbon dioxide and methane concentrations when making comparisons, and for evaluating the performance of each country under the Paris accord. Environment Minister Yoshiaki Harada said in a statement he expects Ibuki-2 to bring dramatic improvements in the accuracy of observations, to play a role in continued efforts to promote climate change measures and to advance scientific knowledge about global warming. “The Environment Ministry will work with related organizations to contribute toward improving the transparency of climate change measures of each country based on the Paris agreement, fully utilizing data obtained from Ibuki-2,” Harada said. The H-IIA rocket, launched by JAXA and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., also carried the UAE’s KhalifaSat remote sensing Earth observation satellite. KhalifaSat is the first satellite built in the UAE by local engineers and the country’s third Earth observation satellite following DubaiSat-1 and DubaiSat-2, both built under a partnership with a South Korean manufacturer and launched in 2009 and 2013, respectively. The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center’s KhalifaSat is designed to capture detailed images of the Earth.
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japan aerospace exploration agency;greenhouse gas;h-iia rocket;ibuki-2
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jp0009510
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/10/29
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Mother of Japanese boy killed in '92 U.S. shooting hopes her book will promote stricter gun control
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Mieko Hattori, 70, from Nagoya, whose son, Yoshihiro, 16, was gunned down in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 1992, is working on a story for children that calls for stricter gun control measures in the United States. She came up with the idea after meeting a girl who lost her friend in a school shooting in Florida in February. “If citizens of Japan and the U.S. unite, they can change the gun society,” Hattori says. Twenty-six years have passed since her son, who was studying in Louisiana as a high school student, died on Oct. 18, 1992. He was shot by a man after approaching the wrong house on his way to a Halloween party. According to Hattori, the story will be titled “Yoshi and Alyssa” after her son and Alyssa Alhadeff, 14, one of 17 shot to death at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. It starts with a scene of the two meeting in heaven, with Yoshihiro comforting a distressed Alyssa. In the story, Yoshihiro then asks Alyssa to work together to campaign for stricter gun control in an effort to realize a society that values people’s lives, and Alyssa makes up her mind to become a force for the movement. In mid-June, Hattori and her husband Masaichi, 70, met Mia Engelbart, 15, a schoolmate and a friend of Alyssa, who was in Tokyo with her Japanese mother during summer vacation. The couple contacted Engelbart after seeing a video online of her being interviewed by media as a member of the Never Again campaign launched by the students of the high school in the immediate aftermath, calling for prioritization of children’s lives in the gun control debate. In July, the couple invited Engelbart to their home to meet members of Yoshi no Kai, a group campaigning for stricter gun control in the U.S. Engelbart also made a speech at Nagoya City University. Engelbart said she wants to become the voice of the people who passed away and called on the United States to learn from Japan where guns are not easily accessible. “I felt a strong connection with her because what she said was exactly what we think,” Hattori said. “I was also moved by the fact that a quiet girl stood up after her friend’s death to take part in the campaign.” “It appears that gun control in the U.S. is retrogressing under the current administration, but the campaign is continuing on a citizens’ level,” she said. “Twenty-six years have passed since Yoshihiro’s incident, but movements by young people such as Mia give me great hopes.” Masaki Hirata, 49, associate professor of American modern history at Nagoya City University who supports Yoshi no Kai, had been suggesting that Hattori write a story for children to convey the significance of gun control to wider generations. Hattori said she started writing to include Engelbart’s experience. She has written a draft and is polishing it up after receiving advice from Masaichi and other members of the group. She is also writing an English version. She said she hopes to complete it by the first anniversary of the Parkland shooting next February and send it to Alhadeff’s mother. She also plans to post it on the group’s website.
|
gun control;yoshihiro hattori;alyssa alhadeff;mieko hattori
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jp0009511
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/10/29
|
Defense Ministry starts field survey for Aegis Ashore deployment in western Japan
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HAGI, YAMAGUCHI PREF. - The Defense Ministry began a field survey at a Ground Self-Defense Force training area in Hagi, Yamaguchi Prefecture, on Monday for the envisaged deployment of the Aegis Ashore land-based missile defense system. The ministry will conduct a similar survey at a GSDF training area in the city of Akita, another candidate site for the system. It will conduct drilling surveys to study geological conditions and also survey possible effects on the health of local residents from radio waves emitted by the system in order to detect missiles. The surveys are expected to continue until the end of February next year. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference in Tokyo on Monday morning that gaining the understanding of local residents is a precondition for deploying the system and that it is important to deal with their various concerns and requests. As the GSDF Mutsumi training area in Hagi is located near a source of water supplied to households, many people have expressed concerns over the impact on water quality in the region from the drilling surveys. The concerns were expressed during meetings to explain the deployment plan to local residents earlier this year. On Monday the ministry collected water at a municipal purification plant near the Mutsumi training area, which uses groundwater. The ministry also plans to survey well water at nearby households. “As local residents have voiced various concerns, the ministry believes that the field surveys are the first step in examining whether the candidate sites are suited for the deployment of the missile defense system,” a ministry official said.
|
defense;self defense forces;yamaguchi;aegis ashore;hagi
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jp0009512
|
[
"business"
] |
2018/10/16
|
Japan can export raw eggs to U.S. for first time
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Fresh eggs from Japan can now be exported to the United States after a restriction on their shipment was lifted Tuesday, the farm ministry said. Tokyo had been requesting that Washington allows raw egg exports since 2004. Previously, eggs shipped to the United States were limited to those sterilized with heat, according to the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry. Fresh egg exports from Japan to Hawaii and states in the Western U.S. can now be expected, the ministry said. To be exported, eggs need to be chilled at a temperature below 7.2 degrees from 36 hours after being laid until their arrival at a U.S. destination, it said. In 2017, 3,891 tons of raw eggs, or 0.15 percent of domestic production, were exported for a total value of ¥1 billion, with most of them destined for Hong Kong.
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u.s .;hawaii;exports;eggs
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jp0009513
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2018/10/16
|
Tokyo stocks bounce back, thanks to bargain hunters
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Stocks rebounded Tuesday, helped by buying after recent plunges. The Nikkei 225 average rose 277.94 points, or 1.25 percent, to end at 22,549.24 after plunging 423.36 points Monday. The Topix, which covers all first-section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, closed 12.47 points, or 0.74 percent, higher at 1,687.91. It lost 27.01 points Monday. Both indexes moved in plus territory for most of the day, supported by a weaker yen and purchases on declines for mainstay issues, brokers said. The Nikkei and Topix gained steam in the late afternoon on the back of renewed buying by bargain hunters, brokers said. “While the Nikkei showed strength, Tokyo stocks were generally mixed amid a continuing global risk-off mood,” an official of a major securities firm said, pointing out that declining issues outpaced advancers for most of the session. When trading came to a close, rising issues outnumbered falling ones 1,112 to 910 in the first section, while 87 issues were unchanged. Market sentiment improved a little after the recent plunges, but high volatility is likely to continue for sometime, the major securities firm official said. There were few buying incentives to drive Tokyo stocks to higher ground, said Masayuki Otani, chief market analyst at Securities Japan Inc. Some investors took a wait-and-see stance ahead of the release of important economic data this week, including China’s gross domestic product data for July-September, Otani said. Volume decreased to 1.260 billion shares from 1.400 billion Monday. Oil names were buoyant thanks to a rise in crude oil prices. Major gainers included JXTG and Inpex. Fast Retailing gained 3.96 percent, helped by buybacks after a recent sell-off, brokers said. Other major winners included mobile phone carrier SoftBank Group, semiconductor-related Tokyo Electron and technology giant Sony. Inbound tourism-related issues moved on a weak note, reflecting investor worries about a possible weakening of consumption by visitors from abroad, mainly those from China, brokers said. They included cosmetics makers Shiseido, Kose and Fancl, as well as department store operators J. Front Retailing and Takashimaya. Also lower were parcel delivery company Yamato Holdings and employment information service firm Recruit Holdings.
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stocks;tse;nikkei 225
|
jp0009514
|
[
"business"
] |
2018/10/16
|
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, the Saudi crown prince and a $22 billion test of values
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Masayoshi Son has already paid a price for his close ties to Saudi Arabia. It could soon go much higher. Shares in Son’s SoftBank Group Corp. plummeted the most in more than two years Monday after Saudi Arabia came under fire for the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The kingdom is the biggest outside investor in SoftBank’s $100 billion Vision Fund, which has backed Uber Technologies Inc., WeWork Cos., Didi Chuxing and Slack Technologies Inc. Saudi Arabia is considering an admission that Khashoggi died during an interrogation that went wrong during an intended abduction after he entered the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate to sort out marriage paperwork on Oct. 2., CNN reported Monday. However, one CNN source cautioned that the report was still being prepared and could change, while another said it will likely conclude the operation took place without clearance and that those involved will be held responsible. The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, said the kingdom is weighing whether to say that rogue operatives killed Khashoggi by mistake during an interrogation. The Journal, like CNN, said the Saudi statement had not been finalized. The U.S. is pressing for an explanation, while business leaders, including the CEO of Uber, have pulled out of Saudi Arabia’s “Davos in the Desert” event. SoftBank’s Monday plunge brings the decline in its market value from a September peak to $22 billion. U.S. President Donald Trump dispatched Secretary of State Michael Pompeo to Saudi Arabia to meet the nation’s king and suggested “rogue killers” might be behind the incident. The trouble for Son is that his grand vision depends on Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who pledged $45 billion for the Vision Fund after a 45-minute pitch from Son and has promised a similar amount for the next fund. Not only are those commitments now in question, but SoftBank could face a revolt in Silicon Valley if entrepreneurs begin to think taking its cash is akin to blood money. “If the Saudis are implicated in the murder, you might find a lot of investors not willing to take their money,” said Chris Lane, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. “This could start to freeze the Vision Fund out of future deals. This also potentially puts Vision Fund II at risk.” SoftBank shares had gained 29 percent this year through Sept. 28 as investors began to credit Son for his ambitious investments in technology startups in the U.S., China and beyond. But the stock has tumbled 19 percent since then amid the Saudi controversy and a broad decline in technology shares, including a 7.3 percent drop Monday. A spokesman for SoftBank declined comment. Saudi Prince Mohammed has said Khashoggi left the consulate unharmed, but Saudi officials have given no evidence to back up that assertion. On Monday, Amir Anvarzadeh, a senior strategist with Asymmetric Advisors in Singapore, removed SoftBank from his list of recommended stocks to buy. In a research note, he explained the risks of the Saudi controversy and the tech stock rout. “Although we don’t expect this latest diplomatic incident to lead to any sanctions on Saudi, there is always some possibility that some firms will pull out their money from the Vision Fund,” Anvarzadeh wrote. “However, we are starting to worry about other more likely scenarios that could prove as disruptive to Son’s plans. Firstly and most importantly, we believe tech names will remain under selling pressure.” Jeff Kingston, a professor at Temple University in Tokyo, said SoftBank could see its reputation take a hit with technology startups if the Saudi regime is found culpable. Tech workers have increasingly pressured employers to steer clear of relationships they see as politically compromised. Google, for example, decided not to renew a contract with the U.S. Defense Department after protests from employees. “Son is going to find a chillier welcome in Silicon Valley,” Kingston said. “The whole ethos of these young venture capitalists is they want to make the world a better place. That’s hard to reconcile with the vision of darkness that Saudi Arabia is projecting.” If a boycott materializes, it could prove a serious setback. Son has made venture investments for decades, dating back to early bets on Yahoo Inc. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. He began stepping up his technology investments last year as he raised the first Vision Fund and explained he sees unprecedented opportunities in artificial intelligence, autonomous driving and other technologies. He has grabbed the biggest equity stakes in many of the world’s most prominent startups, including Uber, and confounded Silicon Valley rivals with his unprecedented deal-making. In an interview with Bloomberg last month, he said he plans to raise a new $100 billion fund every two or three years. His goal is to give entrepreneurs the opportunity to compete with unlimited amounts of money. “Capital is not the only thing, but I can help entrepreneurs accelerate,” he said. “I can help make it a bigger success, I can stimulate.” Kingston said founders will be watching how Son handles the Saudi situation. Although the investigation into Khashoggi’s disappearance is ongoing, his decisions now will weigh on future opportunities. “This is a real litmus test for Son and for the entire Silicon Valley culture that he has helped fund,” he said. “It’s a watershed moment. Who are we?”
|
saudi arabia;softbank;masayoshi son;silicon valley;uber;mohammed bin salman;vision fund;jamal khashoggi
|
jp0009515
|
[
"world",
"crime-legal-world"
] |
2018/10/16
|
Trump says 'rogue killers' may be behind Jamal Khashoggi disappearance from Saudi consulate
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ANKARA/WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday “rogue killers” may have been behind the disappearance of prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and dispatched Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to meet King Salman over the case. Khashoggi, a U.S. resident, Washington Post columnist and leading critic of the powerful Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, vanished after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul two weeks ago to get marriage documents. Turkish officials say they believe he was murdered there and his body removed, in a case that has provoked an international outcry. Turkish authorities have an audio recording indicating that Khashoggi was killed in the consulate, a Turkish official and a security source told Reuters, and have shared evidence with countries including Saudi Arabia and the United States. They provided no further details. Saudi Arabia has strongly denied killing Khashoggi and has denounced such assertions as “lies,” saying he left the building shortly after entering. “The king firmly denied any knowledge of it,” Trump told reporters after speaking with King Salman. “He didn’t really know, maybe — I don’t want to get into his mind but it sounded to me — maybe these could have been rogue killers. Who knows?” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Trump was sending Pompeo to Riyadh because “determining what happened to Jamal Khashoggi is something of great importance to the president. Turkish police investigators entered the Istanbul consulate late on Monday. A Turkish diplomatic source had earlier said a joint Turkish-Saudi team would search the building — the last place Khashoggi was seen before he vanished on Oct. 2. “It has been 13 days since the event, so surely proving some of the evidence might be difficult, but we believe we will obtain evidence,” the Turkish official said. A Saudi official, not authorized to speak publicly, told Reuters that the king had ordered an internal investigation based on information from the joint team in Istanbul. Asked when the public prosecutor could make an announcement, the official said: “He was instructed to work quickly.” King Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke by telephone on Sunday evening and stressed the importance of the two countries creating a joint group as part of the probe. Trump has threatened “severe punishment” if it turns out Khashoggi was killed in the consulate, although he has ruled out canceling arms deals worth tens of billions of dollars with Saudi Arabia. European allies have urged “a credible investigation” and accountability for those responsible. Britain expects Riyadh to provide “a complete and detailed response” to questions over Khashoggi’s disappearance, Prime Minister Theresa May’s spokesman said on Monday. Saudi Arabia has responded to Western statements by saying it would retaliate against any pressure or economic sanctions “with greater action,” and Arab allies rallied to support it, setting up a potential showdown between the world’s top oil exporter and its main Western allies. The Saudi riyal fell to its lowest in two years and its international bond prices slipped over fears that foreign investment could shrink amid international pressure. The Saudi stock market had tumbled 7.2 percent over the previous two trading days but rebounded 2 percent on Monday. Foreign capital is key to Saudi plans for economic diversification and job creation. Concern over Khashoggi’s disappearance has seen media organizations and a growing number of guests pull out of a “Davos in the Desert” investment conference set for Oct. 23-25, which has become the biggest show for investors to promote Prince Mohammed’s reform vision. A source familiar with the matter said Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman and BlackRock Chief Executive Larry Fink were pulling out of the summit. Both companies declined comment. CNBC reported that Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga would not attend either. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which hosts the conference, has tentatively committed $20 billion to an infrastructure investment planned with Blackstone Group. Prince Mohammed told Reuters last year that Blackstone and BlackRock Inc were planning to open offices in the kingdom. The organizer insisted the conference would go ahead, saying in an emailed statement on Monday that more than 150 speakers were confirmed from over 140 organizations. Saudi Arabia’s Arab allies have rushed to its support. Bahrain called for a boycott of Uber, in which PIF has invested $3.5 billion, after its chief executive officer said he would not attend the conference. Similar campaigns trended on social media in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. UAE businessman Khalaf Ahmad Al-Habtoor urged a boycott of Virgin, which has suspended discussions with PIF over a planned $1 billion investment. Khashoggi, a familiar face on Arab talk shows, moved to the United States last year fearing retribution for his criticism of Prince Mohammed, who has cracked down on dissent with arrests. The former newspaper editor once interviewed Osama bin Laden and later became a consummate insider, advising former Saudi intelligence chief Prince Turki al-Faisal when he served as ambassador in London and Washington. A pro-government Turkish daily published preliminary evidence last week from investigators who it said had identified a 15-member Saudi intelligence team that arrived in Istanbul on diplomatic passports hours before Khashoggi disappeared. The Saudi Consulate referred Reuters to authorities in Riyadh, who did not respond to questions about the 15 Saudis. Asked if he had reviewed the purported recording of Khashoggi’s killing, Trump told reporters on Saturday: “I have not. … We’ve all heard a lot about the audio. Nobody’s seen it yet, so we do want to see it … we’re going to be seeing it very soon.”
