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Rookie Kazuki Yabuta made the most of his emergency start, pitching six scoreless innings for the Hiroshima Carp in a 3-0 win over the Yokohama BayStars on

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Rookie Yabuta helps Carp move closer to pennant

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Rookie Kazuki Yabuta made the most of his emergency start, pitching six scoreless innings for the Hiroshima Carp in a 3-0 win over the Yokohama BayStars on Wednesday. The Carp, who are chasing their first Central League pennant since 1991, moved 12 games clear of the second-place Yomiuri Giants and now have a magic number of 10 to clinch the pennant. Before 31,832 at Mazda Stadium, Yabuta (2-1) was asked to take the hill when scheduled starter Yuya Fukui complained of neck pain just before the start of the game. The rookie walked four and allowed two hits, while striking out five. “Instead of thinking of innings, I took the mound as a middle reliever, and since that resulted in six innings, I guess it was a good thing to do,” Yabuta said. “I treated every inning as I was in middle relief, and thought of nothing but putting up a zero in that inning. “At the start, I didn’t have a good feel for my fastball. And in that situation I got things right by leaning on my breaking pitches. Towards the end, my fastball came around and I was able to take command.” Yabuta pitched out of a two-on, two-out jam in the first, but his opposite number, BayStars starter Kazuki Mishima (0-1) was unable to do the same. With two on and two out, an infield single and a throwing error put a run on the board for the Carp, and Brad Eldred followed with another infield single that made it 2-0. Seiya Suzuki hit his 22nd home run of the year to lead off the sixth and complete the scoring, and Takeru Imamura, Jay Jackson and Shota Nakazaki each threw a scoreless inning to close it out. Mishima allowed three runs, one earned, on seven hits and a walk in his six inning effort. Swallows 4, Giants 0 At Toyama Alpen Stadium, Yasuhiro “Ryan” Ogawa (8-5) threw a five-hitter for his third straight complete game victory as Tokyo Yakult knocked second-place Yomiuri farther off the pace in the CL. Dragons 1, Tigers 0 At Nagoya Dome, Chunichi ace Kazuki Yoshimi (6-5) allowed four hits over eight innings to outduel Hanshin’s Randy Messenger (11-9) as the Dragons swept their two-game series to eliminate the Tigers from pennant contention. PACIFIC LEAGUE Lions 8, Hawks 7 At Saitama’s Seibu Prince Dome, Tomoya Mori cracked a two-out, two-run, ninth-inning, walkoff double as Seibu scored three runs in the ninth off Fukuoka SoftBank closer Dennis Sarfate (0-7). Eagles 13, Fighters 4 At Tokyo Dome, Rakuten roughed up Luis Mendoza (7-6), who had been out for nearly a month with neck pain. The Hokkaido Nippon Ham right-hander surrendered six runs, five earned, in 3⅓ innings. Marines 7, Buffaloes 5 At Chiba’s QVC Marine Field, Katsuya Kakunaka brought the Marines from behind with a three-run, fifth-inning homer, and broke the tie in the sixth with a two-out, three-run double as Lotte came from behind to beat Orix.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2016/08/31/baseball/japanese-baseball/rookie-yabuta-helps-carp-move-closer-to-pennant/

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www.japantimes.co.jp/e30db990208c7c0141bd1987ce26f42362399816e82c1a389931ab92f12b1cd5.json

Japan, China and South Korea need to realize that tensions over their differences rise in the absence of top-level diplomatic contacts.

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Improving ties in Northeast Asia

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That foreign ministers of Japan, China and South Korea met in Tokyo this week to jointly urge North Korea to stop provocative acts such as its repeated ballistic missile launches and nuclear weapons tests shows that the three countries are better off coming together to deal with common regional challenges than in giving in to their mutual disputes. Officials of the three governments should also realize that tensions over the mutual differences rise in the absence of top-level diplomatic contacts. It is a positive development in that regard that the foreign ministers reportedly agreed to work toward realizing a trilateral summit of their national leaders in Japan by the end of the year. Wednesday’s talks among Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and his counterparts Wang Yi and Yun Byun-se were the first held in Tokyo in more than five years. The three countries have been taking turns since 2007 to host the trilateral foreign ministerial meeting, but it was canceled in 2013 and 2014 amid the deep confrontation between Tokyo and Beijing over the Japan-controlled Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. Just before the meeting began, North Korea fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) in the Sea of Japan. The missile is estimated to have flown roughly 500 km at a high-altitude trajectory — showing that it might have flown 1,000 km at a normal trajectory. The launch is yet another sign of progress in Pyongyang’s missile technology that poses an increasingly grave threat to regional security. The three foreign ministers together condemned the launch and urged countries to stand by the sanctions against North Korea under the U.N. Security Council. It’s unclear whether the statement by the foreign ministers will have any impact on stopping North Korea’s repeated acts of provocation. But divisions among the regional powers will only leave more room for Kim Jong Un to defy international pressure to halt his regime’s nuclear and missile programs. Japan, China and South Korea need to cooperate with all countries with a stake in the region to dispel this serious threat to stability. The Northeast Asian neighbors continue to face bitter bilateral differences to each other. Tensions have surged between Japan and China in recent weeks as dozens of Chinese coast guard vessels, along with hundreds of fishing boats, swarmed the waters around the Senkaku Islands for days, with some entering Japan’s territorial waters. Japan’s repeated protests over the moves — which may have been retaliation for Tokyo’s criticism of China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea, in particular its rejection of a recent ruling by an international tribunal in The Hague denying its claims — went unheeded, with Kishida lamenting the considerable deterioration in bilateral relations. Relations between China and South Korea, which until last year tended to take a joint stand against Japan over issues related to wartime history, have recently soured as Beijing protested Seoul’s decision last month for deployment of an advanced U.S. missile defense system on its soil to counter the growing threat of North Korean missiles — which China says will pose a threat to its own national security. In his talks with Yun on the sidelines of the trilateral meeting, Wang repeated the protest and urged South Korea to reverse the decision. Tokyo-Seoul ties have meanwhile turned for the better following the two government’s agreement last December to resolve the “comfort women” dispute over South Korean women forced into frontline brothels for the Japanese military before and during World War II. Just before the trilateral meeting on Wednesday, the government made a formal decision for the promised disbursement of ¥1 billion to a South Korean fund to help the victims and their families with medical and social care. Japan’s relations with its Northeast Asian neighbors have long been marred by wartime history-related issues and territorial rows. Previously, however, the three countries maintained close and frequent top-level diplomatic contacts despite their differences. That Wang’s attendance at this meeting in Tokyo marked the first visit by a Chinese foreign minister to Japan since President Xi Jinping took office in 2012 says a lot about the current state of Japan-China relations. Despite the progress on the comfort women issue, South Korean President Park Geun-hye has yet to visit Japan since she took office in 2013. Many of the bitter disputes are unlikely to go away easily, but the three governments should be able to keep the disputes from fueling mutual tensions — given their deep political, economic and social connections. Japan and China agreed in 2014 to use dialogue and consultations to prevent the Senkaku dispute from worsening. The recent bilateral tensions over the islands suggest that the two governments have yet to achieve that. The foreign ministerial talks should lead the three governments to seek more frequent top-level dialogue.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2016/08/26/editorials/improving-ties-northeast-asia/

en

www.japantimes.co.jp/05460b97936e20e578dd260370a0dd35d250aee4ed0d47273807b8bfd31e75d5.json

Seven months after a federal judge ordered the State Department to begin releasing monthly batches of the detailed daily schedules showing meetings by Hill

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U.S. won't finish releasing details of Clinton's meetings as secretary of state until after election

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Seven months after a federal judge ordered the State Department to begin releasing monthly batches of the detailed daily schedules showing meetings by Hillary Clinton during her time as secretary of state, the government has told The Associated Press it won’t finish the job before Election Day. The department has so far released about half of the schedules. Its lawyers said in a phone conference with the AP’s lawyers that the department now expects to release the last of the detailed schedules around Dec. 30, weeks before the next president is inaugurated. The AP’s lawyers late Friday formally asked the State Department to hasten that effort so that the department could provide all of Clinton’s minute-by-minute schedules by Oct. 15. The agency did not immediately respond. The schedules drew new attention this past week after the AP analyzed the ones released so far. The news agency found that more than half of the people outside the government who met or spoke by telephone with Clinton while she was secretary of state had given money — either personally or through companies or groups — to the Clinton Foundation. The AP’s analysis focused on people with private interests and excluded her meetings or calls with U.S. federal employees or foreign government representatives. The AP’s reporting was based on official calendars covering Clinton’s entire term plus the more-detailed daily schedules covering roughly half her time as secretary of state. The AP first asked for Clinton’s calendars in 2010 and again in 2013. It then sued the State Department in federal court to obtain the detailed schedules, and the department so far has provided about half of them under court order. Clinton has said the AP’s analysis was flawed because it did not account fully for all meetings and phone calls during her entire term as secretary. She also said the analysis should have included meetings with federal employees and foreign diplomats. The AP said it focused on her meetings with outsiders because those were more discretionary, as Clinton would normally meet with federal officials and foreign officials as part of her job. Clinton said she met with people outside government regardless of whether they gave money or charitable commitments to her family’s charity. “These are people I would be proud to meet with, as any secretary of state would have been proud to meet with, to hear about their work and their insights,” Clinton said this past week on CNN. With the foundation drawing continued attention, Clinton promised Friday to put in place additional safeguards to prevent conflicts of interest with the charity should she win the White House. The foundation issue, along with continued focus on her use of a private email server, dogged Clinton throughout the week, drawing strong criticism from Republican opponent Donald Trump. Trump spokesman Jason Miller released a statement Friday night saying: “It is unacceptable that the State Department is now refusing to release her official schedule before the election in full. Voters deserve to know the truth before they cast their ballots.” Former President Bill Clinton said a week ago that if she is elected president, the foundation will no longer accept foreign or corporate donations. The State Department is now estimating there are about 2,700 pages of schedules left. Under its process, it is reviewing and censoring them page by page to remove personal details such as private phone numbers or email addresses. In some cases it has censored names of people who met privately with Clinton or the subjects they discussed. A State Department spokeswoman, Elizabeth Trudeau, declined to discuss the ongoing case and noted the agency is struggling with thousands of public records requests. In court, the AP in December had asked U.S. District Judge Richard Leon to order the State Department to produce specific percentages of the remaining schedules every 30 days under a formula so that all would be released before the presidential primary elections were complete. Instead, because the State Department said it did not know how many pages were left, Leon ordered it in January to release at least 600 pages of schedules every 30 days. Each 600-page group covers about three months of Clinton’s tenure. Under the present rate, a government attorney working on behalf of the State Department notified the AP’s lawyers, it will take about four and a half months — or until Dec. 30 — to release all the remaining schedules through the end of Clinton’s term, in February 2013. The government’s notice late Thursday was the first time the State Department has provided the AP with a measure of how many pages were remaining and when it expected to complete the job. It was unclear whether the judge will reconsider his earlier decision and order faster results. In the AP’s lawsuit over other Clinton-related files, Leon has said it would be “ridiculous” to allow the State Department to delay until even weeks before the election. He also cited “mounting frustration that this is a project where the State Department may be running out the clock.”

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/08/27/world/politics-diplomacy-world/u-s-wont-finish-releasing-details-clintons-meetings-secretary-state-election/

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www.japantimes.co.jp/19010edc687940e5c290823f8b7bac1693aeae0a7b7e55fdbba6ddd6f1452e39.json

The government could finally pull the plug on the troubled Monju fast-breeder reactor after calculating that readying it for restart would cost several hundred billion yen.

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Japan considers scrapping fast-breeder reactor as costs mount

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The government is considering scrapping the troubled Monju fast-breeder reactor after calculating that readying it for restart would cost several hundred billion yen, sources said Monday. A political decision on decommissioning the reactor is now in sight, with Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga joining talks to determine its fate, the sources said. The facility in Fukui Prefecture has been beset by safety problems and has only been operational for a total of 250 days since it first went critical in 1994. Decommissioning Monju would deal a serious blow to the nation’s vaunted fuel cycle policy, in which the reactor was designed to play a central role. The plan is to develop a commercial fast-breeder reactor that produces more plutonium than it consumes. The science ministry has been trying to find a new entity to run the reactor, which is currently operated by the government-backed Japan Atomic Energy Agency. The ministry was ordered to do this by the Nuclear Regulation Authority in November, after the NRA expressed exasperation with the operator’s consistent failure to make the plant a success. Nuclear safety has been a hot-button issue in Japan in the wake of the disaster in 2011 at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant. The ministry has been consulting a panel of energy experts on whether to keep Monju alive or to scrap it but has failed to identify a new entity to take over management. In either case, substantial amounts of money are needed. The agency estimated in 2012 that it would cost around ¥300 billion to scrap the reactor in a process lasting over 30 years. Safety problems included a major fire caused by a sodium leak in 1995. The total of 250 operational days has come at a cost of more than ¥1 trillion in building and maintenance costs. If Monju restarts operations, the ministry says its fuel must be replaced. In the event of a restart, new guidelines for fast-breeder reactors must also be created and any related construction will have to reflect these guidelines. Making the building’s facilities meet the new guidelines will likely cost nearly ¥100 billion, the sources said, adding there would be further expenses for replacing old equipment.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/08/29/national/japan-considers-scrapping-fast-breeder-reactor-costs-mount/

en

www.japantimes.co.jp/b1142a710b64ee31f982a3ca16ae3b07a72c949706b2ea8c8c6d0b0b9796007a.json

Kept relatively peaceful by a handful of aging authoritarian leaders, the region is a ticking time bomb.

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Why Central Asia is less stable than it appears

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Important news rarely comes from countries whose names end with “stan,” but the hospitalization of Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov after he suffered a stroke last weekend is noteworthy indeed. Karimov, 78, who has run the country since 1988, has done nothing to ensure a smooth succession; and his country is probably the strongest bastion against Islamist extremism in Central Asia. “Fasten your seatbelts,” Gleb Pavlovsky, a former policy adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin who is now one of his opponents, posted on Facebook after Karimov was reported dead on Monday night. The reports, which first surfaced on the Fergana News portal — a Russian-language site that is probably the best source of day-to-day information on the authoritarian black-box state — were later denied by the Uzbek authorities. The latest available official information is from the presidential press service, which says that Karimov is in a hospital, and from Karimov’s younger daughter Lola’s Instagram account, which says he’s had a stroke and is in intensive care. So the president of Uzbekistan is officially undead, but very likely in the twilight zone dictators enter when they are about to give up power. Even if he has died, that will not be announced until there is a successor. According to longtime watchers of Uzbekistan’s opaque hierarchy, this is likely to be Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who has held the post since 2003. He wasn’t Karimov’s closest adviser — that distinction is said to belong to Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Azizov, who was in charge of more important economic portfolios — but he has patiently built a bigger regional support network, and he’s friendly with the powerful national security chief Rustam Innoyatov, who two years ago engineered the downfall of Karimov’s ambitious older daughter Gulnara. Whoever ends up succeeding Karimov won’t be the nation’s all-powerful founder. The transition can be uneventful, like in neighboring Turkmenistan after its founding president, Saparmurat Niyazov — who renamed the calendar months and had hundreds of statues of himself erected throughout the country — died in 2006. But it could also be stormier, destabilizing the entire region. Uzbekistan has a population of 30 million, 40 percent of it under the age of 25. There’s not enough work to go around in an economy tightly controlled by the government. Though Uzbekistan has been reporting economic growth of 8 percent a year or more for almost a decade, the statistics are about as reliable as those released by the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic’s State Planning Committee when Karimov worked there in the 1960s. Most of Uzbekistan’s wealth comes from exporting natural resources, such as gold and natural gas, much of it to China, but that wealth hasn’t filtered down to the ordinary people, especially in densely populated problem areas such as the Fergana Valley, which saw major riots in 2005. Karimov put them down brutally, but it’s unclear whether a successor would have the resolve and the authority to do it again, should the need arise. About 3 million Uzbeks work in Russia. In 2015, Uzbekistan was the biggest source of migrant labor for Russia after Ukraine. Most of these workers are honest laborers who just want to send money to their families, but Uzbek radicals have also used Russia as a stop on their path to the fighting in Syria. They can’t go directly, because Karimov has kept Islamic radicalism tightly suppressed. In 1999, there was a major purge of Islamist organizations in which 7,000 people were jailed. At the same time, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, a militant group that operated in the south of Central Asia, was squeezed from the mountains there into Afghanistan and Pakistan. Last year, it pledged allegiance to Islamic State. According to the Soufan Group, about 500 Uzbek citizens were fighting with Islamic State in Syria and Iraq late last year. That’s the highest number of all ex-Soviet republics except Russia, and it doesn’t include the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan since most of its fighters have long lost any ties to Uzbekistan. Karimov kept Uzbekistan secular by the sheer force of his security apparatus and military, which is, depending on the source, either the strongest in Central Asia or the second strongest after Kazakhstan’s. Russia has been aiding Uzbekistan, training its officers and providing its military with modern weapons, because the country is an important buffer between the boiling cauldron of Afghanistan and Russia’s sphere of immediate interest. Now that Karimov’s grip on power is weakening and succession is not assured, all the pent-up tension — some of it of the jihadist kind — may erupt in violence that could involve some of Russia’s Uzbek population. If Uzbekistan becomes unstable, Islamic State will be encouraged and empowered. This is a tense moment for the Kremlin, whose declared goal in the Middle East, including Syria, is to keep the Islamist threat away from its borders. President Vladimir Putin’s press secretary, Dmitri Peskov, has said Moscow was in constant touch with the leadership of Uzbekistan since Karimov’s hospitalization. Putin’s interest is probably in making sure Mirziyoyev, as the man best able to keep the situation under control, becomes Karimov’s successor and changes as little as possible in how the country is run. Beyond these obvious tactical considerations, though, the tension accompanying Karimov’s stroke is a reminder that in a large part of the former Soviet Union, including Russia’s two major allies, Kazakhstan and Belarus, there are no reliable democratic methods of power transfer. In Russia itself, should Putin fall seriously ill or die, the transition is unlikely to be smooth. The whole vast region is kept relatively peaceful by a handful of aging men, most with Soviet leadership experience, who have turned into authoritarian nationalist leaders. Should any of them go, instability arises immediately. The bloodless revolution of 1991, which destroyed the Soviet Union, is unfinished in many ways, but perhaps primarily in this one: The current regimes are placeholders for true statehood and, as such, ticking time bombs. Based in Berlin, Russian writer Leonid Bershidsky is a Bloomberg View columnist and the author of five books. He was the founding editor of the Russian business daily Vedomosti and founded the opinion website Slon.ru .

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2016/08/31/commentary/world-commentary/central-asia-less-stable-appears/

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www.japantimes.co.jp/36cfaf978b7fe87f1543a8b296b8f56e1c263438cf1593967961ecdd4eeb12fa.json

It's time to kick America's prosperous and capable friends off the U.S. defense dole and let them take responsibility for their own security.

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Trump has upset U.S. allies

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America collects allies like Americans collect Facebook friends. As a result, Washington defends more than a score of prosperous European states, several leading Asian nations and a gaggle of Middle Eastern regimes. Yet most of the countries on the Pentagon dole appear to be perpetually unhappy, constantly demanding reassurance of Washington’s love. Their sense of entitlement exceeds that of the typical trust fund baby. As a result, the United States is expected to protect virtually every prosperous, populous, industrialized nation. But that’s just a start. Washington also must coddle, pamper, praise, uplift, pacify, encourage and otherwise placate the same countries. Once great powers, they now believe it to be America’s duty to handle their defense. Alas, U.S. officials are only too willing to enable this counterproductive behavior. Except for Donald Trump. There is much to say about his candidacy, most of it bad. Nevertheless, he’s right not to be interested in reassuring allies. Which has horrified the gaggle of well-to-do nations on America’s defense dole. For instance, The New York Times reported “an undercurrent of quiet desperation” among European officials. They could instead have demonstrated “quiet determination” in choosing to rely on their collective economic strength and population—larger than America’s—to ensure their defense. But no. They went to Hillary Clinton’s campaign begging for, yes, reassurance! As for Washington’s major Asian defense dependents, Bloomberg explained that they found Trump’s views “baffling.” The South Korean newspaper JoongAng Ilbo proclaimed itself to be “dumbfounded.” The American people should feel betrayed by the rush of both Republicans and Democrats to promise well-heeled allies that they shouldn’t lose any sleep over Trump’s message, that nothing will change. Indeed, the Times reported that European leaders visiting the Democratic convention found the message “soothing.” (Cynics might call it obsequious, embarrassing and several other words best not repeated in polite company.) Washington officials simply have lost sight of why America should participate in an alliance. Never mind if a country is unable to do anything to advance America’s security, such as Montenegro, which has 2,080 men under arms. And don’t worry if the state would risk dragging the U.S. into unnecessary conflict, such as Ukraine. Alliances should be a means to an end. Their purpose is to increase American security. They aren’t particularly useful where there’s no significant threat to the U.S. Washington can easily deter any significant adversary on its own, and/or America’s friends are capable of protecting their own interests. Which is the case for most U.S. allies today. Vladimir Putin is a nasty fellow but has demonstrated no interest in challenging America. And while Moscow deploys a capable military, it would lose in a contest with the U.S. He doesn’t even appear to be much interested in Europe: The Russian republic, like the old empire, is primarily focused on border security and respect, not conquering non-Russian peoples. Anyway, Europe has a larger economy and population than America, and far larger than Russia. Europe has chosen to remain seemingly helpless. North Korea is an unpleasant actor but is interested in America only because it, in the form of 28,500 military personnel, is next door in the South. Yet South Korea enjoys a vast economic and technological lead, overwhelming international and diplomatic advantage, and a sizable population edge over the North. Seoul long ago should have graduated from America’s defense dole. China, like Russia, is a regional power unlikely to seek war with America, which enjoys a large military lead. Japan, which long possessed the world’s second-largest economy, could have done much more to advance its and the region’s defense for years. Even today Japan is well able to deter any Chinese threat to its existence. No Middle Eastern state directly threatens the U.S. America’s friends all are dominant: Israel is a regional superpower, Saudi Arabia vastly outpaces Iran in military expenditures, and Turkey’s armed forces, despite the aftermath of the coup attempt, is stronger than those of all of its neighbors, aside from Russia, which has no cause for conflict. Why is the U.S. providing all of these nations security commitments and military equipment? And reassuring governments desperately afraid that they might have to do more for their own defense? Instead, Washington should insist that its friends take over responsibility for their own security. It’s impossible to predict what Trump would do as president. However, he might be willing to put muscle behind bluster and kick nations off of the U.S. defense dole. Doug Bandow is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute who frequently writes about military non-interventionism. He is the author of several books including “Foreign Follies: America’s New Global Empire.”

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2016/08/29/commentary/world-commentary/trump-upset-u-s-allies/

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www.japantimes.co.jp/07a03359d0c9543c8e3cec062ef50f9ffeddf4fc4dfed81b02ee8e53f659e2bc.json

Wayne Rooney will remain as England captain but his midfield experiment with the national team is over, with the Manchester United veteran set to revert to

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Allardyce retains Rooney as captain

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Wayne Rooney will remain as England captain but his midfield experiment with the national team is over, with the Manchester United veteran set to revert to playing as a deep-lying forward under new coach Sam Allardyce. “Wayne has been an excellent captain for England and the manner in which he has fulfilled the role made it an easy decision for me to ask him to continue,” Allardyce said Monday, having taken his time to settle on who should have the armband after being hired in July. Rooney received the symbolically prestigious honor of captaining England on a permanent basis in 2014, taking over the role from Steven Gerrard. Rooney has played 115 times for England, putting him level with David Beckham as the country’s most-capped outfield player. England plays Slovakia in its opening World Cup qualifier on Sunday, for what will be Allardyce’s first game in charge. “Wayne’s record speaks for itself. He is the most senior member of the squad and he is hugely respected by his peers,” Allardyce said. “All of these factors point towards him being the right choice to lead the team.” Rooney finished last season playing as a central midfielder for United under Louis van Gaal, and played there for England during its European Championship campaign that ended with an embarrassing last-16 loss to Iceland. New United manager Jose Mourinho has returned Rooney to the No. 10 role behind the striker, and Allardyce also thinks that’s his best position. “Wayne’s position has changed at Manchester United,” Allardyce said, “and that’s the sort of position I’d be looking for him to be playing in.” The player most affected by that positional tweak is Ross Barkley, who was dropped on Sunday by Allardyce in his first squad announcement since replacing Roy Hodgson as England coach. Barkley plays in the same position as United captain Rooney at Everton, and has started the season in good form for his club with two goals in four games. With Dele Alli included in England’s squad, it appears there was no room for another attacking playmaker. “We have had to make some very difficult decisions, none more so than obviously I would think Ross Barkley,” Allardyce said. “But you have to make these decisions. The door will always be open for Ross, but at this moment I felt the squad I picked is the right one.”

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2016/08/30/soccer/allardyce-retains-rooney-captain/

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www.japantimes.co.jp/27064fd6cc6c7ebd79fa56c3efd42d91491d8dd4cbed070694b83bb02d589dce.json

Buying or building your dream home in Japan can be nearly impossible.

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Building dreams in Japan

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Priory Cottage in the heart of London’s Islington borough was more than a house and a home; it was a slice of history. To sell it was a wrench; but to buy a property in Japan was a weird and wonderful adventure through a series of misadventures on the other side of a perverse looking glass. The old classical brick house was built in 1798, and briefly featured in Charles Dickens’ Bleak House novel. An extension in the 1970s turned it into a three-story cottage; at the back it added a sloping glass roof commanding a long drawing room with a floor of black Welsh slate. On a fine day, this was a wonderful place to be with a book or good companions and a glass of something inspiring. In the morning there was sweet birdsong from the trees and bushes, apple, plum and cherry (not the raucous cawing of greedy crows that is the signature of Osaka). After 215 years the house was strong, with deep foundations built to last. National and local rules ensured that it would last. We were told that we would need permission to change the color of the front door — so it stayed, shining black with a lion knocker, and solid enough to resist a battering ram. We needed special permission to cut down a diseased cherry tree because the gap it created would change the eye line of the street. The value of the house increased, from £7,500 in the 1970s, £190,000 by the late 1980s to more than £1.5 million. Osaka was a different story, where the typical life of houses is just 30 years. My wife perceptively remarked after returning from an extended period of research in Manchester that as her aircraft turned for its approach to Osaka, “I wanted to weep. Some giant had tipped a huge can of garbage over Japan’s countryside.” Town planning is not a strong Japanese suit. Electricity pylons rampaging the landscape, endless concreted countryside, dammed rivers reduced to trickles, ugly advertisement boards for used cars proliferating like mushrooms, squalid blocks of flats and houses that seem to have been built of tiles stolen from lavatory walls or disused shipping containers are not a pleasing sight, but are common. The factors leading to the early death of a Japanese house are varied. Severe death duties, and the shift of young people from rural areas to the bright lights of the cities are among reasons for building new. There is also the poor quality of many houses built in the last decades, and the destructive nexus between construction companies, bureaucrats and politicians, who scratch each other’s backs with funding. Bureaucrats regularly update building codes for fire and earthquake prevention, and big house-builders say it is tedious and costly to update existing properties. Japanese often disdain “pre-used houses” and sometimes claim that earthquakes make old houses with wood frames, the most common material, unsafe. Yet some of Japan’s most beautiful structures are wooden temples that have withstood the ravages of nature for centuries. Japan is damaging itself and its economy by this attitude that turns houses into consumer durables, like cars or even refrigerators with steadily declining value, rather than as capital goods that store and increase value. Yet the government of Shinzo Abe has extended tax breaks on new homes until 2017, even as the number of vacant houses has risen to more than 8 million, or 18 percent of the national housing stock. What a waste. But we had to live in the real world, not one of our wishful imagination. We began searching for houses that looked unlived in or land already leveled, but were always too late. Developers always had a head start and usually leveled a house and parceled the land into two or three lots. The inheritance tax may be the push factor, but developers’ quest for profits is a powerful pull cutting urban land into almost rabbit hutch sizes. We looked at apartments. A new block was going up near Osaka University, but the new flats were uniformly 69 to a maximum 79 sq. meters and the rooms were cramped and uncomfortable, as if the developers wanted obsolescence built in. The house agent predicted that the flats, selling for upwards of ¥45 million, would lose a third of their value in 10 years. Eventually we found a piece of land with a shabby house crying for demolition, little better than the prefabricated shacks I used to see going to school in my bomb-ravaged English city in the 1950s. So was this the dream opportunity to build a dream house? Dream on. We had foolishly imagined that a local council that builds regiments of public flats with no individual character except their rank numbers — memorably D14, C26, H15 and so on — would allow us a free hand in creating something special. Local bureaucrats have no interest in good taste or aesthetics, but they are wedded to their rules and regulations and love to impose taxes. They decreed that the house can cover only 40 percent of the total plot with a maximum of two stories. Of course the council’s own flats do not conform to any of these restrictions. The council collects a tax for supervising the demolition of the old building, a tax if you want to include a garage or even a carport, a tax if you install a lift to help elderly parents. On the other hand there is a banquet of concessions mostly inspired by the national government for building a new house for energy saving, and even for having a handrail in the bath. Given the maze of planning restrictions, we decided it would be foolhardy to go it alone. We approached the big house-building companies, which dominate the market, have experience in dealing with the tedious bureaucrats and offer an in-house architect. We rejected the pushy young architects offering a steel frame and a how-smart-we-are design that used only 80 percent of the possible area, guarded by a concrete wall blocking prying eyes. Its price was more than the cost of the land. We chose Mitsui Home, whose local executive Yoshihisa Harima had the wit to learn that we were looking for a house and followed us in our quest, giving generally sensible advice about the advantages and pitfalls of the sites we were considering. Harima-san put together a team including architect Yoshitaka Takahashi and interior design coordinator Ryoko Kashihara. We then had multiple two-hour sessions in Japanese discussing everything from the grand matters of the structure and construction materials, the energy system and planning of rooms down to the location of electrical outlets, the furnishings and the exact hue — bright white or soft yellow — of the lighting in specific rooms. This was meticulous Japan at its careful best, impressive attention to the big picture and the smallest detail. After each session, we signed a list summarizing the discussions. Work started only after two months of these discussions. Big brother bureaucrat frequently bugged us. I suggested an oven, not a microwave or a toaster, but a proper oven for cooking and baking, where we could put a dish and leave it to slow-cook for hours. But Japanese homes don’t do ovens. Almost all kitchens have a stove top with three — not four — burners, whether gas or electric. Below that is a fish grilling unit, and below that storage space. This Japanese ultra-conformity is disturbing. In the end, we got the oven, but settled for a maximum capacity of 45 liters or the bureaucrats consider it to be a restaurant or commercial establishment and subject to endless extra health and safety and security requirements. In the United Kingdom, 70-plus liters capacity is normal. Construction started in October. The brickies, like their British counterparts, like stopping for cups of tea and cigarettes. When I arrived to photograph progress, one brickie was ladling cement in a carefree manner and had a large handkerchief on his head. After colleagues spotted me, he scuttled away and put the regulation safety helmet on top of his kerchief. On the other hand, Japanese building standards are the highest in the world, especially with a wooden frame like ours. The outer walls are of ceramic concrete that is supposed to be ivory white but looks yellow in the sun. The layers of inner cladding are so well insulated that Mitsui Home boasts that heat will not escape to melt snow on a Hokkaido roof in winter. We were also impressed by the on-site inspections of architect Takahashi and his teams of specialists checking that the work was on schedule and to quality. Now we have a home with almost 240 meters of space, proper room to cook, dine and entertain, or just sit and read and think with a glass of something inspiring. Maybe not the Dream House we imagined, but a house fit for dreaming in. I pray that it will last. Kevin Rafferty is a veteran journalist and former World Bank official.

