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jp0009570
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/10/31
|
A-bomb survivor, supporters call on nations to join nuke ban pact
|
NEW YORK - Michiko Tsukamoto, who was just 10 years old when an atomic bomb was dropped over her hometown of Hiroshima in 1945, on Tuesday urged countries that have not signed a landmark nuclear weapons ban treaty to do so quickly. “Last year the nuclear ban treaty was made. I felt years and years of (the) hibakusha’s work bore fruit and we are one step closer to achieving our dream of a nuclear-free world,” she said at a U.N. headquarters event. The treaty, which was adopted in July last year by 122 countries, will come into force after 50 countries sign and ratify it. So far 69 countries have signed it and 19 ratified it. “I hope for a world where everyone thinks that having nuclear weapons is a shame,” she said. “We do not have much time and I hope that every country joins this treaty and creates a world without nuclear weapons.” The average age of the survivors, known in Japanese as hibakusha, is now said to be 82. As they face health problems while their numbers dwindle, it is increasingly difficult for them to speak out at domestic and international events. The 84-year-old Tsukamoto, who has been designated by the Foreign Ministry as a special communicator for a nuclear-free world, is part of a Japanese nongovernmental organization’s project that has taken her and others like her around the world to promote nuclear arms abolition. Tsukamoto spoke out at an event held on the fringes of talks on disarmament and international security by a U.N. committee . “I think there is nobody like the hibakushas who can tell the story,” Austria’s ambassador in Geneva, Elisabeth Tichy-Fisslberger, said. “We all know that this tragedy has been instrumental in bringing about the treaty.” Austria has been at the forefront of pushing for the nuclear weapons ban treaty and Tichy-Fisslberger announced that Vienna is volunteering to host the first conference of the parties to the treaty once it enters into force. Mexico’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Juan Sandoval Mendiolea, also stressed how important it is to hear about the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons. “There cannot be another face more clear, and more sincere, and more legitimate to oppose nuclear weapons than the hibakusha,” he said. Like Austria, Mexico has also been an active proponent of the treaty and hosted a major conference in 2014. “The U.N. plays a big role for world peace, I think we should work together and fight together against the pressure from nuclear-armed states,” said Tsukamoto. “Humans and nuclear weapons cannot live together!”
|
nuclear weapons;united nations;hibakusha;atomic bombs;michiko tsukamoto
|
jp0009572
|
[
"national",
"crime-legal"
] |
2018/10/31
|
Foreign Minister Taro Kono calls on South Korea to take 'firm and resolute' action after ruling on wartime forced labor
|
SEOUL - Foreign Minister Taro Kono said Wednesday he has called on his South Korean counterpart, Kang Kyung-wha, to take “firm and resolute” action over a Supreme Court ruling ordering a Japanese steel firm to compensate four South Koreans subject to forced labor during Japan’s 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. “As Minister Kang said, the South Korean government has started discussions as to how to address the matter. We will wait for its decision,” Kono told reporters at the Foreign Ministry following phone talks with Kang. Kono said the government hopes Japanese nationals and companies will not be subjected to detrimental treatment as a result of the ruling, but stopped short of expanding on what kind of actions he believes should be taken. A day earlier, Kono called the decision “very regrettable and totally unacceptable,” after the South Korean top court upheld the July 2013 ruling by the Seoul High Court that ordered Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. to pay 400 million won (¥39.7 million) in compensation to the workers. The Supreme Court’s final ruling in the case is likely to have a significant impact on Japanese-South Korean ties. Following news of the court’s decision, Kono called the South Korean Ambassador to Japan, Lee Su-hoon, to the Foreign Ministry and told him that it “fundamentally undermines the legal basis that has served as the foundation of the friendly relationship between the two countries since the normalization of bilateral relations in 1965.” In a statement, Kono also said Japan may take the matter to the relevant international court. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters that “the ruling this time is impossible in terms of international law,” and that “the Japanese government will react in a resolute manner.” The four claimants in the case, only one of whom remains alive today, had said they were deprived of their human rights when they were forced to work at a steel mill belonging to Japan Iron & Steel Co. The firm was later known as Nippon Steel Corp., until it merged with another steel-maker in 2012 to form Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal. Japan’s government has taken the position that the issue of compensation is “completely and finally” resolved, as declared by a 1965 pact attached to the Japan-South Korean treaty that normalized their post-colonial relationship. But Tuesday’s decision by South Korea’s top court found that the right of the plaintiffs to file claims as individuals had not expired, despite the accord with Japan. Nippon Steel lodged an appeal in August 2013 against the earlier Seoul High Court ruling, contending that the issue of compensation had already been settled under the 1965 pact. The company issued a statement Tuesday saying the ruling was “extremely regrettable,” adding that it will respond “properly” after examining the contents of the ruling and taking into account the Japanese government’s response. The top court’s decision represents the first final ruling in South Korea concerning a compensation order against a Japanese company following a post-World War II compensation lawsuit. The decision suggests firms involved in similar lawsuits could face similar outcomes. Among the other Japanese firms that have lost cases in lower courts in South Korea are Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. and Hitachi Zosen Corp. Tuesday’s ruling “not only clearly violates the Japan-South Korea pact on rights to claim, but also inflicts unfair damage on a Japanese company,” Kono told the South Korean ambassador in Tokyo. The initial part of the meeting was open to media. “What is happening right now is unthinkable in terms of international common sense and in a country that upholds the rule of law,” Kono said. Kono also urged Seoul to “immediately take necessary measures” to prevent any further detrimental impact on Japanese people or businesses. Despite Tokyo’s efforts to foster bilateral relations with Seoul in a forward-looking manner, wartime history continues to cast a pall over ties. Contentious issues include not only South Koreans who were subject to forced labor, but also the issue of “comfort women” — a euphemism that refers to women and girls forced to provide sex for Japanese troops before and during World War II.
|
wwii;history;courts;forced labor;south korea-japan relations
|
jp0009573
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/10/31
|
Surge in number of U.S. women seeking political office could spark change in male-dominated Japanese Diet: experts
|
WASHINGTON - With the number of women running for U.S. Congress hitting a record high in the Nov. 6 midterm elections, the growing participation of women in American politics may prompt a change in the male-dominated political and business circles in Japan, according to U.S. and Japanese experts on women’s leadership. “I do think the increase in women running in the United States has an opportunity to do a role modeling effect in Japan,” said Glynda Carr, co-founder of Higher Heights for America, a New York-based organization dedicated to bringing black women into politics and elected office. Possibly in protest over U.S. President Donald Trump’s derogatory remarks against women and his scandals over alleged sexual harassment, data shows a record 237 women — 185 Democrats and 52 Republicans — are running for the 435-seat House of Representatives, up from the previous high of 167 in 2016, in what’s being called a “pink wave.” A record 23 women — 15 Democrats and eight Republicans — are also campaigning for 35 of the 100 Senate seats up for grabs, up from 18 in 2012, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University in New Jersey. When Japanese women see more American women running and winning, “they can see the possibility that exists” and this could inspire them to run, Carr said on the sidelines of a recent event in Washington. The Rutgers body said the United States is “on track to see a record number of women” in Congress, but that “achieving gender parity in Congress will take more than one election cycle.” Women’s political representation in the United States is not as high as many might think, with the percentage of female members in the House of Representatives at 19.6 percent as of Sept. 1. But the figure is still higher than the 10.1 percent in the Lower House of the Diet. The percentage of female members in the Senate came to 23.2 percent, compared to 20.7 percent in the Diet’s Upper House, according to data by the Geneva-based Inter-Parliamentary Union. Mari Miura, a professor of political science at Sophia University in Tokyo, expressed hope for an increase in women leaders in the United States. “If we hear more voices directly coming from women in the United States, that will empower more women in Japan,” she said in a telephone interview. Miura said it is imperative that women be well represented in decision-making bodies, otherwise issues of women’s concern — such as sexual harassment, pay gaps with men and, particularly in Japan, declining birth rates — would not come to the fore. Enthusiasm among young women voters and political activists is also a key part of the women’s movement in the United States. According to a recent poll conducted by the Washington Post and ABC News, certainty to vote is up 32 points among women younger than 40, compared with 2014, the year of the last midterm elections. Among registered voters, 59 percent of women favor Democratic House candidates while 37 percent prefer Republicans, the poll shows. Citing the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment and assault, analysts said women backing female Democratic candidates oppose Trump’s dealings with women and other issues such as health care. GOP-leaning women are also uncomfortable with the way the president treats women, but they tend to pay more attention to the upbeat economy and historically low unemployment levels. Asked what Japan can learn from the United States to boost women’s political participation, Miura cited political training programs and a greater role for women activists in civil society. “The United States is a leading country in terms of political training programs for women, as well as other leadership training, an initiative that helps women aspiring to run for office,” she said. “I think we need to create and expand those programs in Japan.” In this context, Miura welcomed Japan’s gender parity law, new legislation that requires local governments to expand support for recruitment and training for women wishing to enter politics. Cynthia Terrell, a U.S.-based advocate for rules and systems reforms to advance women’s representation and leadership, points out that the single-member district electoral system mainly used in Japan’s Lower House makes it difficult for women candidates to win more seats. She suggested a broader use of the proportional representation system could raise women’s representation to a 20 percent level, as in the upper chamber.
|
women;elections;upper house;lower house;men
|
jp0009574
|
[
"business"
] |
2018/10/30
|
Japan machine-makers avoid the caterpillar crawl
|
What’s that whirring noise? It’s Japan’s machinery-makers at work, in contrast to investors’ expectations. Results from Fanuc Corp. and Komatsu were a mixed bag Monday. Factory-automation giant Fanuc reported an 8.4 percent drop in fiscal first-half operating income and saw its shares rise, while construction-equipment-maker Komatsu posted an 80 percent profit surge that was rewarded with a stock decline. Put that perplexing share reaction down to the topsy-turvy world of machinery-makers, where investors tend to view dismal earnings as a sign that a company is nearing the bottom, and good results as a warning that it’s close to the top. The overall picture, though, is that concerns sparked by U.S. bellwether Caterpillar Inc. last week of late-cycle cost pressures and a deteriorating China outlook have been overdone, at least as far as the Japanese firms are concerned. China’s faltering economy has been a key focus. Fanuc’s sales in the country, already shrinking, fell a further 42 percent in the quarter through Sept. 30, compared with the previous three months. There was little surprise there: For months, an impending drop in iPhone shipments has weighed on the company, which sells so-called robodrills that make the metal casings of smartphones. Meanwhile, Fanuc’s factory automation business grew 4 percent from a year earlier, with China accounting for 20 percent of those sales. Komatsu said China demand rose 36 percent in the first half from a year earlier, a contrast with Caterpillar, which has been affected by the U.S.-China trade war. The country accounted for 7 percent of Komatsu’s sales, broadly unchanged from the year-ago period. Still, the company said it expects construction demand to slow from its current firm level. China certainly presents challenges. The announcement of an anti-dumping investigation into Japanese high-tech machinery-makers including Fanuc has worried investors. As we’ve noted, though, this is unlikely to hurt the Japanese manufacturers much. Chinese machine-makers don’t make the high-performing vertical-machine centers (core-equipment manufacturing facilities for autos and other advanced processes) that are being probed, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analysts. Moreover, while worries of an eventual slowdown loom, Chinese manufacturing sector profits are still humming along. They grew 12.5 percent in the 12 months through September from a year earlier. The other good news is that the Chinese government will lower “most-favored nation” tariffs on more than 1,500 goods including construction equipment and industrial machinery starting Nov. 1. More importantly, as China cools the Japanese firms have plenty of buffers: They’re exposed to a variety of geographical and segmental business cycles that don’t move in lockstep, ensuring weakness in one area is often offset by growth elsewhere. While Fanuc’s China sales declined by 12.7 percentage points as a portion of total revenue in the past year, it gained a cumulative 12.9 percentage points in other regions. And as its iPhone-making robotic machines lost 9 percentage points of sales, the company gained as much across other business segments. For Komatsu, Southeast Asian demand climbed more than 22 percent in the first half, while Fanuc recorded a 9.4 percent increase in orders from North America. Signs elsewhere belie the pessimism. Earlier this month, Nidec Corp. posted record quarterly operating profits for its automotive, appliance, and industrial and commercial business. The motor-maker has been expanding production in the U.S. to supply manufacturers there, and noted that it was “capturing business opportunities under trade tensions.” Operating profit at Nidec’s machinery segment, which supplies industrial robots and factory automation systems, rose 26 percent in the second quarter through September, while its industrial and commercial products business grew 35 percent. Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., which reported earnings last week, saw sales volumes gain sharply in North America and Australia, among other regions. It lowered its revenue forecast for China by 3 percent for the full year. The likes of Fanuc and Komatsu are trading at steep discounts to the long-term averages of their one-year forward price-earnings multiples. There’s no doubt China will slow further at some point. But that doesn’t mean factories will shut down elsewhere in the world. Japan’s machinery-makers are likely to stay busy.
|
komatsu;caterpillar;fanuc;machines
|
jp0009575
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2018/10/30
|
Tokyo stocks rebound sharply on buybacks
|
Stocks staged a sharp rebound on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Tuesday, boosted by repurchases after the recent tumble. The 225-issue Nikkei average soared 307.49 points, or 1.45 percent, to end at 21,457.29, after shedding 34.80 points on Monday. The Topix index of all first-section issues closed up 21.90 points, or 1.38 percent, at 1,611.46. It fell 6.45 points the previous day. Both indexes snapped their three-session losing streaks. After opening weaker following Wall Street’s retreat on Monday, the Tokyo market soon wiped out the losses and returned to the sunny side thanks to buybacks on the back of the yen’s weakening versus the dollar, market sources said. In afternoon trading, the market accelerated its upswing owing to a solid performance of Chinese equities, according to the sources. Yoshihiko Tabei, chief analyst at Naito Securities Co., indicated that repurchases of automakers and semiconductor-related names contributed to the overall market’s strength. Tuesday’s sharp rebound was driven by “buybacks of issues with brisk earnings,” an official of an asset management firm said. The official pointed out that such issues were deemed undervalued after the recent market tumble. But investors “are still vigilant (against a possible market plunge) and unlikely to move for (full-fledged) bargain hunting until fresh buying incentives emerge,” the official added. Rising issues overwhelmed falling ones 1,840, to 239 in the TSE’s first section, while 31 issues were unchanged. Volume increased to 2.207 billion shares from 1.373 billion shares on Monday. Construction machinery-maker Komatsu climbed 6.18 percent after upward revisions in its operating profit and dividend estimates for the year through March 2019, brokers said. Automakers Toyota, Honda and Nissan were buoyant following a news report that the Chinese government is considering cutting the tax on automobile purchases. Other major winners included semiconductor-linked Tokyo Electron and clothing retailer Fast Retailing. By contrast, Daiwa Securities Group met with selling after announcing Monday that its consolidated operating profit for the six months through September tumbled 38.7 percent from a year before to ¥37.667 billion. Also on the minus side were mobile phone carrier KDDI and Sumitomo Realty. In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the key December contract on the Nikkei average jumped 380 points to 21,480.
|
stocks;toyota;honda;nikkei;nissan;wall street;topix
|
jp0009576
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2018/10/30
|
Dollar firmer around ¥112.80 in Tokyo
|
The dollar was stronger around ¥112.80 in Tokyo trading late Tuesday, aided by robust Tokyo stock prices. At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥112.80-81, up from ¥111.92-92 at the same time on Monday. The euro was at $1.1363-1363, down from $1.1408-1408, and at ¥128.18-19, up from ¥127.69-69. The dollar moved above ¥112.30 in early trading after rising above ¥112.50 in overseas trading overnight thanks to a strong U.S. economic indicator announced on Monday, traders said. Toward noon, the greenback rose to levels close to ¥112.70, supported by month-end purchases from real demand-backed players and a rise in the benchmark 225-issue Nikkei stock average. After falling below the level due to a halt to the advance of the Nikkei and Chinese stocks, the dollar rebounded and climbed above ¥112.80 in late trading on the back of higher long-term U.S. interest rates. The dollar drew buying against the yen on hope for an easing of trade tensions between the United States and China following U.S. President Donald Trump’s reported remarks that he expects a great deal with China on trade, traders said. An official of a foreign exchange margin trading service firm said the higher U.S. interest rates and the dollar’s advance against the yen came as fresh U.S. tariffs on Chinese products can exert inflationary pressure in the United States. The dollar attracted “buybacks to adjust positions toward the month-end” after falling below ¥111.50 late last week, an official of a Japanese bank said.
|
yen;stocks;euro;dollar;forex;currencies
|
jp0009577
|
[
"business",
"corporate-business"
] |
2018/10/30
|
Sharp lifts FY 2018 net profit outlook despite lower sales forecast
|
OSAKA - Sharp Corp. on Tuesday raised its net profit outlook for the current business year due to cost-cutting, and despite lowering its sales forecast. Sharp cut its sales projection for the year through March to ¥2.69 trillion ($24 billion) from a previous estimate of ¥2.89 trillion, reflecting a decline in television sales in China and logistics disruptions following a typhoon. But the Osaka-based electronics maker raised its group net profit projection to ¥90 billion from the previous estimate of ¥80 billion. As its logistics network was disrupted by a powerful typhoon that hit Japan in September, shipments of liquid crystal displays and the procurement of smartphone parts were delayed. Still, Sharp remains on a recovery path as it continues to benefit from restructuring since it came under the wing of Taiwan-based Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. in 2016. Sharp projects an operating profit of ¥112 billion, up from ¥110 billion forecast previously. The latest net and operating profit outlooks represent respectively rises of 28.2 and 24.3 percent from the previous business year. Given the TV sales decline in China, Sharp said it aims to shift its business strategy from “quantity to quality” by adding value to its products using artificial intelligence. For the first half to September, Sharp posted a consolidated net profit of ¥40.93 billion, up 17.8 percent from a year earlier, remaining in the black for the second year. It logged an operating profit of ¥47 billion, up 15.9 percent, on group sales of ¥1.13 trillion, up 1.2 percent.
|
sharp;financial results
|
jp0009578
|
[
"world",
"science-health-world"
] |
2018/10/30
|
Conservationists fear 'devastating consequences' as China dilutes ban on tiger and rhino parts
|
BEIJING - China unveiled new rules on Monday that would allow the use of rhino horn and tiger parts for some medical and cultural purposes, watering down a decadesold ban in a move conservation group WWF said could have “devastating consequences. China’s State Council issued a notice replacing its 1993 ban on the trade of tiger bones and rhino horn. The new rules ban the sale, use, import and export of such products, but allow exceptions under “special circumstances,” such as medical and scientific research, educational use, and as part of “cultural exchanges.” Horns of rhinos or bones of tigers that were bred in captivity could be used “for medical research or clinical treatment of critical illnesses,” it said. Rhino horn and tiger products classified as “antiques” could be used in “cultural exchanges” with the approval of culture authorities, although they still may not be sold on the market or exchanged via the internet. The new rules came into effect on Oct. 6. WWF said in a statement that Beijing’s move would have “devastating consequences globally” and be “an enormous setback to efforts to protect tigers and rhinos in the wild. “Even if restricted to antiques and use in hospitals, this trade would increase confusion by consumers and law enforcers as to which products are and are not legal, and would likely expand the markets for other tiger and rhino products,” WWF said. Beijing banned trade in tiger bones and rhino horns, both prized in traditional Chinese medicine, 25 years ago as part of global efforts to halt declining animal stocks. But illegal poaching has continued, driven by demand in an increasingly affluent country. Commercial tiger farms in China are legal, and although using tiger bones in medicine was banned, tiger parts from these farms often end up being made into tonics or other medicines, animal rights groups say. Conservation groups say Chinese traditional medicine recipes can make use of substitutes for products from wild animals. Some Chinese officials have in the past said full bans on the use of wild animal parts would threaten traditional Chinese medicine.
|
china;trade;poaching;wwf;rhinos;tigers;endangeres species;medicine culture
|
jp0009579
|
[
"world",
"politics-diplomacy-world"
] |
2018/10/30
|
Trump and Bolsonaro: Is a bromance in the cards for U.S. president and new Brazilian leader?
|
SAO PAULO - He has vowed to drain the swamp, slash regulations and get tough with China. Evangelicals and gun-rights advocates love him. He has denounced the media as “fake news.” Political foes? Lock ’em up. Brazil’s new president-elect, Jair Bolsonaro, is an ardent admirer — and shrewd imitator — of his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump. And that could usher in one of the warmest bilateral relationships in the Western Hemisphere. Trump called to congratulate Bolsonaro on Sunday night, shortly after the far-right congressman scored a resounding victory at the polls, winning 55 percent of the vote following a mud-slinging campaign with a leftist rival. Bolsonaro and Trump spoke of “a strong commitment to work side-by-side” on issues affecting Brazil, the United States and beyond, the White House said. Trump has bullied and wrangled with other leaders in the Americas, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. But in Bolsonaro, Trump will find a doppelganger whose world view and pugnacious style are strikingly similar to his own. “Just like he wants to make America great, I want to make Brazil great,” Bolsonaro, a former army captain, said in a televised interview in July. The 63-year-old ran as an outsider bent on smashing what he sees as a corrupt and hidebound political system that has forgotten ordinary citizens. His fiery rhetoric and slurs against gays, women and minorities have thrilled followers who view him as an authentic straight shooter. He has championed law and order, patriotism and religious values. And he has demonized his leftist detractors as enemies of the people. While many world leaders have held Trump at arm’s length, Bolsonaro has made no secret of his esteem. He has praised America’s 45th president as a gutsy, decisive commander who has prevailed in the face of unfair criticism. “Trump faced the same attacks I am facing- that he was a homophobe, a fascist, a racist, a Nazi,” Bolsonaro said last year before his candidacy caught fire. “But the people believed in his platform. I was rooting for him.” Such blandishments are likely to play well with Trump, who has shown an affinity for authoritarian leaders, particularly those who flatter and cajole him. Christopher Garman, chief Americas analyst for the New York-based political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, said a new cross-hemisphere bromance could be in the offing. “(Bolsonaro’s) win will surely herald a stronger bilateral relationship,” Garman said. “Bolsonaro not only is a self-professed fan of Donald Trump, but both were elected on a wave of anti-establishment anger with relatively similar ideological proclivities. “The White House is likely to respond well, and Donald Trump has already shown he values personal relationships with foreign leaders,” Garman said. Bolsonaro has already signaled his plan to shift Brazilian foreign policy hard to the right, a development that would play well with the Trump administration. He has said he will move the country’s embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, following the lead of the United States. And similar to Trump, Bolsonaro is rethinking his country’s membership in multinational organizations and treaties that he thinks might not be in Brazil’s best interest, including the Mercosur trade bloc, the BRICS group of large emerging economies and the Paris climate accord. Those changes would reverse 13 years’ worth of diplomacy crafted by governments led by the country’s leftist Workers Party, which focused on alliances with Brazil’s South American neighbors and other developing powers. Bolsonaro is also questioning Brazil’s relationship with China, which he views as a predatory economic partner. The Asian giant is Brazil’s biggest foreign buyer of soybeans, iron ore and other commodities. But Bolsonaro is alarmed at a spate of Chinese purchases of Brazilian energy and infrastructure companies. “The Chinese are not buying in Brazil. They are buying Brazil,” Bolsonaro has warned repeatedly. Such talk is likely to please Trump, whose tariffs on Chinese goods have ignited a trade war that has much of the world blaming the United States for disrupting global supply chains and rattling markets worldwide. So, too, is Bolsonaro’s plan to privatize a string of Brazil’s state-owned companies and loosen environmental restrictions to make way for more mining, ranching and farming. Still, trade is likely to remain a sore point between the United States and Brazil, whose steep tariffs on imported goods make it one of the most closed economies in the world. Trump singled out Brazil this month in a rant about tariffs. “They charge us whatever they want,” he said in remarks to reporters at a White House event. “If you ask some of the companies, they say Brazil is among the toughest in the world — maybe the toughest in the world.” Even if trade issues remain thorny, Bolsonaro’s gaze is directed north. He is an avid supporter of the National Rifle Association and vows that once he takes office on Jan. 1, he will roll back Brazil’s strict gun laws and let citizens take up arms to defend themselves from criminals. Like Trump, Bolsonaro masterfully tapped into voters’ fears and frustrations to rocket to the presidency. Brazil is beset by appalling levels of street crime. In the past few years, a sprawling investigation has revealed epic levels of corruption at the highest levels of government. One former president is in jail and another was impeached and tossed from office. The economy was hit by the worst downturn in decades and has yet to regain its luster; more than 13 million Brazilians are unemployed. Hungry for change, voters responded to Bolsonaro’s bold promises to crack heads and clean up the mess. Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon said he sees echoes of his old boss, who rode a similar wave of discontent. “It takes those types of crises, and Brazil is going through that type of crisis now,” Bannon said recently. “I think that Bolsonaro, he’s a figure like Trump.”
|
brazil;elections;donald trump;jair bolsonaro
|
jp0009580
|
[
"world",
"politics-diplomacy-world"
] |
2018/10/30
|
As Germany's Merkel retreats, Europe shows it still needs her firefighting
|
BERLIN/BRUSSELS - German Chancellor Angela Merkel is starting her retreat at home just as she’s needed more than ever by her allies abroad. As Europe prepares for life without the leader whose clout underwrote its global standing and solutions to its crises over the past decade, the continent faces another challenging few months with the German leader’s legacy as the euro region’s rock in the balance. Italy’s financial stability is in question, Britain is due to leave the European Union in March and populist parties are conspiring to reshape the continent’s politics in EU elections weeks later. There’s also the test of unity over sanctions against Vladimir Putin’s Russia and keeping peace in the Balkans — all with Merkel now at her weakest. The 64-year-old’s remarkable longevity had to run out of road at some point. Her enemies were made, political capital spent and she was hobbled by a refugee crisis that caused a nationalist backlash in Germany. But it comes at a critical time as the balance of power tips further toward the kind of nationalist protectionism espoused by the U.S. under President Donald Trump and away from Merkel’s vision that left her as the beacon for liberal democracy among supporters. The baton is now being passed to French President Emmanuel Macron and the pressure will be on him to emulate Merkel’s ability to weigh Europe’s needs while sustaining ties with Russia, Turkey and China. While Merkel announced she would relinquish leadership of her Christian Democrats and will step down as chancellor within three years, populist former army officer Jair Bolsonaro celebrated winning the presidency in Brazil. “There’s no European leader who was as suited to this high-wire act as she was,” said Jan Techau, senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund in Berlin. “The question will be who has the unbelievable diplomatic skills that she has.” Merkel won four elections for her Christian Democrats over 13 years in office, including a resounding victory in 2013 as Germany’s dominance of Europe peaked during the continent’s debt crisis. She was pivotal to Greece agreeing to the terms of its bailouts and keeping the euro region together. By 2017, she led the party to a historic low, her standing challenged by Trump’s rise to the U.S. presidency and retaliation against her open-door migration policy. A far-right party entered Germany’s parliament for the first time since the immediate aftermath of World War II on her watch. An economic boom and Germany’s lowest unemployment in a generation failed to help her Christian Democrats at the ballot box. Merkel says she intends to stay until the end of her term and focus on the global stage. Her leeway, though, will depend on who her party chooses as its next leader in December. Possible contenders include hard-liners on government spending and critics of her refugee policy, suggesting the party might complicate her efforts to foster European unity with Macron on such things as the budget. “If there were still people in Paris or elsewhere hoping for an agreement on key European dossiers this year, like euro-zone reform or migration policy reform, they should forget about it,” said Janis Emmanouilidis, director of studies at the European Policy Center in Brussels. “Nobody is going to listen to her anymore in Europe. She has taken herself immediately out of the game,” said Sebastian Maillard, director of the Jacques Delors Institute think tank. Maillard was referring not only to Merkel’s decision to quit as chair of her party before stepping down later as chancellor, but also to not run for an EU position afterward. “It’s a tough blow for Europe,” Maillard said. Julian Rappolt, an analyst for the European Policy Center, predicted few, if any major decisions would be taken before the May elections for a new European Parliament. “Nothing will happen before the end of the year and probably nothing will take place until the European elections,” Rappolt said. “There is the risk of paralysis at the European level,” he said. But the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, disagreed that Merkel’s announcement would lead to paralysis, a commission official said. “Angela Merkel’s decision was expected. She had foreseen it and it changes nothing. The chancellor will not leave right away,” the official said on condition of anonymity. Sudha David-Wilp, deputy director of the German Marshall Fund’s Berlin office, also noted that Merkel’s departure was not a surprise and appeared to be orderly. “I don’t see chaos or instability for Europe because this is going to be a very slow departure,” David-Wilp told said from the United States. “Right now it is not in anybody’s interest for the grand coalition to split apart in Berlin,” she added in reference to Merkel’s ruling coalition with the center-left SPD party. For Brexit, Merkel’s lame-duck status adds another element of uncertainty to the EU-U.K. divorce talks, though it’s unlikely to substantially change the immediate prospects of striking a deal, people familiar with the negotiations said. Making a dignified exit was important to Merkel, who witnessed her political mentor Helmut Kohl go down to defeat after he insisted on seeking re-election in 1998 after 16 years in power, according to people familiar with her thinking. Growing up in former communist East Germany, her career has taken her from the euphoria of the Berlin Wall’s opening in 1989 to the vitriol of anti-immigration protesters waving “Merkel must go” signs during last year’s election campaign. Taking herself out of the firing line of domestic politics, including critics in her own party, may mark part of her legacy. Hours after her unexpected retreat as party leader, she met South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the Berlin chancellery to discuss investment in Africa. “This could be a good change for Merkel to refocus on playing an important role on the international stage,” said Jan Kallmorgen, head of Berlin Global Advisers, a political-risk consultancy. “Of course, other leaders realize that Merkel is weakened. But she still has enough international standing to face leaders like Putin and Trump.”
|
u.s .;eu;u.k .;angela merkel;germany;elections;refugees;donald trump;brexit
|
jp0009581
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/10/30
|
Japanese hospital takes fight to flu via 'Mouth of Truth'
|
OSAKA - With the arrival of flu season, Osaka University Hospital on Tuesday introduced a unique way to keep the virus at bay, deploying a hand sanitizer dispenser in the shape of a famous Roman sculpture. Playing on the legend of the ancient marble “Bocca della Verita” in Rome, the hospital set up a replica of the “Mouth of Truth” that automatically dispenses liquid sanitizer when a hand enters its mouth. The Italian carving, so the legend goes, bites down on a liar that dares tempt fate by placing their hand in its mouth. “This looks so fun that I want to stick my hand in it,” said a 74-year-old woman who was visiting the hospital with her husband. “I’m sure that children find this entertaining.” Patients and visitors will be able to take fate into their own hands with the hospital’s Mouth of Truth until Nov. 16. The hospital said it did not think the usual tactics to increase people’s awareness about the flu were working and decided to pique people’s interest by offering them something very different. Once infected by the virus, symptoms of patients with a weakened immune system can turn serious, so it is critical that the hospital has strong defenses to keep the influenza virus out, said Daiichi Morii, a doctor with the hospital’s Infection Control Team, which planned the installation.
|
virus;osaka university hospital;mouth of truth
|
jp0009582
|
[
"national",
"crime-legal"
] |
2018/10/30
|
Don't let me down: Japan superfans lose fight for 1966 Beatles tour footage
|
It’s been a hard day’s fight, but a group of Japanese Beatles fans have lost their bid to get police to hand over historic footage of the band’s 1966 Japan visit . The superfans took their battle for the film — recorded by police as a security measure — all the way to the Supreme Court, arguing it was a “historical document.” Police had offered to release the footage, reportedly about 35 minutes long, but only after blurring the faces of everyone in the film except the Beatles, citing privacy reasons. Two lower courts backed the police against a group of citizens from Nagoya who wanted the entire film released uncensored, saying it would be almost impossible to identify people in the footage more than 50 years later. But the long and winding legal battle ended last week when the Supreme Court rejected their argument, the group announced. The Beatles toured Japan only once, playing five concerts, and were trailed across the country by legions of screaming fans. A lawyer for the group seeking the footage said it would have huge historical significance for Beatles enthusiasts. “It is a document that should be made available from a historical standpoint,” lawyer Satoshi Shinkai told the Asahi Shimbun daily. “The final concert given on July 2 was apparently electrifying,” added fan Toru Omura, who has written books about the impact of the group’s tour. “If confirmation can be made of the existence of footage from that day, there would be huge excitement,” he told the newspaper. The Beatles remain popular in Japan, and former group member Paul McCartney arrived in Tokyo this week to kick off his new world tour.