|
saudi arabia;turkey;istanbul;donald trump;mike pompeo;mohammed bin salman;jamal khashoggi;saudi consulate
|
jp0009516
|
[
"world",
"crime-legal-world"
] |
2018/10/16
|
After denials, Saudi Arabia preparing to admit Jamal Khashoggi was killed in botched interrogation: CNN
|
WASHINGTON - Saudi Arabia is considering an admission that journalist Jamal Khashoggi died during an interrogation that went wrong, U.S. media reported on Monday. Khashoggi, a Saudi national and U.S. resident who became increasingly critical of powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has not been seen since he walked into the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate to sort out marriage paperwork on Oct. 2. Turkish officials have said they believe he was killed, a claim Saudi Arabia has denied. But CNN cited two sources as saying the Saudis are preparing a report that will acknowledge Khashoggi’s death resulted from an interrogation that went wrong during an intended abduction. One CNN source cautioned that the report was still being prepared and could change, while another said it will likely conclude the operation took place without clearance, and that those involved will be held responsible. The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, said the kingdom is weighing whether to say that rogue operatives killed Khashoggi by mistake during an interrogation. The Journal, like CNN, said the Saudi statement has not been finalized. Khashoggi’s fate has troubled Washington and Saudi Arabia’s other traditional Western allies. U.S. President Donald Trump earlier Monday said he had spoken with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, who strongly denied the kingdom’s involvement in Khashoggi’s disappearance. “It sounded to me like maybe these could have been rogue killers. Who knows?” the president said, describing the situation as “terrible.” Trump dispatched Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to the kingdom on Monday to find out “first-hand what happened, what they know, what’s going on.” “He may go to Turkey. He may not,” Trump said during a visit to Alabama. “He may meet with all of them together. But we want to find out what happened and he’s got instructions to find out what happened.” Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency said Pompeo was expected in Turkey on Wednesday to meet Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, after talks in Riyadh. Prince Mohammed, 33, a son of King Salman, consolidated his control in June 2017 when he was named crown prince to replace his cousin, Mohammed bin Nayef, who was fired. Bin Nayef had extensive counter-terrorism expertise which had made him a favorite of previous American administrations.
|
u.s .;murder;saudi arabia;turkey;jamal khashoggi;instanbul consulate
|
jp0009517
|
[
"national",
"science-health"
] |
2018/10/16
|
Pregnant women warned as rubella patients top 1,100 in Japan
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More than 1,100 rubella cases have been reported this year in Japan, raising concern about serious health impacts on unborn babies who could be infected with the disease by their mothers during pregnancy, a national institute said Tuesday. The 1,103 cases reported this year through Oct. 7 represent an increase of 135 from the previous week and around a twelvefold jump from the previous year, according to the National Institute of Infectious Diseases. The disease is spreading, particularly in the capital region, with 45 — the largest group of the 135 cases — reported in Tokyo, followed by 21 and 20 reported in Kanagawa and Chiba prefectures, respectively. Mothers with children born with congenital rubella syndrome in the past are calling on people to get vaccinations, as infections in the early stages of pregnancy cause birth defects such as hearing impairments, cataracts and heart disorders. “We need to keep monitoring the situation carefully to see if it will develop into a major epidemic,” health minister Takumi Nemoto said at a news conference. He also said the ministry will urge women who want to get pregnant to undergo a rubella antibody test. In a 2012-2013 rubella epidemic in Japan, which saw more than 16,000 patients contract the disease, 45 babies developed congenital rubella syndrome and 11 of them died. Kayo Kani, a 64-year-old co-head of a group working to stop rubella infections, warned that the latest epidemic could also result in births of babies with the syndrome, although no cases have been reported so far this year. Seventeen years ago, Kani lost her daughter who was born with heart problems due to the syndrome. Having learned that women of her daughter’s generation are now at risk of giving birth to children with similar problems, Kani said, “I feel like my daughter is telling me to eliminate rubella infections.” To prevent serious health repercussions arising from the contagious disease, which is often transmitted through coughing and sneezing, vaccinating people around pregnant women is important, according to the institute. Women who are already pregnant cannot be inoculated as the vaccine itself is feared to have an impact on the child. Notable rubella symptoms are fever, sore throat, and a rash. Its incubation period is two to three weeks. Many patients identified this year have been men in their 30s to 50s, a group that has not been vaccinated sufficiently due to changes in the country’s immunization system. According to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, there was a period when only girls were routinely vaccinated against rubella at junior high schools, and also when the vaccination rate was low for both boys and girls because each child had to go individually to a medical institution to get the vaccination. Know VPD! (Vaccine Preventable Diseases) Protect Our Children, a nonprofit organization promoting vaccinations to protect children, is urging the government to cover the costs of inoculating men in their 30s to 50s and importing vaccines if they are in short supply. This year rubella has been observed from July mainly in the Tokyo metropolitan area. The weekly number of newly reported rubella patients exceeded 100 for five consecutive weeks through Oct. 7.
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pregnancy;rubella;vaccinations
|
jp0009518
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/10/16
|
Hopes high that Pope Francis will send message from A-bombed cities to support nuclear weapons ban treaty
|
With Pope Francis expressing his intention to visit Japan next year, hopes are high among Hiroshima and Nagasaki residents and A-bomb survivors’ groups that he may come to their cities. The Vatican has already ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and the pope’s visit to the A-bombed cities could provide a lift to the campaign for nuclear weapon states and Japan to ratify the treaty and help speed the abolition of nuclear arms. To get the pope to visit, some people are saying louder pleas from citizens are needed. Hirotaka Matsushima, head of the Hiroshima Municipal Government’s Peace Promotion Division, welcomed the pope’s announcement last month that he hopes to visit Japan next year. “This is great news,” he said. “I hope that the pope will send out a message for peace from the A-bombed city.” The Hiroshima Prefectural and Municipal governments began stepping up their efforts to get Francis to visit after Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Vatican’s secretary for relations with states — a title that corresponds with the position of foreign minister — traveled to Hiroshima in January 2017. At that time, Gallagher suggested there was a possibility that the pontiff might visit the city. Hiroshima Gov. Hidehiko Yuzaki and Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui made separate trips to the Vatican last year and issued invitations to the pontiff in person. Their hopes are tied to the enormous influence that the Roman Catholic Church has around the world, with 1.23 billion members. During his visit to Hiroshima in 1981, the late John Paul II read out the “Appeal for Peace” in nine languages, with 25,000 looking on, in front of the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims. His address generated a significant response. The municipal government is also taking note of the pope’s appeal. The pontiff is from Argentina, a signatory to the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean. When talks began at the United Nations to establish a global treaty to outlaw nuclear arms, the pope issued a statement of support. And when the nuclear weapons ban treaty opened for signatures and ratifications on Sept. 20 last year, the Vatican responded on the first day. The pope rejects the idea of nuclear deterrence — which nuclear nations and countries under their nuclear umbrella cite as a reason for their opposition to the treaty — from the point of view of the inhumane consequences these weapons cause. He argues that protecting one’s nation through threats of nuclear retaliation creates “a false sense of security.” Toshiyuki Mimaki, 76, chairman of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-bomb Sufferers Organizations and a resident of Kitahiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, said, “I would like the pope to call on the countries that haven’t joined the treaty to ratify it.” The treaty will enter into force after at least 50 nations have ratified it, and 15 countries had done so as of Sept. 20 this year. Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue, who is working together with Hiroshima leaders to realize the pope’s visit, believes that Francis is “a vital presence supporting the need for the nuclear weapons ban treaty.” The government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has also requested that the pope visit Japan in order to boost momentum for nuclear disarmament. However, the government has clearly stated that it does not intend to sign or ratify the treaty. Last March, the Episcopal Commission for Social Issues of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of Japan (CBCJ) sent a letter to the government, including a quote from Pope Francis, asking that it sign and ratify the treaty. There appears to be no change, though, in the government’s policy. For this reason, some are suspicious of the government’s true intentions regarding the pope’s visit. Haruko Moritaki, 79, co-chairwoman of the citizens’ group Hiroshima Alliance for Nuclear Weapons Abolition (HANWA), voiced her concern by saying, “The Japanese government may want to take advantage of the pope’s visit by giving the impression that they are making serious efforts for nuclear disarmament, seeking to gloss over their policy of refusing to join the treaty.” She also said that “the important thing is to enhance the welcome by Hiroshima citizens for the pope, who has made contributions to the creation of the nuclear weapons ban treaty and will, in the A-bombed city of Hiroshima, send out a message to the world to press ahead with the nuclear treaty.”
|
nagasaki;hiroshima;atomic bombings;the pope;the treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons
|
jp0009519
|
[
"national",
"history"
] |
2018/10/16
|
First joint survey planned for Daisen Kofun, Japan's largest ancient tomb
|
The Imperial Household Agency said Monday it will jointly excavate Japan’s largest ancient mounded tomb, together with a local government, for the first time. The agency had restricted surveys of Daisen Kofun, which was first built in the fifth century and is officially designated as the tomb of Emperor Nintoku, saying the mound is “the Imperial Family’s tomb where peace and sanctity needed to be maintained.” The excavation survey starting later this month in one of the dikes surrounding the massive tomb in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, will be part of the tomb’s preservation efforts conducted with the municipal government. Its results will be published at the end of November. When the agency surveyed the same dike in 1973, it discovered clay figures made for ritual use. Calls for the joint survey had been increasing among academics and others as the mound has been gradually eroded by water in the surrounding moats. The agency is expected to refer to results of the survey when it conducts reinforcement work. The agency has judged it necessary to cooperate with local authorities, which have long engaged in protecting the cultural asset, one of its officials said. Japan is seeking to register an ancient tumulus cluster that covers the Daisen tomb as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site. The tomb is known as one of the three largest in the world, together with the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor in China and the Great Pyramid of Khufu in Egypt.
|
archaeology;imperial household agency;daisen kofun;emperor nintoku
|
jp0009520
|
[
"world",
"crime-legal-world"
] |
2018/10/28
|
Jim Mattis calls for transparent investigation into Jamal Khashoggi's killing during talks with Saudi minister
|
PRAGUE - U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Sunday that he met Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister and called for a transparent investigation into the killing earlier this month of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Washington Post columnist Khashoggi’s murder inside the Saudi Arabian Consulate in Istanbul has escalated into a crisis for the world’s top oil exporter as Saudi Arabia’s allies have reacted with outrage. Mattis said he met Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir during a conference in Bahrain on Saturday and discussed the killing. “We discussed it. You know the same thing we talked about, the need for transparency, full and complete investigation,” Mattis told a small group of reporters traveling to Prague with him. “(There was) full agreement from Foreign Minister Jubeir, no reservations at all, he said we need to know what happened and it was very collaborative, in agreement,” Mattis added. U.S. President Donald Trump has said he wants to get to the bottom of the case, while also highlighting Riyadh’s role as an ally against Tehran and Islamist militants, as well as a major purchaser of U.S. arms. Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor has said Khashoggi’s killing was premeditated, contradicting a previous official statement that it happened accidentally during a tussle in the consulate in Istanbul. On Saturday, al-Jubeir told a security summit in Bahrain that Riyadh’s relations with the United States are “ironclad” amid what he described as “media hysteria” over the killing of Khashoggi. At the same conference, Mattis had sharp words for Saudi Arabia, saying that the killing undermines Middle Eastern stability and that Washington will take additional measures against those responsible. Earlier this month U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met Saudi King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz al-Saud and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to discuss the issue. Washington has already announced moves against 21 Saudis to either revoke their visas or make them ineligible for U.S. visas after the Khashoggi killing. Asked whether the U.S. will limit its support to the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, Mattis said Sunday: “We’ll continue to support the defense of the kingdom.” Saudi Arabia is leading a Western-backed alliance of Sunni Muslim Arab states trying to restore the internationally recognized government of Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, ousted from the capital, Sanaa, by the Iran-aligned Houthis in 2015. The United States and other Western powers provide arms, refueling and intelligence to the alliance. Germany has vowed to halt all German arms exports to Saudi Arabia until the killing of Khashoggi is explained.
|
u.s .;yemen;saudi arabia;crime;istanbul;jim mattis;jamal khashoggi
|
jp0009521
|
[
"world",
"offbeat-world"
] |
2018/10/28
|
To the roo-scue! Kangaroo caught in surf saved with CPR
|
SYDNEY - A kangaroo that hopped into the sea for a dip at a Melbourne beach had to be rescued by Australian police and brought back to life with CPR, officers said Sunday. Officers were called to Safety Beach in Melbourne on Saturday afternoon amid reports the animal was struggling in the water. When they arrived, the roo had already made its way back onto dry land and was on the sand covered with a blanket by a beachgoer. But as they approached, it suddenly turned around and bounded back into the waves. “It began to swim but got into difficulty in the swell and breaking waves and went under water a couple of times,” Victoria Police said in a statement. Two officers jumped into the water and managed to bring the now-unconscious marsupial back to a grassy area and resuscitate it using compressions. They did not use the “kiss of life” — mouth-to-mouth resuscitation — a Victoria Police spokeswoman said. It was then brought to a police station. After an assessment, officers said it was “in good spirits and lucky to be alive, given the amount of saltwater he inhaled.” Known for their jumping prowess, most kangaroos are also capable swimmers, although they rarely take to the water.
|
nature;australia;animals;melbourne;beaches;kangaroos
|
jp0009522
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"science-health-asia-pacific"
] |
2018/10/28
|
Mosquito-borne Zika virus detected in second Indian state
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NEW DELHI - India’s Zika outbreak is spreading, with officials saying Sunday that the mosquito-borne virus has been detected in the western state of Gujarat after nearly 150 cases were reported this year in neighboring Rajasthan. Health authorities in Gujarat said a woman tested positive for Zika and was treated at a state hospital in the capital, Ahmedabad, the first confirmed case outside Rajasthan this year. “Only one case has been found so far. We are taking all precautions,” Gujarat Commissioner of Health Jayanti Ravi said Sunday. The state health department has rallied hundreds of doctors and medical personnel to perform emergency screenings for Zika, including more than 250 pregnant women with fevers. Gujarat, which borders Rajasthan to the south, has been fumigating public areas in an effort to kill the mosquitoes that carry the diseases. Health authorities in Rajasthan have detected 147 cases of Zika since September, officials say. Almost 440,000 people were under surveillance in Rajasthan’s capital, Jaipur, last month. The Aedes aegypti mosquito, which carries Zika and other viruses like dengue fever, is widely prevalent in India. The country of 1.25 billion reported its first Zika cases in January 2017 in Gujarat but the latest case is the first in the state this year. Since Zika erupted on a large scale in 2015, more than 1.5 million people in more than 70 countries have been infected, with most in South America. In rare cases, if pregnant women contract the virus their babies can develop brain defects. Zika was also detected in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu in July 2017. The World Health Organization has said no vaccine is likely to be available until 2020.
|
india;health;disease;mosquito;rajasthan;zika;gujarat
|
jp0009523
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"politics-diplomacy-asia-pacific"
] |
2018/10/28
|
China still poring over little-noticed Pence speech weeks later
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BEIJING - In Washington, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence’s Oct. 4 speech ripping China was largely lost amid the uproar over the midterms and Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation. In Beijing, however, Pence’s address is still reverberating. Some in China’s foreign policy community continue to study it, comparing the rhetoric with Winston Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” speech in 1946, and trying to determine whether it, too, marks the start of a Cold War between two world powers. Wang Wen, executive dean of the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University in Beijing, was among those alarmed by how the vice president conflated trade grievances with spying allegations and long-standing security disputes such as Taiwan. “We are at a very serious tipping point,” Wang said. In his remarks to the Hudson Institute in Washington, Pence accused China of waging a “whole-of-government” campaign to erode American industrial advantages and steer voters away from the Republican Party in the midterms. He accused Beijing of attempting to push the U.S. military from the Western Pacific and buy off Latin American countries with “debt diplomacy.” Viewed through the prism of the U.S. election, the speech served to deflect Democratic criticism of President Donald Trump’s tariffs and response to allegations of Russian meddling. In China, however, it helped confirm fears that the two sides are heading toward a prolonged struggle, with the U.S. using its economic and military might to contain its rival’s rise. “The Pence speech was very much for a domestic audience,” said Dennis Wilder, a former senior director for Asia at the National Security Council under President George W. Bush. Still, there was a message for Beijing, Wilder said: “It’s time to put China on notice that the U.S. is ready to compete with China in lots of different spheres.” The episode illustrates how suspicions between Washington and Beijing are rising as the trade war drags on and communications grow more tense. The risk is that leaders on each side decide that settling their economic disputes could weaken them in an inevitable geopolitical tussle. The speech could also complicate near-term efforts to get trade talks back on track, since Trump has decided to skip regional summits in Singapore and Papua New Guinea next month. His chosen emissary — Pence — will likely receive a frosty reception from President Xi Jinping and other top Chinese officials. One White House official said the speech was primarily intended for domestic consumption, but also an opportunity to lay the groundwork for Pence’s Asia trip. The president and vice president went over the speech line by line, said the official, who asked not to be named discussing internal deliberations. China expressed its displeasure during Secretary of State Michael Pompeo’s visit to Beijing four days after Pence’s speech. Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Pompeo in an unusually blunt lecture that the U.S. had “damaged our mutual trust.” Xi declined to meet with the visiting secretary of state, as he had done during a similar trip in June. In the days since, Chinese state media have churned out almost daily commentaries denouncing Pence’s claims as “illogical and absurd.” “The recent string of relentless and groundless China-bashing rhetoric from U.S. leaders has revealed a Washington bent on dragging Beijing into a full-scale face-off,” the official Xinhua News Agency said Oct. 12. Subsequent events have only reinforced the Cold War narrative in Beijing. Last week, Trump vowed to outspend China in a nuclear arms buildup and the U.S. Navy sailed two warships through the Taiwan Strait, in a show of military support for the democratically run island. Gen. Wei Fenghe, China’s defense minister, warned that challenging the party on Taiwan was “extremely dangerous” Thursday in a speech that also hit back at Pence. “A hegemonic and confrontational security model is outdated,” Wei said. “The world shouldn’t repeat the Cold War.” That’s why some Foreign Ministry officials and advisers have dusted off copies of Churchill’s speech in Fulton, Missouri, in which the then-U.K. opposition leader urged Western democracies to stand up to communist expansion in Europe. Some historians, including those in China, see it as a crystallizing moment in the decades-long struggle between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Still, Chinese officials have found solace in the differences. Pence, for instance, largely listed U.S. complaints and offered no grand strategy for countering China. “The quality of the language of Pence’s speech is much lower,” said Wang Wen, of the Chongyang Institute. One Chinese official who asked not to be identified noted that the U.S. hasn’t yet taken any real action outside of tariffs. Another expressed confidence that American allies such as Australia, Japan and South Korea, wouldn’t risk a breakdown in ties with China to join a U.S.-led containment push. So far, China has refrained from criticizing Trump directly and jeopardizing the rapport the U.S. leader says he has with Xi. That has helped keep hopes alive in Beijing that the two leaders could agree to not escalate the dispute, perhaps after an anticipated meeting on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit next month in Argentina. Pang Zhongying, a professor of international relations at the Macau University of Science and Technology, said that he hoped China listened to the U.S.’s complaints and didn’t just focus on the rhetoric. “Misunderstanding will lead bilateral relations into a vicious cycle,” Pang said. “Pence’s speech may send confrontational signals, but not entirely wrong, and China should view it more rationally.”