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Myanmar has a unique opportunity to end decades of ethnic rebellions in various parts of the country, leader Aung San Suu Kyi said Wednesday as she promise

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Myanmar has unique chance to forge peace, Suu Kyi says

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Myanmar has a unique opportunity to end decades of ethnic rebellions in various parts of the country, leader Aung San Suu Kyi said Wednesday as she promised that her government will guarantee rebel groups equal rights and respect in historic peace talks. Suu Kyi was speaking at the start of the five-day negotiations aimed at ending decades of separatist insurgencies that have claimed thousands of lives. The talks are being attended by representatives of 17 of the 20 major ethnic groups, including the Karen, Kachin, Shan and Wa, who make up 40 percent of the country’s population. “This is a unique opportunity for us to accomplish a great task that will stand as a landmark throughout our history,” said Suu Kyi, whose official title is state counsellor although she is the real power in the government, above the president. “Let us grasp this magnificent opportunity with wisdom, courage and perseverance and create a future infused with light.” The peace talks are called Union Peace Conference — 21st Century Panglong, a reference to the Panglong Agreement brokered in 1947 by Suu Kyi’s late father, independence hero Gen. Aung San, in the town of Panglong, when Myanmar was still ruled by Britain. The deal granted ethnic minorities autonomy and the right to secede if they worked with the federal government to break away from Britain together. But Aung San was assassinated the following year and the deal fell apart. Since then, ethnic groups have accused successive, mostly military, governments of failing to honor the 1947 pact. The first uprising — launched by ethnic Karen insurgents — began shortly after independence. Since then other ethnic groups have also taken up arms with roughly the same aim — to fight for autonomy while resisting “Burmanization,” a push by the Burman ethnic majority to propagate its language, religion and culture in ethnic minority regions. The rebel armies control a patchwork of remote territories rich in jade and timber that are located mostly in the north and east along the borders with China and Thailand. Suu Kyi said her National League for Democracy party’s aim has always been to hold political negotiations “based on the Panglong spirit and the principle of finding solutions through the guarantee of equal rights, mutual respect and mutual confidence between all ethnic nationalities.” “The government that emerged after the 2015 elections is determined to uphold the same principles,” she said, referring to the landmark elections that brought the NLD to power after decades of military rule. The previous military-backed government brokered individual truces with various insurgent groups and oversaw a cease-fire covering eight minor insurgencies last year that fell short of a nationwide deal. Skirmishes, particularly in northern zones where Kachin insurgents are fighting the army, have displaced more than 100,000 civilians since 2011 alone. At least 100,000 more have sought refuge in squalid camps in neighboring Thailand, and are unlikely to return home until true peace takes hold. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the head of armed forces Gen. Min Aung Hlaing are also attending the conference. “All our people around the country want peace. So I do believe we will be successful in getting it at the conference,” said Khun Than Myint, the facilitator of the meeting. “It is still too early to say” whether this Panglong conference is representative of the aspirations of all groups, said Khu Oo Reh, the spokesman of the United Nationalities and Federal Council, a group that represents all ethnic armed groups. “But we really hope that we can achieve real democracy and equality for all ethnic groups, and self-determination in our region.”

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/08/31/asia-pacific/myanmar-unique-chance-forge-peace-suu-kyi-says/

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A week after the launch of "Pokemon Go," Naomi Schanen asks six people on the streets of Tokyo whether they thought the augmented reality game is still a big thing.

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Views from Tokyo: Is 'Pokemon Go' here to stay or just a fad?

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Simon Brewer English teacher, 30 (British) It’s dying off a little bit, but I’m sure the creators’ have a few things up their sleeve, like plans on releasing new Pokemon. Compared to existing augmented reality games on the Nintendo 3DS, the accessibility of this game means it’s more likely to stay. Takao Miura Consultant, 27 (Japanese) One second, I’m in the middle of playing Pokemon Go. I jumped to it as soon as it came out in Japan, but I got bored of it pretty quickly. It’s a way to kill time more than anything now. Nevertheless, it’s fun — I feel like a kid again. Misaki Yuasa Student, 18 (Japanese) Everybody around me is still playing it, and I think it’ll take a while for the hype to die down. But, honestly, as long as people are staying out of trouble and spending time outside playing the game, I don’t see a problem with it. Cristin Allmang Student, 21 (German) You see people you wouldn’t usually associate with being gamers, playing “Pokemon Go” — I think it’s great. I’ve always wanted to be able to train and fight with others in this way, so for me, it’s nostalgic and a total dream come true! Dennis Bernal Restaurant staff, 43 (Filipino) With all my friends playing it, I felt like I had to, in order to fit in. It’s getting more popular everyday, especially with the older generations. I’ll admit, it’s addicting, so it requires a lot of self-control, but I don’t regret it — it makes me feel young again! Manjeet & Satti Gill 30s (British) We can very much see the appeal, but people need to know their limits and take safety into consideration when playing it to prevent silly accidents. Every hit has its drop, though — it’s most likely just a passing fad.

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A JAL jet averted tragedy by fractions of seconds when it landed on a runway that was blocked by a maintenance vehicle. It accelerated and took off, missin

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Air inquiry faults control tower after JAL near-miss with car

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A JAL jet averted tragedy by fractions of seconds when it landed on a runway that was blocked by a maintenance vehicle. It accelerated and took off, missing the vehicle by a few meters, a Japan Transport Safety Board report said in a final report Friday. An air traffic controller cleared the Boeing 767 to land at Tokushima Airport in Shikoku on April 5, 2015, despite earlier allowing a maintenance worker to drive onto the runway to replace burned-out lamps. “It is probable that the tower … had forgotten about the presence of the work vehicle,” the report said. The inquiry blamed the sole controller on duty at the time, who was likely distracted. The incident highlights the pressures such personnel face, particularly when handling multiple tasks without a second pair of eyes to watch for mistakes. At 10:40 a.m. on the day, a maintenance worker radioed the tower for permission to drive a vehicle onto the runway to replace bulbs in marker lights. This was granted. The tower controller then became occupied in clearing an unrelated aircraft for departure. When approaching flight JA455 radioed in at 10:53 a.m., the tower operator cleared it to land. The plane touched down in poor visibility about 550 meters from the car. At that moment, a pilot spotted a flashing light on the car and threw the engines into acceleration. The plane gathered speed and took off again, passing over the vehicle at an estimated altitude of 40 feet (12 meters), the report said. There were no injuries among the 67 people aboard. The pilots’ actions were seen as all the more creditable because there was poor visibility amid light rain, and a strong crosswind meant the landing was a difficult one, the report said. The JTSB said controllers typically use a simple trick to remind themselves when a runway is closed by hanging a large sign over a set of dials in front of them. In this instance, the controller did not do this. An aircraft landing on a closed runway is classed as a serious incident under Japan’s civil aviation law. The JTSB said it informed authorities in the U.S., as is normal given that the jet was made by an American manufacturer. In July last year, bleary-eyed JAL pilots accelerated a Boeing 767 for takeoff down a taxiway rather than a runway in the early hours at Singapore’s Changi Airport. JAL flight 38 bound for Haneda gathered speed before an alert air traffic controller noticed the mistake and radioed it to halt. The two pilots failed to report the incident to the airline and were suspended. Singapore’s Air Accident Investigation Board is expected to release a final report into that incident shortly.

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In the latest of a long series of gaffes, Finance Minister Taro Aso has hit out at brokerage workers — a profession he's responsible for overseeing.

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Gaffe-prone Aso brands brokerage workers 'shady types'

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In the latest of a long series of gaffes, Finance Minister Taro Aso has hit out at brokerage workers — a profession he’s responsible for overseeing. “People have a preconception that investing in bonds and stocks is dangerous, and that’s correct,” Aso said at a forum Tuesday in Tokyo. “Most of my classmates who worked for security firms were extremely shady types.” Half a century ago, all students knew that real estate and brokerages were dodgy, he said, adding that classmates who went into securities companies were doing what “basically amounts to a scam, or pretty close to it.” The remarks add to a long list of verbal blunders by Aso, 75, who is deputy prime minister, finance minister and also financial services minister. In 2009, while he was prime minister, he said stock trading was considered dodgy in regional Japan and that the financial sector wasn’t trusted. In June, he wondered aloud how long a 90-year-old pensioner intended to keep living. In 2013, he said the medical system shouldn’t use resources to extend the lives of elderly people, before clarifying to say that he was talking about himself. The same year he also said the government could learn from the Nazis on ways to change the Constitution.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/08/31/business/taro-aso-labels-brokerage-workers-shady-types/

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Midway through his first at-bat Sunday, Blue Jays slugger Josh Donaldson was hopping around in pain after fouling a ball off his right knee. From there, he

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Blue Jays' Donaldson hits three home runs

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Midway through his first at-bat Sunday, Blue Jays slugger Josh Donaldson was hopping around in pain after fouling a ball off his right knee. From there, he was all smiles. Donaldson had his first career three-homer game, Troy Tulowitzki also went deep and the Blue Jays beat the Twins 9-6 on Sunday to complete a three-game sweep. Donaldson hit a solo homer off Kyle Gibson in the second, then delivered a go-ahead, two-run blast off Pat Light (0-1) in the seventh. “It’s one of those things, as a baseball player, you want to happen one day,” Donaldson said. “You don’t know if it’s ever going to happen, it’s kind of a rare thing. I was happy to do it.” Dozens of fans tossed hats onto the field to celebrate the home run hat trick after Donaldson, the AL MVP in 2015, hit a solo shot off Alex Wimmers in the eighth. Groundskeepers and even the Blue Jays mascot helped clear the hats away. Donaldson came out for a curtain call as the crowd of 47,444 roared their approval. “I’ve never had a curtain call before so that was nice,” Donaldson said. “I tried to enjoy it for a second. (Encarnacion) was on deck after I hit the third one and he had a huge smile on his face. That kind of brought it into reality a little bit there.” Donaldson’s fourth multihomer game this season and the 10th of his career also marked the 17th three-homer game in the majors this season. “It doesn’t get any better than that,” manager John Gibbons said. “He’s heating up.” Jose Bautista had his first three-hit game of the season for the AL East-leading Blue Jays. Minnesota lost its season-worst 10th straight. The Twins have lost seven straight in Toronto. “We scored over 20 runs in three games and couldn’t find a way to win one,” manager Paul Molitor said. “It shows you how they’re rolling offensively.” Orioles 5, Yankees 0 In New York, Kevin Gausman tamed the torrid Yankees hitters, Mark Trumbo lined his major league-leading 40th home run and Steve Pearce also connected to help Baltimore avert a sweep. Angels 5, Tigers 0 In Los Angeles, former Tiger Jefry Marte had three RBI and Tyler Skaggs shut down Detroit. Rays 10, Astros 4 In Houston, Chris Archer struck out 10 in seven innings, Corey Dickerson hit a three-run homer and Tampa Bay beat the Astros. White Sox 4, Mariners 1 In Chicago, Carlos Rodon pitched into the seventh inning, Justin Morneau had a two-run single and Melky Cabrera drove in a run and scored twice. Royals 10, Red Sox 4 In Boston, Raul Mondesi hit a bases-loaded triple and Eric Hosmer added a two-run single during an eight-run sixth inning. Rangers 2, Indians 1 In Arlington, Texas, Derek Holland allowed one run over six innings, and new left fielder Carlos Gomez made two highlight-reel catches. INTERLEAGUE Athletics 7, Cardinals 4 In St. Louis, rookie Andrew Triggs earned his first win and Stephen Vogt and Khris Davis homered.

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Fukushima scenario involves token 11,000 residents; real-life exodus could be chaotic

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Fukushima scenarios used in evacuation drills at two Japanese nuclear plants

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Some 11,000 thousand residents of Fukui and Kyoto prefectures participated in two major disaster drills on Saturday and Sunday centered on hypothetical nuclear accidents at Kansai Electric Power Co.’s Takahama and Oi nuclear power stations. The exercises were jointly organized by the central government and the prefectural governments of Fukui, Shiga and Kyoto. Saturday’s drill at Takahama involved about 9,000 residents. It was intended to examine the workability of evacuation plans approved by the national government last December. The scenario was a strong earthquake off Wakasa Bay, near the plant. The tremor measured a lower 6 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 0 to 7. The facility’s No. 3 reactor was assumed to have lost all power, leading to the release of radioactive substances — as happened at the Fukushima No. 1 plant in 2011. Evacuation plans require residents within 5 km of plants to evacuate immediately upon an accident occurring. Those living up to 30 km away are meant to stay indoors until radiation alarms detect fallout in the air. Some experts have cast doubt on whether it is a good idea to order people to stay indoors when reactors are spewing radiation. For example, when quakes pummeled Kyushu this spring, about 160,000 houses and buildings collapsed. If that were to occur in Fukui, many residents would find it difficult to shelter indoors. In the Kumamoto earthquake, there were cases where people returned to their homes after the initial quake, only to be hit when houses collapsed in the second quake, said Hirotada Hirose, a professor emeritus at Tokyo Woman’s Christian University, a specialist in disaster risk management. “If a severe nuclear disaster occurs, evacuating in phases isn’t likely to go well,” he said. “The evacuation plan should assume many scenarios.” These could include cases where an earthquake cuts traffic, jamming the roads with panicking residents who ignore advice and are trying to flee in large numbers. Nonetheless, Saturday’s exercise finished without any major hiccups. “By doing the drills with local governments and residents over and over again, disaster-prevention skills will improve,” said Fukui Gov. Issei Nishikawa. As part of the exercise, at the town hall of Mihama, Fukui Prefecture, Kansai Electric workers screened evacuees for radiation exposure. They also checked the buses for contamination. One of the would-be evacuees was Masatoshi Nose, 46, a city government employee from Obama, Fukui Prefecture. “As this is a drill, I was able to come here smoothly,” Nose said. “But in a real disaster situation, it may take an entire day.” Also, poor visibility scrubbed plans to use a Ground Self-Defense Force helicopter to extract 20 residents from near Takahama. About 180,000 people live within 30 km of the plant whose No. 3 and No. 4 reactors were restarted in January and February, only to be halted again after the Otsu District Court in Shiga in March issued a provisional injunction following a petition by residents. Meanwhile, on Sunday about 2,000 local residents participated in an evacuation drill under a scenario where Kansai Electric’s Oi nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture experiences a catastrophic accident. The drill was organized by the Fukui Prefectural Government. The residents took shelter in their homes or evacuated to elsewhere in the prefecture as part of an effort to test response times to an accident. The evacuation drill was only carried out within Fukui Prefecture itself as no evacuation plan covering a wider area has been drawn up for the plant, located in the town of Oi. Residents within 5 km of the plant fled to the city of Tsuruga, and Oi residents within 30 km of the plant moved to the city of Ono, about 100 km away. For the evacuees from Oi, a facility was set up for the distribution of iodine tablets to mitigate radiation exposure and to check for contamination.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/08/28/national/fukushima-scenarios-used-evacuation-drills-two-japanese-nuclear-plants/

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Competition to sate Japanese nicotine addicts is heating up. Philip Morris International Inc. and Japan Tobacco Inc. have rolled out products that are heat

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Japan Tobacco playing catchup as nation takes to vaping in big way

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Competition to sate Japanese nicotine addicts is heating up. Philip Morris International Inc. and Japan Tobacco Inc. have rolled out products that are heated — not burned — in battery-charged devices, seeking to appeal to smokers who want their nicotine fix without the usual smell and smoke. The move, part of the rapidly growing global vaping trend, has created a bright spot on Japan’s otherwise bleak tobacco market. The approach is winning devotees because it avoids the part of smoking that involves setting tobacco on fire and inhaling the smoky fumes. In fact, demand for the cigarette alternatives — while still tiny compared with the paper-rolled type — has grown faster than manufacturers had anticipated, leaving Japan Tobacco grappling with a supply bottleneck and ceding ground to Philip Morris, the world’s largest tobacco company. “Our goal for Japan is to switch every consumer we have to this,” said Paul Riley, who joined Philip Morris in Sydney in 1988 and became its Japan unit’s president last September. “For me, it’s like a no-brainer. The biggest thing is we know that smoking kills. If we’ve got an alternative to that, that’s a pretty good reason to switch.” $50 billion market Sales of electronic nicotine delivery systems are booming. Within a decade, the industry has grown from a single manufacturer in China in 2005 to 466 brands on the market, according to the World Health Organization. More than $50 billion may be spent annually on the devices worldwide by 2030, WHO says, noting “concern about the role of the tobacco industry in this market” and the potential for the products to serve as a “gateway to nicotine addiction.” Most of the products haven’t been tested widely enough by independent scientists to gauge any harm-reduction benefits and to determine whether they can help smokers quit. Still, the reduced exposure to toxicants of well-regulated devices by adult smokers as a complete substitution for cigarettes is likely to be less toxic for the smoker than conventional cigarettes or other combusted tobacco products, the Geneva-based WHO said in a September 2014 report. Companies have seized on that in Japan, where the smoking rate among adults has been falling for decades, dropping below 20 percent in 2014 — the lowest since annual surveys began in 1965. Cigarette sales declined 0.7 percent to $32.1 billion in Japan last year, while vapor-producing products increased fivefold to $4.6 million, according to Euromonitor International. Japan Tobacco shares have dropped about 14 percent so far this year, in line with the decline of the MSCI Japan Food, Beverage and Tobacco Index. “Tobacco companies are seeking the chance for new opportunities in the tobacco market in Japan,” said Akari Utsunomiya, a research analyst with Euromonitor in Tokyo. So-called electronic cigarettes have shown “strong potential,” she said in an email. “The product is seen as extremely hygienic in a country that values both cleanliness, as well as being seen as ‘more healthy’ due to the lack of smoke compared to cigarettes.” Philip Morris began selling its heat-not-burn vaporizer, called iQOS, nationwide in Japan in April after testing it in selected sites from 2014. Monthly sales in the 10 countries in which it’s sold now top 250,000, with Japan accounting for more than 95 percent. The ¥9,980 device, which works by inserting a tobacco-containing HeatStick into a cigar-shaped heating device, has more than 6 percent of the broader cigarette market in Tokyo, according to Phillip Morris’s Riley, who expects that share to double in the next year. A pack of 20 Marlboro-brand HeatSticks sells for ¥460 — the same as a traditional pack of 20 Marlboro cigarettes. ‘Game changer’ Tetsuo Yamamoto, a 40-year-old Tokyo designer, said he took up using iQOS to help him quit his 20-year-long smoking habit. Now, he says he can’t stand the bitterness and smell of paper cigarettes. “I’m relieved as my wife doesn’t complain any more if I take a puff in front of her,” Yamamoto said. “It’s a game changer,” said Masashi Mori, an equities analyst at Credit Suisse Group AG in Tokyo, who sees vapor-producing products eventually gaining a 10 percent foothold in Japan’s tobacco market. “There is no doubt that iQOS is taking the lead, and it looks like Japan Tobacco is still testing the water from both the production and marketing perspective.” Japan Tobacco began selling its Ploom Tech system in March in about 900 convenience stores and retail outlets in Fukuoka Prefecture as well as via an online store. The pen-shaped, battery-powered device uses vapor from heated liquid to deliver the taste and other properties of granulated tobacco leaves in a capsule. A week after its release, Ploom Tech shipments were suspended as demand exceeded supply. When deliveries resumed, about 100,000 online orders were received in around 15 days, Executive Deputy President Hideki Miyazaki told reporters in Tokyo in August. Supply crunch “The market response was tremendous — beyond our expectations — and we are still having to limit our product supply,” said Naohiro Minami, Japan Tobacco’s chief financial officer, on an Aug. 2 conference call with analysts and investors, according to a transcript. The device costs ¥4,000 and is used in combination with one of three types of tobacco capsule from the company’s best-selling Mevius brand. A pack of five capsules sells for ¥460, ¥20 more than a 20-stick pack of the brand’s traditional cigarettes. Nicotine-laced liquid — commonly used in e-cigarettes popular in the U.S. — is categorized as a pharmaceutical ingredient in Japan, where it’s strictly controlled. In contrast, vapor-producing products that use tobacco leaves, such as iQOS and Ploom Tech, are viewed as pipe tobacco, while nonnicotine e-cigarettes aren’t regulated in Japan and are available even to minors. Vaping Ape Keiichi Ando sought to catch the emerging vaping wave in Tokyo two years ago, opening a Vaping Ape store in Shibuya, a shopping and entertainment district popular with teenagers. While none of the more than 150 varieties he stocks contains nicotine, sales have been increasing gradually, Ando said. On a visit to the fog-cloaked shop last week, one customer said switching to vaping helped him quit using tobacco. Japan Tobacco is already feeling the heat. On Aug. 1, it cut its domestic sales target for paper cigarettes by 1 billion units to 107 billion for the year ending this December to reflect competition from the vaped alternatives after suffering a 7.9 percent slide in the volume of stick sales in July. With plans to invest “several tens of billions of yen” in tobacco-vaping over the next four years, Japan Tobacco aims to become the market leader, Miyazaki told reporters. He didn’t say when Ploom Tech would be released nationwide or overseas. “A lot of our customers are still waiting for Ploom Tech, so we will boost production as soon as possible,” said Masanao Takahashi, director of the company’s emerging products marketing division, in an interview. “They just continue to sell out at shops in Fukuoka.”

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/08/31/national/japan-tobacco-playing-catchup-nation-takes-vaping-big-way/

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Devin Gardner's X League debut turned out to be a bittersweet experience. The former Michigan quarterback threw a touchdown pass to Jeremy Gallon, another

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Gardner shines in debut but fails to lead Rise to win

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Devin Gardner’s X League debut turned out to be a bittersweet experience. The former Michigan quarterback threw a touchdown pass to Jeremy Gallon, another ex-Wolverine, and scored another, but failed to lead his Nojima Sagamihara Rise to a victory over the Obic Seagulls, who came from behind to win 14-13 on Sunday at Fujitsu Stadium Kawasaki. “The game was OK. It wasn’t as good as I would’ve wanted because we didn’t win,” said Gardner, who completed 21 of 37 passes for 290 yards. “I expect to win every time. That is how we should take things.” That is what the Rise expect after importing the Gardner-Gallon hotline, which produced a Big Ten-record 369 yards and two touchdowns against Indiana three years ago. The duo played together from 2010-13 at Michigan, where Gallon set a single-season school record for receiving yards (1,373) in 2013. They were reunited on Sunday and connected 10 times for 87 yards and a score. It was clear that Gardner relied on Gallon most when none of the other Rise receivers caught more than four times. But their first game together in Japan did not go as they expected. The Seagulls often used the blitz to put pressure on Gardner, who was sacked at least three times and was forced to hurry on several other occasions. One of the major differences he saw in the game was that he had less time in the pocket. “We didn’t have much time to throw. (The Seagulls ) blitzed a lot. Their front seven are really good,” Gardner said. “(Pass protection) is the thing we have to work on in the practices. We have to protect better and find different ways to give more time.” Gardner, however, did show his jaw-dropping skills to the 3,022 crowd. His passes had fine zip and velocity, which the Rise receivers will have to get used to. The 193-cm quarterback’s runs were almost unstoppable. Naoki Kosho, the Seagulls coach, was one of the many who were impressed by Gardner. “He is a different type of quarterback than we have seen here in Japan,” Kosho, a former linebacker, said. “He caused some things to happen that we have not seen before.” But in the end, Kosho, a rookie head coach, stood on the winning side mainly thanks to his own American quarterback. Obic’s Jerry Neuheisel, a UCLA product, threw two touchdown passes — the first a 56-yard bomb to Noriaki Kinoshita, and the second a 31-yarder to Aruto Nishimura with 3:26 remaining in the game that turned out to be the winner. The Rise missed the extra-point kick after their second touchdown, a 2-yard run by Garder 6:10 into the final quarter, and that made the difference to the score.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2016/08/28/more-sports/football/gardner-shines-debut-fails-lead-rise-win/

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Prime Minister Abe needs to show that Japan is serious about seeking a world free of nuclear weapons.