|
music;courts;beatles
|
jp0009583
|
[
"national",
"crime-legal"
] |
2018/10/30
|
Women demand compensation from Tokyo Medical University over rigged entrance exams
|
Women who applied unsuccessfully to Tokyo Medical University are demanding it pay a total of ¥7.69 million ($68,600) in compensation for manipulating entrance exam results in favor of male applicants, their lawyers said Monday. The 24 applicants, who took the medical school’s entrance exams in 2006 or later, are demanding it pay ¥100,000 in damages for every year an applicant took the entrance exam and refund exam fees. “We would not have applied if we had known about the illegal score rigging, and it has caused us great emotional distress,” the women said in a document presented to the university. They also demanded their scores and their correct application results be disclosed. According to the lawyers, the 24 women, who range in age from those in their teens to those in their 30s, include those who failed the university’s entrance tests and are seeking another chance, undergraduates studying medicine at other universities and those who pursued different careers after giving up on trying to become doctors. The group demands a reply from the university within two weeks. “We want the university to deal with it as soon as possible,” said Sakura Uchikoshi, who heads the lawyers’ group. Tokyo Medical University admitted in August it had manipulated exam scores for over 10 years to curb female enrollment. It said it did so to avoid a shortage of doctors at affiliated hospitals, because it claims female doctors tend to resign or take long periods of leave after getting married or giving birth. The university plans to lower the total academic fee for its medical faculty by ¥10 million to about ¥19.8 million, starting with students entering in 2020, with the goal of preventing the number of applicants from declining, sources said Monday. The revised fee will likely be the second lowest among the 31 medical faculties at private universities, according to a survey by major cram school Kawaijuku. For students who entered this year, the most expensive academic fee was ¥47.3 million for Kawasaki Medical School, while the lowest was ¥19.1 million for the International University of Health and Welfare. The education ministry has probed 81 medical schools in Japan since the problem was brought to light. In its midterm report, the ministry said more universities are likely to have manipulated entrance exam results against female applicants and favored particular individuals, without disclosing the names of those institutions.
|
gender;universities;discrimination;tokyo medical university
|
jp0009584
|
[
"world",
"crime-legal-world"
] |
2018/10/01
|
Four charged in slaying of Slovak reporter and his fiancee ordered held for trial
|
BRATISLAVA - A Slovak court on Sunday ordered four people jailed until their trial for the murder of investigative reporter Jan Kuciak and his fiancee, a state prosecutor said. The February killings sparked nationwide protests that toppled the government of Robert Fico, who had run Slovakia for all but two of the past 12 years. Three suspects were detained in a house raid on Thursday morning and charged with murder on Friday. The fourth suspect, a woman detained separately on Friday, has been charged with participating in the murder, which may have included helping, planning, ordering or organizing the killing, Kuciak family’s lawyer, Daniel Lipsic, told Reuters. Authorities released no further details on the four suspects and it is not yet clear when the trial might take place. Kuciak had, among other things, investigated fraud involving businessmen with Slovak political ties, and the suspected mafia links of Italians with businesses in Slovakia. A prosecutor said the February murder was likely a contract killing related to Kuciak’s work. His final story, published posthumously, reported on an Italian living in Slovakia with past business links to two Slovaks who later worked in the office of then-Prime Minister Fico. Both of the Slovaks resigned, but deny connections to the murder. Their Italian former business partner has also denied having connections with the mafia and the murder, but was detained on a European drug trafficking warrant in March and extradited to Italy in May. Weeks of public protests in March eventually forced the departure of the long-serving Fico but his three-party coalition has remained in power under Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini, who comes from the Smer party, which Fico still heads.
|
murder;journalist;mafia;slovakia;jan kuciak
|
jp0009585
|
[
"world"
] |
2018/10/01
|
Curfew imposed in anglophone Cameroon ahead of 'independence' anniversary
|
YAOUNDE - Cameroon imposed a 48-hour curfew on its English-speaking regions a day ahead of the one-year anniversary of a symbolic “independence” declaration by anglophone separatists, officials said on Sunday. The anniversary on Monday comes ahead of Sunday polls that anglophone secessionists have threatened to disrupt. “The movement of people between areas in the northwest is banned for a period of 48 hours from Sunday, Sept. 30 until Monday, Oct. 1,” said Adolphe Lele Lafrique, governor of the largely English-speaking northwest region. Similar measures were in force across Cameroon’s other anglophone areas, officials told AFP. Hundreds of civilians and dozens of security forces are understood to have been killed in the majority French-speaking country’s anglophone northwest and southwest this year. In October 2017, radical anglophone leaders declared a “Republic of Ambazonia” in the two English-speaking regions, which were incorporated into francophone Cameroon in 1961. In Buea, a town in the southwest that has been at the heart of the nascent anglophone insurgency, officials also announced a raft “of special security measures. According to a directive issued by a district official which was seen by AFP, all shops and bars in Buea will be closed on Sunday and Monday. Buea, a town of 90,000, was deserted from around 1600 GMT on Saturday with shops shut and civilians staying indoors while the military patrolled key roads, two local sources told AFP by telephone. Pro-independence campaigners were planning a protest march for Sunday, they added, in defiance of the curfew. The order also affects all cultural, social and sporting activities as well as public and private forms of transport, it said. The two-day curfew also affects the southwestern coastal towns of Limbe and Tiko, said a separate order seen by AFP. Last year’s independence declaration marked the start of a crisis that has cast a shadow over the Oct. 7 elections, in which 85-year-old President Paul Biya, who has ruled the country for 35 years, is seeking a seventh term in office. Biya responded to the nascent insurgency with a crackdown which has seen separatists responding with a surge of bloody attacks in which they have killed troops and police and torched schools and other symbols of the Cameroonian state. Divisions between the anglophone regions and Cameroon’s authorities dates back a century to when Britain and France occupied Cameroon, taking over Germany’s principal colony in West Africa. The two countries divided it into separate spheres of influence that were later formalized by the League of Nations, the forerunner to the U.N. The much larger French colony gained independence in 1960. A year later, the British colony also gained independence. Some of the English-speaking areas chose to join newly-formed Nigeria, others to become part of the federation of Cameroon.
|
elections;cameroon;anglophone;francophone
|
jp0009586
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/10/01
|
Load lifted from students' shoulders as ministry recommends letting them leave textbooks at school
|
In early September, the education ministry issued a notice to boards of education nationwide asking schools to let students leave their textbooks and other study materials at school — the practice known as okiben in Japanese — to reduce the weight of their school bags. While some students and parents welcome the move, others worry that it could lead to problems such as students studying less at home or their belongings getting lost or damaged. “I used to always feel tired because (my backpack) was really heavy,” said Fuku Kutsuwa, 9, a fourth grader at Gifu Elementary School in the city of Gifu. “Now it’s light, so I don’t get exhausted even if I run.” Her backpack only contains five or six textbooks. She said she started to think her backpack was heavy around the time she became a third grader, because she had to carry more textbooks as the number of subjects increased. In May, her father, Masashi, 50, weighed her backpack after hearing from her that she was having a hard time carrying it. The backpack weighed 6 kilograms, he said. “My daughter’s weight is 24 kg. I was surprised that the backpack weighed as much as a quarter of her weight,” he said. There was no rule at the school banning okiben , but nobody had been doing it. The parents’ association, including Fuku’s father, started discussing the issue with the school principal in late May, and in mid-June, the principal told all the students that they could leave their textbooks and other belongings at school. “I’m glad that children can now go to school with light backpacks,” Masashi said. Students’ school bags have become much heavier in recent years as the textbooks they use are thicker and there is a greater variety of supplementary materials, reflecting the government’s policy shift away from the so-called yutori cram-free education. According to the Textbook Publishers Association of Japan, the number of pages in elementary and junior high school textbooks for fiscal 2015 increased 30 percent compared with those for fiscal 2005. In Nagoya, most schools tell students to take all their study materials home. But following the education ministry’s release of the notice, the city’s education board plans to come up with a policy, before the end of the school year in March at the latest. A 42-year-old mother of a 13-year-old girl in Nishi Ward, Nagoya, said her daughter’s junior high school does not allow okiben . “I feel sorry for my daughter going to school every day half crying, saying her shoulders and back hurt,” the mother said, adding that her school rucksack is almost bursting open because of the amount of textbooks and study materials in it. It often weighs more than 10 kg. The girl must walk more than 20 minutes to school with the heavy rucksack, and sometimes also with her box lunch, bottle of drink and gym clothes. “I don’t know why they have to bring back home all the study materials every day, even the ones they don’t need for their homework,” the mother said. “I hope the school will soon allow okiben , because I’m worried that their bones might get crooked or they could collapse on hot days.” Katsumasa Sugimoto, 61, who is head of Nagoya Sports Clinic and knows about children’s physical development, said that “children lack muscular strength, and their shoulders and backs can easily be damaged when they lift up heavy backpacks. They should avoid putting excessive burdens on themselves.” Meanwhile, some teachers and parents are concerned that encouraging students to leave study materials at school could make them care less about textbooks. “(If students leave their textbooks at school) they might not get a chance to make it a habit to use textbooks when they study at home,” said a teacher in charge of third graders at an elementary school in Kaizu, Gifu Prefecture. Another teacher in charge of second graders at an elementary school in Kani, also in Gifu, said, “If study materials are left at school, they might get lost or be deliberately damaged.” A woman from Higashi Ward in Nagoya, although worried about the burden of a heavy backpack on her daughter who is a second grader in elementary school, said, “I still want her to bring them back home at least while she is in elementary school, so that she learns how to take good care of her textbooks.”
|
education;textbooks;schools;students;regional voices : chubu series
|
jp0009587
|
[
"national",
"science-health"
] |
2018/10/01
|
Japanese professor Tasuku Honjo wins Nobel in medicine, together with U.S. scientist, for work on cancer therapy
|
STOCKHOLM - Japanese scientist Tasuku Honjo was awarded on Monday this year’s Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine, for his discovery of a protein that contributed to the development of an immunotherapeutic drug against cancer. Honjo, a 76-year-old professor at Kyoto University, won the prize with U.S. national James Allison, the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute said. Honjo opened a pathway for a new cancer treatment by discovering the PD-1 protein, which is responsible for suppressing immune response. “I’m very honored and pleased to receive the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine,” Honjo told a news conference following the announcement. His method of treating cancer — by controlling the protein’s function to suppress immunity — led to the development of Nivolumab, a drug marketed as Opdivo and used against lung cancer and melanoma. Following the discovery of the protein in 1992, Honjo presented his research in 2002 showing that a drug that prevents the unification of cancer cells and that the PD-1 protein is effective against cancer in animals. In 2006, his research was tested in a clinical trial before Opdivo was finally approved in Japan, in July 2014, and subsequently in the United States and Europe. Their work led to a fourth class of treatment — alongside surgery, chemotherapy and radiation — that harnesses the immune system. “I’d like to continue the study a bit more so that this immunotherapy can further assist cancer patients in the future,” Honjo said at the news conference. “I hope this treatment will develop further, as researchers around the world are making efforts for such a purpose,” he added. The Nobel Assembly said after announcing the prize in Stockholm that the therapy “has now revolutionized cancer treatment and has fundamentally changed the way we view how cancer can be managed”. “Allison and Honjo showed how different strategies for inhibiting the brakes on the immune system can be used in the treatment of cancer,” the assembly also said in a statement on awarding the prize of 9 million Swedish crowns ($1 million). The Nobel jury noted that “for more than 100 years, scientists attempted to engage the immune system in the fight against cancer”. “Until the seminal discoveries by the two laureates, progress into clinical development was modest.” A native of Kyoto, Honjo spent much of his youth in the city of Ube in Yamaguchi Prefecture. As a child, he enjoyed the outdoors, and deepened his interest in becoming a scientist by observing Saturn and reading the biography of renowned Japanese bacteriologist Hideyo Noguchi (1876-1928). Allison, a professor at the University of Texas, and Honjo won the Tang Prize, touted as Asia’s version of the Nobels, in 2014 for their research. In 2016, Honjo also won the Kyoto Prize in Basic Sciences. In his message upon receiving the Kyoto Prize in 2016, Honjo said, “Doing research isn’t simply about studying hard. Reading papers and memorizing them doesn’t make you a good researcher.” “Follow your curiosity,” he advised, “and have the courage to meet the challenge. That’s where science starts, in my opinion.” The pair will receive their Nobel from King Carl XVI Gustaf at a formal ceremony in Stockholm on Dec. 10, the anniversary of the 1896 death of Alfred Nobel who created the prizes in his last will and testament. In recent years, three Japanese nationals had won the Nobel Prize in medicine, including Yoshinori Ohsumi, who won in 2016, and Satoshi Omura, who won a year earlier. In 2012, Kyoto University’s Shinya Yamanaka also won the prize. Including two who later became naturalized U.S. citizens, Japanese nationals have now won a total of 26 Nobel Prizes across all categories. Last year, U.S. geneticists Jeffrey Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael Young were awarded the prize in medicine for their research on the role of genes in setting the “circadian clock,” which regulates sleep and eating patterns, hormones and body temperature. The winners of this year’s physics prize will be announced on Tuesday, followed by the chemistry prize on Wednesday. The peace prize will be announced on Friday, and the economics prize will wrap up the Nobel season on Oct. 8. For the first time since 1949, the Swedish Academy has postponed the announcement of the 2018 Nobel Literature Prize until next year, amid a #MeToo scandal and bitter internal dispute that has prevented it from functioning properly.
|
awards;medicine;health;nobel prize
|
jp0009588
|
[
"national",
"history"
] |
2018/10/01
|
Fate uncertain for World War II air raid shelter at closing Thai zoo
|
BANGKOK - With the Sunday closure of Thailand’s oldest zoo, the future of its historical World War II air raid shelter remains unclear. Dusit Zoo closed its doors to the public after running for eight decades. The zoo announced in early August that it would move from its central Bangkok location. The new zoo has yet to be built. Following the announcement, visitors flocked to the zoo to relive old childhood memories or simply enjoy being around animals. But some Thais also wonder what fate awaits the old underground shelter, which was built by the Thai government in the years following the 1941 Japanese invasion. Thailand was a neutral country when Japan invaded on Dec. 8, 1941, just after attacking the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor. It forced Thailand to allow passage for its troops to attack British-held Malaya and Burma. A number of air raid shelters were subsequently built across Bangkok, including at Dusit Zoo, which was once a public park. After the war, the underground shelter — a rectangular room 10 meters long, 4 meters wide and 2 meters high — was turned into an exhibition at the zoo. In the corner of the damp, dimly lit shelter sit statues of a huddled-up family, including one of a woman cradling a baby in her lap. Natthapong Pingate, 46, who was visiting with his aging mother before the closure, understands why the zoo’s planned relocation to a far bigger site outside Bangkok will be good for its animals, but cannot help but feel a bit of sadness. “When my mother was young, she witnessed the bombing, which wrought damage not only across central Bangkok, but also in the outskirts of the capital. To us, the air raid shelter is a reminder of the war,” Natthapong said. Many such shelters in Bangkok no longer exist, including a large one that was in front of Hua Lamphong Railway Station, the capital’s main station. That shelter has been replaced by a fountain and elephant monument. Those that remain are scattered across a few sites, such as Parusakawan Palace, which now hosts the headquarters of the National Intelligence Agency; Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University, a public university near the zoo; and Asiatique: The Riverfront, a large shopping mall by the Chao Phraya River. The government’s Zoological Park Organization says the zoo’s closure, delayed by one month to accommodate an influx of visitors, will not be further postponed. The zoo will be relocated to a site in Pathum Thani province north of Bangkok three times the size of the current site, with its construction expected to begin next year or later and the opening planned within the next three years. Its more than 1,000 animals are being temporarily transferred to six public zoos in different provinces. Chonlada Khumlap, a 20-year-old university student, hopes that the air raid shelter will remain open to the public, even after the zoo closes, to help Thais learn about history. “If the air raid shelter is demolished or access to it is prohibited, I think it would be bad,” said Chonlada, during her first, and possibly her last, visit to the zoo. Chonlada said she was taught at school about World War II — such as the foreign invasion of her country, Thailand being part of the war and the war’s effects on Thai people — but had never visited a real wartime relic before. “Being inside the narrow and pitch-dark shelter, I felt sad. It must have been so scary to be there during the war.” As for the fate of the shelter, Pitak Unson, director of Dusit Zoo, said it is up to the Crown Property Bureau, the zoo’s landlord. No official announcement has been made on the plan for the overall property. King Chulalongkorn, who laid the foundation of modern Thailand during his 1868-1910 reign, established the Royal Private Garden and introduced a herd of axis deer from Java Island, in what is now Indonesia, and other wild animals into the garden. Dusit became the first public zoo in Thailand in 1938 following royal permission given by King Ananda Mahidol, an uncle of the current king. Over the years, the zoo grew to become one of the most popular tourist attractions in Thailand, drawing more than 2 million visitors a year and generating 150 million baht (around $4.6 million) in revenue for the country.
|
wwii;history;thailand;imperial japanese military;dusit zoo
|
jp0009589
|
[
"national",
"social-issues"
] |
2018/10/06
|
Osaka to recognize two websites with curated content as hate speech against Koreans living in Japan
|
OSAKA - A panel commissioned by the Osaka Municipal Government has said it has recognized two websites with curated content as amounting to hate speech against Koreans living in Japan. The municipal government plans to authorize the findings and ask internet service providers to take down the websites under a municipal ordinance on the fight against hate speech, the panel said Friday. It will be the city’s first recognition of a website with curated content as containing hate speech, according to the municipal government. The websites have contained slanderous comments about Korean residents in Osaka and left them open for viewing by the general public, the panel said. One of the sites has encouraged viewers to comment on its content and the panel ruled that this act has fueled hateful words. Osaka has recognized four online videos as being forms of hate speech since 2016, when the ordinance was put into effect.
|
osaka;internet;rights;discrimination;hate speech
|
jp0009590
|
[
"national",
"science-health"
] |
2018/10/06
|
Goichiro Toyoda taps technology in bid to save Japan's health care system
|
Goichiro Toyoda, 34, has an impressive resume. A graduate of the prestigious University of Tokyo faculty of medicine, Toyoda worked as a brain surgeon in Tokyo before leaving to become a research scholar at Children’s Hospital of Michigan. Toyoda, however, eventually quit what looked to be a perfect medical career path for an elite doctor, hoping instead to work from the outside to make Japan’s health system sustainable and efficient. “Japan’s current health system cannot be sustained if it continues to be the way it is now,” said Toyoda, co-CEO of Medley Inc., a Tokyo-based medical venture. The nation’s annual medical expenditures soared to ¥42.1 trillion in fiscal 2016 from ¥33.1 trillion in fiscal 2006, according to the latest data released by the health ministry. Given its rapidly graying population and arrivals of new drugs and technologies that come with hefty price tags, medical costs are almost guaranteed to increase, he said. But in a country where all citizens are covered by public medical insurance, many take medical services for granted and visit hospitals even with minor symptoms without thinking at all about costs. Toyoda’s peers share a similar sense of crisis, saying the current system cannot be sustained. But due to their extremely busy workloads dealing with patients day and night, nobody Toyoda knew has been able to take any action, he said. “I wanted to devote myself to actually doing something about it,” Toyoda said. After working for over a year as a consultant for the health care industry at McKinsey & Co., he joined Medley in 2015 as co-CEO to expand and develop health-related services via the internet. Hoping to help raise people’s awareness of health issues — which he believes is crucial to improve and change the country’s health system — he led a project to launch an online medical encyclopedia where people can search for and learn about illnesses they are suffering by typing in symptoms or names of diseases. All the information is written and edited by medical doctors. To maintain its neutrality, the content is limited to information that most, if not all, medical practitioners agree on. Today, more than 600 doctors are registered with Medley to help edit the encyclopedia, and the website offers information on about 1,400 illnesses, 30,000 drugs and 160,000 medical facilities. “I wanted to create (an online encyclopedia) that people can trust and get medically accurate information,” Toyoda said. “It is like Wikipedia, but one created by medical doctors for patients.” When people are diagnosed with an illness, many search for information online to gain knowledge about the disease and find out what treatment they need. But there are hardly any websites in Japanese that provide accurate and up-to-date information that nonmedical experts can comprehend, Toyoda said. What’s worse, the internet is also awash with bogus health information, such as that seen in the plagiarism scandal that hit DeNA Co.’s health care information website Welq in 2016. “There are many patients who get depressed and confused after scrolling through so many pages and sites on the internet,” Toyoda said. “I wanted to create a website that patients can visit whenever they get confused.” According to the firm, between several million to tens of millions of people visit the site every month, and it gets feedback from users every day. Many visitors say the information helped them make necessary choices about whether or not to undergo an operation. Others said the site deepened their understanding about illnesses they are suffering. “Many think it’s hard to understand medical information. But I want people to realize it’s not that hard. They can learn about an illness by reading (what’s contained in the encyclopedia),” Toyoda said. What Toyoda and Medley aim to do is the realization of medical treatments that patients and their families can be satisfied with. “To be able to satisfy, I believe they need to have knowledge (of the illness they are suffering), and, together with a doctor, they need to make their own choices such as whether or not to undergo an operation,” Toyoda said. Apart from the encyclopedia, the firm also launched a telemedicine platform called Clinics, which enables patients to consult doctors via video and pay fees with credit cards. Since its launch in February 2016, more than 800 medical institutions have introduced the app-based service, according to the firm. Many people who need to visit doctors regularly in order to keep treating chronic illnesses stop going to hospitals, as it often requires them to take a half day or even a full day off work. But by using the telemedicine service, it is much more convenient for such people to get the treatment they need, he said. For its latest service, Medley is developing a system for electronic medical records. Toyoda said he eventually wants to launch a service which enables patients to see their own medical histories with an app. “In Japan, a patient’s medical record is managed separately by each medical institution. I think it’s absurd that patients do not have access to their own medical records,” Toyoda said. “That, I think, is leading to insufficiencies in the health system.” The creation of a system in which all medical records of one patient are shared among hospitals and the patient could eliminate unnecessary examinations, such as patients taking a CT scan every time they visit a different hospital for the same illness, he said. “I want to expand health services using the internet. An increase in such services will serve to raise people’s health literacy or their interest in Japan’s medical system,” Toyoda said. “And, I believe, that will make it easier to launch new health services that are necessary (to change the shape of Japan’s health system).”
|
doctor;medical service;encyclopedia
|
jp0009591
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/10/06
|
Temperature reaches 36 C in Niigata, hitting a high for October
|
Temperatures rose steeply across Japan, mainly along the Sea of Japan coast, on Saturday, marking 36 C in Sanjo, Niigata Prefecture, the highest on record at any location in the country in October. The previous high for October was 35.1 degrees recorded in Itoigawa, also in Niigata, on Oct. 9, 2013. The Meteorological Agency issued a high temperature warning for Niigata, calling for vigilance against heatstroke. Temperatures were pushed up by warm air flowing from the south toward Typhoon Kong-rey, which is moving near the southern part of the Korean Peninsula toward the Sea of Japan. The mercury climbed to 35.7 C in Joetsu, 35.3 degrees in Nagaoka and 35.1 degrees in Kashiwazaki, all in Niigata Prefecture. Temperatures reached 30 C or higher at 185 observation locations, or 20 percent of all such sites across Japan, including in Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture, which recorded 34 C and in Kahoku, Ishikawa Prefecture, where it reached 33.8 C.
|
temperature;meteorlogical agency;typhoon
|
jp0009592
|
[
"national",
"media-national"
] |
2018/10/06
|
Social media lambaste 2020 Olympic volunteer program
|
Organizers of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics have started accepting applications from those hoping to volunteer at the games a little less from two years from now. As you might suspect, Japan’s online community had plenty to say about the issue from the second it went live. Many people viewed the attempt to drum up volunteers for the games with cynicism. To be fair, this criticism started long before the organizers started accepting applications online. When the organizing committee first unveiled its plan, it stated up front that volunteers wouldn’t receive any monetary compensation for their services. The organizers also said they hoped to attract a number of students by offering university credits in exchange for doing specific tasks. Twitter users began to criticize the plan , with some arguing that college kids shouldn’t be put in a position in which they’d have to deal with this . The lack of pay also ruffled feathers, inspiring a number of netizens and web publications to describe the plan as “black volunteering” (after the “ black companies ” tag given to firms that exercise exploitative and illicit work practices). While the concept of volunteering might imply an altruistic spirit, plenty pointed out that the Olympics receive billions of dollars from sponsorship. Offering to help put on the world’s largest sporting event without monetary compensation isn’t the same as donating a little time to your local dog rescue organization. One particular jab along such lines came from a parody site billed as a “ student volunteer support group .” What looks at first like straight-faced boosterism soon reveals itself to be a satire about volunteering for the event, which also pokes fun at the expected high temperatures and costs of putting the event on. The message, in case you miss it: “Olympics bad.” The organizers subsequently reversed course and offered a card worth ¥1,000 a day to cover transportation , but this failed to change the general discussion online. Instead, the proposal was met with sarcasm and digital eye rolling . A number of people online have noted that profitable companies such as advertising titan Dentsu are set to benefit from the Olympics, so why should they get to have their cake and eat it too? However, the conversation shifted once the online application form was launched, and it didn’t take people long to point out what is needed to apply . The instructions greet applicants by warning them that it should take about 30 minutes to go through the entire process. Scroll down a touch more and applicants are told they’ll need to upload some form of government-issued identification to confirm they are who they say they are and, possibly, include any relevant language certificates they might possess. Some argued that the application process was over-the-top , with at least one Twitter user wondering whether sending in answers by fax would be simpler . Others made fun of the website’s overall design. Making fun of archaic-looking Japanese websites is a pastime shared by all — prepare to shed a tear for Geocities — but the page devoted to volunteers for Tokyo 2020 went a lot further than anything that could once be found on AOL. As Twitter users and hosts on AbemaTV demonstrated , scrolling down the page on a smartphone could prompt warning boxes to pop up, giving users the same experience as when visiting the sketchier corners of the internet. A reporter at Yahoo Japan uncovered a plethora of errors while trying to sign up, including a calendar where every date is replaced with “NaN .” The site was so bad, some thought it was designed by somebody who was deliberately trying to frustrate people . The website was created by French company Atos , and many have speculated that it probably cost the government millions of yen. The mere thought of this prompted anger online before the organizers responded by saying … they wouldn’t change anything . Volunteers have been staples of the Olympics for decades. The 2012 Summer Games in London spawned breathless celebrations of the unpaid helpers. The Rio edition had a few similar odes , but thousands also quit during the games . It was the same story at Pyeongchang. Many are starting to see the Olympics as less of a celebration and more of a boondoggle. One counterargument appearing online in Japan following the volunteer snafu is the drive to get nostalgic for the 1964 Games in the capital. That event revolutionized the country and many college-age volunteers helped to make it a success. As Twitter user @amiromii noted , however, those volunteers were paid an amount of money that was attractive to them at the time. The times have since changed, and if Tokyo hopes to pull off a successful games in 2020, it will have to adapt to new realities. The coding on its website looks like a pretty good starting point.
|
volunteering;2020 tokyo olympics;japan pulse
|
jp0009593
|
[
"national",
"media-national"
] |
2018/10/06
|
Shincho 45's fumbles over LGBT issues hastened its demise
|
Some magazines meet their end with a whimper. Last month, however, a monthly called Shincho 45 went out with a bang. On Sept. 25, Shincho 45’s publisher, Shincho-sha, announced it would suspend publication of the magazine in response to protests from the LGBT community and others over several articles that appeared in its August and October issues. Company President Takanobu Sato explained that the magazine — which was launched in 1982 — had been “facing declining sales and during the process of trial and error, an editorial malfunction occurred.” That “editorial malfunction” began in Shincho 45’s August issue with a four-page article by Mio Sugita, a 51-year-old Lower House member representing Hyogo Prefecture who occasionally airs outspoken conservative views in the media. Sugita noted that the liberal Asahi Shimbun had run 260 articles on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual issues over the previous year, compared to 159 and 73 articles by the more conservative Yomiuri and Sankei newspapers. Sugita voiced skepticism that people are really discriminated against because they identify as LGBT. She also claimed that LGBT couples have no reproductive capacity, hence “Does it serve any purpose to invest tax money in them?” In what turned out to be its swan song, Shincho 45, in response to criticism of its article by Sugita, devoted seven articles in its October edition to criticism of the critics. One, by conservative commentator Eitaro Ogawa, dismissed LGBT issues as legitimate political concerns using language that was particularly crude. Shincho 45’s long decline did not happen in a vacuum. The rate of attrition of major A5-size monthly and biweekly magazines — roughly the size of trade paperbacks — has been high. Shokun! (published by Bungeishunju-sha), Dacapo (Magazine House), Gendai (Kodansha); Hoseki (Kobunsha), Takarajima 30 (Takarajima-sha) and Uwasa no Shinso, among others, have all shut down in just the past two decades. Changes in Shincho 45’s content and editorial slant under a string of successive editors failed to bring back readers, and its monthly print run reportedly fell to an average of 16,800 copies during the second quarter of this year — down by around 40 percent from a decade ago. Hiroyuki Shinoda, editor and publisher of Tsukuru, a monthly that analyzes the mass media, saw the decline as a malaise affecting the entire magazine industry. His four-page article for Tsukuru’s October issue, titled “Magazine journalism stands at a fork in the road. The publication of Mio Sugita’s discriminatory remarks: Worries about and suggestions for Shincho 45,” hit the stands before the October issue of Shincho 45. “In the past,” Shinoda wrote, “it was a matter of course for journalism to assume an anti-authoritarian stance. At the start of a new political administration, the weekly magazines would vie with one another to track down and report on its scandals. However, that atmosphere has dissipated. Magazine journalism is facing a really difficult situation.” Spa! (Oct. 9-16) recalled that 23 years ago a magazine from another major publisher was shut down due to protests over a controversial article. On Jan. 17, 1995 — the same day as the Great Hanshin Earthquake — the February 1995 issue of Marco Polo, a glossy monthly magazine published by Bungeishunju-sha, went on sale. In it was an article titled “There were no Nazi gas chambers.” The writer, a Japanese physician, purported to debunk the generally accepted view that large numbers of people, mostly Jews, were murdered in gas chambers at death camps in German-occupied Central Europe. The Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center and other Jewish groups were particularly incensed over the timing of the article’s appearance, 10 days before the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp. When Marco Polo’s editor balked at demands for an apology and retraction, the Simon Wiesenthal Center appealed to the magazine’s advertisers to withdraw their ads. Germany’s Volkswagen AG was the first to do so, and other major firms followed suit. Beset by attacks from all sides, Bungeishunju-sha announced it would kill the magazine — although Jewish groups had made no such demand. While Marco Polo and Shincho 45 may have been discontinued for different reasons, their closing has two crucial things in common. First, the publishers of both magazines reacted in a way that effectively closed the door to public discussion, by critics and readers alike, of what were certainly controversial topics. And second, in the absence of an open airing, the public was left in the dark about how the two magazines editorially failed to prevent the publication of articles that so baldly flaunted historical and social facts — and also about what ultimately drove the publishers to pull their plugs. Marco Polo is long gone, but I would like to inject a personal note regarding Shincho 45, which I have been reading for more than 25 years. During its heyday in the 1990s, it ran top-notch investigative articles by Fumiya Ichihashi, who exhaustively covered several notorious unsolved cases such as the Glico-Morinaga kidnapping and corporate blackmail incidents. I suppose at least some readers, myself included, will miss it. So what happens next? Shincho-sha used the term kyūkan (suspension of publication) as opposed to haikan (discontinuation of publication). Shincho-sha has a history of reviving its suspended magazines, such as the photo-zine Focus (which was halted in 2001), for occasional special editions. So while it may be too much to hope for a revival of Shincho 45, it’s too soon to say that the brand is gone for good.
