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jp0010348
|
[
"national",
"science-health"
] |
2018/12/11
|
Japan to offer men aged 39 to 56 free rubella vaccinations for three years to combat outbreak
|
The government said Tuesday it will offer free rubella vaccinations for three years to men who were unvaccinated in their childhood amid an outbreak of the disease that threatens to dampen demand for travel to Japan. Rubella can have serious health impacts on unborn babies, and vaccinations and antibody tests will be offered free, in principle, through March 2022 for men aged between 39 and 56 who were not vaccinated under regular public programs. The number of rubella patients in Japan has reached 2,454 this year, topping the figure for 2012 when the previous outbreak began, and the spread is believed to be mainly caused by unvaccinated men in the targeted age group. Tests and vaccinations will be administered at medical institutions in residential areas from early next year. If unborn babies are infected with rubella through their mothers in the early stages of pregnancy, they can suffer birth defects such as hearing impairments, cataracts and heart disorders. The government will call for cooperation from businesses and clinics so that people can take antibody tests during regular health examinations in the workplace, or get vaccinations at night or on weekends at medical institutions. “We are taking this step to give people a sense of assurance. We will support municipalities’ measures,” said health minister Takumi Nemoto. In late October, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention raised its alert level for the rubella outbreak in Japan to Level 2, the second highest of 3 levels, warning that pregnant women should not travel to the country unless protected against the disease through vaccination or previous infection. To avert a potential vaccine shortage, people are first asked to take antibody tests. Both antibody tests and vaccinations will be free for men born between April 2, 1962, and April 1, 1979, over the three-year period. Although 92 percent of Japanese are immune to rubella, the percentage falls to about 80 percent for men in the targeted age group. The government aims to raise the proportion to 85 percent or more by the time the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics begin in 2020, and to over 90 percent by the end of March 2022. According to the World Health Organization, 85 percent of people in all generations need to be immunized against the disease to attain “herd immunity” that can prevent a disease from spreading. A rubella epidemic could last several years, regardless of season and weather conditions, according to experts. Japan’s vaccination policy has changed many times and men aged between 39 and 56 were not given the opportunity to be immunized against rubella through regular public vaccination programs offered by municipalities. Vaccination rates for both men and women aged between 31 and 39 are also low as they needed to go to clinics individually to get vaccines rather than being immunized in groups when they were in junior high school. In the wake of the epidemic, some municipal governments and companies have started offering free antibody tests or vaccinations. Among companies in the nation that are taking initiatives to combat the outbreak, Rohto Pharmaceutical Co. began covering the full costs of rubella vaccinations for around 1,700 employees from October. Believing that many workers are unable to find time to go to clinics to be immunized, the company decided to organize group vaccinations at its offices in Osaka, Tokyo and Kyoto.
|
rubella;men;vaccinations
|
jp0010351
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/12/11
|
Juntendo University treated female medical school applicants unfairly in entrance exams, says report by third-party panel
|
Juntendo University treated applicants, mostly women, unfairly during its medical school’s entrance examinations during the 2017 and 2018 academic years, a report by a third-party committee confirmed Monday. The committee, headed by lawyer Keisuke Yoshioka, said in its primary report that the university has “improperly treated (applicants) by abusing its discretionary power.” According to the report, the unfair treatment started with the entrance exam for the year beginning April 2008 or before, and such acts were not considered problematic at the university. The university explained to the committee that it raised the bar for women in entrance exams in order to “narrow the gap with male students” in interviews, in which women generally excelled over men in communication abilities. Female applicants tend to be more mature than their male peers, and they generally scored higher in interviews, the university said. It also said the limited capacity of a dormitory for all new female students was also behind unfair treatment of female applicants. The committee found such discrimination against women to be lacking a sound basis, and the university has decided to abolish its unfair practice in entrance exams for the 2019 school year and beyond. “I deeply apologize for causing great trouble and anxiety to examinees, guardians and other concerned people,” Juntendo University President Hajime Arai told a news conference the same day. The university said it is willing to admit a total of 48 people who were rejected in the second-stage exams of essays and interviews due to the unfair practices during the past two years, and will ask whether those applicants still wish to enter the school. Of the 48, 47 are women. It will also return fees for the first-stage exams to a total of 117 applicants who failed to pass due to unfair decisions.
|
women;discrimination;entrance exams;juntendo university
|
jp0010352
|
[
"national",
"crime-legal"
] |
2018/12/11
|
Lawsuit filed against Japan's state-funded ceremonies to mark Imperial enthronement
|
Members of religious groups and other citizens sued the government on Monday, claiming that planned public spending on ceremonies involving the enthronement of Crown Prince Naruhito next year violates the constitutional principle of separation of religion and politics. The 241 plaintiffs including Christians and Buddhists filed the lawsuit with the Tokyo District Court, seeking damages of ¥10,000 per person and an injunction against the spending. In their complaint, they claim that Sokui no Rei ceremonies and the Daijosai ritual featuring the new Emperor and the year’s harvest “give a mythological explanation of Japan’s establishment and structure and mean there is a connection between Japanese people and a transcendent existence through state Shinto rituals conducted by the Emperor.” The spending of public money on the ceremonies breaches the constitutional principle and puts psychological pressure on people believing in religions other than Shinto, they said. “The courts have to stop the government and the legislative” branch, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs told a news conference after filing the lawsuit, expressing hope for “a proper constitutional judgment.”
|
courts;constitution;royalty;emperor akihito;tokyo district court;imperial family;emperor naruhito
|
jp0010353
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/12/29
|
Over 200 hopefuls planning to run in next summer's Upper House election, survey finds
|
A total of 208 people are planning to run in the Upper House election slated for next summer, a Jiji Press survey has shown. Maintaining a majority of at least 123 seats in the upper chamber of the Diet is an absolute must for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, Komeito. Meanwhile, major opposition parties are trying to unify as many candidates as possible in constituencies with only one seat up for grabs in the election. In the race, 124 of the Upper House’s 245 seats will be contested. Japan holds an Upper House election every three years, putting half of all seats up for election each time. The government and the ruling bloc are considering convening an ordinary Diet session in late January. In that case, the Upper House election is likely to take place on July 21. It will be the first Upper House poll since the enactment of the revised public offices election law in July 2018 to increase the number of the chamber’s seats by a total of six in order to reduce vote-value disparities. The six include three which will be contested in the 2019 poll. In prefectural constituencies, the total number of seats to be contested in the upcoming election increased by one to 74, which include two pairs of sparsely populated neighboring western prefectures—Tottori and Shimane, and Tokushima and Kochi. The number of seats under the proportional representation system rose by two to 50. The ruling parties have a total of 70 seats that will not be contested in the next election. They need to win at least 53 seats in order to maintain their majority. Five major opposition parties, including the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, are working to unify candidates in single-seat constituencies. The five have reached an agreement in some of the constituencies, but in other districts, they are still apart. It is unclear whether they will be able to establish broad-based cooperation to counter the ruling camp.
|
elections;upper house
|
jp0010354
|
[
"national",
"media-national"
] |
2018/12/29
|
Social media and online outlets led charge for change in 2018
|
A reflection of how the internet functioned in Japan in 2018 can be seen in a recent incident at Shinjuku Station. On Dec. 18, Twitter user @Diablo_Lucifero warned women using the transportation hub to be on the alert for multiple men who were apparently going out of their way to shove female commuters. They uploaded a photo of what they claimed was an arm that had been injured in one such attack, adding that a colleague had also suffered damage to their ribs. The post attracted responses reporting similar incidents , while the whole situation soon went viral . If this sounds familiar, it’s because a similar attack was reported earlier in the year and was even captured on a smartphone camera . It was one of the most buzzed-about stories online, and has resurfaced once again. As @Diablo_Lucifero suggests, the police don’t appear to have investigated the reports, despite plenty of people discussing it on social media and substantial evidence being uploaded. The internet — from social media to a newer generation of publications based online — have stepped in to fill in gaps that traditional media outlets often ignore. Results aren’t guaranteed — the case of men intentionally targeting women shows that those who could actually do something (that is, the police) are failing — but it’s casting a light nonetheless. Generally, the internet in Japan has long been cast as a haven for right-wingers to complain about the rest of Asia. That image isn’t entirely wrong — 2chan still leans right, and remains one of the most popular destinations for web discourse in the country — but in 2018, it definitely felt more diverse. While not quite as visible, the nation’s left-leaning netizens were perhaps more content with the nature of the discourse this year, such as that seen during a controversy centered around the perceived nationalism present in rock band Radwimps’ song “Hinomaru .” Putting extremism aside for a second, it was certainly noticeable how many middle-of-the-road folk were using social media this year. More people use their smartphones to surf the net these days and with more ordinary users refraining from offering highly politicized views, the general discourse on the internet doesn’t seem to be nearly as polarized as it once was. Online attitudes in 2018 tended to lean a smidgen more progressive as a result — or, at the very least, they weren’t behind-the-times. The responses to Masatoshi Hamada’s blackface scandal and Ken Horiuchi’s use of women as cleaning supplies generated a torrent of negative reaction, with the usual “they don’t understand why it’s so bad” defense quieter than in previous years. People rallied around hashtags that struck back at misogynists . Fake information and outright lies overwhelmed Twitter everywhere in 2018, but Japanese users deserve credit for being extra vigilant in highlighting them, especially during natural disasters . Social media isn’t perfect, of course, with plenty of familiar jingoistic rhetoric present. The platform also impacted the #MeToo movement. While many supported the movement, it inspired some to come out of the digital woodwork to attack those speaking up about their experiences, while others took it a step further and created a #WeToo campaign . Coupled with the lack of impact on the people holding positions of power, social media is considered to be a legitimate place to criticize the country’s online spaces. More generally, web-focused outlets have risen up to provide news and perspectives often ignored by traditional news groups . BuzzFeed Japan and Huffington Post Japan , among others, offered up a slightly more progressive take on the nation’s news, focusing on issues such as sexism, LGBTQ rights and much more. Not all of the outlets got through 2018 unscathed — Huffington Post found themselves skewered by netizens in the wake of reporter Rio Hamada asking U.S. tennis star Naomi Osaka about her identity — but they did gain more prominence as the year progressed. Among those were myriad cases of politicians — all from the Liberal Democratic Party — making discriminatory comments. The above mentioned sites were joined by general online users in highlighting how ridiculous comments made by Mio Sugita and Tom Tanigawa , among others, about LGBTQ individuals were. The best example of this convergence, though, came after the magazine Shincho 45 dismissed LGBTQ issues as insignificant in response to the Sugita flap. Social media users tore into the ridiculous and reductive arguments outlined by the publication, while online and traditional outlets also zoomed in on it. Things got so bad that Shincho 45’s own Twitter account went rogue in protest. The end result? The magazine suspended the publication of Shincho 45 in September. Japanese netizens became their own force for controlling ridiculous opinions and dangerous actions in 2018. With 2019 around the corner, it’s the perfect time to watch and see how the institutions at the top respond.
|
social media;naomi osaka;radwimps;mio sugita;tom tanigawa
|
jp0010355
|
[
"national",
"media-national"
] |
2018/12/29
|
Heisei Era a bumpy ride for Japan's media organizations
|
The media is busy assessing the Heisei Era as it comes to a close. Although not as dramatic as the Showa Era, it’s been a bumpy ride. Japan still hasn’t gotten the hang of this democracy thing, and an engaged, objective press is essential to a functioning democracy. As the following rundown illustrates, however, the jury is still out as to whether Japan’s press meets those criteria. Media person of the year: Takanohana It’s appropriate that one of the defining personalities of the Heisei Era would bow out during its last full calendar year. The heirs to perhaps the greatest legacy in sumo history, Takanohana and his older brother, Wakanohana, grew up in the media spotlight and remained there through their wrestling careers and afterward, but only Takanohana decided to stick with the sport as a stablemaster and organization elder. After years of putting up with his eccentricities and stand-offish manner, the media eventually turned on him — although his being forced out of sumo this year was a crisis of his own making. The particulars of that crisis are perhaps too arcane for many lay people to grasp, but having been told back in the ’90s that Takanohana was the generational lynchpin in the ideal Japanese family and then to see that family disintegrate over time to the tune of hackneyed gossip, anyone would be wary of the media’s pronouncements. The November news that Takanohana and his wife had divorced was simply the straw that broke the back of his respectability. Takanohana was already estranged from his mother, brother and son, all of whom have their own rows to hoe as celebrities. What made Takanohana interesting is that his religious regard for sumo really did outweigh any desire for fame and material well-being. Some will say that’s noble, but there was probably no calculation involved. Takanohana was always an odd one and that’s probably how he’ll be remembered. Salaryman of the year: Kei Komuro When Princess Mako, older daughter of second-in-line-to-the-throne Prince Akishino, announced her intention to marry salaryman Kei Komuro in September 2017, the press played up the romance. The two had met in university and were going steady. There were no go-betweens or royal fixers involved in their union. They loved each other and that was that. However, the tabloid press, being what it is, couldn’t stay that way. Over the past year, reports of debts that Komuro’s mother owed a former boyfriend circulated, causing so much concern that Prince Akishino himself supposedly questioned the match. Then, when Komuro was accepted at Fordham University in New York to study for a law degree, the rumor was that the Imperial Household Agency, which oversees royal matters, had somehow rigged the outcome in order to get Komuro away from Mako in the hopes their passions would cool and the two would quietly break up. In any event, the wedding has been indefinitely postponed. As royal intrigues go, it’s hardly Shakespeare, and by most objective measures Komuro is a catch, a nice guy who supports his widowed mother and works hard at his job in a law office. Regardless of how he got into Fordham, if he passes the New York State bar exam, he will have a valuable credential that should guarantee him a lucrative and fulfilling career. That the tabloids and weeklies call all of this into question is predictable and depressing, regardless of your feelings about the Imperial family. Next year, of course, Japan will get a new emperor and Komuro’s travails may fade from the media’s collective consciousness. Kei, we hardly knew ye. Issue of the year: Henoko The contrasting relationship between Okinawa and the rest of Japan has always been characterized by cultural and historical signifiers that were presented by the latter as mostly anecdotal. Okinawans — not all, but a good portion — would say that the differences run deeper, as do the attendant emotions, which were fully apparent this year due to ongoing protests against the construction of an airfield for U.S. forces stationed at Camp Schwab on the coast of Henoko. Until recently, press coverage mirrored the cultural dynamic. The mainland media looked at it as a matter of solving the problem of Futenma air base, which is situated dangerously in the middle of the city of Ginowan, while local media insisted it was all about Okinawan sovereignty: The central government, in thrall to the American military, continued to sacrifice its southernmost prefecture to the alliance so as not to risk provoking any of the other 46 prefectures by transferring Futenma’s functions out of Okinawa. As construction began, the mainstream media could no longer avoid the local media’s point , and many of the former have been pursuing the idea that Henoko is not only undemocratic, but unsuited to its purpose. Recently revealed surveys show that the seabed where the runway is being built may not be able to support it geologically . In terms of future PR, the government has its work cut out for it, as does the mainstream media. Most valuable player: Jumpei Yasuda Freelance reporters don’t get much love in Japan. By choosing to be freelancers they imply they aren’t team players, but since most mainstream media outlets are indistinguishable in terms of content, freelancers have an advantage in terms of individual style and outlook, as long as they can find somewhere to publish or broadcast their stories. Jumpei Yasuda distinguished himself quite starkly this year. He had been held captive by militants since entering Syria in 2015, and, based on what has happened to other international reporters in similar situations, it was feared he wouldn’t make it out alive, but he did, only to return to a country that didn’t trust him, since he violated government directives against journalists venturing into conflict areas. He apologized for his incaution and took responsibility for his plight, but also insisted the stories he pursued meant something. In other words, he felt bad if he made people worry, but didn’t think he did anything wrong. It’s still too soon to say if his matter-of-fact attitude and lack of self-reflection will affect his job prospects. Some pundits resented his recklessness, but an equal number believe he has nothing to feel sorry about. The fact that those people thought they should say so publicly may be good news for Japanese journalism in general.
|
henoko;takanohana;jumpei yasuda;kei komuro
|
jp0010357
|
[
"national",
"crime-legal"
] |
2018/12/29
|
10 same-sex couples to sue Japanese government over marriage equality
|
Ten same-sex couples will jointly file a lawsuit against the government in February for not recognizing marriage equality, their lawyers said Friday. The couples argue that the government’s position on same-sex marriage flouts equality under the law and freedom of marriage as protected in the Constitution. The couples, who are seeking compensation, will file the suit in district courts throughout the country, including Tokyo and Nagoya. Article 24 of the Constitution says, “Marriage shall be based only on the mutual consent of both sexes.” The government has indicated that it interprets this to apply only to heterosexual couples, while the lawyers working for the couples argue that some legal scholars do not see it as prohibiting same-sex marriage. The government also argues that the term “husband and wife” used in the civic law and the family registration law indicates a man and a woman, and thus cannot accept marriage applications from gay and lesbian couples. Marriage equality has already been legalized in other parts of the world. The Netherlands was the first to do so in April 2001, followed by other European nations. “We want our call to be widespread so that the freedom to marry will be recognized for everyone,” said Shinya Maezono, one of the lawyers.
|
lgbt;sexuality;discrimination;same-sex marriage
|
jp0010358
|
[
"business",
"tech"
] |
2018/12/16
|
5G: A costly revolution not without risks
|
PARIS - The recent diplomatic dust-up over the Chinese telecommunications company Huawei, one of the leaders in developing equipment for fifth-generation mobile networks, has demonstrated that this technology, which promises to enable an internet of things and self-driving vehicles, also poses risks. What is 5G, what will it be able to do, and what are the risks? What is 5G? 5G stands for the fifth generation of mobile network technology, which should begin to be rolled out in 2020 in Asia and the United States. Each generation has offered improvements in data transmission speed and capacity, but with 5G, the networks are really set to make the transition from telephony to other objects. What will it be able to do? The much vaunted internet of things has so far been hobbled by the limitations of mobile networks, both in terms of handset transmission speeds and the fact that the backbone of the networks hadn’t been expanded sufficiently in many cases to handle huge volumes of data. With 5G, transmission speeds should accelerate sufficiently to allow for self-driving cars to take to the roads or for doctors to conduct operations remotely. It will also cut the cord on augmented and virtual reality. The ability to connect more sensors will help make many services “intelligent,” such as helping manage traffic flow and telling the sanitation department when garbage bins need to be emptied. Industry in particular is looking to 5G to reinvent manufacturing and allow it to monitor all sorts of processes. Why does 5G pose security risks? The first reason is that more data and more types of it will be traveling across 5G networks. Much of the data transmitted by sensors could be sensitive, such as information about manufacturing processes that business rivals would be interested in acquiring. Or the data from our homes that could be gleaned to determine all sorts of things about us. The treasure chest of data for hackers is getting much, much bigger. A second reason is that an increased reliance on the mobile network means its disruption would have even more serious consequences, both in terms of safety and economic activity. A failure during a remotely guided operation could lead to the death of a patient or the crash of a self-driving car. A longer outage could disrupt an economy. This poses national security risks. While the diplomatic spat over the arrest of Huawei’s chief financial officer was based on accusations related to the alleged violation of U.S. sanctions on Iran, the United States has long-standing concerns about Chinese telecommunications equipment serving as a Trojan horse for Beijing’s intelligence and military. Huawei is a major manufacturer of equipment used to build 5G networks, and given recent revelations about chip and motherboard tampering, the U.S. defense establishment fears Huawei’s equipment could enable it to disrupt American military communications or otherwise wage asymmetrical warfare in a confrontation. The United States has essentially barred use of Huawei equipment in domestic networks, as have Australia and New Zealand, with other countries considering following suit. Deliverance or disappointment? The promises are always hyped, but the delivery is often a disappointment. Early buyers of 4G smartphones were often let down: Their handsets could handle nippy speeds, but the backbones of their networks were often not yet bulked up to handle the higher data flow. Operators have since built up the capacity of their backbone networks, but if 5G is to keep its promise, an enormous number of base stations will be required. Otherwise, users will be forced back onto slower networks. In the meantime, operators are having to invest billions to roll out 5G, which is an issue because competition in many countries has hemmed in prices companies can charge consumers. While most analysts believe operators will in the end be able to finance building the new networks, they may not initially be dense enough to handle some of the most anticipated applications. Building a dense network of base stations along highways to handle self-driving vehicles will be a costly endeavor, for example, and operators may find themselves seeking partners from users of new services.
|
internet;smartphones;computers;huawei;5g
|
jp0010359
|
[
"business"
] |
2018/12/16
|
Fate of $1 trillion in risky U.S. loans may be in Japan's hands
|
LONDON/HONG KONG - Japanese banks might have snapped up a third of the loans made to highly indebted U.S. companies, propelling the size of the market past $1 trillion, a new estimate from UBS Group AG suggests. Years of low yields spurred investors to pour money into leveraged loans — credit extended to companies with the weakest balance sheets. Such assets were pitched as a haven for those worried about the prospect of rising interest rates, and were often repackaged into so-called collateralized loan obligations (CLOs) with credit enhancements to protect investors. Now the worry is that cracks are beginning to develop in what was once one of the hottest products on Wall Street. A record $2.53 billion was yanked out of leveraged-loan funds in the week ending Dec. 12, while Wells Fargo & Co. and Barclays PLC recently took the rare step of pulling a $415 million deal from the market. Just 0.9 percent of U.S. loans tracked by Citigroup Inc. trade above par, or face value, compared with more than 70 percent just a few months ago. Japanese banks have been buying the top-rated AAA pieces of CLOs because they have higher yields than like-rated sovereign debt, according to UBS, with the lenders making up about 33 percent of inflows into the asset class in the past several years. While the demand is vulnerable to a pullback, it should help provide stability to the market in the face of a recent sell-off, the bank said. “The Japanese bid for U.S. loans will not be easily broken,” analysts led by Stephen Caprio wrote in research published last week. “Most Japanese banks are buy-and-hold investors; outright selling will be fairly limited unless the prospect of outright credit losses becomes likely, necessitating much higher recession risk than today.” It is one example of a broader trend of Japanese investors looking for returns overseas after being faced with zero yields at home. Many of the CLOs were bought through so-called repacks, in which dollar-denominated assets are essentially repackaged into yen using a special purpose vehicle and a currency-swap agreement with another bank. Japanese banks may be buying between half and three-quarters of AAA-rated CLO tranches, UBS said, citing evidence from clients and analysis of the market for cross currency basis swaps. Without the Japanese bid for AAA-rated CLO paper, top-rated CLO spreads would likely widen back to at least 2014 levels, or 50 basis points wider, the bank estimated. An indicative estimate by the Bank of England in November said “international banks, particularly U.S. and Japanese banks” held one-third of the stock of global CLOs, concentrated in less-risky tranches. The size of the leveraged loan market has ballooned to $1.1 trillion from $682 billion in 2014, according to UBS. That is not far from the $1.2 trillion worth of junk-rated corporate bonds outstanding, a market that has also exploded in size thanks to years of low interest rates and yield-hungry investors. “Leveraged loans have supplanted junk bonds as the home for more risky credit,” the UBS analysts wrote, calculating that by one measure — debt extended to companies rated just a few notches above default — there are now more risky loans outstanding, at $794 billion, than risky bond debt at $750 billion. Analysts are sounding varying degrees of alarm on the asset class, with JPMorgan Chase & Co. noting that CLO issuance has proved more resilient than other types of credit in the face of market volatility. Despite a decline in secondary market prices, sales of U.S. CLOs have reached a record $127 billion so far this year, JPM said. That supply dynamic could work against the market, though, as investors grow wary about an economic slowdown alongside central bank policy normalization. “Recent outflows represent a small fraction of the inflows that occurred over the prior two years,” Michael Anderson and Philip Dobrinov at Citigroup wrote in a Dec. 13 note. “We expect further weakness ahead.” Even Japanese banks may slow their buying in cases such as a rise in hedging costs to extremes, or a jump in stresses on European lenders involved in the repacks that gets so severe it undermines those structures — with counterparty default being the worst-case scenario, UBS said. Japanese banks should in theory continue to anchor the market as long as government yields stay low and the Bank of Japan clings to its ultra-easy monetary policies, UBS said. But ownership from other types of funds could “amplify downside,” especially if investors start to worry about defaults in the face of any looming recession, the analysts wrote.
|
debt;stocks;banks;investments;loans;clos
|
jp0010360
|
[
"world",
"politics-diplomacy-world"
] |
2018/12/16
|
Outraged Democrats vow to challenge court ruling that undercuts Obamacare
|
WASHINGTON - Outraged Democrats vowed to appeal a federal judge’s ruling that could undo the U.S. health care law known as Obamacare, saying on Saturday that they will use their new power in Congress to hold Republicans responsible and “expose their lies.” U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor ruled late Friday that the health insurance reform, officially known as the Affordable Care Act, is unconstitutional. The White House said it expects the ruling to be appealed to the Supreme Court. For now, it said in a statement, “the law remains in place.” But Democrats, who have seen the law survive scores of legal and legislative attacks, vowed to fight back, saying the health coverage of millions of Americans is at stake. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer tweeted that Republicans had pretended to care about those protected by Obamacare “while quietly trying to remove that support in the courts. Next year, we will force votes to expose their lies.” Democrats see the law as a signature achievement of former president Barack Obama, while Republicans dismiss it as governmental overreach. Donald Trump made abolishing and replacing the program a central pledge of his presidential campaign. In a separate Obamacare case in 2012, five of the nine Supreme Court justices upheld the law. All five remain on the court. Still, it remains unclear how they might rule in the new case. If the decision is upheld, it could significantly disrupt the U.S. health care system. In his ruling Friday, the Texas-based judge said that the full Obamacare program was unconstitutional because Congress, in its 2017 tax overhaul, eliminated a penalty for anyone lacking health insurance who failed to sign up for the program. The 2012 case was over whether such a penalty was legal — but now that it is gone, O’Connor said, the whole ACA should be stricken down because that provision is “the keystone” of the program. Trump expressed delight at the court’s ruling on a complaint brought by several Republican attorneys general and two Republican governors. “It’s a great ruling for our country. We’ll be able to get great health care,” Trump told reporters. “It was a big, big victory by a highly respected judge.” “As I predicted all along, Obamacare has been struck down as an UNCONSTITUTIONAL disaster!” he tweeted the previous day. Trump urged Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the House of Representatives speaker-designate, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, to “pass a STRONG law that provides GREAT health care.” The court ruling came on the eve of the deadline for people to sign up for ACA coverage for 2019. Angry Democrats blamed Republicans for what they see as a debacle that could leave millions of Americans without health care. Republicans “know that they can’t repeal the ACA in Congress. So they’ve continued their crusade through the courts,” tweeted Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a consumer-protection activist. “The ACA is still the law of the land.” Polls consistently show strong public support for the ACA guarantee of coverage regardless of pre-existing health conditions — an issue Democrats used with great success in last month’s midterm elections as they won control of the House of Representatives. “#Republicans’ legal crusade against the #AffordableCareAct is a political stunt, but a dangerous one that puts health coverage and vital health protections for millions of Americans at risk,” Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse tweeted Saturday. Democratic Rep. Joe Kennedy said “they found one judge to agree, and now Medicaid expansion could be gone, pre-existing condition protections could be wiped out, prices skyrocket and millions lose insurance. And they call that success.” O’Connor’s ruling “exposes the monstrous endgame of Republicans’ all-out assault on people with pre-existing conditions and Americans’ access to affordable health care,” Pelosi said in a statement. While the court’s “absurd ruling will be immediately appealed, Republicans are fully responsible for this cruel decision,” she said. She vowed that when Democrats take control of the House next month, lawmakers “will move swiftly to formally intervene in the appeals process” to uphold Obamacare. Opposing the Republican lawsuit were 17 Democratic attorneys general led by Xavier Becerra of California. They argue that the tax law changes do not mean that the whole Affordable Care Act becomes unconstitutional. The Texas ruling “is an assault on 133 million Americans with pre-existing conditions” and on all who rely on Obamacare coverage, Becerra said in a statement. “Our fight to save Obamacare is far from over.”
|
courts;health;insurance;obamacare;national health care
|
jp0010361
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/12/16
|
'Tattoo OK' hot spring map released in Rugby World Cup host prefecture
|
OITA - A hot spa resort area in Oita Prefecture, which is hosting next year’s Rugby World Cup, has created an online map showing onsen spots open to visitors with tattoos, typically stigmatized in Japan due to their association with yakuza. The Oita city of Beppu has prepared the online map on the website titled “100 Tattoo-allowed Hot Springs” based on the understanding that tattoos are part of traditional culture in such countries as New Zealand, whose national rugby team will play in Oita, near Beppu, during the Sept. 20-Nov. 2 tournament. “We don’t want to disappoint people who come all the way (to Japan)” from elsewhere given that operators of many public baths refuse guests with tattoos, a city official said, in explaining why the city created the map based on Google Maps. On the map, colors are used to differentiate the hot springs and what they will permit. Blue means the facility allows visitors with tattoos at anytime, while orange facilities ask such guests to use private baths. At the dark blue facilities, those who have tattoos can soak their hands and feet in onsen tubs. Beppu has more than 2,000 hot springs, according to the city’s website. But roughly 70 percent of inns and hotels in the city bar guests with tattoos from using their baths out of concern they could cause unease among other guests or even scare them. “It’s difficult to distinguish” between gangsters and other guests when both have tattoos, said a representative for an accommodation facility in the area. “There are a lot of foreign tourists who look forward to visiting onsen hot springs at inns and hotels,” said Tatsuya Kawamura, who works for B-biz Link, an affiliate organization of the city that created the digital map. Kawamura, 34, said he will encourage the operators of inns and hotels that currently ban tattoos in Beppu to take measures such as designating times when tattoos are OK so more visitors can enjoy onsen.