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Twisted stance on nuclear weapons

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Two recent developments concerning nuclear weapons highlighted Japan’s twisted position — of advocating the abolition of nuclear arms as the sole nation in history to have experienced atomic attacks while depending on the “umbrella” of the nuclear arsenals of its ally, the United States, for its own security. Tokyo abstained from the vote at a United Nations-mandated panel last Friday that recommended to the General Assembly the launch of negotiations for an international treaty banning nuclear weapons. It has meanwhile been reported that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe conveyed his objection to a nuclear weapons “no first use” policy contemplated by U.S. President Barack Obama, although Abe denies it. Though regrettable, both Japan’s vote at the U.N. working group on nuclear disarmament in Geneva and Abe’s reported opposition to Obama’s nuclear policy review comes as little surprise. Tokyo has often deferred to the position of nuclear powers on issues of disarmament. Abe’s concern — reportedly conveyed in a recent meeting with the head of the U.S. Pacific Command — that a U.S. declaration of a no first use policy could undermine the deterrence of its nuclear arsenal against countries such as North Korea sounds consistent with Japan’s policy of relying on the U.S. nuclear umbrella for its defense. The question is whether Japan should continue to adhere to such a position. Possible talks at the U.N. on a legal framework for banning nuclear weapons — based on the majority recommendation by the working group — could put Tokyo’s dilemma over nuclear disarmament in focus. Obama’s nuclear policy review may hit a snag due to objections from inside his administration and key U.S. allies, but should Japan be among the parties to oppose a policy that could significantly reduce the security role of nuclear weapons? These developments should give the nation a chance to publicly discuss and rethink its twisted reliance on nuclear weapons. The majority vote at the U.N. working group that adopted a report urging the General Assembly to begin talks on a treaty banning nuclear weapons reflected the split between the non-nuclear countries calling for the prohibition of such weapons on one hand, and nuclear powers — which have boycotted the working group discussions since February — and countries that rely on the nuclear umbrella of their allies, such as Japan and NATO members. The U.S. allies reportedly opposed such talks, insisting that nuclear disarmament should only proceed in tandem with security considerations and calling for an “incremental” approach to phasing out nuclear arsenals. The panel members voted 68 to 22 to adopt the report, with Japan among the 13 that abstained from the vote. Japan’s representative at the U.N. panel discussions reportedly deplored that participants did not spend enough time to reach a consensus, and expressed concern that the panel’s decision “will further divide the international disarmament community and undermine the momentum of nuclear disarmament for the international community as a whole.” But while Japan has vowed to bridge the divide between nuclear powers and non-nuclear countries, its abstention on the vote signifies the nation’s dilemma and inaction over the issue. Unlike the Security Council, where the nuclear powers hold veto rights as permanent members, the General Assembly proceeds on a majority rule among its members. If a resolution calling for a treaty prohibiting the use, deployment, production and stockpiling of nuclear weapons is submitted on the basis of the working group report, it can be adopted, setting the stage for possible talks on such a treaty. How such a process will evolve without the involvement of the nuclear powers remains unclear. Meanwhile, the Obama administration’s review of the U.S. nuclear weapons policy has reportedly been in the works for several months. Little action followed the president’s famed 2009 speech in Prague calling for “a world free of nuclear weapons.” In his final year in office, Obama is said to have been weighing several options to advance his vision, including a declaration that the U.S. will not use nuclear weapons first in a conflict, as well as cuts to the budget for modernizing the U.S. nuclear arsenal and submitting to the U.N. Security Council a resolution banning nuclear weapons tests. The no first use policy, if adopted, will represent a landmark change in the U.S. nuclear posture that could lead to reducing the role of nuclear weapons — a condition that will contribute to creating the nuclear-weapons-free world that Obama advocated. According to a recent Washington Post column that broke the story of Abe expressing his opposition, Japan joins other U.S. allies such as South Korea, France and Britain in communicating their concern about the possible declaration of such a policy by Obama. Along with the opposition of key members of his administration, the caution expressed by the allies are making the chances of the policy being endorsed slim, said the column. Abe has denied that the issue was discussed when he met recently with the U.S. commander in Tokyo. Speaking to reporters on Saturday, he said he believed the U.S. has made no decision on the nuclear policy review and that he would stay in close contact with Washington on the matter. The security implications of a U.S. no first use policy may be subject to discussions. The U.S. allies are reported to have opposed because such a declaration by the U.S. could increase the risk of conventional warfare and that there would be no guarantee that other nuclear powers would follow the unilateral U.S. declaration and make it an international norm. Proponents of the no first use policy highlight the risks associated with the possibility of pre-emptive nuclear strikes, which it should remove. A group of former government officials in Asia-Pacific countries, including former Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi and her Australian counterpart Gareth Evans, issued a joint statement this month urging the Obama administration to adopt the no first use policy and calling on American allies in the region to support it. A no first use policy, they said, will facilitate changing the current “highly risky” policy on the operation of nuclear arsenals and, if adopted by all nuclear powers, will strengthen strategic stability and contribute to a norm that discourages the use of nuclear weapons. In May, Obama became the first sitting U.S. president in history to visit the atomic-bombed city of Hiroshima, where he reiterated his resolve to seek a world free of nuclear weapons. Abe, who accompanied Obama in the visit, said he is determined to make efforts to ensure steady progress toward the goal of a nuclear-free world. The prime minister should show that Japan is indeed serious about pursuing that goal.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2016/08/23/editorials/twisted-stance-nuclear-weapons/

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Tokyo's Imperial Hotel, the luxury inn that counts Marilyn Monroe among past guests, raised room rates last year to levels it last charged before the bubbl

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Marilyn Monroe's Tokyo honeymoon spot frets over impact of yen rise

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Tokyo’s Imperial Hotel, the luxury inn that counts Marilyn Monroe among past guests, raised room rates last year to levels it last charged before the bubble economy imploded in the early 1990s. A surging yen now threatens those gains. With signs of spending from foreign tourists starting to wane as a result of the stronger currency, the hotel is looking to boost wedding banquets and turn those younger guests into repeat clients, said Hideya Sadayasu, president and general manager of Imperial Hotel Ltd. “I am worried that if the yen continues to strengthen we may see a brake on visitors coming to Japan,” said Sadayasu, 55. He added that the currency impact is “big” because it can also weigh down domestic share prices, which makes consumers tighten their purse strings. The Imperial opened in 1890 as the first grand hotel to accommodate foreign visitors at a time when the nation was modernizing after two centuries of self-imposed isolation. Monroe’s visit in February 1954 during an impromptu honeymoon with her husband, retired New York Yankees star Joe DiMaggio, caused a sensation, and she had to greet crowds from a balcony in the hotel to appease those wishing to see her. After raising basic room rates by 10 to 15 percent last year, the Imperial currently charges ¥35,000 to ¥37,000 a night on average, approaching the average that prevailed in the late 1980s, according to Sadayasu. The hotel’s profit rose 2.1 percent to ¥1.04 billion in the first quarter. Internationally, and disregarding room size, Tokyo’s average room rates are still lower than in other major global cities like New York, London, Paris and Hong Kong, according to data cited by Savills PLC in a report this month. The average in New York in the 12 months to the end of June was $255, compared with $165 in Tokyo, the data show. Still, the impact from the 18 percent rise in the yen this year is already becoming apparent in falling domestic department store sales, declining spending per tourist, and slowing visitor growth to Japan. Average spending per foreign tourist dropped 9.9 percent to ¥159,930, according to the Japan Tourism Agency, while the percentage decline among mainland Chinese visitors was even bigger at 23 percent, the data show. The number of visitors to Japan last year rose 47 percent to a record 19.7 million. The government is targeting 40 million tourists by 2020, when Tokyo will host the Summer Olympics. Sadayasu said his Tokyo hotel wants to keep a 50-50 balance between overseas and domestic visitors, because alarming one-time events, such as the collapse of trading house Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., can trigger a sudden drop-off in numbers. “The impact of the stronger yen is large,” said Kouki Ozawa, an analyst at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. in Tokyo. “It makes it harder to raise prices and lowers occupancy rates. Guests that might have stayed four nights now stay only for three due to budget constraints, for example.” The benchmark Topix share index has fallen 15 percent so far this year as the yen has strengthened. Falling stock prices make domestic clients less likely to use a hotel and wealthy guests may opt to stay in a standard room rather than a suite in such an environment, according to Sadayasu. The hotel, rebuilt since Monroe’s visit and now in its third iteration, still offers a Marilyn Monroe Breakfast for an added charge of ¥1,100 to guests who book under a special ladies plan. The same room service breakfast requested by the Hollywood icon comprises pan-seared lamb, crisp Melba toast and rich roasted coffee. Famed U.S. architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed the second Imperial Hotel, the one in which Monroe stayed. A rebuilt Imperial Hotel opened in 1970 and has lost some of its glamor compared with newer overseas hotels that have cropped up in recent years, such as Peninsula Hotels, Mandarin Oriental Hotels and the Shangri-La. With over 900 rooms, the Imperial is far larger and offers a broader array of restaurants and facilities, including a Shinto shrine. After spending ¥18 billion on a major refurbishment in 2010, the Imperial plans to renovate suites to cater to visiting foreign VIPs ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, and to attract wealthy Asian clients. Sadayasu, who has been with the hotel for over 30 years, working in different roles from bellboy to head of limousine services, says he is determined to fight off challenges and keep the hotel’s legacy running. “My mission is to pass it on to the next generation.”

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/08/29/business/marilyn-monroes-tokyo-honeymoon-spot-frets-impact-yen-rise/

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A second death has been attributed to motorists playing the absorbing smartphone game "Pokemon Go." A Vietnamese woman in her 20s from Kasugai, Aichi Prefe

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Second deadly road accident linked to 'Pokemon Go' in Japan

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A second death has been attributed to motorists playing the absorbing smartphone game “Pokemon Go.” A Vietnamese woman in her 20s from Kasugai, Aichi Prefecture, died Thursday, just over two weeks after being hit by a car while riding a bicycle, police said Friday. The first reported death was on Tuesday in the city of Tokushima, the National Police Agency said. In the latest case, the driver, a worker in his 20s, told investigators he was looking away at the time of the collision as he was trying to charge his mobile phone. The battery was almost dead, he said, because he had been playing the game. The driver was arrested on suspicion of negligence resulting in injury and was released. Police are now treating it as a case of negligence resulting in death. A number of accidents linked to “Pokemon Go” have occurred since its release in Japan in July. The game encourages users to visit locations in search of virtual creatures that appear superimposed on their smartphone screens. Typical cases involve players getting so drawn into the game that they ignore their surroundings. NPA figures on Tuesday showed that there were 79 bicycle and car accidents linked to playing the game since the game’s release in the country on July 22. The incidents have spread throughout the nation, with accidents recorded in 29 of Japan’s 47 prefectures.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/08/26/national/crime-legal/second-deadly-road-accident-linked-pokemon-go-japan/

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In a rare bright spot for strained Sino-U.S. relations, the U.S. Coast Guard has confirmed that it conducted joint operations in the Pacific with its Chine

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Chinese, U.S. coast guards perform joint operations in rare bright spot for Sino-American relations

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In a rare bright spot for strained Sino-U.S. relations, the U.S. Coast Guard has confirmed that it conducted joint operations in the Pacific with its Chinese counterpart this summer, part of annual patrols to deter illegal fishing. In a statement to The Japan Times, a U.S. Coast Guard spokesman said the USCG Mellon “rendezvoused and conducted a professional exchange” with two China Coast Guard ships. “The exchange focused on professional goodwill between coast guards,” U.S. Coast Guard District 17 spokesman Lt. Brian Dykens said. Dykens said the U.S. government has a so-called shiprider agreement with China in which the U.S. Coast Guard vessel works with one or two Chinese coast guard ships. After the rendezvous, Dykens said, the Mellon departed and resumed its scheduled patrol until returning to Seattle, its home port. Earlier this week, China’s official Xinhua News Agency quoted a coast guard official as saying that “cooperation between the two countries’ coast guards has deepened through personnel exchanges and joint operations.” Xinhua also reported that the China Coast Guard plans to expand patrols in northern parts of the Pacific Ocean and deepen cooperation with the U.S. side. Washington and Tokyo have traded barbs with Beijing over the disputed South and East China seas. An international arbitration court in the Hague infuriated China in July when it ruled that China had no historical title over the South China Sea. Japan and the U.S. have urged Beijing to adhere to the ruling, which China has called “waste paper.” In the East China Sea, Beijing sent a flotilla of hundreds of fishing vessels escorted by several armed coast guard vessels to the area near the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands, which are known as the Diaoyus in China. J. Berkshire Miller, a Tokyo-based international affairs fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations, cautioned that while the joint exercises are a positive development, much more is needed to be done to cool searing tensions between the two nations. The summer’s joint operations were important “considering the key role that China’s coast guard is playing — and indeed contributing to — with regard to regional maritime tensions,” Miller said. “That said, it is important not to place too much emphasis on the operation. This represents baseline cooperation and is a low-hanging fruit,” he said, adding that it was unlikely to have a tangible impact on the broader strategic rivalry that the U.S. and China currently find themselves embroiled in — both in the East and South China seas. According to Miller, de-escalating tensions in both contested maritime areas will instead require a more earnest approach from China. “In the East China Sea, for example, Beijing should work earnestly with Tokyo to follow through on commitments to implement crisis avoidance mechanisms surrounding the Senkaku Islands,” he said. “Unfortunately, it seems that China continues to emphasize coercive actions rather than a more cooperative tact. The U.S. Coast Guard said this summer’s annual patrols are conducted in partnership with North Pacific nations, “to detect and deter illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing activity, including large-scale pelagic drift net fishing on the high seas,” adding that regional partners in the efforts involved multiple countries, including Japan, Canada, Russia, South Korea and China. It said patrols are conducted annually and have taken place for over 15 years, with the most recent ones focusing on high seas drift-net fishing in international waters in the North Pacific Ocean. While this partnership has resulted in the seizure and removal of Chinese-flagged vessels engaged in illegal high seas drift-net fishing, this year’s patrols ended with no illegal activities being detected in North Pacific waters, Dykens said.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/08/26/asia-pacific/chinese-u-s-coast-guards-perform-joint-operations-rare-bright-spot-sino-american-relations/

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Masahiro Tanaka allowed two runs in five innings but did not figure in the decision in the New York Yankees' 5-4, 10-inning win over the Kansas City Royals

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Yankees edge Royals after strong outing by Tanaka

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Masahiro Tanaka allowed two runs in five innings but did not figure in the decision in the New York Yankees’ 5-4, 10-inning win over the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday. Tanaka, who had won his four previous starts, was going for his 12th win of the season, but did not return to the mound after a 59-minute rain delay at Kansas City’s Kauffman Stadium. The right-hander allowed four hits without a walk, while striking out four in a 71-pitch outing. He left the game with a 4-2 lead, but last year’s World Series champs tied it with runs in the sixth and eighth. “I was around 70 pitches after five innings, so if it hadn’t rained I think I would have been able to work more innings and get more outs,” said Tanaka, who simply baffled the Royals hitters with excellent command of his breaking pitches. Manager Joe Girardi said there was no chance he was going to let Tanaka go back on the mound in the sixth more than an hour after he finished the bottom of the fifth. “It was an hour and 15 minutes. This is a guy that went through an injury a couple of years ago,” Girardi said. The Yankees took the lead when Brian McCann and Chase Headley singled off Joakim Soria (4-6) in the 10th. Soria bounced back to strike out Aaron Judge and Tyler Austin, but then walked Brett Gardner before Jacoby Ellsbury lined a go-ahead single off the reliever’s leg for his fourth hit of the night. “That was an easy ground ball right to me. I don’t know if I slipped or something, but I ended up on the ground,” Soria said. “It’s just one of those things.” Orioles 5, Blue Jays 3 In Baltimore, Matt Wieters hit a tiebreaking two-run homer off Jason Grilli in the eighth inning. Tigers 8, White Sox 4 In Detroit, Ian Kinsler homered and drove in four runs, helping the Tigers rally for the win. Rangers 8, Mariners 7 In Arlington, Texas, Rougned Odor hit a game-ending two-run homer, sending the AL-best Rangers to the victory. Rays 4, Red Sox 3 In Boston, Evan Longoria broke a tie with a solo homer in the eighth inning, clearing Fenway Park’s Green Monster. Indians 5, Twins 4 In Cleveland, Francisco Lindor drove in the go-ahead run in the fifth inning and the Indians extended Minnesota’s losing streak to 12 games. Astros 3, Athletics 1 In Houston, Collin McHugh threw six scoreless innings for Houston, and Colby Rasmus and Evan Gattis homered. NATIONAL LEAGUE Mets 7, Marlins 4 In New York, Curtis Granderson came off the bench and homered twice. Miami’s Ichiro Suzuki was hitless in three at-bats. Nationals 3, Phillies 2 In Philadelphia, Max Scherzer struck out 11 in eight innings. Cubs 3, Pirates 0 In Chicago, Kyle Hendricks threw seven dominant innings to lower the majors’ best ERA to 2.09 and Anthony Rizzo homered in the Cubs’ 21st victory in August. Cardinals 2, Brewers 1 (10) In Milwaukee, Zach Duke stranded the bases loaded with a strikeout in the 10th after Randal Grichuk hit an RBI single in the top half of the inning, lifting St. Louis to the road win. Braves 7, Padres 3 In Atlanta, Julio Teheran won for the first time in 10 starts. Diamondbacks 4, Giants 3 In San Francisco, Zack Greinke threw six solid innings to continue his mastery of the Giants. Dodgers at Rockies — ppd. INTERLEAGUE Angels 4, Reds 2 In Anaheim, California, C.J. Cron hit two home runs to help the Angels beat Cincinnati.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2016/08/31/baseball/mlb/yankees-edge-royals-after-strong-outing-by-tanaka/

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Emperor Akihito's choice of words and presentation speak volumes about how the relationship between the Imperial family and the people of Japan has evolved since his father's address to the nation in 1945.

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The Emperor's speech: lucid but appropriately indirect

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At noon on Aug. 15, 1945, the people of Japan gathered solemnly around their radios. It was the first time that the nation had heard the Emperor’s voice. Japan had surrendered to the Allies. The 玉音放送 (Gyokuon Hōsō, Jewel Voice Broadcast) given by 裕仁天皇 (Hirohito Tennō, Emperor Hirohito) — posthumously known as 昭和天皇 (Shōwa Tennō, Emperor Showa) — was delivered in formal fashion, and in an old form of Japanese that many today would find difficult to understand. There was also no direct reference to an actual 降伏 (kōfuku, surrender); instead, the Emperor said that Japan had been instructed to fully accept the terms of the ポツダム宣言 (Potsudamu Sengen, Potsdam Declaration). This led to widespread confusion among the attentive masses — the poor audio quality of the broadcast didn’t help much, either. Fast-forward to Aug. 8, 2016, and Hirohito’s 息子 (musuko, son) and 後継者 (kōkeisha, successor) was in front on the camera giving a speech of his own, to a slightly confused nation. The widespread expectation before the broadcast was that 明仁天皇 (Akihito Tennō, Emperor Akihito), 82, would express his wish to 退位 (tai‘i, abdicate), citing age and health concerns. “本日は、社会の高齢化が進む中 (Honjitsu wa, shakai no kōreika ga susumu naka, ‘Today, as we are in the midst of a rapidly aging society’),” the 82-year-old Emperor said, he wanted to tell the people what, “個人として (kojin to shite, as an individual),” he had been thinking about. Although his use of the Japanese language was much more palatable by modern standards than that of his 前任者 (zenninsha, predecessor), his vague wording initially led some to wonder if he had in fact abdicated, or whether he was simply laying down the foundation for such a move in the future. However, stepping down now would be effectively impossible, as there is nothing in the law allowing such a move, and any revision to the Imperial system is extremely politically sensitive. Chapter 1 of the 日本国憲法 (Nihonkoku Kenpō, The Constitution of Japan) strictly prohibits an emperor from engaging in any political activities, and this is most likely why the Emperor avoided discussing any specific ways to revise the succession system, which is based on the 皇室典範 (Kōshitsu Tenpan, Imperial Household Law). “これまでのように，全身全霊をもって象徴の務めを果たしていくことが，難しくなるのでは ないかと案じています (Koremade no yō ni, zenshinzenrei o motte shōchō no tsutome o hatashite iku koto ga, muzukashiku naru no de wa nai ka to anjiteimasu, ‘I am worried that it may become difficult for me to carry out my duties as the symbol of the state with my whole being as I have done until now’),” the Emperor said. Indeed, it is undeniable that the Emperor’s 健康 (kenkō, health) is in decline — he underwent 手術 (shujutsu, an operation) for prostate cancer in 2003 and a heart bypass in 2012. The Emperor said he had started to think about “国にとり，国民にとり，また，私のあとを歩む皇族にとり良いこと (kuni ni tori, kokumin ni tori, mata, watashi no ato o ayumu kōzoku ni tori yoi koto, ‘what would be best for the country, for the people, and also for the Imperial family members who will follow after me’).” With baited breath, the nation listened on: “天皇が未成年であったり，重病などによりその機能を果たし得なくなった場合には，天皇の行為を代行する摂政を置くことも考えられます (Tennō ga miseinen de attari, jūbyō nado ni yori sono kinō o hatashienakunatta baai ni wa, tennō no kōi o daikō suru sesshō o oku koto mo kangaeraremasu, ‘A Regency may be established to act in the place of the Emperor when the Emperor cannot fulfill his duties for reasons such as he is not yet of age or he is seriously ill,’ ” the Emperor said. He went on: “The practice in the Imperial family has been that the death of the Emperor called for events of heavy mourning, continuing every day for two months, followed by funeral events (喪儀, sōgi) that continue for a period of one year. These various events occur simultaneously with events related to the new era (新時代, shin jidai).” This, the Emperor said, “行事に関わる人々，とりわけ残される家族は，非常に厳しい状況下に置かれざるを得ません (gyōji ni kakawaru hitobito, toriwake nokosareru kazoku wa, hijō ni kibishii jōkyōka ni okarezaru o emasen, ‘places a very heavy strain on those involved in the events, in particular, the family left behind’). In an appropriately indirect way, the Emperor then made his feelings clear: “It occurs to me from time to time to wonder whether it is possible to prevent such a situation.” Although the Emperor didn’t explicitly say he wished to abdicate during the 11-minute speech, it was implicit that he was considering a change in his Imperial status in the foreseeable future. He ended this speech with: “始めにも述べましたように, 憲法の下，天皇は国政に関する権能を有しません (Hajime ni mo nobemashita yō ni, Kenpō no moto, Tennō wa kokusei ni kan suru kennō o yūshimasen, ‘As I said in the beginning, under the Constitution, the Emperor does not have powers related to government’).” He added: “Even under such circumstances, it is my hope that by thoroughly reflecting on our country’s long history of emperors, the Imperial family can continue to be with the people at all times and can work together with the people to build the future of our country,” and that “象徴天皇の務めが常に途切れることなく，安定的に続いていく (shōchō Tennō no tsutome ga tsune ni togireru koto naku, anteiteki ni tsuzuiteiku, ‘the duties of the Emperor as the symbol of the state can continue steadily without a break’).” Just as with his father’s surrender speech, the Emperor’s address was a momentous occasion, and had the attention of the entire country — indeed, much of the world. At the same time, Emperor Akihito’s choice of words and presentation also speak volumes about how the relationship between the Imperial family and the people of Japan has evolved since 1945.

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Tokyo Station Gallery is showing a pick 'n' mix exhibition, "12 Rooms 12 Artists," comprising a variety of modern and contemporary art acquisitions from th

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Subtle messages lie hidden in a corporate collection

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Tokyo Station Gallery is showing a pick ‘n’ mix exhibition, “12 Rooms 12 Artists,” comprising a variety of modern and contemporary art acquisitions from the UBS art collection. There is no explicit curatorial imperative to connect or compare the works, so you’re free to enjoy the visual confections in your own way. The pieces are all two-dimensional, with the exception of a figurative bronze “Odalisque” by Anthony Caro. Given that these are from a corporate collection, only one work in the show may cause a banker to have a Damascene moment and quit to start a boutique sourdough bakery, and that would be Taiwanese artist Chen Chieh-Jen’s 2003 piece “Factory”. This montage of archive 1960s black-and-white propaganda shows the life of factory workers in Taiwan’s textile industry, and contemporary video of women who worked for over 20 years in the Lien Fu garment factory, now derelict, before being made redundant in 1996 without any severance pay or pensions. “Factory” is declamatory about its engagement with social and political issues. Other artists in the show are more ambivalent, their concerns dealt with more subtly, or they grapple with issues of a more personal sort. Isaac Julien’s work, for example, is represented with three luscious and cinematic photographs from the 2010 film installation project “Ten Thousand Waves.” The two glossy landscapes and a dramatic restaging of a scene from the 1930s Chinese film “The Goddess” come across as picturesque and exotic, though one of Julien’s intentions behind entangling traditional myth, cinema and the deaths of trafficked Chinese workers in northwest England in 2004 was to draw attention to the dark side of travel and globalization. The two largest spaces of the gallery are occupied by the work of the creatively seminal Ed Ruscha and more organically seminal Lucien Freud. In the first case Ruscha’s tongue-in-cheek reworkings of advertising, company logos and vernacular architecture fill the room with color and drama, as he signals to us ideological mechanisms buried in American visual culture. An installation of intimate and personal torn snapshots dating back to 1972, entitled “Days We Were Happy,” by Noboyushi Araki, appear in a small side room to Ruscha’s space. The contrast between the two approaches works very well. The display of a couple of Freud’s fleshy paintings and 24 monotone etchings in the main 2nd-floor brick-walled gallery are harder to get excited about, mainly because their intensity and introspection are dissipated by the size of the room. The exhibition ends with some examples of 1980s Italian “transavangardism” from painters Mimmo Paladino and Sandro Chia, which reminded me that a lot of the ’80s needs to go away and never come back. “12 Rooms 12 Artists: Works from the UBS Art Collection” at Tokyo Station Gallery runs until Sept. 4; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. (Fri. until 8 p.m.). ¥1,000. Closed Mon. www.ejrcf.or.jp/gallery

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Disgraced former FIFA president Sepp Blatter appeared before sport's highest tribunal, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), on Thursday to appeal agai

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Blatter makes appearance at CAS to appeal six-year ban

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Disgraced former FIFA president Sepp Blatter appeared before sport’s highest tribunal, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), on Thursday to appeal against his six-year ban from soccer. The 80-year-old, who headed soccer’s global governing body for 17 years until he resigned in June 2015, was banned from all soccer-related activity last December along with the then-European soccer boss, Michel Platini. “My name wouldn’t be Sepp Blatter if I didn’t have faith, if I wasn’t optimistic,” he told reporters as he arrived for the hearing. “I will accept the verdict because, in football, we learn to win, this is easy, but we also learn to lose, but this is not good, I wouldn’t want to lose.” The bans were imposed for ethics violations related to a payment of two million Swiss francs that FIFA made to Platini with Blatter’s approval in 2011 for work done a decade earlier. “I’m sure at the end … that the panel will understand that the payment made to Platini was really a debt that we (owed) him and this is a principle, if you have debts, you pay them,” Blatter said. Platini also appeared for the closed-door hearing. “I come, for the umpteenth time, to tell the truth,” he told reporters. Both men, who have denied wrongdoing, were initially banned for eight years, later reduced to six by FIFA’s own appeals committee. Platini has already taken his case to CAS, which rejected his appeal but reduced his ban to four years. CAS has not said when its final decision on Blatter’s appeal will be announced. Blatter resigned in the midst of a FIFA corruption crisis only four days into his fifth term. Several dozen soccer officials, including former FIFA executive committee members, and entities were indicted in the United States on corruption-related charges last year. Switzerland, for its part, opened a criminal investigation into the decision to award the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar, respectively.

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Figuring out when wars start and end isn't always as obvious as it might seem.

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The longest U.S. conflict and defining a war

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Soon the 15th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks will come around; so will that of the Oct. 7, 2001, invasion of Afghanistan prompted by those attacks. But, unlike the former attacks, few in the United States are likely to commemorate the latter with events, let alone with anything like 9/11, even though the U.S. named it, with smug arrogance, Operation Enduring Freedom. The 15-year duration makes the Afghanistan War the longest “U.S. foreign war,” according to The Washington Post. This makes me think of the controversy over another “15-year war” that Saburo Ienaga made famous with his book, “The Pacific War: 1931-1945.” Although the real question was what to call the war that ended with Japan’s surrender on Aug. 15, 1945, Ienaga’s title suggests the indefinability of a war. Today few outside Japan may recognize his name, but in the last decades of the last century Ienaga was “Japan’s single most famous historian,” as scholar Richard Minear noted in 2001 in translating Ienaga’s short autobiography, “Japan’s Past, Japan’s Future: One Historian’s Odyssey.” Where did his fame come from? Foremost, Ienaga had taken on the old Education Ministry over the revisions that the government demanded of some terms he used in his history textbook, “A New History of Japan” — not just once but three times. From the time he filed his first complaint with the Tokyo District Court in 1965 to the final decision on his third lawsuit in 1997, his legal perseverance lasted 32 years. That was one reason Ienaga won admiration both in and outside Japan. Reading the decision summaries at various stages, however, I feel that the appellate courts were eminently reasonable. In particular, their decisions on whether the government’s right to certify textbooks is equal to censorship strike me as persuasive, just as it did back in April 2001 when I wrote about Ienaga in my column, “One man’s fight for the unvarnished truth.” “The Pacific War: 1931-1945” — originally published in 1968 and translated into English in 1978 — brought to the fore Ienaga’s contention with the Education Ministry by focusing on a particular portion of the modern segment of Japan’s 1,500-year history. But, in doing so, it also magnified one weakness of his historical analysis. Kirkus Review’s complete agreement with Ienaga’s view made that clear. The book is, its brief assessment judged, “a damning indictment — extensively documented — of Japanese imperialism, discrimination and barbarity overseas, of official complacency and unconcern, of repression, distortion.” Richard Minear, though an admirer of Ienaga, explained the book’s problem tersely: “A history of World War II without economics, diplomatic negotiations, the war policies of other countries? Unlikely.” Is it correct to call the Pacific War a 15-year war? On the face of it, no. The war started when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941. But it may also be correct, if the aim is to find its cause. Ienaga placed the war’s beginnings 10 years earlier. “The Pacific War began with the invasion of China in 1931,” he started his book. In September that year, Japan’s Kwantung Army staged a railway explosion in Manchuria, creating the puppet state Manchukuo six months later. Did that lead to the Pacific War? Perhaps. But, in that case, shouldn’t Ienaga have titled his book differently? The largest part of the 15-year war was Japan’s conflict with China. Interestingly, the American Occupation did something similar. In telling the Japanese to apply “the Pacific War” to the conflict that had just ended, it is said to have pushed the start of the war further back, to the Zhang Zuolin assassination incident in 1928. But if you do that, you may also seek the origins of “the Pacific War” in the creation of the Kwantung Army in 1906, or in Comdr. Matthew Perry’s Kanagawa Treaty that forced Japan to open in 1854, or even in John O’Sullivan’s advocacy of “manifest destiny” in 1845. This will be true with the Afghanistan War. Today the assumption is that it started when George W. Bush invaded the country in October 2001. But if you follow the reasoning of Ienaga or the Allied Occupation regarding the Pacific War, the Afghanistan War didn’t start with Bush. For example, many will agree with former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin that “the responsibility of the United States in the current mess in the Middle East (is) huge,” as he points out on a Harper’s Magazine panel, “Tearing Up the Map” (September 2016). So, when did the U.S. start messing up the region? Villepin might say the U.S. invasion of Iraq in March 2003, which France opposed. But Hamid Dabashi, on the same panel, suggests earlier. The professor of Iranian studies at Columbia University suggests it started with the U.S. misconstruing the Iranian Revolution in 1979. It was “a cosmopolitan revolution,” but “what did the Reagan administration do?,” Dabashi asks, and answers. “They created the Taliban in Afghanistan. To fight the Soviets, but also to undermine the appeal of the Iranian Revolution. It was not a Shiite revolution until the creation of the Taliban created a Sunni opposition.” Then, when al-Qaida carried out the Sept. 11 attacks, Bush refused to treat al-Qaida and the Taliban as different entities and attacked Afghanistan. Speaking of the Iranian Revolution, you can also say the U.S. meddling in the Middle East started in 1953. That was when the CIA toppled the democratically elected Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh and installed Mohammad Reza Pahlavi as shah. Actually, the Afghanistan War as a 15-year war itself is a temporary construction. The Washington Post cited that length of time in “These are America’s 9 longest foreign wars” (May 29, 2014) when Barack Obama extended the troop withdrawal to the end of 2016. Since then Obama has further extended it to the end of 2017. The next president may do likewise. Hillary Clinton, who is likely to be that president, is, by general consensus, “a hawk.” Hiroaki Sato is a translator and essayist.