|
lgbt;shincho 45
|
jp0009594
|
[
"national",
"media-national"
] |
2018/10/06
|
Repatriation program reveals Koreans' plight in Japan
|
In August, five North Korean defectors residing in Japan filed a lawsuit in Tokyo District Court charging Pyongyang with human rights abuses. The plaintiffs were described in the Mainichi Shimbun as “second-generation ethnic Koreans” who grew up in Japan but moved to North Korea during the mobilization of Koreans between 1959 and 1984, which was supported by the governments of both North Korea and Japan. During this period, about 93,000 people were “repatriated” to a country very few really knew and none had ever lived in. They bought the propaganda sold by Pyongyang and its political arm in Japan, the General Association of Korean Residents of Japan, or Chongryon, which presented North Korea as “a paradise on Earth.” The plaintiffs described widespread starvation and brutal political persecution after they arrived. Eventually, they escaped to South Korea and made their way back to Japan. Japanese media like nothing better than to demonize North Korea, and the lawsuit has been covered extensively. However, no media outlet has identified the plaintiffs’ support group, which is presumably paying their court fees. The repatriation project was spurred by Japanese nationalist elements that wanted to push all ethnic Koreans out of Japan after World War II. The support group also seems aligned to the right side of the political spectrum. Now they are using these defectors to advance their anti-North Korea agenda, and while that doesn’t necessarily make the lawsuit a cynical stunt — many Japanese, regardless of political leanings, don’t like North Korea — it’s important to consider what the true aim of the suit is, especially given that Japan and North Korea do not have diplomatic relations and, as a result, the defendants in the case have no way to respond, even if they wanted to. While the lawsuit may not count as political theater, it’s theater nonetheless, and if it has any worth in that regard, it should be to draw attention to an event that has never been fully appreciated by the domestic media or public. The people who made the move are quite old, and time is running out for gaining any understanding of what happened to them, since no detailed records of the repatriation program were kept at the time. If the lawsuit adds to our knowledge, then it will have value, even if that isn’t its purpose. Jiro Ishimaru, editor of the Asia Press news agency, has been reporting on North Korean matters for many years. Much of his work on the repatriation program is based on interviews with defectors, and he formed a special research group that will release its findings next year to mark the 60th anniversary of the start of the program. On July 9, the Mainichi Shimbun ran one of these reports, which describes interviews with ethnic Korean women living in Seoul who were repatriated and then escaped years later. One 79-year-old woman grew up in Hiroshima and had been evacuated from the city before the atom bomb was dropped. Her father ran a lumber yard, which failed after the war so the family couldn’t afford to send her brother to high school. Local Chongryon representatives came to her house and told the family that if they moved to North Korea, he could attend school for free, so eight of her 10 siblings, as well as her parents, moved to North Korea in the early 1960s as part of the repatriation program. Two brothers stayed behind in Japan and regularly sent money, which they essentially lived off. As the woman described it, a class system developed among the returnee community depending on how much money they received from Japan. Life was difficult. Members of her family were imprisoned for arbitrary reasons. After her own sons were arrested in the 1980s and ’90s and one died in custody, her family was sent to the countryside, where people were starving. She decided to escape with other former Japan residents. About 200 defectors have made it back to Japan, and many of the people interviewed by Ishimaru over the years have said that Chongryon’s most persuasive means of getting people to move to North Korea was to say they could escape discrimination in Japan. Almost every Japanese political party supported the repatriation program while it was being carried out, an indication of the general attitude toward ethnic Koreans. In June, the weekly magazine Josei Jishin ran a profile of filmmaker Yang Yong-hi to publicize her new memoir, which covers her university days from 1997 to 2003. At the end of her last movie, the critically acclaimed “Kazoku no Kuni” (“Our Homeland”), which takes place in 1997, the main character is shown lugging a large suitcase through Ueno, about to embark on an unspecified journey. Yang was born into an ethnic Korean family in Osaka in 1964. Her father was a Chongryon executive. When Yang was 6, he sent her two older brothers to North Korea as part of the repatriation program, which he was instrumental in promoting. Later, Yang visited her brothers in North Korea twice. One became mentally ill due to pressure to conform. She resented the regime for what they did to him. He died at the age of 56. However, her life in Japan was also fraught with frustration. Home was a stifling Confucian patriarchy, and because of her background she always had trouble finding work. Eventually, she met and befriended the film critic and TV personality known simply as Osugi, who encouraged her to embrace her Korean heritage and follow her dream to New York, where she studied filmmaking at the New School. In the city’s multicultural environment she came to understand and appreciate her mixed birthright, while cultivating a healthy skepticism toward any nationalist sentiments, a dynamic she has explored in her movies. The work of Yang and Ishimaru, not to mention that of photojournalist Takashi Ito, who has visited North Korea many times to interview Japanese wives, provide windows onto a world that most Japanese people know nothing about — not just the repatriation tragedy, but the wider story of Koreans in Japan.
|
north korea;jiro ishimaru;yang yong-hi
|
jp0009595
|
[
"national",
"history"
] |
2018/10/06
|
Japan Times 1943: New substitute for soy sauce discovered
|
100 YEARS AGO Saturday, Oct. 5 1918 Cabinet ministers to give up bodyguards The open-door policy is now to be realized by all government offices since the Hara Ministry came to existence. Formerly, especially in times of bureaucratic government, the offices of ministers, vice-ministers and other high officials were closed to almost every outsider, but now it is announced by the authority that these offices are to be opened to all persons, except those who interfere with business. In a recent issue of the Advertiser, reference was made to the desire said to have been expressed by Mr. Noda, minister of communications, as to the dispensing of the services of ministerial personal guards though the practice has been in vogue for many years. It now appears that the discontinuance of ministerial guards is to be adopted in respect of all the members of the new Cabinet and the police authorities have been notified of the decision. Another departure by the Hara Ministry is the abolition of the policy of secrecy and reticence, which has been so zealously adhered to by preceding governments, and what may be termed an open-door policy will be followed as far as possible. It may be added that the practice of attaching a personal guard to Cabinet ministers in this country originated in those turbulent days in the early years of Meiji when assassinations and attempts thereto were very frequent. Among the ministers of state who were assassinated may be mentioned Okubo Toshimichi, who was waylaid and slashed by a band of hot-headed young men near Kioizaka, Kojimachi. Close by the spot where he was murdered, a park has been built and on the grounds stands a monument erected in his memory. While statesmen in all countries are not immune from attacks at the hands of misguided or disgruntled men, the practice of attaching a bodyguard must be regarded as essentially an institution of a bygone age. The abolition of the practice by Mr. Hara and other members of his Cabinet will no doubt be hailed with satisfaction by the public at large. Then again, if the guards are abolished hereafter, the Metropolitan Police can save at least 60 policemen who can be utilized for more useful service. 75 YEARS AGO Friday, Oct. 1, 1943 New substitute for soy sauce discovered A delicious sauce, comparable to shōyu , made by a process of properly mixed coconut milk sugar and salt has been discovered by a Japanese school teacher in Davao, Philippines. Yoshiaki Yoshida, the discoverer, succeeded in concocting this palatable sauce in which coconut milk is left to ferment for about three or four days and, at the right stage, coconut shell and charcoal are thrown in. The mixture is then boiled and the undesirable odor removed. The liquid is later strained to remove all solid matters, and, after melted sugar and salt have been added, the sauce is complete. The ratio of ingredients — 1 liter of fermented coconut milk, 200 grams of sugar paste and 500 grams of salt — makes an excellent shoyu substitute, which even the most exacting epicure described with a tasty smack of the lips: “Not bad at all.” 50 YEARS AGO Saturday, Oct. 5, 1968 Afflicted Nagoya man climbs Tokyo Tower A 20-year-old Nagoya man, who said he wanted to publicize his hardships, climbed Tokyo Tower to a precarious perch on a steel frame 130 meters above ground, repeatedly threatened to jump and then came down after six hours. The man used an elevator to reach the fifth story of the hall inside the tower at about 1:40 p.m. He then started scaling the steel frame, braving strong rain and winds. He reached a height of 130 meters or 20 meters below the first observation platform and perched there. The man, wearing rubber sandals, walked nimbly about on 7-cm-wide steel girders and threatened to jump as about 40 police officers tried to persuade him to come down. At about 3 p.m., the man grudgingly accepted a safety belt from a tower employee and fastened himself to a girder. He finally descended at 8:05 p.m. The youth, identified as Iwataro Kazui of Yajie-cho, Minami Ward, Nagoya, told police that he had almost given up hope for his future because of hardships he suffered after his father lost his job as a coal mine worker in Kyushu. He said he had got a job at an iron works factory in Nagoya but that his life had been as hard as ever. 25 YEARS AGO Friday, Oct. 8, 1993 Whiskey-and-water drinks a mixed success Neither consumers nor beverage makers are convinced that whiskey-and-water drinks will become the industry’s new hit product. Suntory Ltd. reports a good start since it launched Japan’s first ready-made whiskey-and-water drinks in April along with Nikka Whisky Distilling Co. The launch followed a change in liquor taxation that month which reduced taxes for products with alcoholic content of 4 percent to 6.5 percent. The whiskey industry had pressed hard for the tax change in hopes of coming up with new product lines that could compete with popular low-alcohol drinks such as beer. Sales of domestic whiskey have been on the decline since 1989, according to the Japan Spirits and Liquor Makers Association. In 1992, whiskey sales were down roughly 40 percent from 1988. Whiskey-and-water drinks have the potential to usher in a new era for Japan’s whiskey industry, says Suntory Managing Director Shigeru Inuoe. Suntory shipped a cumulative 1.6 million cases by the end of July. A company spokeswoman says the results were within the range of expectations. One case consists of 24 cans. Nikka is not so hasty. Its cumulative shipments of 530,000 cases as of the end of August were below target, a company spokeswoman says.
|
security;suntory;tokyo tower;soy sauce;nikka;bodyguards
|
jp0009596
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2018/10/24
|
Tokyo stocks, helped by buying on dips, rebound after Tuesday's rout
|
Stocks rebounded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Wednesday, helped by dip buying after the previous day’s rout. But some investors refrained from active buying ahead of the full-fledged start of an earnings reporting season, brokers said. The 225-issue Nikkei average rose 80.40 points, or 0.37 percent, to end at 22,091.18, after tumbling 604.04 points Tuesday. The Topix index of all first-section issues closed up 1.35 points, or 0.08 percent, at 1,652.07. It plunged 44.59 points the previous day. The Tokyo market saw crosscurrents of buying on dips in anticipation of a rally and selling of mainstay issues in the morning, with the Nikkei and Topix moving without direction, the brokers said. The closely watched indexes firmed in the afternoon, backed by continuing dip buying amid an upturn in Shanghai stocks, they said. “Considering the plunge the previous day, Wednesday’s rebound was weak,” an official of a major securities firm said. “Concerns over earnings reports are growing on a global scale” following downward revisions to business outlooks and earnings released this week by some major Japanese and U.S. companies, an official of a bank-affiliated securities firm said. Active buying was held in check as investors were selective, mainly buying back shares with brisk earnings, said Yoshihiko Tabei, chief analyst at Naito Securities Co. Investors also worried about external factors, including developments related to the alleged murder of a Saudi journalist, elevated U.S. interest rates, Italy’s budget and talks on Britain’s planned exit from the European Union, Tabei said. Rising issues outnumbered falling ones 1,283 to 729 in the TSE’s first section, while 96 issues were unchanged. Volume increased to 1.417 billion shares from 1.405 billion shares Tuesday. Nidec gained 1.60 percent as investors were cheered by the electronic parts maker’s consolidated earnings for April-September released Tuesday, brokers said. Oki Electric Industry jumped 9.51 percent a day after the company revised up its consolidated earnings forecasts for April-September. Other major winners included clothing retailer Fast Retailing and mobile phone carrier KDDI. Lower crude oil prices hurt oil names, among them JXTG and Idemitsu. Subaru plunged 7.02 percent after the automaker lowered its consolidated earnings forecasts for April to September on Tuesday. Also lower were game-maker Nintendo and semiconductor-related Sumco and Shin-Etsu Chemical. In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the key December contract on the Nikkei average advanced 110 points to end at 22,030.
|
stocks;nikkei;tse;markets;topix
|
jp0009597
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2018/10/24
|
Dollar supported by higher Tokyo stocks, firmer around ¥112.50
|
The dollar was firmer around ¥112.50 in late Tokyo trading Wednesday, supported by higher Tokyo stocks. At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥112.50-50, up from ¥112.32-32 at the same time Tuesday. The euro was at $1.1429-1429, down from $1.1467-1468, and at ¥128.58-59, down from ¥128.80-81. After moving around ¥112.40 in early trading, the dollar climbed above ¥112.50 in midmorning trading after Chinese stocks opened higher. The greenback rose near ¥112.60 in the afternoon as the benchmark Nikkei stock average gained steam in line with a further rise in Chinese stocks. The dollar rose as “concerns over further falls in stock prices were dispelled,” a think tank official said. A currency market broker said the greenback was also supported by media reports that U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are expected to hold talks at the end of next month.
|
yen;stocks;euro;dollar;forex;currencies
|
jp0009598
|
[
"world"
] |
2018/10/24
|
Category 3 Hurricane Willa makes landfall on Mexico's Sinaloa coast
|
MAZATLAN, MEXICO - Hurricane Willa swept onto Mexico’s Pacific mainland with 120 mph (195 kph) winds Tuesday night, hitting an area of fishing villages and farms after roaring over an offshore penal colony. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said the dangerous Category 3 storm hit near the town of Isla del Bosque in Sinaloa state. There were no early reports on damage. The storm was moving inland at 10 mph (17 kph) and was forecast to quickly begin losing power. Willa came ashore about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of Mazatlan, a resort city that is home to high-rise hotels and about 500,000 people, including many U.S. and Canadian expatriates. Although hotels, restaurants and stores were boarded over, people ventured onto Mazatlan’s coastal boulevard to watch a spectacular sunset as the hurricane obscured the sky to the south. Alberto Hernandez, a hotel worker in the town of Teacapan, close to where the storm made landfall, expressed confidence before it hit that the building would hold up. He and his son, who also works at the hotel, were staying on the job, though the rest of his family had left the area. “We’ve had rain all day. There is nobody in the streets. Everything is closed,” Hernandez said. “But not everyone wanted to leave, even though authorities made it clear that he who stays does so at his own peril.” Torrential rains began in the afternoon, and emergency officials said they evacuated more than 4,250 people in coastal towns and set up 58 shelters ahead of the dangerous storm. The storm also battered the Islas Marias, a group of Mexican islands about 60 miles (100 kilometers) off the mainland that include a nature preserve and a federal prison. Federal authorities declined to comment on precautions that were taken at the prison, citing security concerns, but said the safety of prisoners was a priority. As Willa closed in, the beach in Mazatlan almost disappeared, with waves slamming against the coastal boulevard under looming black clouds. A few surfers took advantage of the high waves even as workers boarded up windows on hotels, shops and homes. Schools were closed and the streets nearly empty. Some families went to a Mazatlan convention center, which opened its doors as a shelter. They spread out blankets along the walls and waited for the storm. “The house we’re living in is not well built,” said Sergio Ernesto Meri Franco, who rents a studio apartment. The federal government issued a decree of “extraordinary emergency” for 19 municipalities in Nayarit and Sinaloa states. Bob Swanson, who is from Saskatchewan, Canada, and spends two to six months of the year in his house in the Cerritos neighborhood near the shore in Mazatlan, said he filled his washing machine with water, topped up his home fuel tank and gassed up his car in case he needs to head into the mountains for safety. “I’m kind of waiting with bated breath,” he said over the phone, adding that he was sitting on his porch and smoking a cigarette. Forecasters said the hurricane could bring 6 to 12 inches (15 to 30 centimeters) of rain — with up to 18 inches (45 centimeters) in some places — to parts of Jalisco, Nayarit and Sinaloa states, with flash flooding and landslides possible in mountainous areas. Farther to the south, the remnants of Tropical Storm Vicente brought heavy rain that caused deadly flooding and mudslides. Federal disaster agency chief Luis Felipe Puente said 11 people had died as a result of Vicente. Local officials earlier put the figure at 12.
|
mexico;disasters;hurricanes;hurricane willa;mazatlan
|
jp0009599
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"social-issues-asia-pacific"
] |
2018/10/24
|
Meghan Markle takes spotlight in Fiji to back female education
|
SUVA - British royal Meghan Markle recounted her own struggles to afford university as she passionately promoted female education to Fijian students in her first speech of the Oceania royal tour Wednesday. The pregnant American-born wife of Britain’s Prince Harry took center stage at the University of the South Pacific to push the case for open access to education, particularly for women. “For women and girls in developing countries this is vital,” she said. “Providing them with access to education is the key to economic and social development. “When girls are given the right tools to succeed they can create incredible futures, not only for themselves, but for all of those around them.” Meghan, 37, graduated with a communications degree from Northwestern University in Illinois before becoming an actress then marrying Harry earlier this year. Announcing two grants to encourage female empowerment in Pacific academia, she said higher education for her was “incredible, impactful and pivotal,” despite the challenge of paying for it. “It was through scholarships, financial aid programs and work-study — where my earnings from a job on campus went directly towards my tuition — that I was able to attend university,” she said. “And, without question, it was worth every effort.” Harry, who attended the elite Eton school and Sandhurst military academy, looked on admiringly as his American spouse spoke. “No way I can follow my wife after that,” he said, to laughter from the assembled students. The prince acknowledged the Pacific’s concerns about climate change, announcing four scholarships to study the issue. “All of you living here are confronted with this threat in your daily lives,” he said. “You’re actually experiencing changing weather patterns, ferocious cyclones and rising sea levels, particularly in Tuvalu and Kiribati. “You’ve been living with this for many years, way before the world started talking about it.” The royal couple, who arrived in Fiji on Tuesday evening after a week in Australia, appeared relaxed touring the campus, meeting students and pre-school children. Meghan wore a pink floral print maxi-dress and flowers in her hair, while Harry sported a blue Hawaiian shirt. Harry is due to tour a rain forest project on Wednesday afternoon with Meghan visiting Suva markets. The royals will travel to Tonga on Thursday before returning briefly to Australia then wrapping up the tour with a visit to New Zealand.
|
u.k .;prince harry;women;education;fiji;meghan markle
|
jp0009600
|
[
"national",
"science-health"
] |
2018/10/24
|
U.S. CDC warns pregnant women against traveling to Japan amid rubella outbreak
|
WASHINGTON - A U.S. national health organization is warning that pregnant women should not travel to Japan during the current outbreak of rubella unless protected against the disease through either vaccination or previous infection. The warning came from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday when the Washington-based institute raised its alert level for the rubella outbreak in Japan to “Level 2,” the second-highest of 3 levels. In Japan, more than 1,100 rubella cases have been reported this year, raising concern about serious health impacts on unborn babies who could be infected with the disease by their mothers during pregnancy. The contagious disease is often transmitted through coughing and sneezing. Infection in the early stages of pregnancy can cause birth defects, such as hearing impairment, cataracts and heart disorders.
|
u.s .;rubella;japan;cdc;pregnant
|
jp0009601
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2018/10/23
|
Nikkei tumbles to two-month closing low on earnings concerns
|
Stocks nose-dived Tuesday on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, hurt by position-adjustment selling and growing concerns over corporate earnings, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 average closing at its lowest level in more than two months. The Nikkei tumbled 604.04 points, or 2.67 percent, to end at 22,010.78, the lowest closing level since Aug. 13, after briefly falling below the 22,000 line. On Monday, the key market gauge gained 82.74 points. The Topix, which covers all first-section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, closed 44.59 points, or 2.63 percent, lower at 1,650.72, the lowest finish since Sept. 15 last year. It rose 2.46 points Monday. Selling outpaced buying from the outset of Tuesday’s session on the heels of weak U.S. and European equities, brokers said. The market accelerated its downswing later, with investor sentiment dampened by lower U.S. stock index futures in off-hours trading and the sluggish performance of Shanghai stocks. “Concerns over earnings reports rapidly grew among investors,” an official of a bank-affiliated securities firm said, noting weaker than expected business results released this week by some major companies, including Kawasaki Heavy. Selling by major funds may have hit the market, said Mitsuo Shimizu, chief strategist at Aizawa Securities Co. On top of the earnings worries, uncertainties over external factors, including the U.S.-China trade friction and developments related to the alleged murder of a Saudi journalist, left investors increasingly risk-averse, brokers said. “Earnings releases will be the key” for the course of the Tokyo market, the official of the bank-affiliated securities firm said. Falling issues far outnumbered rising ones 2,015 to 79 in the first section, while 14 issues were unchanged. Volume increased to 1.405 billion shares from 1.135 billion Monday. Lixil plunged 15.76 percent after the housing equipment maker announced Monday a downward revision to its consolidated operating profit forecast for the year through March 2019. Hitachi Chemical met with selling after the company’s April-September earnings, released Monday, failed to impress investors, brokers said. Other major losers included mobile phone carrier SoftBank Group and game maker Nintendo. On the other hand, electric appliance maker Casio and beverage producer Kirin Holdings were buoyant.
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stocks;tse;nikkei 225
|
jp0009602
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2018/10/23
|
Tokyo stocks tumble amid fears over geopolitical risks
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Tokyo stocks tumbled Tuesday, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 average sliding to a two-month low amid lingering worries over geopolitical risks and ahead of the corporate earnings report season. The Nikkei ended down 604.04 points, or 2.67 percent, from Monday at 22,010.78. The Topix, which covers all first-section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, finished 44.59 points, or 2.63 percent, lower at 1,650.72. “Geopolitical risks linked to the EU and the Middle East dragged down share prices, extending falls on New York’s Dow,” Okasan Online Securities said in a commentary. The falls in Tokyo came after another volatile day of trading on Wall Street, in which major indices extended losses, with the looming U.S. congressional elections also making for rough seas. “Selling hit financial stocks in New York, dampening sentiment,” said Mutsumi Kagawa, chief global strategist at Rakuten Securities. “Caution has also risen due to recent rising volatility after New York stocks powered to their highest-ever levels and the Nikkei hit its 27-year high,” he said. Market players are waiting for Japanese corporate results while watching U.S. earnings results coming out now, he said. Every industry category in the main section lost ground, led by metal product, construction, and glass and ceramics product issues. Housing equipment producer Lixil Group plunged ¥325, or 15.8 percent, to ¥1,737 after the company on Monday lowered its group net profit outlook for the current business year through March. “Sluggish corporate earnings reports including Lixil Group dented investors’ risk appetite as they had expected good earnings results and outlooks from Japanese firms,” Shimizu added. The yen’s advance against the dollar also capped the upside of export-related issues, brokers said. On the first section, 2,015 issues (over 95 percent of the total) lost ground, while only 79 advanced and 14 ended the day unchanged. Companies dependent on business in China met heavy selling following a drop in Chinese equities, with Hitachi Construction Machinery falling ¥170, or 5.0 percent, to ¥3,235 and Yaskawa Electric dropping ¥125, or 3.8 percent, to ¥3,185. Trading volume on the main section rose to 1.405 billion shares from 1.135 billion Monday.
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stocks;tse
|
jp0009603
|
[
"asia-pacific"
] |
2018/10/23
|
Australia issues sanctions against five Myanmar generals
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SYDNEY - Australia’s government on Tuesday unveiled sanctions against five officers in Myanmar’s powerful military who are accused of overseeing barbaric violence against members of the Rohingya ethnic group. Following similar actions by the United States and the European Union, Australia announced it would freeze the assets of officers including a lieutenant general who commanded a special operations group believed to be behind atrocities. Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the officers — Aung Kyaw Zaw, Maung Maung Soe, Aung Aung, Than Oo and Khin Maung Soe were “responsible for human rights violations committed by units under their command.” The five, some of whom are since believed to have stepped down from their posts, will also be banned from traveling to Australia. Around 700,000 Rohingya have been driven from their homes in Rakhine state, in southwest Myanmar, since 2016. The campaign has been marked by numerous extrajudicial killings, mass rape and the burning of villages by security forces.
|
war;human rights;australia;myanmar;genocide;rohingya;ethnic cleansing
|
jp0009604
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"crime-legal-asia-pacific"
] |
2018/10/23
|
South Korea joins Japan in warning citizens over smoking pot in Canada
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SEOUL - South Korea has followed Japan in warning its citizens against smoking marijuana in Canada, telling them that even though the country legalized weed last week, using it there was still an offense under Seoul’s own laws. Consumption, possession or sale of illegal substances are criminal offenses under South Korea’s tough drugs legislation. Last Wednesday, Canada became the world’s first major economy to fully legalize cannabis, including for recreational use, sparking celebrations as the nation embarked on the controversial policy experiment. But South Korea’s criminal laws apply both territorially and personally, officials said, meaning that its citizens would still face punishment for smoking weed even if they did so in Canada. “South Korean individuals who use marijuana (including purchase, possession and transport) — even in regions where such acts are legal — are violating the law and will be punished accordingly,” the South Korean Embassy in Canada tweeted last week. “So please beware,” it said. Last week, the Japanese government also issued warnings that Japan’s law on cannabis use may apply to its nationals even when they are abroad. In South Korea, prominent figures or celebrities have often made headlines for smoking marijuana at home or abroad, with offenses in foreign countries revealed by tip-offs to police. Some spent years in jail during the 1970s or ’80s when the country was under military rule, but in recent years many were merely fined or given suspended terms. South Korea is not the only country that punishes people for foreign narcotics use. In Singapore, which has some of the toughest drugs laws in the world, citizens and permanent residents face up to 10 years in prison if found to have consumed illegal substances outside the city-state. Random urine checks are carried out at Changi Airport and other entry points.
|
drugs;marijuana;canada;south korea
|
jp0009605
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/10/23
|
More Japanese medical universities seen rigging entrance exams: education ministry report
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More medical universities in Japan are likely to have manipulated entrance exam results against female applicants and favored particular individuals, the education ministry said in its midterm report Tuesday, without disclosing the names of the institutions. The ministry has been probing 81 medical schools in Japan since Tokyo Medical University admitted in August it had deducted exam scores to curb female enrollment and avoid a shortage of doctors at its hospitals, on the grounds that female doctors tend to resign or take long leave after getting married or giving birth. In its midterm report on the probe, the ministry gave four examples, including a similar bias against female applicants and applicants who have failed the exams many times in the past, as well as the padding of scores for applicants who are children of alumni. Other misconduct includes boosting the scores of first-time exam takers and accepting applicants from a waiting-list in an order that wasn’t based on their scores. “I find it deeply disappointing that applicants have been betrayed and social trust in universities has been undermined,” said education minister Masahiko Shibayama, while urging all universities nationwide to review their selection process before their entrance exams next year. The Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry did not disclose the names of the universities involved, saying it told the universities that it is important for them to make it public. Last week, Showa University revealed it had padded scores for applicants, while Juntendo University also announced it will set up a panel to investigate allegations of bias against female prospective students. The ministry report also listed other practices, including making applicants give their family members’ names, occupations and which schools they have graduated from, and asking applicants about their family and financial situation in detail. The report said it should be deemed inappropriate to decide acceptance or rejection without rational grounds or prior explanations and to discriminate based on gender, age, and how many times prospective students have applied. Among the 81 universities being probed, the ministry has conducted on-site surveys at 30, including those in which the pass rate of female applicants was notably lower than that of male applicants. Last month, the ministry’s preliminary results of a survey, conducted following the Tokyo Medical University scandal, showed men passed entrance exams more than women at 78 percent of medical schools. The ministry now plans to check the remaining 51 schools and compile a final report by the end of the year, it said.
|
discrimination;exams;medical schools;female applicants
|
jp0009606
|
[
"national",
"science-health"
] |
2018/10/23
|
Nobel laureate Tasuku Honjo calls for a better environment in Japan for life science research
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Nobel laureate and immunologist Tasuku Honjo on Tuesday called for a better environment in Japan for conducting research in the life sciences, saying more efforts are needed by both the private and public sectors in enabling researchers to come up with medical cures for illnesses such as cancer. The Kyoto University professor, who was awarded this year’s Nobel Prize in medicine for his studies on cancer therapy that focus on controlling the immune system, told a meeting of ruling lawmakers at the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters in Tokyo about difficulties in the process that led to the development of the immunotherapeutic drug Opdivo. He spoke of his partnership with a Japanese pharmaceutical firm that didn’t always work, his cooperation with a U.S. company that led to clinical trials for the drug and his recollection that the favorable results of the tests that came out in 2012 were not covered by the Japanese media. “Researchers around the world were surprised by the results because at the time people didn’t think immunotherapy was effective in treating cancer,” Honjo said. “Most of the patients who took part in the clinical trials were terminal cancer patients and the drug was effective for 20 to 30 percent of those patients. In addition, the effect continued even after administering of the medicine was stopped after half a year,” he said. “This was unthinkable based on conventional cancer treatment then and newspapers around the world including The Wall Street Journal reported on it as the top story on their front page, but none of the media organizations in Japan reported on it and that left quite an impression on me,” he added. Honjo and his colleagues identified what is called programmed cell death protein 1, also known as PD-1, in 1992 and discovered later that the substance works like a brake on the immune system. As applying the brakes means lowering immunity and making the body susceptible to infectious diseases and cancer, they experimented with removing PD-1 in mice, leading to an activation of their immune systems, which in turn resulted in almost no tumor growth. Honjo said a small-scale clinical test he conducted at Kyoto University among ovarian cancer patients found that treatment was effective for about half of the human subjects, and particularly for one of them who had clear cell carcinoma, an extremely malignant type of cancer, with the tumor completely disappearing after four months of treatment. The drug is believed to be effective for cancer in any part of the body, he noted. With many trials conducted around the world in combination with other treatment methods such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy, the 76-year-old Kyoto native expressed hope that the new treatment would eventually become the No. 1 choice for cancer patients. But he noted that a lot of work lies ahead, including improving its efficacy rate and training cancer specialists, many of whom are not well-versed on immunology. Amid the promising prospects, Honjo noted that Japanese pharmaceutical companies are expected to lag far behind those overseas, especially American firms, in handling antibodies targeting PD-1. “The number of clinical trials in Japan using Opdivo is one-ninth of that in the United States and even smaller than in China,” he said, referring to the drug developed by Japanese firm Ono Pharmaceutical Co. and U.S. company Medarex. “This is the situation of Japan, even though this is where the treatment originated.” He said many Japanese pharmaceuticals are run by businessmen, whereas their counterparts in American firms often have medical degrees and have a better understanding of the products they handle. He also called for more government assistance toward basic research, which would support the crucial starting point in the process for a medical product to come into existence. Honjo was chosen as a joint recipient of this year’s Nobel prize for physiology or medicine along with American immunologist James Allison.
|
awards;medicine;cancer;nobel prize;tasuku honjo
|
jp0009607
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/10/23
|
Setouchi sets ¥500 million goal to bring renowned Japanese sword back 'home'
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The city of Setouchi in Okayama Prefecture, which once flourished as a major producer of swords, said Tuesday it will use crowdfunding as part of an attempt to raise a total of ¥500 million from in and outside the country to bring back “home” a renowned sword called Yamatorige. The sword, whose name literally translates as mountain bird plumage, measures 79.5 centimeters in length and weighs 1.06 kilograms. The antique sword was made in the Kamakura Period (1185-1333) by a smith from the Ichimonji school in an area called Bizen-Osafune — what is now Setouchi — and was owned by Uesugi Kenshin, one of the country’s most famous warlords. “This sword has a special meaning for our region, for Okayama and the whole country, and we want to draw more interest in bladesmithing culture,” Setouchi Mayor Akinari Takehisa told a news conference in Tokyo. The city is concerned that the national treasure, which is currently held by a private collector at a museum in the city of Okayama run by the prefecture, may be sold to owners outside the prefecture or even to another country. To secure funds matching the request of the private collector, who lives in Okayama, the city will start accepting donations from individuals under the furusato nōzei (hometown tax donation system) for three months starting Nov. 1, as well as contributions from people overseas via a crowdfunding website for two months . In return, contributors will receive various items related to the famous blade, such as paper knives, tapestries and T-shirts. People who donate about ¥28.8 million could receive a replica of Yamatorige worth ¥8.6 million, the city said. Takehisa believes that returning the sword to the place of its origin could also help restore the city’s profile as a center of bladesmithing culture and support efforts to pass down swordsmithing skills and knowledge in the city, where only seven smiths are left. It also hopes that the item will also attract tourists and reinvigorate the economy. “We want to spread this amazing culture throughout the world through documentation, videos and items we’re going to offer in return for donations,” the mayor said. In addition to praising the sword’s value, Paul Martin, a British expert on Japanese swords, said at the news conference that he hopes this project will enable people outside Japan to learn about the wider context of the sword, its creation and its significance.