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tatoo;beppu
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jp0010362
|
[
"national",
"science-health"
] |
2018/12/16
|
80% of cancer or heart patients in Japan worked from hospital: survey
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More than 80 percent of cancer or heart patients surveyed in Japan worked in some form while being hospitalized for treatment, health ministry data shows. Nearly 82 percent of 1,030 cancer or heart patients surveyed by the ministry said they worked from the hospital, including making job-related reports and preparations to return to their offices. The results of the ministry’s first large-scale survey of its kind, which has not been publicly disclosed, suggest it is difficult for many patients to concentrate on treatment. While the government promotes the need to balance work and treatment such as through telework, some experts have urged that a better environment be created. “I think the survey is correctly reflecting the reality,” said Naomi Sakurai, a director of the Cancer Survivors Recruiting Project, an organization supporting workers receiving cancer treatment. “Patients may think they’ve caused trouble to their workplaces and think they must work even in the hospital, but they shouldn’t forget that they should prioritize treatment,” Sakurai said. The ministry’s survey, covering people between ages 20 and 64 who were hospitalized in the past five years, was carried out between last December and March this year in 25 major hospitals. It showed 91.1 percent had used smartphones to do their work from locations including common spaces at hospitals or their rooms. Of about 860,000 people diagnosed with cancer in 2013, about 250,000, or a third of the total, were between 20 and 64 — the working population. A man in his 50s, who was hospitalized for a few weeks to treat cancer, had communicated with his colleagues almost every day via email after he became better post-surgery. “Many patients who suffer the disease are at the age when they are serving in responsible positions at work,” he said. “It’s nice that there is an environment that allows us to work.” But working while the patient is still undergoing treatment can be a challenge. “Hospitals should be a place where patients concentrate on their treatment. If there is an environment for patients to work there, people might push themselves too hard,” said a woman in her 40s who was admitted to a hospital for a few days for cancer and has been seeing a doctor every three months after she was discharged.
|
health;heart disease;cancer;hospitals
|
jp0010363
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/12/16
|
Fukushima launches multilingual emergency call service as number of foreign residents rebounds
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The prefectural police and fire departments in Fukushima have started multilingual services aimed at non-Japanese speakers making emergency calls amid a rising number of foreign visitors in the run-up to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics. On Dec. 1 the prefectural police began offering services in English, Chinese and Korean 24 hours a day. Calls made by foreign residents and visitors to the 110 emergency number — as well as to fixed phone lines at 251 police stations and police boxes — will be connected to a three-way call with an outside company offering interpretation services. The authorities believe they will be able respond and react faster to crimes and traffic accidents reported by foreign residents. Toshiyuki Kanno, who heads the prefectural police department’s criminal investigation division, and Junichi Konno, an executive at the Tohoku Tourism Promotion Organization, which introduced the interpretation company, signed a memorandum of understanding at the Fukushima Prefectural Police headquarters on Nov. 28. According to the police, there were 200 emergency calls made by foreign residents and visitors last year. Before Dec. 1, about 30 police officers fluent in foreign languages had been serving as interpreters while conducting their regular duties. When these officers were not available, interpreters from the private sector were sought, a sometimes time-consuming process. Only the Koriyama and Shirakawa fire departments in the prefecture currently offer a similar three-way phone system, with Koriyama offering the service in 15 languages and Shirakawa 16. Fire departments in six areas of Fukushima — Date, Adachi, Kitakata, Aizuwakamatsu and Minamiaizu — are expected to introduce the service in five to 10 languages by the end of March 2020. Fire departments in Sukagawa, Soma and Iwaki are also considering introducing the system. The number of foreign residents in the prefecture plunged after nuclear meltdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant, which was triggered by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. But the number hit 12,794 in 2017, recovering to the pre-disaster level. The number of foreign visitors staying overnight in the prefecture is also on the rise, topping 130,000 last year. With the increase, the number of foreign nationals who became crime victims has doubled, from 32 people in 2013 to 66 people last year, according to the police. The figures include cases that have been reported to and recognized by police. But one problem is that the service is available in a limited number of languages. In Fukushima, there are about 140 Vietnamese nationals working under a foreign trainee program, but the language is not included in the service introduced this month. “If it offers the service in Vietnamese, I would feel safer,” said a 21-year-old Vietnamese woman who works as a trainee at a metal processing factory in the city of Fukushima.
|
fukushima;tourism;expats;foreign visitors;police
|
jp0010364
|
[
"business"
] |
2018/12/28
|
U.S. fossil fuel export boom spurs growth and raises climate worries
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GEOJEDO, SOUTH KOREA - In South Korea’s largest shipyard, thousands of workers in yellow hard hats move ceaselessly between towering cranes lifting hulks of steel. They weld together the latest additions to the rapidly growing fleet of tankers carrying superchilled liquefied natural gas across the world’s oceans. The boom in fossil-fuel production in the United States has been matched by a rush on the other side of the Pacific to build the infrastructure needed to respond to the seemingly unquenchable thirst for energy among Asia’s top economies. When Congress lifted restrictions on shipping crude oil overseas in 2015, soon after the Obama administration opened the doors for international sales of natural gas, even the most boosterish of Texas oilmen wouldn’t have predicted the U.S. could become one of the world’s biggest fossil-fuel exporters so quickly. Backers of U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) argue that the boom will produce environmental benefits because it will help China and other nations wean themselves from coal and other dirty fossil fuels. Environmentalists counter that the massive new supplies unleashed by the American advances in extracting natural gas from shale don’t just make coal-fired power plants less competitive. LNG also competes with such zero-carbon sources of electricity as nuclear, solar and wind — potentially delaying the full adoption of greener sources. Climate scientists and researchers say the world can’t afford such delays if humans hope to mitigate the worst-case consequences of our carbon emissions, including catastrophic sea-level rise, stronger storms and more wildfires. “Typically, infrastructure has multi-decadal life spans,” said Katharine Hayhoe, a climate scientist and director of the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University. “So, if we build a natural-gas plant today, that will impact carbon emissions over decades to come. So those are the critical and crucial decisions that are being made today. Do we increase access to and use of fossil fuels, or do we make decisions that limit and eventually reduce access to fossil fuels?” While it is difficult to estimate how much America’s rise as major exporter of fossil fuels is contributing to a hotter climate, some of the economic benefits are plain to see in South Korea’s shipyards. At the sprawling Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering facility on the island of Geoje, more than half of the 35 vessels scheduled for delivery in 2018 were LNG carriers. A similar number of vessels are lined up for completion next year. South Korea’s big three shipbuilders — Daewoo, Hyundai Heavy Industries and Samsung Heavy Industries — won orders for 53 new LNG carriers in 2018 at about $200 million each, soaking up the lion’s share of the 62 vessels ordered globally, according to numbers compiled by the London-based shipping group Clarkson Research. South Korea is expected to finish 2018 at the top spot in overall orders for new commercial ships, surpassing China for the first time in seven years. During a recent visit by The Associated Press, three of the LNG carriers were being assembled inside a massive dry dock. Another 13, including The British Contributor, had been floated out to nearby berths where workers were putting on finishing touches. U.S. LNG exports quadrupled in 2017, with this year on track to see similarly exponential growth. Nearly a fifth of all that gas goes to South Korea. The British Contributor is the third of six LNG carriers being built by Daewoo for the British energy giant BP, which will mainly use them to transport U.S. gas to Asia under a 20-year contract with the Freeport LNG facility south of Houston. Daewoo delivered four similar ships this year to the government-owned Korea Gas Corp., which has a 20-year deal to buy gas exported from Cheniere Energy’s Sabine Pass LNG terminal in Louisiana. Burning natural gas produces about half as much carbon dioxide as burning coal does. LNG’s increased adoption for generating electricity has been pitched by the U.S. and others as a way for nations to make progress toward meeting their emissions reductions goals under the 2015 Paris climate accord. Burning gas also creates less particulate pollution. In China, the communist government has declared a “Blue Sky Defense War” to reduce the choking smog in Beijing and two dozen surrounding cities with a program to convert hundreds of thousands of homes and industrial facilities from burning coal to gas. In February, Texas-based Cheniere signed a 25-year deal with the state-controlled China National Petroleum Corp. to export LNG from its export terminal in Corpus Christi. But the increased gas exports from the U.S. and other sources hasn’t really put much of dent in Chinese coal consumption, which has remained largely flat in 2018. Overall carbon emissions for China, the globe’s biggest emitter, saw a nearly 5 percent increase in 2018.
|
china;climate;u.s .;growth;jobs;south korea;lng;coal;environment;fossil fuels
|
jp0010365
|
[
"business"
] |
2018/12/28
|
At 20, euro remains a currency giant on fragile footing
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FRANKFURT, GERMANY - The euro will turn 20 on Tuesday, marking two tumultuous decades that saw the single currency survive a make-or-break crisis and become a fixture in financial markets and Europeans’ wallets. But it is destined to remain a fragile giant without closer eurozone integration, observers say. Born on Jan. 1, 1999, the euro initially existed only as a virtual currency used in accounting and financial transactions. It became a physical reality for Europeans three years later, and its coins and notes are now used by over 340 million people in 19 European Union countries. The currency wasn’t immediately loved, with many perceiving its arrival as an unwelcome price hike. In Germany, it was nicknamed the “teuro,” a pun on the German word for expensive. But the ease of traveling and doing business across borders in the euro area without having to worry about foreign-exchange fluctuations quickly won hearts and minds. Today the euro is more popular than ever despite the rise of euroskeptic, populist movements in a slew of countries. In a November survey for the European Central Bank, 74 percent of eurozone citizens said the euro had been good for the EU and 64 percent said it had been good for their nation. “The euro is anchored in the population, even anti-establishment parties have had to acknowledge that,” said Nicolas Veron, a fellow at the Bruegel think tank in Brussels and the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington. The euro is now the world’s No. 2 currency, though it remains some way off from challenging the dominance of the dollar. The euro reached a defining moment when the aftershocks of the 2008 financial crisis triggered a eurozone debt crisis that culminated in bailouts of several countries, pushing the currency union to a breaking point and severely testing the club’s unity. Experts say the turbulent time exposed the original flaws of the euro project, including the lack of fiscal solidarity through the pooling of debt, investments and therefore risks, or the lack of a lender of last resort. The turmoil also highlighted the economic disparity between member states and regions, particularly between the more fiscally prudent north and debt-laden south. ECB chief Mario Draghi was credited with saving the euro in 2012 when he said, “within our mandate, the ECB is ready to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro. And believe me, it will be enough.” The Frankfurt institution, in charge of eurozone monetary policy, promised to buy up, if necessary, unlimited amounts of government bonds from debt-stricken countries. The concept, known as outright monetary transactions, succeeded in calming the waters but has never actually been used. To keep money flowing across the eurozone and ward off the threat of deflation, a crippling downward spiral of prices and economic activity, the ECB has still taken unprecedented action in recent years. It has set interest rates at historic lows, offered cheap loans to banks and bought more than €2.6 trillion ($3 trillion) in government and corporate bonds between 2015 and 2018. With inflation inching closer to the bank’s goal of just under 2.0 percent, the stimulus has been widely judged as a monetary policy success story. But observers say the 19 single currency nations have not done enough to carry out the political reforms necessary to better arm the region for future downturns and achieve greater economic convergence. The long-mooted banking union remains incomplete amid disagreement over the creation of a Europe-wide deposit insurance scheme. And French President Emmanuel Macron’s flagship proposal for a eurozone budget has been considerably watered down, with members in December agreeing only to explore a scaled-down version of the idea while staying vague on details. Also, his more ambitious plans for a eurozone finance minister or a European version of the International Monetary Fund have been pushed aside. The ECB meanwhile has gone “as far as it can” in shoring up the euro, said Gilles Moec, a former French central bank economist. But analyst Vernon took a more upbeat view, saying the euro had been strengthened by the clean-up of banks’ balance sheets, efforts to rein in public debt and the ECB’s extraordinary actions. The euro is now “a giant with feet of bricks rather than clay,” he said.
|
eu;money;ecb;euro;currency
|
jp0010366
|
[
"business",
"tech"
] |
2018/12/28
|
Britain voices 'grave' concerns over China's Huawei involvement in U.K. 5G
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LONDON - British Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson has warned of his “very deep concerns” about Chinese technology giant Huawei being involved in the use of 5G on Britain’s mobile network, The Times reported Thursday. “I have grave, very deep concerns about Huawei providing the 5G network in Britain. It’s something we’d have to look at very closely,” Williamson was quoted as saying by the newspaper. “We’ve got to look at what partners such as Australia and the U.S. are doing in order to ensure that they have the maximum security of that 5G network,” he said. “We’ve got to recognize the fact, as has been recently exposed, that the Chinese state does sometimes act in a malign way,” he said. Williamson’s comments echo similar warnings from MI6 spy agency chief Alex Younger, who earlier this year said Britain would have to make “some decisions” about the involvement of firms such as Huawei. Britain’s government earlier this year announced the West Midlands region in central England would become the first large-scale testing area for 5G. Fifth-generation mobile networks, or 5G, will have faster transmission speeds and could enable a far wider use of self-driving vehicles and internet-powered household objects. It is expected to be rolled out in Asia and the United States from 2020. Huawei has defended its global ambitions and network in the face of Western fears that the Chinese telecom giant could serve as a Trojan horse for Beijing’s security apparatus. The company has been under fire this year with Washington leading efforts to blacklist Huawei internationally and securing the arrest of the company’s chief financial officer in Canada. Countries like the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Britain have pulled back from using its products while concerns grow in Japan, France, Germany and even the Czech Republic over security issues.
|
china;u.s .;britain;espionage;huawei;japan;5g;gavin williamson
|
jp0010367
|
[
"business",
"tech"
] |
2018/12/28
|
Sony bumps ups 3D camera sensor output as smartphone-makers show interest
|
Sony Corp., the biggest maker of camera chips used in smartphones, is boosting production of next-generation 3D sensors after garnering interest from customers including Apple Inc. The chips will power front- and rear-facing 3D cameras of models from several smartphone-makers in 2019, with Sony kicking off mass production in late summer to meet demand, according to Satoshi Yoshihara, head of Sony’s sensor division. He declined to provide sales or production targets, but said the 3D business is already operating profitably and will make an impact on earnings from the fiscal year starting in April. Sony’s bullish outlook for 3D cameras provides much needed optimism to the global smartphone industry, which is suffering a slowdown as consumers find fewer reasons to upgrade devices. The Tokyo-based company has started providing software toolkits to outside developers so they can experiment with the chips and create apps that generate models of faces for communication or virtual objects for online shopping. “Cameras revolutionized phones, and based on what I’ve seen, I have the same expectation for 3D,” said Yoshihara, who has worked for more than a decade on wider industry adoption of cameras in smartphones. “The pace will vary by field, but we’re definitely going to see adoption of 3D. I’m certain of it.” Sony controls about half of the camera chip market and supplies customers including Apple, Alphabet Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co., although Yoshihara declined to identify them by name, citing confidentiality agreements. Huawei Technologies Co. is employing Sony’s 3D cameras in next-generation models, people familiar with the matter said earlier this month. Sony isn’t the only maker of 3D chips, with rivals Lumentum Holdings Inc. and STMicroelectronics NV already finding uses for them, such as unlocking phones through facial recognition or measuring depth to improve focus when taking pictures at night. Yoshihara said Sony’s technology differs from the “structured light” approach of existing chips, which have limits in terms of accuracy and distance. Sony uses a method called “time of flight” that sends out invisible laser pulses and measures how long they take to bounce back, which he said creates more detailed 3D models and works at distances of five meters. Other uses include mobile games, which could involve creating virtual characters that interact with and navigate real-world environments, or ones that use hand gestures for control. To be sure, demand for Sony’s technology is untested and it remains to be seen if consumer interest in 3D will be enough to snap the smartphone market out of its funk. Annual global shipments probably fell 3 percent in 2018 with growth of just 2.6 percent expected in 2019, according to IDC. Yoshihara also said there will only be a need for two 3D chips on devices, for the front and back, despite a trend by smartphone-makers to have three or more cameras. During the interview, Sony showed several examples using a custom phone with a 3D camera on its rear. In one app, users made specific hand gestures to cast magic spells inside a virtual game. In another, the phone calculated the depth of the room and accurately displayed a virtual goldfish swimming in front of and behind real-life objects. “The most important thing in the coming year will be to get people excited,” Yoshihara said.
|
smartphones;sony;3d;cameras
|
jp0010368
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2018/12/28
|
Dollar falls to ¥110.40 in late Tokyo trading
|
The dollar was softer around ¥110.40 in late Tokyo trading Friday, weighed down by sales that preceded year-end and New Year holidays in Japan. At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥110.40-40, down from ¥110.92-93 at the same time Thursday. The euro was at $1.1455-1455, up from $1.1380-1381, and at ¥126.51-52, up from ¥126.31-32. After moving around ¥110.80 in early trading, the dollar fell to around ¥110.50 in late morning trading in line with a drop in Japanese share prices. The U.S. currency dropped further to around ¥110.40 in late trading due to preholiday position-adjustment sales, traders said. “The dollar-yen pair was pressured partly by concerns over a further plunge” in U.S. equities after they showed wild swings on Thursday, an official of a foreign exchange margin trading service company said.
|
forex;currencies;fx
|
jp0010369
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2018/12/28
|
Nikkei ends year with 12% loss after logging first annual fall since 2011
|
The benchmark Nikkei average snapped a six-year winning streak Friday to end 2018 down more than 12 percent after being pressured by selling following a spike the previous day. The 225-issue Nikkei average fell 62.85 points, or 0.31 percent, to close the year’s final session at 20,014.77. It shot up 750.56 points on Thursday. The key yardstick on the Tokyo Stock Exchange marked its first annual fall under the second administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who took office in December 2012 touting Abenomics, his reflationist policies based on fiscal spending, radical monetary easing and vows of structural reforms. For the whole of 2018, the Nikkei average sank 2,750.17 points, or 12.08 percent. The Topix index of all first-section issues finished down 7.54 points, or 0.50 percent, at 1,494.09 after gaining 70.16 points the previous day. For the year, the index plunged 323.47 points, or 17.80 percent. Brokers said the market’s downside was apparently underpinned by purchases of exchange-traded funds by the Bank of Japan. Stocks were hurt by “intermittent selling on a rally,” Chihiro Ota, general manager for investment research and investor services at SMBC Nikko Securities Inc., said, expressing his view that Friday’s trading was led by individual investors. Hiroaki Hiwada, strategist at Toyo Securities Co., said solid performances of other Asian equity markets gave some underpinnings to Japanese stocks. Investors “were engaged in adjusting trading positions” prior to the year-end and New Year holidays, an official at an online brokerage said. The official suggested that trading was not active, reflecting worries that dollar-yen rates may show violent movements during the six-day string of holidays through Thursday in Japan. Falling issues outnumbered rising ones 1,166 to 891 in the TSE’s first section, while 72 issues were unchanged. Volume fell to 1.195 billion shares from Thursday’s 1.576 billion shares. Nitori closed 3.58 percent lower, as the furniture retailer kept its forecast for group operating profit for the year ending next February unchanged at ¥99 billion even though profit for March-November this year grew 10.8 percent year on year to ¥78.033 billion. Department store operator J. Front Retailing dived 8.96 percent after announcing Thursday that its March-November operating profit slipped 10.6 percent from a year earlier to ¥33.853 billion. Also on the minus side were drugmaker Eisai and clothing retailer Fast Retailing. By contrast, precision parts manufacturer Star Micronics, industrial equipment-maker Fanuc and mobile phone carrier KDDI were upbeat. In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the key March 2019 contract on the Nikkei average shed 180 points to end at 19,840.
|
stocks;nikkei;tokyo stock exchange;topix
|
jp0010370
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"science-health-asia-pacific"
] |
2018/12/28
|
U.K. charity says 10 worst climate-linked disasters this year caused an estimated $85 billion in damage
|
LONDON - From floods to extreme heat, 10 of the worst climate-linked disasters in 2018 caused at least $84.8 billion worth of damage, a study released by the charity Christian Aid said on Thursday. Extreme weather driven by climate change hit every populated continent this year, the British relief organization said, warning that urgent action is needed to combat global warming. “This report shows that for many people, climate change is having devastating impacts on their lives and livelihoods right now,” Kat Kramer, who heads Christian Aid’s work on climate issues, said in a statement. Experts say a warming world will lead to sweltering heat waves, more extreme rainfall, shrinking harvests and worsening water shortages, causing both monetary losses and human misery. Almost 200 nations are aiming to limit the rise in average world temperatures under the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement, though some warn progress to meet targets has been slow. The 20 warmest years on record have been within the last 22 years, the United Nations said last month, with 2018 on track to be the fourth hottest. The most expensive climate-linked weather events of 2018 were hurricanes Florence and Michael, which caused at least $32 billion worth of damage as they slammed into the United States, the Caribbean and parts of Central America, the report said. The United States also suffered at least $9 billion of losses from wildfires that caused dozens of deaths and destroyed thousands of homes in California. Japan was badly hit by severe floods over the summer, followed by the powerful Typhoon Jebi in the autumn, which together caused more than $9.3 billion in damages, said the report. It also cited droughts in Europe, floods in south India and Typhoon Mangkhut in the Philippines and China as among the most expensive climate-linked disasters of 2018. The report’s authors collated total cost figures using data from sources including governments, banks and insurance firms, although in some cases the figures only covered insured losses and also failed to take account of the human costs of such events. They added that rising temperatures will continue to drive extreme weather events, and they urged action to prevent further global warming, which would affect the poorest and most vulnerable communities hardest. “The impacts of climate change are no longer subtle,” said Michael Mann, professor of atmospheric science at Penn State University, in a statement on the study. “The world’s weather is becoming more extreme before our eyes — the only thing that can stop this destructive trend from escalating is a rapid fall in carbon emissions.”
|
storms;disasters;climate change;environment;typhoons
|
jp0010371
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/12/28
|
Number of maternity hospitals in Japan at lowest level in over four decades, health ministry says
|
The number of maternity hospitals in Japan has fallen to 1,313, its lowest since 1972 when comparable data became available, as the country’s population rapidly greys and maintains a low birthrate, a Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry survey showed Thursday. As of October last year, the number of hospitals — which fell by 19 from a year earlier to mark the 27th straight annual decrease — sank to about half the figure seen in 1990, according to the survey. Besides the low birthrate, a ministry official said, “it may also be that hospitals in various communities are consolidating their obstetric departments.” The number of smaller clinics with obstetricians and gynecologists stood at 3,327, down 142 from 2014, while pediatric hospitals decreased for the 24th consecutive year to 2,592, down 26 from a year before. The number of medical facilities across Japan, including mental hospitals and dentists’ clinics, totaled 178,492, down 419 from the previous year, according to the ministry’s survey. The ministry also said that the number of full-time hospital doctors came to 171.7 per 100,000 population, with Kochi Prefecture having 259.7 doctors and Saitama Prefecture 124.9.
|
birthrate;aging;doctors;hospitals;maternity
|
jp0010372
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/12/28
|
Majority of Japanese have favorable feelings toward Taiwan: poll
|
TAIPEI - A majority of Japanese have a strong affinity for Taiwan and think bilateral relations will further develop, according to the results of a survey conducted by Taiwan’s de facto embassy in Tokyo that was released Friday. In the poll, 64.7 percent of respondents said they feel the most affinity for Taiwan among all Asian countries and regions. By comparison, 17.5 percent of respondents chose South Korea, while just 4.5 percent said they feel the greatest affinity for Taiwan’s cross-strait rival China. Twelve percent named other Asian nations. Among those who feel some degree of affinity toward Taiwan, over 79 percent said that Taiwanese are friendly. The next largest group, or 45.8 percent, cited the long history of exchanges between Japan and Taiwan. Those who pointed to the island’s generous donations in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima disaster accounted for 39.2 percent. The survey also found that 60.4 percent of the respondents think Taiwan is reliable, with 67.5 percent of those respondents saying they hold that opinion because the island is friendly toward Japan. About 52 percent cited the fact that the two sides share the same values of freedom and democracy, and 49.7 percent said both are peace-loving countries. With regards to bilateral relations, 71 percent of the respondents replied that Tokyo-Taipei relations are sound, while 59.3 percent said they believe bilateral ties will further develop in the future. Nearly 57 percent of the respondents said they would like to visit Taiwan. Among them, respondents between the ages of 30 and 39 are the most interested in doing so. When asked what area of exchanges needs to be strengthened, 64.6 percent named tourism, 52.8 percent chose trade, and 41.8 percent said political exchanges and security. The survey was conducted by phone from Nov. 12 to Nov. 15 on a random national sample of 1,000 adults aged from 20 to 79 years old. People aged from 80 to 89 years old were polled from Nov. 23 to Nov. 26. Some of the questions allowed respondents to submit multiple answers.
|
china;taiwan;south korea;survey;taiwan-japan ties
|
jp0010373
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/12/28
|
Well-known Japanese photojournalist Ryuichi Hirokawa admits to sexual harassment
|
Ryuichi Hirokawa, an internationally recognized Japanese photojournalist, has admitted to sexual harassment that was reported by a weekly magazine, according to a publisher for which he served as a director. The publisher of the monthly photojournalism magazine Days Japan said Wednesday it has dismissed Hirokawa, 75, as representative director after he said part of Shukan Bunshun weekly magazine’s report was true, according to the company’s lawyer. The New Year issue of the weekly magazine reported that Hirokawa sexually harassed several women, including those aspiring to be photographers as well as a former assistant. “I apologize from the bottom of my heart for people I hurt because of my insincere way of facing them,” Hirokawa said in his statement posted on the publisher’s website. “I did not realize that I was hurting them.” Covering social issues in Japan and abroad, Days Japan was launched in 2004 by Hirokawa and others. It announced in November it will discontinue after the March edition is published, in February, due to slumping sales. Hirokawa is particularly known for his work covering the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident and the circumstances of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. Kumejima Museum in Kumejima Island, Okinawa Prefecture, said Thursday that it will cancel an exhibition of Hirokawa’s works, which had been scheduled to be held at the museum starting Jan. 4.
|
sexual harassment;photographer;shukan bunshun;ryuichi hirokawa
|
jp0010374
|
[
"business"
] |
2018/12/17
|
USTR Robert Lighthizer called tough negotiator in Trump's shadow, shares mistrust over China
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WASHINGTON - He stays out of the limelight but shares President Donald Trump’s mistrust of China and the threat it posed to U.S. economic power. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has emerged as the U.S. strongman in the ongoing trade negotiations, determined to force changes in Beijing’s economic policies. A day after signing a new free trade agreement with Canada and Mexico after over a year of tough negotiations, Trump tapped the 71-year-old Lighthizer to lead this time the delicate trade talks with Beijing, with perhaps more at stake for the global economy. Trump previously entrusted that mission to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Without success. The title of US Trade Representative makes him a full member of the “Cabinet,” which is to say the government gathered around the U.S. president and the U.S. representative in the World Organization Trade. And Lighthizer is a veteran of trade negotiations, having served as deputy USTR under Republican President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, and dealt with Japan, the trade power at the time. Like Trump, Lighthizer believes free trade cannot be unfettered and must be reciprocal. In the talks with China, the objectives are clear: to force the Asian giant to put an end to trade policies the U.S. deems “unfair,” especially the theft or forced transfer of American technology, and state subsidies for industry. The countries agreed to a 90-day truce through March 1, but without at agreement, Trump will continue to impose punitive tariffs on Chinese goods imported into the United States. “Technology is the most important advantage that Americans have economically,” Lighthizer said in a recent, and rare, television interview. “We will protect that technology and get additional market access from China. If that can be done the president wants us to do it. If not we’ll have tariffs.” Lighthizer will not be satisfied with promises. He wants actions. Unlike Trump who revels the spotlight, Lighthizer keeps a low profile. During negotiations with Canada and Mexico his appearances were rare, his speeches parsimonious, his press releases distilled. He makes it a point of honor not to expose in public what is happening behind the scenes. Lighthizer comes from an affluent family in Ashtabula, Ohio, an important port on Lake Erie. It was used for coal and ore transport at the end of the 19th century, and the town’s decline contributed to his skepticism about globalization and its drawbacks, according to relatives cited by The New York Times. Prior to being named USTR in May 2017, Lighthizer, a father of two, was a partner in the Skadden law firm where he was a specialist in international trade law for more than 30 years. Imposing stature, piercing gray-blue eyes, he is described as a man as “grumpy” in private as in public. “He’s very particular. Bombastic at times,” said an official close to the U.S.-Canada-Mexico talks. But he is “also charming, with a great sense of humor” and “tremendously respected his strong intellect.” Like many of the Washington elite, Lighthizer attended Georgetown University both as an undergraduate and for law school.
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china;u.s .;trade;wto;ustr;japan;donald trump;wilbur ross;robert lighthizer;steve mnuchen
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jp0010375
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[
"business",
"tech"
] |
2018/12/17
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Japanese electronics firms look to re-engineer their design mojo
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Akihiro Adachi, a 31-year-old audiovisual equipment designer at Panasonic Corp., longed for some personal space during his lengthy train rides from Osaka to Tokyo. So when his company set out to encourage innovation, he joined with some colleagues and came up with Wear Space, a headset that limits noise and peripheral vision. Many at Panasonic were puzzled. “Someone said the office full of people wearing this would look weird,” said Kang Hwayoung, another member of the 10-person design team. But the prototype unexpectedly won a global design award and received positive feedback from unexpected quarters, such as sake tasters who wanted to limit sensory input. The project is among a range of efforts in the Japanese electronics industry to reinvigorate industrial design. After years of losing ground to design-first rivals such as Apple and Dyson, Japanese companies are now trying to recover the processes and creative flair that produced iconic products such as the Walkman. Panasonic, Sony and Mitsubishi Electric are among those implementing practices that have been routine at many U.S. and European companies, such as engaging designers at every step and treating packaging as part of the product. “We used to have designers involved only in final stages of our product development process, just for an aesthetic fix,” Yoshiyuki Miyabe, Panasonic’s technology and manufacturing chief, told reporters. “We are revamping the process so that designers can join us from the planning phase.” The government is promoting their efforts: A report in May urged corporate executives to pursue “design-driven management, whereby a company leverages design as a primary driver of competitiveness.” It also called for tax incentives for design-related investment and new laws to better protect intellectual property. The government is set to revise such laws next year. “Of course, we had an argument over how much the government can do and should do with private sector issues like this,” said Daisuke Kubota, director at the government’s design registration system planning office, who was involved in the panel. “But a lot of design experts asked us for government initiatives, saying that this is really the last chance and Japan would never be able to catch up with global rivals if this opportunity is missed.” Another member of the panel, Kinya Tagawa, a visiting professor at the Royal College of Art and co-founder of design firm Takram, says there has been a sharp increase in major companies requesting design lectures for their executives. “I’m seeing a sign of change,” he said. The road ahead All agree there is a long way to go. C-suite designers remain a rarity at most electronics companies while technologists reign supreme, company officials and industrial designers say. Japan last year received 31,961 applications for design registrations, only a fraction of China’s 628,658 and half of South Korea’s 67,374. In the heyday of the Japanese electronics industry in the early 1980s, Japan had nearly 60,000 applications every year. Tagawa said the root of today’s problems was the failure of Japanese firms to absorb lessons from the software revolution, which showed the importance of user-centered design principles and easy-to-use products such as Apple’s iPhone. Instead, they remained fixated on engineering. Ryuichi Oya, who retired as design chief of Sharp Corp. last month, says he saw that attitude up close when he moved to Sharp four years ago after a long stint at automaker Mazda Motor Corp. “Designers at home electronics companies have little say compared to engineers,” he said. “When engineers dismiss design proposals as too costly or difficult from an engineering point of view, designers easily succumb.” Oya said he found it particularly hard to convince management of the need for a design vision. “It’s not about whether you like this color or that shape,” he said. “There have to be design principles unique to Sharp and consistent across its product line.” Overseas competition Japanese designers cite the contrast with South Korea’s Samsung Group, where its patriarch, Lee Kun-hee, said in 1996 that design was a core management resource “imperative for a company’s survival in the 21st century.” He sharply boosted both the number and status of designers. At Sony, insiders say design began its return to the forefront after Chairman Kaz Hirai took over in 2012. Change has been slow as the company went through a painful restructuring, but the results can be seen in its approach to the revival of the Aibo robot dog. Designers worked to craft a holistic user experience, starting from the moment a customer opened the box, by tapping into a community of Aibo owners, Sony design chief Yutaka Hasegawa said. “We had intense discussions over how Aibo should be packaged, to make it look closer to a living creature. It’s important because opening the container box marks the customer’s first encounter with the dog.” They decided to lay Aibo sideways with its head tilting to the left, a more expensive option than placing it face down because the interior packaging must be asymmetrical. The result was a buzz among Aibo owners, with some posting videos on the internet showing a “ceremony for opening the Aibo container.”