|
china;u.s .;military;trade;xi jinping;donald trump;mike pence
|
jp0009524
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/10/28
|
Rule violations, bad habits accompany wholesalers on move from Tsukiji to Toyosu
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Rule violations such as smoking outside designated areas, unauthorized use of shared space and other transgressions that were a problem at the now-defunct Tsukiji wholesale market have been reported at its successor site, the new Toyosu market, according to sources. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government, which operates the replacement market that opened earlier this month in Koto Ward, has plans to intensify surveillance and crack down on violations in cooperation with industry groups so as to remedy the situation, the sources said. Because market operations at Toyosu — in contrast to the open-air-type facility at Tsukiji — take place inside closed buildings, hygiene control standards are stricter because cigarette smoke, ash and butts can contaminate food more easily. Although the Toyosu market, which has been enjoying a good turnout of shoppers and tourists since it opened, has many designated smoking areas, smoking on the street—with its resulting cigarette butt litter — still remains rampant. “I’m too busy to walk to a smoking area that is far away,” a worker of an intermediate wholesaler said in an apologetic tone. The Tokyo government has vowed to more vigorously ensure compliance with such rules that would have gone unpunished at the Tsukiji in Chuo Ward. “We’re ready to impose administrative punishments such as suspension of entry into the market” on malicious violators, a government official said. Another issue is the unauthorized stacking of boxes by wholesalers in aisles that are meant to remain open enough for four turret trucks to pass through at a time. The issue was also a problem at Tsukiji. But at Toyosu, according to the sources, there are sections where only one truck can traverse because of clutter. “The well-thought design of the facility has been fouled up,” another official with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government said. “It’s pointless for traders to spoil the usability of their own market.” Because the Toyosu market is still a bit chaotic due to the recent move from Tsukiji, the Tokyo government plans to tolerate to some extent violations such as the placement of boxes in the aisles, with the exception of where they create blind spots for drivers.
|
fishing;tsukiji;toyosu
|
jp0009525
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/10/28
|
Halloween in Tokyo's Shibuya: Where did all the wicked wackiness get started?
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Japan’s rowdy, cosplay-themed Halloween celebrations have become famous around the world, with young people congregating in city hot spots and theme parks where they snap selfies in outrageous outfits and ghoulish get-ups. In recent years, thousands of revelers — dressed up in supergraphic costumes to look like such characters as sexy zombies, stabbing victims and even the eccentric animal skin-clad viral star Pikotaro — have been drawn to the giant street party that takes place on Shibuya’s famous scramble crossing, making movement there nearly impossible. “From about four years ago, people started going out on the streets rather than enjoying Halloween events in clubs or bars,” Shibuya Ward Mayor Ken Hasebe said at a recent news conference ahead of the Oct. 31 annual celebration. But where did all the wicked wackiness get started? According to locals, the history of Halloween in Japan can be traced back to the 1970s, when a bookstore in the nearby pop-culture hub of Harajuku began selling Halloween paraphernalia and organizing costume parades. “How we absorbed Halloween culture reflects postwar history in Japan,” a spokeswoman for toy and bookstore operator Kiddy Land Co. said. In 1950, the store’s predecessor — Hashidate Shoten — opened in Harajuku, where many facilities were built for U.S. military personnel after World War II. To meet demand, the store started to sell foreign books and high-quality Japanese toys. Foreign customers who lived in the area began asking how they could get their hands on Halloween items. “The staff at the time were asked by foreign customers why we don’t carry Halloween stuff,” she said. Staff members from the store traveled to the United States to learn about the Halloween tradition and later started hosting children’s costume parades in front of the store around 1983. The event, which first involved about 100 participants, began attracting more and more people each year, eventually spreading from foreign customers to Japanese. With Tokyo Disneyland introducing Halloween events in 1997, the day is now viewed nationwide as an opportunity to dress up and attend parties, the Kiddy Land Co. spokeswoman said. The media, which showed footage of youngsters exchanging high-fives and having fun at Shibuya crossing during the 2002 FIFA World Cup, played a big role in the district becoming party central for Halloween, according to Hasebe. The mayor, who was the first to hold a news conference to address the wild Halloween celebrations, called for a concerted effort to “get people to go home by the last train and keep the noise level down after midnight.” Around 70,000 people visited the district on Halloween in 2015, with the numbers increasing every year since, according to the Shibuya Ward office. Last year, half the crowd wore costumes while the other half was there to mingle and enjoy themselves, the mayor said. According to the office, about 7.8 tons of garbage was collected last year. That refuse included broken glass, bottles, cans and costume parts that were strewn about the streets. And the toilets in the area’s shopping district that were used to change into outfits ended up being covered in makeup, fake blood and other Halloween materials. This year, the ward office is asking 17 retail stores around the scramble crossing to stop all bottled alcohol sales. “I’m sure the celebration can be carried out in a good and moral spirit, so I want to avoid regulating things if possible,” the mayor said. “(Halloween) is beginning to take root in the culture of Shibuya. I want to foster it,” he added. In the past, several people — just a tiny number considering the massive crowds — have been arrested on suspicion of stealing or groping women, according to police. The Metropolitan Police Department has also taken measures in recent years to prevent accidents, such as deploying its so-called DJ police, officers who marshal the crowd with a spirit of goodwill, rather than issuing stern orders. Just as Japanese soccer fans garnered a positive reputation for cleaning up stadiums during the World Cup in Russia, so too have many locals who volunteer to take part in cleaning up Shibuya streets before and after Halloween. Led by a committee, comprised of businesses and the Shibuya Ward office, volunteers for the past three years have been provided with pumpkin-shaped orange garbage bags, work gloves and tongs for the cleanup effort. Aside from setting up temporary waste collection centers this year, the committee will also install boxes where people can discard their costumes and other unwanted items. Anything that is in good condition will be offered for sale online, with the proceeds going toward future cleanup efforts in Shibuya. “I hope this new attempt will encourage people to be conscious of reusing, rather than throwing things away,” a member of the committee said. Related The stuff of nightmares on parade at Kawasaki Halloween 2018
|
shibuya;cosplay;halloween;ken hasebe
|
jp0009526
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2018/10/17
|
Tokyo stocks extend their rally on buybacks
|
Stocks extended a rally on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Wednesday, boosted by buybacks in the wake of a sharp overnight rebound on Wall Street. The 225-issue Nikkei average finished up 291.88 points, or 1.29 percent, at 22,841.12, after gaining over 400 points in the morning. On Tuesday, the key market gauge advanced 277.94 points. The Topix index of all first-section issues rose 25.96 points, or 1.54 percent, to end at 1,713.87, after adding 12.47 points the previous day. The Tokyo market spurted soon after the opening bell, as investors cheered jumps of the Dow Jones industrial average and the other two major U.S. stock price indexes on Tuesday following the release of major companies’ strong quarterly earnings results and robust industrial production data, brokers said. Both Nikkei and Topix lost steam after a wave of buybacks but maintained strength for the rest of Wednesday’s trading on the back of stable dollar-yen movements. “Risk-off sentiment receded to some extent” as major U.S. firms’ earnings beat market consensuses, an official of a bank-affiliated brokerage firm said. Behind the recent market sell-offs were concerns that the U.S.-China tariff war could work to dampen business activities and earnings, the official explained, adding that players in Tokyo refrained from active trading after the initial spurt to wait for earnings reports Japanese firms are scheduled to release next week. Meanwhile, Ryuta Otsuka, strategist at the investment information department of Toyo Securities Co., said, “It seemed a technical rebound continued on the Tokyo market for the second day.” Investors, such as hedge funds, judged Tokyo stocks had been oversold and moved to buy them back, he noted. Rising issues far outnumbered falling ones 1,950 to 119 in the TSE’s first section, while 40 issues were unchanged. Volume rose slightly to 1.29 billion shares from Tuesday’s 1.26 billion shares. High-tech issues attracted purchases after their U.S. peers fared well overnight. Sony Corp. gained 2.23 percent, and semiconductor-related Screen and Tokyo Electron surged 5.48 percent and 3.02 percent, respectively Megabank groups Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. and Mizuho Financial Group Inc. attracted repurchases after U.S. financial giants Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley released brisk earnings reports on Tuesday. Brokerage firm Nomura Holdings Inc. and insurers Dai-ichi Life Holdings Inc. and Tokio Marine Holdings Inc. were also upbeat. Other major winners included pharmaceutical firm Eisai Co. and clothing-retailer Fast Retailing Co. On the other hand, shipping firms Kawasaki Kisen, Mitsui OSK Lines and Nippon Yusen K.K. suffered hefty losses. Also sold were automaker Suzuki Motor Corp. and steel-maker JFE Holdings Inc. In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the key December contract on the Nikkei average rose 470 points to end at 22,890.
|
stocks;nikkei;tse;markets;topix
|
jp0009527
|
[
"national",
"politics-diplomacy"
] |
2018/10/17
|
Opposition heads confirm cooperation in 2019 Upper House poll
|
Leaders of five opposition parties have agreed to try jointly fielding unified candidates in constituencies where one seat will be contested in the House of Councilors election next summer. The agreement was reached Tuesday night at a meeting between leaders of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, the Democratic Party for the People, the Japanese Communist Party, the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party. The leaders met for the first time since July 20 this year, when they decided to jointly submit a no-confidence motion against the Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. They hope to take advantage of the positive momentum they believe was created by the victory of Denny Tamaki over a Liberal Democratic Party-backed candidate in the Okinawa gubernatorial election last month. “We’ve agreed to work together toward the Upper House election so as not to benefit the ruling parties,” DPFP President Yuichiro Tamaki told reporters. The Upper House has 32 constituencies where one seat is contested in each election. The CDPJ has effectively finished its candidate selection in one such district, the DPFP in two and the JCP in 22. Currently, the DPFP and the JCP are set to compete in Nagano and Nagasaki prefectures. In the previous Upper House election in 2016, major opposition parties unified candidates in all single-seat constituencies and defeated the LDP in 11 such districts. The five opposition parties see the need to avoid competition in one-seat districts. But upcoming talks may not go so smoothly as they still remain divided on the details, sources said.
|
elections;upper house;opposition parties
|
jp0009528
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2018/10/10
|
Tokyo Stock Exchange snaps four-session losing streak aided by buying on dips
|
The market snapped its four-session losing streak on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Wednesday, aided by buying on dips. The 225-issue Nikkei average gained 36.65 points, or 0.16 percent, to end at 23,506.04, after tumbling 314.33 points on Tuesday. The Topix index of all first-section issues finished up 2.74 points, or 0.16 percent, at 1,763.86. It shed 31.53 points the previous day. After opening firmer, the key market gauges turned lower later in the morning amid a dearth of fresh major buying incentives, market sources said. The indexes stayed in plus territory for most of the afternoon session, supported by purchases on declines, according to the sources. Chihiro Ota, general manager for investment research and investor services at SMBC Nikko Securities Inc., expressed his belief that the stock market was still in a correction phase. “I can’t say purchases on declines were strong,” he said. It was easy for stocks to rebound following their recent falls, but “no incentive to step up purchases emerged,” an official at an online brokerage house said. Active buying was held in check ahead of the announcements of earnings reports by major companies later this week, an official of an asset management firm pointed out. Rising issues outnumbered falling ones 1,137 to 894 in the TSE’s first section, while 79 issues were unchanged. Volume dropped to 1.345 billion shares from Tuesday’s 1.568 billion shares. Tokai Carbon closed 7.05 percent higher as the issue was deemed undervalued after it fell as much as 15 percent over the past five sessions. Skylark rose 1.92 percent after the restaurant chain said Tuesday that its same-store sales in September grew 2.2 percent from a year before. Also on the plus side were clothing store chain operator Fast Retailing and semiconductor manufacturing equipment-maker Tokyo Electron. Kirindo tumbled 9.69 percent after the drug store chain reported an operating profit for the fiscal first half on Tuesday that was short of the company’s target, brokers said. Other major losers included industrial robot producer Fanuc and mobile phone carrier SoftBank Group. In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the December contract on the Nikkei average finished up 60 points at 23,530.
|
stocks;nikkei;tse;markets;topix
|
jp0009529
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/10/10
|
Former Cabinet security chief Atsuyuki Sassa dies at 87
|
Atsuyuki Sassa, who served as the first head of Japan’s Cabinet Security Affairs Office, died Wednesday at age 87, his family said. Sassa, a native of Tokyo, joined the forerunner of the National Police Agency after graduating from the University of Tokyo. He led the police force as a security bureau executive during the deadly standoff in the 1972 Asama mountain lodge incident, in which ultraleftist radicals of the United Red Army took hostages at a mountain lodge in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture. He served in other senior posts including as head of the now-defunct Defense Facilities Administration Agency before serving as the security affairs chief between 1986 and 1989.
|
obituary;national police agency;atsuyuki sasa
|
jp0009530
|
[
"national",
"social-issues"
] |
2018/10/10
|
Japan's female sailors serve on front line of gender equality
|
ABOARD, THE KAGA - Women serving on Japan’s biggest warship, the Kaga, are a tight-knit group on the front line of a push to transform the Japanese navy into a mixed-gender fighting force, where men outnumber them more than 10 to one. The Maritime Self Defense Force needs more women because falling birthrates mean it has too few men to crew warships in home waters or on helicopter carriers such as the Kaga, sailing in foreign waters to counter China’s growing regional influence. “Women all over the world are working in a wider number of areas and I think Japan needs to be a part of that,” said Petty Officer Akiko Ihara, 31, standing beside one of the helicopters she helps to maintain. The proportion of women on the Kaga’s crew of 450 is about 9 percent, a level Japan is targeting for the military overall by 2030, from 6 percent now. That would still fall short of the U.S., where 15 percent of people in uniform are women, and the U.K. with 10 percent. “We all work in different teams around the ship but we are all friends,” Ihara added. “We do sometimes moan a little about our male colleagues.” The nine-year veteran says she has encountered no workplace discrimination, and would challenge any man who thinks women are unsuited for military life to work with her. More female recruits are making the SDF a more “rounded” organization, said Ayako Yoneda, 29, a firefighter and engineer on the Kaga. “When I first joined nine years ago there were few women and it felt like men then didn’t know how to deal with us,” she said. “I think the men now see things more from our perspective. The SDF has become a gentler place.” Nonetheless, the women do face sexual harassment. In July, the navy discharged a male petty officer for kissing and groping three female sailors over several months. Japan’s demographic woes are forcing it down a path taken years earlier by its U.S. ally, which lifted a ban on women on warships in 1993. The MSDF, which let women crew ships a decade ago, could soon remove the last major barrier to female sailors by ending a ban on submarine duty, Defense Ministry sources have said. Japan has one of the world’s largest navies, with 45,000 crew members on more than 100 vessels, including about 20 submarines, more than 40 destroyers and four helicopter carriers including the Kaga. The Kaga was on its way to Sri Lanka after drills in the contested South China Sea as part of a two-month deployment in waters stretching from the Western Pacific to the Indian Ocean. Commissioned in 2017, it is among a new generation of warships designed to accommodate mixed crews, with more toilets and bathrooms than older vessels. Signs at the entrance to the women’s segregated sleeping quarters warn men to keep out and the women inside carry electronic pagers that can be contacted via numerical keypads beside the doors. The MSDF hopes improved facilities and privacy safeguards will draw more women to sign up. The navy struggles more to find recruits than the air force or army, as young people balk at the prospect of being cut off from social media networks on long deployments. In 2016, for example, the Air Self-Defense Force received 6,900 applications, versus just 3,927 for the MSDF, even though both have about the same number of enlisted personnel. Miku Ihara, 22, a woman cadet on the Kaga, says she reads books or studies when off-duty, but misses having access to Line and Instagram. Sailors are limited to a daily maximum of four emails when at sea. “You just have to get used to not having it and make the most of it when you do,” she added. The presence of women on board has had one unexpected benefit on the men that report to him, says Command Master Chief Yasuharu Tohno, the most senior enlisted sailor on board. “They shave regularly and iron their clothes,” said Tohno, who joined an all-male fleet 35 years ago.