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Seventy-one years after Japan surrendered in World War II, a taboo in Japan has been broken, or, more precisely, ripped apart. A movie specifically about t

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There are some very big issues with 'Little Boy'

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Seventy-one years after Japan surrendered in World War II, a taboo in Japan has been broken, or, more precisely, ripped apart. A movie specifically about the U.S-Japan conflict that more than mentions the atomic bombs, directed by Mexico’s Alejandro Monteverde, is opening this weekend. For many Japanese, “Little Boy” could come off as strange, disturbing and downright baffling. Here’s some back story. Traditionally, Hollywood movies depicting WWII rarely opened on the archipelago (if ever) in August. The month marks three commemorative days: the atomic bombing of Hiroshima (Aug. 6) and Nagasaki (Aug. 9) and the official announcement of defeat that came on Aug. 15. The war is a painfully touchy subject at the best of times, and movies such as “Pearl Harbor” in 2001 and the more thoughtful “Letters From Iwo Jima” in 2005 both avoided August openings in Japan. (Though, actually, “Iwo Jima” opened on Dec. 9, a day after the date of the attack on Pearl Harbor.) The Japan-made war film “Eien no Zero saw a December opening, while Hayao Miyazaki’s last work “Kaze Tachinu” was released in June. Even Akira Kurosawa’s “August Rhapsody,” which starred Richard Gere and addressed Nagasaki’s nuclear bombing head-on, steered clear of an August release. Though August in Japan is generally devoted to remembering the tragedies and destruction that befell the nation, many Japanese would rather not re-live to that dark period of death, ashes and rubble. For the older generation, watching TV documentaries and realistic dramas about the war and visiting family grave sites are the links they have to a past of painful memories. “Little Boy” is therefore a curious feature, one that seems to fit more into a technicolored 1960s framework of postwar America as it basked in the glory of victory and prosperity — a time when Hollywood saw Japanese as caricatures like Yuniyoshi from “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” For a movie being released in 2016, and coming hot on the heels of President Barack Obama’s visit to Hiroshima (the first time a U.S. president had taken that step), and his controversial “no first use” nuclear weapons pledge, “Little Boy” sends out a message that’s anachronistic, to say the least. The double-entendre title — the nickname of both the 8-year old protagonist, Pepper Busbee (Jakob Salvati), and the nuclear bomb deployed on Hiroshima tkilled over 140,000 people — should set alarm bells ringing. Little Boy and Fat Man, which was dropped on Nagasaki, lead to the death of 50 percent of both cities’ populations, and those who survived lived on to suffer from radiation sickness and complications for decades to come. The movie, brightly lit and tinged in a Norman Rockwell-esque color palette, however, blissfully — and bizarrely — ignores all that. In the film, Pepper’s best friend is his dad (Michael Rapaport), who protects him against the bullying taunts of his classmates for being the smallest in his class. When his dad is drafted and sent across the Pacific to fight the “evil Japs,” Pepper is desperate to get him back. He is advised by the local priest (Tom Wilkinson) to have faith, for faith can move mountains and end the war. Pepper buys into that, mostly because he encounters a magician who leads him to believe he has special powers. If he prays hard enough, he thinks, he can end the war and bring home his father. Little Boy Rating 2 out of 5 Run Time 106 min Language English The earth cracks, skies fall and the war is ended — by a huge bomb that kills tens of thousands of people. Little Boy does indeed end the war. The townspeople celebrate the boy and are jubilant. But exactly what kind of message to the audience does that offer? Tokyo Teatoru and Nikkatsu are the film’s joint distributors in Japan, and they’re touting the movie as bearing a “message of peace,” one that reminds us “what really matters in life.” But by focusing almost entirely on the father-son angle in promotions, the elephant of a bomb issue has been shoved into a closet. A member of the promotion team, who consented to a short interview only on condition of absolute anonymity, said: “The movie is told from the viewpoint of a little boy. He has no political opinions, and certainly no knowledge of what WWII was about. He only wants his father back. We feel that this is what the story is all about. “We also want to target a younger Japanese audience who know very little about WWII. They’re not going to appreciate the same old (repeated) details of suffering and destruction.” Fifty-seven years ago Alain Resnais’ French movie “Hiroshima Mon Amour” opened in Japan. That, too, tackled Hiroshima, but it grappled it with full force, revealing, documentary-style, the events in Hiroshima and how the city (and the rest of Japan) stared at that gaping wound. The story is told through a French woman (Emmanuelle Riva), an actress visiting Japan, whose brief affair with a local architect (Eiji Okada) leads to discussions about their experiences of war. When that movie first opened, the distributors changed the title to “Nijyuyojikan no Jyoji” (“The 24-hour Love Affair”), fearing that the word “Hiroshima” would be too much for the Japanese audience to handle. It’s only in the last five years or so that the French title was officially adopted in Japan. “Hiroshima Mon Amour” explores two different perspectives of WWII and the discordant memories and experiences, which were painful for both characters and difficult to reconcile. “Little Boy” does no such thing. It’s as blithe and chipper as Pepper himself. It reminds me of a conversation I had with an American friend, who said, “If it weren’t for the atomic bombs, the war would never have ended,” in a way that implied the Japanese should thank the U.S. “Little Boy” (Japan title: “Little Boy: Chiisana Boku to Senso”) opens in cinemas nationwide on Aug. 27.

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The Saitama District Court rules that an owner of a cellphone equipped with the One Seg mobile TV function has no obligation to sign a subscription fee contract with NHK.

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Court rules that TV-capable cellphones don't require NHK contracts

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The Saitama District Court ruled Friday that an owner of a cellphone equipped with the One Seg mobile television function has no obligation to sign a subscription fee contract with public broadcaster NHK. The latest case could set a precedent that would also affect many in the public who own handsets with TV functions. Friday’s ruling was seen as a test case on whether TV subscription fees can be justified for handsets with the One Seg feature. One Seg refers to one of the 13 frequencies, or “segments,” allocated to terrestrial digital broadcasting reserved for mobile phones. Prior to this case, NHK had won every lawsuit requesting noncompliant viewers cover their unpaid fees. NHK said in its own report Friday that it plans to appeal the case to the high court. Under the Broadcast Law, a person who has installed equipment capable of receiving NHK broadcasts is obliged to sign a subscription contract with the broadcaster regardless of whether its programs are watched. The district court said that just owning such a handset does not constitute the installation of TV equipment and therefore does not fall under the Broadcast Law. Masanobu Ohashi, a 40-year-old municipal assembly member from Asaka, Saitama Prefecture, had filed the lawsuit with the court. In the course of the trial, Ohashi claimed he had no obligation to sign a contract with the broadcaster as he had no TV at home and just owned a cellphone with One Seg capability, but had never watched NHK programs. The broadcaster, however, argued that even if he did not view its programs, he had to sign a contract given that he was using a phone with a TV function. According to the complaint, Ohashi had called NHK in August 2015 to confirm there was no need for him to sign a contract, but the broadcaster told him that he was obligated to do so.

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Colin Kaepernick is on track to make his first appearance of the preseason for San Francisco on Friday night against the Green Bay Packers after his tired

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Kaepernick could return against Green Bay

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Colin Kaepernick is on track to make his first appearance of the preseason for San Francisco on Friday night against the Green Bay Packers after his tired shoulder made it through a full week of practice without any limitations. “Everything has been going great,” Kaepernick said Wednesday. “Everything has been going as planned. I’m excited to get back out there Friday.” Coach Chip Kelly said Kaepernick looked good in practice this week and is expected to play barring any setbacks before the game. Kelly said no decision has been made on whether Kaepernick or Blaine Gabbert will start against Green Bay but Kelly said earlier this month that he planned to give both quarterbacks competing for the starting job a chance to play with the first-team offense in the preseason. Kelly said the final decision on who will start and who will play won’t be made until after consulting with the team’s head of sports medicine Jeff Ferguson on Friday. Kaepernick, who lost his starting job to Gabbert last season, has had limited practice time. He missed the offseason program after undergoing surgery during the offseason on his non-throwing shoulder, right thumb and left knee. He resumed practice at the start of training camp but was not able to throw in practice from Aug. 11 to Aug. 22 because of a tired right shoulder. But Kaepernick believes he still has a legitimate shot to win back his starting job. “I’m going to go out and show everything I can these next two games to make sure I put my best foot forward to show this organization, this team, this coaching staff what I’m capable of,” he said. Kelly said Kaepernick has had no limitations this week in practice and is quickly getting up to speed with the offense. “He’s been sharp with all the things mentally,” Kelly said. “There’s always a little bit — when you take some time off from the physical standpoint — there may be a ball that was behind from a timing standpoint, but there’s no indecision where he doesn’t know where he’s going.” It’s been a rough stretch for Kaepernick, whose career has plummeted since leading the Niners to the Super Bowl following the 2012 season and the NFC Championship Game the following year. He lost his starting job last season, dealt with various injuries and was nearly traded to Denver in the offseason. When asked about the state of his relationship with general manager Trent Baalke, Kaepernick would only call it a “business relationship.” Kaepernick also declined to describe a recent conversation between the two as “good,” saying only, “We had a conversation.” The time off has given Gabbert a leg up in the competition. He took all the first-team practice snaps in the offseason and again while Kaepernick rested his shoulder earlier this month.

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Japan forward Yoshinori Muto scored for Mainz late on but Shinji Kagawa's Borussia Dortmund won 2-1 on Saturday to kick-start its new Bundesliga campaign.

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Muto on target in Mainz loss

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Japan forward Yoshinori Muto scored for Mainz late on but Shinji Kagawa’s Borussia Dortmund won 2-1 on Saturday to kick-start its new Bundesliga campaign. Muto, who scored seven goals last season before he was ruled out in February with a right-knee ligament injury, came on with nine minutes to go and headed home Pablo de Blasis’ cross from the right in the second minute of stoppage time. Kagawa played in his favorite role behind a striker and covered the most ground for Dortmund, while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang provided both goals, heading home at the far post in the 17th minute and converting from the spot minutes before Muto’s header. “Conceding in the second hit us hard. It would have been best if we could have somehow held on and my goal closed it at 1-1,” said Muto, who outmaneuvered defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos for the goal. “To score against a defender I’ve found tough before, staying clear by readjusting my position gives me confidence,” said the 24-year-old Muto. In his second season, Muto is determined to make his presence felt at Mainz after the club added to its squad ahead of a season that will include playing in the Europa League from the middle of September. “I don’t think I’ll be playing as a regular starter all the time. There’ll be more attention from the world if we can go far (in Europe) and it’s important to produce on that stage,” Muto said.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2016/08/28/soccer/muto-target-mainz-loss/

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The best hope for peace is an agreement that gives the disarmed and demobilized rebels a genuine voice in Colombian politics.

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Peace at last for Colombia

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The government of Colombia and Marxist guerrillas signed a peace agreement last week that ended more than five decades of civil war. The deal followed nearly four years of difficult negotiations; Cuba played a crucial role in mediating the talks. The agreement includes a detailed timeline that identifies the steps needed to truly halt the bloody conflict. The deal now goes to the Colombian people for their endorsement. While approval is not guaranteed — there is great bitterness among parts of Colombian society — the agreement should be passed. It is long past time to end this bitter struggle. The war began in 1964, when rebels, inspired by the revolution in Cuba, took up arms to forcibly redistribute Colombia’s wealth. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (known by the Spanish acronym FARC) has waged a bloody war ever since, taking territory, creating virtual no-go zones, attacking government forces and kidnapping high-profile citizens, such as Ingrid Betancourt, then a presidential candidate, who was held for six years before she was freed by a military rescue operation. FARC’s income has been supplemented by trafficking in cocaine, along with the extortion of businesses in areas where it is strong. Its forces have been augmented by children who were seized and forced to become soldiers. International organizations accuse FARC soldiers of human rights abuses, frequently against civilians. It has been designated a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union, but that had little impact on its operations. The result has been a 52-year insurgency that claimed 220,000 lives and displaced an estimated 5 million people — 10 percent of the population. The fighting has been punctuated by several attempts to secure a peace agreement. In 1984, the two sides agreed on a ceasefire that yielded the release of imprisoned rebels. That truce collapsed six years later when government offensives killed several thousand former fighters. A second attempt was launched in 2002, when the president of Colombia offered the guerrillas a part of the country equal in size to Switzerland. That effort failed when the rebels tried to strengthen their negotiating position by launching their own offensives. Talks began again in August 2012, and genuine negotiations commenced several months later in Havana. Cuba’s role was central to the success of the deal. Apart from providing the inspiration for the initial insurgency, Cuba has been a revolutionary icon and guiding light for leftwing movements throughout Latin America. Yet despite its revolutionary rhetoric, the Cuban leadership — and the Castro brothers in particular — have been pushing leftists in recent years to use ballots, rather than bullets, to secure political advances. Reportedly, Fidel Castro directly intervened at one point in preliminary talks to help smooth over problems between FARC’s top leader and a Colombian government representative, while his brother Raul presided over the talks themselves. Cuba also offered a convenient place for the two sides to meet — neutral territory that both sides could get to fairly easily — and the government’s control of the media meant that sensitive discussions could be kept secret. The deal agreed last week was signed by Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and the FARC leadership, and provides a final document with a timeline for key steps toward real peace: disarmament, demobilization, political participation, and exiting from the illegal drug trade. The government also agreed to carry out land reform, develop poor rural areas and to protect politicians from the pro-FARC party. That last step is critical because a similar attempt by the guerrillas to join national politics — part of the 1984 ceasefire — was scuttled when right-wing hit squad targeted their representatives and thousands were killed. The entire country will vote on the accord on Oct. 2. While Colombians are weary of war, passage is by no means guaranteed. President Santos is not popular and there is great anger toward FARC for the savagery with which it fought the war and its criminal activities. Many Colombians feel that the soldiers are getting off too easy for their crimes — if they confess they will get reduced sentences such as community service or relaxed confinement on agricultural coops. Opinion polls show a deeply divided country, although the most recent survey had nearly two-thirds of respondents backing the deal. If the public rejects the agreement, the ceasefire is over. Even approval does not guarantee peace. Two generations of Colombians have grown up in civil war and it is not clear how some of them will adjust. A smaller guerrilla group continues to battle the government and there are fears that groups that used FARC or the government to legitimate their own illegal behavior — such as right-wing militias — will continue their own fights. Some hardliners note that the number of rebels has been shrinking; they forget how resilient they have been. Full-scale offensives have not broken the back of the movement; they have triggered furious retaliation, however. The best hope for peace is an agreement that disarms and demobilizes the rebels, trains their supporters, and gives them and their followers a genuine voice in Colombian politics.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2016/08/30/editorials/peace-last-colombia/

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Residents of Hawaii's Big Island are bracing for what could be the first hurricane to make landfall in the state in decades. Hurricane Madeline, now a majo

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Big Island braces as Category 3 Hurricane Madeline draws dangerously near

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Residents of Hawaii’s Big Island are bracing for what could be the first hurricane to make landfall in the state in decades. Hurricane Madeline, now a major Category 3 storm, is expected to weaken but likely to remain a hurricane as it passes the state, said meteorologist Chevy Chevalier of the National Weather Service on Tuesday. Forecasters are expecting Madeline to pass just south of the Big Island around 2 a.m. Thursday. But if the storm track shifts slightly to the north, it could hit land. Chevalier says the last hurricane to make landfall in Hawaii was Hurricane Iniki in 1992, which hit Kauai Island. A second Pacific hurricane, called Lester, is still far from Hawaii, and it is expected to weaken to a tropical storm as it passes the state, Chevalier said. Hawaii County, which covers the Big Island, urged residents to restock their emergency kits with a flashlight, fresh batteries, cash and first aid supplies. The county recommended that residents create evacuation plans and secure outdoor furniture. Hawaiian Airlines said customers holding tickets to or from Hawaii’s Big Island from Wednesday to Thursday would be allowed a one-time reservation change without incurring a fee.

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Brazilian striker Diego Oliveira scored a first-half hat trick as Kashiwa Reysol clipped high-flying Kawasaki Frontale's wings with a 5-2 win in the J. Lea

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Oliveira's rapid-fire hat trick powers Reysol past Frontale

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Brazilian striker Diego Oliveira scored a first-half hat trick as Kashiwa Reysol clipped high-flying Kawasaki Frontale’s wings with a 5-2 win in the J. League first division on Saturday. Oliveira struck twice in the first five minutes and Akimi Barada grabbed a third for the visitors after Kentaro Moriya had pulled one back for league-leading Frontale in the 17th minute at Todoroki Stadium. Oliveira scored his third of the night and 10th of the season on 32 minutes, before being replaced early in the second half by Kosuke Taketomi, who set up Hiroto Nakagawa for Reysol’s fifth. Koji Miyoshi replied late for Frontale. “We expected a tough game but I was able to score goals and they helped us get a precious win so I am delighted,” said Oliveira, who had to come off with an unspecified injury after overstretching his leg in the first half. Despite the defeat, Frontale (60) remained five points clear in the overall standings after second-place Urawa Reds lost 2-1 at Vissel Kobe, Kazuma Watanabe scoring what turned out to be the decider in the 54th minute at Noevir Stadium. Third-placed Kashima Antlers (53) drew 2-2 at Yokohama F. Marinos thanks to Fabricio’s late tying goal, Kosei Shibasaki sealed a 2-0 win for Sanfrecce Hiroshima at Vegalta Sendai to put the defending champions on 46 points in fourth place. Kashiwa took just four minutes to open the scoring, Oliveira getting on the end of a corner from compatriot Cristiano to beat Jung Sung-ryong with a header that took a deflection off Kawasaki’s Shogo Taniguchi. Frontale were still reeling from that blow when Kashiwa extended its lead straight from the restart, Nakagawa capitalizing on sloppy defending by Elsinho to pull the ball back for Oliveira to steer home and make it 2-0. Kawasaki hit back in the 17th, Elsinho taking a pass from Kengo Nakamura before picking out Moriya to sweep home from just inside the area, only for Reysol to restore their two-goal cushion just before the half-hour mark. Oliveira headed Cristiano’s free kick against the cross bar before defender Barada snapped up the rebound, and Oliveira then completed his three-goal performance, losing his marker to head home another Cristiano corner. “Set pieces are something that we have been working hard on every day in training and we know the kind of quality balls Cristiano can deliver. They create chances for us and I am glad they have led to goals,” Oliveira said. Nakagawa took a through pass from Taketomi and made it 5-1 in the 75th before substitute Miyoshi bundled home for Frontale after Kashiwa goalkeeper Kosuke Nakamura could only parry a header from Yu Kobayashi. In other games, a double from Shun Nagasawa gave Gamba Osaka a 2-1 win at Shonan Bellmare and Yohei Toyoda’s lone goal saw Sagan Tosu edge Albirex Niigata 1-0 at home. A 92nd-minute equalizer from Masato Kurogi salvaged a 2-2 draw for Ventforet Kofu at home to Omiya Ardija, while Shoya Nakajima also hit a late equalizer to earn FC Tokyo a 1-1 draw at relegation-threatened Nagoya Grampus.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2016/08/27/soccer/j-league/oliveiras-rapid-fire-hat-trick-powers-reysol-past-frontale/

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The boat zips across the water starting early in the morning, picking up local villagers and dropping them off at various points around the lake. A few pas

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Experience Mayan culture in Guatemala's Lake Atitlan region

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The boat zips across the water starting early in the morning, picking up local villagers and dropping them off at various points around the lake. A few passengers wear traditional Mayan dress in a kaleidoscope of colors, heading to the town of Panajachel in hopes of selling their handmade crafts to tourists. Located in Guatemala’s Western Highlands, Lake Atitlan is a tourist-friendly area rich in Mayan culture. There are more than 20 Mayan ethnic groups in Guatemala, and the Lake Atitlan area, about 110 kilometers from Guatemala City, is home to a handful of them, most notably the Tz’utujil and Kaqchikel people. Each of the towns and villages surrounding the lake is known for something different — for example, textiles, ceramics or holistic therapies. The area is also known for Spanish language schools, with options for students to live with local families. Panajachel is the main town and where many visitors start their trip. Several other towns and villages surround the lake and are accessible by foot, tuk-tuk or lanchas (public boats) across the lake. Panajachel, known as Pana, is home to several restaurants featuring local and international cuisine, coffee shops, street food vendors and more. The town’s main street, Calle Santander, is where visitors can shop for textiles and artisanal pieces handmade by indigenous people from around the lake. During the day, the street is lined with vendors who set up shop, selling bags, wallets, scarves, coffee, jewelry and other items. Across the lake, the town of San Marcos La Laguna is known for its laid-back vibe and attracts tourists interested in spiritual and holistic therapies, including massage, yoga and meditation. Visitors can sign up for classes of varying lengths at studios and retreats run by expats throughout the town. Vegetarian, vegan and locally produced dining options also abound in San Marcos. The entire town is walkable, though there are tuk-tuk drivers offering services as well. San Juan La Laguna, meanwhile, is an up-and-coming town known for women’s cooperatives and textiles created using natural dyes. One of the best-known cooperatives is called Lema. Started by Rosalinda Tay, indigenous women in the cooperative use dying and weaving techniques handed down from past generations. The natural dyes are made from various plants grown in the area. Visitors to the cooperative can learn firsthand how to weave and create the natural dyes during classes or purchase a scarf, bag or other handmade item created by the women. Just down the road, a community project in San Juan, the Utz’iil Eco-Centro, is being developed as a cultural exchange hub for the community, featuring a hostel, tea room, gardens, music stage and area for artisans. The goal of the project is to share the Mayan traditions of locals who are Tz’utujil as well as to promote environmentally sustainable practices. Another town along the lake, San Antonio Palopo, draws visitors because of its ceramics. Cooperatives create a variety of intricate pottery pieces in different designs. Though Spanish is often the second language for many of the indigenous people in the area, visitors can study Spanish at one of the schools in the region that offer one-on-one sessions and the option of a homestay or on-site accommodation. I spent my mornings taking two hours of Spanish classes each day at a local school in Panajachel for four weeks. My teacher was a young indigenous woman who lived with her family in the nearby village of Santa Catarina Palopo, so I was able to practice the language with her while also learning more about the Mayan culture and way of life. The lake area offers accommodations for any budget — from the luxurious Casa Palopo in the village of Santa Catarina Palopo that features breathtaking views of the lake and volcanoes, to hostels and funky bed-and-breakfasts in San Marcos catering to yoga and massage enthusiasts.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2016/08/20/travel/experience-mayan-culture-guatemalas-lake-atitlan-region/

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Police Wednesday morning were trying to persuade the suspect in a fatal Monday shooting at a construction company in the city of Wakayama to surrender and

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Wakayama gunman sought in fatal shooting holed up in flat surrounded by police

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Police Wednesday morning were trying to persuade the suspect in a fatal Monday shooting at a construction company in the city of Wakayama to surrender and end the standoff at an apartment building. Yasuhide Mizobata, 45, a former employee of the company and the second son of the company’s president, has two guns and fired an apparent warning shot at around 6:40 a.m. from the apartment where he has barricaded himself in. No one was injured. He also pointed a gun at himself a few times but has been talking to the police. Mizobata locked himself in the apartment near the company and the police blocked the surrounding area. They obtained an arrest warrant for Mizobata on suspicion of murder and attempted murder for the shooting Monday morning that left one dead, one unconscious and two seriously wounded. The police late Tuesday found him but he got away after firing shots, they said. Yet they tracked him down around 1 a.m. Wednesday and have been trying to get him to surrender. According to investigators, security footage showed Mizobata leaving the company shortly after the shootings and heading toward a car in the parking lot. Mizobata was recently convicted under the Stimulant Control Law and was supposed to have been taken to prison Monday. At the time of the shootinsg, he was still out on bail.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/08/31/national/crime-legal/suspect-wakayama-shooting-placed-wanted-list/

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U.S. federal officials are seeking a ban on swimming with Hawaii's spinner dolphins, saying the encounters popular with tourists are harming the sleeping h

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U.S. government seeks ban on swimming with Hawaii dolphins

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U.S. federal officials are seeking a ban on swimming with Hawaii’s spinner dolphins, saying the encounters popular with tourists are harming the sleeping habits of the nocturnal creatures. The proposal by the National Marine Fisheries Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) would ban swimming with Hawaiian spinner dolphins or approaching the animals within 50 yards. The measure would affect highly popular excursions that allow tourists to swim with the marine mammals or get near them by boat. “We are taking this action because spinner dolphins in the main Hawaiian islands are experiencing intense pressure from swimmers and other ocean users looking for a dolphin encounter,” Ann Garrett, of the NOAA’s Fisheries Office of Protected Resources, told reporters earlier this week. The playful and naturally curious creatures hunt for fish, shrimp and squid in deep waters offshore by night, and rest during the day in shallow waters. They swim back and forth while resting with half of their brain alert while the other half rests. Officials say that the creatures in recent years have faced intense pressure from dolphin-viewing activities which disrupt their resting time. Garrett said that her agency fears the chronic disturbance can negatively affect the health and reproductive success of the mammals. “By reducing disturbance to Hawaiian spinner dolphins, we hope to prevent long term negative effects to (them) and to protect the sustainability of the local population,” she said. Garrett said her agency would consider public comment on the issue for 60 days and hold a number of community meetings in September before making a final decision within a year. The proposed ban would be implemented within two nautical miles from shore of all main Hawaiian islands and in designated waters between the islands of Maui, Lanai, and Kahoolawe where the dolphins are found throughout the day. Although there is no firm count on the number of dolphins in the Hawaiian islands, the most recent estimate puts their number at 3,350, according to NOAA.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/08/26/world/science-health-world/u-s-government-seeks-ban-swimming-hawaii-dolphins/

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Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike has decided to postpone plans to relocate the aging Tsukiji fish market to the capital's Toyosu waterfront in November, a metropoli

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Tsukiji fish market's relocation plan to be postponed: source

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Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike has decided to postpone plans to relocate the aging Tsukiji fish market to the capital’s Toyosu waterfront in November, a metropolitan government source said Tuesday. The local government will make a decision about the date of the relocation after assessing in January the result of a groundwater survey conducted in the Toyosu area, a former plant site for gas production where contaminated soil has been found. Koike is expected to announce the decision soon. The postponement of the plan could affect the construction of a highway connecting the central area of Tokyo with the proposed athletes village for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. The decision could also result in compensation claims from businesses that were preparing for the market relocation on Nov. 7. The metropolitan government decided in 2001 to relocate the aging Tsukiji market and has been working to clean up the soil in the Toyosu area, where a Tokyo Gas Co. plant used to operate. Koike had said earlier that she has big doubts about opening the new market before seeing the results of the water survey. The new buildings of the Toyosu market are already completed and the total cost of the project now stands at ¥588.4 billion ($5.7 billion). The Tsukiji market began operating in 1935.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/08/30/national/tsukiji-fish-markets-relocation-plan-postponed-source/

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Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Japan in December, his first visit here since 2005, the Kremlin says.