|
crowdfunding;swords;japanese swords;warlords
|
jp0009608
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/10/23
|
150 years on, Abe calls for 'emulation' of Meiji Era bravery to overcome Japan's modern crises
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Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Tuesday that Japan should “emulate” ancestors from the Meiji Era (1868-1912) in its ongoing attempt to combat the various difficulties it faces today. His comments came as the nation marked the 150th anniversary of the start of the era credited with its shift toward modernization. At a government-organized event in Tokyo commemorating the anniversary, Abe praised the steps ancestors took toward reinventing Japan after years of feudal rule and likened their “brave” fight against the sweeping rise of Western powers to his own effort today to overcome national challenges, including a rapidly shrinking population. But he did not directly refer to Japan’s wars in the past 150 years or its colonization of the Korean Peninsula between 1910 and 1945 . “As we head toward an era beyond the (current) Heisei period, we will emulate people in the Meiji Era and carve out a future without balking at any challenges,” Abe said. Japan is set to undergo a historic transition in April next year with Emperor Akihito’s abdication, which will bring end the Heisei era to an end. At the event, attended by about 300 representatives from the political, judicial and business communities, Abe compared Japan’s situation today to the “crisis” from 150 years ago, when Western powers began making forays into Asia in what he characterized as a “wave of colonialism.” “Having lagged behind them in terms of national strength, we faced a crisis that threatened our survival,” Abe said, noting the “bravery” of those in the Meiji Era who “literally risked their lives” to protect Japan’s independence against the threat of Western powers. “Today, we experience a rapidly shrinking and graying population internally, while at the same time finding ourselves in the throes of turmoil amid the drastically changing landscape of the international community. This means we’re going through an era of national crises,” Abe said. Japan, he said, has to rise above these challenges just as the Meiji predecessors successfully adapted to a new era with “bravery and bold decisions.” The closest Abe came to acknowledging Japan’s past wars was when he encouraged a younger generation to learn from both the “bright and dark sides” of what took place in the process of modernization. He did not, however, elaborate on what these darker aspects were. This lack of reference to Japan’s past wars prompted the Japanese Communist Party to boycott the ceremony. Akira Koike, head of the party’s secretariat, told a news conference Monday that the JCP cannot attend what it regards as an event that seeks to “glorify” the whole of Japan’s past 150 years. In the speech, Abe credited the Meiji Era with “laying the foundation for Japan’s modern-day political, economic and social systems,” noting the era brought about an industrial revolution, initiated railway services and developed postal, financial and educational systems. “Feeling proud of (these accomplishments), we need to stride ahead with resolution today,” he said. The government hosted a similar commemorative ceremony on Oct. 23, 1968, when the nation marked the centennial anniversary of the imperial edict declaring the transition to the Meiji Era from the previous Keio period.
|
shinzo abe;meiji era;ceremony;150th anniversary
|
jp0009610
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/10/23
|
Jun Ashida, former personal designer for Empress Michiko, dies at age 88
|
Jun Ashida, founder of the eponymous brand and a former personal designer for Empress Michiko, died Saturday of pneumonia at his home in Tokyo. He was 88. The youngest of eight children in a doctor’s family, Ashida decided to become a fashion designer after experiencing culture shock when he saw the clothes of one of his elder brothers and his wife when they returned from the United States before World War II. He studied under Junichi Nakahara, an artist with influence over a wide range of areas at the time, including magazines, fashion and interior design. In 1960, Ashida became a consulting designer for the Takashimaya Co. department store chain, and in 1963 he launched a clothing brand, the predecessor of his own Jun Ashida brand. Specializing in a traditional and sophisticated style of clothing, Ashida long worked on the front lines of the fashion industry, including presenting his work on Tokyo Collection runways from 1964 onwards. For 10 years from 1966, he worked as exclusive designer for Empress Michiko, who was the Crown Princess at the time. He was also responsible for designing the dresses worn by Crown Princess Masako on her wedding day in 1993. Ashida designed the official uniforms of the Japanese national team at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. He also designed uniforms for many companies, including All Nippon Airways. Ashida was awarded the Medal with Purple Ribbon in 1991 and the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon in 2006. His second daughter, Tae Ashida, is also a designer.
|
fashion;obituary;jun ashida
|
jp0009611
|
[
"business"
] |
2018/10/15
|
Alcohol business looks at a new golden goose for profits: pot
|
NEW YORK - The world’s major alcohol producers can no longer ignore the pot phenomenon, as young consumers may increasingly swap beer and cocktails for joints and cannabis-infused drinks. Some have decisively seized the moment. Constellation Brands, maker of Corona beer and Svedka vodka, has poured $4 billion into the Canadian marijuana firm Canopy Growth. The coming market is “potentially one of the most significant global growth opportunities of the next decade,” said Constellation Chief Executive Robert Sands. Sales of legal marijuana and related products should reach $200 billion within 15 years and the market is opening “much more rapidly than originally anticipated,” he said. Following in Uruguay’s footsteps, Canada on Wednesday will become the second country in the world to legalize recreational marijuana. Cannabis is still banned under U.S. federal law for any purpose but nine states so far have legalized its recreational use under their own laws, while others have moved toward softening its prohibition in recent years. As a result newer methods of consumption are proliferating: edibles in the form of candies, baked goods and ice creams as well as vaporizers and ointments. And then there are drinks. Diageo, the world’s largest producer of spirits, including Smirnoff vodka and Johnny Walker whisky, is in talks with Canadian producers. In response to a question, the company said only that it is closely watching the market. Beer producer Molson Coors has also announced a joint venture with Canada’s Hydropothecary Corp. Others are more reluctant. Alexandre Ricard, CEO of Pernod Ricard, explained at the end of August that his company is keeping an eye on the market, especially to determine whether it is likely to “cannibalize” consumption of high-end liquors. And for now, the signals are mixed. Researchers at the University of Connecticut and Georgia State University last year found sales of alcohol dipped 12.4 percent in U.S. counties where medical marijuana was legalized. But others, including the Distilled Spirits Council, an industry body representing liquor makers in the United States, say sales have not been hurt. “It is still too soon to say one way or the other,” said Keith Villa, a Colorado brewmaster. Creator of the popular Belgian-style “Blue Moon” wheat beer, Villa plans to market a nonalcoholic brew containing THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. “As with a regular beer, you get a buzz that is similar to the alcohol buzz,” he said. “But the next morning you should not have a hangover.” While it is possible to mix alcohol and cannabis, he has not gone down that road. Doing so is illegal and the two substances can compound each other’s effects, he said. Hemp beers and those containing cannabidiol, a cannabis component that is not psychoactive, are already available. There also are drinks with added THC. In California this summer, Lagunitas, a property of Holland’s Heineken, began marketing Hi-Fi Hops, a non-alcoholic concoction that makes drinkers feel high. Southern Glazer, North America’s largest wine and liquor distributor, has created a subsidiary specifically devoted to distributing cannabis in Canada. Soft drink makers, which have seen sales suffer as consumers turn away from high-sugar sodas, can’t afford to ignore rising demand either. Coca-Cola has reportedly discussed producing cannabis-infused drinks with Canada’s Aurora Cannabis. And while PepsiCo. said this month it has no plans to develop a similar drink, Chief Financial Officer Hugh Johnston told CNBC the company will still “look at it critically.” Canaccord Genuity analysts forecast sales of THC-infused and CBC-infused drinks could reach $600 million by 2022. Brewers have all the more reason to get involved, they say, since craft beers sales are no longer growing as briskly as they once were. The Distilled Spirits Council has avoided taking a position on legalizing recreational marijuana but it does say cannabis regulations — on taxation, age limits and consumption prior to driving — should be as strict as those for alcohol.
|
drugs;marijuana;alcohol;beer;coca-cola
|
jp0009612
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2018/10/15
|
Tokyo stocks plunge on selling for risk aversion
|
Stocks turned down sharply Monday, with a wide range of issues suffering losses amid a risk-averse market mood after a steep sell-off Thursday. The Nikkei 225 average lost 423.36 points, or 1.87 percent, to end at 22,271.30, the lowest close since Aug. 21. On Friday, the key market gauge gained 103.80 points. The Topix, which covers all first-section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, closed 27.01 points, or 1.59 percent, lower at 1,675.44 after edging up 0.59 point Friday. Both indexes stayed deep in negative territory throughout Monday’s session. Some investors taking an investment approach known as “risk parity” appeared to have sold stocks in response to an increase in the market’s volatility, said Chihiro Ota, general manager for investment research and investor services at SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. Such investors change components of their investment portfolios to ensure equal risks from all asset classes. Further declines in stock prices this week may prompt more selling by such investors due to resulting higher volatility, Ota warned. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s remarks expressing an intention to urge Japan to include a currency clause in a proposed bilateral trade agreement may have dampened market sentiment due to caution over a strengthening of the yen, but the effect was limited, Ota said, noting relatively calm dollar-yen rate movements in Tokyo. Corporate scorecards to be released in the United States this week and in Japan from late next week warrant attention as factors that could decide the direction of the Tokyo market, said Yoshihiko Tabei, chief analyst at Naito Securities Co. Falling issues far outnumbered rising ones 1,852 to 223 in the TSE’s first section, while 34 issues were unchanged. Volume decreased to 1.4 billion shares from 1.688 billion Friday. Department store operator Takashimaya dropped 4.01 percent, as a small upward revision to its consolidated earnings forecast for the year to February 2019 on Friday failed to impress investors, broker said. Export-oriented issues met with selling due to growing concerns over a stronger yen after Mnuchin’s remark, brokers said. They included automaker Toyota, semiconductor-related Tokyo Electron and industrial robot producer Fanuc. Other major losers included mobile phone carrier SoftBank Group and clothing retailer Fast Retailing. By contrast, Saizeriya jumped 5.33 percent after Mizuho Securities Co. revised up its investment rating and target stock price for the restaurant operator. Also higher were air line JAL and drugmaker Takeda.
|
stocks;tse;nikkei 225
|
jp0009613
|
[
"world"
] |
2018/10/15
|
At IMF meeting in Indonesia, China's globalization agenda gets left behind
|
NUSA DUA, INDONESIA - Three days before U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January 2017, Chinese President Xi Jinping portrayed Beijing as the champion and defender of globalization at the Davos World Economic Forum amid rising fears of trade protectionism. A few months later, as Xi launched a forum on China’s vast “Belt and Road” effort, promising to spread Chinese investment and soft power through the world, it appeared his country’s global stature was rising. But now the luster on Beijing’s trade and investment story has dulled amid rising U.S. tariffs, higher interest rates and capital flight from emerging markets, all of which threaten to erode global growth. At the International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, some of that sentiment spilled into the open. “I think there is a broad view growing in the West that China has in some ways taken advantage of the system,” said Charles Dallara, former head of the Institute of International Finance, who attended the meetings. “It reminds me of the view in the West of Japan in the 1980s, very much so.” Calls to fix global trading rules are tellingly coming not just from the Trump administration. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde last week laid out what needs to be done. “This means looking at the distortionary effects of state subsidies, improving the enforcement of intellectual property rights, and taking steps to ensure effective competition — to avoid the excesses of market-dominant positions,” she said at a trade conference during the Bali meetings. Lagarde did not mention China, but all those issues are charges frequently leveled by the Trump administration. Others were less restrained. “We absolutely need to address the issue of overcapacities in China. Nobody can say that this is not a problem. This has to be dealt with,” European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs Pierre Moscovici said at the same event. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin struck a more confident tone at the Bali meetings compared with similar gatherings over the last year, when he was the target of near-universal criticism over Trump’s tariff plans. Fresh off a deal to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada, and with trade talks coming soon with the European Union and Japan, the U.S. administration is trying to build a coalition of allies to revamp global trade rules to combat technology transfer and other trade policies it associates with China. Mnuchin said U.S. allies first viewed Trump’s trade views as simply protectionist but now have a better understanding of his desire for “free, fair and reciprocal trade.” “This is not a coalition to pressure China. This is a coalition of like-minded people who have very similar issues as it relates to China,” Mnuchin said. China is still a major political and economic power, but Chinese officials appeared more on the defensive last week, with the tone of debate at some IMF forums shifting more quickly than Beijing may have expected. Vice Finance Minister Zou Jiayi, on a World Bank panel on Xi’s signature “Belt and Road’ initiative, found herself fielding questions from other panelists and the audience over debt sustainability, how effectively small countries can negotiate with Beijing, and whether the effort is viable in the midst of a protracted trade war. The debt burdens from the “Belt and Road” initiative came into sharper focus as Pakistan, a major recipient of Chinese-financed port, rail and road projects, formally sought an IMF bailout program during the Bali meetings. Zou said China is using risk analysis methods from bodies such as the IMF and World Bank, and will supervise the projects’ debt more vigorously. But she also said that they are essentially commercial projects and that countries should exercise caution and make their own evaluations of their commercial viability. And she said some of the risks came from a drastic change in the external environment, giving an example of an unnamed African country with sound debt levels that sank into crisis after oil prices tanked and its currency fell. David Dollar, a former U.S. Treasury official and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who spoke on the panel, said that “Belt and Road” could reduce trade costs, but that more work needs to be done. “For low-income countries, there is really this risk of taking on too much debt even if the projects are very, very good,” Dollar said. Some delegates from China at the Bali IMF and World Bank meetings expressed frustration that Beijing’s agenda is being bypassed while international institutions have largely been ineffective in deterring Trump’s tariff actions. “Personally I think unfortunately the G20 hasn’t contributed much to reconciliation and coordination of macroeconomic policies across the world,” said Xiang Songzuo, deputy director of International Monetary Institute at Renmin University of China, who was a speaker at a sideline event during the meetings in Bali. “We wish all these forums including G20, U.N., World Bank, IMF, WTO, would become stronger, stronger and more productive in containing all these wrong things — protectionism, unilateralism,” Xiang added. The current leaders of the G20, which bills itself as a leading forum that seeks to develop global policies and address the most pressing challenges, conceded that it is effectively sidelined on trade. “The G20 can play a role in providing the platform for discussions,” said Argentine Treasury Minister Nicolas Dujovne, chairman of this year’s G20 finance leaders’ meeting. “But the differences that still persist should be resolved by the members that are directly involved in the tensions.” Although there are reports that Xi and Trump will meet at the G20 leaders’ summit on November, Mnuchin said that currency issues would be part of trade talks, and that the onus was squarely on China to take concrete steps before trade talks could resume. “This can’t just be talk; there have to be meaningful commitments to create a rebalanced trading relationship,” Mnuchin told reporters Saturday, adding that structural changes are needed to balance the relationship. “This is not about buying more soybeans and buying more LNG,” he said.
|
china;u.s .;trade;world bank;imf
|
jp0009614
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"crime-legal-asia-pacific"
] |
2018/10/15
|
Chinese livestreamer held for 'insulting' national anthem
|
SHANGHAI - A popular Chinese livestreamer has been sentenced to five days in detention for “insulting” China’s national anthem by waving her arms and mimicking a conductor as she sung the song during a broadcast to millions of her followers. The woman, Yang Kaili, was detained by authorities in Shanghai Saturday for violating a national anthem law that was enacted last year. In a broadcast on the Huya livestream website on Oct. 7, Yang, 21, appeared wearing an antler-shaped headband and hummed a ceremonial song in combination with some of the words of “The March of the Volunteers,” while waving her arms and mimicking a conductor. Huya subsequently blocked Yang’s live-stream channel, froze her account and removed her videos. Yang’s husky voice became popular on another livestream platform, TikTok, and in August she was invited to perform by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV. “The national anthem is solemn and should not be sung in a livestream room,” Yang wrote in an apology and self-criticism to her 1.1 million followers on Twitter-like platform Weibo. “I will stop all livestream work, perform self-rectification, draw lessons from the bitter experience, deeply reflect and fully accept education on ideological politics and patriotism.” In September last year, the National People’s Congress passed a law against mocking the national anthem, with a punishment of up to 15 days in jail. The NPC changed the criminal law in November to allow those who disrespected the anthem to be jailed for up to three years. President Xi Jinping, considered Communist China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong, has stepped up the promotion of patriotism in the world’s most populous country.
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china;rights;social media;xi jinping;yang kaili
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jp0009615
|
[
"national",
"social-issues"
] |
2018/10/15
|
Learning what life in Japan is like for people with disabilities
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One recent Sunday, 7-year-old Yukito Takanashi of Tokyo was dribbling a soccer ball on a makeshift field. At one point, he put on an eye mask like those worn by blind soccer players. But he took it off after a while, feeling somewhat uncomfortable. The boy, who has experience playing the game with other children who, like himself, have autism, said it was “difficult” to play with his eyes covered. “It’s a good chance to learn about the struggles people with disabilities go through that most people fail to notice in their daily lives,” Takanashi’s father, Ryoichi, 32, said. “(Trying it for yourself) can trigger empathy and will make you feel more respectful toward people who are struggling (with disabilities) but are active (in society).” The Takanashis were at the annual Lives Tokyo event last month at the Tokyo Midtown complex in Minato Ward, aimed at raising awareness of the many challenges people with disabilities face. And with the clock ticking down to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, organizers are calling for the creation of an inclusive society where everyone — regardless of physical or mental challenges — is given opportunities to show their talent and pursue the path of their choice. “We’re trying to really create an ongoing movement to open up society to be more accessible, more innovative and create more opportunities, more jobs for citizens with disabilities,” said Theodore Guild, chairman of Hands On Tokyo, a group that provides volunteering opportunities in Japan and the organizer of the Lives Tokyo event. He calls it a “grassroots, bottom-up movement.” Guild said Japan needs more collaboration between the public and private sectors, and nonprofit groups, to make sure people with disabilities enjoy the same human rights as the rest of society. Visitors at the event tried on prosthetic limbs, experienced what it is like to participate in games and simulations as a person on the autism spectrum, and listened to successful life stories from athletes with disabilities. On the sidelines, entrepreneurs and businesses offered job opportunities for such people. A similar event last year led to the launch of about 500 projects that people with disabilities were able to join, organizers said. Creating a diversified environment is key to success in businesses as well, said Elly Keinan, president of IBM Japan Ltd., who was also at the event. “The best ideas come from diverse teams,” he said. NavCog, a pilot app for the blind, is one such example, according to Keinan. The app, which uses AI to provide cognitive assistance for the visually impaired in their daily lives, was developed by Chieko Asakawa, a computer scientist at IBM and an expert in accessibility. She lost her eyesight at the age of 14. The app measures how close someone or something is to the user, can inform the user about the facial expression of the person they are talking to and can even assist with cooking or shopping by, for instance, suggesting that they choose healthy products. In Japan, a law for people with disabilities obliges companies and government organizations to employ a certain percentage of people with physical, intellectual or mental impairments. The current target is 2.2 percent of the workforce at firms with least 46 workers and from 2.3 percent to 2.5 percent in national and local government bodies. But according to the labor ministry, people with disabilities accounted for just 1.97 percent of the workforce in 2017 at firms obliged to meet the target. “The government does call for embracing diversity, but it is often in the context of offering a helping hand to those with disabilities, not viewing on an equal level . But I hope they’ll focus on promoting people’s strengths,” said Hikaru Wakimoto, 28, who came to the event looking for hints on how to improve communication and the working environment within her workplace. Her organization, Tokyo Diversity Lab, offers programs enabling people to experience the world from the perspective of people with disabilities by, for instance, writing calligraphy in absolute darkness. Wakimoto works with hearing and visually impaired colleagues. “We need to show that environments with people with disabilities and able-bodied people working together work to our advantage,” she said. “For instance, the senses of blind people are enhanced in complete darkness and in such an environment they have an advantage.” Looking ahead, Jesper Koll, the economist who heads the investment firm WisdomTree Japan, believes the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics can serve as a chance for Japan to showcase its strategies toward an inclusive society and develop technologies to improve the quality of life for people with physical or other challenges. “We all become, in some form, a little handicapped as we go through (life),” Koll said. And like this year’s Lives Tokyo, which involved around 1,500 people who were either helping or visiting, organizers hope more people will be able to have a better awareness of the issue and become involved. “Essentially, we believe that volunteerism is very important to advance areas where there’s a social need in society,” Guild said. Rhea Ibay, 16, a Filipina living in Kanagawa Prefecture who came to Japan nearly a year ago, was one of the volunteers at the event, where she hoped to learn more about people with disabilities. “I wanted to go outside of my comfort zone and give back to the community just a little bit at this young age,” she said. If she gets a chance, Ibay said she wants to be a volunteer to support athletes and spectators at the Tokyo Games.
|
disability;2020 tokyo paralympics;live tokyo
|
jp0009616
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/10/15
|
Warm, dry spring seen aggravating Nagoya-area hornet threat
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As the nation enters the autumn tourist season, concerns are growing over hornets, whose nests and number of workers are larger than usual this year because of the warmer spring and limited rain during the rainy season. Hornet stings have been reported in Gifu and Nagano prefectures since August. Experts warn that worker hornets tend to become more aggressive when there are more of them, and in autumn when they need to protect the larvae that will become their new queens. Hornet stings can cause anaphylaxis, including shortness of breath and vomiting, and at times can be life-threatening. Twenty-three people died due to bee stings in 2015, 19 in 2016 and 13 in 2017, according to the health ministry’s demographic statistics. Experts say someone stung by a hornet should wash the wound with cold water and seek medical attention. Someone who feels dizzy, whose body starts itching, or those stung on the head or neck, or multiple times, are urged to call an ambulance right away. In late September, yellow tape warning people to keep out were placed around trees at three locations in Nagoya’s Meijo Park, which surrounds Nagoya Castle, with signs urging visitors to watch out for hornets. Kumiko Hattori, 47, who was walking through the park to take her daughter to a swimming school, said: “We avoid walking near the signs because my child is scared of hornets.” “We placed the tape to prevent bee attacks after receiving reports from visitors that they saw large bees,” said an official who manages the park. “We confirmed a couple of what appear to be hornets near tree sap.” According to Mai Mitsubayashi, an official in charge of pest inspections with the Nagoya Municipal Government, 1,714 hornets were captured in August using traps installed at 10 parks in the city — roughly 30 percent more than the average of 1,276 during the month over the past decade. Numbers of black-tailed hornets — the type commonly seen in residential areas — have increased to nearly five times more than in an average year, Mitsubayashi said. “They are not so aggressive, but they can attack people,” she said. To avoid angering hornets, Mitsubayashi advises people not to wear black clothes or wear perfume when they go into the woods or go near their nests. Japanese giant hornets sometimes build their nests underground, so people might be disturbing them without knowing it, she said. Suzumebachi 110-ban (which roughly translates as “emergency hornet handlers”), a company in Minamiise, Mie Prefecture, that removes hornet nests in the Tokai region, said the number of requests to remove nests of aggressive Japanese yellow hornets has nearly doubled between June and August compared with an average year. Hidehisa Nishi, who heads the firm, said the size of nests is also larger this year. “Usually the nests are about the size of a dodgeball, but this year there are more nests about the size that fits in the arms of an adult,” Nishi said. Experts attribute the increase in hornets and the larger nest size to the change of climate this year. According to Masato Ono, a professor of applied entomology at Tamagawa University who has written a book about hornets, the temperature during early spring was higher this year, making queen hornets come out of hibernation and start building nests earlier. The amount of rain that prevents nest-building during the rainy season was also less than usual, resulting in bigger nests, he said, adding that bigger nests mean there are more of the worker hornets that become more aggressive in autumn when they have to protect larvae. Ono said hornets show alarm, such as buzzing around, before going into attack mode, and advised people to slowly back away because sideways movements can irritate hornets. If people find nests, they should ask experts to remove them, Ono said, adding that the best time to remove the nests is during the night.
|
hornets;nests;anaphylaxis
|
jp0009617
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/10/15
|
As tourists crowd popular sites and inconvenience residents, government launches first-ever survey on 'overtourism'
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Japan is launching its first survey on “overtourism,” or the phenomenon of a popular destination becoming overrun with tourists in an unsustainable way, to counter nuisances such as noise and congestion that disrupt local residents’ lives, according to officials. The Japan Tourism Agency aims to compile a report by the end of March based on a survey of municipalities with major tourists spots, and to explore ways to foster environments where tourism can coexist with residents’ lives amid a surge in foreign visitors to the country. The agency has already sent questionnaires to around 50 local governments and will start a further survey of another 150 or so before the end of October. Tourism-related problems occur during peak seasons at popular sites such as the ancient cities of Kyoto and Kamakura, with commuter traffic affected by severe congestion on trains and buses. In neighborhoods where private apartments or single-family houses offer lodgings to foreign tourists, there are often complaints about noise levels and improper trash disposal. Besides complaints related to lodgings, nuisances reported by municipalities include illegal parking in vacant lots at the village of Shirakawa in Gifu Prefecture — a World Heritage site — and trespassing into fields near a major natural beauty spot in the town of Biei in Hokkaido. The survey’s goal is to learn more about the degree of public congestion, breaches of local rules, environmental degradation and other issues that may occur due to the high number of tourists. In November the agency is also planning to set up a study group involving municipality officials and experts. The new body will propose policies for central and local governments based on the survey results, so that Japan can develop regions that are “good to live in and visit,” the officials said. The survey of the 150 municipalities will mostly target prefectural capitals, major cities and those with tourism promotion bodies known as “destination management organizations.” Visitors to Japan reached 21.3 million between January and August this year, up 12.6 percent from a year earlier. For the whole of 2018, the number is projected to hit 30 million for the first time. The government aims to increase the number of foreign tourists to 40 million by 2020 and to 60 million by 2030. But there is awareness that the numerical targets may not be met if a backlash from residents diminishes tourist satisfaction, the officials said.
|
kyoto;tourism;survey;noise;congestion;overtourism
|
jp0009619
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2018/10/12
|
After Nikkei's fall, Tokyo stocks bounce back as investors buy on dips
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Stocks closed higher on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Friday as buying on dips set in after the benchmark Nikkei average fell over 1,000 points briefly the previous day. The 225-issue Nikkei average gained 103.80 points, or 0.46 percent, to end at 22,694.66. On Thursday, it plunged 915.18 points, or 3.89 percent, its third-biggest daily point loss this year, following Wall Street’s rout Wednesday. The Topix index of all first-section issues closed up 0.59 point, or 0.03 percent, at 1,702.45. It fell 62.00 points the previous day. The Nikkei gave up over 260 points as soon as the Tokyo market opened after the Dow Jones industrial average lost an additional 2.13 percent Thursday. But the Tokyo market index moved into positive territory in afternoon trading following a rebound in Chinese stocks, brokers said. The Tokyo market “was ready to rebound at any moment” a day after its plunge, an official of an online brokerage house said. Thursday’s tumble made stocks undervalued enough for investors to place buy orders, brokers said. The Nikkei average’s rebound reflected “large-lot purchases of Nikkei futures contracts” amid rises in the Shanghai composite stock index and the Dow futures, an official of a Japanese securities firm said. “A sense of relief spread” among investors thanks to stable movements of Shanghai stock prices, said Hiroaki Kuramochi, chief market analyst at Saxo Bank Securities Ltd. Market players also took heart from “the stability of the (dollar-yen) exchange rate,” the online brokerage house official said. Rising issues outnumbered falling ones 1,130 to 926 on the TSE’s first section, while 53 issues were unchanged. Volume fell to 1.69 billion shares from Thursday’s 1.95 billion. Factory automation-related issues, including Yaskawa Electric and Fanuc, attracted purchases following their recent falls. Other major winners included mobile phone carrier SoftBank Group and cosmetics maker Shiseido. By contrast, convenience store chain operator Lawson slumped 6.23 percent after reporting Thursday double-digit declines in fiscal first-half operating and net profits and a reduction in its full-year gross operating revenue forecast. Also on the minus side were clothing store chain operator Fast Retailing and retailer FamilyMart Uny. In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the key December contract on the Nikkei average rose 70 points to 22,650.
|
stocks;nikkei;tse;markets;topix
|
jp0009620
|
[
"world",
"social-issues-world"
] |
2018/10/12
|
Over half Venezuela's doctors and quarter of nurses have left since 2012: NGOs
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CARACAS - More than half Venezuela’s doctors have been forced to flee the country’s crushing economic and political crisis, according to a report by health NGOs released Thursday. “Between 2012 and 2017, 22,000 Venezuelan doctors migrated” — 55 percent of the total 39,000 doctors registered by the PanAmerican Health Organization in 2014, the report said. Some 6,000 nurses — nearly a quarter of Venezuela’s total — also left the country during the same period. Nearly 2 million people have emigrated since 2015, the U.N. said, adding that around 5,000 people are leaving the country daily. The NGO report — “The right to health, the complex humanitarian emergency in Venezuela” — was endorsed by 12 non-governmental organizations for patient rights. Out of Venezuela’s population of 30 million, some “18.7 million have no guarantees of access to diagnosis or treatment,” it said. It adds up to “a humanitarian emergency,” the NGOs said. The health crisis is exacerbated by an acute shortage of medicines in pharmacies and hospitals across the country, according to trade associations. The United Nations last week announced a $32 million donation to reduce maternal and infant mortality and to protect children, in addition to donating 30 tons of health supplies. With hyperinflation expected to reach 1.3 million percent in 2018, the few medicines available are unattainable for most of the population, as is private health care. Oil income-dependent Venezuela’s economic woes began in 2014 with the crash in the price of crude. President Nicolas Maduro’s government has since been slapped with a range of sanctions over its crackdown on the opposition and civil society critics.
|
venezuela;nurses;nicolas maduro;doctors;ngos;emigration
|
jp0009621
|
[
"world"
] |
2018/10/12
|
Saudi Arabia's strategy of silence on Khashoggi risky amid media storm: analysts
|
DUBAI - Riyadh’s silence since shrugging off as “baseless” reports of a state-sponsored killing of Saudi columnist Jamal Khashoggi is a risky strategy amid increasing pressure from key allies such as the United States, analysts said Thursday. A day after demanding that Saudi Arabia provide answers to Khashoggi’s disappearance, U.S. President Donald Trump voiced determination to get to the bottom of the matter. “We can’t let it happen. And we’re being very tough,” he said in an interview with “Fox and Friends.” Britain’s foreign secretary warned that Riyadh faces “serious consequences” if reports that Khashoggi was murdered turn out to be true. Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor who was critical of some of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s policies and had been living in self-imposed exile since late 2017, vanished after entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2 to obtain official documents for his upcoming marriage. Turkish officials quoted in the Turkish and U.S. media have said he was killed, but Riyadh denied that allegation as “baseless” in a Twitter message and since then has maintained its silence. Saudi Arabia is being cautious about making official statements, “as other countries are,” said Aleksandar Mitreski, a security and defense analyst. “The risk here is that by remaining silent the kingdom may look guilty in the eyes of international media,” Mitreski, researcher at the University of Sydney, said. Riyadh has also not commented on U.S. and Turkish media reports that an “assassination team” was sent to Istanbul or claims that Prince Mohammed issued an order to “lure” Khashoggi back to the kingdom. “However, making an official statement that can be questioned as new evidence emerges could be even more damaging for Saudi Arabia,” said Mitreski. Earlier this week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged the kingdom to release footage of the journalist leaving the Saudi consulate, to back up its contention that he left the building safely. Turkish police are investigating a team of 15 Saudis who they say were at the consulate at the same time as Khashoggi and arrived in Istanbul on Oct. 2 on board two private planes. Turkish media have said the 15 were an “assassination team” and that they took the consulate’s footage with them. The consulate has said the CCTV cameras were not working that day. The kingdom has “done itself few favors by flatly rejecting any responsibility for Khashoggi’s disappearance,” said James Dorsey, an expert in international affairs. “Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has suffered significant reputational damage irrespective of Khashoggi’s fate, raising the question of his viability if Saudi Arabia were condemned internationally,” said Dorsey, a fellow at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. With Khashoggi’s fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, calling on the U.S. to help find him, the mystery has captivated the world and hurt efforts by the young crown prince to improve the image of his country with his reform drive. Trump said Thursday he was not yet prepared to limit arms sales to Saudi Arabia over the disappearance of Khashoggi, though he reiterated he wants answers about his fate. Much is at stake. A major three-day investment conference hosted by Prince Mohammed and due to be held in Riyadh from October 23 to 25, hosting international leaders such as U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and IMF chief Christine Lagarde, is going ahead, organizers said. But Britain’s Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said Khashoggi’s fate could have “serious consequences.” “People who have long thought of themselves as Saudi’s friends are saying this is a very, very serious matter,” Hunt said. “If these allegations are true, there will be serious consequences because our friendships and our partnerships are based on shared values.” Human Rights Watch on Thursday urged allies of Saudi Arabia to review their ties with Prince Mohammed. “If Saudi Arabia is responsible for Khashoggi’s disappearance and possible murder, the United States, United Kingdom, European Union and other Saudi allies need to fundamentally reconsider their relationship with a leadership whose behavior resembles that of a rogue regime,” the New York-based rights group said. While Saudi Arabia has in the past days not officially commented, local media have reported the kingdom is a subject of a smear campaign by political rivals. Saudi-owned newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat cited on Thursday an unnamed official source as saying there was “no evidence” that Saudi Arabia was behind the alleged killing. The 33-year-old crown prince, who was named heir to the throne in June 2017, has garnered international attention with his rapid rise to power as well as social and economic reforms. While he has been lauded by some for pursuing changes, such as lifting a decades-long ban on women driving and clipping the wings of the long-feared religious police, others have criticized his crackdown on political dissent.