|
gender equality;military;women;msdf;kaga
|
jp0009531
|
[
"business"
] |
2018/10/19
|
U.S. agriculture secretary says Washington seeks deeper farm tariff cuts by Japan than those in TPP
|
WASHINGTON - The United States will urge Japan to reduce tariffs on agricultural products beyond levels agreed to under the Trans-Pacific Partnership, an 11-member regional free trade agreement, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue indicated Thursday. “We would expect certainly equal or better than the TPP deal,” Perdue told reporters Thursday, in yet another bid to prioritize America’s farm exports ahead of the expected start of negotiations for a bilateral trade agreement on goods, or TAG, in mid-January. The comment suggests President Donald Trump’s administration will push for increased market access for beef, pork and other farm products in Japan during the upcoming negotiations involving U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Economic Revitalization Minister Toshimitsu Motegi. Last month, Trump and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed the United States will refrain from imposing tariffs on automobile imports from Japan while negotiations are underway. Perdue made the remark two weeks after he called for a trade deal between the two countries with better terms than that of the free trade agreement between Japan and the European Union. “We believe that as good customers of theirs in their automotive industry, we should have our agricultural products accepted as easily and freely as we accept the automobiles,” he said. Perdue repeated his tough stance despite the understanding between Trump and Abe that Washington would not demand deeper farm tariff cuts than levels Japan has agreed to in other trade pacts such as the TPP — from which Trump withdrew the United States last year — and the Japan-EU accord. Later Friday, top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga reiterated Tokyo’s policy that it will negotiate with the U.S. in a way that will be in Japan’s national interest. On Tuesday, Lighthizer suggested the Trump administration will push Japan to “address both tariff and nontariff barriers” in sectors such as automobiles, agriculture and services, and to “achieve fairer, more balanced trade.” Similarly, other senior U.S. officials have made strong remarks ahead of the start of the trade talks, with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin calling for the inclusion of a provision to prevent currency devaluations. Vice President Mike Pence has described the prospective deal with Japan as a “free trade agreement,” contradicting Japan’s assertion that the accord sought by the two governments will not be as comprehensive as such an agreement. Meanwhile, Trump on Thursday praised Abe for working with him to “help balance out the one-sided Trade with Japan” and indicated expectations for more Japanese investment. Citing a $1.6 billion joint venture between Toyota Motor Corp. and Mazda Motor Corp. in Alabama and a $170 million investment by Nissan Motor Co. in Tennessee, Trump said in a Twitter post, “These are some of the investments they are making in our Country — just the beginning!” Figures that Trump posted in the tweet show that since he took office in January 2017, Japan has been the top international investor in the United States, injecting $20 billion and creating 37,000 jobs.
|
u.s .;trade;u.s.-japan relations;sonny perdue
|
jp0009532
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2018/10/19
|
Nikkei average closes at 22,532 after falling on overnight Wall Street plunge
|
Stocks sank further on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Friday, with investor sentiment dampened by a Wall Street plunge overnight. The 225-issue Nikkei average slumped 126.08 points, or 0.56 percent, to end at 22,532.08. On Thursday, the key market gauge dropped 182.96 points. The Topix index of all first-section issues closed down 11.79 points, or 0.69 percent, at 1,692.85, after falling 9.23 points the previous day. The Tokyo market came under heavy selling from the outset of Friday’s session after a sharp plunge in U.S. equities the previous day. The Nikkei briefly lost over 440 points in the early morning. After the initial selling ran its course, however, both indexes recouped much of the early losses in line with a recovery in Shanghai stocks from a lower start and the yen’s weakening against the dollar, brokers said. A strong risk-off mood in the early morning eased later due to a recovery in Shanghai stocks following the release of Chinese gross domestic product data for the July-September period, which, although weaker than expected, were at least “not a negative surprise,” an official of a bank-affiliated brokerage firm said. Concerns over the outlook of the Chinese economy that pushed down U.S. stocks overnight Thursday abated a little in Tokyo trading, an official of a midsize securities firm said. “Buying on dips supported the market’s downside after the initial selling,” said Mitsuo Shimizu, chief strategist at Aizawa Securities Co. Falling issues outnumbered rising ones 1,409 to 616 in the TSE’s first section, while 84 issues were unchanged. Volume increased to 1.28 billion shares from 1.22 billion Thursday. Construction machinery makers posted massive losses after U.S. peer Caterpillar fared poorly overnight. Komatsu sagged 3.12 percent, Hitachi Construction 2.43 percent and Sumitomo Heavy was down 2.13 percent. Yamada Denki plunged 6.65 percent after the electronics retailer announced Thursday a downward revision of its consolidated earnings forecast for the year to March 2019. Other major losers included mobile phone carrier SoftBank Group and game-maker Nintendo. By contrast, Don Quijote gained 2.53 percent after JPMorgan Securities Japan Co. revised up its target stock price for the discount store chain from ¥6,800 to ¥8,400, brokers said. Also higher were pharmaceutical firm Eisai and clothing retailer Fast Retailing. In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the key December contract on the Nikkei average fell 60 points to end at 22,530.
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stocks;nikkei;topix
|
jp0009533
|
[
"asia-pacific"
] |
2018/10/19
|
Bollywood director Mukesh Chhabra fired in India's #MeToo storm
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NEW DELHI - Fox Star Studios on Friday sacked a Bollywood director working on a Hindi-language remake of hit U.S. movie “The Fault In Our Stars” after he was accused of sexual harassment by two women. Mukesh Chhabra is the latest to get embroiled in India’s #MeToo movement which has been gaining traction, with several women calling out powerful men in government, Bollywood and the media. Fox Star Studios, a joint venture between Fox and Star India, said Chhabra had been asked to exit the project as it “takes allegations of sexual harassment of women at workplace very seriously.” An internal complaints committee would look into the allegations against Chhabra, it said in a statement on Twitter. Two women have accused Chhabra of sexual harassment during auditions, according to the local media, both anonymously. “He (Chhabra) asked me to enact a scene which had the hero and the heroine hugging each other,” one of the unnamed women was quoted as saying. “Under the pretext of showing me how the scene should be performed, he grabbed me hard and felt me up. I could feel his hand on my butt.” The other woman, also anonymous, told a newspaper that she has a recording of a phone call with him in which he said she would “have to compromise, get physical with people in power.” The film, starring Sushant Singh Rajput and Sanjana Sanghi, was supposed to be the directorial debut for Chhabra, who was previously a casting director. Chhabra has denied the “unsubstantiated wild anonymous allegations.” India’s belated #MeToo movement has made headlines in recent weeks with women sharing accounts of alleged harassment on Twitter. The trigger appears to have been actress Tanushree Dutta, who accused well-known Bollywood actor Nana Patekar of inappropriate behavior on a film set 10 years ago. Since then a slew of popular Bollywood figures have been accused of sexual misconduct, including Vikas Bahl, Sajid Khan and Alok Nath. All have denied the claims. On Wednesday India’s junior foreign minister M.J. Akbar announced his resignation after at least 20 women accused him of sexual harassment during his time as a newspaper editor. Akbar — who denies the allegations — is suing one of the complainants, Priya Ramani, for defamation. The first hearing in the case has been listed for Oct. 31.
|
film;india;sex crimes;# metoo
|
jp0009534
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"social-issues-asia-pacific"
] |
2018/10/19
|
Tradition, and mobs, keep women of childbearing age out of Indian temple
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SABARIMALA TEMPLE, INDIA - At the Indian temple that is the focus of a battle over gender equality, Hindu hard-liners are in festive mood, successful — so far — in their bid to keep women out. A supreme court decision to end a ban on women of “menstruating age” — those between 10 and 50 years — at the Sabarimala Temple in Kerala has sparked violent demonstrations on the roads leading to the site. Traditionalists have threatened women trying to get to the complex and have clashed with police officers sent to enforce the court’s ruling. But up at the hilltop temple, conservative Hindus are in celebratory mood. “You talk to anyone — men or women — who know about this temple’s history and (they) believe in it,” said pilgrim Rajesh P., one of thousands queuing up to ascend the golden stairs at the shrine. “I am happy my daughter is experiencing this,” he said, carrying the customary irrumudi offering made of coconut and clarified butter in a cloth bag on top of his head. If traditionalists have their way, his daughter will be banned from the temple in a couple of years, when she turns 10, unlike at most other Hindu sites. This reflects an old but still prevalent conviction — not exclusive to Hinduism — that menstruating women are impure, and the belief that the deity Ayyappa, to which the temple is dedicated, was celibate. In rural and semi-urban pockets of Hindu-majority India, which has 1.25 billion citizens, some women are still made to sleep and eat separately when they have their periods. The ban at Sabarimala — one of the holiest sites in Hinduism — goes back centuries, according to traditionalists, but was only formalized in 1991 by the Kerala High Court. However, last month India’s Supreme Court, following on from other recent liberal rulings like legalizing gay sex, overturned the ban, calling it discriminatory. “To treat women as children of a lesser god is to blink at the constitution itself,” said Justice D. Y. Chandrachud. The move enraged hard-liners, many of them supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling BJP Hindu nationalist party — and this week their anger was on display. On Wednesday, when the temple was due to open for monthly prayers for the first time since the ruling, groups of mostly men stopped and inspected vehicles to make sure that no women of childbearing age were inside. Despite hundreds of extra police deployed to protect worshippers, even female reporters trying to report on events were not safe, with mobs surrounding and smashing the windows of cars of at least two women journalists. A car containing three AFP correspondents, one of them a woman, was surrounded, and men beat their fists on the roof, demanding that she go back. With devotees throwing stones and police responding with baton charges, the few women who had wanted to make it to the temple gave up. Their traditions protected for now, the mood was happy on Thursday as the pilgrims — mostly men but also children of both sexes and older women — trekked up the concrete path in the lush, monkey-filled forest to Sabarimala. Custom dictates that for the 41 days before their visit, pilgrims wanting to enter the Ayyappa shrine must abstain from sex and walk up the arduous route — although one track is easier on the leg muscles — without shoes. The elderly and the infirm are permitted to use palanquins. Devotees are required to abstain from consuming alcohol, tobacco and meat, while cutting hair or shaving are also taboo. They must also wear black, blue or saffron clothes and pray and wash regularly. It is an atmosphere of festive fervor on the entire trail, with a steady stream of devotees loudly shouting the same rhythmic chants to Ayyappa. But tensions over the court ruling were not far from worshippers’ minds. “Everyone is angry, and I don’t have to hide it. … We don’t want any change. Our Ayyappa’s traditions don’t need to be tampered with,” shirtless devotee Sundaravadana said, clutching a black “Save Sabarimala” flag. “We’ve come here since our childhood and understand the rich tradition behind it,” he said. “We will do whatever (we have to) to save our Sabarimala.”
|
india;religion;women;discrimination;tradition
|
jp0009536
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/10/19
|
Four Japan firms used foreign trainees to clean up at Fukushima plant after nuclear meltdowns: final report
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The government concluded Friday that four companies had used foreign trainees to perform work cleaning up radioactive contamination after the March 2011 tsunami triggered meltdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant. The headline figure from the final report on a survey conducted by the Justice Ministry, the labor ministry and the Organization for Technical Intern Training was the same as that in the interim report, released in mid-July, which reflected results of surveying fewer than 200 companies with foreign trainee programs. Officials visited a total of 1,018 such companies with facilities in eight prefectures in eastern and northeastern Japan, interviewing technical interns there to confirm the situation, after the issue came to light in March. Of the four companies, one in Iwate Prefecture has been banned from accepting foreign trainees for five years. It was found to have neglected to pay allowances for decontamination work, amounting to a combined ¥1.5 million, to three trainees. The government has issued a similar ban for three years to a firm in Fukushima Prefecture for not paying a total of ¥180,000 to three interns for overtime work. A company in Fukushima and another in Chiba Prefecture received warnings because foreign trainees there engaged in decontamination work, albeit for short periods of time. The names of the four companies were not revealed. Justice Minister Takashi Yamashita told a news conference that the government gave guidance for improvement to three related regulatory organizations over insufficient inspections of companies with foreign technical interns. “We will continue to work with the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare and the Organization for Technical Intern Training to guide regulatory organizations and companies that accept technical interns, so they will not let them engage in decontamination work. We will take proper measures when we find inappropriate cases,” Yamashita said. In March, a Vietnamese trainee at an Iwate Prefecture-based construction firm revealed he had been assigned to take part in radioactive decontamination work without being given sufficient explanation of the tasks involved. The government announced later that month that it would not allow companies to use such foreign trainees for the removal of radioactive contamination, as such work is not consistent with the purpose of the program. The technical trainee program was introduced in 1993 with the aim of transferring skills to developing countries. But it has drawn criticism both at home and abroad as being a cover for importing cheap labor for industrial sectors, including manufacturing and construction, where blue-collar workers are in short supply.
|
fukushima;foreign trainees;3.11
|
jp0009537
|
[
"business"
] |
2018/10/26
|
Belgium to buy U.S. F-35 fighters instead of Eurofighter Typhoon in blow to EU defense plan
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BRUSSELS - Belgium said Thursday it had chosen to buy US-made F-35 stealth warplanes over the Eurofighter Typhoon, which critics call a blow to the EU’s bid to build its own defenses. In a multi-billion-euro deal with Lockheed Martin, the Belgian government said it would buy 34 radar-evading F-35s to replace its aging U.S.-made F-16s, from 2023. Critics called the decision “very bad news” for a more autonomous EU defense strategy, which got a boost after Brexit and U.S. President Donald Trump’s election. Lockheed Martin said it looked forward to ties with “the Belgian government and industry for decades to come,” according to a statement on its Twitter feed. Belgian Prime Minsiter Charles Michel sought to head off his critics when he said Belgium was looking to both Europe and the United States to meet its defense needs. Belgium is also buying drones, frigates, minesweepers and armored vehicles “within the framework of NATO and European defense,” Michel told a news conference. “The planes and drones are American, the other equipment is European and Belgium will enjoy the economic benefits,” Michel added, Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said the U.S. offer “was the best from the price and operational standpoint.” The F-35 ran against a bid from the Eurofighter, developed by a European consortium that also comprises Italy’s Finmeccanica and Airbus. Jean-Dominique Giuliani, who heads the Robert Schuman Foundation, a European think-tank, lamented the decision. “It’s not a European choice. It’s worse than a slap, it is dreadful for European defense,” Giuliani told AFP. “It is very bad news.” The F-35 requires a whole maintenance and operational system that depends “on the control of the United States,” he added. Marking a move away from Europe’s decades-long reliance on the United States for its defense, Brussels last year launched “permanent structured cooperation on defense,” known as PESCO. The aim was to unify European defense thinking and to rationalize a fragmented approach to buying and developing military equipment. France was also likely to be unhappy with the decision. The United States, acting on behalf of the F-35, and Britain, pushing for the Eurofighter, responded formally to the bidding process Belgium launched in March 2017. However, the French government took a different tack in September last year by proposing “in-depth cooperation” with the Belgian air force in additon to supplying Rafale fighters, built by the French firm Dassault. Defense Minister Steven Vandeput said France had ruled itself out with its approach. “We regret that France voluntarily withdrew from its obligation to present a bid in the framework of our transparent competitive process,” he said. Christophe Wasinski, professor of international relations at ULB University in Brussels, said the announcement of plans to buy 400 French armored vehicles amounted to government spin. “It sought to muddy the waters by saying it would buy not just American materiel when the star of these purchases is in fact the F-35,” Wasinksi said. According to Pentagon figures earlier this month, 320 F-35s have been delivered globally, mainly to the U.S. but also to Israel and Britain.
|
eu;lockheed martin;belgium;f35;brexit;defense contract;eurofighter typhoon
|
jp0009538
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2018/10/26
|
Tokyo stocks extend losses amid lingering earnings concerns
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Stocks lost further ground on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Friday, as selling traced to concerns over corporate earnings outpaced buying in anticipation of a rebound after sharp falls. The 225-issue Nikkei average lost 84.13 points, or 0.40 percent, to end at 21,184.60. On Thursday, the key market gauge tumbled 822.45 points. The Topix index of all first-section issues was down 4.91 points, or 0.31 percent, at 1,596.01 after plunging 51.15 points the previous day. Both indexes moved on the positive side for most of the morning session as investors were heartened by an overnight rally in U.S. equities, brokers said. But the Nikkei and Topix eased in the afternoon, with investor sentiment battered by a sharp drop in U.S. index futures in off-hours trading, the brokers said. The lower U.S. futures followed the release of weaker-than-expected earnings from retail giant Amazon.com Inc. and internet behemoth Alphabet Inc. after Thursday’s trading in New York, said Masayuki Otani, chief market analyst at Securities Japan Inc. “I’ve got the impression that investors continued to reduce stock market exposure on worries over fundamentals” such as economic and corporate performance, an official of a bank-linked securities firm said. “Considering the shaky investor sentiment, the Nikkei average may slip below the year-to-date (closing) low” of 20,617 logged on March 23, an official of a midsize securities firm said. “Investors will keep a watch on New York trading” for cues to make trade decisions next week, Otani said. Falling issues outnumbered rising ones 1,502 to 554 in the TSE’s first section, while 54 issues were unchanged. Volume increased to 1.699 billion shares from 1.641 billion shares on Thursday. Canon fell 5.62 percent after announcing weak consolidated earnings for January to September on Thursday, brokers said. Hitachi Construction Machinery slumped 5.03 percent after its upward revision of the consolidated operating profit forecast for the year through March fell short of the market consensus, they said. Other major losers included mobile phone carrier SoftBank Group and game-maker Nintendo. By contrast, clothing retailer Fast Retailing and automakers Toyota and Suzuki gained ground. In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the key December contract on the Nikkei average fell 40 points to end at 21,230.