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Putin to visit Japan in December, Kremlin says

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Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Japan in December as Moscow and Tokyo strive to ease lingering tensions over the territorial dispute, the Kremlin said Tuesday. “Vladimir Putin’s long-delayed visit to Japan will take place in December,” Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov told reporters. “The time and date have already been agreed to, but we will announce them with the approval of the Japanese side.” Tokyo-Moscow relations are hamstrung by the dispute dating back to the end of World War II when Soviet troops seized four islands close to Hokkaido. The tensions have prevented the countries from signing a peace treaty formally ending wartime hostilities, hindering trade and investment ties. Putin — who last visited Japan in 2005 — is set to meet Prime Minister Shinzo Abe this Friday on the sidelines of an economic forum in the far eastern Russian city of Vladivostok. Abe made a visit to Russia in May and the Kremlin has been mooting a possible return trip by Putin before the end of the year as both sides look to rekindle talks aimed at resolving the territorial dispute. Tokyo is closely allied with Washington and has slapped sanctions against Moscow over its annexation of Crimea and the unrest in Ukraine. Over the years leaders from the two nations have tried to make headway on resolving the lingering dispute, but a solution has proved elusive and still appears some way off. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier this year that Russia wants to “move forward” in relations with Japan but is not prepared to budge on the “result of World War II.” Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev infuriated Tokyo last year when he visited the disputed islands, which are home to some 19,000 Russians.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/08/30/national/politics-diplomacy/putin-visit-japan-december-kremlin-says/

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Despite everything Serena Williams has won and done, her sense of self can still fluctuate based on the outcome of a particular match. Doesn't always seem

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Serena keeps things in perspective ahead of U.S. Open

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Despite everything Serena Williams has won and done, her sense of self can still fluctuate based on the outcome of a particular match. Doesn’t always seem to matter that she owns a record-tying 22 major singles titles heading into the U.S. Open, which begins Monday with a retractable roof at Arthur Ashe Stadium for the first time. Not necessarily a big deal to her that she’s spent the past 3½ years entrenched at No. 1 and is the oldest woman ever to top the WTA rankings. And there are times when the 34-year-old American basically forgets that she transcends her sport and has become a cultural icon away from the tennis court. Williams is devastated when she is dealt a setback, such as last year’s “Did that really happen?!” loss to Roberta Vinci in the U.S. Open semifinals, ending an attention-grabbing, pressure-piling bid for the first calendar-year Grand Slam by anyone in more than a quarter-century. Williams acknowledges she measures herself constantly. “Unfortunately, I definitely do, which I don’t think is normal. I definitely feel like when I lose, I don’t feel as good about myself,” she said. “But then I have to, like, remind myself that: ‘You are Serena Williams!’ You know? Like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ ” Williams continued, laughing and leaning forward. “And it’s those moments that I have to just, like, come off and be like, ‘Serena, do you know what you’ve done? Who you are? What you continue to do, not only in tennis, (but also) off the court? Like, you’re awesome.’ That really just shows the human side of me. I’m not a robot.” She is at the stage of her career where history is in the offing nearly every time a racket is in her right hand. So while the stakes are different from what they were at Flushing Meadows in 2015, Williams does have something significant to play for yet again. After equaling Steffi Graf for the most Grand Slam titles in the professional era (which dates to 1968) by winning Wimbledon last month, Williams now can break that tie by earning No. 23 in New York. Only Margaret Court owns more major singles trophies, with 24, but more than half of that total came against amateur competition. Not that Williams was immediately ready to think about topping Graf after pulling even with her at the All England Club. “One thing I learned about last year is to enjoy the moment,” Williams said. “I’m definitely going to enjoy this.” Good thing, too, because not everything has gone smoothly since that most recent triumph. Slowed by a bothersome right shoulder, Williams lost in the third round of singles and first round of doubles at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics — she was a 2012 gold medalist in both events — and then pulled out of a hard-court tuneup event in Ohio. Williams is assured of remaining at No. 1 until the end of the U.S. Open, which will bring her current streak to 186 weeks in a row, tying another mark held by Graf. Depending on what happens in the tournament, Williams could be overtaken in the rankings by No. 2 Angelique Kerber (who beat Williams in the Australian Open final in January), No. 3 Garbine Muguruza (who beat Williams in the French Open final in June) or No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska. “It’s definitely intriguing,” Roger Federer said about tracking the women vying for No. 1. “It’s nice to see this race.” Federer, who won five of his men’s record 17 Grand Slam titles in New York, will be sitting out the U.S. Open for the first time since 1999 as he takes the rest of the season off to let his left knee heal. A year ago, Federer lost in the final at Flushing Meadows to Novak Djokovic. In Federer’s mind, the top-ranked Djokovic is the favorite this time, even though No. 2 Andy Murray’s summer has been “phenomenal.” One reason: Federer thinks the installation of the new $150 million roof at the main arena will limit the wind even when it’s open, which will help Djokovic. Not too long ago, Djokovic appeared to be close to unbeatable no matter the surface or conditions, and a buzz was building about whether he could chase a true Grand Slam. But he exited Wimbledon in the third round, then the Olympics in the first round, while Murray won both of those titles. “Novak, obviously, the last two years, really, has played amazing tennis. His consistency — what I’ve done for, like, the last four months, he’s been doing for, like, the whole year,” Murray said. “So I need to try and keep that going, and the U.S. Open is always the next big goal.”

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2016/08/28/more-sports/tennis/serena-keeps-things-in-perspective-ahead-of-u-s-open/

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For Reina Saiki, 28, the world is her oyster. The Ivy leaguer who studied counterterrorism and Arabic at Brown and Harvard universities had been given chan

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Polyglot U.S.-born comic sheds cloak, dagger for shtick

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For Reina Saiki, 28, the world is her oyster. The Ivy leaguer who studied counterterrorism and Arabic at Brown and Harvard universities had been given chances to work for the CIA and FBI. With interning experience at the Clinton Foundation and Interpol, she could have taken any job to fulfill her goal of making the world a better place. But Saiki chose something unfathomable for someone of her background: The U.S.-born and-bred Saiki became a comedian in Japan, where her parents are from. Now she just goes by Reina. “Within the CIA, the FBI or Interpol, you are just a really tiny cog of a super complex machine in which one person is never going to be able to do anything significant,” said the comedian, who grew up speaking Japanese. “But now if I can increase my name value, I can deliver messages that might change the world in a more significant way, which I would not be able to do at the FBI or the CIA.” Her unusual background was immediately noticed by Japanese TV stations and she is seen as an up-and-coming owarai geinin (comedian). But rather than doing skits, she mostly serves as a commentator who offer detailed explanations about the U.S. presidential election and counterterrorism. Reina might be a good fit. Japanese comedians dream of taking the helm of the owarai (comedy) industry and hosting a number of variety shows in their own name. But nowadays, the ability to make people laugh is not enough to survive: Comedians have to be versatile. Some of the comedians who graduate from top-tier Japanese universities are highly sought-after commodities. Japanese seem to be fascinated by the contrasts presented when highly educated people do and say things that are silly, or the other way around. They can be used as commentators or even anchors on serious news programs to push up anemic ratings. TV stations even produce quiz shows where those with elite diplomas can compete to show off their intelligence. To be sure, Reina isn’t the first highly educated American comedian to hit Japan’s shores. Patrick Harlan, who also went to Harvard, has already established a foothold in the industry. But her about-face career change made a lot of Japanese think. Some suspect (maybe jokingly) that she is an undercover agent posing as a comedian, while others questioned the authenticity of her background, especially after a Japanese magazine recently debunked TV celebrity Sean McArdle Kawakami’s claim that he earned an MBA from Harvard. “I had to submit the copies of my diplomas and offer letters to show that my background is real,” Reina said as she showed the documents to The Japan Times, confirming she graduated from Brown and Harvard. Reina said the 9/11 attacks changed her life. “To have something like that so close to home, it was just really deeply shocking,” said Reina, who was then a 13-year-old junior high schooler in New Jersey, just a 40-minute train ride from Wall Street, aspiring to become a neurosurgeon. “I just felt that I had to do something.” So instead of pursuing a career in medicine, she went to Brown University to study counterterrorism. The fact that she looks Japanese but speaks multiple languages, including French, Arabic and Persian, made her an attractive candidate for the CIA: Reina said the agency offered her a job after graduation while she was interning for the Clinton Foundation. But the secretive nature of the agency made her think twice about that career. CIA officers can only reveal their activities to close family members. “I am the type of person who wants to talk about issues. I did not feel that it was a good fit,” she said. “I had my doubts as to whether I wanted to risk my life to do something cool but couldn’t talk about it with anyone.” So she went to Harvard to continue her global security studies with an emphasis on the Middle East. While at Harvard, she also had an internship at the U.S. office of Interpol, where she was referred for a position at the FBI. But then came a turning point. She failed the final polygraph test. “I’d been dedicating a lot of my life to counterterrorism. I could not think about any other career choices,” Reina said. “Failing that polygraph was the excuse I needed to say . . . I can use my knowledge but also have a good time . . ., and be able to tell my friends and family what I am doing.” Then she came to Japan to seek out opportunities in comedy. Although she left her counterterrorism dream behind, her comedy skits revolve around it. In one, she poses as a television reporter in a shopping mall but jokes that her interest is not in the shops and restaurants, but the closed-circuit TV system instead. Still, in stark contrast to U.S. norms, it remains unclear whether the Japanese comedy industry can embrace her politics-heavy background. While political satire is an unspoken taboo on Japanese TV, it is common for American comedians like John Stewart or Stephen Colbert to mock politicians and political parties with all manner of jokes. The well-known comic duo Bakusho Mondai once confided they had to delete part of their skit about politicians because NHK thought it was too political. Legendary comedian Kinich Hagimoto also said in a recent Asahi Shimbun article that a joke he made about then-Prime Minister Eisaku Sato had to be deleted from the pre-recorded TV show. While she has naturally tried to draw parallels between the U.S. election campaign and Japanese politics, Reina said she was told not to do that on Japanese TV. “As an American, we grow up on that and that’s how we learn about politics. So the disinterest that a lot of younger people here have for politics has to do with the fact that they do not really connect to it in any sort of way, whereas we grew up on it,” Reina said. Unlike other comedians who seek to control the industry, Reina does not seem to be obsessed about winning prestigious contests to gain fame. Instead, she said she wants to concentrate on not limiting herself to just one opportunity. “I want to use this as a stepping stone for other different opportunities that I might otherwise not have,” Reina said.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/08/26/national/polyglot-u-s-born-comic-sheds-cloak-dagger-shtick/

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When hackers penetrated a secure authentication system at a bitcoin exchange called Bitfinex earlier this month, they stole about $70 million worth of

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Cryptocurrency exchanges under attack, risking repeat of Mt. Gox debacle

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When hackers penetrated a secure authentication system at a bitcoin exchange called Bitfinex earlier this month, they stole about $70 million worth of the virtual currency. The cybertheft — the second largest by an exchange since hackers took roughly $350 million in bitcoins at Tokyo’s Mt. Gox exchange in early 2014 — is hardly a rare occurrence in the emerging world of cryptocurrencies. Data seen by Reuters shows a third of bitcoin trading platforms have been hacked, and nearly half have closed in the half dozen years since they burst on the scene. This rising risk for bitcoin holders is compounded by the fact there is no depositor’s insurance to absorb the loss, even though many exchanges act like virtual banks. Not only does that approach cast the cybersecurity risk in stark relief, but it also exposes the fact that bitcoin investors have little choice but to do business with under-capitalized exchanges that may not have the capital buffer to absorb these losses the way a traditional and regulated bank or exchange would. “There is a general sense in the bitcoin community that any centralized repository is at risk,” said a U.S.-based professional trader who lost about $1,000 in bitcoins when Bitfinex was hacked. He declined to be named. “So when investing, you always have that expectation at the back of your head. I lost a small amount compared to the others, but I know of traders who lost millions of dollars worth of bitcoins,” the trader said. The security challenge for the bitcoin world does not appear to be letting up, according to experts in the currency. “I am skeptical there’s going to be any technological silver bullet that’s going to solve security breach problems. No technology, cryptocurrency, or financial mechanism can be made safe from hacks,” said Tyler Moore, assistant professor of cybersecurity at the University of Tulsa’s Tandy School of Computer Science, who will soon publish the new research on the vulnerability of bitcoin exchanges. His study, funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, shows that since bitcoin’s creation in 2009 to March 2015, 33 percent of all bitcoin exchanges operational during that period were hacked. The figure represents one of the first estimates of the extent of security breaches in the bitcoin world. In contrast, data from the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a nonprofit organization, showed that of the 6,000 operational U.S. banks, only 67 banks experienced a publicly disclosed data breach between 2009 and 2015. That is roughly 1 percent of U.S. banks. Among the world’s stock exchanges, however, security breaches are much higher, with hackers attracted to the large pools of cash moving in and out of these trading venues. The latest survey of 46 securities exchanges released three years ago by the International Organization of Securities Commissions and World Federation of Exchanges found that more than half had experienced a cyberattack. Moore collaborated on the research with Nicolas Christin, associate research professor at Carnegie Mellon University and Janos Szurdi, a Ph.D. student also at Carnegie. In 2013, Moore and Christin wrote a research paper on security risks surrounding bitcoin exchanges when Moore was still a professor at Southern Methodist University. That research was presented at the 17th International Financial Cryptography and Data Security Conference in Okinawa, Japan in 2013. In the most recent study, the rate of closure for bitcoin exchanges in Moore’s research edged up to 48 percent among those operating from 2009 to March 2015. Hacking did not necessarily trigger the closure in each case. “A 48 percent closure is not acceptable, but not surprising given that bitcoin is a new technology,” said Richard Johnson, vice president of market structure and technology at Greenwich Associates. Johnson has written reports on risk and security issues in the cryptocurrency world. Profitability is a big problem for bitcoin exchanges, with many of them unable to generate enough volume to keep afloat. Bitcoin exchanges overall could be launched for as low as $100,000 up to $1 million, said Erik Voorhees, founder and chief executive officer of digital currency exchange ShapeShift. That is a fraction of what U.S. foreign currency exchanges are required to put up. Retail FX trading platform FXCM, for instance, is required by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to have at least $25 million in capital at all times. A key factor tied to the risk posed by exchanges is whether customers are reimbursed after closure or after the loss of bitcoins following a hack. Each closure and breach have been handled differently, but Tandy’s Moore said the risk of losing funds stored in exchanges are real. In the case of Bitfinex, which is now up and running after the hack August 2, customers lost 36 percent of the assets they had on the platform and were compensated for the losses with tokens of credit that would be converted into equity in the parent company. At Tokyo’s Mt. Gox, customers have yet to recover their investments more than two years after closure. Experts say trading venues acting like banks such as Bitfinex will remain vulnerable. These exchanges act as custodial wallets in which they control users’ digital currencies like banks control customer deposits. “The big exchanges that hold customer deposits are a big target for hackers,” said ShapeShift’s Voorhees, “and unfortunately most bitcoin exchanges store user funds.” When customers’ checking accounts are hacked, there is always a third party at the bank that can step in to deal with the theft. Not so with bitcoin, said Seattle-based Darin Stanchfield, chief executive officer at KeepKey, a hardware wallet provider. He expects more of these attacks to happen despite efforts to improve security at bitcoin exchanges. “Unfortunately because of its irreversible nature, bitcoin requires near perfect security.”

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/08/31/business/financial-markets/cryptocurrency-exchanges-attack-risking-repeat-mt-gox-debacle/

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Surrender to the heat of September as the Antonio Gades Company brings its sultry blend of ballet and flamenco to Tokyo, showcasing three of its classic wo

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Flamenco fusion set to fire up Tokyo

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Surrender to the heat of September as the Antonio Gades Company brings its sultry blend of ballet and flamenco to Tokyo, showcasing three of its classic works in two separate programs at Bunkamura’s magnificent Orchard Hall. Japan has long been a hotspot for ballet and also flamenco — Spain’s traditional performing art of dance in which singing, guitar-playing, clapping, tap and assorted passionate cries also play powerful supporting roles — and as the company’s artistic director, Stella Arauzo, admitted in a recent interview with The Japan Times, she felt “both moved and a sense of responsibility” ahead of their first shows here since 2009. “We are looking forward to meeting old fans of the maestro,” she wrote, referring to the late, great flamenco dancer and choreographer who started his eponymous company in 1981 after a short stint as the founding head of Spain’s National Ballet. “We also hope that many other people will fall in love with the world of the passionate Gades,” Arauzo added. The world of the “maestro” is a world of passion, discipline and genius. Born near Valencia in southeastern Spain just months after the three-year Spanish Civil War broke out in 1936, Gades grew up in Madrid before leaving school at 11 and working as both a boxer and in bullfighting. Then, when he was 16, Pilar Lopez — who ran the country’s leading dance company — spotted him dancing for small change in a bar and convinced him to train with her troupe. In one year, he would become their star. Celebrated for bringing flamenco into the popular realm, Gades later trained in classical ballet after fleeing Franco’s Spain for Rome, and his fusion of the two dance forms engendered a powerful storytelling structure for traditional Spanish dance. In fact, in the way he adapted his country’s folk tales and classical literature for the stage, Gades has been said to have redefined Spanish art. One of his first triumphs will be featured in the company’s two A Program shows on Saturday, Sept. 17. These open with his 1974 adaptation of famed Spanish poet and playwright Federico Garcia Lorca’s 1932 tragedy “Bodas de Sangre” (“Blood Wedding”), featuring Stella Arauzo as the mother, Alvaro Madrid (the bridegroom), Maite Chico (the wife), Maria Nadal (the bride) and Miguel Lara (Leonardo). As Arauzo explained: “It is an important, pioneering work for dramaturgy. Gades skillfully takes Garcia Lorca’s text and transforms it into a simple flamenco dance, harmonious with Lorca’s drama. “It’s hard to believe that a story can be told with so few things — just the guitar, soloists and extremely simple costumes. “That is where the expressive magnanimity of dance plays a huge part; it represents a shared connection between arts. An aesthetic based on artistic minimalism and ethnic roots is characteristic of Gades, and the same thing can be said of Lorca.” The A Program also features “Flamenco Suite,” Gades’ stylistic perspective on flamenco itself. Comprising eight short pieces that represent his early choreographic work, among its highlights is sure to be “Solea,” in which Miguel Angel Rojas dances to one of the most basic forms of flamenco music. Meanwhile, the B Program, on Sept. 18 and 19, presents the full-length “Carmen,” Gades’ masterpiece based on the 1845 French novella by Prosper Merimee about an unfaithful gypsy heroine that has been retold in opera, ballet and film. Arauzo, who herself played the role of Carmen under Gades’ direction, explained how much she enjoys continuing his legacy with younger dancers. “Esmeralda Manzanas, who stars this time, played her first lead role as Candela in (Manuel de Falla’s ballet) ‘El amor brujo’ (‘Love, the Magician’), and she’s worked her way up to play Carmen,” Arauzo said. “She’s a bright woman who practices hard and is passionate about Gades. She is also a beautiful person and I am happy to have a chance to share with her what I’ve learned from Gades over my long life.” About the production itself, Arauzo said: “You can feel the soul of Antonio Gades every night. Just to be there is an honor.” Arauzo obviously feels honored to be a part of the maestro’s vision, beginning her career with him in 1981. “It has made up my entire life as an artist,” Arauzo said. “I started in the corps de ballet, and gradually was given more responsibility and bigger roles. However, I never imagined I would become the company’s artistic director, but I’ve been in this position for 11 years already and it is my dream job — but it’s also a huge responsibility.” Arauzo praised all the company’s 16 dancers, nine women and seven men, in addition to the crew — including Gades collaborator Dominique You, the lighting and technical director — for its continued success since the founder’s death in 2004. Crediting the troupe’s musicians, too, Arauzo said, “Antonio Solera, a guitarist from Granada, has been with the company the longest. He worked with Gades from 1972, and composed the music for ‘Carmen’ and (Gades’ acclaimed ‘peasants’ revolt’ ballet from 1994) ‘Fuenteovejuna.’ ” “Gades always drilled into us the importance of loving and respecting ourselves, our traditions, and our ethnicity,” Arauzo concluded. “That is because the maestro felt the need to carry on traditions. “So it’s like a dream come true, to bring our traditions back to Tokyo. We always feel very loved by Japan, and I believe we connect with each other in many ways.” The Antonio Gades Company performs at Bunkamura’s Orchard Hall in Shibuya, Tokyo, on Sept. 17 (featuring two A Program shows), and on Sept. 18 and 19 (featuring the B program). For more details, visit www.bunkamura.co.jp/english/orchard/20160917.html.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2016/08/23/stage/flamenco-fusion-set-fire-tokyo/

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For most people, Shin-Osaka Station is a transit stop rather than a destination. That's understandable as there's not too much to stick around for. But if

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Atariya makes stopping at Shin-Osaka Station a treat

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For most people, Shin-Osaka Station is a transit stop rather than a destination. That’s understandable as there’s not too much to stick around for. But if you’re at a loss for food options, at least there’s Atariya, a family-run soba restaurant that’s a 10-minute walk from the station. Like many good soba places, Atariya has a nice homely feeling to it. The austerity of the bare cement walls and chunky wooden tables and chairs is offset by shelves that display sake cups and cooking pots. There’s a few tables and a long counter from where you can peek into the kitchen where chef and owner Yasuhito Doi is busy making, and tasting, stock. When visiting for lunch it’s worth it to try and beat the afternoon rush to secure one of the tenshin lunches — there are only 10 served each day, and it’s first come, first served. As soba lunch sets go, it’s varied, creative and at ¥1,800 it might the best value lunch set in Osaka. With the tenshin lunch, the soba comes after a plate of Japanese-style hors d’oeuvres. The standout dish for me was perhaps the simplest: yakimiso (grilled miso). Doi’s miso mixture is, from what I could discern, a mix of the white and red varieties and the result, after a quick grilling, has a deep umami-filled fruity flavor. I’d wager it’s not an Atariya innovation, the yakimiso is served on a rice paddle and while it’s a small serving it’s nonetheless beguiling. I even ordered seconds. The appetizers also include a dish of creamy tofu, lightly seasoned with soy sauce. The servings here are uniformly small, but ordering off the menu is an option if you want more. That may be the best strategy for the duck, which is a few slices that are quickly seared and topped with miso. Alongside the duck and tucked into a separate bowl are squid tentacles hidden beneath a plum sauce. Whereas the duck is tender, the squid offers more bite, a nice side-by-side contrast. The main event is the soba, served hot or cold depending on your preference. The morisoba is cooked al dente and served chilled in the usual basket. Soba is a simple dish and Doi does little to detract from this. The scallions and wasabi are served separately, and the tsuyu dipping sauce is a finely balanced mix of dashi and soy sauce, with the saltiness toned down. Also worth a taste are Doi’s seasonal soba dishes, especially the sudachi (citrus fruit) with duck, and the oyster and leek. But it’s the tenshin lunch that is worth turning a stopover at Shin-Osaka Station into a detour. 5-11-22 Higashimikuni, Yodogawa-ku, Osaka; 06-6391-8585; nearest stations Higashi Mikuni, Shin-Osaka; lunch 11:30 a.m-2:30 p.m, dinner 6 p.m.-10 p.m. closed Tues.; soba dishes from ¥800; no smoking; Japanese menu, Japanese spoken.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2016/08/26/food/atariya-makes-stopping-shin-osaka-station-treat/

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For the past few weeks, visitors and residents in Koenji have been haunted by a song — a plaintive, pentatonic melody that seems to circle endlessly,

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Koenji's Awa Odori festival celebrates 60 years

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For the past few weeks, visitors and residents in Koenji have been haunted by a song — a plaintive, pentatonic melody that seems to circle endlessly, never quite resolving. You can hear it playing over speakers on the station platform just before the train doors close. It’s there again as you walk down the Pal shopping arcade, under banners advertising the area’s most famous event. It’s the signature tune of the Awa odori, a dance that was born centuries ago in Tokushima Prefecture on the southern island of Shikoku, but which this bustling neighborhood in western Tokyo has claimed as its own. This weekend, 10,000 performers and somewhere in the region of a million people will gather to mark the 60th anniversary of the Koenji Awa Odori, the capital’s greatest street party. Over two evenings, 163 dance troupes (known as ren) will parade through the streets and narrow arcades to the accompaniment of flutes, shamisen and thunderous drumming. “You can’t do a complete circuit anymore,” says Kazunari Azumi, leader of the Kikusuiren troupe, who’ll be making his 41st appearance this year. “In the past, you could do a whole lap of the neighborhood without any problem — maybe go around 1½ times.” Such is the price of success. Formed in 1964, Kikusuiren is one of the most venerable troupes participating in the festival. It has a sister group in Tokushima, and its members visit the city a few times each year to practice. “Tokushima is the home of the Awa odori, so they take it to a whole different level,” says Azumi, with endearing humility. “We can’t compete with that, but we do our best.” As with many great events, the Koenji Awa Odori was born from local rivalry. In 1954, the adjacent neighborhood of Asagaya held its first Tanabata festival, in a calculated — and brilliantly successful — bid to lure the summertime crowds. Concerned that they were losing out, Koenji’s storeowners elected to start an event of their own, centered on the narrow shopping arcade to the south of the station. They wanted to have dancing, but the constraints of the location make it impractical to do a traditional Bon odori (Bon dance), of the kind that’s performed throughout Japan during the mid-August o-Bon period. That’s when somebody (alas, the historical record doesn’t give a name) suggested they pinch some moves from Tokushima instead. The original Awa dance has been performed for more than 400 years. It’s popularly believed to have started in 1586, when the local lord celebrated the completion of Tokushima Castle by getting the townspeople drunk, leading to outbreaks of wild dancing. Historians point out that this tale is almost certainly apocryphal, but it makes for a good yarn at least. Though it has many variations, the Awa odori is most typically performed to a two-step rhythm known as zomeki. Each troupe features a team of female dancers, wearing lightweight kimono and long straw hats that resemble taco shells, who advance in tight formation on the tips of their wooden geta clogs, arms held aloft. The traditional men’s dance is performed in a low crouch with the knees pointed outwards and arms raised above the shoulders. One dancer I spoke to said it resembles the stance that fishermen would assume while hauling in their nets; either way, it looks exhausting. The main problem for Koenji’s aspiring Awa odori dancers was that nobody knew any of this at the time. The inaugural Koenji Baka Odori (Koenji Silly Dance), held in 1957, was a cultural hodgepodge born of good-natured ignorance. Dancers ended up performing to the rhythm of the “Sado Okesa,” a folk song from Niigata Prefecture, sporting white face-paint more befitting of kabuki. Such inauthentic touches were quickly corrected, as performers began to nurture ties with Tokushima. A dancer named Shoei Morita, who later founded the Aoi Shinren troupe, went to Shikoku to shoot 8 mm footage of the Awa Odori, which goes to show how much tougher life was before YouTube. Yet as the festival’s proponents made a bid for respectability, they had to concede that their original mission had failed. “Everyone was watching with their backs turned to the stores — no one was going inside,” says Takeyuki Tomizawa, a former troupe leader who now works full-time for the Tokyo Koenji Awa Odori Promotion Association. “The whole idea was to increase sales on the shōtengai (shopping street), but it didn’t work at all.” That’s still true today: While local bars and restaurants can expect plenty of business, Koenji’s retailers might as well take the weekend off. When he isn’t fielding complaints from irate locals (there are quite a few, apparently), Tomizawa’s most pressing concern is figuring out how to pay for the event. He reels off a few expenses: the lighting costs ¥15 million, security guards are an additional ¥9 million, and they spend around ¥5-6 million just on fencing and signs. The festival accepts donations from the public — ¥6,000 gets you a seat in the stands — and has managed to wangle some subsidies from the local ward office. Troupes pay a standard participation fee of ¥50,000, plus an additional ¥500 per member per day. “We only charge them because we don’t have any money,” he says with a shrug. Of the 163 troupes appearing this weekend, 30 are members of the Ren Kyokai, an association of core groups that serve as standard-bearers for the festival. Others hail from different parts of the city or farther afield, and there are also corporate troupes; one highlight last year was the Microsoft team, who’d incorporated a shout-out for “Windows 10” into their chants. While troupes are expected to use traditional costumes and instruments, they’re free to innovate in other ways. Maichoren, which is a member of the Ren Kyokai association, performs to an all-percussion accompaniment, using a series of musical cues that allow for spontaneous changes in its routine. “I always found that when a group’s dancing was good, the music was boring — or vice versa,” explains leader Kazuo Suzuki, who composes all of the music himself. “We wanted to do something that sounded cool and looked cool, too.” Tokyo Tensuiren has also stripped the Awa odori down to its percussive core, though the troupe tends to plunge into more head-banging territory. When I visit a rehearsal at Za-Koenji Public Theater, which has a dedicated practice space for Awa Odori groups, it’s louder than the average rock concert, but  nobody seems to have thought to bring earplugs. “I think our ears are probably wrecked,” laughs Taeko Shito, the group’s deputy leader. Koenji has undergone many face-lifts since the 1950s. Once an epicenter for the punk scene, the neighborhood is now popular among the kinds of hipster dandies who used to flock to Harajuku. However, the changes run deeper. As Tomizawa points out, between 80 and 90 percent of the local shops are now occupied by tenants, rather than owners. These include an increasing number of chain stores, whose managers don’t have the liberty to donate money from their tills to the Awa Odori, or get staff to pitch in with the event. Faced with a drop in such homegrown support, the Promotion Association decided a decade ago to start enlisting volunteer staff. There’ll be 500 volunteers helping out this weekend, assisting with important tasks like collecting rubbish. But Tomizawa says that few of them will be local: “The locals are generally dancing.” The 60th Tokyo Koenji Awa Odori festival takes place around Koenji Station in Suginami Ward on Aug. 27 and 28 (5 p.m.-8 p.m.). For more information, visit www.koenji-awaodori.com. There’s a new dance in town 1957: Two-thousand spectators watch 38 dancers and musicians perform the inaugural Koenji Baka Odori (Koenji Silly Dance). 1959: The local youth association votes on whether to continue the festival. A narrow 10-9 majority guarantees its survival. 1963: Ending the silliness, the festival is renamed the Koenji Awa Odori. 1967: The first independent dance group, Aoi Shinren, makes its debut. It’s still performing today. 1976: Koenji dancers take the Awa odori abroad for the first time, appearing at U.S. Bicentennial celebrations in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Honolulu. 2001: Torrential rain forces organizers to cancel the second day of the festival — the only time this has ever happened. 2011: With power-saving efforts in place after the Great East Japan Earthquake, the Awa odori shunts its start time forward to 3 p.m. It’s the sweatiest year on record.