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sony;panasonic;electronics;sharp
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jp0010376
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[
"business",
"tech"
] |
2018/12/17
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Seven-Eleven tries out a store in Tokyo with unmanned payment system
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Major convenience store operator Seven-Eleven Japan Co. has launched an experimental outlet in Tokyo with an unmanned payment system and facial recognition technology. The facial recognition system was developed by technology giant NEC Corp. Seven-Eleven Japan plans to open such outlets in locations where customers can be identified, such as office buildings and factories, after resolving various technological challenges. The trial shop, located in a building that hosts NEC group companies, can be used only by their employees. The NEC-developed system checks customers’ faces against pre-registered facial images of employees using cameras when they enter the outlet and make payments. After shoppers scan barcodes on products in the self-checkout area, the purchase amounts are automatically deducted from their salaries. The use of digital technologies is growing in the retail industry, which faces manpower shortages. FamilyMart Co. and Aeon Co. have introduced self-service cash registers. Lawson Inc. is testing a system in which customers make payments by scanning barcodes with a smartphone. Japan, however, is lagging behind other countries in the launch of stores with unattended payment systems. U.S. e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc. and other foreign firms operate stores equipped with cameras and sensors, enabling payments to be made automatically via smartphone apps when shoppers leave the stores with items they purchase.
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nec;seven-eleven;facial recognition
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jp0010377
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2018/12/17
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Dollar weakens slightly in late Tokyo trading
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The dollar was marginally softer below ¥113.50 in late Tokyo trading Monday amid a dearth of fresh trading incentives. At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥113.40-40, down from ¥113.55-55 at the same time Friday. The euro was at $1.1318-1318, down from $1.1355-1355, and at ¥128.36-37, down from ¥128.94-95. After moving around ¥113.30 in early trading, the dollar reached levels around ¥113.50 later in the morning thanks to a solid performance by the Nikkei 225, and real demand-backed dollar purchases, traders said. In afternoon trading, the greenback fluctuated narrowly around ¥113.50 before weakening slightly in late trading. “The dollar-yen rates moved in a narrow range despite a rise in the Nikkei average,” a trust bank official said. An official of a foreign exchange margin trading service firm said, “A wait-and-see mood prevailed” prior to the U.S. Federal Reserve’s two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting from Tuesday.
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exchange rates;forex;currencies
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jp0010378
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2018/12/17
|
Tokyo stocks rebound after last week's tumble
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Stocks staged a rally Monday, buoyed by dip buying after a tumble late last week. The Nikkei 225 average gained 132.05 points, or 0.62 percent, to end at 21,506.88. On Friday, the key market gauge plunged 441.36 points. The Topix, which covers all first-section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, finished 2.04 points, or 0.13 percent, higher at 1,594.20 after shedding 24.49 points Friday. The market was boosted by futures-led purchases from investors anticipating a rebound in stock prices, market sources said. The market attracted buybacks following Friday’s plunge, an official of a midsize securities firm said, adding that Japanese shares “were oversold” recently. “Domestic demand-oriented issues were hunted,” said Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management Co. But active “buying of stocks sensitive to economic fluctuations was held in check” reflecting concerns over an economic slowdown in China following weaker than expected Chinese economic data released Friday, Ichikawa also said. “Individual investors were inactive, and small-capitalization issues were sold,” Chihiro Ota, general manager for investment research and investor services at SMBC Nikko Securities Inc., said, stressing that he “can’t be optimistic” about Monday’s rally. Despite rises in the key market yardsticks, falling issues outnumbered rising ones 1,420 to 648 in the first section, while 60 issues were unchanged. Volume decreased to 1.362 billion shares from 1.871 billion Friday. NH Foods was buoyant after announcing plans Friday to buy back its shares. Tokyo Gas and Tepco were also upbeat. Other major winners included supermarket and convenience store operator FamilyMart Uny and mobile phone carrier SoftBank Group. Meanwhile, Askul closed 6.46 percent lower after the online stationery retailer said Friday that its operating profit for the six months through November plunged 55.4 percent from a year earlier to ¥1.029 billion. Also on the minus side were oil company Showa Shell and children’s wear retailer Nishimatsuya.
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stocks;tse;nikkei 225
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jp0010381
|
[
"world"
] |
2018/12/17
|
Hamas chief praises West Bank 'resistance' after deadly attacks on Israelis
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GAZA CITY, GAZA STRIP - Hamas leader Ismail Haniya praised “resistance” in the occupied West Bank in a speech to tens of thousands on Sunday after recent deadly attacks against Israelis. Haniya made the comments at a rally in Gaza City for the 31st anniversary of the Palestinian Islamist movement’s founding. “We place our hopes in the West Bank, which is the main area where events are occurring and the most appropriate area to resolve the conflict with our Zionist enemy,” he told the crowd, which waived green Hamas flags. “The West Bank has shaken and stood up with glory, strength and skill, as if it wanted to say to our people on the occasion of this glorious anniversary that it was with the resistance, in total harmony.” Members of the Hamas armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, participated in the rally in camouflage and carrying rifles, while presenting a range of weapons. Hamas runs the Gaza Strip but also has a presence in the West Bank, where its rivals from Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas’s Fatah are based. Palestinian militants in Gaza, including Hamas, have fought three wars with Israel since 2008. The group has claimed two recent deadly shootings in the West Bank, which has seen an upsurge in violence over the past week. They included a Dec. 9 attack near a settlement that led to the death of a baby prematurely delivered after his mother was shot and wounded. A total of seven people were wounded in the attack. An Oct. 7 shooting in the West Bank that killed two Israelis was also claimed by Hamas. In another attack on Thursday, two soldiers were shot dead at a central West Bank bus station near a settlement. The two Palestinians behind the attacks claimed by Hamas were shot dead by Israeli forces during arrest raids last week, Israeli officials said. Israel’s security forces have also carried out raids in Ramallah and say they have also arrested at least 37 Hamas operatives in connection with recent violence. Earlier Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had issued a warning to Hamas after the recent attacks. He referred to a controversial Gaza ceasefire in November that ended the worst escalation between Israel and Hamas since a 2014 war. “I conveyed a clear message to Hamas — we won’t accept a situation of a truce in Gaza and terror in Judea and Samaria,” Netanyahu said, using the biblical name for the West Bank, as is Israel’s policy. “We will exact a high price over them,” he said of the attacks. As part of efforts to restore calm in Gaza, Israel has allowed Qatar to bring fuel and tens of millions of dollars to the besieged territory for salaries.
|
conflict;israel;terrorism;benjamin netanyahu;hamas;west bank;ismail haniya
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jp0010382
|
[
"world"
] |
2018/12/17
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Burnout and stress lead more companies to try a four-day work week
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BERLIN - Work four days a week, but get paid for five? It sounds too good to be true, but companies around the world that have cut their work week have found that it leads to higher productivity, more motivated staff and less burnout. “It is much healthier and we do a better job if we’re not working crazy hours,” said Jan Schulz-Hofen, founder of Berlin-based project management software company Planio, who introduced a four-day week to the company’s 10-member staff earlier this year. In New Zealand, insurance company Perpetual Guardian reported a fall in stress and a jump in staff engagement after it tested a 32-hour week earlier this year. Even in Japan, the government is encouraging companies to allow Monday mornings off, although other initiatives in the workaholic country to persuade employees to take it easy have had little effect. Britain’s Trades Union Congress (TUC) is pushing for the whole country to move to a four-day week by the end of the century, a drive supported by the opposition Labour party. The TUC argues that a shorter week is a way for workers to share in the wealth generated by new technologies like machine learning and robotics, just as they won the right to the weekend off during the industrial revolution. “It would reduce the stress of juggling working and family life and could improve gender equality. Companies that have already tried it say it’s better for productivity and staff wellbeing,” said TUC economic head Kate Bell. Lucie Greene, trends expert at consultancy J. Walter Thompson, said there was a growing backlash against overwork, underlined by a wave of criticism after Tesla boss Elon Musk tweeted that “nobody ever changed the world on 40 hours a week.” “People are starting to take a step back from the 24-hour digital life we have now and realize the mental health issues from being constantly connected to work,” Greene said. A recent survey of 3,000 employees in eight countries including the United States, Britain and Germany found that nearly half thought they could easily finish their tasks in five hours a day if they did not have interruptions, but many are exceeding 40 hours a week anyway — with the United States leading the way, where 49 percent said they worked overtime. “There has been work creep. Because you always have the technology, you are always working, so people are getting burned out,” said Dan Schawbel, director of executive development firm Future Workplace, which conducted the survey. Schulz-Hofen, a 36-year-old software engineer, tested the four-day week on himself after realizing he needed to slow down following a decade of intense work launching Planio, whose tools allowed him to track his time in detail. “I didn’t get less work done in four days than in five because in five days, you think you have more time, you take longer, you allow yourself to have more interruptions, you have your coffee a bit longer or chat with colleagues,” Schulz-Hofen said. “I realized with four days, I have to be quick, I have to be focused if I want to have my free Friday.” Schulz-Hofen and his team discussed various options before settling on everybody working Monday to Thursday. They rejected the idea of flexible hours because it adds administrative complexity, and were against a five-day week with shorter hours as it is too easy for overwork to creep back in. Clients who call on a Friday hear a recorded message explaining why nobody is at the office. “We got an unexpected reaction from customers. Most of our clients did not complain. They were just jealous,” Schulz-Hofen said. Grey New York, an ad agency owned by WPP, launched a program in April to allow staff to work a four-day week for 85 percent of their full-time salary. Schawbel expects the idea to catch on in more companies and countries, but probably not his own: “I think America will be the last country to give us Monday mornings off because we’re so used to this way of working.”
|
work;working conditions
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jp0010384
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"crime-legal-asia-pacific"
] |
2018/12/17
|
Gay Singaporean man wins right to adopt surrogate son, in a first for the city-state
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SINGAPORE - A gay Singaporean man Monday won the right to adopt a child he fathered via a surrogate in the United States, in a landmark court ruling for the conservative city-state. While Singapore is affluent and modern in many ways, attitudes towards sexual minorities are routinely criticized as outdated. Gay marriage is not permitted and sex between men remains illegal under a law that dates from the British colonial era, although it is rarely enforced. In the latest case, the man — who is in a long-term relationship — first inquired about adoption in Singapore but was told a gay couple was unlikely to get permission. He found a surrogate in the United States who agreed to carry his child for $200,000. Surrogacy is effectively banned in Singapore. His son was born and is now five years old. The man, a 46-year-old pathologist who has not been identified, brought the boy back to Singapore and applied to formally adopt him, in the hope of securing him Singapore citizenship. A district judge rejected the initial application in December last year. But he appealed to Singapore’s High Court, which has now ruled in his favor. Delivering the verdict, Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon said that “the evidence has demonstrated to us that it is very much in the interests of the child that the adoption order be made.” “His prospects of acquiring Singapore citizenship could be significantly enhanced by making an adoption order, which would in turn lead to an overall increase in the stability of his life in Singapore.” But he noted that the decision was related to that particular case and should not be viewed as an endorsement of what the man and his partner had done. The man’s lawyer, Ivan Cheong, said his client was “overjoyed and happy that at the end of a long adoption process, the child’s welfare is upheld.” “At the end of the day, it is about what is in the child’s best interests.”
|
adoption;singapore;lgbt
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jp0010385
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"crime-legal-asia-pacific"
] |
2018/12/17
|
Indian politician Sajjan Kumar, 73, gets life sentence over role in 1984 anti-Sikh riots
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NEW DELHI - A veteran Indian politician was given a life sentence Monday over anti-Sikh riots in 1984 that killed nearly 3,000 people following the assassination of then-premier Indira Gandhi. The Delhi High Court found Sajjan Kumar, 73, guilty of instigating mobs during the mass killings, which were triggered by the death of Gandhi at the hands of her Sikh bodyguards. At the time Kumar was an MP with the then-ruling Congress party. He was acquitted in 2013 but the High Court reversed the judgment on appeal from federal investigators. He was found guilty over a case involving the murder of five members of a Sikh family in New Delhi after key testimonies from eye witnesses. A two-judge bench convicted Kumar for criminal conspiracy, promoting enmity and acting against communal harmony, the Press Trust of India and other local media reported. “It is important to assure the victims that despite the challenges truth will prevail,” the court said, according to the NDTV news network. “The aftershock of those atrocities is still being felt.” Kumar, who has been asked to surrender by the end of this month, will have to spend the rest of his life behind bars. The 1984 carnage erupted just hours after Gandhi was shot dead at her residence in New Delhi. It lasted three days with Sikhs raped and murdered, their homes and businesses torched. Gandhi was killed over her decision to use military force to expel Sikh separatists from inside the Golden Temple — Sikhism’s holiest shrine, located in the northern Indian city of Amritsar. Critics have accused Congress of turning a blind eye to the killings and the role of leaders such as Kumar and Jagdish Tytler. Last week, Congress named Kamal Nath as the chief minister of the central state of Madhya Pradesh despite allegations that he had led one of the mobs during the riots. Kumar, Tytler and others have always denied any wrongdoing. Kumar last won a parliamentary election in 2004, but was forced to withdraw from the 2009 polls over the rioting allegations. Last month, another accused, Yashpal Singh, was sentenced to death for murder and rioting. Sikhs make up some 2 percent of the 1.25 billion population of India, the majority of which is Hindu.
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india;religion;riots;indira gandhi
|
jp0010386
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"crime-legal-asia-pacific"
] |
2018/12/17
|
Malaysia files charges against Goldman over 1MDB scandal
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KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia filed criminal charges Monday against Goldman Sachs and two of its former employees over the alleged theft of billions of dollars, heaping fresh pressure on the Wall Street titan over the 1MDB scandal. Goldman subsidiaries and ex-bankers Tim Leissner and Ng Chong Hwa are accused of misappropriating $2.7 billion, bribing officials and giving false statements when helping to arrange bonds for state fund 1MDB. Allegations that huge sums were looted from 1MDB in an audacious fraud that involved former Malaysian leader Najib Razak and his cronies, and used to buy everything from yachts to artwork, contributed to the last government’s shock defeat at historic elections in May. Both former Goldman employees had already been charged over the scandal in the U.S. last month, with Leissner pleading guilty while Ng was arrested in Malaysia. Low Taek Jho, a Malaysian financier accused of masterminding the fraud, was also hit with new charges. The news represented a fresh blow to Goldman, whose corporate culture has come under scrutiny as a steady stream of accusations surrounding its involvement in the controversy have emerged. “Having held themselves out as the pre-eminent global adviser / arranger for bonds, the highest standards are expected of Goldman Sachs,” said Malaysian attorney general Tommy Thomas, as he announced the charges. “They have fallen far short of any standard. In consequence, they have to be held accountable.” Goldman has come under fire for its role in underwriting bonds totaling $6.5 billion on three occasions for 1MDB, for which they earned an eye-watering $600 million in fees. Thomas said Monday that the bank and its former employees were accused of making false and misleading statements to misappropriate $2.7 billion from the bond issuances, which took place in 2012 and 2013. Leissner, who worked as Southeast Asia chairman and managing director at Goldman, and Ng, a managing director at the bank, conspired with Jho and others to bribe Malaysian officials to ensure that Goldman was selected to work on the bonds, Thomas said in a statement. The money earned by Goldman for the bond issuances was “several times higher than the prevailing market rates and industry norms,” the statement said. Those accused personally benefited from receiving stolen funds and also got large bonuses and improved their career prospects, and false statements were presented to investors suggesting the proceeds of the issuances would be used for legitimate purposes, Thomas said. Prosecutors would seek fines well in excess of the $2.7 billion allegedly misappropriated from the bond issuances and the $600 million fees as well as long prison terms for the individuals accused, Thomas said. The charges brought Monday were under Malaysian security laws, for which the maximum jail term is 10 years. As well as Leissner, Ng and Low, Malaysian authorities also charged former 1MDB employee Jasmine Loo Ai Swan. Malaysia’s new prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, who came to power in part on a pledge to investigate the 1MDB scandal, has been taking an increasingly tough line against Goldman and has accused the bank of having “cheated” the country. A steady stream of negative news concerning the scandal has come out of the U.S., focusing on the great lengths the bank went to in courting 1MDB. It emerged last month that former Goldman chief Lloyd Blankfein met with Jho — commonly known as Jho Low — at a reception in 2009 hosted by Najib at a hotel in New York while the ex-premier was visiting the U.S. Since his election defeat, Najib has been arrested and hit with dozens of charges over the scandal and is likely facing a long jail term.
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malaysia;courts;goldman sachs
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jp0010387
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/12/17
|
Number of people living in flood-prone areas in Japan has risen 4.4% over 20 years, research shows
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More people in Japan are living in areas with potential risks of flooding compared with two decades ago due to residential development on suburban fields, a study showed Monday. The figure stood at around 35.4 million in 2015, up 4.4 percent from 1995, according to research by Yasunori Hada, an associate professor of regional disaster prevention at the University of Yamanashi in Yamanashi Prefecture. The number of households in areas designated as flood-prone by central and local governments soared 24.9 percent, to about 15.3 million, in the same period, according to the study that was based on flooding hazard maps for fiscal 2011 and the national census, conducted every five years. Hada pointed to a notable increase in the number of people and households in suburban areas at risk from flooding despite the overall population decrease in Japan, because land and homes are cheaper there than in central city areas. “In many cases, land previously deemed unlivable or not useful as rice or vegetable fields has been developed,” said Hada. The hazard maps compiled by municipal governments and flood-prone areas have been released online. Flooding estimates by local governments were almost in line with the actual damage seen in the city of Joso, in Ibaraki Prefecture, following torrential rain in 2015, and the city of Kurashiki in Okayama Prefecture, in a similar disaster in July. The nation’s population has been on the decline since around 2010, but the number of people in flood-prone zones rose from about 33.9 million in 1995 to 34.8 million in 2005, going on to add about 1.5 million over the 20-year period through 2015. The number of households in flood zones increased from about 12.2 million in 1995 to 13.9 million in 2005, eventually rising by about 3 million over the two decades. By prefecture, Kanagawa logged the fastest increase in flood-prone area population at 17.4 percent, followed by Tokyo at 15.3 percent and Okayama at 12.8 percent. “In addition to raising awareness among people already living in areas with potential flooding, we have to restrict use or development of land based on disaster risks,” said Hada.
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population;disasters;floods;university of yamanashi;yasunori hada
|
jp0010388
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/12/17
|
Experts question Juntendo University's reasoning behind gender discrimination in medical course entrance exams
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A prominent medical university in Tokyo, which recently admitted setting a higher bar for female applicants to pass entrance exams, is now being criticized for the reasons it has given for its gender discrimination. Juntendo University, which received the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s top award this year for its contribution to female empowerment, acknowledged the unfair treatment at a news conference last week but said it had considered the practice as a measure to narrow the wide gap between the abilities of men and women. “Women are more mature and have better communication skills than men,” a Juntendo official said at the news conference, revealing that the university had set different pass scores for men and women for at least the past decade. Many of the university’s faculty members told a third-party panel of lawyers probing the matter that male students tend to catch up with female students in communication skills after joining the university, according to panel members. The panel concluded there is no rationality behind such a view. “That is far too unjust,” said Kiriko Sakata, a social psychology professor at Hiroshima University. “They are pretending that there are academic grounds (for their practice), but this is nothing more than plain discrimination against women,” Sakata said, adding that differences in communication skills are far more related to individual abilities than gender. It is inappropriate to apply gender standards when evaluating individual academic skills, Sakata said. Takato Kusakawa, a visiting professor at Teikyo University specializing in teacher training, said the university’s reasoning raises another question about the legitimacy of its reliance on brief interviews with applicants in evaluating their communication skills. “I have doubts about how (Juntendo University) was judging communication skills through short interviews,” said Kusakawa. Having met many students during his career as a teacher in junior high schools and high schools, Kusakawa said he has seen no evidence of a significant gap between men and women in their ability to communicate with others. “It merely sounds like a selfish value of a male-dominant society,” he added. A slew of entrance exam-rigging cases surfaced after Tokyo Medical University admitted in August to gender discrimination, and prompted the government to investigate other universities. The education ministry has concluded that nine institutions, including Juntendo University and Tokyo Medical University, have conducted entrance exams inappropriately. Another was suspected of doing so. The news of Juntendo’s score manipulation came as a surprise in academic circles as its reputation had been growing in recent years through the addition of highly acclaimed doctors — a significant portion of whom are women — to its faculty. The number of female professors at its medical department had increased to 11 in 2017 from two in 2011. That was one of the main reasons the Tokyo government selected the university for the female empowerment award. Rika Kayama, a psychiatrist and popular social commentator, said she finds it odd that people in medicine who agree on the importance of evidence have been engaging in discriminatory practices based on unfounded ideas. “The discrimination mechanisms at every one of the universities are all alike, and it makes you wonder if there has been a tacit agreement between the medical universities” to rig test results, Kayama said.
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women;entrance exams;juntendo university;medical universities
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jp0010389
|
[
"national",
"crime-legal"
] |
2018/12/17
|
In lawsuit, consumer group alleges discrimination by Tokyo Medical University
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A consumer advocacy group representing applicants who allege they have been subject to unfair admissions practices filed a lawsuit against Tokyo Medical University on Monday with the Tokyo District Court, the first legal action in a series of scandals embroiling Japanese medical schools. A government probe has found similar misconduct at multiple institutions. The nonprofit Consumers Organization of Japan is demanding that test fees and associated costs be paid back to affected applicants, including men who took the test multiple times and women. The group said it decided to take legal action after being frustrated by what it describes as the university’s slow response. Yukitaka Sasaki, a lawyer and the group’s vice managing director, called the practice of offering the exams without explaining the process for score adjustment “illegal.” “We believe the university has an obligation to pay damages such as the reimbursement of test fees,” Sasaki told a news conference at the Tokyo District Court on the day. The lawsuit marks the latest development in an admissions scandal that has enveloped a number of medical schools. The education ministry said Friday that its investigation found a total of nine medical schools engaged in score manipulation based on the gender of applicants and nepotism. Cases of such misconduct were acknowledged by Nihon University and Juntendo University last week. At Monday’s news conference, Akiko Shirai, one of three attorneys representing the consumer organization, said that such discriminatory practices against women cannot be condoned. “Children filled with dreams are being denied of opportunities before they even enter society. I question whether it is appropriate to simply address the issue as a matter of moral responsibility. I think it’s wrong,” Shirai said. “There is law. Something illegal is illegal. I don’t want children to think they are helpless if they are discriminated against.” The legal action also serves as an important moment in the nation’s judiciary, as it is the first case in which a certified consumer advocacy group has been able to sue on behalf of plaintiffs under a system that came into force in October 2016. The lawyers said the system skips a burdensome legal process — like having to pay expensive legal fees — for the consumers affected, since the groups can file lawsuits for them. If a ruling in their favor is secured, they would be able to collect damages through mediation.
|
gender;discrimination;tokyo district court;tokyo medical university
|
jp0010390
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/12/17
|
Aichi temple priest leads double life as craftsman restoring clocks and record players
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Saihoji Temple in Kota, Aichi Prefecture, is littered with handmade mechanical dolls, antique clocks and record players — presenting a unique sight for visitors. Junno Nakamura, chief priest of the temple that has a history dating back to the Muromachi Period (1392-1573), is also a craftsman who restores antique machinery, attracting fans and repair orders from across the nation. “People who really know (about record players) use cactus spines,” says Nakamura, 71, referring to turntable needles. In the temple’s main hall sits a wind-up record player released by Victrola in 1927. The 93-cm-high and 65-cm-wide player, which weighs 45 kg, can give off considerably high-volume sounds even without an electricity supply. Listening to music from the machine, one can also hear the faint buzzing sound of the needle rubbing against the record. Nakamura makes turntable needles from cactus spines, which are softer than metals, to prevent the records he owns — many produced in the Meiji Era (1868-1912) through the early Showa Era — from wearing out. He says that although the sounds become lower in volume when cactus needles are used, the quality remains the same as metal needles. However, one problem is that the tip of a cactus needle must be sharpened with a file after every use. To make things easier, eight years ago Nakamura developed a cactus needle sharpening machine that can be operated by turning a handle to rub the needle against a file. He has sold roughly 200 so far. While serving as a priest since his 20s, Nakamura worked at a sewing machine manufacturer in the city of Chiryu in Aichi. Hoping to create in his home the atmosphere of a jazz cafe he frequented after work, Nakamura began collecting antique lamps, record players and clocks. When the items in his collection broke down, he tried repairing them. “I fiddled with a clock for a while and somehow I managed to fix it,” he said. Since both clocks and record players work by winding a spring, he also began repairing record players. Soon, his skills became known among record player aficionados nationwide, resulting in a flood of repair requests. About a decade ago, he was asked to repair wadokei — a clock made in the Edo Period (1603-1868) by adapting Western clock-making techniques to tell time in the traditional Japanese way. To get some hints for repairing it, he was reading “Karakurizui,” an illustrated manual of curious machines published in the Edo Period, and he came across a design drawing of a mechanical doll. Since he had been visiting nursery and elementary schools as a volunteer, he thought children would be interested in mechanical dolls and soon began producing them. So far, he has made four such dolls, including Shinadama Ningyo, a magician doll with a box containing an item that changes every time the doll opens it, and Hannya Shingyo Kobozu, a little priest doll that chants the Buddhist Heart Sutra while striking a mokugyo wooden drum. The chanting voice of the priest doll was recorded by his grandchild. “I enjoy coming up with ideas and designs about how to make them,” Nakamura says. “It’s not enough of a challenge to make something that amateurs can produce.”
|
priest;aichi;antiques;clocks;saihoji temple;junno nakamura;record players
|
jp0010392
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2018/12/10
|
Tokyo stocks dive on Wall Street sell-off
|
Stocks took another plunge after one-day rebound on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Monday, dampened by a steep fall in U.S. equities late last week. The 225-issue Nikkei average tumbled 459.18 points, or 2.12 percent, to end at 21,219.50, a level unseen since Oct. 29 on a closing basis, after briefly losing over 500 points. On Friday, the key market gauge rose 177.06 points. The Topix index of all first-section issues finished down 30.64 points, or 1.89 percent, at 1,589.81. It gained 9.85 points the previous trading day. Investors were wary of the U.S.-China trade friction after the Dow Jones industrial average shed 2.24 percent on Friday following White House adviser Peter Navarro’s comments that the United States would raise tariffs on Chinese imports if the two countries fail to strike an agreement during their 90-day trade truce, brokers said. China’s release on Saturday of weaker-than-expected exports and imports for November added to bearish market sentiment, brokers said. “Investors were in no mood to buy stocks” even though they were more affordable after recent sell-offs, an official of a bank-affiliated securities firm said, noting a series of negative news flows from overseas markets. Buying was held in check ahead of Tuesday’s vote on a draft deal on Britain’s exit from the European Union, or Brexit, by the country’s Parliament, the official also said. Masayuki Otani, chief market analyst at Securities Japan Inc., said the market may become volatile this week, due to the Brexit vote, a slew of economic data announcements and the fixing on Friday of special quotations to settle Japanese stock index futures and options contracts. Falling issues far outnumbered rising ones 1,951 to 149 in the TSE’s first section, while 22 issues were unchanged. Volume increased to 1.38 billion shares from 1.37 billion shares on Friday. Japan Display closed 10.61 percent lower after hitting a listing-to-date low, due to selling prompted by a media report that the company started reducing the production of liquid crystal display panels for U.S. technology giant Apple Inc.’s iPhone XR. Nissan lost 2.91 percent after a fresh automobile inspection scandal came to light on Friday. Other major losers included technology firms Sony and Murata Manufacturing, as well as clothing retailer Fast Retailing. Oil names were buoyant after a recovery in crude oil futures in New York trading on Friday. In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the key December contract on the Nikkei average shed 480 points to end at 21,140.
|
trade;stocks;nikkei;topix
|
jp0010393
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2018/12/10
|
Dollar falls below ¥112.70 in late Tokyo trading
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The dollar was weaker below ¥112.70 in Tokyo trading late Monday, after regaining some lost ground helped by repurchases. At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥112.65, down from ¥112.78 at the same time on Friday. The euro was at $1.1425, up from $1.1372, and at ¥128.71, up from ¥128.25. In early trading, the dollar eased below ¥112.50 as dollar selling continued from late last week against the backdrop of slightly weak U.S. government jobs data, released on Friday, and persistent concerns over U.S.-China trade friction, traders said. After briefly rebounding above ¥112.50, the greenback fell below ¥112.30 later in the morning in line with a plunge in the benchmark 225-issue Nikkei stock average, traders said. The dollar climbed above ¥112.60 in late hours, as dollar buybacks gained strength, backed by a slight upturn in U.S. long-term interest rates in off-hours trading. Market players found it difficult to boost trading ahead of Tuesday’s vote on a draft deal on Britain’s exit from the European Union, or Brexit, by the country’s Parliament, traders said. “Dollar-yen rate movements currently depend on U.S. interest rates” and trading to adjust positions will likely be dominant until the U.S. Federal Reserve’s two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting next week, an official of a foreign exchange margin trading service company said.