|
stocks;nikkei;amazon.com;topix;alphabet
|
jp0009539
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2018/10/26
|
Dollar falls to around ¥112 in late Tokyo trading
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The dollar was lower around ¥112 in late Tokyo trading Friday, hurt by sluggish Tokyo stock prices and euro buying against the U.S. currency. At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥112.01, down from ¥112.30 at the same time Thursday. The euro was at $1.1375, down from $1.1400, and at ¥127.42, down from ¥128.03. The dollar rose above ¥112.40 in midmorning trading, assisted by a robust start of the 225-issue Nikkei average and dollar buying by Japanese importers, traders said. The greenback dropped below ¥112.20 early in the afternoon as the Nikkei average sank into negative territory. In late trading, the currency fell to levels around ¥112 mainly on euro buying against the dollar. “The mood of risk aversion continued amid unstable movements of the Nikkei average and Chinese stocks,” an official of a foreign exchange margin trading service firm said. But a currency market broker said, “Compared with stocks, the dollar was firm against the yen.” The dollar’s downside was supported around ¥112, said an official of a different foreign exchange margin trading service firm. But the dollar “may test its downside versus the yen” if stock prices in major countries drop again, the broker said.
|
yen;euro;dollar;forex
|
jp0009540
|
[
"world",
"crime-legal-world"
] |
2018/10/26
|
'Khashoggi's friends' hold vigil outside Saudi Consulate in Istanbul
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ISTANBUL - Dozens of people gathered outside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Thursday in a vigil to demand “full justice” for journalist Jamal Khashoggi, killed after entering the building three weeks ago. Several carried cardboard images of his face and signs reading “Khashoggi’s friends.” One, his hands painted red, wore a mask depicting the face of Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and critic of the crown prince, disappeared after entering the consulate. Saudi officials initially denied having anything to do with the disappearance, before changing that account to say an internal investigation suggested Khashoggi was accidentally killed in a botched operation to return him to the kingdom. Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor said on Thursday that the murder was premeditated. “On this occasion, and from this place where the spirit of Jamal has been lost, we clearly state that we will not accept compromises in the case of his murder,” the group outside the consulate said in a statement, read out in Arabic, Turkish and English. “We will continue to demand that all authorities across the Middle East immediately release all opinion leaders and political prisoners.” The killing of Khashoggi has sparked global outrage and a crisis for the world’s top oil exporter and strategic ally of the West. Turkey and Western allies of Riyadh have voiced deep skepticism about Saudi explanations of the killing. U.S. President Donald Trump, the kingdom’s staunchest Western ally, was quoted by the Wall Street Journal as saying Prince Mohammed bore ultimate responsibility for the operation that led to Khashoggi’s death. The people outside the consulate, some of whom had traveled from other countries for the vigil, lit candles in front of posters of Khashoggi. One taking part was Yasin Aktay, an adviser to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and a friend of Khashoggi’s. He said the investigation should bring all those responsible to justice, “no matter where it reaches.
|
murder;saudi arabia;turkey;istanbul;washington post;mohammed bin salman;jamal khashoggi;saudi consulate
|
jp0009541
|
[
"world",
"politics-diplomacy-world"
] |
2018/10/26
|
As U.S. midterm elections draw near, majority of Japanese-Americans support Democrats
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WASHINGTON - As the Democratic Party pushes to win back a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives on Nov. 6 it’s likely to have the support of most Japanese-Americans in an apparent protest against Republican President Donald Trump’s hard-line approach to immigration, a recent poll shows. Asian-American voters on a whole favor Democrats over Republicans by about a two-to-one ratio in both the House and Senate races, with such voters aligning themselves with the Democrats on issues such as health care, racial discrimination, the environment and gun control, the poll shows. But Republicans fare stronger on issues like taxes and national security, as well as jobs and the economy. David Inoue, a leading advocate of civil rights for Japanese-Americans — whose number totaled 1.4 million in 2015 according to Pew Research Center data — draws parallels between Trump’s anti-immigration rhetoric and the internment of 120,000 Japanese-Americans during World War II. “For many Japanese-Americans, our disagreements with the policies of the Trump administration are deeply personal,” said Inoue, executive director of the 8,000-member Japanese-American Citizens League. Reflecting his sentiments, only 14 percent of Japanese-Americans are happy with Trump’s presidency, compared with 24 percent for Chinese-Americans and 28 percent for Indian-Americans, according to the poll conducted by Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote and Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders Data. The survey of 1,316 registered voters who identify as Asian-American was conducted by telephone and online from Aug. 23 to Oct. 4. Polls and political analysts suggest it will be difficult for the Democrats to retake a majority in both chambers. All 435 seats in the House and 35 of the 100 seats in the Senate are up for grabs in the first major litmus test for the Trump administration. Referring to Trump’s restrictions on travel to the United States from a handful of Muslim-majority countries, Inoue said, “The Muslim ban hearkens back to the anti-Japanese immigration discrimination of the early 20th century.” “The singling out of Muslims combined with the president’s rhetoric is exactly like the racism that led to Japanese-American incarceration during World War II,” he said. “The ongoing policy of indefinitely imprisoning refugee families coming to our country is exactly what was done to Japanese-American families as well.” Advocating the values of “diversity and inclusion,” Democratic Rep. Doris Matsui, a Japanese-American seeking re-election in California’s sixth congressional district, also criticized Trump’s immigration policy. “The story of our country’s progress is inseparably linked to the contributions of millions of immigrants from all over the world,” said Matsui, whose parents were interned during World War II. Inoue, a second-generation Japanese-American, said the Japanese-American Citizens League — headquartered in San Francisco — is a nonpartisan organization, but that it “tends to support issues in a way that align with the Democrats.” While Japanese-Americans are united in their opposition to Trump’s immigration policy, Inoue acknowledged they are divided over his “America First” trade policy, with some supporting the president’s moves aimed at protecting American industry and workers. Some members back the U.S. withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a regional free trade agreement signed by Trump’s predecessor, Democratic President Barack Obama, because “they felt TPP was not protective enough of some of the industries in the United States,” Inoue said. Such a sentiment is shared by the broader-American public. A new poll by the Wall Street Journal and NBC News finds Republicans are preferred over Democrats on trade issues by a 17-point margin, up from an eight-point advantage in August. Asked about the Trump administration’s push to further open agriculture and automobile markets in Japan, as well as a threat to impose tariffs on automobile imports from the country, Inoue said, “As Japanese-Americans, we don’t ever want to get into a place where we have hostile trade relations between the United States and Japan.” “Obviously we want to support open trade, but we also want to make sure that American businesses are supported by our government,” he said. “It’s a very difficult and delicate issue.”
|
elections;japanese-americans;donald trump
|
jp0009542
|
[
"world",
"offbeat-world"
] |
2018/10/26
|
'French Spiderman' Alain Robert is arrested after free-climbing stunt snarls London's financial hub
|
LONDON - French urban free climber Alain Robert was arrested Thursday after bringing parts of London’s financial district to a standstill by scaling the 46-story Heron Tower, the area’s tallest building. The 56-year-old, also known as the “French Spiderman,” took around an hour to climb the 230-meter-tall tower without ropes or safety equipment. Traffic came to a halt as bemused crowds packed the streets below. Police in the City of London, the capital’s square-mile financial center, confirmed he was then arrested “for causing a public nuisance” and remained in custody Thursday afternoon. “This is what I love to do,” Robert had told a handful of reporters at a nearby hotel shortly before beginning his ascent. “I have pretty much dedicated my whole life to climb mountains, to climb cliffs, and now to climb buildings — but always ‘free soloing,’ meaning I’m not using safety devices.” The maverick climber has scaled more than 100 structures globally — including several in London previously — setting a record for “most buildings climbed unassisted,” according to Guinness World Records. Earlier this year, he was forced to abandon climbing the world’s fifth-tallest tower in Seoul after the 123-story building’s security officers confronted him halfway up. Robert admitted Thursday he was “very nervous,” adding he always feels anxious ahead of an ascent. “When I start climbing it’s OK, because I know I’m going to be completely focused,” he added. “But at this point of time I’m a little bit shaky.” The Frenchman, who climbed with a small camera attached to his forehead, soon attracted hordes of mobile phone-wielding onlookers after starting at lunchtime from busy Bishopsgate, on the southwestern side of the building. Police arrived within minutes and cordoned off nearby roads, quickly clogging traffic in the area. “It’s weird — that’s my office,” said 36-year-old finance worker John Doherty, gazing up at Robert as he tackled the lower section of the mixed-use tower, home to offices, restaurants and a bar. “I’ve just come back from lunch and it’s a surprise.” Robert threw his arms in the air in apparent jubilation after reaching the top before disappearing out of sight. Prior to the stunt, he said he “definitely expected” to be detained — as has occurred after his six other climbs in the British capital. “They always arrest me,” he added. “(In) ’95 they were nice, and then after (it) started to get more complicated after 9/11 and everything.” Several skyscrapers in London, including the tower at Canary Wharf, have taken out injunctions against Robert to prevent him climbing them again, according to his manager, Bryan Yeubrey. He said Thursday’s site was chosen from a shortlist of three, which also included the 224-meter-high Leadenhall Building — nicknamed “the Cheesegrater” — and the 38-story “Walkie-Talkie” tower. “He just wanted to climb in London again,” Yeubrey explained. However, City of London Police criticized the stunt for causing “immense disruption to everyday business.” “It also posed a significant level of risk to the safety of people in and around Heron Tower at the time,” said Cmdr. Karen Baxter.
|
buildings;stunts;london;alain robert
|
jp0009543
|
[
"world",
"offbeat-world"
] |
2018/10/26
|
Same-sex penguin couple become parents in Australia
|
SYDNEY - Two male penguins who paired up as a “same-sex couple” have incubated a baby chick and are “doting” on their tiny offspring, an Australian aquarium announced Friday. Gentoo penguins Sphen and Magic are happily “taking turns caring for their baby chick,” born on October 19 weighing 91 grams, said Tish Hannan of the Sea Life Sydney Aquarium. Sphen and Magic had caught the attention of aquarium workers when they were constantly seen waddling around and going for swims together. They then began to build a collective nest of pebbles, prompting the aquarium to provide a dummy egg for them to look after and, when they proved up to the task, a real egg. The pair have bonded, Hannan, Sea Life’s penguin department supervisor, said. “They recognize each other’s signature calls and songs. “Only bonded penguins will be able to successfully find their partner using their calls when they are separated.” Unlike many mammal species, male and female penguins take on the same parenting roles, and share parental duties 50-50. “There is no real difference when it comes to breeding behaviors between males and females,” Hannan explained. So it “is common to have male-male or female-female showing courtship and breeding behavior.” In the wild, however, these courtships are unlikely to result in a chick, so they are normally shortlived, with the penguins becoming unsatisfied and looking for another partner. “Because we have given Sphen and Magic the opportunity to have a potentially successful breeding season, it is very likely that they will return to each other again next year,” said Hannan. This is not the first time same-sex penguin couples have adopted eggs in captivity, with a handful of zoos worldwide reporting similar cases. In 2009, two male penguins — Z and Vielpunkt — successfully hatched and reared a chick that was rejected by its heterosexual parents at a zoo in Berlin. Before them came Roy and Silo, two male chinstrap penguins at a zoo in New York who were spotted frequently trying to mate with each other. After they tried to incubate a rock, zookeepers gave them a foster egg which they successfully hatched. Their foster chick, a female called Tango, eventually paired up with another female.
|
nature;australia;antarctica;animals;lgbt;sexuality;parenthood;penguins
|
jp0009545
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"crime-legal-asia-pacific"
] |
2018/10/26
|
Singapore hangings spur fresh calls by rights groups to scrap death penalty
|
SINGAPORE - Singapore on Friday hanged a Malaysian convicted of drug trafficking, the latest in what rights groups said was a series of executions prompting them to renew calls for the wealthy city-state to abolish the death penalty. Singapore has some of the world’s toughest anti-drugs laws, and airport customs forms warn arriving travelers of “death for drug traffickers” in no uncertain terms. Human rights group Amnesty International and the U.N. human rights office have urged Singapore to halt executions and follow the example of neighboring Malaysia, where a newly elected government has vowed to end capital punishment by year-end. “The execution was an unlawful and brutal act, carried out in breach of due process and in defiance of the appeals made by Malaysia,” N. Surendran, the lawyer for the executed man, said in a statement. Prabu N Pathmanathan, the Malaysian citizen, was hanged at dawn in Changi prison, he added. Malaysia’s foreign ministry said on Friday it had appealed to the Singapore government for leniency in the case on humanitarian grounds, but that it respected the rule of law and due process in Singapore. Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs did not immediately have comment. Authorities in Singapore routinely do not comment on executions and only release data on executions in annual reports. A regional representative of the United Nations urged Singapore to immediately ban the death penalty as a step toward its complete abolition. “We are deeply dismayed that there has been a sharp increase in executions in Singapore in recent years,” said Cynthia Veliko, the U.N. official. “We understand that there have … been a number of executions to date in 2018, including a reported four this week alone.” Amnesty International said the execution of another man, whose name had not been released, was imminent, citing reports of another man executed this week and three on Oct. 5, all for drug-related offenses. That compares with eight executions for drug-related offenses in Singapore for all of 2017. Although 15 countries prescribed the death penalty for drug-related offenses in 2017, Amnesty recorded executions in only four- China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Singapore, it said in a statement. Pathmanathan was convicted of smuggling drugs from Malaysia into Singapore in 2014, court documents show. “Yes, he broke the rules, but that doesn’t mean you have to kill him,” said Magentrau Somalu, one of his close friends. “He deserved a second chance.”
|
drugs;singapore;rights;u.n .;death penalty
|
jp0009546
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"crime-legal-asia-pacific"
] |
2018/10/26
|
China will prosecute graft and terror suspects even if they flee
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BEIJING - China changed its law on Friday to allow judgments to be delivered in corruption and terror cases even when the suspects do not appear in court, as Beijing ramps up pressure on dozens of suspected criminals hiding overseas. Since taking office more than five years ago, President Xi Jinping has waged war on graft at all levels of the ruling Communist Party and has pledged that the fight must continue until corruption is impossible and unimaginable for officials. The campaign has spread beyond China’s borders to graft suspects who have fled abroad, though efforts have been hampered by suspicion among Western nations uneasy about handing over suspects to a system they believe might not provide a fair trial. Now an amendment to the criminal procedure law by China’s largely rubber-stamp parliament will strengthen the overseas graft and terror fight by allowing judgments to be delivered in cases involving absentee suspects, a senior lawmaker said. Wang Aili, director of the Criminal Law Office with parliament’s Legal Affairs Commission, told a news briefing that those who could be tried in absentia would include corruption suspects and those wanted for harming national security or for involvement in terror cases. To qualify for a trial in absentia, there should be a time-sensitive urgency in handling the case and the top prosecutor would need to approve it, Wang said. A copy of the subpoena would also need to be sent to the defendant to guarantee their “right to know,” he said. A suspect can be defended in court in such “default judgment” cases, even if they are not there, by a lawyer, who can be chosen by the defendant’s close relatives or have one assigned by the state, the official Xinhua news agency said. Once the judgment is issued, the defendant and their close relatives can appeal to a higher court, Xinhua said. In April 2015, authorities published a list of 100 “most-wanted” graft suspects believed to be hiding overseas, many in the United States, Canada and Australia. More than half have come back to China, some voluntarily. China has turned up the pressure on graft suspects overseas by asking their family members to contact them and encourage their return, as well as by releasing personal details about the individuals, including their addresses. The change comes after China passed a new supervision law in March and set up a powerful anti-graft commission to extend the graft fight to all state employees, whether party officials or not. The new system and law weaken rights protections for suspects by entrenching the use of controversial detention and questioning techniques that can allow abuse or torture, rights groups and legal experts have said. China is also in the midst of tightening its security laws having passed a tough counter-terrorism law in late 2015, mostly to combat what it says is a serious threat from Islamist militants in its far western region of Xinjiang. China has not provided details of how many terror suspects may be overseas, including how many ethnic Uighurs from Xinjiang the government thinks have gone to the Middle East and Afghanistan to join militant groups there.