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This is the season the Premier League has been waiting for since its inception in 1992. It boasts the most glittering array of Hollywood managers with expe

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Strong managerial ranks highlight start of new season

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This is the season the Premier League has been waiting for since its inception in 1992. It boasts the most glittering array of Hollywood managers with expensively assembled supporting casts and tempting fate as it may be, it is virtually impossible not to visualize a titanic struggle between the heavyweights of English football. The Premier League has the finest collection of elite coaches in world football. It is not the best league and cannot boast the best teams — Spain’s La Liga is the undisputed leader — while the true superstars of world football are in Spain and Germany’s Bundesliga. But nobody can match the quality and quantity of the Premier League’s coaching corps: Antonio Conte (Chelsea), Pep Guardiola (Manchester City), Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool), Jose Mourinho (Manchester United), Mauricio Pochettino (Tottenham), Claudio Ranieri (Leicester) and Arsene Wenger (Arsenal). Between them they have won 24 domestic titles and four Champions Leagues. With the transfer window open for another four days, their clubs have already spent a combined £555 million this summer. Inevitably there will be some high-class,high-maintenance failures. One, maybe two of these super-coaches will not lead their teams to European qualification. Expectations are highest at United, City and Chelsea, so either Mourinho, Guardiola or Conte will be at least a second best though delivering the Champions League would make City fans overlook domestic shortcomings. So far, so good as the big three have won their opening two matches. Mourinho has given United its swagger back, the Special One’s charisma plus the acquisition of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paul Pogba, Eric Bailly and Henrikh Mkhitaryan wiping out the misery of the David Moyes and Louis van Gaal eras. Such is the depth of United’s squad even making the bench is something of an achievement. The suspicion that United needs a dedicated midfield enforcer remains while Wayne Rooney’s place in attack is uncertain though he has linked up well with Ibrahimovic who has probably set a record for the quickest player to become an Old Trafford hero. While Mourinho was not every United fan’s ideal choice to succeed van Gaal, he has said and done all the right things so far — with the emphasis on so far. The fear factor has returned to United with the new additions giving the team a physical and psychological edge in the tunnel before the kickoff. Across town at City, Guardiola has wasted no time putting his fingerprints on the side. Joe Hart, Yaya Toure and Samir Nasri are yesterday’s men, Martin Demichelis was released and Steven Jovatic loaned to Inter Milan. In have come Claudio Bravo, John Stones, Ilkay Gundogan, Nolito and Leroy Sane. Guardiola’s record demands respect even if dumping England goalkeeper Hart, 29 for a 33-year-old Chilean is a little puzzling, but it underlines the Catalan’s ruthless streak. At Barcelona and Bayern Munich, Guardiola liked his goalkeeper to be proficient with his feet as well as his hands, his passing ability making him a glorified fullback. Hart’s distribution was not up to Guardiola’s standard so Bravo was recruited from Barcelona. It is hard to recall another goalkeeper sacrificed because of his footwork. Conte has immediately won over Chelsea fans with his passion, energy and personality. N’Golo Kante, at £30 million from Leicester almost loose change compared with some of today’s prices, will add steel, stamina and skill to the midfield. Whether Michy Batshuayi will rotate with Diego Costa or the pair will play together is not yet clear. What is as certain as night following day is that the Belgium striker will fill in for Costa when he is inevitably sent off. Costa was fortunate not to see red against both West Ham and Watford, but his luck will run out and, of course, he will once again claim referees are out to get him. The season started as it usually does for Arsenal with a defeat, supporters voicing their anger at no major signings, Wenger saying he will only bring in players who will improve the team (he must have one heck of a team) and the obligatory injury crisis. Arsenal is interested in Lucas, the Deportivo La Coruña forward, and Shkodran Mustafi, Valencia’s Germany international defender, but as The Japan Times went to press neither deal had been completed. Wenger is in the last year of his contract and the Frenchman, who did so much to revolutionize English football when he arrived 20 years ago from Japan, is rapidly becoming yesterday’s man. He probably still uses a typewriter. His belief that it is better to produce talent than buy it at exorbitant prices is admirable, but he is stuck in his own ideal world with the game moving on outside it. While Arsenal’s main rivals have all bought big in terms of name and money, Granit Xhaka, £35 million from Borussia Moenchengladbach, is the only significant signing and the way the Swiss goes into tackles means he will not be a stranger to the Football Association’s disciplinary department. In 24 minutes of the 4-3 loss to Liverpool Xhaka attempted six tackles, did not win one and four were fouls, collecting his first, but not last, yellow card in English football. That must be some sort of record and we now live in a world of statistics — Fulham even has a director of statistical recruitment. Perhaps the most relevant and consistent stat is that to win the title a team can afford to lose no more than five matches — in the past 15 seasons only Manchester City, with six defeats in 2014, has bucked that trend. Regardless of the number of points won, goals scored or conceded the figure in the L column is usually the deciding factor. He who loses the fewest wins. Champion Leicester lost three games last season; the Foxes, Arsenal and Liverpool each have one loss already so realistically they can afford to lose a maximum of four more games in their remaining 36 matches. Pressure. The match of the day on Saturday in many respects is Hull vs. Manchester United. Hull, like Leicester last season, was just about everyone’s tip for relegation, yet it has won its first two games. Hull, whose caretaker-manager is former Reds assistant manager Mike Phelan, has never beaten United in the Premier League, a run spanning eight matches that includes seven Reds wins and one draw, but something has to give at KC Stadium in the battle of the unlikely unbeatens. New reality: A former Premier League player who remains a close friend was admitted to a private clinic in an effort to help his alcoholism. The clinic deals with various types of addictions, but it is a sad comment on the times we live in that one person was there because of her addiction to her smartphone. Christopher Davies was a longtime Premier League correspondent for the London Daily Telegraph.

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Do you want me to take you to go vote?

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Voting with one's feet

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Sixty-three-year-old Japanese man: Do you want me to take you to go vote? Ninety-one-year-old Japanese woman: If I had enough energy to go vote, I’d go to the doctor’s. — Utsunomiya, Tochogi Prefecture. Overheard by a Japan Times On Sunday reader on the day of the Upper House elections on July 10. Overheard a conversation you’d like to share? Simply fill out the online submission form at jtimes.jp/overheard. Please recount the conversation in the format above and be sure to provide a description of the participants (age, male/female, nationality if relevant, etc.), note where the conversation took place and include any other context that might be necessary.

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She became the face of Italy's earthquake: Sister Marjana Lleshi, blood staining her veil as she texted her family and friends in her native Albania that s

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Nun in iconic Italian quake photo texted friends 'adieu'

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She became the face of Italy’s earthquake: Sister Marjana Lleshi, blood staining her veil as she texted her family and friends in her native Albania that she was alive. In an interview Thursday at the mother house of her religious order, the 35-year-old nun recounted how she thought she would die when her convent walls collapsed. She texted her friends asking that they pray for her soul, only to be rescued by a man she has called her “angel.” Now safe, Lleshi says she wants nothing more than to go to next week’s Rome canonization of Mother Teresa, the ethnic Albanian nun “who gave hope to those who didn’t have any.” Lleshi was sleeping in the Don Minozzi convent beside the Church of the Most Holy Crucifix in Amatrice when the quake struck at 3:36 a.m. Wednesday. She had been there, with six other sisters, caring for five elderly women. Her order, the Sisters of the Handmaidens of the Lord, runs nurseries and homes for the aged. She woke up covered in dust and bleeding. Realizing what had happened, she immediately tried to summon help outside her room. No one responded. And she couldn’t get out. “When I started losing all hope of being saved, I resigned myself to it and started sending messages to friends saying to pray for me and to pray for my soul and I said goodbye to them forever,” she said outside the order’s headquarters in Ascoli Piceno. “I couldn’t send a message like this to my family because I was afraid that my father would have an emotional collapse and die hearing something like that.” She said she eventually was rescued by a young man who cared for one of the elderly women at the home. “In that moment, I heard a voice who called me: ‘Sister Marjana, Sister Marjana.’ ” He pulled her out. With the ground still shaking, she sat on the side of the road and began texting her friends and sisters that she had survived. That moment was immortalized in an image taken by a photographer for the ANSA news agency reprinted worldwide. Lleshi spent much of Thursday getting medical checks for dust inhalation and her head wound, which required stitches. Once back home, she wept as she thought of her family. She still hopes to travel to Rome for the Sept. 4 canonization of Mother Teresa, the Macedonian-born ethnic Albanian nun who ministered to the poor of India. But the chaos and horror of the moment may be too much. Her order lost three sisters and four of the elderly women they cared for, alongside incalculable losses in the wider community. “For me she’s the symbol of Albania, of a strong woman,” she said of Teresa. “I would have liked to go, but after this I don’t think I can.” She can relish the simple fact of still being alive. “I had said ‘adieu,’ ” she said, “and in the end it wasn’t an adieu.”

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Olympic 100-meter champion Elaine Thompson took center stage in the absence of her Jamaican teammate Usain Bolt in the first Diamond League meet after the

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Olympic champ Thompson triumphs in Lausanne 100

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Olympic 100-meter champion Elaine Thompson took center stage in the absence of her Jamaican teammate Usain Bolt in the first Diamond League meet after the Rio de Janeiro Games on Thursday. Thompson timed 10.78 seconds with a slight tailwind at Athletissima — just .07 outside her time in the 100 final in Rio and .08 behind her world-leading time this season. It was Thompson’s second time down the track after most runners initially ignored a false start gun. “To be able to produce (10.78) on a second attempt, it’s a great time,” said Thompson, a double gold medalist in 100 and 200 who almost matched Bolt’s title triple, but took home silver in the 4×100 relay. With Bolt celebrating his 30th birthday in London, Churandy Martina of the Netherlands won the 200 in 19.81, just .03 slower than Bolt ran in the Olympic final and a national record In the 100, Bolt’s gold medal- winning relay teammate Asafa Powell clocked 9.96 to win on a track where he ran his personal record of 9.72 soon after the Beijing Olympics. One contender to help the sport’s void when Bolt retires is Jamaican 110 hurdler Omar McLeod. However, the Olympic champion was edged by .01 on Thursday by the rival he beat for gold, Orlando Ortega. The Spaniard’s winning run was 13.11. American hurdlers dominated the women’s races, and Kendra Harrison again showed what she could have achieved in Rio had she earned selection at national trials. Harrison, who set a world record of 12.20 in London last month, won here in 12.42 — faster by .06 than the Olympic gold-winning time of teammate Brianna Rollins, who did not run Thursday. Olympic champion Dalilah Muhammad timed 53.78 in a clear 400 hurdles win. Two American bronze medalists in Rio won their events: LaShawn Merritt clocked 44.50 in the 400, and Sam Hendricks set a pole vault meet record by clearing the bar at 5.92 meters. Hendricks used the ideal conditions on a warm, still evening in Lausanne to go seven centimeters above his Olympic height. Two Olympic silver medalists dueled in the women’s 3,000: Genzebe Dibaba, the 1,500 runner-up from Ethiopia, won in 8:31.84 after kicking hard at the bell to leave Olympic 5,000 runner-up Hellen Obiri of Kenya trailing in second. Rio silver medalists who also won in Lausanne were Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar, clearing 2.35 at the third attempt in the high jump, and Francine Niyonsaba of Burundi in the women’s 800. Niyonsaba timed 1:57.71 as Olympic champion Caster Semenya of South Africa skipped the meet. Semenya plans to run at Zurich next Thursday. In the shot put, 2012 Olympic champion Valerie Adams of New Zealand reversed Rio placings with gold medalist Michelle Carter of the U.S., extending her lead with a final effort at 19.94 meters. Olympic triple jump champion Caterine Ibarguen won with a leap of 14.76, though long jump gold medalist Tianna Bartoletta of the U.S. placed only fifth. Amid Russia’s doping scandal, its only eligible entry in Olympic track and field was its only competitor in Lausanne: with Darya Klishina finishing third in the long jump won by Olympic bronze medalist Ivana Spanovic of Serbia at 6.83. “Mentally this has been a very tough season,” Klishina said. “I hope the situation with Russia is sorted soon and we athletes just have to focus on performing.” Silver medal auctioned AFP-JIJI Polish discus thrower Piotr Malachowski, who took silver at the Rio Olympics, said that he auctioned off his medal this week to fund treatment for a 3-year-old boy struck with cancer. The 33-year-old world champion wrote on his Facebook page that he was moved to auction his prize after receiving a letter from the mother of a boy called Olek who said he had been battling eye cancer for two years and that treatment in New York was his only hope. “I fought for gold in Rio. Today I’m calling on everyone to fight for something even more precious,” Malachowski wrote on Friday to announce the auction. “If you help me, my silver medal may turn out to be more precious than gold for Olek,” he said, adding that he would use the entire sum raised to pay for treatment. “Success,” he later wrote, saying the medal had found takers.

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The Supreme Court acquittal in June of a nightclub owner indicted for unlawfully allowing customers to dance at the venue had special significance for a me

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Nightclub trial helped defense lawyer rediscover love of break dancing

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The Supreme Court acquittal in June of a nightclub owner indicted for unlawfully allowing customers to dance at the venue had special significance for a member of the defense team. Before becoming a lawyer, Motonobu Ishigaki was a member of a world-renowned break-dancing team. His first-ever public break-dancing performance had taken place at Noon, the Osaka nightclub at the center of the case. Ishigaki, 37, first came across break dancing as a law student at Ritsumeikan University in 1998. Captivated with the art form, he joined Ichigeki, then one of the leading break-dancing teams in the Kansai region, when he was a third-year student, and regularly practiced in front of Kyoto Station with other members. Tracing its roots to New York in the 1970s and ’80s, break dancing by some accounts developed as an alternative to fighting between groups of urban youths. The art form incorporates many athletic moves, with dancers sometimes spinning on their heads and backs. With little natural athleticism, Ishigaki worked hard to master the strenuous physical moves required to dance competitively. After graduating from Ritsumeikan, he continued to improve his break-dancing techniques while working as an instructor at a dance school. Ishigaki was a member of the Ichigeki team that represented Japan at the Battle of the Year, one of the world’s premiere break-dancing competitions, in Germany in 2005. The team’s performances, which earned it first place in the showcase and second in the main battle event, are still lauded by break-dancing aficionados. Just before the event, however, Ishigaki began to wonder if he should continue his life as a dancer. He wanted to contribute to the creation of a society where all people could express themselves and respect each other’s characters. Ishigaki then recalled that he had a dream of pursuing a legal career when he joined the law faculty of Ritsumeikan. He enrolled in law school and passed the bar exam in 2010. Ishigaki heard of the so-called “club trial” soon after he began working as a lawyer in Kyoto. The owner of Noon was arrested in April 2012 for allowing customers to dance and serving alcoholic beverages without the National Public Safety Commission’s permission. The owner was indicted under a 1948 law governing nightclubs, sex parlors and other establishments that affect public morals. With the owner pleading his innocence, Ishigaki volunteered his services for the defense team. In mounting a legal defense, he argued Noon had held various music and other events on its premises to foster youth culture. In April 2014, the Osaka District Court acquitted the defendant on the grounds that Noon had not violated laws to uphold public morals. The ruling acknowledged that events at the nightclub fell within a range protected under freedom of expression, and said provisions in the sex industry law could restrict this freedom. In June this year, the Supreme Court finalized the defendant’s innocence, which Ishigaki says affirmed his own sense of purpose. In April, for the first time in 10 years, he entered a dance battle competition held in Kyoto. He says he decided to re-enter the world of breakdancing after the club trial re-awakened his love for the art form. Ishigaki now visits a gym almost every morning to practice dancing before he goes to his office. Once a week, he also practices with younger dancers late at night. Ishigaki has always worried about a “balance of relations with people around him,” says Katsunori Kakiguchi, a 36-year-old fellow dancer who has known Ishigaki for 15 years. “He now voices his ideas. He has changed since he became a lawyer.” “Dance has power to change people,” Ishigaki says. Break dancing, created by young people on the margins of society, has helped some underprivileged youth escape poverty in the United States. Ishigaki has met many hardworking breakdancers with criminal records. “I couldn’t have passed the bar exam without the experience of dancing,” Ishigaki says. “As a lawyer and active dancer, I want to repay my indebtedness to people involved in dancing.”

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Is Britain's less-than-full-hearted commitment to the European adventure best pursued as an increasingly anomalous member of a broken EU or as a concerned and friendly neighbor?

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The Brexit question that nobody has asked

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Mervyn King, former governor of the Bank of England, has written the best article I’ve read on Britain’s exit from the European Union. In an essay for the New York Review of Books he makes many excellent points, but one is of surpassing importance. It’s an obvious point, or ought to be, that nonetheless has been almost entirely ignored by other respectable commentators: Whether Britain should stay in the EU depends on where the EU is heading. The EU is plainly in deep trouble with or without the United Kingdom, and its condition as a political project is anything but stable. Judging whether Britain is better off as a member therefore requires a judgment not only about what Britain has gained or lost from membership up to now but also an assessment of the future character of the whole EU enterprise. Britain’s “remain” campaign, expressing the collective opinion of every expert on the subject, has had almost nothing to say about this. As King points out, the EU is structurally unsound. (Joseph Stiglitz in the Financial Times makes the same point.) It has pressed political union both too far and not far enough. That is, it has created half a political union — with a single currency but without a collective fiscal policy or the political apparatus that would be necessary to legitimize it. King: “Putting the cart before the horse — setting up a monetary union before a political union — has led the European Central Bank to become more and more vocal about the need to “complete the architecture” of monetary union by proceeding quickly to create a Treasury and finance minister for the entire eurozone. The ability of such a new ministry to make transfers between member countries of the monetary union would reduce pressure on the European Central Bank to find new ways of holding the monetary union together. But there is no democratic mandate for a new ministry to create such transfers or to have political union — voters do not want either.” And voters aren’t the only ones who don’t want it. German officialdom (backed by popular opinion) is viscerally opposed to a “transfer union,” which is Germany’s name for fiscal policy as it operates in any normal country. Germany’s position is understandable, since Germans would give much more than they received in any such arrangement. But that doesn’t alter the conclusion: Not only is the EU structurally unsound, but there’s also little prospect that the structure either can be or will be repaired. The most dangerous scenario of all in fact would be a political union that happened despite all this, forced by pressure of events onto electorates — Germany’s in particular — that didn’t want it. The hazards posed by discontented voters rebelling against deaf elites are already vividly apparent in Britain (the success of the Brexit campaign), in the rest of the EU (where far-right populist parties are gaining ground) and in the United States (Donald Trump). A European political union without strong popular backing might test Europe’s democracies to destruction. The closest remain campaigners came to acknowledging this grim prospect was to say that Britain could help guide the EU in its efforts to address the union’s problems, such as they may be. Given the scale of the task, that would be far from reassuring even if it were true. King explains why it’s false. Britain can’t guide the EU in solving this existential problem because it has already detached itself from the EU core. It chose not to join the single currency and didn’t participate in the Schengen plan for borderless travel. Britain isn’t, and isn’t seen as, a full member of the club. How then can it provide leadership? “For all our shared history, culture and values,” as King says, “it would be impertinent for a country that has chosen to join neither the euro nor the Schengen areas to tell our European partners what they should do.” The remainers’ take on Britain’s semi-detachment was to say that Britain has the best of both worlds. It gets the benefits of membership without the worry of living entirely inside a house whose roof might fall in — or, as remainers might prefer to think, whose paint work needs touching up. I applaud the sentiment: It’s good, whenever possible, to have the best of all worlds. But the question is whether Britain’s less-than-full-hearted commitment to the European adventure is best pursued as an increasingly anomalous member of a broken EU or as a concerned and friendly neighbor. Granted, the answer to that question isn’t obvious. But what certainly ought to be obvious is that the question deserved to be asked — and that’s something the remain campaign refused to acknowledge. Clive Crook is a Bloomberg View columnist who writes editorials on economics, finance and politics.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2016/08/24/commentary/world-commentary/brexit-question-nobody-asked/

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Senior Japanese and Russian officials have held talks on concluding a post-World War II peace treaty as the two countries make final arrangements for a mee

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Senior Japanese, Russian officials hold talks ahead of Abe-Putin meet in Vladivostok

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Senior Japanese and Russian officials have held talks on concluding a post-World War II peace treaty as the two countries make final arrangements for a meeting between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Vladimir Putin early next month in Russia. A territorial spat over Russian-held, Japanese-claimed islands off Hokkaido have kept the two countries from signing the treaty for decades, but Abe hopes to make progress on the issue through talks with Putin at their proposed meeting on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok on Sept. 2-3. “We hope to hold the next round of peace treaty talks without leaving an interval,” Chikahito Harada, the Japanese government representative and ambassador in charge of Japan-Russia relations, told reporters Friday after the meeting with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov in Moscow. Japan and Russia are also planning to realize a visit by Putin to Japan by the end of this year. In the talks, the officials apparently discussed a “new approach” in tackling the territorial dispute, a term Abe used after agreeing with Putin to resolve the long-standing issue at their meeting in May. At the time, Abe did not explain the specifics of the term. Regarding the content of the territorial negotiations, Harada said only, “We had positive and frank discussions.” Japan and Russia remain apart in their views over the isles, with Tokyo maintaining the stance that ownership of them must be resolved before concluding a peace treaty. For its part, Moscow says territorial and peace treaty issues are not directly connected and that it took the isles legitimately as the result of World War II. The islands, northeast of Hokkaido, are called the Southern Kurils in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan. Harada said he also requested Morgulov ensure that a Japanese man who was questioned by authorities on Kunashiri Island, one of the disputed islands, can swiftly return to Hokkaido by sea. Morgulov said Russia is doing everything it can do, according to Harada. The Japanese interpreter had been kept on the island during a visit under a bilateral visa-free exchange program. Media reports said he was carrying undeclared cash when he underwent a baggage check when he was about to leave the island and return to Japan.

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The government has some hard choices to make when it comes to implementing changes in the law on privacy protection.

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'Big data' and privacy protection

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Draft rules and regulations to flesh out last year’s amendment to the law on protecting personal information have been disclosed for public comment, waiting to be formally approved by the Cabinet this fall for implementation as early as next spring. That will set the stage for the amendment’s goal of facilitating greater use of data on people’s behavior accumulated through electronic transactions — ranging from shopping history to records of travel on public transportation — for commercial purposes while tightening the rules for protection of privacy information. The bottom line should be that people’s concern for their privacy must be eliminated in the commercial use of such data. Expectations are high for businesses to tap into “big data” — massive volumes of digital information on people’s everyday activities, including internet searches and their GPS-located movements — to analyze the data for marketing and possibly generate new demand. But public wariness and caution remains over the commercial use of such information. In 2013, East Japan Railway Co. came under fire over revelations that the railway operator had sold to a third party data culled from its customers’ IC passes — showing the movements of train passengers — even though the sale was not illegal since information identifying the pass holders, such as their names, had been deleted. The amendment enables parties that handle people’s personal information to provide the data to third parties without consent of the people if it has been scrubbed to ensure their anonymity. Rules are now being set on what specific information must be removed before the data are provided to third parties so individuals won’t be identified. Advances in information technology have expanded the range of information that can be used to identify individuals, including DNA, fingerprints, facial features, irises, voiceprints and even the way people walk — bodily features now used in biometric authentication. Along with people’s names, birth dates, addresses, phone numbers and numbers assigned to their driver’s license, passports and insurance cards and so forth, such information needs to be deleted from the data. These rules will need to be constantly updated to keep up with future advances in technology that could identify individuals from other diverse sets of information. Meanwhile, the amendment created a new provision for “personal information requiring consideration” that must not be obtained or provided to third parties without consent of the persons to whom the information belongs. This includes the person’s race, personal beliefs, social status, medical records, criminal history and crime victimization — which is deemed to require careful handling to avoid the person being subjected to discrimination. The draft rules added to the list results of people’s health checkups and physical and mental disabilities, as well as records of being subjected to criminal procedures such as arrest, search and indictment. Parties that receive anonymously processed data from others handling personal information are now required to confirm with the supplier and keep records on how the information had originally been obtained. The amendment also newly provides for punishment against stealing or supplying to others private information for the purpose of obtaining unfair benefits. The provision was added in the wake of the revelation in 2014 that massive volumes of customer information at major education service provider Benesse Corp. — including the names, birth dates and addresses of children who subscribed to its service — had been stolen and sold to name-list dealers. The amendment and the subsequent regulations will set a new framework that addresses changing business needs and fresh concerns over breaches of personal data. What it does not seem to address, however, is the concern that an overreaction to the law originally introduced in full in 2005 has led parties to restrict disclosure of personal information more than necessary — thus withholding information that should be made available for public use. Examples range from schools and communities not being able to create emergency communications networks — which require the contact information of each member. Government offices and businesses increasingly tend to withhold the names of persons involved in scandals and other incidents on the grounds of protecting their privacy. When massive floods inundated the city of Joso, Ibaraki Prefecture, last September, the municipal government would not disclose the names of residents who were unaccounted for in the disaster. Since it took time for relevant authorities to share the information about people needing rescue, searches were continued for some residents even after their safety has been confirmed. There are also concerns that the tightened rules on criminal records might be used by public figures such as lawmakers and bureaucrats to cover up their own scandals. How to reconcile guarding people’s privacy and disclosure of information that needs to be publicly shared should be further discussed, and the government and lawmakers should consider appropriate steps to deal with the problem.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2016/08/27/editorials/big-data-privacy-protection/

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Academic Norma Field spent the summer of 1995 in Tokyo, observing the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II. This is the book that came out of that e

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From My Grandmother's Bedside: Sketches of Postwar Tokyo

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Academic Norma Field spent the summer of 1995 in Tokyo, observing the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II. This is the book that came out of that experience, a compilation of observations, snatched dialogues, musings, anecdotes, fragments and ruminations. The author had already published the highly acclaimed, “In the Realm of a Dying Emperor” a title analyzing the personal and public life of Japan. From My Grandmother’s Bedside: Sketches of Postwar Tokyo, by Norma Field 204 pages University of California Press, Memoirs. The daughter of a Japanese woman and American G.I., Field grew up in Japan, assembling an identity for herself against the backdrop of a country in the postwar era coping with the throes of defeat, but energized by the prospect of forging a new image for itself. Attending the bedside of her expiring grandmother, who is speechless from a series of strokes, the author’s mind is increasingly preoccupied with recollections of her childhood in the home of her grandparents. Peeling away the layers of time, Field’s thoughts turn to reflections on Japan’s military legacies, to issues relating to “comfort women,” war responsibility, social upheaval and the homogenizing effects of Japan’s postwar economic miracle as the nation fell into lock step, fired up by a collective mission to rebuild itself and claw back its standing in the international community. If the initial feeling in Field’s writing is defined by improvised riffing, it soon coagulates into a larger and more ambitious experimental book about family, community, belonging and loss. Read archived reviews of Japanese classics at jtimes.jp/essential.