|
yen;euro;dollar;forex
|
jp0010394
|
[
"business",
"corporate-business"
] |
2018/12/10
|
SoftBank sticks to IPO price despite market drop and network outage
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SoftBank Group Corp. set the final price for the ¥2.65 trillion initial public offering of its Japanese telecom business at its original target, underscoring its confidence in judging demand as it deals with fallout from a major network outage and a global stocks rout. The technology conglomerate fixed the final price for the offering at ¥1,500 apiece, according to a statement on Monday. The IPO will mark the biggest-ever offering in Japan, outstripping the ¥2.3 trillion raised by the government through the sale of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. shares before its 1987 listing, according to data provider Dealogic. Including an overallotment of about 160 million shares, SoftBank is selling a total of roughly 1.76 billion shares. The shares of the new entity, SoftBank Corp., will begin trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Dec. 19 Founder Masayoshi Son and his bankers dispensed with a price range and chose to set a single preliminary figure last month, betting that they will be able to sell all of the shares in the cash-generating business. While the underwriters were able to cover their entire book by Wednesday last week, a Japan-wide network outage the following day left its 34 million mobile subscribers in the country without services for hours. At the same time, a global stock sell-off has dragged the Nikkei 225 stock average down by more than 5 percent this month. “The outage may have led some retail investors to change their mind, but not enough to affect the price,” Kyohei Jingu, an analyst at Tachibana Securities Co. in Tokyo, said prior to announcement. The stock market rout may somewhat reduce the amount of capital available, “but it’s not likely to cause a major disruption for the offering.” The outages were caused by a problem with software supplied by Ericsson AB and impacted mobile phone users in 11 countries, including Britain and Japan, according to a statement by SoftBank. The disruption fueled outcries on social media and dominated evening news programs. SoftBank and its bankers held emergency conference calls with institutional investors and extended bookbuilding by an extra six hours in order to address any potential concerns, a person familiar with the plan said. The telecommunications arm, which will trade on the Tokyo Stock Exchange under the ticker 9434, is a cash-generating business spanning wireless, broadband and fixed-line services. Son is transforming his Tokyo-based company from a telecom operator into a global tech investor, but the listing comes at a time when Japan’s wireless industry has come under pressure from the government to reduce phone bills. The entry of e-commerce giant Rakuten Inc. is also raising the risks of a price war next year.
|
softbank;ipos;shares
|
jp0010396
|
[
"world"
] |
2018/12/10
|
As commerce and tourism suffer, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire says ongoing rioting is nothing less than a 'catastrophe' for economy
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PARIS - Shops shuttered in the run-up to Christmas, chaos on the roads: France’s “yellow vest” protests are dealing a blow to the economy, which Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said is no less than a “catastrophe.” As riots flared in Paris on Saturday, Livio Forte, a tourist from New York, could only look on as police trucks lined up on the Place Vendome. The chic square’s luxury jewelry shops were boarded up, the diamonds and watches gone from their windows to protect them from looters. The trip had been intended as a romantic surprise for his wife Carmela’s 59th birthday. At least, they joked, it will be a memorable one. “Everything’s closed,” Carmela said. The couple had planned a trip to Normandy to see the beach where Carmela’s father fought in World War II, but ended up canceling it because of anti-government roadblocks. The Eiffel Tower, museums, department stores — all closed on what would normally be a bustling Saturday in the run-up to Christmas. The U.S. Embassy had issued a warning to Americans to “avoid crowds” in Paris, while Belgium, Portugal and the Czech Republic advised citizens to postpone trips altogether. For a third weekend running, shops were looted in the French capital, their windows smashed, cars torched and barricades burned in the streets. Riots also shook other French cities popular with tourists, including Bordeaux and Toulouse. “It’s a period when commerce is usually brisk, just before Christmas — but this, this is a catastrophe,” Le Maire said as he visited Parisian shopkeepers. He promised “direct” help for businesses affected, as President Emmanuel Macron prepares to address the nation this week in a bid to end the deepest crisis of his term in office. Clad in their luminous safety jackets, the yellow vests show no sign of calling off weeks of protests over rising living costs and accusations that Macron only looks out for the rich. The government has yet to release an estimate of how much damage the demonstrations have dealt to the economy. The Bank of France on Monday slashed its fourth-quarter growth forecast in half, to 0.2 percent from 0.4 percent, citing the impact of the protests. With tourists reluctant to risk being tear-gassed on a trip to Paris, the National Hotel Chains’ Group estimates reservations for the New Year down at least 10 percent. Le Maire’s ministry estimated last month that large retailers had seen a 15 percent drop in revenues and small businesses a drop of up to 40 percent. “The smaller a business is, the more fragile it is,” Francois Asselin, head of the CPME confederation of small and medium-sized businesses, wrote in the Journal du Dimanche newspaper. “We’re very worried.” Asselin predicts that overall, the yellow vest movement will cost small and midsize businesses some €10 billion ($11.4 billion). He has called on the government for help, and urged banks to offer more credit to businesses and accept delayed loan payments as the crisis rumbles on. Beyond the costs to the private sector, there’s the considerable hit to public coffers from concessions made to the protesters. This week Macron scrapped the planned rises in fuel taxes which first sparked the protests among car-reliant workers in small-town and rural France. That is set to blow a hole in the budget of around €2 billion ($2.3 billion). In addition, there’s the €500 million relief package for low-income families, which he had already offered in a failed bid to mollify the protesters. Macron had planned to reduce France’s deficit to 2.8 percent of GDP this year, just under the EU-mandated 3.0 percent limit. But further expensive concessions could jeopardize that when combined with other risks such as a potential fall in investment as a result of the protests. Le Maire insisted this week that France will meet its targets. “The president fixed a course for respecting our European commitments, reducing our expenditure, reducing our debt and reducing our taxes. This course will be respected,” he said. In the meantime, shopkeepers targeted by the rioters are counting the costs. In the northwestern 17th district of Paris, an optician despondently surveyed the contents of his ruined store. Far from the touristy center, authorities and shopkeepers alike had expected this area to avoid trouble. “They took everything. Everything,” he said.
|
france;demonstrations;paris;emmanuel macron;yellow vests
|
jp0010397
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"science-health-asia-pacific"
] |
2018/12/10
|
China gene-editing scientist's project rejected for WHO database
|
HONG KONG - The global medical community is distancing itself further from the researcher whose controversial gene-editing work has been condemned by scientists and the Chinese government. A Chinese branch of the World Health Organization has withdrawn an application to register He Jiankui’s project in its clinical database. The move comes after China’s government halted He’s work, saying it would take a “zero tolerance attitude in dealing with dishonorable behavior” in research. He has faced a global backlash after claiming to have produced the world’s first gene-edited babies in a bid to make them HIV-resistant. The project drew international criticism for its lack of transparency, with health officials and other scientists concerned that it raises ethical questions that will taint other work in the field. The application to enter the database of the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry was rejected because “the original applicants cannot provide the individual participants’ data for reviewing,” according to the registry’s website. The application was uploaded to the website on Nov. 8 and updated on Nov. 30, the registry said. The site serves as a registry of Chinese trials. If the application is successful, project information is sent to the clinical trial platform of the WHO, and that data is then searchable on its global website. He’s whereabouts are still unknown. Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily cited unnamed sources earlier this month that the researcher was put on house arrest by his university, Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, but representatives of the university and He’s lab both declined to comment.
|
china;who;ethics;he jiankui
|
jp0010398
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"science-health-asia-pacific"
] |
2018/12/10
|
Bug business: Cockroaches corralled by the millions in China to crunch waste
|
JINAN, CHINA - In the near pitch-dark, you can hear them before you see them — millions of cockroaches scuttling and fluttering across stacks of wooden boards as they devour food scraps by the ton in a novel form of urban waste disposal. The air is warm and humid — just as cockroaches like it — to ensure the colonies keep their health and voracious appetites. Expanding Chinese cities are generating more food waste than they can accommodate in landfills, and cockroaches could be a way to get rid of hills of food scraps, providing nutritious food for livestock when the bugs eventually die and, some say, cures for stomach illness and beauty treatments. On the outskirts of Jinan, capital of eastern Shandong province, a billion cockroaches are being fed with 50 tons of kitchen waste a day — the equivalent in weight to seven adult elephants. The waste arrives before daybreak at the plant run by Shandong Qiaobin Agricultural Technology Co. where it is fed through pipes to cockroaches in their cells. Shandong Qiaobin plans to set up three more such plants next year, aiming to process a third of the kitchen waste produced by Jinan, home to about 7 million people. A nationwide ban on using food waste as pig feed due to African swine fever outbreaks is also spurring the growth of the cockroach industry. “Cockroaches are a biotechnological pathway for the converting and processing of kitchen waste,” said Liu Yusheng, president of Shandong Insect Industry Association. Cockroaches are also a good source of protein for pigs and other livestock. “It’s like turning trash into resources,” said Shandong Qiaobin chairwoman Li Hongyi. In a remote village in Sichuan, Li Bingcai, 47, has similar ideas. Li, formerly a mobile phone vendor, has invested a million yuan ($146,300) in cockroaches, which he sells to pig farms and fisheries as feed and to drug companies as medicinal ingredients. His farm now has 3.4 million cockroaches. “People think it’s strange that I do this kind of business,” Li said. “It has great economic value, and my goal is to lead other villagers to prosperity if they follow my lead.” His village has two farms. Li’s goal is to create 20. Elsewhere in Sichuan, a company called Gooddoctor is rearing 6 billion cockroaches. “The essence of cockroach is good for curing oral and peptic ulcers, skin wounds and even stomach cancer,” said Wen Jianguo, manager of Gooddoctor’s cockroach facility. Researchers are also looking into using cockroach extract in beauty masks, diet pills and even hair-loss treatments. At Gooddoctor, when cockroaches reach the end of their lifespan of about six months, they are blasted by steam, washed and dried, before being sent to a huge nutrient extraction tank. Asked about the chance of the cockroaches escaping, Wen said that would be worthy of a disaster movie but that he has taken precautions. “We have a moat filled with water and fish,” he said. “If the cockroaches escape, they will fall into the moat and the fish will eat them all.”
|
china;pollution;animals;recycling;cockroaches;insects
|
jp0010401
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"crime-legal-asia-pacific"
] |
2018/12/10
|
Chinese police detain prominent Protestant 'house' church leaders and attendees in Chengdu
|
BEIJING - Police have detained dozens of churchgoers and leaders of one of China’s most prominent Protestant “house” churches, congregation members and activists said, in the latest government action against unregistered religious groups. Teams of police and state security officials in the southwestern city of Chengdu came to the homes of leaders and members of the Early Rain Covenant Church late Sunday and detained them, according to church announcements sent to members and passed to Reuters by churchgoers and activists. “The time has come. O, Lord! Did you not establish this church for this very purpose?” the church said in one of its announcements. “We will wait for Thee, as one keeping vigil waits for daybreak.” More than 100 people are believed to have been detained, said a church elder, who declined to be identified. Neither the Chengdu nor national-level Public Security Ministries responded to faxed requests for comment. China’s Constitution guarantees religious freedom, but since President Xi Jinping took office six years ago, the government has tightened restrictions on religions seen as a challenge to the authority of the ruling Communist Party. Chinese law requires that all places of worship register and submit to government oversight, but some churches have declined to register, for various reasons. The Early Rain Church is one of the best known unregistered “house” churches in China. Members of the church have been unable to contact pastor Wang Yi, the church’s founder, or his wife, and church groups on the instant messaging platform WeChat had also been blocked, the church said in an announcement. Reuters was unable to reach Wang for comment. Beijing-based journalist Ian Johnson, who wrote about Wang and his congregation in his 2017 book The Souls of China, said on Twitter that the crackdown was “really disturbing news.” “I’m afraid this is part of a bigger crackdown on unregistered Christian churches as the government pushes its efforts to dominate society,” he wrote. Police told Zhang Xianchi, 84, a well-known author and church member, not to visit the church, because it had been “outlawed” and that all its top leaders had been detained, according to an account from Zhang shared with Reuters by church members. A video posted online by activists in China and overseas, which Reuters was unable to independently verify, showed a group of about a dozen plainclothes policemen taking churchgoers away from a meeting. In the footage, police told a woman they were taking a man to the municipal public security bureau to be investigated, while a child cried in the background. “I’m telling you, we are enforcing the law,” a policeman said to the woman. Churches across China have more pressure to register since a new set of regulations to govern religious affairs came into effect in February and increased punishments for unofficial churches.
|
china;religion;christianity;rights
|
jp0010402
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/12/10
|
Japan to extend copyright period on works including novels and paintings to 70 years on Dec. 30
|
The copyright period on works such as novels and paintings in Japan is set to be extended to 70 years after the authors’ deaths, from the current 50 years, effective Dec. 30 when a revised copyright law goes into force. The copyright law was revised as part of legislation to approve the 11-member Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement, known as TPP-11. Before the revision, the copyright on the works of Japanese painter Tsuguharu Fujita, who died in January 1968, was set to expire at the end of this year. The revision is set to extend the copyright on his works until the end of 2038. A similar last-minute extension also applies to the works of artists including composer Tadashi Manjome and Hanako Muraoka, who is known for translating the novel “Anne of Green Gables” into Japanese. A provision mandating the 70-year copyright was included in the original 12-member TPP at the strong request of the United States. Implementation of the provision was put on hold under the TPP-11 after the U.S. withdrawal from the original pact. But the Japanese government opted to extend the copyright period by 20 years at the same time as the TPP-11 goes into effect. A government official said that 70-year copyright is already a global norm.
|
tpp;copyrights;tsuguharu fujita
|
jp0010404
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/12/10
|
Japan sees rise in use of riverside areas to attract tourists following deregulation
|
The use of riverside areas to attract tourists is on the rise nationwide, following deregulation in recent years allowing the private sector to use the public land to open restaurants or hold events. “I used to think of public authorities as an enemy,” said Tadashi Iwamoto, 42, head of riverside consulting company Mizubesoken. Speaking at a national conference on canals held in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, in mid-November, Iwamoto said local governments used to decline all of his proposals to revitalize riverside areas because the law restricted them to use by public entities. In response to growing calls for deregulation, the rule was revised in fiscal 2016 to allow private companies to use river zones for a maximum of 10 years. Following the revision, cafes and barbecue areas were set up on the banks of about 60 rivers nationwide, including six rivers in the Chubu region such as Hori River in Nagoya and Yahagi River, which flows through the prefectures of Nagano, Gifu and Aichi. The use of canals is regulated by the Port and Harbor Law, but the local governments which oversee them are taking deregulatory measures to encourage private sector use. Nagoya Port Authority, which manages Nakagawa Canal in the city, revised its ordinance so that the canal’s banks can be leased for projects other than port-related purposes. Aichi Dobby Ltd., a Nagoya-based manufacturer of Vermicular cast-iron pots, plans to open a restaurant and other facilities on the canal bank by next fall. The Nagoya Municipal Government is considering utilizing Nakagawa Canal and Hori River — which served as the city’s distribution hub before being replaced by land transport — as a means to connect sightseeing spots in the city. Last year, the local government began offering a cruise service on Nakagawa Canal connecting an area south of Nagoya Station with Nagoya Port. Trial boat cruises have also been conducted on Hori River with the aim of launching a service in 2022. The progress followed years of preparation including sludge removal, bank protection work and construction of piers. An international conference inviting participants from canal cities in around a dozen countries is planned near Nakagawa Canal next year. “We hope to learn from countries around the world so that we can use waterways to increase our cities’ attractiveness,” said Toru Fujisawa, 44, one of the organizers. Similar moves to boost riverside tourism have been seen nationwide, including a marine sports facility set to open next to the new Yokohama Municipal Government office being built on the banks of Ooka River. In Tokyo, the Shibuya Ward office restored Shibuya River — which had been limited to a narrow concrete chute — and installed an adjacent plaza and walkway.
|
nagoya;tourism;rivers
|
jp0010405
|
[
"national",
"politics-diplomacy"
] |
2018/12/10
|
With debate on constitutional reform sidelined, has immigration law been a pyrrhic victory for Abe?
|
It was in the early hours of Saturday morning that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling bloc rammed through the Diet a contentious immigration bill, at last defeating hours of fierce protest by opposition lawmakers who had shouted at — and even wrestled with — a committee chairman trying to finalize the vote. But Abe’s success in enacting the landmark bill, which will bring a legion of foreign workers into a nation traditionally averse to immigration but in desperate need of laborers, may turn out to have been a pyrrhic victory. As this year’s extraordinary Diet session wrapped up Monday, Abe found himself not an inch closer to fulfilling his longtime ambition of amending the nation’s postwar Constitution. The heavy-handed way the ruling bloc tried to pass the revised immigration law has taken a toll, antagonizing opposition lawmakers so much that they have refused to sit down and reboot constitutional debate with pro-revision forces. “My desire to see a new Constitution take effect in 2020 remains unchanged,” Abe told a news conference Monday evening, repeating his previously proclaimed time line for amending the national charter. But when asked about the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s failure to fulfill Abe’s earlier demand that its own amendment proposals be submitted to the Diet this session, Abe stopped short of elaborating on what his amendment strategy might look like going forward. “The future schedule depends on the Diet,” he said. Abe instead said he expects “each political party to disclose details on what it thinks about revising the Constitution or what amendment proposal it has to deepen public debate on the matter.” He also expressed hopes that “a broad consensus across the wide political spectrum” will be formed over the topic. This extraordinary Diet session has been dominated by wrangling over the bill to overhaul the immigration law. On Monday, Abe said the new visa system under the revised law is an “urgent” priority at a time when many small firms across the country, especially in such industries as construction, agriculture and nursing care, grapple with an acute manpower crunch. “This is a necessary framework to make sure talented foreign workers will play a bigger role in Japan amid a nationwide labor shortage,” Abe said. “I want them to support Japan’s economy.” But the bill has often also led to escalated tensions with opposition lawmakers, who have slammed it as void of key details and claimed that too little time was spent deliberating it. The haste with which the ruling bloc pushed to enact the new law has done little to ease their path to the negotiating table on a possible constitutional amendment. As a result, the Commission on the Constitution — a Diet panel tasked with discussing the issue — wasn’t convened even once for any formal debate this session. “Things have been boisterous over this immigration bill, which I think has created a situation where we were hard-pressed to be nice (to the ruling bloc) on the Constitution front when we were so opposed” to the bill, said Yuichiro Tamaki, head of the opposition Democratic Party for the People, at a news conference last month. From the get-go, Abe’s enthusiasm for speeding up discussions on constitutional change was evident in the way he tapped his conservative allies — former education minister Hakubun Shimomura and former internal affairs minister Yoshitaka Shindo — for key posts in the Commission on the Constitution. But Shimomura failed to stay on script, blurting out last month that opposition lawmakers were “abandoning their jobs,” in what was taken as a hostile dig at their refusal to comply with an early convening of the Constitution panel. Shimomura’s gaffe provided the opposition, which was already angry over the immigration bill, with fresh ammunition to protest, further stalling momentum for constitutional debate. In fact not only the opposition but also the LDP’s coalition partner, Komeito, seemed cautious about the LDP’s push for an early start of Diet discussions on constitutional revision. Appearing on a program on Fuji TV, Kazuo Kitagawa, head of the party’s constitutional panel, said last month that so little time has been spent deliberating constitutional revision in the Diet that it is “inconceivable” to call a referendum — a prerequisite for any change to the charter — even during next year’s regular legislative session, which typically runs through the first half of the year. Kitagawa’s comment bodes ill for Abe, who needs Komeito’s support to even initiate a referendum. Without Komeito on board, LDP-led pro-revision forces — which also include fringe opposition support — would fall significantly short of controlling a two-thirds supermajority in the Upper House. The law stipulates approval by a two-thirds majority in both houses of the Diet as a condition for calling a referendum. While the fall Diet session came to a lackluster end in terms of amending the Constitution, it did pass some important bills. The Diet enacted a controversial law allowing private companies to run water supply services, a move the government says will facilitate efforts to update aging water facilities. Critics, however, caution that water bills may increase as a result of effective privatization. It also approved a bill to designate a one-off national holiday period to celebrate next year’s Imperial succession, creating a 10-day block of vacation for many from late April. With the fall Diet session over, the government is for now looking to approve a draft of the initial general account budget toward year-end, with a view to submitting it to the regular Diet session that will begin in January. Ruling parties are also set to agree on a tax reform package for fiscal 2019 by the end of this year.
|
shinzo abe;immigration;ldp;constitution;diet
|
jp0010406
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2018/12/19
|
Dollar slightly weaker around ¥112.40 in late Tokyo trading
|
The dollar was marginally softer around ¥112.40 in Tokyo trading late Wednesday in tandem with a slide in Japanese shares. At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥112.40-40, down from ¥112.52-52 at the same time Tuesday. The euro was at $1.1397-1397, up from $1.1357-1357, and at ¥128.11-11, up from ¥127.80-80. A fall in Japan’s benchmark Nikkei stock average and a drop in long-term U.S. interest rates in off-hours trading made currency market players risk averse, pushing down the dollar against the yen. The Nikkei closed below 21,000 for the first time since March 26. The yen made a rally against the dollar, but the rebound was limited due to news reports that U.S. President Donald Trump would allow a partial shutdown of government, an official at a foreign exchange brokerage house said. In late trading, market players waited to see the outcome of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting, due later on Wednesday. Players “are hard to tilt their positions either way” as an interest rate increase by the Fed is only 70 percent factored into the market, an official of a foreign exchange margin trading service firm said.
|
yen;euro;dollar;forex
|
jp0010407
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2018/12/19
|
Nikkei ends below 21,000 for first time in nine months
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The benchmark Nikkei average closed below 21,000 for the first time in nearly nine months on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Wednesday amid concerns over a slowdown in the global economy. The 225-issue Nikkei average shed 127.53 points, or 0.60 percent, to 20,987.92, its first finish below 21,000 since March 26. On Tuesday, the index tumbled 391.43 points. The Topix index of all first-section issues was down 6.36 points, or 0.41 percent, at 1,556.15, its lowest finish since May 18, 2017. It dropped 31.69 points on Tuesday. Investor sentiment was also battered by major mobile phone carrier SoftBank’s weak debut on the TSE’s first section, market sources said. A fall in European equities and only a slight rebound in U.S. stocks on Tuesday reinforced worries about a possible slump in the global economy, an official of a bank-linked securities firm said. “Mainstay issues met with position-adjustment selling by foreign investors ahead of the Christmas holidays,” the official said. The official said that SoftBank’s sluggish performance reflected “the recent poor market sentiment.” SoftBank’s stock fetched an initial price of ¥1,463, 2.5 percent lower than its initial public offering price, and closed at ¥1,282. In the broader market, active buying of dips was held in check as investors awaited the outcome of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy meeting due later on Wednesday. “Funds are hard to enter” the market before the Fed meeting is over, said Yoshihiko Tabei, chief analyst at Naito Securities Co. Falling issues outnumbered rising ones 1,171 to 883 in the TSE’s first section, while 75 issues were unchanged. Volume grew to 1.739 billion shares from 1.625 billion shares Tuesday. Oil companies Inpex Corp., JXTG Holdings Inc., Idemitsu Kosan Co. and Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K. fell on lower crude oil prices. Other major losers included clothing retailer Fast Retailing Co. and semiconductor equipment maker Tokyo Electron. By contrast, factory automation-related issues, such as Yaskawa Electric Corp., Fanuc Corp. and Keyence Corp., were buoyant on hopes for possible economic stimulus measures in China, brokers said. Also on the plus side were cosmetics maker Shiseido Co. and automaker Suzuki Motor Corp. In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the March contract on the Nikkei average sagged 150 points to end at 20,920.
|
stocks;softbank;nikkei;topix
|
jp0010408
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"politics-diplomacy-asia-pacific"
] |
2018/12/19
|
U.S. seeks to expedite aid for North Korea amid stalled nuclear talks
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SEOUL - U.S. officials will try to expedite humanitarian aid to North Korea, a U.S. envoy said on Wednesday, as Washington and Pyongyang struggle to find a breakthrough in stalled talks aimed at ending the North’s nuclear program. Stephen Biegun, the U.S. special representative for North Korea, made the announcement as he arrived in Seoul for four days of talks with South Korean officials. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to work toward denuclearization at his landmark summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in Singapore in June but the two sides have since made little progress. With Washington doubling down on sanctions enforcement, humanitarian aid for North Korea has nearly ground to a halt this year, despite warnings of a potential food crisis and improving relations with Pyongyang, aid groups say. International sanctions imposed over North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile programs technically do not cover humanitarian activities, and over the summer the United Nations adopted a U.S. proposal designed to streamline approval for aid shipments. But strict interpretations of U.N. sanctions curtailing banking and shipping transactions with Pyongyang, as well as a travel ban for U.S. citizens, have effectively shut down the North Korea operations of most relief groups, according to a dozen officials at U.N. agencies and civilian organizations. “I’ll be sitting down with American aid groups early in the new year to discuss how we can better ensure the delivery of appropriate assistance, particularly through the course of the coming winter,” Biegun told reporters in Seoul, noting that the United States would work with the United Nations in reviewing how it grants sanctions exemptions for aid. He acknowledged that the travel ban — which requires American aid workers to obtain special permission from the U.S. State Department before traveling to North Korea — “may have impacted the delivery of humanitarian assistance.” Early next year, U.S. officials will review how they grant that permission for the “purposes of facilitating the delivery of aid,” Biegun said. Part of the catalyst for the review was the expulsion of an American citizen who had illegally entered North Korea in October, he said. North Korea handled the man’s case “expeditiously and with great discretion,” giving American officials “greater confidence about the safety and security of Americans traveling” to North Korea, Biegun said. Biegun’s visit to Seoul comes as negotiations between the United States and North Korea appear stalled, with the two sides yet to reschedule talks between U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and senior North Korean official Kim Yong Chol after abruptly cancelling a meeting in November. Trump has said a second summit with Kim is likely to take place in January or February, though he wrote on Twitter last week that he is “in no hurry.” North Korea has for years pursued nuclear and missile programs in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions but the bellicose rhetoric from both Pyongyang and Trump that raised fears of war has eased this year. The stalled negotiations have also had an impact on inter-Korean ties, with the North aloof towards the South’s plan to host Kim Jong Un in Seoul this month as agreed at his summit with President Moon Jae-in in Pyongyang in September. Kim’s trip was unlikely to take place this year, Moon’s press secretary said last week. South Korean Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon, who is due to meet Biegun on Friday, said the nuclear talks would face a critical moment between February and March. “I think it is fair to say that the denuclearization process is not yet on track in earnest,” Cho was quoted by the Yonhap news agency as telling reporters. “Next year, we can see whether they will have a chance to get closer to the objectives.” North Korean state media has credited Trump for his “willingness” to continue dialogue but has also slammed Washington for stepping up sanctions, accusing the State Department of being “bent on bringing the DPRK-U.S. relations back to the status of last year which was marked by exchanges of fire.” The report referred to the North by its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). The State Department said communication between both sides was “ongoing” but sanctions relief would come after they achieved the goal of a “final, fully verified denuclearization.” “The sooner North Korea denuclearizes, the sooner sanctions can be lifted,” deputy spokesman Robert Palladino told a news briefing on Tuesday in Washington. Biegun was scheduled to hold talks on Thursday with his South Korean counterpart, Lee Do-hoon, ahead of their session on Friday of a working group launched last month to boost coordination on North Korean policy. Biegun is expected to discuss inter-Korean issues with Cho amid U.S. concerns that Seoul may be moving too quickly with Pyongyang relative to the lackluster progress on denuclearization. The two Koreas plan to hold a ground-breaking ceremony on Wednesday for their project to reconnect rail and road links, which would need U.S. sanctions exemptions.
|
u.s .;north korea;kim jong un;nuclear weapons;south korea;north korea nuclear crisis;donald trump;moon jae-in;kim-trump summit
|
jp0010409
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"politics-diplomacy-asia-pacific"
] |
2018/12/19
|
As tumultuous year comes to a close, Xi's defiant remarks indicate the U.S.-China trade war is far from over
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BEIJING - Anyone betting that Chinese President Xi Jinping would back down quickly in a trade war with U.S. President Donald Trump better think again. Xi told a Beijing crowd including some of China’s most influential political, military and business figures on Tuesday that the country’s growing wealth and power had validated the Communist Party’s — and thus his own — leadership. “No one is in the position to dictate to the Chinese people what should and should not be done,” Xi said. Xi’s speech — an 80-minute recitation of party achievements — outlined no new economic policies that might assuage investor concerns about market access or the slowing economy. Instead, he reaffirmed China’s pursuit of “indigenous innovation” in “core technologies.” The event was intended to mark the 40th anniversary of Deng Xiaoping’s “reform and opening up,” a campaign that unleashed an industrial boom that helped China outlast the Soviet Union and become the world’s second-largest economy. But coming at the end of Xi’s most tumultuous year since taking power in 2012, it also served to assert his own rule at home and push back against critics abroad, such as the U.S. president. Over the past 12 months, Xi pushed through a repeal of Deng-era term limits — the sole legal check on his tenure — only to find himself locked in an unprecedented trade war with Trump. He decided to play down plans to dominate high-tech industries and revise his signature “Belt and Road” trade-and-infrastructure initiative amid whispers about whether Xi had prematurely abandoned Deng’s advice for China to hide its strength and bide its time. “2018 has been a very difficult year for Xi Jinping,” said Trey McArver, co-founder of Beijing-based research firm Trivium China. “The question going forward is how the system responds to all these troubles bubbling up. Will the system adjust? Or will these problems open up cracks in the system and undermine Xi’s authority and his grand project?” Rather than retreat, Xi vowed to press on. He offered long passages about the party’s supremacy and the need to promote Marxist ideology. Hard power “What and how to reform must be based on the overarching goal of improving and developing the socialist system with Chinese characteristics, and modernizing the country’s governance system and governance capacity,” Xi said. “We will resolutely reform what should or can be changed, but will never reform what cannot be changed.” A ceremony honoring contributors to China’s reform era on Tuesday emphasized hard power as much as economic gains, celebrating people who supported Beijing’s claims to the South China Sea and the development of an aircraft carrier fleet. Meanwhile, the democratically run island of Taiwan reported that Chinese warplanes entered nearby airspace, while several foreign media outlets reported allegations of forced labor at internment camps housing ethnic minorities in China’s far western region of Xinjiang. The events cast a different light on recent Chinese efforts to patch up frayed ties with rivals such as India and Japan, or tone down initiatives that have drawn U.S. criticism, like Made in China 2025 and the Belt and Road initiative. Viewed through the lens of Xi’s rhetoric to his own party, they seem more like tactical shifts to minimize conflict than course corrections. ‘Crisis delayed’ Indeed, Xi has so far managed to consolidate more power than any Chinese leader in a generation and keep the country’s economic slowdown from getting out of control. His gestures on trade were enough to secure a 90-day tariff cease-fire from Trump during their summit in Argentina earlier this month. The U.S. and China are planning to hold meetings next month to negotiate a broader truce, although they’re unlikely to have any face-to-face contact before then, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday. “Despite significant economic headwinds, including the eruption of a trade war with the U.S., Xi and his economic team managed to steer clear of a significant slowdown or collapse of investor confidence,” said Jude Blanchette, who analyses Chinese politics at Crumpton Group, an international advisory firm in Arlington, Virginia. “But for Xi and China’s economy, a crisis averted is but a crisis delayed.” The boom unleashed by Deng’s reforms helped give rise to many of the problems China faces today, including severe pollution, a mountain of debt and a massive middle class with increasing demands for health care and other services. Failure to control China’s economic slowdown could undermine a key pillar of the party’s rule. One Chinese official said that concerns about the economy had deflated public interest in celebrating the anniversary. Many people are worried the private sector is in retreat as the government steers policy support toward state-owned enterprises, said the person, who asked not to be identified discussing their personal views. China’s rise has also provoked new challenges from the U.S. and other major economies, which increasingly see the country as a competitor, rather than a cheap source of labor and goods. Its military might has spurred an arms build-up among its neighbors. “China has stepped into the center of global competition for wealth, power and other interests,” said Zhu Feng, dean of the Institute of International Relations at Nanjing University. “Now the biggest problem for China’s foreign policy is being too high-profile. China needs to bear in mind that the point when it becomes a major power is also when other countries start being tough.”