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china;courts;rights;xi jinping;graft
|
jp0009547
|
[
"national",
"science-health"
] |
2018/10/26
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U.N. rights expert urges Japan to halt women and child evacuee returns to radioactive parts of Fukushima
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GENEVA - The Japanese government must halt the return of women and children displaced by the March 2011 nuclear disaster back to areas of Fukushima where radiation levels remain high, a U.N. human rights expert said Thursday. The special rapporteur on hazardous substances, Baskut Tuncak, also criticized in his statement the government’s gradual removal of evacuation orders for most of the radioactive areas as well as its plan to lift all orders within the next five years, even for the most contaminated areas. “The gradual lifting of evacuation orders has created enormous strains on people whose lives have already been affected by the worst nuclear disaster of this century. Many feel they are being forced to return to areas that are unsafe,” he said. An official of Japan’s permanent mission to the international organizations in Geneva rebuffed the statement, saying it is based on extremely one-sided information and could fan unnecessary fears about Fukushima. Tuncak expressed concerns about people returning to areas with radiation above 1 millisievert per year, a level previously observed by Japan as an annual limit so as to prevent risks to the health of vulnerable people, especially children and women of reproductive age. “It is disappointing to see Japan appear to all but ignore the 2017 recommendation of the U.N. human rights monitoring mechanism to return back to what it considered an acceptable dose of radiation before the nuclear disaster,” he said. In the wake of the Fukushima reactor meltdowns, the Japanese government heightened the annually acceptable level of radiation to 20 millisieverts, raising concerns for the health of residents. In August, Tuncak and two other U.N. human rights experts jointly criticized the Japanese government for allegedly exploiting and putting at risk the lives of “tens of thousands” of people engaged in cleanup operations at and around the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, a claim Tokyo dismissed.
|
fukushima;radiation;rights;u.n .;evacuees;japan;fukushima no . 1 plant;baskut tuncak
|
jp0009548
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/10/26
|
Izumisano mayor raps ministry over rule on origin of gifts under furusato nōzei hometown tax donation system
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IZUMISANO, OSAKA PREF. - Hiroyasu Chiyomatsu, the mayor of Izumisano, Osaka Prefecture, has criticized an instruction issued by the internal affairs ministry earlier this year regarding a review of the furusato nōzei (hometown tax donation) system. The ministry instructed local governments to limit gifts for donors offered under the system to products from their own regions, in order to cool competition between the regions for donations. The ministry is preparing to submit a legal revision to exclude from the system any local government that does not adhere to the guidance. Izumisano attracted donations totaling ¥13.5 billion in fiscal 2017 — the largest amount among all municipalities. On the city’s lineup of gifts offered in return are about 1,000 local specialties procured from across the country, including beef and beer. In a recent interview Chiyomatsu claimed that the donations to the city resulted from efforts by related officials and others to find and prepare popular gifts based on a survey of what donors want. “It’s not appropriate for the central government to unilaterally determine the scope of allowable gifts” while it is also calling for stepped-up local autonomy, Chiyomatsu argued, adding that such moves by the state are an act that “overrides efforts by local governments.” “We want room for local governments’ efforts to come up with ideas that will be left” in the ongoing review of the donation system, he said, calling for the establishment of a forum for discussions in which both central and local governments are involved. “We could make a decision to withdraw from the framework of the donation system if products other than specialties unique to regions in and around recipient local governments are excluded from the range of gifts permitted in return under the system,” the mayor said. Under the system, people can make donations to prefectures or municipalities of their choice that do not necessarily have to be their hometowns. The donors qualify for income and residential tax cuts. Many recipient local governments offer gifts to donors in return, with some of them offering expensive gifts to lure more donors. Chiyomatsu said his city plans to continue offering reward points that can be used to buy tickets for flights on Peach Aviation, a budget airline based at Kansai International Airport that straddles Izumisano and two other municipalities in Osaka Prefecture. Meanwhile, the mayor expressed some understanding regarding another internal affairs ministry instruction about keeping the value of the gifts at or below 30 percent of amounts donated. The city will follow the instruction if the ministry shows sufficient grounds for applying the rule across the nation under the system, he said.
|
osaka;hometown tax;donations;izumisano;hiroyasu chiyomatsu
|
jp0009549
|
[
"world",
"politics-diplomacy-world"
] |
2018/10/21
|
Trump claims China election meddling that cyberfirms don't see
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WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump has said China is interfering with the November midterm elections, but the findings of top cybersecurity firms are casting doubt on his claims. “We haven’t observed any evidence of Chinese targeting the midterms or anything that would be relevant to upcoming elections,” said Luke McNamara, a principal intelligence analyst at the cybersecurity firm FireEye Inc., which works with some state and local authorities to monitor election threats. Jon DiMaggio, a senior threat intelligence analyst at Symantec Corp., which studies threats to campaigns, candidates, states and on social media, said he has observed “no digital trail of bread crumbs that is leading back to China.” Identifying nation-state hackers is complex, and the analysts agree that there may be some they haven’t detected. But the firms’ common finding of no evidence raises fresh questions about Trump’s assertions. Trump’s claim — that China is pursuing a campaign to interfere in the election and damage his administration — is putting extra strain on an already fraught relationship between the world’s two largest economies. Beijing and Washington are currently locked in an escalating trade conflict, and earlier this month, U.S. and Chinese warships nearly collided in the South China Sea, where both nations are seeking to assert their regional dominance. The Department of Homeland Security, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Office of Director of National Intelligence warned Friday that nations including China are engaged in “ongoing campaigns” to “undermine confidence” and influence policy and opinion in the U.S. The administration hasn’t provided evidence to back up the allegations. Dmitri Alperovitch, chief technology officer at Crowdstrike Inc., which works with states and municipalities to look for intrusions, said of China, “we haven’t seen any activity in cyberspace from them that’s election-related, but there could be something outside of it,” such as conventional election-related propaganda. Chris Krebs, a DHS undersecretary, told reporters Friday that the threat involved “media manipulation.” Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have both cited a paid advertising supplement the Chinese government placed in the Des Moines Register, Iowa’s largest newspaper, criticizing the administration’s trade policies. The accusations have been building since last month, when Trump told the United Nations Security Council that “China has been attempting to interfere in our upcoming 2018 election, coming up in November, against my administration.” Pence followed up with a speech this month, saying, “There can be no doubt: China is meddling in America’s democracy.” Pence characterized Beijing’s behavior as “an unprecedented effort to influence American public opinion, the 2018 elections, and the environment leading into the 2020 presidential elections.”
|
china;u.s .;hacking;donald trump;2018 u.s. midterm elections
|
jp0009550
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"science-health-asia-pacific"
] |
2018/10/21
|
China's Baishui No. 1: One of the world's fastest-melting glaciers
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YULONGXUESHAN, CHINA - A loud crack rang out from the fog above the Baishui No. 1 Glacier as a stone shard careened down the ice, flying past Chen Yanjun as he operated a GPS device. More projectiles were tumbling down the hulk of ice, which scientists say is one of the world’s fastest-melting glaciers. “We should go,” said the 30-year-old geologist. “The first rule is safety.” Chen hiked away and onto a barren landscape once buried beneath the glacier. Now there is exposed rock littered with oxygen tanks discarded by tourists visiting the 15,000-foot-high (4,570-meter) blanket of ice in southern China. Millions of people each year are drawn to Baishui’s frosty beauty on the southeastern edge of the Third Pole, a region in Central Asia with the world’s third-largest store of ice, after Antarctica and Greenland; it is roughly the size of Texas and New Mexico combined. Third Pole glaciers are vital to billions of people from Vietnam to Afghanistan. Asia’s 10 largest rivers — including the Yangtze, Yellow, Mekong and Ganges — are fed by seasonal melting. “You’re talking about one of the world’s largest freshwater sources,” said Ashley Johnson, energy program manager at the National Bureau of Asian Research, an American think tank. “Depending on how it melts, a lot of the freshwater will be leaving the region for the ocean, which will have severe impacts on water and food security.” Earth is today 1 degree C (1.8 Fahrenheit) hotter than pre-industrial levels because of climate change — enough to melt 28 to 44 percent of glaciers worldwide, according to a new report by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Temperatures are expected to keep rising. Baishui is about as close to the Equator as Tampa, Florida. And the impacts of climate change already are dramatic. The glacier has lost 60 percent of its mass and shrunk 250 meters (820 feet) since 1982, according to a report in the Journal of Geophysical Research this year. Scientists found in 2015 that 82 percent of glaciers surveyed in China had retreated. They warned that the effects of glacier melting on water resources are gradually becoming “increasingly serious” for China. “China has always had a freshwater supply problem, with 20 percent of the world’s population but only 7 percent of its freshwater,” said Jonna Nyman, an energy security lecturer at the University of Sheffield in England. “That’s heightened by the impact of climate change.” For years, scientists have observed global warming change Jade Dragon Snow Mountain in the province of Yunnan. One research team has tracked Baishui’s retreat of about 30 yards (27 meters) per year over the past decade. Flowers, such as snow lotus, have rooted in exposed earth, says Wang Shijin, a glaciologist and director of the Yulong Snow Mountain Glacial and Environmental Observation Research Station, part of a network run by the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Nestled into a suburb of Lijiang, population 1.2 million, the station is home to Wang and his team: geologist and drone operator Chen, postgraduate glaciology student Zhou Lanyue and electrical engineer Zhang Xing, a private contractor. After breakfast, the team heads off by van for the day’s mission. A cable car carries them up to a majestic view of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. The team shuffles past a line of tourists — many in red ponchos, most sucking oxygen canisters, a few vomiting from altitude sickness — before descending to replace a broken meteorological station. The team operates remote sensors that collect data on temperature, wind speed, rainfall and humidity. Other sensors measure water flow in streams fed by melted ice. Cold, downpours, rock slides, gales and glacier movement break the equipment. “It is not easy to encounter good weather here,” Wang said. This weather will ensure Yunnan has plenty of freshwater even while other glacier loss poses serious risk of drought across the Third Pole, he said. The next day, the team wore crampons while repairing more sensors scattered across the glacier’s crags. The team forded streams and jumped crevasses in search of long iron bars they previously embedded in the ice. GPS tells them how much the bars, and thus the glacier, have moved. They also measure how much height the glacier has lost during the summer. Back on the viewing platform, Che launched a buzzing camera drone over the white expanse. The photographs help tell a story of staggering loss. A quarter of its ice has vanished since 1957 along with four of its 19 glaciers, researchers have found. Changes to the Baishui provide the opportunity to educate visitors about global warming, Wang said. Last year, 2.6 million tourists visited the mountain, according to Yulong Snow Mountain park officials. On a recent blustery day, hundreds of tourists climbed wooden stairs through grey fog to snap selfies in front of the glacier. Hou Yugang said he wasn’t too bothered over climate change and Baishui’s melting. “I don’t think about it now because it still has a long way to go,” he said. To protect the glacier, authorities have limited the number of visitors to 10,000 a day and have banned hiking on the ice. They plan to manufacture snow and to dam streams to increase humidity and slow melting. Security guard Yang Shaofeng has witnessed a warming world melting this mountain, which his local Naxi minority community considers sacred. Yang remembers being able to see the glacier’s lowest edge from his home village. No longer. “Only when we climb up can we see it,” he said sadly, as tourists lined up to have their names engraved on medallions bearing the glacier’s image. The etching is already outdated.
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china;climate;climate change;environment;mountains;glaciers
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jp0009552
|
[
"national",
"science-health"
] |
2018/10/21
|
Gamma-ray constellation named after Japanese movie monster Godzilla
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Using the orbiting Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, an international research group that includes NASA researchers has named a constellation of gamma ray-emitting stars Godzilla, according to movie distributor Toho Co. Godzilla is among the 22 newly recognized constellations of such stars. They are different from the 88 official ones designated by the International Astronomical Union. According to a recent announcement by Toho, the constellation was named after the company’s popular character because gamma-ray bursts there, which happen around a black hole and other areas, resemble Godzilla’s “heat ray,” or fiery jet — the giant creature’s trademark weapon. The 22 constellations were recognized to commemorate the research group’s feat of discovering more than 3,000 gamma-ray sources. Among the names chosen for the new constellations are the Hulk, the Little Prince, the Enterprise from “Star Trek” and Mount Fuji. On its website, NASA describes Godzilla as one of cinema’s most famous monsters and it is among the most recognizable symbols of popular Japanese culture. Since the film “Godzilla” premiered in 1954, 29 Godzilla movies have been produced in Japan with the latest, “Shin Godzilla,” released in 2016.
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nasa;space;godzilla;toho;constellation
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jp0009553
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/10/21
|
Osaka casting a nervous eye toward rival Baku in bid for 2025 World Expo
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OSAKA - With one month to go until the host of the 2025 World Expo is selected, Osaka officials are casting a nervous eye toward Baku, the city they increasingly see as their toughest rival. Osaka and the Azerbaijani capital, along with Yekaterinburg, Russia, are vying for the right to hold the event. The Paris-based Bureau International des Expositions will decide the winner on Nov. 23. After Paris withdrew from the competition earlier this year, Yekaterinburg, which had barely lost to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in bidding for the 2020 World Expo, had been seen by Osaka’s political and business leaders as the city to beat. Few took Baku seriously. But that began to change after it became clear that Baku’s theme, centered on the future development of human capital, was capturing the imagination of many BIE delegates. With a well-oiled international public relations machine and deep connections in Paris, Osaka’s leaders began to grow more concerned about Baku’s chances. Osaka then found itself scrambling after Baku bid officials made an appeal to the BIE delegates in June to consider cities that had never hosted an expo before. Osaka hosted the 1970 Expo while Japan most recently hosted the event in 2005 in Aichi Prefecture. “Baku is a strong rival, and both Japan and Azerbaijan are racing hard to the end,” Osaka Mayor Hirofumi Yoshimura said after returning from a promotion effort in Paris earlier this month. The other concern in Osaka is in regards to Baku’s ability to outspend it when it comes to international lobbying efforts. Though falling oil prices are hurting its economy, Baku’s long history as an oil-rich city on the Caspian Sea allows it to hire an extensive network of international consultants to help make its case among BIE delegates. Osaka, by contrast, appears to be relying mostly on the central government and the Kansai Economic Federation to push its case abroad, although, in addition to Yoshimura’s Paris trip, Osaka Gov. Ichiro Matsui gave a presentation on the expo to African delegates at the Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Tokyo earlier this month. Osaka bid officials are now hoping international criticism of Azerbaijan’s human rights record will prove to be a factor for BIE delegates when they cast their votes. They are positioning themselves as the “safe” choice, in every sense of the word, much as Tokyo positioned itself as such for the 2020 Olympics. In just over a month, Osaka will find out if the BIE, like the International Olympic Committee, will, indeed, make the safe choice as Osaka sees it and return the event to the Kansai area or elect to take a chance on Baku, or Yekaterinburg.
|
osaka;kansai;world expo;baku;ekaterinburg
|
jp0009555
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/10/21
|
Is Yumeshima safe as a casino site? Some question Osaka's pitch after flooding at Kansai airport
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OSAKA - Less than two months ago, Typhoon Jebi ripped through western Japan and slammed a tanker into the only bridge leading to Kansai International Airport, forcing it to shut down. Although the airport, built on an artificial island, quickly recovered and repairs to bridge are progressing, Osaka Gov. Ichiro Matsui and Osaka Mayor Hirofumi Yoshimura now face questions about the vulnerability to storm flooding at another man-made island: Yumeshima, where there are plans to build a casino resort. The central government could grant Osaka one of three initial licenses to operate an integrated resort by the end of the year, and the city and prefecture are offering Yumeshima in Osaka Bay as the site. Local residents, along with casino opponents in the municipal and prefectural assemblies, are voicing concerns that Yumeshima, like the airport, may be vulnerable to flooding. Officials, however, say there’s nothing to worry about. “The island of Yumeshima is higher above sea level than Kansai airport, so there is no problem,” Matsui tweeted last month. “Yumeshima is nine meters above sea level, so there would be no flooding at all,” Yoshimura also said on Twitter around the same time. But September’s flooding at Kansai airport also raises the possibility that Osaka will debate additional anti-flooding measures for Yumeshima, leading to the thorny question of whether the city and prefecture would expect the casino operator to help cover at least part of the additional costs for implementing those measures. Despite the concerns, Osaka remains one of the top candidates nationwide for a casino license. The prefecture and city are finalizing plans to establish a committee of third-party experts, who will evaluate proposals from casino operators. Three international casino firms have expressed strong interest in opening a casino resort in the city: Melco Resorts & Entertainment, MGM Resorts International and Las Vegas Sands. All three are expected to submit proposals if Osaka is officially chosen as a casino site. The expert committee is expected to be made up of specialists in casino economics and finance, security, and gambling addiction, and will be evaluating each aspect of an operator’s integrated resort proposal. The committee will send its final recommendations to the city and prefecture. In neighboring Wakayama Prefecture, which is also seeking an integrated casino resort, officials are stepping up efforts to attract local support ahead of next month’s gubernatorial election. In September, the prefecture announced it was studying the possibility of high-speed ferries between Kansai airport and Wakayama Marina City, the proposed location for a casino in the city of Wakayama, roughly 40 kilometers away. Earlier this month, seven local chambers of commerce called on the prefecture to include measures to lobby for a casino resort in its fiscal 2019 budget. Wakayama Gov. Yoshinobu Nisaka expressed hope that the prefecture would remain a strong contender for a casino license even though Osaka had a head start. “Only three locations will be chosen, and Osaka’s business community is quite aggressive in their activities to invite a casino,” Nisaka warned the business leaders when they presented their request. Nisaka is up for re-election on Nov. 25, and a casino resort is expected to be one of the top issues for voters. But the governor remains at odds with Wakayama Mayor Masahiro Obana on the issue of Japanese visitors to a local casino. Nisaka favors allowing Japanese into a casino, whereas Obana has said that he’d support a casino plan as long as it was only for foreign visitors. Obana was re-elected in late July by a comfortable margin while Nisaka is heavily favored to win re-election next month.