|
media;murder;saudi arabia;turkey;mohammed bin salman;jamal khashoggi
|
jp0009622
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"science-health-asia-pacific"
] |
2018/10/12
|
Of mice and men: Scientists produce babies from same-sex mice pairs
|
A team of researchers has produced viable offspring from same-sex pairs of mice, using a novel technology that involves stem cells altered to remove certain genes. While the applications of the research are largely theoretical for now, they could include improving existing cloning methods for mammals and even eventually fertility treatments for same-sex couples. The study, published Thursday in Cell Stem Cell journal, is the first time the method has been successfully implemented, though previous research has looked at other ways to produce babies from same-sex pairs. But while the team was able to produce viable babies from female pairs of mice, whose offspring went on to have their own progeny, the mice produced from male pairs fared less well. They survived only 48 hours after birth, despite a complicated process of gene manipulation intended to eliminate abnormalities resulting from the same-sex reproductive process. Experts said there was no prospect of the technique being translated soon into humans for the creation of “gay babies.” “To consider exploring similar technology for human application in the near future is implausible,” said Dusko Ilic, a stem cell specialist at King’s College London who was asked to comment on the Chinese results. “The risk of severe abnormalities is too high, and it would take years of research in various animal models to fully understand how this could be done safely.” Many species are naturally able to reproduce via methods that do not involve a male-female pairing. Species including reptiles, amphibians and fish can reproduce with just a single parent, but the process is more complicated for mammals. “We were interested in the question of why mammals can only undergo sexual reproduction,” co-senior author Qi Zhou of the Chinese Academy of Sciences told the journal. This field of research treads on tricky ethical ground, with previous studies involving genetic editing and novel methods of reproduction prompting fears about the implications if similar processes were eventually applied to humans. During the reproduction process, mammals mostly inherit two sets of each gene, one from their mother and one from their father. But a small subset of genes, known as “imprinted” genes, are inherited from only one parent. For these genes, the set produced by the other parent is effectively inactive, having been “shut off” when it is transmitted. If this “shutting off” process does not function correctly, the offspring could suffer from abnormalities or even die. Mixing genetic material from same-sex couples runs the risk of the babies receiving two sets of “imprinted” genes. So the study used haploid embryonic stem cells, which resemble “primordial germ cells, the precursors of eggs and sperm,” said co-senior author Baoyang Hu. They then altered the genetic makeup of the cells, deleting “imprinting regions” to effectively mimic the “shutting off” process in normal reproduction. In the case of the female mice, three “imprinting regions” were deleted from the stem cells, which were then injected into the eggs of another mouse. In the case of the male mice, seven “imprinting regions” were deleted and the cells were injected into a mouse egg along with sperm from a second mouse “father.” The nucleus of the mouse egg was removed, meaning there was no female genetic material left and the fertilized egg was placed in a surrogate mouse. Using two sets of female mice DNA, with gene manipulations, the scientists produced 29 babies from 210 embryos, which lived to adulthood and reproduced normally. Researchers plan further study as to why the process did not work as well for mice produced from two male sets of genetic material.
|
biotechnology;biology;cloning;in vitro;surrogacy
|
jp0009623
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"politics-diplomacy-asia-pacific"
] |
2018/10/12
|
In race to parliament, Malaysia's Anwar Ibrahim faces down his critics
|
PORT DICKSON, MALAYSIA - Malaysia’s Anwar Ibrahim will face the first test of his return to political life on Saturday, in a by-election that would pave his way to claiming the premiership, as promised by former foe Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. Anwar, who is expected to win, needs a strong mandate in the fight in the coastal seat of Port Dickson to counter criticism that he is in a hurry to take over from the 93-year-old Mahathir, just five months after being released from prison. “A bigger margin will give the by-election the appearance of a coronation, something Anwar has been awaiting for 20 years,” said Adib Zalkapli, an analyst with the political risk consulting firm Vriens & Partners. “If he wins by a smaller margin, he may be seen as merely riding on the popularity of Mahathir, without winning new support to the coalition.” Mahathir led the Alliance of Hope coalition to a shock victory in a general election in May, unseating his former protege Najib Razak and ending the 61-year rule of the National Front coalition. Their campaign focused on corruption concerns triggered by a multibillion-dollar scandal at state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), over which Najib and his wife face investigation. Anwar could not run because he was in prison on a 2015 sodomy conviction, but his renewed partnership with Mahathir was key to the election win, after which Mahathir secured a royal pardon for Anwar. The pair have had an acrimonious relationship over two decades, sparked when Mahathir, during his previous tenure as prime minister, sacked Anwar as his deputy in 1998. A year later, Anwar was convicted of corruption and sodomy. Anwar and his supporters maintain that all the charges were trumped up to end his political career. On Saturday, Anwar will face a motley crew of six contenders, among them former aide Saiful Bukhari Azlan, whose sodomy accusations against Anwar led to a second prison term. Saiful said he was running to stop Anwar from becoming prime minister. “All this is not about the people. It’s about his personal agenda to become prime minister,” he said. Another candidate, Stevie Chan, who has built up a large domestic following on Twitter, has also said he was running to take a stand against “political entitlement and arrogance.” But 74 percent of survey respondents would still vote for Anwar, according to a poll by Institut Darul Ehsan, a think tank set up by the state of Selangor, which is ruled by his Pakatan coalition. Anwar has kept up a break-neck campaign, supported by ruling coalition leaders, showcasing the charisma that jump-started the Reform movement after he was sacked in 1998. Even Mahathir made an appearance, joining Anwar on stage for the first time in 20 years at a mega-rally on Monday. Mahathir is the right man to lead the country “in the current situation,” Anwar told the rally, in a response to critics who question his ambitions. “I say this with all humility. I know him, love him as a father and a leader. I fought against him, and now accept he is the best man to lead Malaysia now,” he said to thunderous applause from thousands of supporters.
|
anwar ibrahim;malaysia;elections;mahathir mohamad
|
jp0009624
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"offbeat-asia-pacific"
] |
2018/10/12
|
Five men and the sea: Huge marlin sinks Philippine fishing boat
|
MANILA - Like a modern-day take on “The Old Man and the Sea,” five Filipino fishermen were cast adrift for days on a makeshift raft after a huge marlin sank their boat. The men were fishing in the South China Sea when a 6-foot-long (1.8-meter) marlin punctured their boat’s wooden hull with its giant bill, vessel master Jimmy Batiller said on Wednesday. Their 12-meter boat quickly dipped beneath the waves in the early evening of Oct. 3, leaving the crew with little drinking water or food until their rescue by the U.S. Navy on Monday. “It (the fish) hit the bottom of our boat, leaving two big holes. We suspect it was chasing a smaller fish. It swam around the sinking boat for a while, apparently disorientated,” Batiller said. The fishermen salvaged what they could, removing the outriggers, planks and barrels to create a makeshift raft. “Our water ran out after two days. We waved at passing commercial vessels, but no one came to rescue us. But we did not lose hope,” the 42-year-old father of one said. The crew also ate raw rice and drank some seawater. “When we were rescued, that was when our tears fell,” said Batiller, who has been reunited with his family in Subic, a port about 80 kilometers (50 miles) northwest of Manila. The U.S. Navy said the men were lucky to survive, especially given that they had drunk seawater. “On average, death results two to three days after a diet of drinking undiluted sea water or urine in survival-at-sea events, as it takes more water than is consumed for the body to process the waste and salt out of the kidneys,” said Leon Hadley, the civilian chief mate from the ship which conducted the rescue, the USNS Wally Schirra. “Luckily, we were going at a slow enough speed to have spotted the fishermen,” said the Wally Schirra’s master, Keith Sauls. “The individuals were waving their arms and a flag in the air. They were also flashing a white light that was previously thought to be fishing buoy,” he added in an account carried by the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service. The blue marlin is one of the open ocean’s fastest, strongest predators and one of the largest species of bony fish. It can grow up to 5 meters in length and weigh as much as 820 kilograms. It is known for its long bill, which it uses to stun prey. “This is the first such incident we have encountered here. Most of the time it’s bad weather sinking fishermen’s boats in the open seas,” said Subic coast guard operations officer Erman Besana. Despite the near-death experience, Batiller and his crew planned to go back to sea after a few days’ rest — provided they can find a new boat. “This is our job,” he said.
|
accidents;oceans;philippines;south china sea;fishing
|
jp0009625
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/10/12
|
Quake-hit Hokkaido taps Hong Kong to revive tourism
|
HONG KONG - Hokkaido is trying to tempt back tourists from overseas in the wake of last month’s massive earthquake, targeting vibrant Asian economies including Hong Kong. The hotel industry in Hokkaido is still reeling from the magnitude 6.7 earthquake that jolted the southwest of the prefecture on Sept. 6, cutting power supplies to over 5 million residents, killing 41 people and injuring more than 700. “We are delivering our message to the whole world in six languages: Hokkaido is safe and has recovered already,” Yasuhiro Tsuji, vice governor of Hokkaido, said in an interview. “We are cooperating with airlines in order to raise the number of travelers.” Tsuji was in Hong Kong this week for “Hokkaido Showcase: Food, Tourism and Investment,” hosted by the provincial government and the Japan External Trade Organization. It is the first such event held overseas since the disaster. A total of 14 companies and organizations participated in the food exhibition within the event space, while six companies and organizations joined a seminar on tourism. Tsuji said his prefecture is placing importance on Hong Kong, where people already have deep knowledge of Japanese food and culture. Last year, a record 28.7 million people from overseas visited Japan, up 19.3 percent on year, according to data from the Japan National Tourism Organization. The nation attracted a record 2.2 million people from Hong Kong in 2017, up 21.3 percent from 2016, the data showed. News reports said the quake caused at least ¥10 billion (about $90 million) in canceled reservations, mainly by schools and foreign tourists. The total damage to Hokkaido infrastructure and all local industries is estimated to exceed ¥400 billion, according to newspaper reports.
|
hong kong;tourists;hokkaido;inbound tourism
|
jp0009626
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/10/12
|
Public and private sectors push to revive Okinawa's struggling awamori industry
|
With young people apparently finding Okinawa’s awamori liquor less appealing, the industry has been hit with a decline in shipments for 13 consecutive years. To rev up the struggling business, people from the public and private sectors have joined hands to pitch the distilled spirit indigenous to the island prefecture to other Japanese and overseas consumers. The growing number of foreign tourists to Japan, including Okinawa, is also expected to give a boost to the flagging industry. Awamori dates back around 600 years and mirrors the unique culture of Okinawa — formerly the Ryukyu Kingdom before it was annexed by Japan in 1879. It is a type of shōchū , but differs in that it is made from long-grained Thai rice instead of short-grained japonica rice and uses black kōji (yeast) native to the prefecture. The alcoholic beverage’s shipments had been brisk in the early 2000s, helped by the shōchū boom and the publicity the prefecture gained by hosting the Group of Eight summit in 2000. But sales have declined after peaking in 2004. “Footage showing people gulping down (awamori) has created an enduring image” that it is simply a drink that will get you drunk quickly, Gaku Sakumoto, who leads the Okinawa Awamori Distillers Association, said during a roundtable talk held in September at The Okinawa Times building. Manufacturers have not had time to properly promote how to drink the beverage while being busy making and delivering products, he said. Katsunobu Shingaki of the Awamori Meister Association, who has promoted the use of the local liquor in cocktails, said, “It is becoming more important to come up with ideas of how to drink it at a time when consumers’ taste preferences are diversifying.” The roundtable talk was joined by Takeo Koizumi, professor emeritus of the Tokyo University of Agriculture who also serves as the head of a public-private project to promote awamori exports that kicked off in January this year. “Awamori, which uses black kōji (yeast) to mature, has just as much charm as any other alcohol has, but it may be difficult for young people to quickly get acquainted with it. We need to create a strategy that first lets them know how to enjoy it and then lure them to the ‘authentic’ world,” said Koizumi, one of the leading experts in the field of fermentation, adding that awamori needs to brush up its image. Reducing production cost is also a challenge. The industry has been calling for the extension of a liquor tax relief measure beyond the current expiration date of May 2019. The measure was introduced in 1972, when Okinawa reverted to Japanese control after being under U.S. Occupation from the end of World War II, and has continued to be extended at the urging of the industry. According to a study by the Okinawa Development Finance Corp., the operating margin for awamori-makers was 2.4 percent in fiscal 2016, far short of the 8.7 percent margin enjoyed by shōchū firms. “As we seek to broaden the market outside the prefecture and overseas, we cannot help but see a rise in shipping costs,” Sakumoto said, but he also added that improvement in manufacturing skills is expected to support moves to sell the product internationally. Shingaki, meanwhile, said, many awamori-makers are interested in exporting their products, but the lack of manpower seems to make them hesitate. With officials in the fields of finance and tourism also taking part in the awamori export project, the team has been putting forward new ideas to promote the liquor. “People who are not in the awamori business are starting to feel that they should also support the awamori promotion activities,” Sakumoto said. Koizumi noted: “Awamori is a part of Okinawa’s unique culture and its promotion is something we should work on by bringing together all forces in Okinawa.”
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okinawa;shochu;awamori
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jp0009627
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/10/12
|
More medical schools in Japan suspected of manipulating test scores of female applicants, minister reveals
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More medical schools were found to have disadvantaged female applicants in their entrance exams, in a survey taken after the discovery that a Tokyo medical university had manipulated test scores to curb female enrollment, education minister Masahiko Shibayama said Friday. Shibayama told a news conference that there is a “strong suspicion” of undue bias against female applicants, and men who have failed the exams in the past. Excluding Tokyo Medical University, none of the 81 schools covered by the ministry’s survey have admitted to rigging exam scores to discriminate against applicants by gender or age. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology conducted on-site probes at around 30 universities that had significant disparities in pass rates between female and male applicants in the last six years. In the probes, the ministry found evidence suggesting that examinees had been treated unfairly based on their gender or a record of past failures. “It is problematic that university entrance exams that should be held fairly have been conducted in this way,” Shibayama said. He withheld the names or number of universities suspected to have manipulated exam scores as it remains unknown whether there were reasonable grounds to support cases where the treatment of applicants differed. The ministry plans to further investigate its suspicions and compile an interim report in October. It will also conduct on-site surveys at all universities with medical departments to release a final report by the end of the year. Last month, the ministry’s preliminary survey results showed that men had passed entrance exams more frequently than women at 78 percent of medical schools polled after the scandal. The average ratio of successful male applicants to female stood at 1.18. In August, Tokyo Medical University admitted it had maintained a practice of making deductions from entrance exam scores for more than 10 years to curb the enrollment of women as well as men who had failed the exam a number of times. The rigging was aimed at keeping the proportion of women studying at the university at around 30 percent. The institution believed that would prevent a shortage of doctors at affiliated hospitals, on the grounds that female doctors tend to resign or take a long leave of absence after getting married or giving birth, according to an internal report and university sources. The medical school also disliked accepting male applicants who had failed a number of times because they also tend to fail the national exam for medical practitioners, which would bring down the university’s ratio of successful applicants and hurt its reputation, according to the sources.
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education;entrance exams;medical schools;tokyo medical university
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jp0009628
|
[
"world"
] |
2018/10/13
|
U.N. criticized over latest picks for human rights council
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UNITED NATIONS - Bahrain, Cameroon and the Philippines were among a number of nations controversially elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council on Friday, sparking sharp criticism from rights groups and the United States. Around a third of the seats on the 47-member council, based in Geneva, were open for slots lasting from 2019 to 2022. A 97-vote majority from the 193 nations that make up the U.N.’s General Assembly is needed for approval. For the first time since the council was created in 2006, each voting region agreed in advance on 18 candidates to run for 18 seats, removing any competition. New members Bahrain, Cameroon, the Philippines, Somalia, Bangladesh and Eritrea were elected with between 160 and 178 votes — and immediately drew criticism from activists in Europe and North America dismissing them as “unqualified” due to their human-rights records. “By putting forward serious rights violators and presenting only as many candidates as seats available, the regional groups risk undermining the council’s credibility and effectiveness,” said New York-based Human Rights Watch. Louis Charbonneau, the group’s U.N. director, called the vote “ridiculous” and said on Twitter it “makes mockery of (the) word ‘election.'” At the start of the voting session, the General Assembly’s president, Maria Fernanda Espinosa, noted that every member state is allowed to apply for a seat. Her spokesman later declined to directly address the criticism, but instead noted: “It’s clear that the world expects that members of international bodies will abide to a certain set of standards of behavior consistent with the bodies they have been elected to.” Five of the new members were from Africa, five from Asia, two from eastern Europe, three from Latin America and the Caribbean, and three from western Europe. The United States pulled out of the council in June, calling the organization a “hypocritical” body that “makes a mockery of human rights,” in particular in regard to its stance on Israel. Nikki Haley, who earlier in the week announced her resignation as U.S. ambassador to the U.N., said Friday’s vote demonstrates why the U.S. was right to withdraw. “Yet again, countries with poor human rights records ran uncontested. This lack of standards continues to undermine the organization,” she said. “The United States will continue to support reforms that would make the Human Rights Council credible.”
|
philippines;rights;u.n .;cameroon;bahrain
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jp0009629
|
[
"national",
"social-issues"
] |
2018/10/13
|
Stressed? Many Japanese schools and companies are encouraging people to cry to boost mental health
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An increasing number of schools and companies in Japan are encouraging their students and employees to cry as a way of relieving stress and improving mental health. Tears of sadness and happiness are believed to reduce stress, as the act of crying relaxes autonomic nerves by stimulating parasympathetic nerve activity, according to experts. “Crying is an act of self-defense against accumulating stresses,” says Junko Umihara, professor at Nippon Medical School. For 5½ years, former high school teacher Hidefumi Yoshida, 43, who calls himself a “ namida sensei ” (“tears teacher”), has organized activities and lectured at schools and companies across the country to help people discover the benefits of crying. He came to recognize those benefits after one of his former students stopped showing up for consultations after the pupil had opened up and shed tears. “The act of crying is more effective than laughing or sleeping in reducing stress,” Yoshida says. Working with Hideho Arita, professor emeritus at the Faculty of Medicine at Toho University, and others, Yoshida launched activities in 2014 to raise people’s awareness about the health benefits of crying. In 2015, Japan introduced a mandatory stress-check program for companies with 50 or more employees, and other entities. Since then, Yoshida has received a flood of requests from companies and schools to give lectures. In the past couple of years, he has visited hundreds of venues for lectures and other activities. According to Yoshida, it’s important to create opportunities to cry by watching tear-jerking movies, listening to emotive music or reading inspiring books. “If you cry once a week, you can live a stress-free life.” On Sept. 7, Yoshida gave a lecture at private Osaka High School in the Kansai metropolis, with 79 second-grade students taking part. After watching a tear-jerker, they wrote and read out essays in order to induce tears. “I think I should hold nothing back when I cry,” student Ryohei Tsuda, 17, said after the event. “It is good to cry to reduce stress,” Naito Sugimoto, 17, said.
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psychology;schools;stress;work–life balance
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jp0009630
|
[
"national",
"science-health"
] |
2018/10/13
|
Japan to mandate that retailers charge fees for plastic bags, but plans for punishments unclear
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The Environment Ministry has decided to obligate retailers — including supermarkets and convenience stores — to charge fees for plastic checkout bags or provide loyalty points to shoppers who bring their own bags, officials have said. The ministry plans to include the policy in an outline of its plastic recycling strategy due out next Friday, aiming for revisions to related laws, the officials said Friday. Turtles and whales have been found to have eaten discarded plastic bags. The ministry judged it necessary to strengthen efforts to reduce plastic bags in order to curb plastic pollution. The ministry plans to exempt small stores from the envisioned obligations. The range of retailers bound by the rules will be determined later. The obligations will not apply to bags made from paper and other materials. The ministry will take into account the opinions of experts to decide whether bioplastic bags should be treated in the same way as nonplastic bags. The ministry will discuss when to start the plastic bag charge system and whether to punish violators at an experts panel of the Central Environment Council, which advises the environment minister. The plastic recycling strategy will be set by next June.
|
pollution;recycling;environment;plastic;plastic waste
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jp0009631
|
[
"national",
"science-health"
] |
2018/10/13
|
Traces of previously unknown Mount Fuji eruptions uncovered at bottom of nearby lake
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Traces of two past unknown eruptions of Mount Fuji have been found in a layer at the bottom of Lake Motosu, northwest of the country’s tallest mountain, according to a research group that included Akita University. The finding about the 3,776-meter volcano, a UNESCO World Heritage site, was recently reported in the online edition of a Dutch journal. “Characteristics of past eruptions and precise data on intervals between them are useful for drawing up hazard maps,” Akita University professor Stephen Obrochta said. Municipalities near the mountain that straddles Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefectures are working on revising hazard maps that will be utilized for evacuation plans in the event of an eruption. Sediment at the bottom of deep lakes is relatively insulated from the effects of wind and waves and tends to contain plankton that can be used to estimate age. The group, which also includes researchers from Yamagata University and the University of Tokyo, collected 4-meter-thick sediment from the bottom of the lake, covering some 8,000 years of geological layers. The group found ash layers indicating two eruptions on the western flank of the mountain some 2,500 years ago. The eruptions, which had been unknown, happened about 20 years apart. The group also found that eruptions believed to have occurred 3,400 and 3,200 years ago actually happened 200 to 300 years later. The areas hit by volcanic ash were wider than previously estimated, according to the group.
|
mount fuji;volcanoes;eruptions
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jp0009632
|
[
"national",
"media-national"
] |
2018/10/13
|
Kizuna AI's NHK appearance sparks debate on social media
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Do virtual YouTubers dream of online controversy? Maybe not but they sure are good at courting it. One of the most buzzed about developments in online culture in Japan over the past 12 months has been a boom in virtual YouTubers , animated characters operating their own channels, upon which they behave much like their human counterparts. They play video games , partake in memes and provide meta commentary on their existence . It’s still a niche pocket of Japanese pop culture and hardly a new idea — digital characters acting like people stretch back decades, especially if Max Headroom counts. However, the buzz around virtual YouTubers prompted Sanrio to have Hello Kitty take up the occupation , and the BBC recently gave the field the feature treatment . It all comes off as an entry in the slightly weird Japan trend stack. Yet the past couple of weeks showed it’s far more complicated domestically. The top virtual YouTuber in Japan at present is Kizuna AI . She kickstarted all this and boasts several million subscribers spread out over two channels. Due to her popularity, she’s shilled for SoftBank and the Japan National Tourism Organization , among others. Most recently, she was picked to appear on an NHK show about recent Japanese winners of the Nobel Prize. She asked prize-winning scientists questions , which they answered in detail. What was an effort to goose ratings for educational programming ended up sparking one of the year’s biggest online debates to date. Several criticized NHK’s decision to use a female character that they argued was sexualized in this show, with some wondering why they couldn’t find a real female scientist to take her role. The first big volley came from Musashi University professor Senda Yuki, who penned an article for Yahoo! Japan criticizing the national broadcaster’s move and its decision to have the virtual YouTuber respond in interviews with single-syllable answers (which wasn’t entirely accurate … more on that later). The article was praised by plenty … but it also attracted many who wished to defend Kizuna AI. Twitter user @harukazechan wondered why the character needed to cover up , while others noted that a woman had actually designed the character in the first place . In a real “ through the looking glass ” moment, Kizuna AI herself might have commented on this, first by donning a lab coat and then wondering why people frequently complain about the things she does . It might be because virtual YouTubers in general have evolved from being a nifty sideshow into a new avatar for long-standing cultural debate in Japan. Virtual YouTubers started as a point of curiosity, with many mostly charmed by the new technology. Popular characters such as Kizuna AI then attracted strong fanbases, resembling what you see with idols, actors or even human YouTubers. However, greater attention also brought greater scrutiny, albeit familiar criticism. The anime-style design and the wardrobe selections for virtual YouTubers has gotten them tagged as “ moe ,” a slang term applied to cartoon characters who generate an intense attachment from fans. Moe, along with the image of “otaku,” have long been contentious topics in Japan, mainly due to how women are portrayed in animated form (see, for example, the recent controversy over “ moe-style” fairy-tale books ). Unsurprisingly, another recent criticism of virtual YouTubers is the lack of male characters . They do exist , but come nowhere close to appearing on “top ranking” charts or representing the community beyond the internet. Check out this virtual YouTube event in Akihabara, which features all female characters , or simply note how most viewers are male based on data collected by CyberV . The flap over Kizuna AI’s appearance on TV for the Nobel panel became less about virtual YouTubers, and more about using virtual YouTubers as avatars for different talking points. Those offended by NHK’s move talked about the sexualizing of 3D bodies or the negative effects of “moe” in general . One much-shared essay placed the Kizuna AI incident among other recent controversies on TV, showing the rough position women have in society today. As for the other side, Gizmodo Japan put a more positive spin on the impact that virtual YouTubers are having worldwide by inspiring new types of creativity online. Many claimed that it served as a continued attack on moe culture (with one user going so far as to call it a “ genocide on 2D characters ”), which itself offered some a chance to tease feminists and “social justice warriors,” and this carried over to English-language observers as well. The original critics then became the focus of criticism , via a popular Blogos entry about those “attacking Kizuna AI,” emphasizing how the original Yahoo! article got information wrong. Due to heavy criticism online , Senda made her account private . Along the way, someone drew Kizuna AI in Ku Klux Klan clothes to shock people . However, one of the most popular blog posts to come out of this didn’t even take a side — it simply observed how, while discussion between clashing parties can be good, nobody involved in this seemed like they were reaching out to the other in good faith. It’s a mess and, ultimately, the virtual YouTuber debate over the past week became a something of a microcosm for many of the strains of discourse online in 2018.
|
social media;nhk;japan pulse;kizuna ai
|
jp0009633
|
[
"national",
"media-national"
] |
2018/10/13
|
Natural disasters shake the nation to attention in 2018
|
You wake to pitch blackness, the house shaking crazily. Nightmare? Yes — a waking one. “Where are my glasses?” You’re helpless without your glasses. The shaking gets worse. Earthquakes, typhoons, torrential rain, withering heat — this summer was a crash course in coping with natural onslaughts. The education is painful but necessary. Worse is to come — if not something unforeseen, then the very luridly foreseen Nankai Trough megaquake. Projections are legion: magnitude 9, 300,000 deaths, ¥1.4 quadrillion worth of damage, 4.3 million refugees; 70, 80 or 90 percent likely to happen within 30 years, with devastation radiating from an epicenter off southwestern Honshu through Nagoya, Chiba, Yokohama and Tokyo. Imagine, says Shukan Gendai magazine — sometimes it’s the relatively small calamities that seize the imagination — 17,000 people stuck between floors in disabled elevators. Elevators present twin terrors: being stuck in one and being stuck without one. If you live high up in a tall building, with the power down and the water off, your 19th-floor apartment can be a claustrophobic prison, as it was following September’s Hokkaido quake for a Sapporo man Shukan Gendai spoke to. He’s in his 40s and healthy. Trudging up and down 19 flights of stairs for food, bottled water and whatever other needs two days of utility paralysis generate was exhausting but tolerable. But if you’re ill? Infirm? Old? There’s no law that says earthquakes must occur, or are more likely to occur, in the dead of night, but many seem to. The Hokkaido one did, and a rude awakening it was. You come to your senses, grasp what’s happening, grope for your glasses — where are they? Maybe it doesn’t matter. You can’t see in the dark anyway. Flashlight — there’s a flashlight somewhere. Where? You need a flashlight to find a flashlight. You hadn’t thought of that pre-quake! There are many things, says Shukan Gendai, you don’t think of pre-quake. Let us say, it says, that the quake finds you drowning your sorrows, or raising your spirits, with spirits — you’re drunk, in other words. Whether you’ve been partying or moping is suddenly beside the point. The ground is opening beneath your feet, tossing you about like a rag doll. How will you get home? Where is home? You stagger outside. It’s pitch dark, not a light on anywhere. Maybe you promise yourself then and there never to drink again. Or maybe you stagger back into the bar, if it’s still standing, plant yourself on the stool you just vacated, if that’s still standing, and order another whiskey, if the bartender is still standing. In a magnitude 9 earthquake, they probably wouldn’t be. The first reality of natural disasters is that they kill people. The second is that they displace people — by the thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands. Homelessness seems preferable to death, but the relief of survival ebbs in the ordeal ahead. Death is the end of all ordeals; homelessness the beginning of a potentially very great, very long one. The dread it inspires is suggested by the choice many make to sleep privately in their cars rather than en masse in a shelter. The April 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes killed 55 directly and 170 indirectly. Among the indirect fatalities, Kyodo News reported, 41 — 24 percent — had spent at least one night in a vehicle, risking potentially lethal deep vein thrombosis, better known as economy class syndrome. “Privacy,” architect Shigeru Ban told the Asahi Shimbun in an interview published last month, “is the most basic human right there is.” Disaster deprives us of it. Ban seeks to minimize the extent to which it does so. He converts mass space into personal space. He builds walls, partitions, rooms. His iconic building material is the cardboard tube — recycled paper. He’s famous worldwide, much in demand in areas reduced to rubble. Not in his homeland, however. “I’ve been called to Turkey, to Nepal, many places,” he tells the Asahi. “In Japan, no one has ever called me.” He goes anyway, on his own initiative — to Kobe in 1995 after the Great Hanshin Earthquake, to Niigata in 2004 after the Chuetsu Earthquake, to Fukushima in 2011 after the Great East Japan Earthquake, to Kumamoto, to Hokkaido. He’s won the Pritzker Prize, architecture’s most prestigious award. Why does Japan alone scorn his services? “Wherever I go” in Japan, he says, “I get the same response from the local government: ‘We don’t need you, there’s no precedent.’ Unpartitioned space is easier to manage, you see. Behind partitions, people may drink and cause trouble.” Ban explains, wheedles, cajoles and finally secures permission to work, but it’s an uphill battle. The lack of privacy, he says, “is why people would rather sleep in their cars than go to a shelter.” And yet privacy has shallow roots in Japan. The very word had to be borrowed from English to name a novelty of 19th-century Westernization. Traditional homes had no corridors between rooms. Such partitions as there were — screens of thin shoji paper — would hardly have met Ban’s standards. The private conversation would have been impossible; private meditation nearly so. It’s a fine line, the Japanese have discovered since then, between privacy as a luxury and privacy as a burden. The price to pay for the enrichment it affords is the isolation it imposes. How private — how alone — does one want to be? The answer will vary from individual to individual, and within the same individual from time to time. Alone, we crave company; in company, relief from company. How much the more so when disaster strikes, throwing us into company that is haphazard or privacy that is a locked car. It’s not the worst fear as we look ahead to nature’s next murderous caprice — but it’s not the least one either.
|
natural disaster;earthquakes;heat waves;typhoons
|
jp0009634
|
[
"national",
"media-national"
] |
2018/10/13
|
Can female surgeons dismantle stereotypes in Japan?