|
china;u.s .;trade;xi jinping;donald trump;belt and road
|
jp0010410
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/12/19
|
Japan shrugs off constitutional concerns, but question remains: Are aircraft carriers necessary?
|
Although Japan’s defense policy appears to have taken a new twist with a decision to deploy an aircraft carrier, doubts remain over whether the plan will best serve its national interests as the nation struggles with what it views as a growing threat from China. Possessing an aircraft carrier has been controversial in and outside the country in light of its militarist past and the pacifist postwar Constitution, which restricts the nation from possessing what some have deemed as clearly offensive armaments. Despite this, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government waded into the fray Tuesday by endorsing a new five-year defense buildup program that includes a plan to transform existing Izumo-class flat-topped helicopter carriers into ships capable of launching short takeoff fighter jets. The government has apparently sought to shrug off concerns that it is seeking new defensive capabilities that might exceed constitutional limits, with officials insisting the upgraded helicopter carriers would not have the means to inflict “devastating damage” on another country. “This measure is to reinforce our air defense system and it is within the minimum necessary level of forces our country is allowed to possess,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a news conference Tuesday. The government has also said it has no intention to keep fighter jets assigned to the vessels at all times, and stipulated in the defense buildup program that the Izumo-class ships — even after the upgrades — will remain as “multifunctional destroyers” that engage in missions ranging from patrolling to large-scale disaster response. The Maritime Self-Defense Force has two 19,500-ton Izumo-class ships, which are the country’s largest postwar naval vessels, with an overall length of 248 meters and each capable of carrying up to 14 helicopters. For fighters to take off, the deck may have to be coated with heat-resistant material, among other modifications. Some defense experts have echoed the government’s view that refitting Izumo-class ships, in itself, will not make them highly offensive, given that each will only have the capacity to carry some 10 F-35B stealth fighter jets, which Japan plans to introduce as the aircraft are capable of short takeoffs and vertical landings. “Compared with China’s (first) aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, capable of loading some 20 fighters, or 100,000 ton-class U.S. carriers, capable of transporting about 50, Izumo would be too small to use for offensive operations,” said Noboru Yamaguchi, vice president of International University of Japan in Niigata Prefecture. But the retired Ground Self-Defense Force lieutenant general said the presence of Izumo ships would be useful in beefing up defense over far-flung islands in the southwest, including an area where tensions remain high over the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands, which China claims and calls Diaoyu. “The moves of Japanese aircraft will become increasingly unpredictable for the Chinese if they can take off from carriers in waters around the southwestern islands (rather than leaving from fixed bases),” he said. Other experts, however, have criticized the government’s arguments as mere rhetoric. “The modified Izumo ship will obviously be an ‘aircraft carrier’ (in violation of the Constitution) as long as it can launch fighter jets to attack opponents,” said Hideki Uemura, a professor at Ryutsu Keizai University. The important point is how the plan will be perceived by other countries, and the latest move may provide an excuse for China to take a tougher stance against Japan, according to Uemura, an expert in international politics. “I think the conversion of Izumo is not only useless in terms of military purposes, it could even provoke China,” Uemura said. Kyoji Yanagisawa, a former Defense Ministry bureaucrat, expressed disappointment that the aircraft carrier deployment plan appears to have been given the green light without sufficient debate on what functions the vessels should have, as well as their purpose. As a result, Japan may end up just having “floating runways” that may not be useful for substantial missions, including defending remote islands. “It could be just a waste of money,” said Yanagisawa, who now serves as head of International Geopolitics Institute Japan. Following through with the plan will also likely push up the nation’s annual defense budget, which has continued to exceed ¥5 trillion in recent years. Purchasing U.S.-made F-35 fighters for use on the carriers will also be costly, since each is said to have a price tag of around ¥10 billion. Yanagisawa and Uemura both warned of the possibility that the upgraded Izumo-class vessels could also be mobilized to support U.S. military operations in the future, as the United States and Japan continue work on strengthening their alliance via contentious security legislation that expanded the scope of the Self-Defense Forces’ operations.
|
defense;izumo;aircraft carrier
|
jp0010411
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/12/19
|
Japan plans hiring limits for nursing facility operators that bring in foreign workers under new visas
|
The government plans to set hiring limits for nursing facility operators that bring in foreign workers under one of the country’s two new visa categories, it was learned Tuesday. The plan was included in a draft of the government’s operational guidelines for the new permits that are aimed at bringing in more foreign workers. One of the two visas will be granted to foreign nationals that have certain levels of knowledge or experience, covering 14 industrial sectors, while the other will be given to those with higher skill levels. According to the draft guidelines and related documents, each nursing facility operator must keep the number of foreign nationals it employs through the lower-skilled visa category below that of its regular staff members. The rule is believed to be aimed at protecting the employment of Japanese caregivers. Such foreign caregivers will be limited to working at nursing facilities and won’t be allowed to engage in home-visit services. Meanwhile, foreign workers who have completed courses to be a certified care worker will be exempted from taking Japanese proficiency and skills tests. In other sectors, requirements for higher-skilled workers include having experience as a group leader for the construction sector and at least two years of experience as a supervisor for the shipbuilding and marine equipment manufacturing industry. In the construction sector, the government will require companies to offer job contracts to foreign workers that include pay hikes according to their skill level, a measure that aims to secure appropriate work conditions for them. As a condition for hiring foreign workers in the agriculture sector under the lower-skilled visa category, the guidelines said that operators must have previously employed workers for an uninterrupted period of at least six months. In the restaurant sector, skills tests will be held in 10 locations nationwide to prevent a concentration of foreign workers in major cities. Technical tests for three of the 14 sectors of the lower-skilled visa category will start in April, while those for applicants of the higher-skilled category will begin in fiscal 2021. Both new and existing skill tests can be utilized for the construction sector, the shipbuilding and marine equipment manufacturing industry, and the automobile maintenance sector. The government has presented the draft guidelines, as well as drafts of a basic cross-industry policy on the new visa categories, to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner Komeito. The government plans to formalize them on Dec. 25.
|
immigration;visa;foreign workers;nursing care
|
jp0010412
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/12/19
|
Stigma and legal battles show Japan still has tattoo complex even as Olympics loom
|
When Mana Izumi got her first tattoo at 18, she wasn’t trying to rebel or shatter any taboos — just copy pop diva Namie Amuro’s beach-bronze “surfer chick” look. In Japan, where tattoos have for centuries been demonized for their association with criminals, former porn star Izumi turns heads with her copper tan, bleach-blonde bob, and an array of designs inked across half of her body. “I wasn’t really an Amuro fan but I thought her tattoos were cute,” the 29-year-old said. “When my mum first saw my tattoo she burst into tears and I thought my dad was going to kill me. But I like being a bit different.” Mana Izumi smokes a cigarette after getting a new tattoo on her leg at a studio in Tsurugashima, Saitama Prefecture. | AFP-JIJI Tattoos still provoke deep-rooted suspicion in Japan as the country prepares to host the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. People with body ink are refused entry to public swimming pools, bathing spots, beaches and often gyms, while visible body art can be harmful to job prospects. “It’s pathetic the way people discriminate against tattoos,” Izumi said while getting a $500 Aztec skull inked onto her leg. “People might think I look a little scary,” she added, taking a drag on her cigarette. “But I don’t regret getting inked.” Japan has long had a prickly relationship with tattoos. Former porn star Mana Izumi gets a new tattoo on her leg at a tattoo studio in Tsurugashima, Saitama Prefecture, on Oct. 28. | AFP-JIJI In the 17th century criminals were branded as a form of punishment, while today yakuza mobsters pledge their loyalty with traditional, full-body tattoos. As Japan opened up to the outside world in the 1800s, tattoos were outlawed — along with snake-charming and public nudity — because the Japanese feared outsiders would think they were “primitive,” according to Brian Ashcraft, author of “Japanese Tattoos: History, Culture, Design.” At the same time, European royalty would come to Japan to secretly get inked, so coveted were the country’s tattoo artists. Police crackdown The ban lasted until 1948, when the occupying American forces lifted it, but the stigma remains in Japan. “They look at tattoos and they think ‘yakuza’ — instead of admiring the beauty of the art form,” said Ashcraft. “Until that changes, tattooing will continue to exist in a gray zone.” But the situation has worsened, with a recent crackdown involving several police raids and fines plunging the tattoo industry into confusion. Horiyoshi III works on a tattoo for his customer, Japanese ‘salaryman’ Kyono, at his Yokohama studio. | AFP-JIJI Meanwhile, a potentially game-changing legal battle recently ended after Osaka tattooist Taiki Masuda was arrested in 2015 for violating an obscure law that dates back almost 70 years. The 30-year-old was fined ¥300,000 under the Medical Practitioners’ Law, which forbids anyone other than a doctor from performing medical procedures. A 2001 Health, Labour and Welfare Ministry notice ruled that tattooing was medical work because it involves needles, technically criminalizing Masuda’s job. He decided to fight the law, and last month a court overturned his previous guilty verdict after a lengthy and controversial appeal process. “There’s no legal framework regulating the tattoo industry in Japan,” Masuda said. “Livelihoods are at stake — that’s why I had to fight it, to hopefully help legalize tattooing.” Japanese hair stylist Hirotaka Yamakawa displays his tattoos at a Tokyo barber shop. | AFP-JIJI Masuda’s struggle polarized opinion among Japanese tattooists, estimated to number as many as 3,000. Noriyuki Katsuta, a member of Save Tattooing in Japan, a nonprofit co-founded by Masuda, called his arrest “a human rights violation”. But many older artists are fiercely protective of tattooing’s underground roots and resist the idea that it should become a legitimate profession. ‘Like pepper on noodles’ “Tattoos should have a dash of the outlaw about them,” insisted Horiyoshi III, who slammed Masuda’s actions as “provocative” and unhelpful. “It’s like adding pepper to noodles — if you just ate pepper it would be too hot, but as a spice it adds flavor.” In this picture taken on Jan. 27, 2018, Japanese tattoo artist Horiyoshi III poses at his tattoo studio in Yokohama. Katsuta estimates between 500,000 and a million Japanese — or one in every 100 or 200 people — have tattoos. Japan’s squeamishness about tattoos will be put to the test at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and before that at next year’s Rugby World Cup, both set to bring an influx of foreign visitors — including athletes with body art. “I don’t know how much the Olympics is actually going to change opinions,” said Ashcraft, noting that Japanese television still blurs out tattoos. “When people look at foreigners with tattoos, they kind of see that as foreign culture.” At the root of much of the prejudice toward tattoos in Japan is the ancient Confucian idea that defacing the body inherited from one’s parents is disrespectful, according to Ashcraft. “I don’t think people are actively thinking that it’s dirty anymore,” he added. “But I do think that collective consciousness still lingers.” Izumi has little time for such outdated arguments. “Among my mum’s generation, anyone tattooed-up like me was thought to be yakuza,” she shrugged. “But when people preach about spoiling the body my parents gave me, it really makes me sick. I don’t feel I have to explain myself to anyone.”
|
yakuza;tattoos;2020 tokyo olympics;mana izumi
|
jp0010413
|
[
"national",
"history"
] |
2018/12/19
|
Yasukuni Shrine protesters from Hong Kong remanded pending court ruling: activist group
|
HONG KONG - Two Hong Kong activists who were arrested by police over trespassing after staging a protest at the Yasukuni Shrine last week were remanded in custody following a court appearance Wednesday, the duo’s activist group said. A judge at the Tokyo District Court adjourned the case and will deliver a ruling at a later date, a member of the Action Committee for Defending the Diaoyu Islands said. Kwok Siu-kit, one of the activists, was seen in a video clip uploaded online standing at the shrine’s entrance last Wednesday next to a burning makeshift memorial tablet with the name of wartime Prime Minister Hideki Tojo, who is enshrined at Yasukuni, written on it. On the video, he can be seen shouting “Down to militarism! Forget not the Nanjing Massacre! Japan must apologize!” Yim Man-wam, a journalist who filmed Kwok’s actions, was also arrested at the time. The shrine honors millions of war dead, including convicted war criminals, and is seen as a symbol of Japan’s militarist past by neighboring countries that suffered under Japanese occupation or colonialism before and during World War II. China and South Korea regularly condemn visits to the shrine by Japanese leaders. China’s Foreign Ministry has called on Tokyo to ensure the legal rights of the two detainees. Staff members of the Chinese Embassy in Japan have visited them at least once during their detention.
|
wwii;yasukuni shrine;hideki tojo;china-japan relations
|
jp0010414
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2018/12/26
|
Tokyo stocks end higher in volatile session
|
Stocks finished a volatile session higher on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Wednesday, supported by buying in anticipation of a technical rebound after the previous day’s sell-off. The 225-issue Nikkei average rose 171.32 points, or 0.89 percent, to end at 19,327.06, after diving 1,010.45 points Tuesday. The Topix index of all first-section issues closed up 15.92 points, or 1.12 percent, at 1,431.47. It plunged 72.64 points the previous day. The Nikkei average gained over 370 points briefly in the morning on buying from investors expecting a rally and the yen’s slight weakness, brokers said. But in the afternoon, the market lost steam as stock index futures dropped following the weakness of U.S. futures, the brokers said. The Nikkei average temporarily fell below 19,000 for the first time since April 25, 2017, on an intraday basis. The indicator soon turned around and closed higher thanks to late-session purchases. Tokyo stocks attracted repurchases after being “oversold” the previous day, a market source said. The Nikkei average lost more than 2,300 points over the five sessions through Tuesday. But an official of a brokerage firm said, “The market lacked energy amid thin trading during the Christmas holiday period.” Investors are concerned about a possible negative impact of a prolonged partial shutdown of the U.S. government, said Hiroaki Kuramochi, chief market analyst at Saxo Bank Securities Ltd. While admitting Tokyo stocks have grown affordable, Kuramochi said the market is unlikely to get back to an upward trend soon unless investor concerns over further global stock price drops are dispelled. Rising issues far outnumbered falling ones 1,831 to 254 in the TSE’s first section, while 38 issues were unchanged. Volume decreased to 1.388 billion shares from 1.716 billion shares Tuesday. Factory automation companies attracted buybacks after being oversold, brokers said. Fanuc Corp. added 2.44 percent, Keyence Corp. 2.87 percent and Yaskawa Electric Corp. 1.31 percent. Kose Corp. gained 3.45 percent after Nomura Securities Co. revised up its investment rating and target stock price for the cosmetics maker. Also on the plus side were game-maker Nintendo Co. and drugmaker Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. On the other hand, Japan Tobacco Inc. lost 2.92 percent as the company went ex-dividend Wednesday. In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the key March 2019 contract on the Nikkei average advanced 420 points to end at 19,390.
|
stocks;nikkei;tokyo stock exchange;topix
|
jp0010415
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2018/12/26
|
Dollar higher above ¥110.40 in late Tokyo trading
|
The dollar was firmer above ¥110.40 in late Tokyo trading Wednesday after moving narrowly for much of the day due to a lack of fresh incentives. At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥110.42-42, up from ¥110.22-30 at the same time Tuesday. The euro was at $1.1401-1402, against $1.1399-1405, and at ¥125.89-91, up from ¥125.67-67. The dollar rose above ¥110.60 in midmorning trading, following a strong opening of the benchmark Nikkei stock average and an upturn of U.S. index futures in off-hours trading, dealers said. “A larger-than-usual volume of dollar buying by Japanese importers” also supported the U.S. currency, a foreign currency broker said. But the dollar fell to levels around ¥110.40 later as the Nikkei stock average grew sluggish and U.S. long-term interest rates declined. While the 225-issue Nikkei average temporarily fell below 19,000 for the first time in 20 months in the afternoon, the dollar stayed above ¥110.30 thanks to real demand-backed purchases, the broker said. The dollar-yen pair will likely remain directionless until investors see how Wall Street will fare after the Christmas break, an official of a bank-affiliated securities firm said.
|
forex;currencies
|
jp0010416
|
[
"world"
] |
2018/12/26
|
Doubts raised over Turkey's ability to 'eradicate' IS after U.S. pullout
|
ISTANBUL - A withdrawal of American ground forces in Syria will give Turkey freer rein to target Washington’s Kurdish partners in the fight against the Islamic State extremist group but analysts doubt Ankara’s capacity to “eradicate” the jihadi forces. Turkish officials have said that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan heavily weighed in the decision by his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump to pull all 2,000 American troops from Syria. Trump’s shock order came after Erdogan convinced him that Turkey could eliminate the last remaining pockets of IS after the jihadis suffered a series of military defeats. “We have the strength to neutralize (IS) by ourselves,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu insisted on Tuesday. But Erdogan’s main objective in Syria is actually to target the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia, which the U.S. has trained to spearhead the fight against IS. Turkey is vehemently opposed to a Kurdish entity on its border, fearing it will strengthen the separatist ambitions of the Kurdish minority inside the country, and says the YPG is a Syrian “terrorist” offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The PKK, which has waged an insurgency against Turkey since 1984, is blacklisted as a terrorist organization by Ankara and its Western allies. ‘Victim of own success’ Trump said on Sunday after a telephone conversation with Erdogan that he counted on him to “eradicate” IS which he said was now “largely defeated.” Turkey has repeatedly called on the U.S. to stop training and providing armed weapons to the YPG in the fight against IS, claiming that Turkish military forces would be more effective in eliminating the jihadi threat. “Erdogan is a victim of his own success in selling Trump on the idea that Turkey is ready to assume control over the counter-IS mission in Syria indefinitely,” Nicholas Heras, an analyst at the Center for a New American Security, said. “Turkey does not currently have a Syrian rebel force that is large enough, experienced enough, or legitimate enough to hold eastern Syria, and it would take many months, even with U.S. support, for Turkey to amass such a force,” he added. The last pockets of IS are in fact in eastern and central Syria, hundreds of kilometers away from the northern areas of the country which the Turkish military and Syrian rebels are accustomed to and where they led two offensives in 2016 and 2018. “IS is close to Boukamal, more than 400 kilometers (250 miles) from Turkey, impossible for Turkey to go so far,” said Syria expert Fabrice Balanche. “The Syrian Army and Iraqi Shiite militias will handle it after the U.S. withdrawal.” “Turkey is not even able to eliminate Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), i.e., al-Qaida, from its border in Idlib,” he said. “I cannot see how it can eliminate IS with the help of Arab militia.” Idlib is Syria’s last major rebel and jihadi stronghold in the country’s north. ‘Real problem’ is logistics According to Balanche, Turkey could at most “prevent” an IS resurgence by closing its border with Syria to the jihadis and carrying out targeted operations like in the al-Bab region of northern Syria in 2016. Between August 2016 and March 2017, Turkish troops helped Syrian opposition fighters capture territory from IS in northern Syria. Sinan Ulgen, chairman of the Istanbul-based Centre for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies, said that the distance between the last IS pockets and the Turkish border posed a “real problem” of logistics. “So it is not clear how Turkey would orchestrate a military campaign at such long distances from its border in hostile territory,” he said. Lina Khatib, director of the Middle East and North Africa Program at London-based Chatham House, said Erdogan gave assurances to Trump about his ability to eradicate IS without having a “plan” for doing so. She said that Turkey’s real aim was to “use this opportunity (U.S. withdrawal) to crack down on the YPG.” “Eradicating IS can only happen through a comprehensive strategy that even the current international anti-IS coalition — which is limited to military action without adequate attention to the needed socioeconomic and political aspects of fighting IS — does not possess,” she added. If Turkey were to fight IS alone and then left the battles to Syrian Arab proxies, “militarily weaker” than the extremists, it would not be very effective, Khatib said. “This would also make Turkey vulnerable to revenge attacks by IS.” Turkey was hit by a series of terror attacks blamed on IS in recent years including the last in January 2017 when a gunman killed 39 people in an Istanbul nightclub.
|
conflict;u.s .;syria;turkey;recep tayyip erdogan;islamic state;donald trump
|
jp0010417
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/12/26
|
Japan saw record 3,451 rain- and quake-induced mudslides in 2018
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A record 3,451 mudslides occurred in 2018 due to torrential rains and earthquakes, according to land ministry data. The preliminary figure is the highest since comparable data became available in 1982 and more than three times higher than the annual average of 1,015 through 2017, the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry said Wednesday. This year, mudslides occurred in 44 of the 47 prefectures, sparing only Tokyo, Tochigi and Ibaraki. With concerns growing about an increase in downpours and typhoons linked to global warming, the government plans to enhance preparedness for people living in areas prone to natural disasters by raising awareness of the potential hazards they may face. “Mudslide disasters from heavy rain may happen frequently in the future,” the ministry said. According to the land ministry data, 161 people died in mudslides this year, the third-highest on record, and 1,443 homes were damaged or destroyed. More than a third of the landslides, or 1,243, occurred in Hiroshima Prefecture, followed by 419 in Ehime, 237 in Hokkaido, 193 in Yamaguchi and 171 in Kochi. Forty-one people were killed after a magnitude 6.7 earthquake hit Hokkaido in September, triggering landslides and a blackout across the island.
|
natural disasters;heavy rain;mudslides
|
jp0010418
|
[
"national",
"politics-diplomacy"
] |
2018/12/26
|
Osaka Gov. Ichiro Matsui reveals deal with Komeito to hold referendum on merging city wards
|
OSAKA - Osaka Gov. Ichiro Matsui revealed Wednesday that his Osaka Ishin no Kai (One Osaka) political group had signed a deal with Komeito, in April 2017, to hold a referendum on merging the city’s wards during the current terms of the prefectural and municipal assembly members, which expire in April 2019. The governor also hinted that he and Osaka Mayor Hirofumi Yoshimura, both of whose own terms expire at the end of 2019, may soon decide to quit and hold their re-elections in April to coincide with the Osaka local elections. “I’m not excluding any possibilities,” Matsui told Osaka media when asked about whether he and the mayor would step down before their terms officially expire. Matsui’s stance reflects growing frustration with Komeito, which works with Osaka Ishin in both the municipal and prefectural assemblies to form a majority. The two parties, however, have long been at odds over Osaka Ishin’s desire to abolish the city’s current 24 wards under the current municipal assembly system and create four semi-autonomous wards, each with its own mayor and separate assembly — a plan Komeito continues to oppose. Matsui and Yoshimura’s threat to resign earlier this week if Komeito didn’t keep a promise to honor the April 2017 agreement, which was not then public, prompted Komeito’s Osaka chapter head and Lower House member Shigeki Sato to tell reporters Tuesday that carrying out a referendum “during the term” meant during the terms of Matsui and Yoshimura, which expire in late 2019, not during the terms of the local assembly members. Citing a busy political schedule next year, Komeito wants to put off the referendum until after the April local elections and the July Upper House election. Matsui and Yoshimura had hoped to hold the referendum on the same day as the Upper House election. Osaka Ishin faces tough elections in April, and losing seats to the Liberal Democratic Party — which is nominally the opposition — could lead to an LDP-Komeito ruling coalition in one or both local legislative bodies. On Wednesday, Matsui released the one page agreement with Komeito that refers to holding a referendum within the terms, on the proviso that a joint prefectural-municipal committee in charge of discussions on the merger plan makes its best efforts. “The agreement clearly refers to the terms of the assembly members. If (Komeito) is a responsible political party, they’ll respond based on this agreement,” Matsui said. The fate of the merger plan, which was narrowly rejected by voters in a May 2015 referendum, along with Osaka’s quest to win a bid to host a casino integrated resort, are expected to be two of the main issues in April’s local elections.
|
osaka;komeito;ichiro matsui;osaka ishin no kai
|
jp0010419
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/12/26
|
Tokyo Games volunteer drive exceeds target with over 186,000 applicants
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The organizers of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games said Wednesday they have received applications from 186,101 prospective volunteers, more than double their recruitment target of 80,000. Of the people who turned in applications by the 5 p.m. deadline on Friday, 63 percent were female and 37 percent were non-Japanese. The committee had hoped to attract 80,000 volunteers through online recruitment, which started in September. The volunteers will provide personal, operational and media support and become the “face of the games,” the organizers said. Orientation sessions will start in February and basic training in October. Separately, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government said it has received 36,649 applications for so-called city volunteers, who will provide transport and sightseeing information to visitors during the games. It said it surpassed its initial target of 20,000 volunteers. The Tokyo Olympics are scheduled to be held from July 24 to Aug. 9, 2020, followed by the Paralympics from Aug. 25 to Sept. 6.
|
joc;ioc;volunteers;2020 tokyo olympics
|
jp0010420
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/12/26
|
Getting away from it all: More overseas tourists to Japan opt for a taste of the country life
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NAGANO - An increasing number of foreign visitors are traveling off the beaten path and taking part in farm-stay programs to get a taste of the typical Japanese country life. It’s hoped that the popularity of stays in traditional farming villages, which have helped attract overseas travelers away from tourism hot spots like Tokyo and Kyoto, can help revitalize rural communities amid the nation’s tourism boom. The annual number of foreign travelers to the country has already reached the 30 million milestone for the first time in 2018 and the country aims to welcome 40 million by 2020. In late October, when leaves began to take on their fall colors, two workers for Chinese travel magazines were having fun harvesting carrots, green peppers and other vegetables on a farm in the Takeshi district of Ueda, Nagano Prefecture. At night, they ate tempura made from the vegetables they picked earlier in the day, and sat up late playing hanafuda card games and other traditional pastimes at the farmhouse. “We had a good time chatting with farmers, something that we can’t enjoy at ordinary sightseeing places,” said Jin Qiyang, 34, one of the two Chinese visitors. “Chinese people are curious to understand Japanese culture deeply. I suppose there is a strong demand for farm stays,” Jin added. The two were invited to the area by the central government, the Nagano Prefectural Government and a local tourism promotion body. Tranquil mountainous farming communities like the Takeshi district, about 150 km northwest of central Tokyo, can be found across the country. “At first, it never crossed my mind that so many people would come here all the way from other countries,” said Ichiro Kobayashi, 67, president of Shinshu Seishun-mura, a local firm operating farm-stay programs in the district. The company has accepted Japanese students on school trips at contracted farmhouses in the area since 2002 and foreign tourists since 2005. Alongside Japan’s rising number of foreign visitors, the number of overseas guests participating in the program has been on the rise, hitting 2,322 and accounting for about 40 percent of total visitors in 2016. Charging ¥8,000 per person per night, with dinner and breakfast included, overseas travelers from 20 countries and territories, including China, Taiwan and Australia, have joined the company’s programs. According to a survey on farm stays by Mitsubishi UFJ Research and Consulting Co. conducted in December last year, 66.2 percent of 71 program operators that responded to a question about foreign visitors said their number is “on the upward trend.” By contrast, 43.3 percent of 104 respondents to a question about Japanese participants said their number “remains flat.” Municipalities in other prefectures are also attracting foreign tourists with farm-stay programs. In the town of Minakami, Gunma Prefecture, visitors can try planting and reaping rice and kneading dough to make udon (wheat flour noodles) and soba, with 195 households accommodating them as of 2016. Some farmers of mandarin oranges, one of the specialty products of Tanabe, Wakayama Prefecture, are trying to attract visitors with a fruit-picking program. “It’s important for business operators to offer services and items that cater to what the overseas visitors want,” said Kazunobu Tsutsui, a Tottori University professor studying farm tourism for foreign tourists. “It would be hard to keep the tourism industry running unless the agricultural business itself remains commercially sustainable. Amid a decline of farmers, it will be vital to secure successors through the migration of younger generations” to farming communities, Tsutsui added.
|
agriculture;tourism;rural life
|
jp0010421
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/12/26
|
210 public school teachers disciplined over sexual behavior in fiscal 2017, Japan's education ministry reports
|
A total of 210 teachers at public schools in Japan were disciplined over sexual behavior in fiscal 2017, which ended in March, according to an education ministry survey. The number fell by 16 from the record high marked the previous year, but it has remained above 200 since fiscal 2013, the survey showed Tuesday. Of the latest annual total, 56 were punished for touching the victim’s body, followed by 42 who carried out secret filming or peeping, and 38 who had sexual intercourse. Of the teachers at public elementary, junior and senior high schools who faced disciplinary measures, including dismissal and admonishment for acts of obscenity or sexual harassment, 97 committed such acts against students at the schools where they worked while 26 victimized teachers or other staff at those schools. Of the total offenders, the number of men came to 206 and the figure for women stood at four. “The result reflects a low level of awareness among the teachers,” a ministry official said. “It is good to build a relationship based on trust with students but crossing the line is totally unacceptable.” Elsewhere in the survey, the number of teachers who took sick leave due to depression or other mental health problems increased 186 to 5,077. The rise apparently stemmed from increased amounts of work and stress from handling unreasonable requests from parents and others, according to the ministry official. The official suggested promoting teachers’ work style reforms, including the more active use of outside personnel such as support staff to help teachers prepare for teaching and to conduct clerical work. Meanwhile, women held 17.5 percent of managerial positions in schools, such as school heads and vice heads, marking the highest-ever level. The government aims to raise the share of managerial workers who are women to 20 percent in fiscal 2020.