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Premium ice cream is never out of season. But the timing could hardly have been better for the arrival of Handels Vagen at the start of this summer. Locate

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Handels Vagen's frozen treats will have you singing Handel's 'Messiah'

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Premium ice cream is never out of season. But the timing could hardly have been better for the arrival of Handels Vagen at the start of this summer. Located in the basement of the new Tokyu Plaza in Ginza, it boasts a modest footprint that seems appropriate to the artisan production scale of very superior gelatos and sorbets. Notwithstanding the German-sounding name, the company was set up in Kyoto under the direction of Masaki Imamura, a trained chef of traditional Japanese cuisine, and this is just its first shop outside of Kansai. Many of the flavors are seasonal specials made with real fruit — with peach and mango currently the standouts. Green tea enthusiasts should look no further than the Uji matcha. Boasting the resonant bitterness of ceremonial tea but little of the residual sharpness so often found in lesser green tea desserts, this may well be the best of its kind in Tokyo. The hojicha (roasted tea) and fresh pistachio flavors are also exceptional. Through the end of September, Handels Vagen is also running a pop-up in a cute food truck at Daikanyama Log Road, right next to Fred Segal. The limited-edition lemon ice is definitely worth the detour. Tokyu Plaza Ginza B2, 5-2-1 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo; 03-3575-5300. Open daily 11 a.m.-11 p.m.; gelatos from ¥420 a cup (¥500 a cone); nearest station Ginza; no smoking; major credit cards; Japanese/English menu; little English spoken. For more information, visit www.handelsvagen.com.

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Yu Darvish worked into the seventh inning, allowing three runs for the Texas Rangers in a 6-3 win over the division rival Seattle Mariners on Monday. Darvi

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Darvish outduels Iwakuma

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Yu Darvish worked into the seventh inning, allowing three runs for the Texas Rangers in a 6-3 win over the division rival Seattle Mariners on Monday. Darvish (5-3) struck out nine, while allowing six hits in 6⅔ innings to get the better of compatriot Hisashi Iwakuma. Darvish also walked two batters. “My fastball location was not consistent, but somehow I was able to hang in there and give us a chance to win,” Darvish said. “My curveball hadn’t been very good recently, but today it was pretty good.” The win moved the American League West-leading Rangers 8½ games in front of the Houston Astros. The Mariners are in third place, a game further back. Iwakuma (14-10), who lost his previous start in a matchup against countryman Masahiro Tanaka, surrendered an upper-deck home run to Carlos Beltran in the first inning. He allowed five runs on six hits and was pulled after the third inning. He walked a batter and hit one, while striking out two. “It’s frustrating,” Iwakuma said. “I hung pitches in certain instances. Had I kept the damage to a minimum in the third inning, we might still have been in it.” Cole Hamels will start for Texas in its next game, marking the ninth straight time since the All-Star break, the lefty Hamels will follow Darvish in the rotation. The Rangers are 11-6 in those starts with five straight wins. “I think it’s huge to have your one and two going back-to-back,” manager Jeff Banister said. “Yu set the table tonight with what he was capable of doing, really keeping their hitters off balance. It’s a big plus to have those two guys at the front of the rotation for us.” Indians 1, Twins 0 (10) In Cleveland, Jason Kipnis’ 10th-inning single scored Chris Gimenez as the Indians handed Minnesota its 11th straight loss. Tigers 4, White Sox 3 In Detroit, Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift the Tigers. Red Sox 9, Rays 4 In Boston, Rick Porcello became the majors’ first 18-game winner and the first Red Sox pitcher in 70 years to open a season 13-0 in Fenway Park, going seven solid innings in a victory over Tampa Bay. Blue Jays 5, Orioles 1 In Baltimore, Josh Donaldson hit his fourth homer in two days and Jose Bautista also went deep in support of starter Marco Estrada (8-6). Royals 8, Yankees 5 In Kansas City, Dillon Gee kept the Royals’ momentum going with six sharp innings and Alcides Escobar hit a three-run homer. Astros 6, Athletics 0 In Houston, Jose Altuve homered, and Joe Musgrove and three relievers combined on a four-hitter. NATIONAL LEAGUE Rockies 8, Dodgers 1 In Denver, Jon Gray pitched six scoreless innings and Nick Hundley hit a two-run homer. Los Angeles’ Kenta Maeda (13-8) was electric once again at Coors Field — except for a hanging slider to Hundley in the fourth. The right-hander with the quirky delivery allowed two runs on four hits over five innings. Maeda has a 2.12 ERA in three starts at the hitter-friendly park. Mets 2, Marlins 1 (10) In New York, Yoenis Cespedes homered with two outs in the bottom of the 10th to give the Mets a victory over Miami. Ichiro Suzuki was 2-for-4 for the Marlins. Cardinals 6, Brewers 5 In Milwaukee, Stephen Piscotty scored on a throwing error in the ninth inning after Carlos Martinez struck out a career-high 13. Nationals 4, Phillies 0 In Philadelphia, Tanner Roark threw seven impressive innings, Jayson Werth hit a solo homer. Cubs 8, Pirates 7 (13) In Chicago, Miguel Montero hit a game-ending RBI single in the 13th inning. INTERLEAGUE Angels 9, Reds 2 In Anaheim, Mike Trout and Albert Pujols each hit one of the Angels’ five home runs.

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Making the act of deliberately "destroying cultural heritage" a crime is a step in building an international human rights law that applies to everybody.

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The iconoclast of Timbuktu and the world court

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Nobody got punished for blowing up the giant Buddhist statues in Afghanistan’s Bamiyan Valley in 2001. Nobody has been sent to jail for blowing up much of the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria after the Islamic State group captured it in May 2015. (It was recaptured last March.) But Ahmed al-Mahdi is going to jail for a long time for destroying the religious monuments of Timbuktu, and he even says he’s sorry. Appearing before the International Criminal Court in The Hague on Monday, the former junior civil servant in Mali’s department of education said: “All the charges brought against me are accurate and correct. I am really sorry, and I regret all the damage that my actions have caused.” He caused a lot of damage. Timbuktu is a remote desert outpost now, with fewer residents than the 25,000 students who thronged its famous Islamic university in its golden age in the 16th century. Its ancient mosques and monuments are of such historical value that they have earned Timbuktu (like Bamiyan and Palmyra) UNESCO’s designation as a World Heritage site. Timbuktu’s greatest treasure was its tens of thousands of manuscripts dating from the 12th to the 16th centuries, which dealt with topics as diverse as literature, women’s rights, music, philosophy and good business practice. When al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) stormed into Timbuktu in 2012, the heroic librarian Abdel Kader Haidara saved 95 percent of the city’s manuscripts by smuggling them out to Bamako, Mali’s capital, by car and boat. But the mosques and the mausoleums could not be moved, and Ahmed al-Mahdi was recruited to head the “morality police.” One of his jobs was smashing the ones that were “idolatrous.” Al-Mahdi, born near Timbuktu, was already a follower of Wahhabism, an austere Islamic sect of Saudi Arabian origin that condemns ordinary people’s reverence for ancient mausoleums and religious shrines as idolatry. So to protect people from sin, historic buildings, tombs and such must be destroyed. (Back home, the Wahhabis have pretty well finished the job in Mecca by now.) AQIM, like IS and the Taliban, is “Salafi” in its beliefs, but Salafism is essentially an offspring of Wahhabism with added extremism. So Ahmed al-Mahdi was an obvious recruit for AQIM, and he threw himself into his new job with enthusiasm. He is charged with destroying nine mausoleums and part of one mosque, but he almost certainly vandalized many more. Malian and French troops drove AQIM out of Timbuktu in 2013, and al-Mahdi was captured shortly afterwards. As head of the morality police he supervised the whipping of smokers, drinkers and “impure” women, the stoning of adulterers and the execution of “apostates” — but the charge that the International Criminal Court chose to bring against him was “destroying cultural heritage.” This is a first for the ICC, the world’s permanent war crimes court. Its previous cases have all involved illegal violence against people. This case is about violence against things. Even if they are things sacred to many people, some critics worry that expanding the category of war crimes in this way undermines the unique status of torture, murder and genocide as crimes so terrible that they require international action if local courts cannot deal with them. Mali requested that the case against al-Mahdi be transferred to the world court, but the question still begs an answer. You won’t get it from al-Mahdi, who just wants to apologize: “I ask forgiveness (from the people of Timbuktu), and I ask them to look at me as a son who lost his way.” Maybe he means it, and maybe it’s just a plea bargain. (The prosecutor is only asking for a prison sentence of nine to 11 years, although the maximum penalty is 30 years.) But whether his contrition is genuine is not really the question. It’s a very old crime. Gangs of Christian monks (the original iconoclasts) hacked the noses off every “pagan” statue they could find in fourth-century Egypt. Catholic missionaries in 16th-century Mexico supervised the burning of thousands of illustrated books containing the history and mythology of the pre-Columbian civilizations: fewer than 20 survive. The Islamist vandals of today belong to a long tradition, and none of their predecessors was punished. So is the world court of today just picking on Muslims? No. Genocide was only defined and made illegal by the Nuremburg trials in 1945-1946, although history is full of other genocides. But the world was not picking on Germans. We had just reached a point in our history when we could finally agree that genocide was always and everywhere a crime against humanity. Making the act of deliberately “destroying cultural heritage” a crime is another, lesser step in the same process of building a body of international human rights law that applies to everybody. Al-Mahdi just happened to come along at what was, for him, the wrong time. Gwynne Dyer is an independent journalist whose articles are published in 45 countries.

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Middle-wage workers are the fastest growing segment of the U.S. labor market, but can America's education system to provide the skills that the economy now demands?

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The comeback of middle-wage jobs in America

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One of the U.S. economy’s bright spots is the job market — and it may be even brighter than it seems. Not only are there more jobs (1.3 million so far in 2016), but they may be better-paying, according to a new analysis by economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The Fed economists report that middle-wage workers — earning roughly $30,000 to $60,000 — represent the fastest growing segment of the labor market. By contrast, earlier in the recovery, low-wage and high-wage jobs dominated employment increases. The labor market was supposedly becoming economically “polarized,” just as society was becoming politically polarized. Now, the new analysis suggests that the labor-market polarization “may have peaked, and middle-wage jobs could be ready for a renaissance,” as my Washington Post colleague Ylan Q. Mui wrote in a nice blog post on the New York Fed study. Assuming that the trend lasts through Election Day, it’s probably a plus for Hillary Clinton. It doesn’t eliminate jobs as an issue, but it blunts discontent. Here’s what the New York Fed study reported. Although middle-wage occupations represent about half of all jobs — teachers, factory workers, truck drivers, construction workers — they accounted for only 22 percent of new jobs between 2010 and 2013. Lower-wage occupations — earning $30,000 or less as fast-food workers, sales clerks, janitors — accounted for 40 percent of new jobs, well above their 30 percent share of existing employment. And high-paying occupations — with median wages of $60,000 or more, earned by doctors, lawyers, managers and engineers — represented 38 percent of new jobs, despite being only 20 percent of existing jobs. Between 2013 and 2015, this pattern reversed, say the New York Fed economists. In these years, middle-wage jobs accounted for 43 percent of expanded employment, lower-wage occupations for 30 percent, and high-wage occupations for 28 percent. Just what caused the shift is unclear. Economist Harry Holzer of Georgetown University attributes much of the change to the business cycle. “In the early years, there was a lot of uncertainty. Business leaders didn’t know whether the recovery would continue. Many resisted assuming the added costs of more expensive employees,” he says. (Presumably, the highest-paid workers had skills more in demand.) Construction also recovered slowly, he said, frustrating middle-wage job growth in that sector. With the recovery now in its eighth year, confidence and hiring have strengthened, he said. Between 2013 and 2015, blue-collar jobs rose sharply. Employment increased 400,000 in construction, 300,000 in manufacturing, 500,000 in transportation (mainly truck drivers) and 250,000 in installation and repair (of, say, air conditioning systems). It’s unclear whether these gains are temporary or whether they signal a decisive turn in job creation. If permanent, said The New York Times, “it may soon be time to retire a familiar criticism of the long but lackluster economic rebound … [that it has promoted] the hollowing out of the American middle class.” What’s happening, Holzer said, is that middle-wage jobs have become split. There’s what he calls “the old middle” of factory workers, construction workers and the rest. These jobs are declining over time. But there’s also a “new middle” of jobs — health care technicians, high-tech maintenance workers, paralegals and store managers — that’s growing rapidly. These jobs require more formal education than “old middle” jobs. The question, Holzer said, is whether the country can remake its education system to provide the skills that the economy now demands. Robert J. Samuelson writes a column on business and economics for The Washington Post. © 2016, The Washington Post Writers Group

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A full-scale debate on the Constitution needs to begin with a discussion on the significance of Japan's wartime defeat and the postwar reforms, and involve historical and philosophical explorations on the nation's postwar path.

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Postwar polity at crossroads

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Now that political forces in favor of revising the Constitution have secured two-thirds majorities in both chambers of the Diet, the Abe administration is expected to embark on concrete steps toward initiating an amendment. Meanwhile, Emperor Akihito’s televised message to the people indicating his wish to abdicate is about to put reform of the postwar Imperial system on the political agenda. More than seven decades after the end of World War II, Japan’s polity is now at a major crossroads. In his 1990 book “Reflections on the Revolution in Europe,” sociologist Ralf Dahrendorf makes a distinction between “normal politics,” which mainly concerns distribution of resources, and “constitutional politics,” where the ways of a nation’s political system itself are contested. His model shows constitutional politics become active when democratization of a country rapidly progresses — before the transition to normal politics once the constitutional system is established. In the case of Japan, the Liberal Democratic Party effectively gave up its bid to amend the Constitution in the wake of the uproar over revising the Japan-U.S. security treaty in 1960, paving the way for successive LDP governments to flex their governance capabilities in an era of full-blown normal politics. However, the basso ostinato of the party’s platform for creating a “self-drafted” constitution did not die away. Now Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is seeking to push constitutional politics to the front in an attempt to draw attention away from the economy. But due to the question raised by the Emperor’s message, Abe’s pursuit of constitutional politics may not proceed as he had intended. In his classic work “The English Constitution,” the 19th century British journalist Walter Bagehot discusses the significance of the monarchy in a modern nation-state where people’s sovereign power and democracy are the guiding principles. Bagehot divided the governing mechanism of the country into a “dignified,” or symbolic, component and an “efficient” part where things actually work and get done, and explained that the monarch accounts for the former and the Parliament and the Cabinet are responsible for the latter. In a constitutional monarchy, the king who “reigns but does not govern” maintains little more than a ceremonial existence. Still, that is not a passive status but rather carries the important role of ensuring the polity’s legitimacy. Japan’s emperor system similarly accounts for the “signified” component, but it has characteristics different from the British monarchy that have gradually evolved over a long period. When the absolute monarchy created (based on the German model) after the Meiji Restoration collapsed with Japan’s defeat in World War II, the Imperial system was allowed to continue to exist as a “symbol of the state” amid the political pressures of the Potsdam Declaration and the enactment of the postwar Constitution. Therefore, the state that is symbolized by the emperor is Japan as a pacifist democracy, as manifested by these political documents. The current Emperor fully understands this and particularly as if to go against the tide of fading public memories of the war has spoken to the people about where the spirit of postwar Japan lies. The Emperor’s prayers for the souls of victims of the war, as well as his expressions of deep sympathy toward people in Okinawa and Minamata — areas that have been sacrificed in modern Japan’s drive to prosperity — represent his active initiatives to expand the significance of peace. In his latest message, the Emperor made his intention clear that the person in his position needs to constantly play the role of state symbol in a proactive manner. Concerning Japan’s polity, there is a strange magnetic field that pursues authoritarian rule and an absolute monarchy — one example of this manifestation being the LDP’s draft revision of the Constitution. To protect the normal constitutional monarchy against such a force, the monarch himself bears the burden of having to take on a certain sense of political value. Now that the Diet balance of power makes it possible for the legislature to initiate an amendment — and given that members of the government and ruling parties have a strong will to pursue that goal, even the people who do not see the need the change the Constitution will have no choice but to join the constitutional discussions. The prospective agenda for amendments proposed by the ruling coalition, such as creating a provision for giving the government emergency powers in a crisis, are only an excuse designed to set a precedent of constitutional amendment. All of this agenda can be dealt with without revising the Constitution. A full-scale debate on the Constitution needs to begin with a discussion on the significance of Japan’s wartime defeat and the postwar reforms, and involve historical and philosophical explorations on the nation’s postwar path. The issue raised by the Emperor at this time may serve as a trigger for launching such constitutional discussions. What is the essence of the state of Japan that is symbolized by the Emperor? We can start the discussions from Chapter 1 of the Constitution. Through such a discussion, we will inevitably turn our eyes to the historical context that preserved the Imperial system in postwar Japan, which will require us to deepen our understanding of why “Chapter 1. The Emperor” and “Chapter II. Renunciation of War” are placed at the outset of the Constitution. We must not ignore the historical circumstances in which continued existence of the Imperial system was approved by the international community because of Japan’s commitment to being a pacifist nation. Jiro Yamaguchi is a professor of political science at Hosei University in Tokyo.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2016/08/29/commentary/japan-commentary/postwar-polity-crossroads/

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In an attempt to stand out from the multitude of pubs and restaurants packed in between Takatsuki's two train stations, Nikusakaba Buzz describes itself as

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Cheap meat is what everyone's talking about at Nikusakaba Buzz

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In an attempt to stand out from the multitude of pubs and restaurants packed in between Takatsuki’s two train stations, Nikusakaba Buzz describes itself as neither a steakhouse, bar nor restaurant — it’s just a chill place to enjoy meat and booze. Despite the surfeit of staff, conversations between them can take precedence over attending to the customer, so service can be a bit hit or miss. Carnivores will want to order Buzz’s 300 grams of gekiyasu (bargain-priced) steak at ¥1,000. The American beef arrives sizzling on a hot stone. It’s by no means as marbled as wagyu (Japanese beef), and it’s minimally flavored, just salt as far I could discern, but for a heap of beef at that price it is Buzz’s standout dish. There’s plenty of other izakaya (Japanese pub) staples, including a tasty garlic rice dish, ebimayo (fried prawns with mayonnaise) and an anchovy salad that could benefit from a few more anchovies. The drinks menu, as with many izakaya, looks better than it actually is. The cocktails are served in jam jars and the beer in steins, but the vessels don’t hide the fact that the alcohol is no different to that of any other restaurant close by. The only buzz here is in the name, but regardless it’s cheap, cheerful and meaty. 11-9 Ibaraki Annex Bldg., Takatsukicho, Takatsuki, Osaka; 072-668-5137; nearest stations JR Takatsuki, Hankyu Takatsuki-shi; open daily; lunch 11:30 a.m.- 2:30 p.m dinner 5:30 p.m.-11:30 p.m.; individuals plates from about ¥500; smoking OK; Japanese menu, some English spoken.

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These days it isn't unusual to see groups of various ages gathering to play "Pokemon Go" at department stores and other public places in Thailand. The wide

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Thai society learns to cope with 'Pokemon Go' fever

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These days it isn’t unusual to see groups of various ages gathering to play “Pokemon Go” at department stores and other public places in Thailand. The widely popular smartphone game debuted here, and in many other Asia-Pacific countries, in early August. Word spread among the Thai gaming community and, when paired with a global media craze, “Pokemon Go”made it to the top of the local downloads chart. Adoration for the Japan-born cartoon characters also helped, they’ve been popular among Thai children for decades. In Thailand, mobile giant True Corp. has been granted a license to manage the game, which is owned by U.S.-based company Niantic. An executive of True Corp., Birathon Kasemsri, says “Pokemon Go” can help build a harmonious community as the game’s fans gather with the same goal of catching its little monsters. More importantly, he says there are opportunities for small and medium-sized businesses to increase income by attracting game players to their shops. A week after being launched, however, some people have voiced concerns over problems caused by gamers who have pursued the monsters in “no-go places” such as hospitals and on roads. Accidents have occurred when drivers have suddenly stopped their vehicles to catch monsters on the roadside. Many have also taken to social media to complain about the improper behavior of “Pokemon Go” players, things that include bumping into other people while they concentrate on their mobile phone’s screens. Tulayawat Mahaewong, 24, says he downloaded the game on the first day of its launch and has since become fan. “I normally catch monsters more than 10 times a day,” he says. “Everyone in my office plays Pokemon and during lunch we will sometimes go out to catch Pokemon together.” Tulayawat says the game has helped him in being able to talk to other people as they have the same monster-catching goals in common. “I think the game allows us to make more friends outside … and I also have a good chance to exercise and relax,” he says, adding the players should always be aware of their surroundings so as not to cause accidents. Government officer Pimkarn Klongsangson, 24, says “Pokemon” has been her favorite cartoon since she was young. Thus, she didn’t hesitate to download the game when it launched in Thailand. The new feature using Google Maps to locate the monsters is an outstanding feature of the game, in her view. “It is exciting to catch cute Pokemon monsters during the boring traffic jams in the morning and evening,” she says. “I can catch more than 10 monsters per day. I spend time playing during the time I commute back and forth from home to office.” However, Pimkarn admitted there are both pros and cons to playing. While she thinks it’s a good way to exercise, she recognizes the dangers of tracking the monsters to isolated areas at night. “It’s dangerous to go outside at night to catch the monsters, especially for women and children,” she says. “The criminals can use Pokestop — the online spot in the real location where Pokemon are released — to lure victims.” In an effort to keep Pokemon fever from getting out of hand, an independent agency that is responsible for online and mobile games has been looking at ways to keep both fans and critics happy. The agency is also negotiating with the game company to get monsters withdrawn from restricted places, especially hospitals and private residences. Instructions on “Pokemon Go” safety have been released via social media, while government authorities have also gently warned players not to violate other people’s privacy. In the meantime, the Tourism Ministry has planned to use the game to promote tourism by placing the monsters in tourist spots, a move that has happened in other countries as well. Nitida Sangsingkeo, a lecturer in mass communications at Thammasat University’s Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication, says boundary-less games such as “Pokemon Go” could have negative affects if the players do not know how to deal with them. She says that children are particularly at risk as the often jump on trends and don’t consider greater consequences. “Parents have to handle this case with care because harsh prohibition could make the situation worse than expected,” she says. From the perspective of a communications specialist, Nitida says the proper way of generating communication among those involved in the game circles is the best way to create a win-win situation. “Holding discussions and finding solutions for all — the game operators, players and public — should be the best solution. To try to make balance,” she says.

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You see it often in Tokyo: the attentive Japanese woman and the Western man filling silence. In fact, a lot of them end up married, sharing a house and 1,000 meals, albeit hardly a life of the mind.

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Beyond silence: lessons learned from a Japanese spouse

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Once, on a warm Tokyo night, as we sat with drinks at a bar in Shibuya, my Japanese date asked me something I had never considered before. “When you watch TV by yourself, do you laugh when there is something funny?” Conversation hadn’t been smooth. She was intelligent and spoke good English, yet my thoughts on Japan’s foreign policy had met little response, if any. She wouldn’t be drawn on her job. I’ve nothing to say about food. Sensing at last an opening, I asked if she watched much TV. The woman kept holding my gaze. Her eyes checked into mine, assessing reception, and then seemed to be sending a message full of deep emotion and thought — a telepathic appeal too private, too obscurely complex, to be left to syntax and words. If only you knew, they appeared to say. And my eyes asked: What happened? A man of language, I had no way to decode, no clue what she tried to express. Tiring of guesswork, I sat in polite confusion. “Sometimes,” she answered at last, her eyes warming mine in apology. What kind of a weird date was this? Weren’t we here to be interesting people? To show what we thought and knew, and hint at the tortured pasts that had made us sexy, if complicated? You see it often in Tokyo: the attentive Japanese woman and the Western man filling silence. In fact, a lot of them end up married, sharing a house and 1,000 meals, albeit hardly a life of the mind. There are degrees of despair and fulfillment. Some guys learn the hard way that “the mysterious Asian” is Orientalist hooey. Others enjoy holding forth, like expat versions of Professor Higgins enlightening an Asian Eliza. In fact, a Japanese woman once told me that dating a Western guy is like watching TV. “Once he is on,” she said, laughing, “you just sit back and watch. No need to pay constant attention!” But I refused to be a TV. I have an unspeakable fear of being bored — and more fearful yet, of boring others. This in turn fueled my fear of marriage, of what I saw as two people locked into characters they dislike, breeding contempt through their familiarity. I’d see a woman who finishes my sentences and be shaken by morbid fantasies. The only chance to escape this fate, I thought, was to marry a pretty talker who could offer a lifetime of stimulation. Let’s call her simply The Most Interesting Woman in the World (who is also a Fox). Yet that is not who I dated in Tokyo. The women I met here were foxy, but after intros and small talk, they had different ways of conversing: less give-and-take, less intellectual expanse and disclosure; instead, more agreeing monosyllables. As I adjusted to new ways of fellowship, I became drawn beyond looks to a type of woman I probably wouldn’t have dated in America. Outside of my native environment, I seemed to rethink what I look for in a mate. Still, for a Western male like myself — opinionated to the gills, ever excited or steamed and dying to share, ever thrilled to be in the same room as the English language — loving a quiet woman without frustration would mean adjusting expectations. How can you truly connect without talking all night? And when you do talk, about what? The changes in the weather? The Shibuya date became my wife, and my reservations were all about words. Years ago, back Stateside in San Francisco, my college sweetheart had swallowed a radio. Or so they say in the Middle East when someone outraged, ebullient or full of gossip is unable to stop talking. It was love at first fight: She was Arabic and we met in an English class, defending ideas against the teacher. At that time, defending ideas — against authority, any authority! — was the sexiest thing in the world. It meant passion and personhood, espoused by a person you wanted to sleep with. Throw in banter and snarky zingers and some people hear wedding bells. Relentlessly we opined, in predawn kitchens and bars and taxicabs, about history and race and misogyny in Italian movies, about America and our colorful circle of friends — and again and again, with a fervor bordering the obsessive, the politics of our time (the Iraq War was raging). We ached with the need to be part of the world, and we needed speech to shape and engage it. But this is not who I married. One day, all exchange fell silent. So then what, I wondered, is the meaning of talking in love? In the course of a summer, the eye-talking date from Shibuya became my girlfriend. Her name was Mai and she worked for a science university. Our talks featured no books or current events, no psychoanalysis of Donald Trump. Culture wars and identity politics, two of my former talkathon staples, were now, literally, foreign concepts. My sarcasm was wasted; she does snark like I talk about food. It took time to embrace this absence. I didn’t immerse myself in the study of Zen and the truth beyond language; I just shut up where I used to talk. One day as we entered a convenience store, the three clerks chimed their welcome in unison, without actually looking our way. Annoyed, I whispered: “Sometimes I want to shake them and yell, ‘You are robots! All of you!’ ” She looked at the clerks and considered. “Perhaps they will answer” — her voice turned cheerily mechanic — ” ‘Of course! We are enjoying being robots!’ ” I have much to say on the subject — the way humanoid robots fuse the animate and inanimate, a concept from the Shinto religion. I’ve observed … Instead, I held back and waited. After a moment, Mai shared a memory from college, when she had worked part-time in a convenience store. I learned it was back-breaking work and that between 7 and 8 in the morning, a row of middle-aged men on their way to work would come in and each stay in the bathroom forever. I ended up skipping the lecture, which was fine. I already knew everything that was in it. With no expertise to prove, I dodged the curse of the thinking man’s love life — taking yourself too seriously. Throughout the talking years, my fear was, partly, to become a cliche: the stressed intellectual who starts arguments over dinner, fact-checking his wife on Google and dreading secretly he might be wrong, defending opinions as an identity and then getting accused of mansplaining. My Japanese wife never shared these fears, and this helped me relax into presence. There are silences now, of course, often longer than 20 seconds. But they don’t alarm Mai as dead air, and I stopped seeing them as a failing — of myself, of my lover, of love. As I am typing this, my former date from Shibuya comes up to the desk and looks over my shoulder. She sees her name — a Japanese word standing out on the page — and she knows I am writing about us. She gives me a smile and I smile back. I have no idea what she is thinking. She leaves the room and closes the sliding door, humming a song from a morning TV show. She doesn’t think anything has to be said. Nicolas Gattig is a writer and intercultural communication coach. He can be reached at coachgattig@yahoo.com. His short story “The Rain in Nagoya” was published recently by The Font magazine: www.thefontjournal.com/the-rain-in-nagoya/. Foreign Agenda offers a forum for views about life in Japan. Your comments and story ideas: community@japantimes.co.jp

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Southampton defender Maya Yoshida says Japan must treat the United Arab Emirates "like Brazil" in its final-round World Cup qualifier in Saitama on Thursda

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Japan hoping for fast start against UAE

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Southampton defender Maya Yoshida says Japan must treat the United Arab Emirates “like Brazil” in its final-round World Cup qualifier in Saitama on Thursday and has warned the Blue Samurai that they cannot afford a repeat of the start they made against UAE in their quarterfinal defeat at last year’s Asian Cup in Australia. “Every single game (in qualifying) is a battle but getting off to a winning start is the most important thing,” said Yoshida. “We have to prepare to put everything out there in the first match. As our coach always tells us, we have to battle like we are playing Brazil.” Japan will be looking to avenge a 5-4 penalty shootout defeat at the Asian Cup which followed a 1-1 draw after extra time in Sydney. Japan fell behind to an early strike from Ali Mabkhout in that match, but after a spell of intense second-half pressure, substitute Gaku Shibasaki smashed home the equalizer in the 81st minute. Thirty minutes of extra time failed to decide the match and Keisuke Honda and Shinji Kagawa both missed their spot kicks in the shootout before Ismail Ahmed kept his cool to rifle in the decisive kick and send UAE into the semifinals. “I can still remember what a poor start we made in that match and can still picture in my mind how many chances we allowed UAE to create,” said Yoshida. “Making a good start is the most basic of basics in soccer. We can’t make the same mistakes and we have to be ready for whatever our opponents throw at us.” Leicester City striker Shinji Okazaki says a win against the UAE will bring the confidence he believes the team is missing and is determined to put his name on the scoresheet. “There is no point in me playing unless I score,” said Okazaki. “I think the thing this team needs more than anything else is confidence. To get that confidence we have to win and to win the match we need goals. I am determined to score and hopefully pull the team forward.”