|
The long-running American TV series “Grey’s Anatomy” is popular because of the way it mixes standard medical drama with mushy romantic intrigue, but another part of its appeal is the makeup of its characters. The drama takes place in the surgical department of a Seattle hospital, and half the doctors are women. About half are also African-Americans, with other minorities thrown in, as well as some LGBT characters. As with the romantic elements’ relation to real life, the cast is not representative of the American medical world as a whole. Only 19 percent of practicing U.S. surgeons are female . As a field, surgery has always been something of a boys club. In Japan, the ratio of surgeons who are female is even smaller — 5.2 percent — and one of the excuses given by people who defend Tokyo Medical University’s habit of reducing entrance test scores for female applicants is that the school doesn’t want to go to the trouble and expense of training surgeons who will quit after they have children. In a recent series, the weekly magazine Gendai quoted one doctor as saying “surgery requires physical power” that women don’t possess. This is, of course, nonsense. “Grey’s Anatomy” is fluff and not above assigning characters traditional gender roles, but the female surgeons are just as physically resilient as the male surgeons. It’s never an issue on the show, and common sense says it isn’t one in real life. In this regard, it’s almost a shame that TV Asahi decided to discontinue its medical drama series “ Doctor X ” after five seasons by killing off its protagonist with a tumor, since it might have addressed something along the lines of the Tokyo Medical University scandal. On Sept. 30, they rebroadcast a special two-hour episode from 2016, and though it’s tempting to think TV Asahi was making a comment on the scandal, it apparently had more to do with promoting a new fall drama series starring the same actress who played Doctor X, Ryoko Yonekura, except this time she’s a lawyer. The name of the new series? “ Legal V .” The “real” name of Doctor X is Michiko Daimon, and she’s a surgeon — and not just any surgeon: She’s a lone-wolf super-surgeon, a freelance cutter who can treat any organ or condition with equal facility. Her modus operandi is swooping into a university hospital, shaking up the staid and invariably all-male surgical staff and successfully performing operations that are usually deemed too risky or downright impossible. She’s also incredibly feminine, with makeup and hairstyling that remain impeccable even when she’s operating, stiletto heels and short tight skirts. Her demeanor is haughty and aggressive, almost arrogant, as if she were compensating for the almost complete dearth of women surgeons in Japan. It’s a little over-the-top. “Doctor X” is even more of a fantasy than “Grey’s Anatomy,” owing mainly to the prerogatives of Japanese TV drama, but if it inspires girls to want to become surgeons, then it has more purpose than its silly premise lets on. All circumstances and situations in the stories are exaggerations, but they do show how the medical profession in Japan is a monument to convention that, in the end, benefits doctors more than patients. Dr. Daimon may be full of herself — “I never fail” is her mantra — but the welfare of her patients is the paramount consideration in any case she accepts, and the series was careful to contrast this attitude with that of her male colleagues, who are more interested in preserving their positions. Making Doctor X a woman is not just a stab at topicality. By being a woman, the character is as far removed from the medical establishment as she can be. Only she can change things. The two-hour special was about a hospital in Kanazawa whose mission is to do away with surgery. All ailments will someday be treated with drugs, thus obviating the need for invasive techniques, and while this is a desirable goal, the main impetus in the hospital’s case is money. It pursues its mission in concert with a local pharmaceutical company that needs the good publicity to sell more of its drugs nationwide. Daimon is hired by the hospital’s crafty chief, Dr. Kurosu, played by comedian/filmmaker Takeshi Kitano. Later, through a convoluted series of events, she injures her hand and is let go just before she is to operate on a world-famous figure skater. With the media in full thrall, the hospital then treats the skater’s condition with new, experimental drugs. The doctor eventually comes roaring back, putting the male staff in their places, though the show’s overblown hero posturing undermines whatever message it could deliver in favor of female empowerment. In the Gendai article, cartoonist Yoshinori Kobayashi, in making the case that people prefer male to female surgeons, commented: “Of course, if you get Doctor Michiko Daimon, you might feel reassured, but that’s just fiction. No such person exists. What if your surgeon is menstruating or pregnant? What will happen then?” Despite falling in love and occasionally manifesting what some would call “a maternal instinct,” Daimon didn’t seem interested in getting married or having children. She was too dedicated to her work, which implies that a female surgeon needs to abandon any notion of becoming a wife and mother. “Grey’s Anatomy” tries to show on a continuing basis how dated this idea is. Female surgeons on the show regularly get married and have children, all the while performing miracle procedures and conducting vanguard research. Maybe it’s beyond the pale, but one of the better attributes of popular culture is how it can depict the ideal, no matter how outlandish the presentation. “Doctor X” gets halfway there by showing how female doctors can help unblock a sclerotic medical culture. The fact that it’s the culture itself that prevents women from making a difference is enough of a reason to tear it all down.
|
medicine;tokyo medical university;surgery gret 's anatomy;doctor x
|
jp0009635
|
[
"business",
"economy-business"
] |
2018/10/14
|
Japan's prime minister to formally announce sales tax hike to 10 percent from next October
|
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday will formally announce that the government will raise the consumption tax to 10 percent from the current 8 percent in October 2019, government sources said Sunday. Abe is expected to make the announcement following an extraordinary Cabinet meeting where a supplementary budget for fiscal 2018 is likely to be approved. He has said the government will raise the consumption tax next fall as scheduled unless significant economic turmoil occurs. As the envisioned tax hike is expected to dampen consumption as seen in the past hikes, the Abe government will instruct ministries and agencies to take steps to prevent the economy from deteriorating by encouraging purchases of houses and cars through incentives such as tax breaks. It is considering to pay up to ¥500,000 to those who buy a house with annual income of 7.75 million or less. Another possible option on the table is giving monetary points to consumers who purchase goods at small stores with credit cards, as the government is also trying to promote cashless payments. Japan raised the consumption tax from 3 percent to 5 percent in April 1997. The rate was hiked to the current 8 percent in April 2014 under Abe’s administration. Although the tax hike from 8 percent to 10 percent has been treated as the second stage of a two-stage consumption tax hike from 5 percent to 10 percent, Abe has pushed backed the schedule twice, first from October 2015 to April 2017, and then to October 2019 due to fears it could derail the fragile economy. Tokyo’s last tax hike in April 2014 was blamed for pushing the country into a brief recession. While a consumption tax hike is always unpopular with voters, the International Monetary Fund has long asked Tokyo to raise the tax rate to secure sustainable revenues and improve its tattered finances. IMF chief Christine Lagarde warned earlier this month that the challenges facing the country will “only grow as Japan’s population continues to age and shrink,” noting that both the size of the economy and the population are on track to shrink by a quarter over the next 40 years. Lagarde met with Abe earlier this month and told him that Japan should make sure that the hike will not negatively affect the economy. The IMF recommends “that the 2019 consumption tax increase be accompanied by carefully designed mitigating measures to protect near-term reflation and growth momentum. We believe that the fiscal stance should certainly remain neutral at least for the next two years,” she said. Critics also say that raising the tax from 8 percent to 10 percent is crucial to finance snowballing social security expenditures — especially medical fees — in the rapidly aging society. Abe recently said that reforming the country’s social security system — pension and national health insurance, among others — is “the biggest challenge” ahead and pledged to tackle the issue In addition, the world’s third-largest economy has one of the highest debt-to-GDP ratios among rich nations. Much of it is held domestically at low interest rates, allowing Japan to avoid a Greek-style cash crunch. But a loss of confidence in Tokyo’s ability to pay its debts could send interest rates soaring and increase the risk of a bankruptcy. Ratings agencies have previously cut Japan’s credit standing over its debt levels. The IMF says Japan should continue to gradually increase the consumption tax to at least 15 percent to pay for the cost of caring for a rapidly aging population while reducing its massive public debt.
|
shinzo abe;debt;taxes;abenomics
|
jp0009636
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"politics-diplomacy-asia-pacific"
] |
2018/10/14
|
Anwar paves way to Malaysia leadership with Parliament seat
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KUALA LUMPUR - Anwar Ibrahim has emerged as the winner in a district by-election, clearing the way for the formerly jailed leader to become the nation’s eighth prime minister. Anwar, 71, leader of the largest party in the ruling coalition, is set to be inaugurated on Monday after winning 71 percent of votes against six other candidates for a Parliament seat, the Election Commission announced Saturday. Polling at the coastal town of Port Dickson ended at 5 p.m. local time with voter turnout at 58 percent. “The results exceeded our expectations because we obtained a convincing majority,” Anwar said after being declared the victor. “We were able to convincingly win the support of all races,” he said, referring to the constituency’s ethnic split of Malays, Chinese and Indians. While he’s set to replace Mahathir Mohamad as prime minister in a year or two, he has tempered expectations of taking an immediate role in the cabinet. He would first focus on developing his constituency as a tourism destination while working on reforms in the legislative body, giving Mahathir space to run the government. Mahathir has vouched for this, and appeared by Anwar’s side at a rally Monday. The Pakatan Harapan coalition engineered the by-election to realize its succession plan for Anwar. The group chose Mahathir as their interim prime minister candidate and Anwar’s wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail as the deputy for the election in May, as Anwar was ineligible to contest due to a sodomy conviction that’s been widely criticized as political. His full pardon and release was granted within a week of the coalition’s victory. In August, he became the president of People’s Justice Party, the largest in the alliance, without contest. The ruling coalition’s unity rests on relations between Anwar and Mahathir, who have a fraught history going back to the 1990s. Mahathir decided to sack Anwar as his deputy amid debates on how best to respond to the Asian financial crisis in 1998. Anwar was then jailed twice, once for committing sodomy and abusing power, and a second time for a subsequent sodomy conviction. He has denied the charges. Mahathir hasn’t committed to a timeline for the handover, though Anwar has consistently said he wants to let the current prime minister complete “the major task” of rooting out corruption. Mahathir is grappling with fulfilling campaign promises with a budget that’s constrained by debt and liabilities, all while seeking to get to the bottom of the globe-spanning 1MDB scandal in order to recoup $4.5 billion of potentially missing funds. “This sort of teamwork will be very essential for him to continue getting the latitude and space without any encumbrances, and for me to assume the position much later,” Anwar said in a September interview. “We’ve accepted the fact that the country must be saved, that the country takes precedence.”
|
anwar ibrahim;malaysia;elections;mahathir mohamad
|
jp0009637
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"crime-legal-asia-pacific"
] |
2018/10/14
|
Against narcotics, but also killings: Filipinos deeply conflicted on Rodrigo Duterte's drug war
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MANILA - Jailed drug user Bitoy Paras perks up when describing his support for Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s deadly war on narcotics, an unlikely fan of a campaign that has left Filipinos deeply conflicted. “Duterte talks tough, saying he will get rid of addicts … I am happy he’s doing that,” he said at Manila’s main jail, which is packed with drug suspects. “But I feel uneasy about the killings,” said the 22-year-old rickshaw driver, whose real name cannot be used due to prison policy. Paras’s seemingly paradoxical backing echoes that of millions of Filipinos, who polls say support the crackdown but not the thousands of slayings that are central to it. Duterte’s drug war — his signature initiative — helped bring him to power in mid-2016, promising to rid society of narcotics by any means necessary. Since then, police say they have killed 4,854 alleged drug users or dealers in self-defence, while rights groups estimate the true toll is at least triple that. According to the latest survey by pollster SWS, the campaign still has the backing of 78 percent of Filipinos, a figure undented in over a year. Drug war proponents regularly point to these statistics as proof that the internationally condemned crackdown is the will of the people. But those same polls show near unanimous agreement — 96 percent — among the nation in opposition to the killing, saying the suspects should be taken alive. Experts say Duterte’s campaign has tapped into genuine popular outrage over disorder, crime and dysfunction in a developing nation with millions of poor people and a turbulent political past. “It’s not like they’re turning a blind eye (to the killing), but they’re really worried about the drug problem,” said Steven Rood, a fellow-in-residence at SWS. “It has been a problem for a long time and finally the president of the Philippines is doing something about it,” he added, describing how many Filipinos view the narcotics issue. But for the family of Duterte voter Katherine Bautista, that belief was suddenly turned on its head by tragedy last year. Bautista supported the crackdown until her stepson John Jezreel David was shot dead in what police said was an anti-drug operation, even as she insisted her son was not a drug user. “I was even saying that the tears of families (of those killed) seemed fake. But when it happened to us, I felt the pain they were feeling,” Bautista said. “If it doesn’t happen to your family, you won’t wake up to the truth,” she added. A significant strand in the opposition to the killings is the fear a loved could be slain just by being in the wrong place, not necessarily because of involvement in drugs. “People feel very afraid that their families or their relatives might be placed in a situation where they could be the targets,” said Randy David, a sociologist and newspaper columnist in Manila. “But how can you possibly disagree or not lend support for a campaign to rid this country of illegal drugs?” David added, saying the lethal methods were what prompted questions. There has been broader condemnation of the crackdown at home and abroad. Rare protests were held in the Philippines last year following the deaths of teenagers, while outrage over alleged abuses has prompted Duterte to twice remove police from the frontlines of the campaign — only to reinstate them and promise to pardon officers convicted of murder. The International Criminal Court has launched a preliminary examination into the killings, while rights groups say Duterte may be overseeing a crime against humanity. Meanwhile, Duterte hammers the menace posed by drugs in near daily speeches in which he has described addicts as “not human.” Analysts say the president uses clear and repeated messaging in an effort to buttress backing for his campaign. “The way (the message) is delivered is that there is a very big threat, so first there’s the production of massive fear,” said Ateneo de Manila University psychology professor Cristina Montiel. “Then (comes) the salvific message that this programme or this leader is here to save you,” she added. “That’s how popular support is produced.” As the campaign continues, the death toll is well over Amnesty International’s count of 3,240 people killed during the nine years of martial law rule under dictator Ferdinand Marcos, the country’s darkest chapter since World War II. Duterte recently addressed the thorny issue of the killings, delivering what critics called a clear admission they are suspect. “What are my sins? Did I steal money? Even just one peso? Did I prosecute somebody I sent to jail?” he asked in a September speech. “My only sin is extrajudicial killings.”
|
murder;drugs;philippines;rights;rodrigo duterte;extrajudicial killings;police
|
jp0009638
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"offbeat-asia-pacific"
] |
2018/10/14
|
Kangaroo attack leaves three hurt
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SYDNEY - Three members of an Australian family used a broom and a shovel to fight off a rare attack by a large kangaroo that left all of them injured, one seriously. Linda Smith, 64, suffered a collapsed lung, broken ribs, cuts and other internal injuries, and underwent surgery in a hospital on Sunday after the Saturday evening attack at her property in the Darling Downs region of Queensland. The wildlife carer and her husband, Jim, had been feeding 30 kangaroos and wallabies at their property every night amid a severe drought that has depleted their food sources. One of the large males — at least 6 feet tall (1.8 meters) — turned on her husband as he fed it, she told Queensland Ambulance Service. “Jim was on the ground and the kangaroo just kept at him. I went outside to try and help him and took a broom and a piece of bread, but he knocked the broom out of my hand, then attacked me,” Smith said. The 64-year-old managed to get the roo off her husband and grabbed a piece of wood to defend herself while her 40-year-old son “came out to try and help me and hit him over the head with a shovel.” The kangaroo then hopped off back into the bush. Smith, who has been a wildlife carer for 15 years, said she did not want the marsupial to be hunted down. Calling what happened “an act of nature,” Smith said she was always aware she was dealing with wildlife. “I am always careful, especially of the males. It’s breeding time so they can be more aggressive. I don’t want this kangaroo to be hunted down and killed, I love animals,” she added. “I do understand what happened but I have never seen one that aggressive — it was in there for a fight and it wouldn’t back off.” Queensland Ambulance Service’s senior operations supervisor Stephen Jones said the attack was “rare.” “They are known to attack and can be quite vicious, particularly the large males. But it is something that is uncommon, something that I haven’t come across in my 30-odd years in the service,” Jones told AFP. He added that if Smith had not intervened to help her husband, who suffered multiple cuts and abrasions to his arms, chest and legs, he could have suffered more serious injuries and “the outcome may have even been death.” There are more than 46 million kangaroos across Australia according to a government count last year, but conservationists warn that population numbers are falling amid a long drought in the vast continent’s east.
|
nature;australia;animals;kangaroos
|
jp0009639
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/10/14
|
After 16 years, Fukushima's Aizu Koshihikari still the brand of choice for popular Tokyo rice ball shop
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A popular rice ball shop stands near Tokyo Station’s Yaesu Central Gate, drawing long lines of customers waiting to buy products made with rice from Aizu, Fukushima Prefecture, known for remaining soft with a touch of sweetness even when it gets cold. As it takes less than a minute to make the rice balls, customers don’t have to wait long at Honnoriya, a rice ball chain operated by JR East Food Business Co. From actors, athletes and comedians to politicians and culinary maestros, many say they are fans of the rice balls. After it was featured on the popular TBS television show “Matsuko no Shiranai Sekai” (“The World Unknown to Matsuko”), a rush of traffic swarmed Honnoriya’s website, temporarily shutting it down. Sadafumi Yamagiwa, president of JR East Food, said the secret of the chain’s popularity is the quality of the rice — Koshihikari rice produced in Fukushima’s Aizu region. “It’s because the rice tastes good. The Aizu Koshihikari rice is chewy, making it different from other rice,” Yamagiwa said. The firm uses Aizu Koshihikari in all of its 13 outlets located in Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba. At the main shop in Tokyo, around 7,000 rice balls are sold on busy days. In fiscal 2017, a total of 252 tons of rice were consumed at its 13 stores. Since Honnoriya opened its first outlet at Tokyo Station in March 2002, it has continued to use Koshihikari brand. Despite having been awarded the top “special A” ranking by the Japan Grain Inspection Association, Aizu Koshihikari is cheap compared with other varieties produced in different regions, Yamagiwa said. Following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and the ensuing nuclear meltdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, many consumers avoided produce from the prefecture. The company also received many inquiries about the safety of the rice, and employee opinions differed over which brand should be used. But as blanket radiation checks conducted on Fukushima-grown rice found no radioactive material, such concern gradually eased, Yamagiwa said. He stressed that the company has been using Aizu Koshihikari solely for the reason that it tastes good. “It’s not like we’ve been using the rice to support the disaster-hit regions,” he said. Each year, the company chooses a rice brand after comparing the tastes of different varieties produced in different parts of the country. For the past 16 years, there has been no rice that surpassed Koshihikari produced in Aizu, Yamagiwa said, meaning that Aizu Koshihikari has consistently won the internal competition every single year.
|
fukushima;food;rice;honnoriya
|
jp0009640
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/10/14
|
Juntendo and Showa universities' medical faculties suspected of rigging entrance exam results based on gender
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Juntendo University and Showa University are suspected of rigging the results of entrance examinations for their respective medical faculties in the same way Tokyo Medical University did, informed sources said Saturday. Juntendo and Showa, both in Tokyo, are believed to have applied different test judgment criteria on the basis of gender and the number of exam failures in the past, according to sources familiar with the results so far of the education ministry’s emergency survey of universities with medical departments. The sources also said that male applicants’ exam pass rate was higher than female applicants’ at some 80 percent of the 81 universities surveyed, but only Tokyo Medical University admitted misconduct, such as through manipulating test scores of female applicants. Based on data over the past six years, Juntendo’s male-to-female acceptance ratio proved to be the highest, at 1.67-to-1, followed by Showa’s 1.54-to-1, the sources noted. At a news conference on Friday, education minister Masahiko Shibayama said multiple universities with medical faculties were found to have rigged entrance exam results. He did not identify them. The ministry plans to release an interim report on the survey this month and a final report by the year-end.
|
education;entrance exams;showa university;juntendo university;medical schools;tokyo medical university
|
jp0009641
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2018/10/22
|
Stocks erase early losses, following rise in Shanghai bourse
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Stocks wiped out early losses to close higher Monday, assisted by a jump in Chinese equities. The Nikkei 225 average rebounded 82.74 points, or 0.37 percent, to end at 22,614.82. On Friday, the key market gauge lost 126.08 points. The Topix, which covers all first-section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, finished 2.46 points, or 0.15 percent, higher at 1,695.31 after dropping 11.79 points Friday. After opening lower, both indexes stayed in negative territory throughout the morning as investors refrained from active buying ahead of earnings releases from major companies later this week, brokers said. In the afternoon, however, the closely watched key market gauges popped into the positive side, supported by small-lot buying after a surge of over 4 percent in the key Shanghai stock index, brokers said. Some food and cosmetics issues got a boost from strong Chinese stocks following Beijing’s reported income tax deduction plan for individuals, an official of a major securities firm said. “Investors took a wait-and-see stance ahead of the earnings season and trading is likely to continue thin tomorrow,” the official said. Yutaka Miura, senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities Co., said he expects brisk corporate earnings reports for April-September and cautious full-year business forecasts. The earnings reports will likely support the market’s downside but not drive stocks sharply higher, Miura said. Rising issues outnumbered falling ones 1,216 to 792 in the TSE’s first section, while 100 issues were unchanged. Volume decreased to 1.135 billion shares from 1.281 billion Friday. Major gainers in the cosmetics sector included Shiseido, Kose and Pola Orbis. Defense-related Howa Machinery and Ishikawa Seisakusho jumped on growing geopolitical concerns after U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday he intends to withdraw his country from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia. Howa Machinery surged 5.32 percent and Ishikawa Seisakusho 11.92 percent. Among other major winners were mega-bank groups Mitsubishi UFJ, Sumitomo Mitsui and Mizuho, and clothing retailer Fast Retailing. By contrast, Kawasaki Heavy briefly hit a year-to-date low of ¥2,803 and closed 9.28 percent lower after the company Friday lowered its consolidated earnings forecast for the year to March. Also weaker were mobile phone carrier SoftBank Group and game maker Nintendo.
|
stocks;tse;nikkei 225
|
jp0009642
|
[
"world",
"social-issues-world"
] |
2018/10/22
|
Chilean court orders Catholic Church to pay damages over priest's decades of abuse of trio: report
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SANTIAGO - Chile’s Court of Appeal has ordered the office of Santiago’s Archbishop to pay 450 million pesos ($650,000) to three men who alleged they were sexually abused for decades by Chilean priest Fernando Karadima, a local newspaper reported on Sunday. Citing a copy of a leaked judgment, La Tercera said the three judges who heard the case on Thursday found in favor of an appeal for “moral damages” against the church for allegedly covering up the crimes. The case was previously rejected by a lower court for lack of evidence. Reuters could not independently confirm the report. The Santiago Archbishopric, which could appeal to Chile’s Supreme Court, said it was considering “what steps to take.” If confirmed by the court on Monday, it would be the first damages order to have been leveled against Chile’s powerful Roman Catholic Church for a scandal of sex abuse and cover-up that prompted Pope Francis to apologize to its faithful. Legal experts have said it could pave the way for more claims amid a new climate of discovery which has seen hundreds of people come forward to allege they were abused and criminal prosecutors launch scores of new investigations. In a statement hailing the reported verdict, claimants James Hamilton, Jose Andres Murillo and Juan Carlos Cruz — who were invited to Rome earlier this year to tell the pope about their alleged abuse — said it was the culmination of a “journey that was long and painful, but worth it. “We are witnessing an important cultural shift, in which the abuses of the powerful are beginning to be seen as unacceptable, and Justice is confirming that,” they said. Their lawyer, Juan Pablo Hermosilla, told Reuters they believed the report was credible but added: “I don’t have official confirmation yet.” Karadima worked for the Santiago Archbishopric as a parish priest in the wealthy suburb of El Bosque for 21 years between 1985 to 2006. Now 88 and living in a nursing home in the capital, Karadima has always denied accusations of abuse. He was never charged by civilian authorities because the statute of limitations on such crimes had expired. He was found guilty of sexual abuse in a Vatican investigation in 2011, and last month was defrocked by the Pope. Hermosilla said that since the case was rejected by a lower court, new evidence had emerged including an email written in 2009 from a former archbishop, Cardinal Francisco Errazuriz, to the then papal nuncio that was read to the court on Thursday. In the email, Errazuriz described the trio of accusers as “aggressive” and said he was closing the case against Karadima. In a statement responding to the report of a verdict, the Santiago Archbishopric said it did not know the court’s ruling, but that it would have to study it and recent developments in the case before deciding how to act. “We must analyze the situation, together with the ruling, to resolve what steps to take,” the archbishopric’s statement said.
|
chile;pope francis;roman catholic church;sex abuse;fernando karadima
|
jp0009644
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"social-issues-asia-pacific"
] |
2018/10/22
|
Women live in fear as spycam epidemic takes hold in South Korea
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SEOUL - South Korea is in the grip of a spycam epidemic, with covert footage of sex, nudity and urination posted online in what amounts to a “social death penalty” for thousands of women forced to live with a pornographic shadow. The footage may be taken surreptitiously by boyfriends or captured on covert devices as small as car keys. Daily camera checks are now part of life for cleaners in many public toilets. The spy camera phenomenon has reached such epidemic proportions in tech-savvy South Korea that tens of thousands of women have taken to the streets to march for action. Women’s groups want greater rights in all walks of life and say the spycam scandal is indicative of wider sexism in society. Under fire for moving too slowly, the government has enacted a slew of measures, including the formation of a task force to help victims and increased inspections in risky public places. “The situation is getting out of hand,” Ryu Hye-jin from the government-backed Women’s Human Rights Institute of Korea, which oversees the task force, said. “Since the establishment of the task force, many victims have called and reached out to us,” she said at her office. In April, her 16-member force launched a free service to help victims remove illicitly filmed footage from the web. The team has been inundated. So far, it has handled some 15,000 requests to remove footage and counselled 3,000-plus victims. SOCIAL DEATH’ Perpetrators typically use tiny devices that can easily film women in public places, such as toilets or changing rooms, and later sell the footage to porn sites for profit. The footage shows women undressing or having sex and can be sold for up to 100,000 won ($90), with top earners netting more than 100 million won a month, according to unverified media reports. In many cases, however, the filming is done by partners — with or without consent — at home or in love hotels, and later used as a form of revenge if the relationship turns sour. “It sends the victims into depression because there is no end to it. It is on the internet forever. It’s a social death penalty,” said Ryu, head of counseling at the task force. Last month, city officials in Seoul said they will assign extra staff to conduct daily checks in public toilets, after official inspectors failed to uncover any hidden cameras. Women who fall victim to the hidden camera have previously turned to “digital laundries,” private firms that remove the videos for a fee, giving rise to a lucrative, new industry. However, the new task force now offers the same services for free, and has taken over the bulk of such work. Making and distributing pornographic materials is punishable under South Korean law, but it remains widespread. The number of spycam porn cases jumped to nearly 6,500 in 2017, from about 2,400 in 2012, according to the domestic Yonhap news agency. Activists say the “laundry” services only go a small way to righting the wrong and that it is just as important to educate people about gender equality, sexual stereotypes and consent. Campaigner Park Soo-yeon said many victims were not even aware they were the subject of such videos, and were reluctant to speak out when they did find out, cowed by social stigma. “These are the people who are trying to hide themselves as much as possible,” Park, who always carries a hidden camera detector, said at her office in the suburbs of Seoul. A fierce government critic, the 22-year-old activist founded the group Digital Sexual Crime Out in 2015 and was credited with bringing down a notorious porn website, Soranet, in 2016. The illicit porn website, set up in 1999 and which had claimed more than a million users, had hosted thousands of videos of women that were filmed without their consent. “What we need to tell people is that this is a crime, this is sexual violence, this is not porn,” said Park, who called for the sales of hidden cameras to be tightened and regulated. NEVER GONE It is virtually impossible to destroy all online traces of illicit images. After a victim asks for help, the task force scours websites to look for the footage in question and — if successful — contacts the website, asking them to remove the video. Should they fail to comply, the task force can ask the authorities to restrict access to the site — but this only applies in South Korea, meaning overseas users can still watch. “These websites are all over the world and every country has different laws. It is really hard to get to a point where we can punish all the perpetrators,” said Song Eugene, a counselor at the task force. She said it has been difficult for victims to speak up about the issue in South Korea, where discussions about women’s rights are still sometimes seen as taboo in a male-dominated society. “It’s important for women to speak up about the issue to create awareness about the pain that has been inflicted.” Ryu said there is no way to stop such crimes so long as women are routinely seen as sex objects. “What we need is to change the way our society treats our women,” she said.
|
women;privacy;south korea;sex crimes;pornography;revenge porn
|
jp0009645
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/10/22
|
Mountain biking project creates job opportunities in depopulated Aichi Prefecture district
|
An ongoing project to create employment opportunities in the depopulated Inabu district of Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, is beginning to bear fruit, as a college student and two other people accepted job offers of working five days a week — three at a local factory and two as mountain biking guides. The Inabu Base Project, launched by some mountain-bike lovers from Aichi and local car seat cover manufacturer Toyotake Industry Co., aims to revitalize the mountainous district of Inabu by establishing mountain biking trails to attract tourists and creating job opportunities by hiring tour guides. They plan to start bike tours in April. Hayate Endo, 22, of Kawagoe, Saitama Prefecture, is the first college student who will be employed by Toyotake under the project. At the end of August, Endo helped out during a mountain biking lesson attended by five elementary school children, which was held on a grassy plateau in Inabu, about 1,200 meters above sea level, overlooking the Central Alps, which are also known as the Kiso Mountains. The event, organized by the Toyota Municipal Government, gave Endo his first chance to work as a guide. Endo, a fourth-year student at Toyo University and a member of a cycling team, learned of the project in March through Twitter. Although he had been accepted by an IT firm while he was hunting for a job, he said, “I was very wary of my future because I couldn’t imagine myself enjoying working.” Then one day in early July, he got on a night bus to visit Inabu to participate in the project and look for potential mountain bike trails. He said he had been worried whether his love for cycling would be enough to enable him to get along with the locals of a mountainous village where he was a complete stranger. But his worries gradually disappeared as he worked with people devoted to the project and experienced an internship at Toyotake the following day. On the night of the internship, Toyotake President Koshiro Yokota, 43, said to him: “How about challenging yourself to something new in Inabu?” Endo accepted the offer without hesitation. One of the trails, built on privately owned land, was shown to the public in March and Yokota said he was surprised by the unexpected high amount of attention it received. In addition to Endo, Takao Tsuchimoto, 28, who currently works at a bicycle shop in Owariasahi in the prefecture, and Robert Schwietzer, 34, a German who moved to the district after marrying a local Inabu girl, are expected to join the company under the project. Although some problems remain, such as the lack of an established system within the company to train guides and the shortage of housing for rent in the area, the people of Inabu pin high hopes on the project which could bring in young people to the district, whose population dropped more than 20 percent in the last decade to about 2,300. There are many things to be done before starting the tours, including expanding trail routes and renovating a closed school building to use as a base for the tours. “You have to be responsible for your job no matter what you do for a living,” Endo said. “I’m sure new values will be created within myself as I adapt to the new way of working and develop new trails.”
|
workers;depopulation;aichi;mountain bikes;inabu;trails
|
jp0009646
|
[
"national",
"social-issues"
] |
2018/10/22
|
Aging Japan: Unclaimed burial urns pile up in Japan as family ties weaken, kin steer clear
|
YOKOSUKA, KANAGAWA PREF. - Unclaimed urns containing ashes of the dead are piling up by the thousands across Japan, creating storage headaches and reflecting fraying family ties and economic pressures in a rapidly aging nation. The identities of the dead, cremated at public expense, are usually known. But in most cases, relatives either refuse or don’t respond to requests to collect their remains. Burials can be costly and time-consuming, a burden on family members who may hardly know the deceased relative. “When I die, though I have only ¥150,000 ($1,340), will you cremate me and put me in a pauper’s grave? I have no one to collect my remains,” said a note left by a man in his 70s in Yokosuka who died in 2015 and whose urn was later buried at a local temple. The abandoned remains highlight social, economic and demographic changes in Japan, where more elderly live on welfare and families are more scattered, weakening traditional family bonds and obligations. It is a problem that is likely to grow, experts say; deaths in Japan are projected to rise from 1.33 million a year to 1.67 million by 2040, even as the overall population drops. Yokosuka was so overwhelmed with unclaimed urns that it ran out of space in a 300-year-old charnel house that was about to collapse. It combined ashes of different people into a much smaller number of urns that it now stores in a hillside cave, with about 50 newer urns accumulating at the city office. “Space to store them is running out,” said Hitomi Nakamura, an official in the city of Saitama, where the number of unclaimed urns has grown sharply the last few years to more than 1,700. “Many elderly people are living on welfare,” he added, “and many of them may be estranged from their families.” With Japanese wages barely growing, and many children of the elderly living on pensions themselves, managing death costs, including arranging for their burial, can be a burden. A traditional funeral, including food, drinks and gifts for guests, and hiring a Buddhist monk to chant sutras, can cost ¥2 million ($17,800) or more, industry sources say. New businesses have sprung up offering no-frills funerals for $2,000 to $4,000, but other costs can add up, including the hundreds of dollars it may cost to bury the urn at a temple or cemetery. There are more elderly poor than in years past, some of whom cannot afford their own funerals. Nearly 3 percent of elderly were on welfare in 2015, almost double the rate two decades earlier, government statistics show. Just over half of all Japanese on welfare are 65 or older. “There are more people who die alone, with no one to look after cremated remains because of weaker family relationships,” said Hisako Makimura, a visiting professor of sociology at Kansai University. In decades past, it was not uncommon for three generations of family to live together. But experts say that as Japan’s economy has changed, couples have fewer children, and people tend to move farther from home for work, among other factors. Nearly 6,000 urns have accumulated in the city of Fukuoka, while Osaka buried the remains of 2,366 people in a communal grave this year after no one claimed them after one or two years. The number of Japanese age 65 and older will swell from 28 percent of the population to 36 percent by 2040, according to the government-backed National Institute of Population and Social Security Research. “Families and communities used to play roles of taking care of deceased people,” Makimura said. “But the burden on local governments will likely grow as their involvement in dealing with the dead increases.” In Yokosuka, more elderly are dying without leaving funeral instructions or information about relatives. City officials comb through their homes and census registries, and try to contact family members through the mail, often to no avail. “The dead are ordinary citizens. It could happen to anyone,” said Kazuyuki Kitami, a city official. “These bones are warning those of us who are alive that we are poorly prepared.” Noticing that many unclaimed remains were from poor elderly people, Yokosuka in 2015 started an “ending plan support” service for low-income residents with no immediate family members. Individuals pay at least a fifth of the ¥250,000 cremation and burial costs, with the government covering the rest. Dozens have signed up, and in May the city made similar services available to anyone. “I feel so relieved,” said Sumitaka Horiguchi, 80, after signing up for the service and ensuring he will be buried at a local temple. Horiguchi never married and hasn’t seen his three step-siblings in many years, so he worried what would happen to his remains when he died. “My days have changed,” he said from his nursing home. “I feel calm.”
|
osaka;fukuoka;remains;yokosuka;saitama;japan;urns;family ties
|
jp0009647
|
[
"national",
"science-health"
] |
2018/10/22
|
Osamu Shimomura, co-winner of 2008 Nobel Prize in chemistry, dies in Nagasaki aged 90
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Marine biologist Osamu Shimomura, a co-winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize in chemistry, has died at the age of 90, Nagasaki University announced Sunday. Shimomura, a graduate of the university and professor emeritus of Boston University, died of natural causes Friday in the city of Nagasaki. He won the Nobel Prize with Martin Chalfie and Roger Y. Tsien of the United States. They were recognized for the discovery and development of green fluorescent protein (GFP), which has helped researchers establish ways to observe previously invisible processes such as the development of nerve cells in the brain and how cancer cells spread. Born in Fukuchiyama in Kyoto Prefecture in 1928, Shimomura spent his childhood in Manchuria — now northeastern China, when it was under Japanese occupation — as well as Osaka and other locations before moving to Isahaya near Nagasaki. He experienced the U.S. atomic bombing of the city in 1945 when he was 16. In 1951, he graduated from Nagasaki Medical Specialized School, predecessor of the Department of Pharmacy at Nagasaki University, and obtained a Ph.D. in organic chemistry at Nagoya University in 1960. He moved to Princeton University and discovered GFP in 10,000 samples of aequorea victoria jellyfish on the U.S. West Coast. After serving as associate professor at Nagoya University from 1963, he returned to Princeton and then worked as a senior scientist at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, from 1982 until his retirement in 2001.