|
teachers;women;depression;overwork;sexual offenses
|
jp0010422
|
[
"business"
] |
2018/12/21
|
Japan drags feet on cutting deficit as pre-tax hike budget tops ¥100 trillion
|
The government’s budget for fiscal 2019 makes abundantly clear where Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s priorities lie when it comes to the economy. The spending plan, which received Cabinet approval on Friday and is now headed to the Diet in January, shows government outlays rise above ¥100 trillion ($900 billion) in an initial budget for the first time, pushed over the threshold by ¥2 trillion in funding for measures to lessen the shock of raising the consumption tax in October. The colossal sum is a testament to Abe’s desire to prevent the tax hike from putting the brakes on the economy by triggering a plunge in domestic demand, as happened after the previous increase in 2014. But it also means Japan makes little progress in shedding its unwelcome status of having the worst fiscal health among major industrialized countries. Abe has promised to achieve fiscal consolidation by bringing the primary balance — tax revenue minus expenses other than debt-servicing costs — into the black by the target year of fiscal 2025. Under the latest budget for the year beginning in April, the primary deficit is set to shrink from ¥10.4 trillion this fiscal year to ¥9.2 trillion. This will be made possible by tax revenue climbing to a record high for the first time since fiscal 1990, before the bursting of the asset bubble, lowering the government’s issuance of new bonds. But the government continues to rely on debt to fund about a third of the budget. By its own reckoning, without an improvement in cash flow it will run a primary deficit of at least ¥2.4 trillion in fiscal 2025, a figure that could fall further into the red after official growth estimates were downgraded this month. The ¥2 trillion tranche of the budget covers a slew of measures including free pre-elementary education, a rebate program for purchases made by cashless methods such as credit cards or smartphones, and spending on public works to improve resilience against natural disasters. “We’ve taken sufficient steps to overcome the economic impact of the consumption tax increase,” Finance Minister Taro Aso said on Friday. But skeptics say the measures have been orchestrated to win favor among voters for Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party ahead of Upper House and local elections next year. The Abe administration is “using the tax hike to purposely stoke fear among the public and acting as if it is coming to the rescue with these measures,” said Takahide Kiuchi, executive economist at the Nomura Research Institute and a former board member at the Bank of Japan. “Next year’s elections are clearly in consideration here.” The nation’s prospects for achieving fiscal health could worsen in fiscal 2020 given that the government has already announced plans to ramp up spending on public works and take additional steps to mitigate the impact of the tax increase. The hike was intended to increase tax revenue to help cover social security costs that are swelling along with the number of elderly in the country. But Kiuchi said that if future budgets continue to grow in a similar fashion to the fiscal 2019 budget, this could negate the increase in tax revenue. “What were initially meant to be one-off measures could be extended if the government deems it necessary, for example, to underpin the economy after the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. It could just keep giving reasons to increase spending.” With defense spending also climbing as Japan steps up purchases of state-of-the-art stealth fighters and seeks the deployment of aircraft carriers, fiscal consolidation increasingly seems to be lower on Abe’s agenda. This may be because with his final term as LDP chief, and therefore prime minister, set to end in 2021, the politically thorny task will fall on his successor. Social security costs took up more than a third of the total budget, a record-high ¥34.06 trillion, as a rapidly aging population pushed up spending on health care and pensions. Among the outlays, spending on public works projects including the disaster-proofing of infrastructure will come to ¥6.91 trillion, a 15.6 percent jump from the previous year. An additional ¥556.6 billion will be used for official development assistance in foreign countries. Along with the fiscal 2019 initial budget, the Abe administration plans to seek approval by the Diet for a second supplementary budget for fiscal 2018 worth ¥3.04 trillion. More than a third of the extra budget will also go toward disaster-proofing measures. The rest will be used for other miscellaneous purposes such as shoring up the agricultural sector in view of the entries into force of the 11-member Tokyo-led Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement on Dec. 30 and a trade pact with the European Union in February.
|
shinzo abe;defense;taxes;budget;disasters
|
jp0010423
|
[
"business",
"economy-business"
] |
2018/12/21
|
Cabinet Office report says Japan's economy remains on recovery track amid solid domestic demand
|
The economy remains on a recovery track amid increasing domestic demand, though risks including trade tensions warrant caution, the government has said. In the December edition of its monthly economic report, the Cabinet Office maintained its headline assessment that the economy “is recovering at a moderate pace” and retained its evaluations of key elements such as private consumption, business investment and exports. “Although a moderate pace of recovery is expected to continue, there are risk factors in foreign demand,” Toshimitsu Motegi, the minister in charge of economic and fiscal policy, said at a news conference, citing the trade dispute between the United States and China among other developments abroad. Motegi admitted that the nation’s economy shrank in the July-September quarter but he added that it was a one-time setback due to damage from torrential rain in western Japan, a major earthquake in Hokkaido and other natural disasters. From 2002 to 2008, when Japan posted its longest period of economic expansion in the postwar period, the annualized growth rate was 1.6 percent. The Cabinet Office estimates 1.2 percent growth during the recent period of overall positive growth that dates back 73 months. Private consumption, which accounts for more than half of the economy, is “picking up,” while spending by companies is “increasing” and expected to remain strong amid robust corporate profits, the Cabinet Office said. Exports are “almost flat” as a slowdown in demand for smartphones in Asia has caused a decline in orders for electronic components and manufacturing machinery. As in the previous month’s report, the office warned of the negative impact of the tariff war between the United States and China. “Attention should be given to the risks including the effects of situations over trade issues on the world economy, the uncertainty in overseas economies and the effects of fluctuations in the financial and capital markets,” it said.
|
economy;toshimitsu motegi
|
jp0010424
|
[
"business"
] |
2018/12/21
|
As social security, defense expenses continue to rise, Cabinet OKs record ¥101 trillion draft budget
|
The Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday approved a record-high ¥101.46 trillion draft budget for fiscal 2019, topping ¥100 trillion for the first time amid swelling social security and defense expenses, meaning Japan remains far from consolidating its battered fiscal health despite increasing tax revenue. The spending plan also includes funding for measures to bolster the economy against an upcoming consumption tax hike. The draft of the initial budget for the general account, which will be submitted to the Diet in January, consists of a record-high ¥77.95 trillion for policy spending and ¥23.51 trillion in debt-servicing costs. Among the policy spending, ¥2.03 trillion will go toward the “extraordinary measures” Abe had promised to underpin domestic demand after the consumption tax is raised from the current 8 percent to 10 percent next Oct. 1. More than half of that amount will be used to make infrastructure such as roads and river embankments more resilient and procure equipment for emergency services after the country was hit by a series of natural disasters this summer including a typhoon that flooded Osaka’s main airport and an earthquake that caused a massive power outage in Hokkaido. The measures also include a rebate program that aims to encourage consumers to shop at smaller businesses using credit cards and other cashless payment methods, as well as providing shopping vouchers for households with low incomes or small children and incentives to make home purchases. “I’m confident that these steps are sufficient to overcome the economic impact of the consumption tax increase,” Finance Minister Taro Aso told a news conference the same day. Social security costs took up more than a third of the total budget, a record-high ¥34.06 trillion, as a rapidly aging population pushed up spending on health care and pensions. The scheduled launch in October of free pre-elementary education also contributed. Defense spending will also hit a record high of ¥5.26 trillion, with significant outlays coming through preparations to introduce the land-based Aegis Ashore missile defense system and half a dozen F-35A stealth fighters. Based on the assumption that Japan’s economy will grow an inflation-adjusted 1.3 percent in the year ending in March 2020, tax revenue is expected to increase 5.8 percent from the previous year to ¥62.50 trillion, another record high. A steady rise in tax revenue has reduced the government’s dependence on public debt in recent years, with 32.2 percent of the budget to be funded by debt compared with 43.0 percent five years earlier. New bond issuances will decrease for the ninth straight year to ¥32.66 trillion. “With this budget, we’ve been able to balance supporting the economic recovery with fiscal consolidation,” Aso said. Still, Japan continues to have the poorest fiscal health among major industrialized economies, with public debt more than twice the size of gross domestic product. Among the outlays, spending on public works projects including the disaster-proofing of infrastructure will come to ¥6.91 trillion, a 15.6 percent jump from the previous year. An additional ¥556.6 billion will be used for official development assistance in foreign countries. The budget also sets aside ¥14.4 billion for activities related to the abdication of Emperor Akihito and the ascension of Crown Prince Naruhito to the throne in the spring. The ascension is to be commemorated with a series of ceremonies that will see dignitaries from around the world in attendance. Along with the fiscal 2019 initial budget, the Abe administration plans to seek approval by the Diet for a second supplementary budget for fiscal 2018 worth ¥3.04 trillion. More than a third of the extra budget will also go toward disaster-proofing measures. The rest will be used for other miscellaneous purposes such as shoring up Japan’s agricultural sector in view of the entries into force of the 11-member Japan-led Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement on Dec. 30 and an FTA with the European Union in February.
|
shinzo abe;defense;welfare;budget;consumption tax
|
jp0010425
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2018/12/21
|
Dollar falls below ¥111.30 in late Tokyo trading
|
The dollar was weaker below ¥111.30 in Tokyo trading late Friday, driven down by lower stock prices in Japan and the United States. At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥111.25, down from ¥111.85 at the same time Thursday. The euro was at $1.1469, up from $1.1414, and at ¥127.59, down from ¥127.69. “Market sentiment deteriorated after U.S. stocks slid on disappointment with the Federal Reserve’s indication of a continued interest rate increase,” an official of a major securities firm said. The dollar attracted buybacks after falling below ¥111 for the first time in over three months in overnight trading overseas. There was some relief that Japan’s benchmark Nikkei stock average did not fall below 20,000 in Friday’s trading, an official of a foreign exchange margin trading service firm said. The dollar was supported by buying after facing sales by short-term players to cut losses, but the buybacks waned shortly, the official said. An official of a major life insurer said that the dollar “may lose further ground” versus the yen as downward pressure on the U.S. currency remains strong.
|
yen;stocks;dollar;forex;currencies
|
jp0010426
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2018/12/21
|
Nikkei hits another 15-month low
|
Stocks continued to tumble on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Friday, with the benchmark Nikkei average marking a fresh 15-month closing low. Investor sentiment was hurt by a continued sharp fall in U.S. equities on Thursday and the yen’s strengthening against the dollar, market sources said. The 225-issue Nikkei touched a low of 20,006.67 before closing 226.39 points, or 1.11 percent, lower at 20,166.19, a level unseen since Sept. 15, 2017. On Thursday, the index fell 595.34 points. The Topix index of all first-section issues was down 28.97 points, or 1.91 percent, at 1,488.19, its worst finish since April 20, 2017. It fell 38.99 points on Thursday. A sluggish performance of Chinese stocks was another factor behind Friday’s tumble, an official of an asset management firm said. Foreign investors sold stocks before the Christmas break, an official of a bank-linked securities firm said, noting that Friday was effectively the last trading day of the year for them. Market participants “closed their positions ahead of the three-day holiday” in Japan, said Yutaka Miura, senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities Co. The Tokyo market will be closed on Monday for a national holiday. But buybacks supported the market’s downside, preventing the Nikkei from falling below 20,000, Miura said. Losers overwhelmed winners 1,886 to 225 on the TSE’s first section, while 19 issues were unchanged. Volume grew to 2.07 billion shares from Thursday’s 1.82 billion shares. The stronger yen battered automakers Toyota, Mazda and Suzuki. FamilyMart Uny ended 6.31 percent lower after the convenience store chain’s failure to accumulate a target amount of shares in discount store operator Don Quijote in a takeover bid, brokers said. Other major losers included Sony as well as cosmetics maker Shiseido. By contrast, Coca-Cola Bottlers Japan shot up 9.83 percent on a news report that the company will raise product prices as early as April next year. Also on the plus side were semiconductor manufacturing equipment maker Tokyo Electron and air conditioner producer Daikin. In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the key March contract on the Nikkei average fell 160 points to 20,050.
|
stocks;nikkei;tse;topix
|
jp0010427
|
[
"world"
] |
2018/12/21
|
London's Gatwick Airport shutdown highlights the havoc drones can cause
|
LONDON/WASHINGTON - The disruption of hundreds of flights at London’s Gatwick Airport after it was buzzed by miniature drones shows just how easy it can be to disrupt advanced aviation networks with simple, inexpensive devices. Airports have been raided by drones before. Dubai International was briefly closed in 2016, and the main hub in Wellington, New Zealand, was shuttered for 30 minutes this year when a mystery craft was spotted close to the runway. But as thousands of travelers at Britain’s second-busiest airport try desperately to salvage their holiday plans, the incident reveals how tough it is for authorities to combat the problem created by this game-changing form of aviation technology. Gatwick was still closed Thursday evening, about a full day after the drone sightings first shut down commercial flights. While airfield operators around the world have been girding for more drone disruptions and safety issues, the length and severity of the chaos at Gatwick is a stunning eye-opener, said Christopher Oswald, vice president for safety and regulatory affairs at the Airports Council International, a trade group in North America. “It just represents all of these very thorny challenges, which Gatwick does really bring into very stark relief,” he said. The law already is clear in most jurisdictions and penalties for violation can be severe. In the U.K., drones aren’t allowed to fly within 1 km (0.6 mile) of airports and can’t climb above 400 feet (122 meters), to avoid conflict with flight paths. Aviation Minister Liz Sugg said the operators of the Gatwick craft could face five-year jail terms if caught. That’s a big “if.” Modern airports rival the size of some cities, making their perimeters almost impossible to permanently police. And surrounding buildings offer almost limitless opportunities for drone operators to hide while maintaining line-of-site control of their troublesome devices. The latest drone technology adds a new dimension. Relatively affordable unmanned devices can be flown miles away from an operator using remote video that shows the equivalent of a plane’s cockpit view. Neutralizing threat British police said the Gatwick incursions were clearly deliberate, as the drones variously appeared, vanished and then emerged again from Wednesday night through most of Thursday. That could shift attention from how best to regulate drone flights to practical ways of neutralizing the threat and finding scofflaws. U.S. law enforcement and homeland security agencies are drafting standards that would require all but the tiniest drones to broadcast their identity and position so authorities could identify operators who have crossed the line. The FBI and other agencies blocked aviation regulators from moving ahead two years ago with rules allowing more unmanned flights over crowds until authorities could move ahead to address security concerns. Another mechanism that may help is “geofencing.” Drone makers including China’s DZ DJI Technology Inc. use built-in GPS to alert a pilot who is about to fly into restricted skies, such as around airports and prisons. But such systems have vulnerabilities, according to researchers. And they raise even more vexing legal and political issues. Tracking technology works for lawful operators who blunder into the wrong place, but criminals may subvert such efforts. Similarly, GPS limitations won’t stop deliberate attempts to interfere with flights. Illegal technology The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration last year advised airports not to experiment with the growing number of anti-drone products because the agency hadn’t had a chance to vet them. And solutions such as jamming radio signals could create safety problems by interfering with existing aviation radio systems. Some technologies are illegal. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission prohibits broadcasting on frequencies used by other devices, and there are questions about whether tracking a drone’s radio signal could be considered prohibited wiretapping. “There won’t be a silver bullet,” said Randy Villahermosa, executive director of innovation at Aerospace Corp., a federally funded research organization in the U.S. “It will be a constant cat-and-mouse game. You’ll always have to think in layers of defense in order to ensure that you have some effective means of countering the threat.” Unlike the aviation safety and security issues of the past, addressing errant drones is more like battling hacking, said Villahermosa, whose organization has tested anti-drone technology. Falcons, nets There are many remedies — and proposals get pretty creative. Dutch police in 2016 proposed using trained raptors to take out rogue devices, a variation on employing hawks to scare birds from runways. A study funded by the U.S. Air Force and conducted by researchers at the University of Oxford suggested using peregrine falcons, which in their natural element kill their quarry by colliding with them. Colorado-based Liteye Systems Inc. has developed a system that uses radio signals to halt a drone and force it to land, while Australia-based DroneShield Ltd. is developing a device resembling a traditional ballistic weapon. Police in Japan have experimented with snagging target objects in flight using a net deployed from an even larger drone. Meanwhile, people concerned that drones are invading their private space have developed countermeasures using open-source hardware to jam drone flight capabilities.
|
drones;airports;gatwick;london
|
jp0010428
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"science-health-asia-pacific"
] |
2018/12/21
|
Australia admits it will miss climate targets by a wide margin
|
SYDNEY - Australia on Friday admitted it is off track to meet the 2030 emissions targets agreed under the Paris climate accord. The Department of the Environment said the country is on course to meet the more modest 2020 targets, but will struggle to reduce emissions by 26 to 28 percent by the end of the following decade. Australia was the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas last month and is one of the world’s top coal producers. The conservative government of Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been tepid in its drive to tackle climate change and has prioritized the economy over reduction targets. He has claimed that investments in renewables mean Australia will meet the targets “at a canter.” Although emissions forecasts have improved slightly, the government admits it is still a long way from the desired trajectory. Australia estimates it would need to cut the equivalent of 695 to 762 megatons of carbon dioxide between 2021 and 2030. At the moment, it is forecast to miss that target by almost 20 percent. “The Morrison Government has no policies to address Australia’s climate pollution problem,” said the Australian Conservation Foundation in a statement. As part of the Paris Agreement in 2015, countries agreed to limit global temperature rises to below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit).
|
australia;emissions;climate change
|
jp0010429
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"science-health-asia-pacific"
] |
2018/12/21
|
Rare albino orangutan Alba is returned to jungle in Indonesia
|
BUKIT BAKA BUKIT RAYA, INDONESIA - The world’s only known albino orangutan climbed trees, foraged for food and began building a nest after being released into a remote Borneo jungle more than a year after conservation officials found her starving and dehydrated in an Indonesian village. The Borneo Orangutan Survival foundation says the great ape, called Alba after thousands worldwide responded to an appeal for a name, has tripled in weight since being rescued in April last year. Her name means “white” in Latin and “dawn” in Spanish. Alba and another rehabilitated orangutan, Kika, were released inside Bukit Baka Bukit Raya National Park on Wednesday after a more than 24-hour journey from their rehabilitation center by vehicle, boat and hiking. The foundation originally planned to create a 5-hectare (12-acre) “forest island” for Alba rather than release her into truly natural habitat because she has health issues related to her albinism, including poor sight and hearing and the possibility of skin cancer. But the government’s Natural Resources Conservation Agency and other agencies decided it was appropriate to release Alba into the wild because of her strong physical condition and intrinsically wild behavior. She will be electronically tracked and regularly monitored by a medical team. “Alba has no inferiority complex as we imagined before. She is very confident compared to other orangutans,” said veterinarian Agus Fathoni. “I think the real threat actually comes from humans. What we’re worried about is poaching where this very special condition makes her a target,” he said. Patrols of Alba’s new home by national park and conservation agency staff will aim to deter poachers, though they admit the number of personnel is limited. “We don’t have enough to cover all the area of the national park but we’re confident of covering all the patrol lines that we have set,” said national park official Wirasadi Nursubhi Orangutans, reddish-brown primates known for their gentle temperament and intelligence, are critically endangered and only found in the wild on the Indonesian island of Sumatra and on Borneo, which is divided among Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. The International Union for Conservation of Nature, which declared Borneo’s orangutans critically endangered in 2016, says their numbers have dropped by nearly two-thirds since the early 1970s as plantation agriculture destroyed and fragmented their forest habitat. The Sumatran orangutan is a separate species and has been critically endangered since 2008. Alba, approximately 5 years old, was given final medical tests and anesthetized for the journey to Bukit Baka Bukit Raya. Workers shouted, “Alba’s going home!” as her cage was lifted onto a truck at the Nyaru Menteng Rehabilitation Center in Central Kalimantan province on Borneo. “It’s true this is a big gamble but we hope that with our collaboration we will win the big bet we have made today” said the orangutan foundation’s chief executive Jamartin Sihite after releasing Alba from her cage.
|
nature;indonesia;animals;orangutans;alba
|
jp0010431
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/12/21
|
Man sentenced to four years for abducting nurse who was later found dead
|
A court sentenced a 28-year-old man to four years in prison Thursday for abducting and confining a nurse who was later found dead in central Japan. The Hamamatsu branch of the Shizuoka District Court ruled that Motoki Ito, in conspiracy with two other men he became acquainted with online, abducted Mayuko Uchiyama, 29, at a parking lot outside a fitness gym in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, on May 26 and kept her confined until early morning the next day. Uchiyama’s body was found buried in a mountainous area in the Shizuoka city of Fujieda on June 9. Neither Ito nor Mitsuru Suzuki, one of the two accomplices, was acquainted with the victim. The third man, a 39-year-old from Niigata Prefecture who committed suicide in June, is suspected of being the main culprit, but his death made it difficult to shed light on the motive for the attack on the nurse and other details of the case. “It was an indiscriminate crime targeting a woman who had no association with the defendant, and it created great anxiety in society,” said presiding Judge Naoyuki Yamada in handing down the ruling. “The physical and psychological pain the victim suffered was extremely serious. The defendant played a crucial role of driving the car, and there is no room for leniency in his motive to gain money,” Yamada said. Ito became acquainted with Suzuki, 43, from Nagoya and the third man through a post on an internet message board about “profitable” work, and they met in person for the first time on the day of the attack. The accused forced his way into Uchiyama’s car and mainly drove the vehicle, according to the ruling. Ito said during his trial that the third man was making phone calls, saying he needed to talk to his “client,” indicating there may have been others involved in the case. He also told the court he thought the abduction was aimed at taking money from Uchiyama. Prosecutors had sought a seven-year jail term for Ito, but the court judged it was too heavy when compared with punishments for similar cases and gave Ito a shorter term, saying he “willingly confessed to the crime and has shown remorse.” Ito was arrested on June 8 on suspicion of illegally confining Uchiyama, while he was being questioned by Tokyo police over a separate case. Suzuki, who was arrested on June 11 over the case, is on trial on charges including the disposal of Uchiyama’s body. Ito and Suzuki had been served arrest warrants for murder as well, but the charge was later dropped.
|
abduction;hamamatsu;shizuoka;mayuko uchiyama
|
jp0010433
|
[
"national",
"politics-diplomacy"
] |
2018/12/21
|
With eye on China, Japan unveils record defense budget
|
The defense budget will swell to a record ¥5.26 trillion for the 2019 fiscal year, the government said Friday, as Tokyo looks to beef up its missile defense and deploy stealth jets in a bid to counter China. The defense spending was part of a ¥101.46 trillion national budget for the fiscal year starting in April that was approved by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Cabinet. The ¥5.26 trillion budget for defense marks a record for the fifth year in a row and covers the cost of introducing the U.S. military’s Aegis Ashore land-based missile interceptor system, Defense Ministry officials said. The fiscal 2019 allocation covers six F-35A stealth jets, and part of it will be spent on the nation’s first aircraft carriers since World War II. The government will spend ¥70 million to research the plan to upgrade and enable its two Izumo-class flat-top helicopter carriers to transport and launch fighter jets. The budget is the initial allocation of a new five-year defense plan, announced on Tuesday as the latest in a series of steps under Abe to boost the nation’s military. Abe’s government argues the efforts are necessary given growing defense challenges in the region, including tensions with North Korea, and particularly “strong concerns” about the expansion of China’s military footprint. “Japan’s growing defense budget is directly aimed to counter China’s military threat,” said Akira Kato, professor of international politics and regional security at Tokyo’s J.F. Oberlin University. But the move is controversial, with critics arguing it shifts Tokyo further away from its commitment to strictly defensive capabilities under the pacifist Constitution. Beijing immediately expressed its “strong dissatisfaction and opposition” to the program unveiled on Tuesday, urging Tokyo “to adhere to a purely defensive policy”. Last year, China unveiled its first domestically built aircraft carrier as it continues to assert claims in the South China Sea. Its only other carrier, the Liaoning that was commissioned in 2012, is a second-hand Soviet ship built nearly 30 years ago. Japan’s defense program announcement comes after pledges to buy more U.S. military equipment following pressure from President Donald Trump. Under the draft budget, the government earmarked ¥68.1 billion to purchase six U.S. F-35A stealth fighters. The Defense Ministry initially estimated the cost at ¥91.6 billion but reduced it by deciding to import finished products, rather than assembling parts in Japan. Trump has repeatedly complained about Washington’s huge trade deficit with Tokyo and also urged Abe to expand the country’s defensive capacity. For his part, Abe has campaigned for years to amend the Constitution, arguing that it ties the hands of the country’s Self-Defense Forces even in protecting the country’s allies from attack. Expenditures for the realignment of U.S. Forces Japan decreased 22.3 percent to ¥167.9 billion, including an outlay of ¥61.1 billion to proceed with the plan to relocate U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa Prefecture.
|
china;shinzo abe;defense;security;budget
|
jp0010434
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/12/21
|
Costs for key Daijosai Imperial ceremony to total ¥2.7 billion
|
The Imperial Household Agency said Friday expenses for Daijosai, a key ceremony that will be carried out by Crown Prince Naruhito next year after his accession to the throne, will total ¥2.72 billion, up a nominal ¥470 million from the previous rite held in 1990. The agency plans to scale down the Daijokyu complex to be used for the ceremony in a bid to reduce spending, but steep growth in personnel and materials costs will push up the total outlays. The government set aside ¥1.87 billion in spending for Daijosai in its draft budget for fiscal 2019, which starts April 1. During Daijosai, regarded as the most important enthronement ceremony conducted by a new emperor, prayers are offered for the well-being of the people and a good harvest. The coming ceremony, scheduled for Nov. 14 and 15 next year, will be held after the Crown Prince assumes the throne on May 1 that year following the abdication of his father, Emperor Akihito, the day before. Expenses for the construction of the Daijokyu complex, including costs for dismantlement, will stand at ¥1.91 billion, up 31 percent from the 1990 ceremony. The rise reflects the consumption tax hike from 3 percent to an expected 10 percent by next October, as well as a hefty increase of 30 to 80 percent in personnel costs. The agency estimated that Daijokyu construction would cost some ¥2.5 billion if the complex is built to the same size and uses the same materials as in the previous ceremony. It curtailed related expenses by about ¥600 million through a cut of more than 20 percent in the size of the complex and by using different materials for the roofs of the main three structures. Costs for Daikyo no Gi (official banquets) to be held after Daijosai will total ¥258 million, down from ¥347 million in 1990. There will be two grand banquets, down from three, while the number of invited guests will be reduced from some 900 to 700. Total outlays related to Imperial succession ceremonies will stand at ¥3.78 billion, up 42 percent from the ¥2.66 billion it cost in 1990. The agency’s draft budget for fiscal 2019 increased 12.8 percent from the previous year to ¥24.06 billion.
|
budget;emperor akihito;abdication;daijosai;emperor naruhito
|
jp0010435
|
[
"business"
] |
2018/12/07
|
U.S. probe of China's Huawei includes bank fraud accusations linked to Iran sanctions-busting, sources say
|
WASHINGTON - Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.’s chief financial officer was arrested as part of a U.S. investigation into an alleged scheme to use the global banking system to evade U.S. sanctions against Iran, according to people familiar with the probe. The United States has been looking since at least 2016 into whether Huawei shipped U.S.-origin products to Iran and other countries in violation of U.S. export and sanctions laws, Reuters reported in April. More recently, the probe has included whether the company used HSBC Holdings Plc to conduct illegal transactions involving Iran, the people said. Companies are barred from using the U.S. financial system to funnel goods and services to sanctioned entities. If the mobile phone and telecoms equipment maker conducted such transactions and then misled HSBC about their true nature, it could be guilty of bank fraud, experts say. Huawei declined to comment, but said in a statement after the arrest that it complies with all applicable export control and sanctions laws and other regulations. An HSBC spokesperson declined to comment. HSBC is not under investigation, according to a person familiar with the matter. A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn, which is the office investigating Huawei, also declined to comment. In 2012 HSBC paid $1.92 billion and entered a deferred prosecution agreement with the same U.S. prosecutor’s office for violating U.S. sanctions and money-laundering laws. As part of that deal, HSBC was required to be monitored for five years to review its efforts to prevent money laundering and sanctions violations. HSBC’s U.S.-listed shares fell as much as 6 percent on Thursday after Reuters reported the bank’s link to the Huawei case. They ended down 3.6 percent. Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, daughter of Huawei’s founder, Ren Zhengfei, was arrested in Canada on Dec. 1. She will appear in court on Friday and faces extradition to the United States. The news broke on Wednesday, roiling global stock markets over fears the move could escalate the Sino-U.S. trade dispute. Huawei said it has been provided little information on the charges and that it was “not aware of any wrongdoing by Ms. Meng.” The probe of Huawei is similar to one that threatened the survival of China’s ZTE Corp., which pleaded guilty in 2017 to violating U.S. laws that restrict the sale of American-made technology to Iran. ZTE paid a $892 million penalty. Earlier this year, the United States said ZTE made false statements about disciplining some executives responsible for the violations and banned U.S. firms from selling parts and software to the company. After ceasing major operations as a result, ZTE paid another $1 billion as part of a deal to get the ban lifted. In an incident similar to Meng’s case, ZTE’s chief financial officer was stopped at Boston’s Logan Airport during the U.S. investigation of that company, according to sources familiar with the case. U.S. authorities seized a laptop that contained a “treasure trove” of evidence concerning ZTE’s illegal business in Iran, one of the sources said. In 2016, the Commerce Department made documents public that showed ZTE’s misconduct and also revealed how a second company, identified only as F7, had successfully evaded U.S. export controls. In a 2016 letter to the Commerce Department, 10 U.S. lawmakers said F7 was believed to be Huawei, citing media reports. In April 2017, lawmakers sent another letter to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross asking for F7 to be publicly identified and fully investigated. U.S. authorities also subpoenaed Huawei in 2016 seeking information related to possible export and sanctions violations, sources have said. In January 2013, Reuters reported that Hong Kong-based Skycom Tech Co. Ltd., which attempted to sell embargoed Hewlett-Packard computer equipment to Iran’s largest mobile-phone operator, had much closer ties to Huawei than previously known. Meng, who also has used the English names Cathy and Sabrina, served on the board of Skycom between February 2008 and April 2009, according to Skycom records. Several other past and present Skycom directors also appear to have connections to Huawei.