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osaka;casinos;floods;wakayama;typhoons
|
jp0009556
|
[
"world",
"offbeat-world"
] |
2018/10/07
|
Dutch police hunt owners of lion cub found abandoned in field
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THE HAGUE - Dutch police on Sunday were searching for the owners of a lion cub found abandoned in a cage in a field outside the central city of Utrecht, police and news reports said. “Today (Sunday) we received quite an extraordinary message: ‘A witness has found a mini-lion in a cage in a pasture,’ ” local police said on their Facebook page. “When we arrived at the scene, we discovered a lion cub in a cage. It seems to have been abandoned,” the police said, estimating the little feline to be about four months old. The cub was first spotted by a jogger near the small village of Tienhoven, about 10 kilometers (6 miles) north of Utrecht, a local news report said. The cub was examined by a veterinary surgeon, and then taken to the Lion Foundation in the northern Netherlands, the NOS public broadcaster said. Meanwhile, local police and the Dutch food and goods watchdog appealed to the public for information leading to the lion cub’s owners. “If you know anybody who recently bought a lion cub, or know anything about this particular cub, please contact us immediately,” police said.
|
netherlands;lion
|
jp0009557
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"politics-diplomacy-asia-pacific"
] |
2018/10/07
|
Pence speech merely opening salvo as U.S. declares full-on rivalry with China
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WASHINGTON - In the buzzwords of George W. Bush’s administration, China needed to become a “responsible stakeholder.” For Barack Obama, China had an interest in embracing “the rules-based international order.” U.S. President Donald Trump’s message to Beijing is, true to his character, starker. Trump, his Vice President Mike Pence vowed, “will not back down.” On Thursday, Pence delivered one of the most hawkish speeches by a senior U.S. official since the two countries restored ties four decades ago. Pence assailed China as a military aggressor, a prolific thief of U.S. technology and, controversially, as interfering in American elections. Yet in a sign that the United States still sees a need for China, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will visit on Monday after his latest negotiations in North Korea, the nuclear-armed regime which counts on Beijing as its diplomatic and economic lifeline. Pompeo, speaking to the traveling press on his way to Asia, said China was “determined to support our efforts” on North Korea despite the high tensions. Pence in his speech said the United States still hoped for improved relations with China but otherwise drew a bleak picture. He said the United States will keep ramping up its military spending to counter a rising Beijing and he renewed threats to more than double the $250 billion in tariffs placed on Chinese products. “I do think that this marks a significant change in the bipartisan approach to China that has dominated over the last several decades,” said Jamie Fly, a former official in the George W. Bush administration who heads the Asia program at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. Pence’s speech “doesn’t completely preclude cooperation on narrow areas like North Korea, but it’s much more clear in the U.S. assessment of Chinese intentions and China’s goal of really replacing the U.S. and pushing back U.S. power,” he said. While Trump and Pence are polarizing figures, the hard line on China has been increasingly shared across the U.S. political spectrum. Few policymakers with ties to the rival Democratic Party raised broad objections when the Trump White House in December released a National Security Strategy that cast China as a competitor. The bargain set forth by former President Bill Clinton when he welcomed China into the global trading order — that greater prosperity would bring reforms — has fallen flat, with President Xi Jinping increasingly clamping down on domestic dissent and religious freedoms tightly controlled. U.S. business leaders, who long advocated warm ties with China as they coveted the world’s largest consumer market, have cooled markedly toward Beijing amid complaints of widespread industrial espionage, which Beijing denies. A survey published in August by the Pew Research Center found that the percentage of Americans who viewed China favorably had fallen to 38 percent. Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, a Mandarin-speaking China expert who now heads the Asia Society in New York, in a recent speech said that “engagement,” for decades the narrative in relations for both Washington and Beijing, “is now officially and effectively dead.” “As a result, I fear we may now also find ourselves on the pathway to medium-term strategic confrontation, as each side competes for ascendancy in what is now seen increasingly on both sides as a zero-sum game,” he said. China denounced Pence’s speech as “ridiculous.” But it has largely stayed measured in its public statements, with Foreign Minister Wang Yi promising late last month at the United Nations that the Asian power had no ambition to overtake the United States as the pre-eminent global power and wanted to nurture a stable multilateral system. Without naming the work, he voiced anxiety about the popularity in the United States of Harvard scholar Graham Allison’s theory of the “Thucydides Trap,” which cites the lessons of ancient Athens and Sparta to predict inevitable U.S. rivalry with a rising China. Beijing may also be emboldened by the turmoil in U.S. politics, with chief Asian allies Japan and South Korea both unnerved by simmering trade tensions with Trump. And Pence was clearly speaking at least partly for a domestic audience in his speech, delivered at the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank, a little over a month before critical congressional elections. Pence charged that China was taking action that is more malicious than Russia’s, just as Trump is under a cloud as special counsel Robert Mueller probes whether his presidential campaign colluded with Moscow. And as evidence of China’s election meddling, Pence cited a paid advertisement in a U.S. newspaper and countertariffs that targeted politically important states — both steps that are commonplace. “China poses a major challenge to the U.S. economic, political and strategic posture, but gratuitously demonizing them with half-truths and distortions only complicates efforts to find a new balance of interests and a redefined relationship with Beijing,” said Robert Manning, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council.
|
china;u.s .;military;trade;xi jinping;donald trump;mike pence
|
jp0009558
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"social-issues-asia-pacific"
] |
2018/10/07
|
Forever young: China's 'dancing aunties' kick up their heels
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SHANGHAI - In a sparkling white cap and oversized sunglasses, 55-year-old retiree Zhang Yongli and dozens of neighbors liven up a Shanghai park by doing the jitterbug, part of a public dance craze that has become China’s national pastime. Every day, an estimated more than 100 million people — dubbed “dancing aunties” as they are primarily older women — take over squares and parks to tango, waltz, and grind out everything from flamenco to Chinese traditional dance. Complaints over speakers blaring late at night have ensued, and even physical brawls pitting aunties against others vying for park turf. But toes are tapping to an ever-quickening beat as “square dancing” — as it is known in China — booms. Teams are competing in dance-offs featuring thousands of contestants, while a thriving market of dance-related paraphernalia and mobile apps catches the attention of the business world. Even the government has jumped on the bandwagon to extol the health benefits. “Square dancing happens wherever there is a square,” said Wang Guangcheng, a fitness instructor and choreographer who helps the government devise dance routines and is widely known as China’s “Square Dance Prince.” “It has become a venue for the masses to exercise.” More than 240 million Chinese are 60 or older, a number expected to double by 2050. By then, the government estimates China will be spending more than one-quarter of GDP on elderly care and medical services, compared to around 7 percent in 2015, placing increasing importance on healthy, active lifestyles. Zhang “was sitting at home, doing nothing” after retiring five years ago from her travel-agency job, undergoing treatment for diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol. “Since I started dancing, my (health) indicators are now normal. I no longer need medication,” she said as her neighborhood dance group’s red skirts twirled in Shanghai’s Zhongshan Park. “I also look younger,” said Zhang, who has jitterbugged away 11 kilograms (24 pounds) of bodyweight. A 2016 national fitness plan stresses “square dancing” as a team sport to be “vigorously developed” and last year it became an official event at China’s National Games along with old-reliables like athletics and swimming. Local contests are proliferating. Shanghai retiree Li Zhenhua’s team worked with a professional instructor for weeks, enduring the winter chill and the summer heat of their local square to train for a monthslong citywide contest that culminated in August. The team, drawn mostly from China’s ethnic Korean minority, took the title with their traditional Korean dances, beating out 750 other troupes. “I was happy to find a Korean ethnic dance team in Shanghai, not only to exercise and dance but also to pass along our ethnic culture,” Li said. Mass public dancing took root after the 1949 communist takeover as the government organized communal activities to foster unity and loyalty to the party. But it has really taken off lately as an increasingly prosperous China finds more leisure time, and nearly every neighborhood park or square today is enlivened by dancers availing themselves of the free exercise. Taobao, the leading Chinese e-commerce site owned by Alibaba, and other businesses are expressly targeting the new market to sell clothing, speakers, and gadgets for watching and learning new dances, and market studies say the industry is booming. Han Xiaoyuan, 28, founded a mobile platform for organizing competitions and purchasing gear. User numbers quintupled over the past two years to more than 500,000. It is also one of many business initiatives seeking to tap into the wider “silver economy” represented by dancers, by selling travel packages, financial services and other products geared towards retirees. Han said the elderly “have time (and) money. … They are our best business target group.” Square dancing is even changing age-old gender dynamics, as grandmothers are often away training for long stretches. “Several of our team members’ husbands have learned to change diapers and taken over feeding the grandchildren as a way of supporting us,” said 65-year-old Hong Aizhen, a competitor in the Shanghai-wide contest. But many men are showing off their dance moves as well. Late one recent weekend, hundreds of people filled a tree-lined park in central Shanghai amid a cacophony of musical styles as men and women waltzed or formed conga lines, and children did the cha-cha. Often, they dance to old Chinese revolutionary standards or other patriotic tunes. “We are not only delivering a fitness culture, but also the concept of a prosperous country,” said choreographer Wang. “Many songs we choose express our national characteristics and values.” But dance enthusiast Zhang prefers the zesty jitterbug. “It’s quick and rhythmic. I forget all my worries when I dance, sometimes even my age,” she said.
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china;women;aging
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jp0009559
|
[
"national",
"media-national"
] |
2018/10/07
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Beware of the ¥10 million business card
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Business cards carry a lot of weight in Japan, so much so that they can be used to devastating effect if someone decides to deploy them for criminal purposes. A recent case highlights the danger that comes with placing trust in such cards. At the end of August, prosecutors in Tochigi Prefecture indicted a former employee of a subsidiary of travel agency JTB Corp. on suspicion of fraud. Yoshinobu Tamura, 49, is suspected of swindling 51 people out of a total of ¥2.4 billion in a currency exchange scam. Prosecutors claim Tamura defrauded a 58-year-old male executive in the city of Maebashi out of ¥10 million in cash on March 20, 2016, by claiming the money would be exchanged for U.S. dollars and result in a dividend. At the time of his arrest, the police alleged Tamura had used his business card and misleading promotional material to convince dozens to entrust him with money between 2010 and June 2016. Just before the police launched an investigation in the matter in July 2016, Tamura turned himself in. “The business I’ve been barely running has collapsed,” Tamura told the police. JTB subsequently fired him. It’s not clear why Tamura did what he did, but the story reminds me of a similar experience I had in 2004. Working as a reporter for the Yomiuri Shimbun assigned to the Metropolitan Police Department, I heard that an employee of Nikko City Group Securities was being investigated for fraud. The suspect was a close friend of mine from college. The police suspected my friend of claiming to represent a company that offered a savings fund that paid an annual interest rate of 15 percent. Using his company’s logo, my friend approached numerous clients by email and collected $1 million from 30 people. He paid a little interest on the first investments and convinced people to offer up more capital. By the time I had caught wind of my friend’s actions, he had already been fired. I sat with my friend in a park and tried to convince him that he had no alternative than to turn himself in to the police. It was a difficult conversation for me to have with someone I had trusted. In the end, however, my friend agreed. He had spent the money on women and entertainment, picking up the bill whenever possible. He had always been known to be generous with his own money, and he was even more so when spending other people’s investments. He honestly believed he would pay it all back until, ultimately, he accepted the fact that he couldn’t. I introduced my friend to a lawyer who accompanied him to the police when he made his confession. “I deceived people who trusted me and I’m sorry,” my friend told the officers. “I want to pay for my crimes.” I filed a story on the case in August, and when he was arrested on Oct. 2, I covered that too. We lost touch after he was released from prison, and it wasn’t until some years later that his sister informed me that he had passed away. The news of his death made me remember our frequent correspondence, and so I checked my inbox for the one thing I wasn’t really prepared to see. I uncovered an email that promised a great return on an investment that included his company’s logo. It certainly looked convincing, and the only reason that I hadn’t taken the bait is because I hadn’t even bothered to read it. The experience taught me a valuable lesson: Never jump at an attractive offer that appears to have solid corporate backing without first exercising diligence. People typically represent corporations and sometimes even the people you trust the most will attempt to con you.
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fraud;jtb corp .;business cards
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jp0009560
|
[
"business"
] |
2018/10/09
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Keidanren to scrap long-held Japan recruitment guidelines in 2021
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Keidanren said Tuesday it has decided to scrap its long-held guidelines for corporate hiring of university students to give flexibility in recruiting amid increasing competition for young and talented workers. Japan’s largest business lobby, also known as the Japan Business Federation, will abolish the guidelines for university students joining the workplace in spring 2021. Current third-year students who will enter companies in spring 2020 will be the last generation to follow the traditional job-hunting schedule. Many companies start their business year on April 1. The decision comes after Hiroaki Nakanishi, chairman of the business lobby, said last month he feels “uncomfortable about Keidanren setting hiring schedule dates,” and expressed an intention to end the practice. Many university and government officials are concerned that scrapping the guidelines could lead to a drawn-out job hunt that would have an adverse effect on students’ academic work. A government-led meeting with academic and business circles will start discussing new hiring rules, possibly from next Monday. The recruitment guidelines, designed to allow university students to concentrate on their studies, originally started in the form of an employment agreement in 1953 between the government, universities and businesses. But the system was later scrapped due to companies circumventing the rules to hire young workers earlier than agreed. Keidanren then set up the current rules by which many of the group’s member firms — mostly major companies — have typically abided, although in a nonbinding manner. Under the rules, Keidanren member companies begin holding job orientation sessions in March for third-year students who will be seeking work upon completion of their studies and start the applicant screening process, including job interviews, in June the same year.
|
jobs;keidanren;job hunting;recruiting;students
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jp0009561
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2018/10/09
|
Tokyo stocks tumble on yen's strength
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Stocks plunged Tuesday on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, hurt by the yen’s rise against the dollar. The Nikkei 225 average tumbled 314.33 points, or 1.32 percent, to end at 23,469.39. On Friday, it shed 191.90 points. The market was closed Monday for a national holiday. The Topix, which covers all first-section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, finished 31.53 points, or 1.76 percent, lower at 1,761.12 after retreating 8.54 points Friday. Both market gauges fell for the fourth straight session. The higher yen battered export-oriented names, brokers said. Yutaka Miura, senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities Co., attributed Tuesday’s tumble to the yen’s rise as well as an overnight drop in the technology-heavy U.S. Nasdaq composite index. Buying was held in check as investors retreated to the sidelines to see how U.S. stocks would perform later Tuesday, Miura said. The impact of a system glitch that hit the TSE in the morning was “limited,” he said, noting that trading volume reached a decent level. The TSE “was in a correction” phase following its recent surge, an official of a bank-linked securities firm said, while indicating that the correction is about to end. Falling issues far outnumbered rising ones 1,823 to 247 in the first section, while 40 issues were unchanged. Volume grew to 1.568 billion shares from 1.489 billion Friday. Automakers Toyota, Honda, Subaru, Suzuki, Nissan and Mazda met with selling on the back of the yen’s strength. Technology issues, including measurement equipment producer Keyence and semiconductor manufacturing equipment maker Tokyo Electron, were downbeat after their U.S. peers fared poorly Monday. Also on the minus side were telecommunications and investment firm SoftBank Group and air conditioner maker Daikin. By contrast, retailer FamilyMart Uny Holdings and clothing store chain operator Fast Retailing attracted purchases.
|
stocks;tse;nikkei 225
|
jp0009562
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/10/09
|
Annual survey finds physical condition of Japan's elderly has improved
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The physical strength and athletic ability of elderly people in Japan has largely improved, while that of people in their 30s and 40s has mostly fallen, the Japan Sports Agency said in an annual survey released Sunday. According to the survey, men aged 70 or older and women aged 65 or older posted record-high scores. But men in their late 30s and early 40s and women in their 30s and 40s saw their physical strength and athletic ability deteriorate. People aged between 65 and 79 registered improvements in most tests, including standing on one leg with their eyes open and performing situps. More than 60 percent of people aged 65 and above exercise at least once a week, the survey found. “Many people share the belief that exercise is very important in order to keep their bodies healthy,” said Hisashi Naito, a professor at Juntendo University, who analyzed the survey results. The scores of women aged between 35 and 39 remained sluggish, although better than the record lows marked in the previous survey. The proportion of girls in junior high school to women in their 40s who do not exercise at all increased from fiscal 1998. The athletic performance of people aged 6 to 19 years old worsened in tests such as throwing a ball. In the survey, conducted between May and October last year, participants earned points in each exercise category. Data on 64,648 people aged 6 to 79 were obtained in the latest survey.
|
survey;exercise;japan sports agency
|
jp0009563
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/10/09
|
Foreign and Japanese students at Nagoya University of Foreign Studies publish English newspaper
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A group of non-Japanese and Japanese students at Nagoya University of Foreign Studies jointly published an English tabloid newspaper, called The NUFS Times, in September to deepen communication between the two communities. The university in Nisshin, Aichi Prefecture, says it will support the effort with the intention that the newspaper will become a regular publication that can promote the institution. The university says it takes in around 200 students from foreign countries each year, but since most only stay for about six to 12 months, they don’t get enough chances to communicate with Japanese people. To create an opportunity for foreign and Japanese students to work together, Kazuhiko Kojima, 66, a former Chunichi Shimbun reporter who currently serves as press relations adviser to the university, called on a student newspaper club that publishes a newspaper a few times a year to create an English-language paper. The project began in April with nine foreign students from five countries, including the United States, Britain and Italy, and eight Japanese members of the newspaper club. They covered such topics as fair trade activities in Nagoya, Japanese food, and exchanges between Nagoya and the Italian city of Turin. The foreign students interviewed sources and wrote the articles in English, while the Japanese students helped them come up with questions to ask in Japanese and translate the interviews into English. Cassandra Evangelista, 29, an American student, wrote about an established tofu shop in Kinshachi Yokocho, a shopping area that opened right outside the grounds of Nagoya Castle in March. She said she was surprised to learn about the numerous procedures needed to produce tofu and the passion of the workers dedicated to making it. She said she enjoyed working with the Japanese students who helped her when she had difficulty understanding the language. “I was worried whether the project would work out, but I was motivated by the foreign students’ willingness,” said Renya Hakamata, 19, a second-year student at the university and a member of the newspaper club. The students printed 5,000 copies of the newspaper and distributed them free of charge at the university and at high schools in the Tokai region. They hope to publish a second issue by the end of this year, and starting in the next academic year the university plans to make the project a part of English classes attended by both foreign and Japanese students. “The project offers a great opportunity for foreign students to communicate with Japanese people outside the university, and for Japanese students to brush up their language skills,” says Hiroko Tokumoto, 58, an associate professor in the university’s International Institute for Japanese Language Education who supports the project. “It has a big educational effect on both groups.”