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obituary;osamu shimomura
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jp0009648
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/10/22
|
Third Japan medical school suspected of having discriminated against applicants: sources
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Juntendo University is suspected of having discriminated against female applicants to its medical school, sources said Monday, in the latest in a series of similar revelations about the manipulation of entrance exams at universities in Japan. The Tokyo-based private university possibly curbed female enrollment at its medical school by assessing their scores against higher passing thresholds, the sources said. The education ministry has asked for an explanation from the university. The ministry surveyed 81 universities across the nation in August after similar manipulation was reported at Tokyo Medical University. In the survey, Juntendo University was found to have had the largest gender gap in its acceptance rate for the past six years. The rate of successful male applicants to successful female applicants stood at 1.67 for that period. Applicants for the university take academic exams first, and those who pass then write an essay and sit for interviews. In the most recent entrance exam this spring, 2,372 men and 1,779 women took the exam for Juntendo University with 239 men and 93 women passing, the ministry said. Following the ministry’s August survey, the university set up an independent committee to investigate the matter. An official at the university denied it had discriminated against women or applicants who had previously failed its entrance exams. But the official also said a private university has “discretion” in entrance exams, which it and the ministry interpret differently. The suspicion regarding Juntendo University comes on the heels of a disclosure of misconduct last week by Tokyo-based Showa University, which admitted to improper admissions practices at its medical school, also since six years ago. But the university denied any discrimination based on gender or age. One of the practices there involved awarding additional points to high school students, or those who had graduated from high school a year earlier, in the second round of entrance examinations when assessing applicants to the Tokyo-based private university’s School of Medicine. The other practice involved giving preferential treatment to children or close relatives of graduates from among reserve applicants when considering their outcomes based on second-term exams, they said.
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gender discrimination;entrance examinations;juntendo university
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jp0009649
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/10/22
|
As Canada legalizes recreational marijuana, Japanese citizens warned the law from home may apply
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Canada’s legalization of the recreational use of marijuana, which went into effect last week, has prompted the Japanese government to issue warnings that Japan’s law on cannabis use may apply to its nationals even when they are abroad. In an Oct. 4 message posted on its website, the Japanese Consulate in Vancouver said that while Canada was set to legalize the possession and use of marijuana on Oct. 17, acts such as possessing or purchasing the drug are illegal in Japan and are subject to legal penalties. It said the Cannabis Control Law may be applicable for actions taken overseas. The consulate asked that Japanese nationals living or traveling abroad respect Japanese law and stay away from marijuana, including food and drink products that contain the substance. An Oct. 11 Japanese language notice issued by the consulate general in Toronto made a similar request. Japan’s law makes growing, importing or exporting marijuana punishable by up to seven years in prison. The punishment can reach up to 10 years — and possibly a maximum ¥3 million fine — for those proven to have engaged in those acts with the intent to profit. Possession, distribution or receipt of marijuana can mean up to five years prison, while those with a profit motive can get a maximum seven-year jail term and up to a ¥2 million fine. An official of the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry suggested that all individuals, not just Japanese nationals, are technically subject to this law, wherever they are. But there are limits to what authorities can do to pursue someone who violates the law when abroad, especially in a country where the acts are legal. “It boils down to whether it can be proven that someone had committed acts in question while abroad after that person returns to Japan,” the official said. “It’s probably difficult to go after a case unless it involves a situation in which the person has been caught abroad and deported to Japan.” Any individual bringing marijuana from overseas to Japan would certainly be subject to the domestic law, and Canada also warns against such action. In an email reply to The Japan Times, John Babcock, a spokesman for Global Affairs Canada, a government organization, said that the legalization of cannabis in Canada will not change the country’s border rules. “Taking cannabis or any product containing cannabis across Canada’s international borders — either exiting or entering — will remain illegal and it can result in serious criminal penalties both at home and abroad. Transporting cannabis used for medical purposes will also remain illegal,” Babcock said. “Each country or territory decides who can enter or exit through its borders. The Government of Canada cannot intervene on your behalf if you do not meet your destination’s entry or exit requirements,” he added. Over the years in Japan, there have been a number of high profile arrests of foreign nationals and Japanese for marijuana possession. In 1980, former Beatle Paul McCartney was caught with eight ounces of marijuana when he arrived at Narita airport and deported nine days later. In 2017, former actress Saya Takagi was sentenced to a year in prison, suspended for three years, for possessing about 55 grams of marijuana, while Koki Tanaka, a former member of the boy band Kat-tun, was arrested for allegedly possessing a small amount of marijuana. Tanaka denied the allegation and prosecutors decided not to indict him. Last year police took action against a record 3,008 people in marijuana-related cases. The National Policy Agency noted that there was a rise in marijuana cases among those between 14 and 19 years old, a fivefold increase since 2013. A separate police survey last year showed that only about 30 percent of those who were investigated for alleged involvement with marijuana thought its use was dangerous.
|
drugs;marijuana;canada;cannabis
|
jp0009650
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/10/22
|
Japan ministries counted dead and retired people in totals to meet legal quotas for disabled employment, panel says
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Ministries and agencies “arbitrarily interpreted” guidelines for employing disabled people and counted people who were retired or even dead among their numbers in an attempt to meet legal quotas, an investigative panel said Monday. The committee of lawyers and other experts tasked with looking into the data falsification concluded that such “sloppy handling” had occurred for decades in some cases. The government has said the percentage of people with disabilities in national office workforces as of June last year was actually 1.17 percent, instead of the 2.50 percent figure previously announced. Japanese law requires public institutions to meet the 2.5 percent quota, while the quota for the private sector is set at 2.2 percent. After recognizing 3,700 people had been inappropriately included in the total workforce reported for 28 of the 33 national administrative entities it surveyed, the investigative panel said in its report that the situation was “extremely serious.” The misconduct is regarded as having overshadowed Japan’s aim to achieve a more inclusive society. Separately, the labor ministry announced that local municipalities last year inflated the number of disabled people reported as employed by more than 3,800. The government bodies failed to check disability certificates or other information for 3,426 of them, and also counted 91 people who had retired — including three who are dead — according to the report. “There is no excuse,” said Gan Matsui, a former superintending prosecutor at the Fukuoka High Public Prosecutor’s Office who headed the panel, at a press conference. The panel found the National Tax Agency’s overstatement was most serious, inappropriately counting 1,103 people, followed by the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry with 629 miscounted including 74 people who had already retired. The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry and the Environment Ministry counted staff with limited eyesight based on their uncorrected vision, rather than corrected vision, according to the report. Most entities were unable to indicate when the falsification began, although the Finance Ministry said it started around 1960 or later. The panel said the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, which is in charge of promoting employment of the disabled, neglected to fully grasp the situation for many years. “We will give serious attention to the probe results,” said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, adding that the government will work to prevent such malpractice and achieve the legal quotas properly. While all surveyed entities denied intentionally misreporting employment data, the panel said it can assume they had intended to overstate the numbers “to meet the legal rates.” The labor ministry requires government agencies and private companies to report employment rates of the disabled as of June 1 every year. “The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry and every administrative entity has been given harsh reviews,” labor minister Takumi Nemoto said. “We will give serious thought to this situation.” On Monday, the government said it plans to employ by the end of fiscal 2019 a total of 4,073 people with disabilities at public institutions that have failed to meet their quotas. It also announced preventive measures, including keeping a list of disabled employees at each public institution and copies of their disability certificates and other necessary documents. A law promoting the employment of people with disabilities requires central and local governments and private companies to hire, in principle, people with physical or mental disability certificates, as well as those with intellectual disabilities. If a company with more than 100 employees fails to meet the target, a fine of up to ¥50,000 per employee shortfall per month is charged and in some cases its name is disclosed, while such a rule is not applied to government bodies. In June the labor ministry began investigating ministries and agencies over allegations of misreporting dating back to 1976, after receiving several inquiries about how to calculate the employment rates of disabled people. The government announced in August that its investigation had confirmed 27 national administrative entities inflated reported numbers of disabled employees by a total of about 3,460. The number was revised upward with the latest probe, as the initial figure had counted two part-time workers as one person.
|
jobs;disability;bureaucracy
|
jp0009652
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2018/10/25
|
Dollar closes at ¥112.30 after Tokyo stock slump
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The dollar stayed on a weak note around ¥112.30 in late Tokyo trading Thursday after falling below ¥112 on sales reflecting a Tokyo stock slump. At 5 p.m. the dollar stood at ¥112.30-30, down from ¥112.50-50 at the same time Wednesday. The euro was at $1.1400-1400, down from $1.1429-1429, and at ¥128.03-04, down from ¥128.58-59. The dollar was hit by safe-haven yen buying from early trading following an overnight rout on Wall Street, traders said. The greenback dropped near ¥111.80 as the benchmark Nikkei stock average opened sharply weaker, but its downside was supported by dollar buying by Japanese importers. After briefly rising above ¥112.10, the dollar fell below ¥112 again past mid-afternoon trading as the 225-issue Nikkei average sank deeper. But in later trading the dollar rose to around ¥112.30, supported by an upturn in Chinese stocks and higher U.S. long-term interest rates. Risk aversion among market participants “waned following a rebound in Chinese stocks and U.S. index futures prices,” an official at a bank-linked securities firm said. “The dollar-yen pair was resilient, considering the size of the drop in the Nikkei average,” said an official at a Japanese bank.
|
yen;nikkei;euro;dollar;forex
|
jp0009653
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2018/10/25
|
Nikkei average dives to seven-month low on Wall Street rout
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The benchmark Nikkei average plunged to a seven-month low on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Thursday, as investors took fright from an overnight slump in U.S. equities. The 225-issue Nikkei average tumbled 822.45 points, or 3.72 percent, to end at 21,268.73 — the lowest finish since March 29. On Wednesday, the key market gauge had advanced 80.40 points. The Topix index of all first-section issues closed down 51.15 points, or 3.10 percent, at 1,600.92, reaching a level unseen since Sept. 8, 2017. It had added 1.35 points the previous day. Stocks fell almost across the board from the outset of Thursday’s session, with the Nikkei average briefly losing nearly 900 points, after the 30-issue Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.41 percent Wednesday. The day’s selling spree “did not represent panic sales,” an official at a bank-affiliated securities firm said. “Investors unloaded shares calmly out of concerns over the economy and business results, in response to disappointing earnings and economic data,” the official said. The official noted recent negative earnings-related news from both Japan and the United States as well as sluggish economic data, including dismal U.S. new home sales for September released overnight. “There has been little positive earnings news,” the official said, adding that Japanese corporate profits may have hit a ceiling. “The market is likely to stay unstable,” said Hiroaki Hiwada, strategist at Toyo Securities Co. Investors will continue examining earnings releases, U.S. and Chinese economic data to weigh up possible impacts from the two countries’ trade war and developments related to the Nov. 6 U.S. midterm elections, Hiwada said. Falling issues overwhelmed rising ones 2,072 to 34 in the TSE’s first section, while three issues were unchanged. Volume increased to 1.641 billion shares from 1.417 billion shares on Wednesday. Sharp Corp. dived 9.04 percent after the electronics giant announced a lower sales forecast Wednesday for the April-September period, brokers said. Semiconductor-related issues posted massive losses after their U.S. peers fared poorly. Major losers included Tokyo Electron, Sumco Corp., Disco Corp., Advantest Corp. and Screen Holdings Co. Kao Corp. sagged 2.90 percent after the daily goods manufacturer’s consolidated earnings for January-September failed to impress investors, brokers said. Other major losers included clothing retailer Fast Retailing Co., mobile phone carrier SoftBank Group Corp. and industrial robot producer Fanuc Corp. By contrast, Panasonic Corp. and Tokyo Gas Co. were higher. In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the key December contract on the Nikkei average tumbled 760 points to end at 21,270.
|
stocks;nikkei;dow jones;topix
|
jp0009654
|
[
"world"
] |
2018/10/25
|
Outrage over Khashoggi gives Trump leverage over Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
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WASHINGTON - The killing of a journalist has abruptly transformed Saudi Arabia’s crown prince from a partner to a liability in the eyes of Washington — which nonetheless now enjoys more leverage over the ambitious heir apparent. President Donald Trump had enthusiastically endorsed Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s consolidation of power, with the 33-year-old forging a close, chatty relationship with Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner. But amid outrage after Saudi Arabia admitted that U.S.-based journalist and palace critic Jamal Khashoggi was murdered inside the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate, the president has sounded betrayed and taken the initial step of restricting visas to Saudis involved in the killing. Trump, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal published Wednesday, insulated 82-year-old King Salman from blame but pointedly did not shield the crown prince, known by his initials MBS. “The crown prince — he’s running things, and so if anybody were going to be in, it would be him,” Trump said. While defending arms sales to Saudi Arabia on business grounds, Trump said: “Don’t forget, if it wasn’t for us, it could very well be that Saudi Arabia wouldn’t last very long.” Martin Indyk, a top Middle East policymaker under former president Bill Clinton, said Trump had in effect tried to subcontract policy in the region to Saudi Arabia and Israel as he lessens U.S. commitments. But Indyk said Prince Mohammed had instead brought headaches for Washington — not only Khashoggi’s killing but Yemen, where the United States is backing a Saudi-led bombing campaign against Houthi rebels allegedly supported by Riyadh’s regional rival Iran. The United Nations describes Yemen as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with 14 million people facing famine and about 10,000 people killed. “Mohammed bin Salman needs Trump — his very survival depends on Trump working with him,” said Indyk, now at the Council on Foreign Relations. “So we have the opportunity — if we decide we’re not going to ask the king to remove him discreetly — to … sit down with him and say, listen, we can’t go on like this,” Indyk said. “But I don’t think Trump has any concept of the need to do that — let alone how to do that — and therefore I fear that Mohammed bin Salman will survive but he will continue on the path that only advantages Iran and gets the United States continuously into trouble,” he said. Joseph Bahout, a scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said the crown prince will need to show he is tough at home but will face “constant blackmail” from abroad. “It will play out, paradoxically, in very divergent directions. If MBS survives this crisis and he stays in power and becomes king, he will be a permanently weakened monarch but very fierce at the same time,” Bahout said. Prince Mohammed may attempt to show he is a solid U.S. ally by taking an even harder line against Iran, enemy number one for the Trump administration, or, in a less likely scenario, by enacting liberal reforms, Bahout said. But the heir apparent could also need to please Turkey, which has been leaking details about Khashoggi’s murder. Bahout said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan could pressure Saudi Arabia to repair ties with Turkish ally Qatar, which is under an embargo from Persian Gulf Arab states, or to ease pressure on the Muslim Brotherhood, which the kingdom has seen as a threat for its role in Arab Spring protests. “So he will be subject to a whole range of demands and extortions, in ways that could contradict one another. And he will be in a difficult position,” Bahout said. Gary Grappo, a former U.S. ambassador to Oman and deputy chief of mission in Riyadh, said that Mohammed had solidified power to a level where he is unlikely to be removed — but that Western powers would be increasingly wary of him after Khashoggi’s death. “The taint of this will be very hard to scrub from the hands of Mohammed bin Salman — most definitely in the short to medium term and perhaps, let’s see, in the long term,” said Grappo, a distinguished fellow at the University of Denver. After decades of Saudi Arabia buying U.S. weapons and enjoying Washington’s protection, Grappo doubted that Saudi Arabia could easily switch to another supplier such as Russia or China. “I think the balance is much more in our favor, which gives the president far more leverage to deal with this matter than he has let on,” Grappo said.
|
murder;saudi arabia;turkey;donald trump;mohammed bin salman;jamal khashoggi
|
jp0009655
|
[
"world"
] |
2018/10/25
|
SoftBank's Masayoshi Son met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh: sources
|
LONDON/SAN, FRANCISCO - SoftBank Group Corp. CEO Masayoshi Son met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh on Monday, according to two people familiar with the matter, even as the kingdom faces heightened scrutiny following the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Mounting evidence suggests a link between Khashoggi’s violent death and the crown prince, while Saudi Arabia maintains that he was not involved. Son did not attend an investment conference in Riyadh, dubbed “Davos in the Desert,” which finished Thursday and saw an exodus of high-profile speakers amid the controversy over the killing of Khashoggi. The SoftBank chief executive was also said to have skipped a dinner held at the residence of Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the managing director of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, on Monday night, and was set to leave Riyadh on Wednesday. Both sources declined to be identified because the plans were private. Son joined a growing list of business leaders who distanced themselves from the Future Investment Initiative conference, but his move was particularly notable because SoftBank’s $100 billion Vision Fund has a $45 billion commitment from Saudi Arabia’s PIF. Son’s planned absence was earlier reported by The Wall Street Journal. Other SoftBank executives still attended the conference, including Saleh Romeih, who spoke on a panel. Faisal Rahman, SoftBank’s head of operations in the Middle East, was also in the country during the conference. However, its chief operating officer, Marcelo Claure, pulled out of the event on Monday. The situation puts SoftBank in a difficult position. If SoftBank stands behind Prince Mohammed, who spearheaded the kingdom’s investment in the Vision Fund, the fund could become a toxic asset and could find itself shut out of deals with promising startups as founders seek alternative investors. But if SoftBank walks away, the Saudis could pull their funding — including a further $45 billion promised for the next Vision Fund. “We are the creators of SoftBank Vision Fund,” the crown prince told Bloomberg in an interview in early October. “We have 45 percent. Without the PIF, there will be no SoftBank Vision Fund.” Several SoftBank-backed companies, including construction startup Katerra Inc. and indoor-farming business Plenty Inc., have made plans to expand into the Middle East. At the close of the conference, the former signed a memorandum of understanding with the kingdom’s ministry of housing, and the company’s chairman and founder, Michael Marks, also spoke at the event earlier in the day. The Vision Fund is also a big investor in high-profile startups such as Uber Technologies Inc., which has also taken money directly from the Saudi PIF. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi was one of the first business leaders to drop out of the conference following news about Khashoggi.
|
media;murder;saudi arabia;rights;softbank;masayoshi son;mohammed bin salman;jamal khashoggi
|
jp0009656
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"politics-diplomacy-asia-pacific"
] |
2018/10/25
|
Malaysian ex-PM Najib Razak and ally charged in $1.6 billion graft case
|
KUALA LUMPUR - Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and an ally were Thursday charged with allegedly looting $1.6 billion of public money, the latest accusations against figures from the scandal-plagued old regime. Najib has now been hit with 38 charges since losing power, most of them related to allegations that he and his cronies plundered vast sums from sovereign wealth fund 1MDB. The scandal played a major part in prompting voters to oust his coalition at elections in May after six decades in power and elect a reformist alliance headed by Mahathir Mohamad. Najib was jointly charged in a Kuala Lumpur court with ex-senior finance ministry official, Mohamad Irwan Serigar Abdullah, with six counts of criminal breach of trust. They denied all the charges. The crimes involved 6.6 billion ringgit ($1.6 billion) of public money and allegedly took place between December 2016 and December 2017. Each charge is punishable by up to 20 years in jail. Local media reported that some of the money was used to pay debts owed by 1MDB to Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund IPIC. The Malaysian fund slid into a massive debt hole as huge sums of money were allegedly stolen and used to buy everything from a super-yacht, to high-end real estate and pricey artworks. The U.S. Department of Justice, which is seeking to seize assets allegedly bought with looted 1MDB money in America, alleges that a total of $4.5 billion was misappropriated from the fund. Another key Najib ally, former spy chief Hasanah Abdul Hamid, is expected to be charged in court later Thursday. The former prime minister’s luxury-loving wife, Rosmah Mansor, and the new leader of his party and longtime lieutenant, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, have also been arrested and charged.
|
malaysia;courts;corruption;najib razak;mahathir mohamad
|
jp0009657
|
[
"national",
"social-issues"
] |
2018/10/25
|
More than 30% of low-income households with children in early teens struggle to afford food: survey
|
Among low-income households with children in their early teens, 34.7 percent have experienced difficulty buying food for financial reasons, a survey by a Tokyo-based nonprofit organization showed Monday. With child poverty a problem in the country, the survey result suggests that many low-income earners are struggling even to ensure sufficient food for their children. The nonprofit organization supporting children in poverty, Kids’ Door, conducted the survey in February 2017 on low-income households with junior high school children who go to free tutoring schools in Tokyo and Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. It collected responses from 207 students and 147 parents. The average annual income of responding households stood at ¥3,049,000. Those with incomes of less than ¥2 million made up the largest group, at 30.6 percent, and single-parent families accounted for 63.2 percent. Of the responding parents, 1.4 percent said they often had difficulty buying enough food due to a lack of money over the past year, 10.9 percent sometimes faced the same situation and 22.4 percent experienced such problems but infrequently. Respondents who had faced such difficulties made up 34.7 percent in total. The survey also asked about the level of education that respondents wanted to receive before starting to work, or the level they wanted their children to receive. Of the parents, 38.8 percent said they wanted their children to finish high school — the largest group. Meanwhile, going on to college was the most frequent answer among children, at 37.7 percent. Asked whether the children visited museums or similar places when they were fourth to sixth graders, 1.6 percent said they were unable to for financial reasons. The same answer was received from 5.2 percent of respondents with lower academic scores. “We want the government to improve its grant-type scholarship program and take other steps to create an environment in which children from low-income households can receive education and have hope (for their futures),” said Yumiko Watanabe, head of Kids’ Door. “The revenue from the planned consumption tax increase to 10 percent in October next year should be used to establish a system that allows low-income households to benefit more,” she said.
|
children;poverty;education;surveys
|
jp0009658
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/10/25
|
Number of cases of school bullying rises to new high in Japan
|
Japanese schools reported a record number of bullying cases in fiscal 2017 amid a nationwide effort to have teachers identify even the most minor cases in order to tackle problems while they are still at an early stage, the education ministry said Thursday Public and private elementary, junior and senior high schools, as well as special schools, reported a total of 414,378 cases of bullying in the year to the end of March, up 91,235 from a year earlier, according to a ministry survey. The number of serious bullying cases resulting in students suffering severe physical and mental injuries rose to 474, up 78, while 10 of the 250 students who killed themselves during the reporting year had been bullied at school, the ministry said. Elementary schools tallied the highest number of bullying cases at 317,121, up 79,865, followed by junior high schools at 80,424, up 9,115, and high schools at 14,789, up 1,915. The number of cases at special schools, which cater to students who have learning difficulties, stood at 2,044, up 340, the ministry said. While 85.5 percent of the total bullying cases have been resolved, some were still being dealt with, according to the survey. About a quarter of the surveyed schools said they had not identified a single case of bullying in the year. Asked to describe what form of bullying took place, teasing accounted for 62.3 percent of the total cases. Online slander accounted for 3.0 percent, with the number of cases rising to a record 12,632, up 1,853. Of cases designated as serious incidents under the law on the prevention of bullying, students suffered serious injuries including broken bones in 191, while in 332 cases, students stayed away from school for 30 days or longer in the year, with some of the cases overlapping. The serious cases included that of a girl who died in July last year after falling from a Hiroshima junior high school building. The girl’s parents claim she took her own life and it was later confirmed she had been bullied.
|
bullying;education;schools;mext
|
jp0009659
|
[
"national",
"crime-legal"
] |
2018/10/25
|
Foreign parents fight in vain for custody of their children in Japan despite Hague Convention
|
Emmanuel, Stephane, Henrik and James come from very different backgrounds, but they share the same painful experience of battling Japan’s legal system — in vain — for access to their children after divorce. Once married to Japanese women, they say they were prevented from contact with their children when their relationships disintegrated, and sometimes even after court rulings in their favor. Tough laws and patriarchal cultural norms that overwhelmingly see mothers granted sole custody after a divorce — 80 percent of the time, according to official figures — mean that fathers rarely see their children again. Frenchman Emmanuel de Fournas has spent years battling for access to his daughter after his Japanese ex-wife moved back to Japan. Despite winning a court order in France and filing a case under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction in September 2014, he is still fighting for the right to see his daughter. “I thought I could benefit from the clear rules of the Hague Convention, but … they aren’t respected in Japan,” he said. “I’ve lost everything: my savings, my job,” he said tearfully. AFP was not able to contact the mother of his child. His experience is not unusual. Henrik Teton from Canada and James Cook from the United States have similar stories to tell. “What kind of justice system is it if decisions are not implemented? There is room to do more and better,” says Richard Yung, a French senator who came to Japan to plead the cases of several French parents. Patchy enforcement Although Japan has signed the Hague Convention, which is designed to prevent a parent from moving a child to another country and blocking access by the former partner, Tokyo demonstrates “a pattern of noncompliance” with the pact, according to the U.S. State Department. For foreign parents, most often fathers, “this poses major problems, because they have a different mentality and they can’t comprehend losing custody or the right to visit their child,” said Nahoko Amemiya, a lawyer for the Tokyo Public Law office. Even when foreign parents win their cases in Japanese courts, enforcement is patchy. The State Department’s 2018 report described “limitations” in Japanese law, including requirements that “direct enforcement take place in the home and presence of the taking parent, that the child willingly leave the taking parent, and that the child face no risk of psychological harm,” using the term “taking parent” to refer to those who have abducted the child. Opinion is divided on what causes the most trauma to children, so the longer a child is separated from one parent, the more reluctant authorities are to intervene, citing a “principle of continuity.” “It’s not that Japanese courts favor the Japanese parent, it’s that they favor the ‘kidnapper,’ ” who is living with the child, said John Gomez, founder of the group Kizuna, which advocates for parents separated from their children. ‘Horrible shock’ Japan’s government defends its record, saying most of the 81 cases filed under the Hague Convention since 2014 have been settled. “The majority of the cases in which we intervened have been resolved, but we are aware of six or seven where the return decision could not be implemented,” said Shuji Zushi, a foreign ministry official. “In these cases, there is a very strong conflict between the two sides and that leads to media attention or political action,” he said. Stephane Lambert spent years fighting to see his son after his wife and child moved away from their home within Japan — a case not covered by the Hague convention. “The Japanese police don’t do anything in this kind of case,” he said. “On the basis of a court ruling, I saw my son for a total of 14 hours for the whole of the following year, and not at all after that, because my wife refused the visits,” he said. “I can’t think about my son anymore. Looking at a photo of him tears me apart. I’ve learned to forget him.” There are some signs of change: A panel of experts met in June to discuss new ways to enforce court orders, as well as the issue of joint custody and amendments to the law. But regardless of changes in law, the pain of parental separation is always traumatic — as demonstrated by the case of Joichiro Yamada, who was 10 when his Japanese father and American mother split up. “My dad told me: You live with me now,” the 20-year-old said, still brought to tears at the “horrible shock” of being separated from his mother. “I spent a year with him. I wanted to go back to my mother. A year felt like an eternity.”
|
children;hague convention;parental child abduction;courts;family law
|
jp0009660
|
[
"business"
] |
2018/07/04
|
Japan's Financial Services Agency sees need to protect elderly investors
|
The Financial Services Agency has released an interim report pointing out the need to better protect elderly investors as life expectancy continues to rise. The agency released the report Tuesday with a goal of improving investment conditions for the elderly by helping them manage and utilize their assets effectively without worry. The report analyzed the country’s aging population and the risks associated with the issue. The agency projects an increase in the number of households using up all of their savings as a result of longevity and having to rely on public pensions alone. The report also noted that elderly people become unable to effectively change their investment portfolios as their cognitive abilities decline. Citing private-sector data, the agency said that 15 percent of overall securities in the nation, including stocks, may be held by people with dementia by 2035.
|
elderly;investments;fsa;financial services agency
|
jp0009661
|
[
"business",
"tech"
] |
2018/07/05
|
New Tokyo research center aims to boost Japan's 'Fourth Industrial Revolution'
|
Technology today is advancing — often so fast that society fails to take full advantage of some great innovations due to outdated regulations, says the head of a new research center in Tokyo. The newly established Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution in the capital aims to update old regulations that hinder effective usage of cutting-edge technologies and accelerate social change by developing appropriate policy frameworks for a rapidly changing society, said Chizuru Suga, who heads the institution. “In short, what we are trying to do is like determining the size of a soccer goal before playing the game. We are trying to set up common policy frameworks that help people play a fair game,” she said during a recent interview with The Japan Times. “Today’s technology has been advancing so fast that no one could have been able to catch up with the most up-to-date movement and set the rules … to benefit as many people as possible,” said Suga, formerly of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The Tokyo facility, which opened Monday, is the first sister institution of the Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution in San Francisco. The so-called revolution refers to the fourth major industrial era since the initial Industrial Revolution of the 18th century and is characterized by a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital and biological spheres. Established in March 2017 by the World Economic Forum — the host of the annual Davos meetings in Switzerland — the U.S.-based center has worked to bring together leaders in both the public and private sectors and leverage the benefits of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, the “internet of things” and blockchain. For example, the U.S. center worked together with the Rwandan government to develop a regulatory framework for drone operations, helping the African country build an aerial network of drones that deliver medical supplies to remote villages. The Tokyo-based center aims to work with specialists to co-design policy frameworks that will be adopted by policymakers, legislators and regulators by focusing particularly on three areas — autonomous driving, big data and precision medicine. Setting a framework “will help the government create technology policies more easily” because it helps them to determine the direction of policymaking, Suga said. The government sees the fourth industrial revolution, which could drastically improve the efficiency of business and organizations through advanced information technology, as one of the key elements for its growth strategy. The government believes implementing cutting-edge technologies will improve its notoriously low productivity at work. Japan’s labor productivity in 2016, calculated by output per hour, was 20th out of 35 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development nations, according to data from the Japan Productivity Center published in December. Despite its high-tech prowess, the country’s digital transformation is still lagging behind other rivals such as the U.S. and Germany in areas such as the internet of things, the sharing economy and financial technology, according to a Cabinet Office report in 2017. The slow transition is partly due to old regulations that were established before the emergence of such technologies, Suga said. She added that some technology companies are forced to alter their services due to the regulations, making their businesses less efficient in the domestic market. For example, Uber Technologies Inc.’s ride-hailing business has been facing a tough battle here due to the country’s regulations on unregistered taxis. And online lodging service Airbnb Inc. had to drop nearly 80 percent of private homes from its listing as it adjusted to a new private lodging law that came into effect on June 15. “In Uber’s case, the regulation was originally made to prevent unreasonably high fares. … Technologies have already solved these problems. There are many cases like that,” Suga said. “What is happening in Japan now is that these old laws still remain even after innovations have brought drastic changes to our social structure.” Asked how the Japan center can serve as a model for other countries, Suga said she would aim to offer a solution to Japan’s aging and declining population as many other countries are expected to face the same problem over next decades. “Many people think Japan has very little investment value because of the dwindling market. I want to show that the country’s weakness can also be a strength,” she said. “I want to prove in a few years that Japan was actually at the frontline of innovation.” WEF opened the Tokyo center in partnership with METI and the Asia Pacific Initiative, a think tank based in the Japanese capital. The institution is sponsored by such companies as Suntory Holdings Limited, Salesforce.com Inc., Sompo Holdings Inc., Hitachi Ltd., precision instrument manufacturer Horiba Ltd. and Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corp. WEF aims to open further sister organizations of the San Francisco-based center in countries including India, China and the U.K.