|
china;trade;canada;iran;espionage;sanctions;xi jinping;huawei;donald trump;meng wanzhou
|
jp0010436
|
[
"business"
] |
2018/12/07
|
Huawei arrest another sign of Trump administration's disjointed diplomacy
|
WASHINGTON - When Donald Trump flew back from a summit with China in Buenos Aires, he hailed it as “amazing” and raised hopes of a breakthrough on ending a trade war. That same day, Canada was arresting a top Chinese executive on a U.S. request, enraging Beijing and at the very least souring the mood as the world’s two largest economies open trade negotiations. The detention of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou marks the latest case of incongruous diplomacy for this most untraditional of U.S. presidents, who has vowed dramatic detentes only to find out that his own administration is pressing ahead with moves that will anger the same nations. On Russia, Trump took office speaking glowingly of President Vladimir Putin and promising to patch up relations. But Russia — which, according to U.S. intelligence, intervened to sway the 2016 election — has voiced frustration as the United States keeps imposing sanctions over actions including Moscow’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and the attempted poisoning of a Russian double agent in Britain. Trump, who early in his term boasted of befriending Chinese President Xi Jinping, in recent months piled tariffs on Beijing as he pressed the rising Asian power on trade practices including its alleged theft of U.S. technology. At the dinner summit in Buenos Aires, where Trump and Xi were taking part in a Group of 20 meeting, the United States agreed to hold off on raising tariffs on another $200 billion worth of Chinese goods for 90 days as the two sides negotiate. Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat who has often criticized Trump, said he shared concerns about alleged espionage by Chinese companies but called the administration’s approach disjointed. “This is a textbook case of how one part of this administration doesn’t seem to be on the same wavelength — or even not connect — with each other,” Wyden said. “Because there is no question now that the gap seems to be widening between the president’s national security advisers and the president,” he said. National security adviser John Bolton declined to say whether Trump was aware of the arrest plans when he and his top aides sat down with Xi in Argentina. But Bolton told National Public Radio that he himself was aware through the Justice Department of the operation in Vancouver, where Meng — the daughter of Huawei’s founder Ren Zhengfei, a former engineer in China’s military — was changing planes. U.S. officials have stayed tight-lipped on the arrest, mindful that statements could endanger prosecution. But Sen. Ben Sasse said Meng was arrested over alleged Huawei activities in Iran, which the Trump administration has hit with sweeping sanctions. There was at least one report that the arrest may not just be spectacularly bad timing. CNN, quoting an unnamed source, said the Trump administration could see Meng’s arrest as leverage in the negotiations, but White House trade adviser Peter Navarro told the channel that “the two issues are totally separate.” And U.S. authorities would still need to present a legal case for any charges against Meng. She faces an extradition hearing Friday in Canada. The arrest of such a prominent executive has quickly touched a patriotic nerve in China, where commentators say the United States is trying to keep down Huawei, which has made rapid inroads in the developing world with smartphones that are significantly more affordable than Apple’s iPhones. Eurasia Group analysts in a note to investors expected China to voice anger but still to send a trade delegation to Washington to kick off talks. But they said that U.S. actions, including future steps under consideration, such as declaring China in violation of an accord against cybertheft, cast doubt on whether negotiations would succeed. The arrest “suggests that the gloves are now fully off in this arena, and U.S. law enforcement officials have a green light from senior administration officials to pursue individuals the U.S. may not have gone after in a more benign bilateral political climate,” they wrote. Shaun Rein, managing director of the Shanghai-based strategic market intelligence firm CMR, warned in an essay that U.S. tech executives should worry about tit-for-tat arrests if visiting China. If the United States is basing its action over Huawei’s involvement in Iran, China could for example make arrests citing operations in Taiwan, the self-governing island that Beijing considers a province awaiting reunification, Rein said. “If you think anything was solved last week at the G20 meeting between Trump and Xi, I have some swampland to sell you.”
|
china;trade;canada;iran;espionage;sanctions;xi jinping;huawei;donald trump;meng wanzhou
|
jp0010439
|
[
"business",
"tech"
] |
2018/12/07
|
Japan to exclude Huawei and ZTE from public procurement: source
|
Japan plans to effectively exclude Chinese telecommunication equipment-makers Huawei Technologies Co. and ZTE Corp. from public procurement, a government source said Friday, amid concerns about security breaches that have already led the United States and some countries to ban them from supplying infrastructure products. Cybersecurity officials of relevant government agencies will likely agree in a meeting as early as Monday to block the Chinese firms from taking part in government procurement without explicitly naming the two companies in consideration of the potential impact on Tokyo’s relations with Beijing, which have shown signs of improvement, the source said. The officials are expected only to confirm that public procurement contracts should take into account security aspects, the source added. While declining to comment on the details of government procurement policies, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference, “Ensuring the cybersecurity of government agencies has become increasingly important. We will deal with the matter from various perspectives.” Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya also pledged efforts to ensure security. According to a Defense Ministry official, the ministry does not use products from Huawei or ZTE in the key components of its information systems. The move by the government comes after the United States, Japan’s key ally, enacted the National Defense Authorization Act in August that bans the government’s use of Huawei and ZTE technology products and services out of concern over their connections with Chinese intelligence. Australia has also excluded both companies from its next-generation mobile network. “There have been global concerns about the two companies’ ties with the Chinese government. But we need to make sure that we will not stop the recent trend of improvement in Japan-China ties,” a Japanese government source said. Canadian authorities arrested Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei and the daughter of its founder, on Saturday in Vancouver at the request of U.S. authorities, the country’s Justice Department said Wednesday.
|
scandals;huawei;zte
|
jp0010440
|
[
"business",
"tech"
] |
2018/12/07
|
Ericsson boss apologizes for 'faulty software' behind huge SoftBank service disruption
|
Swedish communications giant Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson said a problem with its software caused Thursday’s massive telecommunication disruption that affected SoftBank users across Japan. People were unable to make emergency calls to report a fire or request an ambulance as the phone and data connection trouble that hit SoftBank Group Corp.’s mobile unit lasted for more than four hours, from 1:39 p.m. to 6:04 p.m. Thursday. Ericsson President and CEO Borje Ekholm said in a statement, “The faulty software that has caused these issues is being decommissioned and we apologize not only to our customers but also to their customers.” According to SoftBank, the country’s third-largest carrier by user base, the disruption affected network operators in 11 countries using Ericsson’s communications system. Services were restored after it switched to an older version of the software. The problem came less than two weeks before the telecommunication giant’s mobile unit, SoftBank Corp. is scheduled to be listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in what could be the biggest-ever initial public offering in Japan. The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry is planning to demand SoftBank report the details of the service disruption, which could fall under “a serious incident” stipulated in the law on telecommunications business. Communications minister Masatoshi Ishida said Friday his ministry may give direction or guidance to SoftBank over the matter. SoftBank said the network outage was caused by Ericsson-made software errors linked to packet-switching machines across Japan. After restoration of service, some users continued to experience unstable connections for several hours, according to the company. The disruption also affected SoftBank’s landline phone and Wi-Fi users as well as customers with the group’s discount Y!mobile brand. Including Y!mobile, SoftBank had a total of 40 million contracts as of late September. Users of Line Mobile and Mineo, which utilize SoftBank’s network capacity, also experienced connection troubles, and drivers of parcel company Sagawa Express Co. were unable to receive delivery information through their communication devices. The incident prompted the Tokyo Fire Department to issue an alert via its website. Given the system glitch, SoftBank and its bankers held emergency conference calls with institutional investors Friday to address any concerns they might have after the carrier’s mobile service went down days before the ¥2.65 trillion ($23.5 billion) initial public offering. Three conference calls were hosted at separate times and regions by Nomura Holdings Inc., Mizuho Financial Group Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., according to a document obtained by Bloomberg. Representatives for SoftBank and the three banks declined to comment.
|
softbank;phones;ericsson
|
jp0010441
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2018/12/07
|
Dollar weaker below ¥112.80 in late Tokyo trading
|
The dollar was weaker below ¥112.80 in late Tokyo trading on Friday, amid a wait-and-see mood prior to the announcement of U.S. jobs data for November later in the day. At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥112.78, down from ¥113.10 at the same time on Thursday. The euro was at $1.1372, up from $1.1322, and at ¥128.25, up from ¥128.06. In early trading, the dollar moved in a narrow range around ¥112.70 while concerns remained over a deterioration in U.S.-China ties following the recent arrest of an executive of Chinese telecommunications equipment giant Huawei Technologies Co. by Canadian authorities, apparently at the request of the United States, on suspicion of violating U.S. sanctions on Iran. After moving aimlessly later in the morning, the greenback firmed to around ¥112.90 in afternoon trading, backed by a solid performance of the benchmark 225-issue Nikkei average on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. A currency broker said a risk-averse mood prompted by worries about U.S.-China tensions “came to a pause” thanks to the firmness of Japanese stock prices. But the U.S. currency fell back below ¥112.80 in late trading. Investors increasingly retreated to the sidelines, waiting to confirm the outcome of the jobs data from the U.S. Labor Department, an official of a foreign exchange margin trading service firm said.
|
yen;euro;dollar;forex;currencies
|
jp0010442
|
[
"business",
"financial-markets"
] |
2018/12/07
|
Tokyo stocks rebound on buying on dips
|
Stocks rebounded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Friday, supported by purchases after the previous day’s plunge. The 225-issue Nikkei average rose 177.06 points, or 0.82 percent, to end at 21,678.68. It tumbled 417.71 points on Thursday. The Topix index of all first-section issues finished up 9.85 points, or 0.61 percent, at 1,620.45, after losing 28.89 points the previous day. Both indexes finished higher for the first time in four days. The Nikkei soared more than 230 points soon after the opening. The index lost most of the gain later in the morning as the initial buying ran its course. In afternoon trading, stocks attracted renewed purchases in line with the yen’s drop against the dollar, market sources said. Friday’s rebound resulted partly from futures-led buying prompted by the yen’s weakening and relatively solid performances of other Asian markets, an official of a bank-linked securities firm indicated. Ryuta Otsuka, strategist at the investment information department of Toyo Securities Co., pointed to the possibility that the Bank of Japan stepped in to buy exchange-traded funds in the afternoon. Meanwhile, some brokers said that the market’s topside remained capped by rekindled concerns over U.S.-China trade friction following the recent arrest of Meng Wanzhou, deputy chair and chief financial officer of major Chinese telecommunications equipment-maker Huawei Technologies Co., by Canadian authorities apparently at the request of the United States for her suspected violation of U.S. sanctions on Iran. Thursday’s tumble of the Tokyo market was blamed on media reports on the arrest. Investors “found it difficult to build positions” during Friday’s trading prior to the announcement of U.S. jobs data for November later in the day, the bank-linked brokerage official said. Falling issues slightly outnumbered rising ones 1,028 to 1,016 on the TSE’s first section, while 78 issues were unchanged. Volume dropped to 1.37 billion shares from Thursday’s 1.51 billion shares. Drugmaker Eisai closed 2.04 percent higher after tumbling the previous day. Round One rose for the first time in five days. The amusement facility operator said Thursday that its like-for-like sales in November dropped 1.7 percent from a year before. But investors believe that the sales would have effectively been up by about 1 percent, considering the fact that the reporting month had a total of nine Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, compared with 10 in November 2017, brokers said. Other major winners included retailer FamilyMart Uny and clothing shop operator Fast Retailing. Meanwhile, lower crude oil prices battered oil wholesalers JXTG, Idemitsu and Inpex. Also on the minus side were chipmaking equipment-maker Tokyo Electron and industrial robot producer Fanuc. In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the key December contract on the Nikkei average advanced 170 points to 21,620.
|
stocks;nikkei;tse;markets;topix
|
jp0010443
|
[
"world",
"offbeat-world"
] |
2018/12/07
|
Enter the Bull: Fighters mix kung fu with bullfighting in China
|
JIAXING, CHINA - Several times a week, kung fu teacher Ren Ruzhi enters a ring to spar with a bovine opponent around five times his weight and capable of killing him. Ren’s mixing of martial arts and bullfighting worries his mother, but the 24-year-old has never been hurt. Besides, he says, grappling with a snorting bull is exciting. “It symbolizes the bravery of a man,” said Ren in an interview in Jiaxing in China’s Zhejiang province. Unlike Spain’s more famous sport, the Chinese variant of bullfighting involves no swords or gore but instead fuses the moves of wrestling with the skill and speed of kung fu to bring down beasts weighing up to 400 kg (880 pounds). “Spanish bullfighting is more like a performance or a show,” said Hua Yang, a 41-year-old enthusiast who watched a bullfight during a visit to Spain. “This (the Chinese variety) is truly a contest pitting a human’s strength against a bull. There are a lot of skills involved, and it can be dangerous.” Bullfighter Ren Ruzhi poses at the bull stable of the Haihua Kung Fu School in Jiaxing, China, on Oct. 27. | REUTERS The physically demanding sport requires fighters to train intensively and they typically have short careers, said Han Haihua, a former pro wrestler who coaches bullfighters at his Haihua Kung Fu School in Jiaxing. Han calls the bullfighting style he teaches “the explosive power of hard qigong ,” saying it combines the skill and speed of martial arts with traditional wrestling techniques. Typically, a fighter approaches the bull head on, grabs its horns and twists, turning its head until the bull topples over. Martial artist Li Bo, 22, wrestles with a bull during a Chinese bullfighting performance in Jiaxing, China, on Oct. 27. | REUTERS “What do I mean by explosive power?” Han asked. “In a flash! Pow! Concentrate all your power on one point. All of a sudden, in a flash, wrestle it to the ground.” If the first fighter gets tired, another one can step into the ring, but they have just three minutes in which to wrestle the bull to the ground or lose the bout. The bulls, too, are trained before entering the ring, Han said, and learn how to spread their legs or find a corner to brace against being taken down. “A bull can also think like a human — they are smart,” Han added. Although he says his bulls get better treatment than the animals involved in the Spanish sport, animal rights activists believe Chinese bullfighting is still painful for the animals and is cruel as a form of entertainment. “In Chinese bullfighting, we cannot deny the bulls experience pain,” said Layli Li, a spokeswoman for the animal welfare group PETA. “As long as it exists, that means there is suffering.”
|
china;martial arts;bullfighting
|
jp0010444
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"social-issues-asia-pacific"
] |
2018/12/07
|
Thousands of Myanmar women forced into marriage in China: study
|
BANGKOK - Thousands of vulnerable women and girls from northern Myanmar are being trafficked to China and forced to marry, a study said Friday, offering a rare look at an issue that grips the conflict-hit borderlands. China has around 33 million fewer women than men due to the decades-long one-child policy. To plug the gap, tens of thousands of poor women from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam are sold as brides each year. Some go willingly, while others are tricked or trafficked. In the first research of its kind, a report by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health estimated 7,500 women from war-torn Kachin and northern Shan states have fallen victim to forced marriage in China. Based on interviews with scores of people who escaped and returned to Myanmar, and others still inside China, the study found that the majority of those trafficked were also forced to carry a child for their husband. Women leave Myanmar because of “conflict, displacement and poverty” said report author W. Courtland Robinson, while “the male-female sex imbalance in China, especially in rural areas” means demand for a wife is high. One woman told researchers that she was trafficked into China three times, and each time “pushed into giving birth,” said Moon Nay Li of Kachin Women’s Association Thailand, who led the field research in Kachin and Shan states. “Because of political instability, conflict and land confiscation … security for women is a big challenge,” she said. Marriages are often arranged and brokered by the women’s own families and village elders, with brides-to-be unable to refuse as they are at the bottom of the social hierarchy. The youngest women command higher prices of up to $10,000 to $15,000. Their matches in China are typically to older, sick, or disabled men in rural areas — people considered undesirable to the Han Chinese — while the women’s lack of documentation plunges them into a legal limbo. The study found that women were often “hired” to bear children for their husbands and then forced out or sold on to new husbands to recoup money. Some women have successful marriages and the issue of consent is complex and varies case by case, Robinson said. But all unions should be entered into without “threat, menace or penalty,” he added. Often daughters “can’t say no to their parents,” said Moon Nay Li, and feel compelled to go ahead with the marriage once “traffickers and agents have given money to their parents.” Researchers called for Myanmar to end the conflict in Kachin and Shan states, which has displaced tens of thousands of women, and to train anti-trafficking officials to enforce the law and recognise the women as victims.
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china;myanmar;women;human trafficking
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jp0010445
|
[
"national",
"science-health"
] |
2018/12/07
|
Nobel winner Tasuku Honjo sees bigger role for immunotherapy in battling cancer
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STOCKHOLM - Japanese scientist Tasuku Honjo, who jointly won this year’s Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for his research on the immune system that contributed to cancer treatments, said Thursday that he believes most cancers will become treatable with immune therapy by 2050. The 76-year-old professor and deputy director-general at the Kyoto University Institute for Advanced Study spoke at a news conference at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, joined by American scientist James Allison, who shared the prize. The discovery by Honjo and Allison — on methods to inhibit negative immune regulation — established a new principle for cancer treatment that stimulates the inherent ability of the human immune system to unleash attacks on tumor cells, according to the Nobel Assembly. Honjo said it may become possible to contain the growth of most cancer cells through such treatment, even if cancer cannot be completely eliminated, as he discussed the effectiveness of combination therapy using drugs in the development of which he and Allison were involved. The Kyoto native and his team discovered PD-1, a protein on immune cells that operates as a brake on the immune system. The discovery led to the development of Opdivo, a drug which enhances the immune system in fighting cancer. The checkpoint inhibitor therapy, studied by Honjo and Allison, a professor at the University of Texas, has revolutionized cancer treatment and drastically changed the view of how cancer can be managed, according to the Nobel Assembly. On Thursday morning, Honjo visited the Nobel Museum with other laureates and signed the bottom of a chair in the cafe — a tradition for new laureates.During the Nobel Week, which lasts until Tuesday, Honjo is scheduled to deliver his Nobel lecture, titled “Serendipities of acquired immunity,” and attend the award ceremony as well as a royal banquet at the palace. In commemorating Honjo winning the Nobel Prize, a fund was established at Kyoto University to support researchers engaged in basic medical research. The fund was initiated by Honjo’s donation of his prize money, and further donations will be solicited, according to the university.
|
medicine;health;cancer;nobel prize;tasuku honjo;james allison
|
jp0010446
|
[
"national",
"politics-diplomacy"
] |
2018/12/07
|
69 foreign technical interns died in Japan between 2015 and 2017, ministry data reveals
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A total of 69 foreigners working as part of the technical intern program died between 2015 and 2017, according to a Justice Ministry tally made available by an opposition lawmaker on Thursday. The figure comprises those who died due to accidents, illness or suicide, according to Yoshifu Arita of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan. Arita read out the figure to a parliamentary committee that was deliberating a bill to accept more foreign workers into Japan. Justice Ministry officials said they had no knowledge of the matter and would investigate. Japan introduced the training program for foreigners in 1993 with the aim of transferring skills to developing countries. But the scheme, which allows interns to stay in the nation for up to five years, has been criticized as a cover for companies to import cheap labor. With Japan moving to more broadly accept foreign laborers to address a serious labor shortage amid the country’s graying population and falling birthrate, opposition parties have grilled the government over issues in its management of the technical intern system. A number of interns have also left their positions due to low wages or poor working conditions. “There should be no new system without a comprehensive review of the technical intern program,” Arita said. Justice Minister Takashi Yamashita said the ministry has no plan to disclose information on individual cases due to privacy concerns. According to government data, about 258,000 foreign interns were working in Japan as of October last year, accounting for about 20 percent of the total number of foreigners working in Japan.
|
immigration;diet;immigrants;foreign workers;yoshifu arita
|
jp0010447
|
[
"national",
"politics-diplomacy"
] |
2018/12/07
|
Taro Aso was top fundraiser in Abe Cabinet in 2017, figures show
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Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Taro Aso raised ¥258.17 million in political funds in 2017, the highest amount in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a tally of reports submitted by political parties and groups showed Friday. Aso was the only Cabinet member who raised more than ¥200 million, while Abe came second at ¥175.96 million. Toshimitsu Motegi, economic and fiscal policy minister — who ranked No. 1 the previous year — was third at ¥166.54 million. The average amount raised by Abe and his 19 Cabinet ministers stood at ¥94.65 million, according to the tally of the reports submitted to the internal affairs ministry and prefectural election administration commissions. Seven Cabinet members each raised more than ¥100 million. Besides the three top fundraisers, they were Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, minister for science and technology policy Takuya Hirai, Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Hiroshige Seko and Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Takumi Nemoto. Aso collected ¥163.40 million in donations from individuals, companies and other groups, up some ¥90 million from the previous year and accounting for 60 percent of his political funds income. He raised ¥67.05 million at one fundraising party held in Tokyo in March 2017. Abe raised a total of ¥73.05 million at three breakfast events, held between July and December 2017, with attendees including the lobbying groups of the Japan Medical Association and the Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers’ Associations of Japan. The amount made up 40 percent of his total. Abe received ¥51.64 million in donations from companies and other groups, the second highest after Aso. Seko collected ¥58.87 million in donations from individuals, the highest in the Cabinet, while Suga was the top earner in business income, including revenue from fundraising parties, with ¥83.34 million. Transport minister Keiichi Ishii raised the least in the Cabinet, while Satsuki Katayama, minister for regional revitalization, was second from the bottom.
|
shinzo abe;yoshihide suga;taro aso;toshimitsu motegi;political funds
|
jp0010448
|
[
"national",
"politics-diplomacy"
] |
2018/12/07
|
Japan passes controversial immigration bill paving way for foreign worker influx
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The Diet on Saturday passed a controversial bill to overhaul the immigration control law, adopting changes meant to provide the graying nation with a supply of foreign workers in what are often viewed as blue-collar sectors. The revised law marked a drastic policy shift in immigration-shy Japan, paving the way for an influx of an estimated 340,000 foreign workers in the five years after the new visa system comes into effect in April next year. But the bill, which dominated discussions in the current extraordinary Diet session, has elicited a fierce backlash from opposition lawmakers, who say it is void of key specifics. In its provisions they see an echo of the state-sponsored foreign trainee program, which is rife with allegations of human rights violations including below-minimum wages, bullying and sexual harassment by employers along with harsh working conditions. The last few days saw fresh details emerge over what many perceive to be exploitative aspects of the internship program. According to Justice Ministry data made available by Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Akira Nagatsuma, 69 foreign trainees died between 2015 and 2017, including six who took their own lives. The data, copies of which were obtained by The Japan Times, also showed that there were at least 11 trainees who fell victim to dangerous accidents while on duty, apparently underscoring the often hazardous nature of their jobs. Those accidents included getting crushed under a forklift, sliding off a scaffold, and falling into a well pump and drowning. They included people from China, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia, while their ages ranged from 18 to 44. “This is a devastating, cruel reality,” CDP lawmaker Yoshifu Arita told the plenary session of the Upper House prior to the bill’s passage. Arita particularly took issue with the fact that many specifics of the new visa system are expected to be mapped out via ministerial ordinances after the bill is officially enacted. “With no clear countermeasure in place, I’m sure the new system will entail similarly serious human rights violations,” Arita said. Many of those currently engaging in the Technical Intern Training Program are expected to transition to the envisaged visa system, a fact the opposition claims points to the inseparability of the two frameworks. Abe, however, has sought to dissociate the planned acceptance of foreign workers under the new arrangements from the current internship program, by repeatedly claiming the two are fundamentally different. On Friday, opposition parties resorted to a last-ditch effort to sabotage the bill’s passage, submitting a censure motion against Justice Minister Takashi Yamashita, who is overseeing the revision and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The delaying tactics pushed back related deliberations to well into the evening, but the bill was eventually voted on early Saturday. “The bill must be enacted swiftly based on thorough and efficient discussions at the Diet in an age when Japan grapples with serious labor shortages,” lawmaker Takamaro Fukuoka, of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, told the Upper House ahead of the bill’s passage. Opposition parties had questioned not so much the prospect of a greater foreign influx, but the heavy-handed way the ruling coalition had pushed the bill through the Diet, spending just a few weeks deliberating the changes despite the magnitude of the impact they could have on society. Recent media polls, too, show that the public was more upset over the lack of discussions in the Diet than a potential inflow of foreign workers. A survey conducted by the conservative Yomiuri Shimbun last month, for example, found that 48 percent of its respondents supported accepting more foreign workers, versus 42 percent who opposed. But even so, an overwhelming 73 percent said the bill “doesn’t need to be enacted in this Diet session but should be deliberated more,” while 9 percent said it “should be enacted in this Diet session.” The current session ends on Monday. The envisioned visa system applies to some of Japan’s most short-handed industries, including construction, agriculture, fisheries, nursery and building cleaning as well as sectors such as food service and hotels Under the revised immigration law, two new official work visa statuses will be created. The first category, which targets lesser-skilled workers, will be renewable for up to five years and in principle will not allow those eligible to bring along their family members. The second category applies to what the government describes as more “seasoned” individuals. It would be renewable indefinitely for workers with valid employment contracts and, unlike the first category, would allow workers to bring along a spouse and children. The government has pointedly argued that the new statuses would not amount to Japan shifting toward accepting “immigrants,” out of consideration for concerns that an inflow of foreign workers could result in domestic workers losing their jobs or crime rates soaring.
|
immigration;diet;foreign workers;immigration law;trainees
|
jp0010449
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/12/07
|
Visitors wowed as Okinawa aquarium becomes world's first to exhibit giant oceanic manta ray
|
At the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium, a giant oceanic manta ray can be seen gliding effortlessly through the Kuroshio Sea attraction’s large ocean aquarium, drawing exclamations of delight from onlookers. In a world first, the aquarium in Motobu, Okinawa Prefecture recently announced the creation of a breeding and exhibition program for oniitomakiei — the giant oceanic manta ray — drawing an enthusiastic response from visitors. From Nov. 28, the facility has also been delivering presentations for aquarium visitors that feature its new star attraction. The giant oceanic manta ray is the world’s largest species of ray and measures 4.6 meters across — around a meter wider than the nanyōmanta — reef manta ray — that the aquarium had already been breeding. “You can’t see this in an aquarium anywhere else in the world,” 31-year-old exhibit guide Yukari Baba said proudly after completing the first presentation at 9:30 a.m. The giant manta ray, which was accidentally caught in a stationary net earlier this year, was transported to the facility from a live fish box off the coast of Motobu on Nov. 15, but the aquarium delayed its announcement in order to carefully observe the manta’s health. “This is the day I’ve been waiting for,” Baba said. “I’m so happy to finally be able to tell our visitors” about the ray, she added with a smile. Six-month challenge The groundbreaking manta breeding and exhibition program faced a series of obstacles, and the two aquarists at Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium who overcame them were pivotal to the endeavor. For six months from the end of May, 36-year-old Yusaku Kanaya maintained a careful watch over the ray in a live fish box at the surface of the ocean, all the while devising ways to encourage the huge fish to become accustomed to being fed by humans. Meanwhile, 40-year-old Rui Matsumoto, responsible for the large ocean aquarium at the Kuroshio Sea attraction, set about leading the project to transport the manta from the site by boat. A splendid giant at risk The initiative began in earnest on May 29, when the aquarium received a call for assistance from the fishery cooperative in the Okinawa village of Yomitan saying they had found a large manta caught in a stationary net. Matsumoto and colleagues rushed to the village, and confirmed that the catch was indeed a giant oceanic manta ray. Giant manta rays move their fins in a wing-like motion to circulate blood throughout their bodies. If a manta stops moving it will quickly enter a perilous state. The journey from the stationary net in the sea off Yomitan to a live fish box in the sea off the town of Motobu would normally involve lifting the immense fish temporarily onto dry land and transporting it in a truck. But to reduce transit time, the team opted to make the trip entirely by sea. The fact that the aquarium had already made preparations for the possibility of an accidental manta catch soon bore fruit, as the plan could be put into practice straightaway the very next day. The next hurdle would be whether or not the fish could be coaxed to eat. Kanaya, who was responsible for overseeing the live fish box, swam with the manta and tried different methods of scattering food: concentrated in a small area, or spread across a wider one. Through trial and error, he finally succeeded in getting the fish to eat after 13 days. The final challenge was transporting the manta safely to the aquarium. To do so in the summertime, when the water is warm and the ray’s oxygen consumption rises, increases the risks. The team waited until October, but then a typhoon caused a further delay. They finally went ahead with the plan on Nov. 15. To avoid putting the manta through the ordeal of being lifted and lowered by crane into a ship, it was instead transferred to a newly installed, 25-meter-wide live fish box that was then towed by a vessel. Because the custom-made fish tank for use on the truck was too large to be transported during the day, the team waited until after midnight to bring the manta to the aquarium using an oversized trailer. In order to move the manta by sea, the aquarium mobilized a team of around 60 people that included designated researchers from the Okinawa Churashima Foundation. “Through our combined efforts, we were able to transport the fish in a way that was second to none,” said Kamiya, reflecting on their work. Figuring things out “No one knows how to breed giant manta rays,” said Matsumoto, who has a wealth of experience in the field and was the first person to successfully draw blood from a whale shark. Kanaya “worked hard to figure things out,” he added, praising his colleague’s efforts to bring the manta into captivity safely. After successfully transporting the manta ray, the pair spent the night in front of the Kuroshio Sea large ocean aquarium. “We were worried about whether or not the manta would be OK, but we were really happy, too,” he said, smiling. “I’d like lots of people to see how big it is, and I’d like them to know that there are amazing creatures living in the sea,” Matsumoto said. While visiting the aquarium with her husband, 65-year-old Yoko Hashimoto from Nara Prefecture said the manta’s “face is cute, and it has beautiful curves!” “I’d like it to live for a long time,” she added. “I’m so lucky to be able to visit the only such exhibit in the world,” said 32-year-old Yosuke Inagaki from Mie Prefecture joyfully. At the facility’s shop on the day of the launch, manta-themed merchandise, including plush toys and T-shirts, were put on sale. The new arrival is set to be promoted aggressively as the centerpiece of the aquarium’s collection. Until recently it had been thought that the two species of manta ray commonly referred to as “manta” were only one species, known as oniitomakiei. However, in 2009 it was confirmed that there are in fact two separate varieties. At that time, it was decided that the name oniitomakiei would be used to refer only to the larger variety, while the smaller was named nanyōmanta.
|
okinawa;tourism;okinawa churaumi aquarium;manta rays
|
jp0010450
|
[
"national",
"crime-legal"
] |
2018/12/07
|
Former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn may be indicted as soon as Monday
|
Three weeks after his arrest at a Tokyo airport, Carlos Ghosn is set to be indicted for financial crimes as soon as Monday, according to people familiar with the matter, bringing to a head the case that has sent shock waves through the global auto industry. Prosecutors are also planning to re-arrest Ghosn on new charges not yet made public, said the people, asking not to be identified because the information is private. In the first sign of blowback from the scandal for Nissan, the carmaker is also set to be indicted for breaching Japan’s Financial Instruments and Exchange Law by making misstatements on securities reports, the Nikkei newspaper reported. It is also thought that former Representative Director Greg Kelly, who is accused of aiding Ghosn to understate his income and misuse Nissan assets, will be indicted, the report said. According to sources close to the investigation on Thursday, Ghosn admitted to prosecutors that he signed documents on his post-retirement pay that were unreported in the company’s securities statements. The act of signing, which Ghosn allegedly denied shortly after his arrest on Nov. 19, is said to be seen by prosecutors as proof that the former chairman of the Japanese automaker violated the law by failing to report part of his remuneration. But the sources said the 64-year-old has argued that the signing of the papers was only to confirm his understanding of the documents’ contents, apparently maintaining that he did not commit financial misconduct. Representatives of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor’s Office have declined to comment on the allegations. An indictment would take the prosecutors’ pursuit of Ghosn, who was arrested on Nov. 19, to the next level. Nissan has since ousted Ghosn as chairman. While he remains at the helm of Nissan’s French partner Renault SA, he has been replaced on an interim basis. Tension within the Franco-Japanese partnership held together by Ghosn for two decades has all but exploded into the open since his incarceration. Nissan “identified serious misconduct related to the reporting of Mr. Ghosn’s compensation,” the company said in an emailed statement. “The company has been providing information to the … Public Prosecutor’s Office and has been fully cooperating with its investigation. We will continue to do so.” Ghosn’s re-arrest would be based on suspected underreporting of his income for the past three fiscal years, the people said. Thus far, prosecutors are said to suspect him of doing so for the five fiscal years ending in March 2015. Ghosn has been arrested on suspicion of violating the law by reporting only ¥5 billion ($44 million) of his ¥10 billion remuneration during the five years. Monday is set to be the last day of Ghosn’s current detention, which has already been extended once. If convicted, Ghosn could face up to 10 years in prison, prosecutors have said.