|
newspaper;foreign students;english;nagoya university of foreign studies
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jp0009564
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/10/09
|
Zozo chief Yusaku Maezawa eyes world peace and inspiration with SpaceX moon trip
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Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, who is scheduled to take a trip to the moon in 2023, said Tuesday that he wants to use the opportunity to make a name for himself around the world and promote his initiatives, while also expressing his expectation that the trip will be great inspiration for his work. “This is a huge chance to spread my message to the world. I believe it will bring positive impacts to Zozo, too,” said Maezawa, founder and CEO of the major online fashion mall operator Zozo Inc., during a news conference at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan in Tokyo. In mid-September, Maezawa announced he would embark on an 800,000-kilometer trip around the moon and back aboard SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s BFR spacecraft along with several artists that he plans to invite. Maezawa, who would become the first private lunar traveler, said he wants to contribute to world peace, a desire that was given greater urgency following the terrorist attacks on 9/11. Thus, he said he was seeking “artists committed to making the world a better place.” He plans to take six to eight artists representing various mediums with him, and hinted that the candidates’ creations should match his taste. Maezawa did not say when he would choose who will join him. Maezawa added he was hoping the trip would provide a valuable input to his own work. “I like new experiences so I want to promote the same among my colleagues, and this is why I decided to go on this adventure, because I believe going to the moon will help me create something better,” he said. While being aware of the space mission’s dangers, Maezawa said he trusts and respects Musk. “I thought I could trust him after seeing his relationship with his workers. People believe in him,” Maezawa said. Regarding Musk’s recent tweets mocking the Securities and Exchange Commission, with whom he recently reached a settlement over allegations of fraud, Maezawa said, “Twitter can be either a good or a bad tool, depending what use you make of it, as you can notice following Musk’s posts.” Asked whether he would employ the Zozo Suit, the firm’s signature high-tech polka-dot outfit used to measure body size, to make spacewear for his trip, he said that might be under consideration. “I gave (Zozo’s) suit to Elon Musk and proposed to use our technology to create spacewear,” Maezawa said. But he wasn’t sure if Musk took the proposal seriously, and quoted the American entrepreneur as having called the idea “crazy” and “good.” It is unknown how much Maezawa, who is the 18th richest person in the country according to Forbes, paid for the planned trip to space, but he is known as a lavish spender and owns many pricey pieces of art. Maezawa stressed he buys artwork for the value behind it. Last week, Maezawa tweeted about having purchased a 1717 Stradivari violin called Hamma. “I want to buy the passion poured into those masterpieces,” Maezawa said at the news conference, stressing that craftsmanship, the history behind the work and the passion the artist poured into it raises a piece’s value.”I already own a lot of things and want to share this passion, especially with young people,” he said. “I want to show them how many blisters these creators have on their hands, how much effort they have put into their work.”
|
elon musk;spacex;moon;yusaku maezawa;zozo
|
jp0009565
|
[
"reference"
] |
2018/10/09
|
Japan continues to rely on coal-fired plants despite global criticism
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Japan may be feeling the effects of global warming more than ever with the series of natural disasters that hit the archipelago this summer, but this resource-poor country is sticking with coal-fired energy production that emits more than double the carbon dioxide generated by liquid natural gas-fueled plants. To meet its pledge to the world in the landmark 2015 Paris climate accord, Japan aims to achieve a 26 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions by fiscal 2030 from the fiscal 2013 level. But the government has drawn a lot of criticism from both in and outside the country for going against the international trend to move away from coal. In November 2017, Japan was again embarrassed by winning a “Fossil of the Day Award” for its failure to make sufficient efforts to tackle climate change. The award’s organizer, Climate Action Network, said that “Japan together with the U.S. administration is still trying to promote nuclear and coal, which hinders efforts for expanding renewable energy in developing countries. Japan should change its anachronistic policy on coal and nuclear.” Why is Japan facing all this criticism? Below we discuss some of the reasons and explore current and future trends related to coal-fired power plants in Japan. How much does Japan rely on coal? Coal-fired plants provided 32.3 percent of the country’s total electricity in fiscal 2016, whereas reliance of natural gas stood at 42.2 percent and nuclear power at 1.7 percent. Japan has around 90 coal power plants and companies were planning to build 30 more with a total capacity of 16,730 megawatts (MW) as of March. Why does this country continue to turn to coal? Japan is poor in resources such as oil and natural gas, and it built numerous coal-fired power plants in the aftermath of the “oil shock” of the 1970s in order to reduce dependency on oil and diversify its energy sources. The country also increased its dependency on nuclear power and liquefied natural gas. As climate change issues grew in importance, the government, in its basic energy plan endorsed in 2010, sought to increase reliance on nuclear to 53 percent of the total and reduce that of coal to 11 percent by 2030. But the Fukushima No. 1 disaster threw that plan into disarray. Under the current plan, the government is aiming to rely on nuclear power for 20 to 22 percent of Japan’s electricity, and coal for 26 percent by fiscal 2030. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry considers coal “an important baseload source” due to its cheapness and stable supply compared with renewables. Construction of small coal-fired power projects has also been the rise on the back of deregulation of the power industry in recent years, with METI saying that intensifying competition is leading existing power companies to turn to what they perceive as cheap and stable power sources. Is coal-fired power the cheapest source of energy produced in Japan? Not really. Power generation costs fluctuate and at times natural gas is less expensive. Coal was the third cheapest at ¥12.3 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) after nuclear energy at ¥10.1, according to a report by METI that calculated power generation costs for 2014. LNG was rated at ¥13.7 per kWh. But in another calculation that looked into the costs as of 2016, using the same methodology as METI, coal-fueled power stood at ¥11.35 per kWh and LNG was the cheapest at ¥8.58, according to the Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center. The center attributed the change to a decline in fossil fuel prices: Coal had dropped 24.6 percent and LNG had fallen 57.1 percent from 2014. Don’t energy companies have to pass environmental assessments before constructing coal-fired power plants? Coal plants that generate less than 112.5 MW do not need to go through the government assessment process, which according to nongovernmental organization Kiko Network can take six to seven years from initial planning to the start of operations. Small-scale plants can begin operations in just a few years after initial planning. In the government assessment process, power companies have to determine the environmental impact. This includes discussions with experts, local municipalities and residents. A 112-MW plant in Miyagi Prefecture that began operating last October has been met with a massive backlash from local residents. The wrangling has led people living in the area to file a lawsuit against the operator of the Sendai Power Station to shut down the plant over health concerns. How harmful are coal power plant emissions to human health? Burning coal produces gases that contain pollutants, mainly sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide. They are the major sources of PM2.5 airborne toxic particles and ozone pollution that can cause health and environmental problems. The government has ordered all coal plant operators to install filters to eliminate emissions of the harmful substance. But Kiko Network has pointed out that even though operators claim the latest filters can remove over 95 percent of pollutants, it is impossible to stop them all from escaping into the air. According to an estimate based on a 2017 study by Daniel Jacob, an atmospheric chemistry professor at Harvard University, pollutants emitted from coal-fired power plants currently operating in Japan lead to the premature death of 1,117 people every year. And that number is expected to increase to 1,572 if new power plants come into service. Are there ways to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from using coal-fired plants? One option promoted by the government is “clean coal” technologies such as ultra-supercritical coal-fired power (USC) plants. These are the most efficient type of coal-fired facility and use less coal than normal plants. USC plants achieve power generation efficiency of over 42 percent, compared with 39 percent for normal plants. USC plants also emit less carbon dioxide than normal ones, but they still emit nearly double the amount of LNG plants. METI is currently aiming to ensure that 50 percent of all coal-fired power comes from USC plants by 2030. Another solution for minimizing carbon dioxide emissions is carbon capture and storage (CCS), a system that collects and stores carbon dioxide waste underground. The government has begun CCS experiments in Tomakomai, Hokkaido, and has stored approximately 180,000 tons of carbon dioxide in the ground since 2016. In a report issued this year, METI said new technologies including CCS are a “must” if Japan is to drastically decrease greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Japan’s stated long-term goal is to cut emissions by 80 percent by 2050. But the Tomakomai area was hit by a magnitude 6.7 quake in September and concerns have been raised among residents and environmental groups regarding the system’s safety in quake-prone Japan.
|
energy;nuclear power;coal;climate change
|
jp0009566
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2018/10/31
|
Dollar hits three-week highs around ¥113.30 in Tokyo
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The dollar hit three-week highs around ¥113.30 in Tokyo trading Wednesday, as risk appetite increased among market participants thanks to brisk U.S. equities overnight. At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥113.19-19, up from ¥112.80-81 at the same time Tuesday. The euro was at $1.346-1347, down from $1.1363-1363, and at ¥128.44-44, up from ¥128.18-19. The dollar changed hands above ¥113 in early trading, carrying over its overnight strength abroad that mainly reflected receding risk aversion following Wall Street’s sharp rebound, traders said. Also supported by buying from Japanese importers for month-end settlements, the dollar rose to three-week highs around ¥113.30 in the morning and the afternoon, the traders said. Other major dollar-positive factors were a continued surge in the benchmark 225-issue Nikkei stock average and higher Chinese stocks. In late trading, the U.S. currency pared its gains due to profit-taking by Japanese institutional investors and selling on a rally mainly from foreign exchange margin traders, market sources said. A currency market broker said that “no trading incentive emerged” from a news conference by Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda in the afternoon. “Few players are making active moves in the dollar-yen sector as U.S. stocks may grow unstable” after key events, including the announcements of earnings by Apple Inc. on Thursday and U.S. jobs data for October on Friday, as well as the U.S. midterm elections Tuesday, said an official of a margin trading service firm.
|
yen;euro;dollar;forex;currencies
|
jp0009567
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2018/10/31
|
Tokyo stocks surge further on continued buybacks
|
Stocks surged further on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Wednesday thanks to continued buybacks after the recent market tumble. The 225-issue Nikkei average jumped 463.17 points, or 2.16 percent, to end at 21,920.46, after soaring 307.49 points Tuesday. The Topix index of all first-section issues closed up 34.66 points, or 2.15 percent, at 1,646.12. It gained 21.90 points the previous day. The market attracted buying following Wall Street’s sharp rebound Tuesday, market sources said. Investors also took heart from the yen’s drop versus the dollar, the sources added. “Pessimism has receded” somewhat in the market about business performance at major Japanese companies following the recent announcements of brisk earnings, said Mitsuo Shimizu, chief strategist at Aizawa Securities Co. An official of an online securities firm indicated that purchases of high-priced stocks with strong earnings, such as Honda Motor Co., pushed up the key market indexes. The Tokyo market’s strength came as “Chinese equities moved on a firm note,” an official of an asset management firm said. Aizawa Securities’ Shimizu said that Tokyo stocks “began to show signs of bottoming out.” Rising issues overwhelmed falling ones 1,654 to 419 in the TSE’s first section, while 38 issues were unchanged. Volume fell to 1.811 billion shares from 2.207 billion shares Tuesday. Automaker Honda climbed 6.47 percent following an upward revision to its consolidated net profit estimate for the year through next March to ¥675 billion from ¥615 billion, brokers said. In the semiconductor sector, Advantest Corp. closed 12.91 percent higher after raising its operating profit forecast for the year through next March to ¥53 billion from ¥34.5 billion. Other major winners included mobile phone carrier SoftBank Group Corp. and air conditioner-maker Daikin Industries. By contrast, steel-makers JFE Holdings Inc. and Kobe Steel met with heavy selling on downward revisions to profit estimates for the year through next March, the brokers said. Also on the minus side were clothing store chain operator Fast Retailing Co. and retailer FamilyMart Uny Co. In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the key December contract on the Nikkei average jumped 400 points to 21,880.
|
stocks;nikkei;tse;markets;topix;honda motor co .
|
jp0009569
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"social-issues-asia-pacific"
] |
2018/10/31
|
From 'cardboard nannies' to 'fruit money': fast-paced Hong Kong slow to adapt to its elderly
|
HONG KONG - At the Tanner Hill apartments in Hong Kong, the residents — all aged 60-plus — are enjoying the ancient Chinese tile game of mahjong along with some bite-sized delicacies, dimsum, at one of the on-site restaurants. Each of the 588 units comes with wheelchair-height kitchen countertops, an emergency button and a motion sensor which will alert the nurses in the building if it does not detect movement for a prolonged period. “I feel independent living here. I don’t need a helper to look after me — I feel safe,” said Chun Man-lin, 75, who moved two years ago to Tanner Hill, just a stone’s throw from the shopping hub of Causeway Bay. However, gerontology experts say, complexes like this are the exception in Hong Kong, not the norm. They warn that the fast-paced, business-focused city is lagging in its efforts to make life easier for its growing army of elderly residents. From Japan to Britain and Portugal, cities around the world are aging rapidly as authorities struggle to boost birth rates. One-third of Hong Kong’s population will be 65 or older in two decades, official data shows — up from one-fifth now. Observers say not enough is being done to prepare for this demographic shift. “Aging in Hong Kong … is still an issue that people put in the background — it’s not mainstream at all,” said Jean Woo, the director of the Jockey Club Institute of Ageing at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. “Right now the aging issue is still invisible to a lot of people. It is there but they don’t see it — not like other countries,” she said. ‘Cardboard nannies’ In the shadows of Hong Kong’s famous skyscrapers, a common sight is the gray-haired women — referred to as “cardboard nannies” — pushing carts filled with old paper and card that they send to be recycled as they eke out a living. With sky-high property prices and rising living costs, about a third of those aged above 65 — some 340,000 people — are trapped in poverty, a government report released in 2017 shows. Authorities provide a monthly living allowance of up to about HK$3,400 ($430) for senior citizens, but that buys so little in this expensive city that it is dubbed “fruit money.” The elderly are most unhappy about housing, community support, health services and employment, a survey of over 9,500 people led by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust found this year. Still, there are some bright spots. Hong Kong scored well in areas like transportation — for HK$2, senior citizens can take most public transport to any part of the city. Its compactness also allows the elderly easy access to shops, clinics, banks and transport networks, with most places located within walking distance. Woo, who was one of the survey’s researchers, said the biggest barriers to making the Asian financial hub more senior-friendly were a lack of awareness and public debate on the consequences if aging issues were not addressed. “Suicides are high among the elderly, including double suicides when the spouse can’t cope by living by themselves,” she said. People aged over 65 have the highest suicide rates in Hong Kong, with nearly 300 cases in 2016, according to the Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention. Other developed parts of the world have already ramped up efforts to deal with aging, with the global population of people over 60 expected to outnumber children under five for the first time by 2020, according to the World Health Organization. In Britain, the government this year created a new ministerial post on loneliness, and allocated £20 million ($26 million) to fund efforts to tackle the isolation felt by more than one in 10 people there. Efficiency over decency In her annual policy address this month, Hong Kong’s chief executive Carrie Lam vowed to boost community care services for the elderly, although her speech largely did not address other challenges as the city ages rapidly. One government adviser said the authorities had been making adjustments, including ensuring barrier-free access on public walkways and putting wider corridors and nonslip floors in new public rental housing. “These measures are just a start. … The government can only do so much,” Bernard Chan, who sits on Hong Kong’s Executive Council which advises the government on policy, wrote in the South China Morning Post newspaper in June. “Meeting our aging society’s day-to-day needs will largely come down to innovators and entrepreneurs,” he said. Projects like Tanner Hill, which was built by the nongovernmental Hong Kong Housing Society, is one example where charity groups try to address the need for elderly housing. It offers a lifelong lease where residents pay a flat fee that is determined by age. For a two-bedroom unit for example, an 85-year-old resident would pay HK$2.94 million and a 60-year-old would pay HK$6.51 million. “Aging is an indisputable fact and the demand for elderly housing is emerging,” said Daniel Lau from the Hong Kong Housing Society, which also works with the government to improve housing conditions for the city’s poorer seniors. Making Hong Kong more accepting of its elderly residents, said aging expert Terry Lum, is not only about improving the facilities, and it is not just a job for government. Changing people’s mind-set and how they treat older people are also important, said the professor at the University of Hong Kong. After living in the United States for 18 years, Lum moved home to Hong Kong in 2011. The first thing he noticed was how Hongkongers quickly became impatient when an older person walked slowly in front of them. “We are focusing so much on efficiency that sometimes we lose basic decency — everything is being rushed through at a very fast pace,” he said. “Hong Kong definitely needs to slow down.”
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hong kong;population;elderly;cities
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