|
drone;meti;wef;ai;iot;4th industrial revolution
|
jp0009662
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"social-issues-asia-pacific"
] |
2018/07/05
|
Vigilante-style slayings sow fear inside Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh
|
COX'S BAZAR, BANGLADESH/DHAKA - Bangladesh is deploying thousands of extra police to Rohingya refugee camps in the south, officials said, after several mostly unexplained killings have sown fear among hundreds of thousands of people who have fled from neighboring Myanmar. Since August, when a military crackdown in Myanmar forced many of the Muslim minority to cross the border into Bangladesh and seek shelter in the crowded camps, 19 people, some of them community leaders, have been killed. Police have made a number of arrests in connection with some of the killings, but say the motives often remain unclear. Conducted after dark and often by groups of men wielding pistols, knives, and sticks, the killings have sent a chill through the camps, which are guarded by the Bangladesh army during the day but manned by fewer police officers at night. A.K.M. Iqbal Hossain, police superintendent of the coastal town of Cox’s Bazar under whose jurisdiction the camps fall, said a special force of roughly 2,400 men was being formed to guard the refugees. A second senior officer, Superintendent Afrujul Haque Tutul, said police numbers were already being increased. “We have 1,000 police officers right now for a million people, so you can imagine,” he said. More than 700,000 Rohingya have taken shelter in Cox’s Bazar district since August, joining thousands who were already living there, making it the world’s largest and fastest growing refugee camp. Even before the August exodus, there had been violence in the camps, which Bangladesh police and aid workers have previously blamed on a struggle for control of supplies to the camps. The latest killing, of 35-year-old Arifullah, took place last month on a busy road outside the Balukhali camp, where he had been appointed a leader of thousands of refugees. A group of men surrounded him on the evening of June 18, stabbing him at least 25 times, police said. A pool of blood stained the spot the next morning, and a crowd of refugees could be seen gathered around. Police said three Rohingya men had been arrested over the killing of Arifullah, who spoke English, had worked for international agencies in Myanmar, and often met foreign delegates who visited the camps. His wife, who did not want to be named and asked Reuters not to disclose the location where she was interviewed because she feared attack, said Arifullah was a critic of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) — a militant group whose assaults on Myanmar security posts in August triggered the crackdown by the military. The group says it is fighting for the rights of the Rohingya. Police said investigations into the murder were ongoing and they had not found links to ARSA. A spokesman for ARSA referred Reuters to its Jan. 31 statement that said other armed groups were responsible for “activities” at refugee camps and were using its name to malign its image. The group said it did not attack civilians and would never carry out killings in the camps because its was thankful for Bangladesh’s generosity in sheltering the refugees. That statement was issued after the Jan. 19 killing of Yusuf, another English-speaking camp leader. Sitting on the mud floor of her shelter, Yusuf’s wife, Jamila, said her husband had been watching a soccer match on his phone with his two sons when around a dozen men barged into their shelter in the Taingkhali camp carrying knives and pistols, shooting him twice. She said police had urged her to file a case and name suspects, but she had refused, fearing retaliation, and because she did not want to leave her shelter for hours to go to court. “I’m scared for my children,” she said. Details of Yusuf’s killing were confirmed by police superintendent Tutul at the Cox’s Bazar police station. He said the police investigation was hampered because the refugees were afraid to name suspects. He said intelligence received so far suggested several of the killings, including those of Yusuf and Arifullah, were due to personal disputes refugees had brought from Myanmar. Police have arrested about 300 Rohingya in cases involving killings, robberies and abductions in the camps since the August influx, Tutul said. Camp leaders at Balukhali and Taingkhali said the army had appointed Rohingya volunteers to keep guard at night, but most had stopped working because they were not being paid. Foreign officials said security inside the teeming camps was a worry. “What I hear from my colleagues is that is obviously a big concern,” Peter Maurer, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, said on a visit to the camps on Sunday. “It is obvious that it is a big challenge when you have big numbers, poor conditions, cramped situations.”
|
myanmar;u.n .;refugees;bangladesh;rohingya
|
jp0009663
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/07/05
|
Macedonian Ambassador to Japan wants to boost academic ties between the two countries
|
Andrijana Cvetkovik, Macedonia’s Ambassador to Japan, says she hopes to expand academic cooperation with Japan, in addition to the agreements it already has with about 10 Japanese universities on student and professor exchanges and scholarships. Several years ago “I received a scholarship from the Japanese government” to study in Japan, Cvetkovik said during a courtesy visit to The Japan Times on Wednesday, adding that she hopes the same opportunities will be extended to more Macedonian students in the future. According to the Foreign Ministry’s website, Japan has been accepting Macedonian students on scholarships since 1996. On the tourism front, Cvetkovik said she hopes to increase the number of Japanese tourists to the Republic of Macedonia four- or fivefold over the next five years. The number of Japanese tourists to the European country has increased 50 percent every year over the past three years, she said. “We have been working with travel agencies to promote Macedonia as a tourist destination,” said Cvetkovik, who became Skopje’s envoy to Tokyo in December 2014. She is the only ambassador in Japan who is a member of the Europe Group of Japan Outbound Tourism Council, a body under the Japan Association of Travel Agents, thanks mainly to her Japanese-language ability, she said. She also voiced hope that more Japanese companies will increase their investments in Macedonia, which is located in the center of Balkan region. Next year will mark the 25th anniversary of Japan-Macedonia diplomatic ties.
|
tourism;macedonia;andrijana cvetkovik
|
jp0009664
|
[
"world",
"social-issues-world"
] |
2018/07/02
|
U.S. Border Patrol arrests fell sharply in June, official says
|
MCALLEN, TEXAS - Border Patrol arrests fell sharply in June to the lowest level since February, according to a U.S. official, ending a streak of four straight monthly increases. The drop may reflect seasonal trends or it could signal that President Donald Trump’s “zero-tolerance” policy to criminally prosecute every adult who enters the country illegally is having a deterrent effect. The agency made 34,057 arrests on the border with Mexico during June, down 16 percent from 40,344 in May, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the numbers are not yet intended for public release. The June tally is preliminary and subject to change. Arrests were still more than double from 16,077 in June 2017, but the sharp decline from spring could undercut the Trump administration’s narrative of a border in crisis. Customs and Border Protection, which includes the Border Patrol, declined comment on the numbers, saying it doesn’t discuss them as a matter of policy until public release “to ensure consistency and accuracy.” The administration announced in early May that it was prosecuting every illegal entry, including adults who came with their children. The separation of more than 2,000 children from their parent sparked an international outcry and Trump reversed course on June 20, ordering that families should stay together. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan told agents to temporarily stop referring illegal entry arrests to the Justice Department for prosecution if they involve parents unless they had a criminal history or the child’s welfare was in question. His edict came “within hours” of Trump’s directive to avoid splitting families. McAleenan told reporters last week that border arrests were trending lower in June but said he wouldn’t provide numbers until their public release in early July. “I believe the focus on border enforcement has had an impact on the crossings,” McAleenan said. Rising temperatures could also be a major influence, discouraging people from walking in the scorching and potentially lethal heat in much of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. Arrests fell from May to June in four of the previous five years, last year being the exception. Still, the month-to-month percentage decline is notable. It fell in the low single digits in 2014 amid a major surge in illegal crossings and in 2015. Declines approached 20 percent in 2016 and 2013. Border arrests — an imperfect gauge of illegal crossings — surged during much of last year after falling dramatically in the early months of the Trump administration. The numbers do not reflect activity at official crossings. The Border Patrol polices between ports of entry, not at them.
|
u.s .;immigration;mexico;donald trump;border patrol
|
jp0009665
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"social-issues-asia-pacific"
] |
2018/07/02
|
Myanmar not ready to take back over 700,000 Rohingya, Red Cross chief says
|
CHAKMARKUL REFUGEE CAMP, BANGLADESH - Conditions in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine state are not ready yet for the repatriation of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who have fled a military crackdown, the head of the International Committee of Red Cross said on Sunday after visit to the region. Myanmar has said it is ready to take back the more than 700,000 Rohingya refugees who have fled Bangladesh since last August, and has set up two reception centers and what it says is a temporary camp near the border in Rakhine to receive the first arrivals. But Red Cross President Peter Maurer said he did not believe returns should start any time soon based on what he saw during his visit. “I think there is still a lot of work to do till large scale repatriation is a realistic possibility,” Maurer said. “Much more has to happen in terms of reception structure, preparations, also preparation of the communities to receive again those who came (to Bangladesh) from Myanmar.” Maurer’s comments, made at the refugee camps on Bangladesh’s southeastern coast, followed his visit to Myanmar, where he said he saw abandoned villages and destroyed houses. The Myanmar government spokesman was not immediately available for comment on Maurer’s remarks. The exodus of Rohingya came after militant attacks on Myanmar security posts triggered a military offensive that the United Nations has called a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing. Myanmar has denied the allegations and stated it waged a legitimate counter-insurgency operation. Red Cross has become the main provider of humanitarian aid to Myanmar’s northern Rakhine state since the United Nations had to suspend its operations there last September, following government accusations that its agency had supported Rohingya insurgents. Rohingya who have fled Buddhist-majority Myanmar have reported mass killings, arson and rape by security forces there. The country does not recognize the Rohingya as an indigenous ethnic group and denies them citizenship. The United Nations struck an outline deal with Myanmar at the end of May aimed at eventually allowing hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims sheltering in Bangladesh to return safely and by choice. But Rohingya will have no explicit guarantees of citizenship or freedom of movement in Myanmar, according to details of the agreement Reuters reported on Friday. Many Rohingya living at the refugee camps in Bangladesh have said they will not return until Myanmar recognizes them as citizens and their safety is guaranteed. Myanmar government spokesman Zaw Htay and Social Welfare Minister Win Myat Aye did not answer multiple phone calls seeking comment about the agreement. The director of the Ministry of Labor, Immigration, and Population said he was not authorized to comment and directed inquiries to the permanent secretary, who did not answer the phone. Maurer said he said he met senior government officials in Myanmar’s capital Naypyitaw to seek approvals to scale up the Red Cross operations in Rakhine state. He said he was satisfied with the cooperation from the security forces as well as the government to reach people in need at the present moment. The office of Myanmar’s leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, said the meetings were on “humanitarian assistance and helping the affected communities to create independent sources of income.
|
myanmar;bangladesh;aung san suu kyi;rohingya;red cross;atrocities;rakhine;peter maurer;ethnic cleansing
|
jp0009666
|
[
"national",
"science-health"
] |
2018/07/02
|
Nagoya firm's high-tech service aims to prevent sudden infant death syndrome at nursery schools
|
Unifa Inc., an IT venture firm in Nagoya, has begun offering a monitoring service that can alert nursery school teachers to the warning signs of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), the leading cause of death among babies at day care facilities. The high-tech solution for a task that is usually handled by teachers is attracting attention as a way to sharply reduce the burden on day care staff and ensure the safety of children. SIDS often happens when infants are asleep with their face down. The company’s Look-mee service monitors infants using a sensor in their clothing that relays data to a tablet app. The firm claims the service, and its use of removable sensors, is unprecedented worldwide. The round sensors, with a diameter of roughly 4 centimeters, have formal approval as medical equipment. It monitors an infant’s breathing and checks the body position every second, a frequency impossible for humans to keep up with. If respiratory arrest or prone sleeping is detected, an alarm goes off on the tablet. In many nursery schools, teachers check the conditions of infants every five minutes while they nap and keep handwritten records in notebooks. That makes the teachers extra busy, as they also have to watch children who are awake. The service, which includes extra checks by teachers in addition to the technological solution, can help reduce risks for infants because the alarm allows teachers to respond quickly and correct sleeping positions if needed. With sensors for six infants the service is priced at ¥14,100 a month, with users also having to pay an initial cost for the tablets. Since the firm began offering the service in April, it has already been introduced by around 250 nursery schools — mainly in Tokyo — with some municipalities starting to provide subsidies for the digital solution. Unifa also established a panel of experts including pediatricians and lawyers in February to utilize the accumulated data on sleeping infants in research for SIDS and other diseases. The firm hopes to further support child development from various perspectives, such as by offering advice to teachers and developing a non-contact type thermometer that can be used along with the service. Unifa President Yasuyuki Toki, 37, said he came up with the idea of using technology to support nursery schools because his older sister was a nursery school teacher. “Using cutting-edge technology we can swiftly recognize changes in conditions of infants who cannot tell us using words when they don’t feel well,” Toki said. “We hope to analyze the accumulated data and contribute to the prevention of SIDS and infectious diseases.”
|
startup;infants;nursery school;sids;digital solution
|
jp0009667
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/07/02
|
60% of Japanese commuters kept going to their workplace after June Osaka quake, survey shows
|
OSAKA - About 60 percent of commuters went on to their workplace rather than return home following the major earthquake that struck northern Osaka Prefecture during the June 18 morning rush hour, according to an online survey of 500 people who were on a train at the time of the quake. The survey by Tadahiro Motoyoshi, a professor of disaster psychology at Kansai University’s Faculty of Social Safety Sciences, found that 304 of the people persevered with the morning commute, while 196 returned home. A closer look shows that of the 173 respondents who were closer to their home than their workplace when the magnitude 6.1 quake occurred at 7:58 a.m., 62 opted to keep on heading toward work. “Those people may have had a weaker sense of crisis because they did not see any heavy damage,” Motoyoshi said. “Forcing oneself to head to work could expand the chaos and confusion as it could increase the number of people left stranded away from home.” The survey, which targeted commuters living in Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo and Nara prefectures, found that from the moment the quake hit, 57 people took another 30 to 60 minutes to arrive at their office, followed by 47 who took another two to three hours and 45 people who took another 60 to 90 minutes. More than half of the respondents said they were left without any information about when train services would resume. Following the quake, about 200,000 train passengers were temporarily stranded. Some lines did not resume operations until late that night. As of Sunday, 182 people were still taking refugee in 30 evacuation shelters in Osaka. The earthquake damaged 22,497 residences in Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo and Nara prefectures, according to authorities. Many of these homes are unsafe or otherwise unusable, and their residents have had to find temporary accommodations elsewhere. The Osaka Prefectural Government said it wants to provide public and private housing to evacuees whose residences were damaged so that it can shut down the shelters by the end of July. Osaka evacuation centers accommodated as many as 2,397 people in the immediate aftermath of the quake. According to the Disaster Relief Act, provisional housing will be offered for free for two years to people whose residences were destroyed. But Osaka Prefecture is set to create its own scheme to provide temporary housing for free for up to one year to people whose residences were only partially damaged if their local municipality concludes it would be difficult for them to return home. The prefecture has already secured 120 public housing units and plans to rent private apartments that will be made available to quake victims. The prefecture is also preparing to launch a special interest-free loan program for housing repairs, offering up to ¥2 million. “Since state financial aid does not apply (to some victims), the Osaka Prefectural Government will extend its own assistance. I think our programs cater to their specific needs,” Osaka Gov. Ichiro Matsui said.
|
osaka;housing;earthquakes;train;evacuees;commuter
|
jp0009668
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/07/02
|
Hundreds of dignitaries honor Yoshio Okawara, former Japanese ambassador to U.S.
|
Several hundred top diplomats, politicians and business people gathered Monday at a Tokyo hotel to honor Yoshio Okawara, a former Japanese ambassador to the United States who died of pneumonia March 29 at age 99. Okawara served as Japan’s man in Washington from 1980 to 1985, a period of intense trade friction with the U.S. After leaving the Foreign Ministry in 1985, he went on to hold a number of important positions, including as president of the America-Japan Society. “He was a real gentleman,” Gerald Curtis, professor emeritus of political science at Columbia University, said in Japanese during the gathering. “He had kept thinking about how we can make better the Japan-U.S. relationship, probably until the very last minute.” Among the organizers of Monday’s gathering were former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, former Toyota Motor Corp. President Shoichiro Toyoda and former U.S. Ambassador to Japan Walter Mondale. Those who attended included former Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, former Japanese Ambassador to the U.S. Kenichiro Sasae, Vice Foreign Minister Takeo Akiba and Yuzaburo Motegi, honorary CEO and chairman of soy sauce maker Kikkoman Corp. “Mr. Okawara was a top diplomat of Japan who strengthened the presence of our country in the world,” Motegi said. “In particular, he played a key role in building up a strong Japan-U.S. relationship.”
|
foreign ministry;u.s.-japan relations;yoshio okawara
|
jp0009669
|
[
"national",
"media-national"
] |
2018/07/02
|
Giving visitors to Japan something they can dance to
|
Is this a case of deja vu on the dancefloor? In 2012, police in Osaka started raiding clubs for violating the adult entertainment business law, popularly known as fūeihō . The law forbids dancing after midnight. When pressed on the matter, police officials said they were simply enforcing the law — a law that had been ignored for years. The enforcement of the regulations decimated nightlife in the city. The police then decided to take a similar approach in Tokyo with much the same effect. In 2015, the Diet revised the adult entertainment business law to enable clubs to operate past midnight provided they met certain conditions. All clubs that allow drinking, dancing and certain “pleasures” after midnight must secure a special license from the authorities, provided zoning regulations allow it. Operators of unlicensed establishments face up to two years in prison or a ¥2 million fine. Nevertheless, those of us who can dance were able to get their groove on. Before too long, however, the police acted in a way that indicated they’re reluctant to let the good times roll. In January, the Metropolitan Police Department raided Aoyama Hachi, a club on the outskirts of Tokyo’s Shibuya neighborhood, in the first crackdown on dancing since the law was revised. Police entered the premises at 2 a.m. and found that the club didn’t have sufficient floor space to allow dancing. What’s more, alcohol was being served to customers and — shockingly — a DJ was playing. The club’s manager and two other employees were arrested. Since its raid on Aoyama Hachi, the authorities have raided more than 20 bars and other establishments in the Shibuya and Roppongi neighborhoods for alleged violations. The police even raided Geronimo, a shot bar popular with the foreign community that barely even has a dance floor (although admittedly many guests can probably be found swaying to the music on the sound system all night). The authorities appear to be focusing their attention on so-called tiny box ( kobako ) establishments such as Geronimo. The manager of one such bar was reportedly warned that if the bar continued to operate in this manner, it would “end up like Aoyama Hachi.” The police have ordered smaller clubs to display emoji-like posters banning dancing. It really has come to this. What’s more, smaller clubs are often located in areas where getting a license to operate is impossible. Many people are frustrated. A manager of a club in Roppongi, who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid being targeted in a raid, expressed dismay at the situation. “Japan is encouraging tourists from Asia and Europe to visit,” he says. “If you’re at a bar where music is playing, it’s only natural to move your body a little. To ask a customer not to dance or move to the music is like insisting they play freeze tag. It makes no sense.” Even former National Police Agency bureaucrat Katsuei Hirasawa thinks the police may be applying the law too strictly. “Japan has many foreign visitors, but there’s few options available after dinner,” Hirasawa says. “We’re nipping culture in the bud.” Hirasawa indicated he was in favor of giving clubs more leeway to allow dancing. The recent implementation of the law regulating minpaku (private lodgings) was a disaster that resulted in thousands of Airbnb cancellations and confusion. Japan keeps saying it wants to attract more tourists. However, if the authorities keep creating discriminatory laws or enforcing laws capriciously, they’re going to find that tourists may not quite be as enamored with Japan as they once could have been. Instead, they need to give the people something they can dance to.
|
dancing;clubs;aoyama hachi
|
jp0009671
|
[
"world"
] |
2018/07/20
|
U.K. politicians accuse government of breaching trust after minister reneges on maternity leave voting agreement
|
LONDON - U.K. Cabinet ministers were infuriated this week by an apparent government breach of a protocol that prevents ill or heavily pregnant politicians from being forced to attend Parliament to vote, to the disadvantage of a representative currently on maternity leave. Pro-EU Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Jo Swinson, who is on leave from Parliament following the birth of her second son, Gabriel, on 29 June, had been paired with Brandon Lewis, chairman of the ruling Conservative party and a Cabinet minister, in a convention by which the opposing side agrees to stand down one of their own to even up the numbers if a representative is unable to attend a vote for personal reasons. The long-standing arrangement, known as the pair, is a kind of “gentleman’s agreement,” and is seen by many as central to how Parliament works. But instead of staying away from the House of Commons on Tuesday, Lewis voted with the government — helping Prime Minister Theresa May, who is also leader of the Conservative party, to secure a crucial victory on the U.K. leaving the European Union customs union. The apparently underhand tactic incensed members of May’s team, including Cabinet minister Andrea Leadsom, who has spoken out in favor of helping female lawmakers balance political work and family life. “Who is taking responsibility for failing to honour the pairing agreement?” asked another angry party member and representative, Sarah Wollaston, on Twitter. “More than just an extension of the other heavy handed tactics on display, it disrespects women and why maternity leave matters.” Labour reacted with predictable fury, demanding that Lewis issue an apology. Eventually he did. “I’m sorry Jo,” Lewis said on Twitter. “I think it was an honest mistake made by the whips in fast-moving circumstances. I know how important the pair is to everyone, especially new parents, and I apologize.” The chief whip also issued a statement, saying he was very sorry to Swinson for the “mistake.” The motion, tabled Tuesday in the House of Commons, blocked an amendment put forward by rebels in the Conservative party that could have kept the U.K. within the EU customs union after leaving the bloc. It was passed by 307 votes to 301.
|
children;u.k .;women;employment;politics;discrimination;parenthood;maternity leave
|
jp0009672
|
[
"national",
"social-issues"
] |
2018/07/20
|
Japan's government to increase child welfare workers in wake of abuse and death of 5-year-old girl
|
The government decided Friday to boost numbers of child welfare staff, to better tackle abuse following the recent death of a 5-year-old girl who had desperately begged her parents to stop mistreating her. In emergency measures finalized at a ministerial meeting on the day, the government decided to increase the number of child welfare personnel 1.6-fold by fiscal 2022 from 3,253 nationwide as of April last year. Such staff offer consultation and support to both children and parents. The government also mandated that welfare workers be permitted in-home access within 48 hours after receiving reports of abuse or neglect. Police can be enlisted to support them if necessary. The government will urge municipalities to compile data on children possibly at risk, such as those who do not attend kindergarten, by the end of September. The move comes after the March death in Tokyo of Yua Funato, which shocked the public as the extent of abuse by her mother and stepfather came to light following their arrest. According to the police, Yudai Funato, 33, and his wife Yuri, 25, physically abused the girl from late January and failed to provide her with sufficient nourishment. The police found a notebook and memos written by Yua at their home that were filled with pleas to her mother and stepfather to stop abusing her. The family had lived in Kagawa Prefecture, where Yua was taken into temporary protective custody twice by a local child welfare center, before moving to Tokyo. The Kagawa Prefectural Police had referred Funato to prosecutors twice on suspicion of injuring the child. The couple were indicted in June over neglect that led to the girl’s death from sepsis caused by pneumonia. Yua weighed only 12 kilograms when she was found dead, compared with an average weight for her age of 20 kg. Yua’s mother had refused to let welfare staff enter their home.
|
children;child abuse;yua funato;child welfare centers
|
jp0009674
|
[
"reference"
] |
2018/07/20
|
Q&A: How to survive this year's scorching summer in Japan
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This year’s heat wave is again lethal, having already killed over 30 people and sent more than 10,000 to hospitals since July 9 due to heat exhaustion and heatstroke. The extreme weather continued to scorch Japan this week, with many cities seeing their highest-ever recorded temperatures. The mercury rose to as high as 40.7 degrees in the city of Tajimi in Gifu Prefecture on Wednesday. Unfortunately we will have to continue to deal with this sweltering summer for at least the next week or two, and weather forecasts say the high heat will not go away anytime soon. Here is a survival guide for the hot summers in Japan and other heat-related information. What can I do to prevent heat-related illnesses? The number one countermeasure is to avoid sudden exposure to extremely high temperatures. According to the Environment Ministry, heat-related illnesses are caused by the failure of bodily functions meant to have a cooling effect because of reduced sweating and blood flow. The early signs of heat-related illness include dizziness, a flushed face, aching and cramping muscles, and nausea. The disease can lead to even more serious symptoms such as disorientation and coma. The ministry recommends wearing light, cool clothes and staying in the shade when going outside. It also urges people to keep hydrated by drinking plenty of water and consuming sodium. In case of dehydration, oral rehydration therapy or treatments consisting of a solution based on salt and sugar taken orally can be useful as an emergency cure. If such a solution cannot be found at a convenience store, it can be made at home from a liter of clean water, six teaspoons of sugar and a half teaspoon of salt, according to the Japan Committee for UNICEF. Drinking cold barley tea, a popular summer flavor in Japan, is also believed to be effective for rehydration because it helps to top up minerals lost in sweat, according to the weather forecasting website tenki.jp, which is run by the Japan Weather Association. How can I learn about the risks of heat-related illnesses? The Environment Ministry’s website for heat-related illness prevention ( www.wbgt.env.go.jp/en/ ) shows an hourly updated heat stress index by region. The heat stress level is measured by the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature index, which indicates the risk of heat-related maladies based on factors such as temperature, humidity, wind and infrared radiation. A WBGT above 28 degrees significantly increases the risk of exhaustion or heatstroke. The WBGT index in Tokyo at 2 p.m. Friday was 32.5 degrees, a level at which any kind of exercise should be prohibited. When will this extreme heat go away? Weather forecasts say the scorching heat will continue for at least the remainder of this month. The Japan Meteorological Agency forecasts that temperatures everywhere in Japan except for Okinawa Prefecture and the Amami islands in Kagoshima Prefecture will continue to be higher than usual until the beginning of August. The agency forecasts that the heat will ease to the level of a usual summer, or a little higher, from Aug. 4 to 17. But Weathernews Inc. predicts the extreme weather will return in late August to early September, due to the arrival of two anticyclones — the Pacific and the Tibetan — over Japan’s main island. What else should I know about this year’s hot summer? According to Weathernews, the seven-day moving average lowest temperature in Tokyo in August has risen by 2.7 degrees since a century ago, while the moving average highest temperature during the month has also increased by 1.5 degrees. The Chiba-based weather information company says the rising temperature can be attributed to the heat island effect, in which the temperature in urban areas covered with concrete increases due to a lack of cooling provided by trees and plants, as well as heat released by human activities and machines. Meanwhile, increased usage of air conditioners on Wednesday forced Kansai Electric Power Co. to buy 1 million kilowatts of electricity from other domestic power companies to meet the high demand seen in the region from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. The unusual heat has also hit popular summer high school baseball tournaments across the nation. On Thursday, 34 teenagers in Kumamoto Prefecture, mostly high school students who were cheering for their schools at a baseball stadium, were sent to hospital after complaining of symptoms of heat exhaustion.
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stroke;heat;weathernews;exhaustion;japan heat wave
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jp0009675
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[
"business",
"corporate-business"
] |
2018/07/18
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Takeda bets on China for global growth, seeing the country as 'on a par' with the U.S. and Europe
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Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. sees China becoming a “core country” for its global growth strategy, and is optimistic its $62 billion (¥6.94 trillion) acquisition of Shire PLC will win approval by the country’s regulators. Takeda is preparing to begin selling seven new drugs in China in the next five years, more than in any other region, while working to secure reimbursement for them under the country’s medical insurance program, CEO Christophe Weber said in an interview in Beijing. He didn’t say how many drugs would be introduced in other markets in that period. “There’s no reason in the long term China shouldn’t be our second-biggest business in the world,” Weber said. Takeda’s goal is to launch drugs in China “at the same tempo as all of our markets, especially Europe and U.S. It’s a big, big shift.” Takeda is in the thick of getting approvals for its acquisition of U.K.-listed Shire from regulators around the globe. Weber said he’s optimistic about getting China’s sign-off for the deal, despite concerns that Beijing may retaliate against U.S. tariffs by delaying or even blocking acquisitions of American companies. “It’s one thing to create an economic situation where people have less choice to buy your cars, but it’s totally different thing to restrict access to medicine, impacting patients and health,” Weber said. “My only wish is it doesn’t go there.” While conducting the largest-ever overseas acquisition by a Japanese company, Takeda is also seeking growth in China, where the government is working to speed the approval process for drugs and widen access to health services and treatments. Health authorities in the country are negotiating with drugmakers to lower drug prices so that they can be reimbursed by medical insurance and affordable to patients. China is now a “core country,” Weber said, and the company views it as on par with the U.S. and Europe in research, new drug approvals and reimbursement. Demand for new therapies is surging in the country as the population ages and chronic diseases such as diabetes and cancer become more common. Takeda plans to introduce medicines such as Ninlaro, which treats a cancer of white blood cells called multiple myeloma. China’s pharmaceutical market is second only to the U.S. in size, and expenditures are expected to grow as much as 8 percent per year to $170 billion in 2021, according to researcher QuintilesIMS. China’s medical imports stood at $28.7 billion in 2017, according to the General Administration of Customs.
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china;drugs;takeda;shire
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jp0009676
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/07/18
|
12 dead, nearly 10,000 taken to hospitals last week as ongoing heat wave engulfs Japan
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Twelve people died and nearly 10,000 people were taken to hospitals for heat exhaustion or heatstroke during the week through last Sunday, as a heat wave continued to scorch wide areas of Japan, the government said Wednesday. Temperatures soared to more than 35 degrees, with cities in central Japan seeing the highest levels this year at about 40, the weather agency said. As intense heat is expected to continue, the Meteorological Agency has warned people to take precautions, such as drinking sufficient amounts of water. According to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency, the heat sent 9,956 people to hospitals, 3.7 times higher than that of the previous week. A Kyodo News tally showed more than 5,000 people were taken to hospitals during the three-day weekend. For Wednesday, temperatures climbed to 40.7 in the city of Tajimi in Gifu Prefecture, and the city of Mino in the same prefecture reached 40.6. The last time such temperatures were reached was August 2013. By prefecture, Osaka saw the largest number of people sent to hospitals at 752 people, followed by 704 in Tokyo and 687 in Aichi Prefecture. Of the 9,956 people, nearly 190 needed to be hospitalized for more than three weeks. People aged 65 or older accounted for 46.1 percent of the total. Among the fatalities last week was a 6-year-old boy. The first-grade elementary school student in Aichi Prefecture was attending an outdoor class for about two hours with his teacher and classmates at around noon on Tuesday. The temperature was about 33 at that time. The heat has also continued to make it difficult for relief operations in regions ravaged by the recent flooding and landslides. Although more than a week has passed from the downpour, more than 10 people remain missing in the prefectures of Hiroshima, Okayama, Ehime, Osaka and Nara, according to a tally. About 4,800 people in 16 prefectures had evacuated to shelters, according to the National Police Agency. In the three hardest-hit prefectures — Okayama, Hiroshima and Ehime — a total of 813 people were taken to hospitals last week, including volunteers for removing and cleaning up debris. In the areas hit by the downpour, Ozu in Ehime Prefecture logged 35.9, while Kurashiki in Okayama Prefecture and Higashihiroshima in Hiroshima Prefecture recorded 33.9 and 33.4, respectively. Of the 927 monitoring points nationwide, 185 points logged 35 or higher on Wednesday, the Meteorological Agency said. In Osaka Prefecture, firefighters took nine female students to hospital at about 1 p.m. after receiving an emergency call from the school. Three are apparently in serious condition, they said. It was around 38 at just past 2 p.m. in Osaka. The Tokyo Fire Department said it received about 2,900 emergency calls the previous day, a record high for a single day since it started emergency services in 1936. The Environment Ministry, which releases a color-based map on its website to convey heat exhaustion or heatstroke risks, has decided to change the colors to make it easier to read for people with color vision deficiency.
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hospitals;heat wave;meteorological agency;heatstroke
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