|
courts;scandals;nissan;carmakers;carlos ghosn
|
jp0010451
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/12/07
|
After failing to meet Abe, hibakusha activist Setsuko Thurlow urges PM to hear those with differing views
|
Hibakusha Setsuko Thurlow, an iconic anti-nuclear activist who survived the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima, has called on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to meet with people whose views differ with his own after she was unable to secure a meeting with the leader on Thursday. Thurlow, who lives in Canada and works for the Nobel Prize-winning International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), visited the Prime Minister’s Office, only to meet Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasutoshi Nishimura. She had requested a meeting with Abe. At a news conference later in the day, Thurlow said Abe could have been too busy but also acknowledged that he may have avoided her intentionally. She said true leadership involves meeting people with differing views and continuing discussions with them. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a separate news conference that Abe was not able to meet Thurlow due to his tight schedule. During her meeting with Nishimura, Thurlow said it is heart-wrenching that Japan, the only atomic-bombed country in the world as well as her home country, has not joined the 2017 U.N. Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Thurlow handed Nishimura a letter for Abe in which she expressed her hope that Japan will end its reliance on U.S. nuclear weapons.
|
shinzo abe;nuclear weapons;ican;atomic bombings;setsuko thurlow
|
jp0010452
|
[
"asia-pacific",
"offbeat-asia-pacific"
] |
2018/12/09
|
Netizens blast Singapore Miss Universe's Trump-Kim summit gown
|
SINGAPORE - Singapore’s representative to the upcoming Miss Universe pageant plans to wear a dress depicting a key moment of the U.S.-North Korea summit that Singapore hosted earlier this year, but the design of her gown has raised hackles in the wealthy city-state. The outfit, which shows two hands draped in the flags of the United States and North Korea locked in warm handshake on an electric blue background lined with iconic tourist attractions in Singapore, has drawn flak on social media since it was unveiled late last month. An online petition has been launched to prevent the costume from being paraded by 23-year-old Singaporean model Zahra Khanum as a national costume at the pageant in Bangkok later this month, with many criticizing it as not representative of Singapore besides being ugly, gawdy and poorly designed. “It would truly be a sad day to have Singapore represented with the American and North Korean flags,” said the petition, which was started by Sandra Galistan, and has attracted more than 1,700 online supporters. “There is nothing about this distasteful costume that truly represents Singapore. It is totally non-representative, inappropriate and ridiculous to say the least.” However, Khanum has defended the costume and was quoted by the state-run Channel News Asia as saying that it is “just a representation of what Singapore stands for, which is world peace, and the fact that Singapore is reaching out to other countries to create positive relationships.” Moe Kasim, 48, the creative director of Moephosis Concepts (Singapore) who designed the costume, was undeterred by the criticism. “I’m a very positive person. I guess after designing and making national costumes for various pageants over the past 10 years, I’m mentally prepared for all kinds of responses,” he said in an email reply to Kyodo News. He said he was asked by the organizers to design something based on the historic summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, which was held June 12 on Singapore’s Sentosa Island. “I believe the organizers wanted to highlight what was relevant, current and unique — something that was probably only going to happen once in our lifetime and in Singapore’s history,” he said. “I naturally thought of world peace and the elements of it, hence, the design,” he said of the costume, which also features two large feathery wings.
|
u.s .;north korea;singapore;kim jong un;donald trump;kim-trump summit
|
jp0010453
|
[
"world",
"politics-diplomacy-world"
] |
2018/12/31
|
U.S. holds breath as ex-Boeing exec Shanahan, criticized for lack of foreign policy chops, takes Pentagon's reins
|
WASHINGTON - Patrick Shanahan, who on Tuesday becomes the acting U.S. secretary of defense, takes the helm of America’s massive military machine at a critical time. Shanahan is moving up from his position as deputy defense secretary to the top spot following the resignation of Jim Mattis, who quit over long-running — and ultimately irreconcilable — disagreements with President Donald Trump. Little known outside business and Washington circles, Shanahan will be thrust onto the world stage at a time of tumultuous changes and unpredictable foreign policy moves under Trump. The president this month ordered the withdrawal of all U.S. forces from Syria and, according to U.S. officials, a 50 percent draw down in Afghanistan — momentous decisions that have left lawmakers and international allies fearing for what comes next. Shanahan must now oversee the U.S. withdrawal from Syria and play a key role in helping Trump decide the pace of the pull out. Another consideration he must weigh is what, if any, protections should go to Kurdish forces that the U.S. military had been backing to fight Islamic State jihadists. Turkey views the Kurdish YPG fighters as “terrorists” and has vowed to attack them in northern Syria. While Shanahan has not always had day-to-day involvement in thorny geopolitical issues like this, Pentagon officials say he is ready to tackle them. “He’s had 18 months to observe all of these operations, he’s been in all of the meetings, he’s been in all the discussions, he’s briefed the White House,” Shanahan’s spokesman, Lt. Col. Joe Buccino, said. A Washington state native, the 56-year-old Shanahan spent more than three decades at Boeing, where he became senior vice president, worked on missile defense systems and was general manager of the 787 Dreamliner program. Trump announced Shanahan’s appointment in a Dec. 23 tweet that also brought Mattis’s planned departure date forward by two months. According to U.S. media, Trump was angry over news coverage of Mattis’s stinging resignation letter that laid bare his fundamental disagreements with the president. Despite a lack of foreign policy or military experience, Shanahan’s executive and technical knowledge made him well suited for the Pentagon’s number two position, which focuses more on the Defense Department’s business side. In his time as deputy, the soft-spoken Shanahan played a key role in helping Mattis and others develop vital policy documents, such as the National Defense Strategy, a sweeping review that highlights a new era of “Great Power competition” with Russia and China. He also has voiced support for Trump’s aim of creating a “Space Force,” a sixth branch of the military that still needs approval from Congress. Buccino pointed to the NDS as a key area for Shanahan’s focus. “He sees the national defense strategy as the blueprint, as the guide for all actions, directions, policies for the Pentagon,” Buccino said. Before starting at the Pentagon in July 2017, Shanahan’s lack of foreign policy chops got him in hot water with the late John McCain, the senior Republican senator who led the Senate Armed Services Committee. At his confirmation hearing, an irascible McCain said a lack of detail in some of Shanahan’s foreign policy answers was “almost insulting.” McCain also expressed concerns that putting a former executive from a defense industry giant in the Pentagon could be akin to putting a fox “back in to the henhouse.” International allies will look to Shanahan, as they did to Mattis, for reassurances about America’s commitment to longstanding alliances — even as Trump assails partner nations for not paying more for their defense. Shanahan must tread a careful line with the mercurial president, especially if he wants to get rid of the “acting” prefix of his job title. Trump has shown an aversion to listening to dissenting advice, and has parted company with many of the top aides to have challenged him. He fired secretary of state Rex Tillerson, former national security advisor HR McMaster resigned, and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly is on his way out the door. An official close to Shanahan said he would feel comfortable giving Trump an opposing opinion if necessary. “His entire adult life, Shanahan has provided a dissenting voice to leadership when needed,” the official said. “He would have no qualms doing that.”
|
u.s .;military;pentagon;patrick shanahan
|
jp0010454
|
[
"world",
"politics-diplomacy-world"
] |
2018/12/31
|
Democratic Republic of Congo opposition, ruling coalition both say they have won chaotic election
|
KINSHASA - Democratic Republic of Congo’s opposition said Monday it expects one of its candidates to win the presidential election based on early vote tallies, but the ruling coalition said it was confident its candidate had won the chaotic contest. The competing claims followed a disorderly election day Sunday in which many Congolese were unable to vote due to an Ebola outbreak, conflict and logistical problems. The vote is meant to choose a successor to outgoing President Joseph Kabila after 18 years in power and could lead to the vast central African country’s first ever democratic transition. Any disputed outcome could lead to a repeat of the violence that followed the 2006 and 2011 elections and a wider security breakdown, particularly along Congo’s borders with Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi, where dozens of armed militia are active. Vital Kamerhe, the campaign manager to opposition candidate Felix Tshisekedi, said early counting showed Tshisekedi and the other main opposition candidate, Martin Fayulu, were neck and neck, both with over 40 percent of the vote. He said the ruling coalition candidate, Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, who is backed by Kabila, had only about 13 percent, although a significant part of the vote remained to be tabulated. The election is a first-past-the-post system with no run-off. Nehemie Mwilanya, Kabila’s chief of staff and a member of Shadary’s campaign, told a news conference Monday morning that he was confident Shadary had won, although he did not provide specific figures. “For us, victory is certain,” Mwilanya said. Fayulu’s camp has not yet provided specific numbers, but Fayulu said late Sunday that Shadary’s camp was “dreaming” if it thought it was going to win. The most recent opinion poll before the election, released Friday by New York University’s Congo Research Group, showed Fayulu, a former Exxon Mobil manager, leading the race at 47 percent. Tshisekedi had 24 percent and Shadary 19 percent. The first partial results are expected from the national electoral commission Tuesday. Election day was mostly peaceful despite several violent incidents, including an altercation at a polling place in the eastern part of the country in which at least three people were killed. More than 1.2 million Congolese were also unable to vote in three opposition strongholds, where the election commission canceled the poll last week, citing an ongoing Ebola outbreak and ethnic violence. However, in the Ebola hot spot of Beni, an opposition stronghold, residents staged a mock presidential election to show the authorities a decision to postpone the vote there due to health fears was unfounded.
|
elections;congo
|
jp0010455
|
[
"asia-pacific"
] |
2018/12/31
|
Indonesia's latest deadly tsunami raises global questions over disaster preparedness
|
CIGONDONG, INDONESIA/JAKARTA - As Indonesia reels from the carnage of yet another natural disaster, authorities around the globe are working on how they can prepare for the kind of freak tsunami that battered coasts west of Jakarta last month. The Dec. 22 tsunami killed around 440 people along the coastlines of the Sunda Strait, capping a year of earthquakes and tsunami in the vast archipelago, which straddles the seismically active Pacific Ring of Fire. No sirens were heard in those towns and beaches to alert people before the deadly series of waves hit shore. Seismologists and authorities say a perfect storm of factors caused the tsunami and made early detection nearly impossible, given the equipment in place. But the disaster should be a wake-up call to step up research on tsunami triggers and preparedness, said several of the experts, some of whom have traveled to the Southeast Asian nation to investigate what happened. “Indonesia has demonstrated to the rest of the world the huge variety of sources that have the potential to cause tsunamis. More research is needed to understand those less-expected events,” said Stephen Hicks, a seismologist at the University of Southampton. Most tsunami on record have been triggered by earthquakes. But this time it was an eruption of the Anak Krakatau volcano that caused its crater to partially collapse into the sea at high tide, sending waves up to 5 meters (16 feet) high smashing into densely populated coastal areas on Java and Sumatra islands. During the eruption, an estimated 180 million cubic meters — around two-thirds of the less-than-hundred-year-old volcanic island — collapsed into the sea. But the eruption didn’t rattle seismic monitors significantly, and the absence of seismic signals normally associated with tsunami led Indonesia’s geophysics agency (BMKG) initially to tweet there was no tsunami. Muhamad Sadly, head of geophysics at BMKG, later said that its tidal monitors had not been set up to trigger tsunami warnings from nonseismic events. The head of Japan’s International Research Institute of Disaster, Fumihiko Imamura, said he did not believe that Japan’s current warning system would have detected tsunami like the one in the Sunda Strait. “We still have some risks of this in Japan … because there’s 111 active volcanoes and low capacity to monitor eruptions generating a tsunami,” he said in Jakarta. Scientists have long flagged the collapse of Anak Krakatau, around 155 km (100 miles) west of the capital, as a concern. A 2012 study published by the Geological Society of London deemed it a “tsunami hazard.” Anak Krakatau emerged from the Krakatoa volcano, which in 1883 erupted in one of the biggest explosions in recorded history, killing more than 36,000 people in a series of tsunami and lowering the global surface temperature by 1 degree Celsius (1.8 Fahrenheit) with its ash. Broken warning system Some experts believe there was enough time for at least a partial detection of last month’s tsunami in the 24 minutes it took waves to hit land after the landslide on Anak Krakatau. But a country-wide tsunami warning system of buoys connected to seabed sensors has been out of order since 2012 due to vandalism, neglect and a lack of public funds, authorities say. “The lack of an early warning system is why Saturday’s tsunami was not detected,” said disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Nugroho, adding that of 1,000 tsunami sirens needed across Indonesia, only 56 are in place. “Signs that a tsunami was coming weren’t detected, and so people did not have time to evacuate.” Nugroho said Monday that the death toll from the Dec. 22 tsunami had risen to 437, and the number of the injured had doubled to slightly over 14,000. He put the number of displaced people at nearly 34,000. Sixteen people were listed as missing. President Joko Widodo last week ordered BMKG to purchase new early warning systems, and the agency later said it planned to install three tsunami buoys on the islands surrounding Anak Krakatau. The cost of covering the country is estimated at 7 trillion rupiah ($481.10 million). That is roughly equivalent to Indonesia’s total disaster response budget of 7.19 trillion rupiah for 2018, according to Nugroho. But other experts say that even if this network had been working, averting disaster would have been difficult. ‘Worst-case scenario’ “The tsunami was very much a worst-case scenario for any hope of a clear tsunami warning: a lack of an obvious earthquake to trigger a warning, shallow water, rough seabed and the close proximity to nearby coastlines,” said seismologist Hicks. In the Philippines, Renato Solidum, undersecretary for disaster risk reduction, said eruptions from the country’s Taal volcano had caused tsunami before in the surrounding Taal Lake. He said that what happened in Indonesia showed the need to “re-emphasize awareness and preparedness” regarding volcanic activity and its potential to trigger tsunami in the Philippines. The United States has also suffered several tsunami caused by volcanic activity, including in Alaska, Hawaii and Washington state, according to the national weather service. In Indonesia last year, a double quake-and-tsunami disaster killed over 2,000 people on Sulawesi island, and at least 500 more died when an earthquake flattened much of the northern coastline of the vacation island of Lombok. Another active Indonesian volcano, Mount Agung, erupted Sunday on Bali, belching ash high into the air and over nearby villages. Mount Agung has been erupting periodically since it rumbled back to life in 2017, when it grounded hundreds of flights and left 120,000 visitors stranded. In a country where, according to government data, 62.4 percent of the population is at risk of being struck by earthquakes and 1.6 percent by tsunami, attention is now focused on a continued lack of preparedness. “Given the potential for disasters in the country, it’s time to have disaster education be part of the national curriculum,” Widodo told reporters after the latest tsunami. For Ramdi Tualfredi, a high school teacher who survived last month’s waves, these improvements cannot come soon enough. He said that people in his village of Cigondong on the west coast of Java and close to Krakatau had never received any safety drills or evacuation training. “I’ve never received education on safety steps,” he said. “The system … totally failed.”
|
u.s .;tsunami;philippines;indonesia;hawaii;japan;anak krakatau
|
jp0010457
|
[
"national",
"politics-diplomacy"
] |
2018/12/31
|
Shinzo Abe wants a 'specific discussion' with Vladimir Putin on a peace treaty at Moscow summit
|
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in a radio program aired Sunday he hopes to have a “specific discussion” with Russian President Vladimir Putin on a peace treaty between the two countries when the leaders meet next month. Abe and Putin agreed in November to speed up peace treaty talks by finding common ground to resolve the territorial row over Japanese-claimed islands held by Russia. Asked if Japan can address Putin’s concern about the possibility of U.S. forces building a base on the islands if they are handed over to Japan, Abe said his government has “not yet” gained the consent of the United States to keep them free of any U.S. military presence. Tokyo and Moscow are seeking to make progress in peace treaty talks based on the 1956 joint declaration, which says Shikotan Island and the Habomai islet group — two of four Russian-held islands off Hokkaido seized by the Soviet Union after the end of World War II in August 1945 — will be handed over to Japan following the conclusion of a peace treaty. “President Putin has strong determination for signing a peace treaty,” Abe said in the Radio Nippon program recorded Tuesday. Abe plans to visit Russia around Jan. 21 for a summit with Putin, according to government sources. The focus of the Japan-Russia talks on the territorial issue has shifted in recent months to the status of the islands, known as the Northern Territories in Japan and the Southern Kurils in Russia, after the two countries promoted confidence-building steps centering on economic cooperation.
|
shinzo abe;vladimir putin;disputed islands;russia-japan relations
|
jp0010458
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/12/31
|
Tokyo Medical University enrolled applicant at lawmaker's request
|
Tokyo Medical University enrolled an applicant in its nursing school by passing over candidates with better scores at the request of a Diet member, according to a report by an independent panel looking into the university’s rigging of exam scores. Masahiko Usui, former chairman of the university’s board of regents, told a university employee to help an applicant get through the fiscal 2013 conventional exam, saying he was acting on a request from a lawmaker, the report disclosed Saturday showed. The applicant was picked as an alternate candidate, although other people scored better on the exam. The employee told the panel of receiving an instruction from Usui seeking special treatment for a specific applicant almost every year, adding that all such applicants got into the university. The report includes suspicions that several lawmakers and people related to the university’s alumni association had asked Usui to favor certain applicants. Former Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Tsuneo Akaeda, who is also an alumnus of the university, said Sunday that he has requested Usui to take two to three students every year for about 10 years, as other alumni asked him to do so. But Akaeda said many did not seem to get in, so “it did not work,” adding he is not involved with the fiscal 2013 nursing school case. The university has been under fire since revelations emerged that it has been altering entrance exam results to exclude some women. The report also showed that a recommended applicant for the university’s school of medicine between fiscal 2013 and fiscal 2018 claimed at a cram school soon before the exam that he or she had acquired the exam questions. This applicant finished first in the essay exam. In the conventional entrance exam in the same year, an employee of the school affairs section informed an exam committee member by email of the essay question, standards for scoring and an answer example, according to the report. In questioning by the panel, an official of the university denied that any exam question has been leaked. The panel said there is reasonable suspicion that an exam question was leaked but stopped short of drawing a clear-cut conclusion.
|
tokyo medical university;tsuneo akaeda;masahiko usui
|
jp0010459
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/12/31
|
We'll have to wait until mid-April to learn the name of Japan's new era
|
The government is likely to announce the name of the next era in mid-April, ahead of the May 1 change of the name from the current Heisei, according to informed sources. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will make a final decision on the timing as conservative members of his ruling party insist that the next emperor should proclaim the new era name. Crown Prince Naruhito is scheduled to accede to the throne on May 1, the day after his father, Emperor Akihito, abdicates. Abe has described 2019 as a year that will take Japan forward to the future beyond the Heisei Era. The government plans to narrow down candidates for the new name to one after hearing opinions from experts and Diet leaders. The Cabinet will then adopt an ordinance on the era name and the current Emperor will sign it for proclamation. The last name change was in 1989, from Showa to Heisei, after Emperor Hirohito, known posthumously as Emperor Showa, died. The Heisei Era began on Jan. 8, the day after the name was proclaimed. The government plans to withdraw any candidate for the era name if it is reported by media before it is officially adopted, a senior official said. Cabinet members, who meet to adopt the ordinance on the era name, will be banned from carrying mobile phones to prevent leaks. The Prime Minister’s Office thinks there needs to be a lag between the proclamation of the era name and its implementation to allow for sufficient preparations, including computer system adjustments. A likely option is that the era name will be proclaimed after April 10, when a ceremony is scheduled to take place to mark the 30th anniversary of the enthronement of Emperor Akihito, the sources said. Conservative members of Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party claim that the new era name should be proclaimed by the next emperor, because an era name essentially belongs to an emperor. The Prime Minister’s Office is against having the new emperor proclaim the era name, saying it could violate Article 4 of the Constitution, which bans involvement in politics by emperors. In addition, the Prime Minister’s Office argues that if the era name is proclaimed and put into use on May 1, the new and old era names will coexist that day, causing a hassle for the public.
|
abdication;heisei;reiwa;emperor naruhito
|
jp0010460
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/12/31
|
Number of new Japanese adults up slightly on New Year's Day
|
The number of Japanese aged 20, the legal age of adulthood, on New Year’s Day will be 1.25 million, up 20,000 from a year earlier, according to a government estimate released Monday. But new adults will make up only 0.99 percent of the total population of 126.32 million, remaining below 1 percent for the ninth straight year. The figure was nearly half the 2.46 million in 1970, the most since officials began compiling comparable data in 1968. Within the shrinking population, the number of new adults has been declining since the mid-1990s after the “second baby boomers,” born between 1971 and 1974, reached adulthood. Of the 1.25 million, 640,000 are men and 610,000 are women, according to the statistics from the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry. With 2019 being the Year of the Boar under the 12-sign Chinese zodiac, the number of people born in previous such years in Japan totals 10.55 million. Notable figures born in the Year of the Boar include award-winning film director Takeshi Kitano, pop star Hikaru Utada and Yoshihide Kiryu, a member of Japan’s silver medal-winning men’s 4×100 relay team at the Rio Olympics. The age of legal adulthood will be lowered from 20 to 18 in April 2022, following a Civil Code revision. The minimum voting age was also reduced to 18 after a revised election law came into effect in June 2016.
|
population;adults;year of the boar
|
jp0010463
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/12/31
|
Japan's denial of immigration reality echoes Germany's experience with 'guest workers'
|
The recent sweeping revision to the immigration law opens a gateway for as many as 345,000 migrant workers to enter Japan in the next five years. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, however, has repeatedly said the new visa system does not constitute an immigration policy. “This system is needed for talented foreign personnel to play bigger roles in Japan amid the nationwide labor shortage,” Abe said in justifying the revision at a Dec. 10 news conference. “We will clearly present a cap for the numbers and time frame for acceptance. This is not an immigration policy.” Experts say what his denial represents is much more than the Abe administration’s attitude toward immigration. Rather, they say, it epitomizes the contradictory realities surrounding it: Even though the government is essentially in denial of their existence, Japan has already brought in hundreds of thousands of immigrants, and the ratio of long-term foreign residents is expected to keep rising. Akihiro Koido, a sociology professor who studies immigration policies at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo, said the law is an immigration policy regardless of Abe’s staunch denial. Koido compared the current state of immigration policy in Japan to Germany’s gastarbeiters , the guest workers adopted in the 1950s to boost its war-ravaged economy. When Germany concluded a labor treaty with its neighbors, Koido said, the premise was that it would receive migrant workers only on a temporary basis. “Back then, Germany denied that those guest workers were immigrants,” he said. “In reality, though, Germany had to change its interpretation of immigrants after having accepted many of them.” Koido explained that when Germany announced it would terminate the system in the 1970s, many feared they wouldn’t be able to enter the country again, which actually encouraged them to stay and have families, accelerating the growth of long-term settlers. Before that, the foreign population in Germany had already jumped from 686,000 in 1961 to 1.8 million in 1967, according to the Japan Institute for Labor Policy and Training. Germany eventually enacted a law in 2005 that focused on long-term residency and integration, reducing the number of residency types to two and specifying that applicants must learn the German language and culture as an important part of the process. The 2005 law is deemed significant in that it declared Germany as “a country of immigrants” half a century after the introduction of the gastarbeiter. Japan is actually following the early German policy that was unwilling to acknowledge gastarbeiters as immigrants, instead of devising more contemporary, progressive and effective policies, Koido said. During Diet deliberations, Abe kept insisting that the revision would not open the door for immigrants to settle in Japan permanently. The revised immigration law, however, will introduce two new types of working visas, one valid up to five years and the other renewable indefinitely with a legal employment contract. Those in the first category cannot bring their families with them. Those in the second category, which the government describes as for people with higher skills, are able to bring their families. “We are not thinking about adopting a policy that will accept a certain number of foreigners with their dependents indefinitely to sustain the country’s population,” Abe said last year. Political analysts have speculated Abe’s refusal to say the “I-word” is an effort to appease the part of his conservative base that’s skeptical of immigration, even though that stance puts him at odds with the part that desperately needs it — the business community. Koido said the government, even before the current administration, has been reluctant to acknowledge Japan was hosting immigrants. He cited 1990s immigration reform that widened the legal status for those seeking work and made it easier for foreign people, particularly those of Japanese descent, to come to Japan for work. The government at that time also refused to characterize the reform as immigration policy. “The Japanese government hasn’t actively defined immigration policy, but that doesn’t mean the country didn’t have immigrants in the ’90s,” Koido said. “The logic that long-term residents are not immigrants doesn’t make sense. Even though Japan didn’t automatically become a country of immigrants, an immigration policy essentially existed around that time.” The central government’s reluctance in acknowledging immigration shifted the strain of developing integration policies to the municipalities, Koido added. Yasutomo Suzuki, the mayor of Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, where about 20,000 foreign residents make a living, stressed that municipalities have proactively sought to accommodate immigrants. The Diet’s tug of war over the use of the term is out of touch with reality, Suzuki said. Justice Ministry data shows that 29 percent of all 2.56 million non-Japanese residing here with legal status — about 749,000 people — were permanent residents as of the end of 2017. In 1997, only about 82,000 out of about 1.48 million people were permanent residents.
|
shinzo abe;immigration;immigration law;akihiro koido
|
jp0010464
|
[
"national",
"crime-legal"
] |
2018/12/31
|
Carlos Ghosn's detention in Japan extended until Jan. 11
|
The Tokyo District Court on Monday approved another request from prosecutors to keep former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn in detention for alleged financial misconduct. This extension should keep him behind bars until Jan. 11. Ghosn, who was initially charged twice for allegedly underreporting his remuneration, has been detained since November and was served a fresh arrest warrant Dec. 21 for allegedly transferring personal investment losses worth ¥1.85 billion to the automaker’s books in 2008. Ghosn has denied the allegations. The deadline for his current stretch of detention had been Jan. 1. The unusual confinement of Ghosn, credited with saving the automaker when it was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy in the late 1990s, has sparked criticism that Japan is engaging in so-called hostage justice, in which detention is prolonged indefinitely, and over the absence of lawyers to represent him during interrogations, which is the norm in Japan. Caroline Ghosn, 31, the eldest of his four children, said in an interview with The New York Times that his family has been told that his cell is unheated and he has repeatedly asked for blankets. He has been denied pen and paper and has lost weight, his San Francisco-based daughter was quoted as saying. Ghosn and Greg Kelly, his close aide and a former representative director of Nissan, were first arrested Nov. 19 on suspicion of understating roughly ¥5 billion of the former chairman’s ¥10 billion remuneration in Nissan’s securities reports during the five years through March 2015. They were then hit with the same charge but for a different time period. The two men and the automaker were indicted Dec. 10 for allegedly violating Japan’s financial instruments law. Although Kelly, who is an American citizen, was released on bail Tuesday, Ghosn’s detention was extended on Dec. 21 after he was served another arrest warrant on suspicion of aggravated breach of trust against Nissan. That allegation involves the transfer to Nissan of a derivatives contract between Ghosn’s personal asset management firm and Tokyo-based Shinsei Bank in October 2008. The transfer allegedly took place after the contract incurred an appraised loss of ¥1.85 billion resulting from the 2008 global financial crisis that prompted the bank to call for additional collateral, sources knowledgeable about the matter said. The contract was transferred back to Ghosn’s asset management firm after a Saudi acquaintance guaranteed credit, they said. In return, Ghosn is suspected of using Nissan’s subsidiary in the Middle East to pay the acquaintance $14.7 million from 2009 to 2012, according to the sources. Ghosn admitted to shifting the contract to Nissan but denied causing any real loss to the company, saying he temporarily needed the company’s creditworthiness and had no intention of using its funds to erase the loss, the sources said. He also admitted that payments were made to the acquaintance’s company but said they were made because some Nissan-related businesses had been outsourced, according to the sources.
|
scandals;nissan;carlos ghosn
|
jp0010465
|
[
"national"
] |
2018/12/31
|
Finance Ministry sets up compliance promotion panel to regain public trust
|
The Finance Ministry has set up a compliance promotion panel to regain public trust that was lost due to scandals such as the alteration of ministry records related to a controversial state land sale to private school operator Moritomo Gakuen. In the wake of the Moritomo Gakuen scandal, in which land was sold at a steep discount to a private school operator once linked to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s wife, Akie, senior Finance Ministry bureaucrat Nobuhisa Sagawa resigned as head of the National Tax Agency in March, while officials involved in falsifying or destroying ministry records were punished. In an additional blow to the ministry, Vice Finance Minister Junichi Fukuda, the top bureaucrat at the ministry, stepped down in April amid swirling accusations that he had sexually harassed a female journalist. The panel, headed by Reiko Akiike, an adviser from the Boston Consulting Group, is tasked with transforming the ministry into a scandal-free organization by incorporating outside perspectives. In October, the panel compiled reform proposals featuring a “360-degree evaluation” system of reviewing bureaucrats’ work performance from multilateral viewpoints, including not only those of superiors but also subordinates and other colleagues, to check for problems such as improper instructions by senior bureaucrats and sexual harassment. The ministry will introduce the system at its head office on a trial basis in January and put it into full use later in 2019. The proposals also include a compliance education program for senior ministry officials and an upgrading of the whistleblowing system. Concerns continue, however, that the proposed reforms will end up as a pie in the sky. A ministry survey of some 9,400 officials, including those at local finance bureaus, found many complaints that past reform proposals had not been executed and that senior bureaucrats must take the initiative in reforming the ministry. In the meantime, Finance Minister Taro Aso maintains a noncommittal stance on the scandals, adding fuel to calls for his resignation from opposition parties. Aso voluntarily returned his one-year salary of ¥1.7 million as a Cabinet minister over the Moritomo Gakuen scandal in June. Asked by a reporter why the scandal had occurred, however, he said, “I wish I could know.” In the extraordinary Diet session convened in the autumn after Abe reshuffled his Cabinet, Aso rejected opposition parties’ calls for his resignation, saying, “I will fulfill my duties at full power.” As the minister in charge, Aso “should endeavor to offer explanations convincing to the public,” Hideaki Tanaka, a former Finance Ministry bureaucrat and now professor at the Graduate School of Governance Studies of Meiji University, said, criticizing Aso for remarks taken to suggest that he has no intention of conducting further probes into the document-tampering. Noting that large companies have come to assign a considerable number of employees to governance policies and internal controls, Naohiko Matsuo, a lawyer familiar with such issues, said that the Finance Ministry “needs to establish an independent and high-ranking post for the promotion of thorough compliance.”
|
taro aso;finance ministry;scandals;compliance
|
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