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2016/08/30/soccer/international-soccer/japan-hoping-fast-start-uae/

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Haruhiko Kuroda's use of primitive monetary policy tools makes him the Fred Flintstone of central bankers.

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BOJ stuck in the Stone Age

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Think of him as the caveman with a heart of gold. No, not Fred Flintstone, the protagonist of one of history’s most-beloved animated sitcoms. We’re talking about Haruhiko Kuroda. The Bank of Japan governor just returned from Jackson Hole, Wyo., where he roamed the Grand Tetons with his central bank peers. There, they strategized about how to influence a dynamic world with the most primitive of tools. They staggered back to their respective Bedrocks without a clue how to reignite the monetary fires that once raged so robustly. Yet as well intentioned as he is, Kuroda is indeed finding a Flintstonian dilemma awaiting him in Tokyo. It’s become increasingly clear that one of his main tools for reviving Japan — the Nikkei 225 — has itself roamed into dinosaur territory. Since 2013, the BOJ has targeted the Nikkei with massive purchases of exchange-traded funds. Why hasn’t it revived corporate activity and, in turn, Japanese growth? “The Nikkei 225 is a Flintstones index from an abacus age,” argues CLSA equity strategist Nicholas Smith. Had Kuroda targeted the much broader, and relevant, Topix index, he might have achieved more than merely feeding a handful of giants — like Fast Retailing and Softbank — at the top of Japan’s food chain (here, my Barron’s Asia colleague Shuli Ren delves deeper). And it’s but one example of why history’s most ambitious monetary experiment hasn’t evolved, adapted or unleashed the Darwinian forces the world’s No. 3 economy so desperately needs. Kuroda’s bigger target — consumer prices — looked no less antediluvian at the Federal Reserve’s annual Jackson Hole retreat. There, yet again, he claimed the BOJ has more ammunition to fight deflation and won’t hesitate to act. Yet the biggest annual drop in core consumer prices in three years in July proves the BOJ is pursuing a Neanderthal strategy in a quantum-leap world. Its devolutionary decision in January to adopt negative interest rates, for example, is encouraging banks to lend even less. What should the BOJ do to pull Japan into modern monetary times? First, the BOJ’s massive easing moves these last 41 months prove that deflation is more about demographics and structural rigidities than the money supply. As this column has pointed out before, it’s high time the government reduced regulations, supported startups with tax incentives, loosened labor markets and imported foreign talent. BOJ largess can only augment a much-needed supply-side big bang. Kuroda can help by expanding the basket of assets he’s buying. This includes more real-estate investment trusts as well as asset-backed, mortgage-backed and corporate securities to pump life into non-Nikkei sectors. A big effort also should be made to inject liquidity into local governments. A key challenge for the BOJ is transmitting its historic yen-printing campaign beyond Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya. These three metropolises — home to Nikkei members Hitachi, Itochu and Toyota — have benefited disproportionately from Kuroda’s yen devaluation. He should aim more cash at the Kyushu, Shikoku, Hokkaido and tsunami-ravaged Tohoku regions. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe could do just that by turning the 2020 Olympics into the Japanese games, not a Tokyo-centric vanity project. Locating events and new stadiums in the hinterlands would generate jobs, prosperity and post-Olympics tourism where it’s most needed. Kuroda, meanwhile, could buy large blocks of local-government debt in, say, Japan’s 200 biggest cities. That would create more room to borrow and create new industries, support startups and generate jobs. The $780 billion worth of Japanese government bonds the BOJ buys annually is trapped in the Tokyo bank matrix. Bankers were plenty reluctant to lend the BOJ’s credit before January’s embrace of negative rates, worried about new waves of bad loans. Now, they’re hoarding JGBs with increasing urgency. Kuroda must focus locally if he’s going to get traction nationally — and globally. The same goes for putting companies ahead of households. Targeting bonds and the Nikkei isn’t putting money into consumers’ hands. The BOJ can jumpstart the process by broadening stimulus efforts and targeting spending by average Japanese. Any such effort — be it BOJ-issued debit cards or giving companies cash to up wages — would be as unconventional as monetary policy gets. So would buying up distressed assets, properties and farms gone bad. But the BOJ’s challenge isn’t all that unlike Fred Flintstone’s prehistoric footmobile — a car made of stone with no floor that he controls and powers with his feet. Unless the BOJ’s methods to gain traction evolve — or those of the rest of the Jackson Hole set — robust growth rates may be consigned to dinosaur status, too. William Pesek is executive editor of Barron’s Asia. www.barronsasia.com

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2016/08/30/commentary/japan-commentary/boj-stuck-stone-age/

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Yuki Yanagita erupted for five RBIs as the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks hammered the Chiba Lotte Marines for the second straight day on Saturday, winning 14-3 to

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Yanagita pounces on Marines again

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Yuki Yanagita erupted for five RBIs as the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks hammered the Chiba Lotte Marines for the second straight day on Saturday, winning 14-3 to stay at the top of the Pacific-League standings. Yanagita, who had four RBIs on Friday in the Hawks’ 11-3 rout of the Mariners, was again at the center of SoftBank’s offense. He singled in a run in both the first and second innings before a three-run blast over the left-center field wall in the third off Lotte rookie Ryota Sekiya (4-4). Hawks starter Kodai Senga (11-1) continued his impressive form, winning his third straight start and holding Lotte to two solo homers over six innings. The right-hander allowed five hits, two walks and hit a batter in a 99-pitch effort. Sekiya surrendered a career-worst nine runs over four frames, struggling for control. He issued five walks and 11 hits in a 104-pitch outing. The right-hander gave up a bases-loaded walk in the first to hand the Hawks a 2-0 lead, allowed three runs in the second and another homer, this time to Seiichi Uchikawa in the third, after Yanagita went deep. Yanagita could not add to his hits in his next three at-bats but SoftBank belted out five more runs off Lotte relievers, Nobuhiro Matsuda hitting a solo shot off Yasuhiro Tanaka in the sixth and Akira Nakamura off Taiki Tojo in the eighth for two runs to cap the rout. Eagles 7, Buffaloes 6 At Sendai’s Kobo Stadium, back-to-back solo homers from Japhet Amador and Carlos Peguero tied the game in the eighth for Tohoku Rakuten before Orix’s Takahiro Matsuba (4-9) threw a one-out wild pitch to surrender the go-ahead run. Fighters 7, Lions 4 At Tokorozawa’s Seibu Prince Dome, Brandon Laird hit a fifth-inning grand slam to rally Hokkaido Nippon Ham from a 4-1 decifit off Seibu’s Kona Takahashi (4-11). Shohei Otani and Sho Nakata both went deep in the ninth to add two runs as the Fighters kept up the pace with PL-leading SoftBank. CENTRAL LEAGUE Carp 11, Dragons 4 (10) At Nagoya Dome, Hiroshima scored seven runs in the 10th inning off Chunichi’s Daisuke Sobue (0-3) after the right-hander got two outs without a runner. The Carp scored two on three singles and two walks before Takahiro Arai hit a grand slam and Seiya Suzuki went deep, leading them to their fourth straight win. The Dragons lost their fourth straight. Swallows 5, Tigers 2 At Koshien Stadium, Masanori Ishikawa (6-7) was just one out shy of a complete game as the lefty held Hanshin to two runs on six hits and two walks over 8-2/3 innings, while Wladimir Balentien belted a three-run homer as Tokyo Yakult won its fourth straight game. BayStars 7, Giants 3 At Yokohama Stadium, Yokohama’s Jose Lopez broke a 3-3 in the fifth with an RBI double off Kan Otake (5-3) and Shun Yamaguchi went the distance, allowing three runs on four hits to send Yomiuri to its fourth straight defeat.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2016/08/27/baseball/japanese-baseball/yanagita-pounces-on-marines-again/

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Episode 21- Queens has questions, we (might) have answers

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Share 0 The news in Queens has been as erratic as the weather. The Tribune reporting staff take you through the last week’s top news stories including the DOT’s ambitious plan to create faster bus service on Woodhaven and Cross Bay boulevards, but will it lead to slower traffic? Will a Flushing gem that has been abandoned for nearly 30 years finally have a new life? Why City Comptroller Scott Stringer criticized his own office in front of a group of Jamaica business leaders, and should it matter what people think about public art displays? The city’s Culture Czar, a Queens boy himself, went to MoMa PS1 to talk about it.

http://queenstribune.com/podcast/episode-21-queens-has-questions-we-might-have-answers/

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TribCast Episode 25- This Is Only A Test

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Share 0 As students all over Queens take their state standardized tests, we discuss the few who aren’t because their parents opted out, why they choose to, and what affect that might have on education policy, if any. The Main Street bus lane is dead, but only for a section of the proposed route in Kew Gardens Hills. We’ll discuss why the DOT and MTA decided to quash the plan, and if this means there’s a growing counter movement against bus lanes in Queens. Also, the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium is readying for another summer of concerts. What they’re doing to make the noise problem a little less of a problem.

http://queenstribune.com/podcast/tribcast-episode-25-this-is-only-a-test/

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TribCast Episode 26: We’re Back…Finally (Oct. 9, 2015)

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Share 0 The TribCast Returns! Meet the new crew as we discuss some of the biggest stories the Tribune and Press Of Southeast Queens staff covered this week including a Queens Library system on the rebound; Uber’s growing popularity in Southeast Queens; the fast-changing Astoria commercial scene and the launching of Queens Restaurant Week. Also, we’ll tease some of the big stories we’re working on next week, including a farmers market in an unlikely place Intro song: After All by Alexander Blu orangefreesounds.com/

http://queenstribune.com/podcast/tribcast-10-09-were-back-finally/

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Tribpix Aug. 25th, 2016 Issue

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Richmond Hill Gets $125K Computer Lab

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Share 0 BY JON CRONIN Editor Richmond Hill High School students have received a $125,000 upgrade to their computer technologies program. Last Wednesday, Jamaica-based Zara Realty, the $125,000 contributor, along with high school administrators and local officials celebrated the opening of the school’s new computer lab with 46 work stations, printers and a dedicated server room. Previous to this donation the high school’s computer technology courses were taught only through textbooks and PowerPoint presentations. The new technology will allow graduating seniors to leave high school with Certifications in programming for Cisco, Java, C++ and A+. Nardeo Singh, vice president of BJK Computer and Business Solutions, Inc. in Floral Park, a tech consultant for Zara Realty on this project, said he was thrilled to see that the project incorporated a dedicated server room. Singh was the realtor’s liaison and helped oversee the implementation of the new computer lab. He noted that for students to thrive in our information technology driven world, they need to have the hands on experience with both the building of the hardware and the programming of the software. As a native of Guyana, Singh said, he is passionate about making sure students there are educated in this field – and they are – but as he pointed out that Guyana doesn’t have the economic infrastructure to provide opportunity for those students. “Information technology is important. Right now, the greatest threat to this country is a cyber-attack,” said Singh. He said he ran into a college Junior recently who said he was giving up on his computer technology bachelor’s degree because it was too difficult. Singh was disturbed to find out that the student had graduated Richmond Hill High School in 2013 with no computer classes under his belt. Muhammad Ahmed, an incoming Richmond Hills High School senior, has been campaigning for a better computer programming curriculum at the school for the past two years and is now ecstatic for the new lab. Over the summer he and some fellow students are aiding in the implementation of the hardware and software in the school and the lab. Neil Ganesh, Richmond Hill High School principal, said that Ahmed has been “very successful” over the past year in recruiting more students to the program. Ganesh added that with these new capabilities the incoming freshmen have filled all the classes the school is offering. Tony Kistoo, a computer programming teacher at Richmond Hill High School, said that in the past he has only been able to teach the A+ and Cisco program, but now he can also teach the students Java and C++. As part of the program, he also trains the students to repair older computers used in offices throughout the school. The Zara group is also setting up a computer science scholarship fund for Richmond Hill High School seniors planning to major in computer science in college, as well as continue to support the teachers and staff to develop a computer science curriculum for adults in the community. Reach Jon Cronin at 718-357-7400 x125, jcronin@queesntribune.com, or @JonathanSCronin.

http://queenstribune.com/richmond-hill-gets-125k-computer-lab/

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Episode 23- Census' Sense of Queens

queenstribune.com

Share 0 Queens lost a key leader this week when Jack Friedman, executive director of the Queens Chamber of Commerce and longtime civic leader passed away suddenly Thursday. Also this week, the Trib crew discusses recent Census numbers that show Queens is gaining population, even while tens of thousands are still leaving for the South and West. Is airplane noise a reason? A coordinating committee was formed this week at York College that will bring airport concerns directly from the community to the Port Authority. Two prominent Queens civic leaders were chosen to lead the committee. And state Sen. James Sanders came to the Queens Tribune office this week and had some choice words about the state budget and Gov. Cuomo.

http://queenstribune.com/podcast/episode-23-census-sense-of-queens/

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Tribcast Episode 19 - Ides of March

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Share 0 Winter is fading and spring is coming. Time to get outside! Joined by new Editor-in-Chief Domenick Rafter, the Tribune news crew discusses the friction in South Richmond Hill’s Hindu community that led to the Phagwah Parade, the Hindu celebration of Spring, being postponed and possibly cancelled; a new events space that will likely be constructed inside an Astoria landmark; the expansion of PS 24 in Flushing, and the affect it may have on students there; and a busy week for York College students as they head to Alabama to march in the steps of Civil Rights icons, then meet Africa’s first female president.

http://queenstribune.com/podcast/tribcast-episode-19-ides-of-march/

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TribCast Episode 22- The Mets, and all their neighbors

queenstribune.com

Share 0 March went out like a lion on the news front in Queens. Willets Point business owners reached a settlement with the city for their move to the Bronx in preparation for a massive redevelopment of the area next to Citi Field, but some are not part of the deal, and are still standing firm on a promise that they will stay until the very end. City officials call plans to build Select Bus Service systems on Woodhaven and Cross Bay boulevards and Main Street a sign that they are acknowledging the transportation issues of Queens, but where are the plans for the other transit-starved parts of the borough? A spike in violence in Southeast Queens underscores the need for more effective policing, and another precinct in the community, leaders say. Is the crime spree an anomaly of the downward trend in the area, or an unsettling trend? And April means baseball season is upon us. We’ll talk about how this may finally be the year there’s baseball in October at Citi Field. No…seriously!

http://queenstribune.com/podcast/tribcast-episode-22-the-mets-and-all-their-neighbors/

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Homeless Shelter To Open In Maspeth

queenstribune.com

Share 1 BY JON CRONIN Editor A Maspeth homeless shelter at the Holiday Inn, 59-40 55th Road, was discussed Wednesday morning with the Department of Homeless Services, the Mayor’s office, community residents and local elected officials. The homeless shelter, which DHS plans to open in 60 days, would lodge 110 families or 220 people. The shelter would be restricted to people over 18, so if there is a parent with a child it would have to be an adult child. In the meeting, the DHS stated that the residents would be homeless people whose last address was within the confines of Community Board 5. DHS assured the community that the facility, which would be run by the Acacia network, would have full-time security. Attendees of the meeting said that although there is no homeless shelter within CB 5, the Pan Am Shelter, which houses 500, is approximately two miles away in CB 4, while another domestic violence shelter is in nearby Woodside, part of CB 2. “I strongly oppose the mayor’s office’s proposal to convert the Maspeth Holiday Inn into a homeless shelter,” said Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Glendale), “The community of Maspeth is already impacted by two existing homeless shelters along Queens Blvd. Also, the most recent City Budget has allocated hundreds of millions for homelessness prevention, and while we have seen a decrease in New York City’s shelter population since December 2014, the administration continues to open up shelter after shelter throughout Queens. I will be working with community leaders and residents to stop this.” A public meeting will be held next week with a time and place to be announced soon. Vinnie Arcuri, CB 5 chairman, said the established view by the NYC Human Resources Administration’s commissioner is that homeless people should not be put in shelter but in affordable housing, “In the meantime, we’re asking ‘Why do you keep making more shelters?’” Arcuri disagrees with the idea of taking a viable hotel and laying off the staff to bring in a new one and eliminating a business that pays taxes to the community. “The big point is, why is it such an emergency when homelessness has dropped in the city in the last couple of years,” he added. He noted, “We’re against shelters cause it’s not right for people to be locked up.” Arcuri mentioned that the DHS said there is a model that would incorporate senior housing and a homeless shelter. If the community can find a place where the DHS can put that model, the residency would be dropped down to 35 families or 70 people, if combined. Reach Editor Jon Cronin 718-357-7400 x125, jcronin@queenstribune.com, or @JonathanSCronin

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An Open Letter To Mayor Bill de Blasio

queenstribune.com

Share 0 BY COUNCILWOMAN ELIZABETH CROWLEY I write in strong opposition to your administration’s proposal to turn Maspeth’s Holiday Inn Express into a homeless shelter. It is a shortsighted, fiscally irresponsible and completely inadequate plan for the homeless and for the Maspeth community. Hotel rooms are by no means suitable for anyone who has fallen on hard times. It puts occupants in an unstable environment, and is not the right answer when addressing our city’s homelessness crisis. Hotels are dangerous, expensive, and do not provide occupants with a real kitchen or other home amenities. On average, adult families have stayed in these shelters for nearly two years – hotel rooms are an improper home for days, let alone two years. Furthermore, both you, Mayor de Blasio, and Department of Homeless Services Commissioner Steven Banks have gone on record saying that converting hotels to homeless shelters is the wrong approach to housing families and individuals. However, this proposal completely contradicts those sentiments. Since you took office, three fiscal budgets have provided hundreds of millions of dollars to increase homeless services. This has allowed an increase in staffing levels and direct grants to keep families in their homes, and also enhanced the Shelter Repair Squad, which can fix violations at existing facilities. With the additional funding and services for homeless prevention we have seen a five percent decrease in the daily population at New York City shelters since the December 2014 height. Despite this decrease, homelessness continues to be a serious issue in our city. City dollars should go towards safe, clean conditions for the homeless, and not toward converting hotels into temporary housing. Under your new Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) zoning requirements, a minimum of 25 percent of the units constructed would be below market-rate units. There is currently no plan for more affordable housing in Community Board 5 in Queens, nor in my Council District. We need affordable housing, not another shelter- hotel. In recent months, two real estate developers who are eager to build residential housing units in Maspeth and Woodside have approached me, looking to start a conversation about a zoning change consistent with MIH. Furthermore, there are already three shelters within blocks of the proposed Holiday Inn site, greatly impacting the Maspeth community. The Administration’s efforts should be devoted to working with the developers, community boards, and elected officials’ offices to build affordable housing in Maspeth and the surrounding area. This is the fiscally and socially responsible method to help those who lack the most basic of life’s necessities – a place to call their home.

http://queenstribune.com/open-letter-mayor-bill-de-blasio/

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TribCast Episode 28- We're On The Scene

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Share 0 We got breaking news for you. Our reporter Trone Dowd is on the scene of a water main break in Elmhurst that wrecked havoc on Queens Boulevard and Broadway. We’ll also discuss some of the big news of the week, including a long-awaited honor for a slain cop the same week another one of NYPD’s finest lost his life on the job. We’ll tell you about why Community Board 5 turned down a variance for the expansion of a Yeshiva in Glendale, although residents don’t really have a problem with the Yeshiva itself. Reporter Jon Cronin was on hand for a discussion in Flushing over issues concerning the aging immigrant population. And what did one Southeast Queens couple wake up to when they stayed at a Long Island City hotel? The answer might give you the creepy-crawlys.

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Video News Story - Another Homeless Shelter?

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Residents Voice Concerns About Treetop

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Share 0 BY JAMES FARRELL Staff Writer Residents from across seven Flushing buildings gathered at St. George’s Episcopal Church to voice concerns over recent actions by New Jersey-based development company Treetop Development, which owns the buildings in question. The corporation has been exploiting loopholes to raise rents and drive low-income residents out of their apartments in order to begin gentrifying the area, the residents argued. The meeting was organized by the Flushing Rezoning Community Alliance. Faith in New York, an interfaith organization, was also in attendance. Andrew Hausermann, the director of Organizing for Faith in New York, explained that the organization had heard many complaints from residents in the seven buildings, which Treetop purchased six months ago. “This company, Treetop, has a bad history,” Hausermann said to the hundred or so residents in attendance. “They have a history of buying rent-stabilized units in neighborhoods that they say are soon upcoming neighborhoods, might be gentrifying neighborhoods, and they’ll buy these rent-stabilized buildings, run out the low-income tenants and then sell the buildings for a big profit.” Hausermann also said that the company was accused of similar practices in Williamsburg and Harlem. Among the chief complaints raised by residents is what they say is a loophole in New York State law that allows for permanent rent increases in rent-stabilized units. Landlords can implement these raises to fund construction projects called major capital improvements. These MCI increases are problematic, Hausermann explained, because even after the project is funded, the rent increase can remain in place, which could drive low-income tenants out. When the rent reaches a certain threshold, it eliminates the rent-stabilization designation, Hausermann said. These concerns have been raised in the wake of a high level of construction going on around the buildings. One building in question, 132-40 Sanford Ave., received a stop-work order after Councilmember Peter Koo (D-Flushing) voiced concerns raised by constituents. A June stop-work order complaint on the Department of Buildings website said that workers were “removing asbestos without protection” and cited debris in the hallway. Another complaint from July said that work resumed at the site despite the stop-work order. Another resident, who asked not to be named, had a copy of her lease that she showed to the Queens Tribune. She pointed to the rent and noted that a price had been written out over a white strip. She said the original, agreed-upon rent had been whited out, and a higher number had been written in. The Tenant’s Rights Coaltion, a partnership between the Legal Aid Society and Legal Services NYC, provided lawyers at the meeting, and residents were invited to discuss their cases with these lawyers at the meeting or some time in the future. They encouraged all residents with concerns to meet with someone so they could see what other problems may exist, organize and begin to assess next steps. State Sen. Toby Stavisky (D-Flushing), Koo and Assemblyman Ron Kim (D-Flushing) were all in attendance as well. Koo told the Queens Tribune that they have constituents reaching out about rent increases of nearly $600 to $800. “While we are committed to investing in the buildings as a way to improve the living experience, we’re also committed to maintaining the character of the surrounding neighborhood by keeping rents in line with those of comparable properties in the area,” said Azi Mandel, managing member of Treetop, in a statement. “Furthermore, Treetop stringently abides by all New York City housing regulations, and we vehemently dispute any accusation regarding the illegal alteration of lease agreements in any manner whatsoever.” A spokesman for Treetop also told the Queens Tribune that the claims about MCIs were unfounded. “We haven’t applied for any MCIs. The previous owner, they replaced the boilers, they replaced the elevators, they applied for MCIs, they got the MCIs,” the spokesman said. The spokesman also added that the manager has tried to assure tenants that if they already got an MCI from a previous owner, they would not get another one. Reach James Farrell at (718) 357-7400×127, or jfarrell@queenstribune.com, or @farrellj329.

http://queenstribune.com/residents-voice-concerns-treetop/

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Jamaica Hospital Is Now Trauma Ready

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Share 0 BY JAMES FARRELL Staff Writer Jamaica Hospital was verified as a level 1 trauma center by the American College of Surgeons, who reviews medical centers’ resources and capabilities and verifies their designation status. Level 1 is the highest designation, making it capable of providing care for every element of trauma injury, from prevention, to injury and through rehabilitation. “In 1987, the New York State Department of Health began designating trauma centers and we were awarded the highest level as a designated level 1 center,” said Jamaica Hospital President and CEO Bruce Flanz at a press conference on Friday celebrating the verification. “And that continues on today,” he said, adding that the American College of Surgeons has taken over that process from the Department of Health. The verification process happens every three years, and the process is a comprehensive look at the previous 12 months of the hospital’s performance, according to Trauma Medical Director Geoffrey Doughlin. This review looks to see how a medical center’s resources and capabilities compare to those outlined in a set of guidelines called “Resources for the Optimal Care of the Injured Patient.” It is a data-driven, research-driven review of a number of elements, including the number of patients received and outcomes for patients. “We are very pleased that based upon the hundreds of standards, we were able to go through the verification process without one single deficiency,” Flanz said. Both Flanz and Doughlin emphasized that maintaining this designation is a hospital-wide effort, rather than the work of a few individuals. “It’s an entire spectrum from arrival to the discharge of the patients and making sure that they have the best outcomes that are possible,” Doughlin said. Doughlin also praised the hospital’s efforts in injury prevention, saying that the hospital provides education for children at schools, for the elderly, at events at the hospital, and at health fairs. NYPD Officer Kenneth Healey was also present at the press conference, and he spoke highly of Jamaica Hospital’s work in helping him through his own injury. In October 2014, Healey was injured while on duty by a man with a hatchet and suffered critical head injuries. He credited Jamaica Hospital for his recovery. “I’m here today because of Jamaica Hospital,” he said. “I feel lucky to be standing here and in front of you today, and it’s all thanks to the doctors and nurses and staff.” Flanz recalled Jamaica Hospital’s history as a trauma center, and specifically remembered a 1975 Eastern Airlines plane crash in Rosedale in which all 12 survivors were treated at Jamaica Hospital. “We’ve known for four decades the vital role that Jamaica Hospital plays in the community as a trauma center,” Flanz told the Queens Tribune. Doughlin was more focused on the future, stressing the importance of keeping up the hospital’s reputation and high quality service for trauma patients.. “We’ve got to maintain the standards,” he told the Queens Tribune. “In three years, we’re going to have another survey.” Reach James Farrell at (718) 357-7400×127, jfarrell@queenstribune.com or @farrellj329.

http://queenstribune.com/jamaica-hospital-now-trauma-ready/

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TribCast Episode 24- We Get Around

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Share 0 The TribCast crew will tell you this week why it may be harder to find a parking spot in the future, but maybe easier to find affordable housing. We will also discuss what’s going on with Community Board 9 and why, maybe, Borough President Melinda Katz chose to not reappoint one of its members. Also, are community boards beginning to resemble the communities they represent? Katz, meanwhile, along with the de Blasio administration and other groups are throwing their support behind a comprehensive plan for Downtown Jamaica that may finally change the dynamic of the long forgotten about commercial center. And the Mets are back! And they’re winning. We’ll share our thoughts on opening day at Citi Field.

http://queenstribune.com/podcast/tribcast-episode-24/

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Maspeth Rallies And Roars Against Shelter

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Share 0 BY JON CRONIN Editor Over a 1,000 Maspeth residents flooded Martin Luther High School last week with the immutable message that they will do whatever it takes to prevent a homeless shelter from opening in their community. Inside the packed, sweltering high school gymnasium residents sat fanning themselves while booing elected officials and screaming over NYC Human Resources Commissioner Stephen Banks as he attempted to explain the logistics for choosing the location for a shelter that will tentatively open Oct. 1 at the Holiday Inn Express. He stated that there has been a 20 year increase in homelessness in the city; that in 2014 there were 51,000 people in need of shelter and the projection for the next year is 71,000. To provide prospective he said that in 1994 there were 24,000. The crowd went wild with boos and chants of “No homeless shelter.” Banks added that in the past, “the city used to open shelters in the middle of the night with no notification.” As the chant got louder, he couldn’t speak and Randal Gast, executive director of the high school, pleaded with them to be respectful. Michael LoCascio, Community Board 5 member and organizer of the meeting, pleaded with them to let him speak, “We need to know what we’re fighting before. I spent 80 to 90 hours in the last few days putting this thing together. I want to hear what the man has to say and then we can go get ‘em.” Banks then continued, “There are 243 residents of Maspeth residents around the city right now. The approach we are taking is trying to reduce the use of clustering shelters and limit the use of single hotel rooms.” Acknowledging a statement yelled from the crowd, Banks said, “To the gentleman who is yelling at me in the front row that they should go back to East New York, I want to emphasize again that 243 of your neighbors…,” then his voice was drowned out by booing and screaming. Residents took their turn speaking their minds and seemed to try to prevent the project with the sheer volume and vitriol in their voices. One resident shouted that the homeless problem “is a fabrication made up by City Hall,” and stated that he sees out-of-state plates on cars coming and going from the Pan Am shelter. Another asked, “When did New Yorkers start procreating at such a rate?” and claimed, “I will go to any length to prevent this shelter from opening.” One man said to Banks that if he didn’t mind having a homeless shelter in his Brooklyn neighborhood he must enjoy the company of prostitutes and drug addicts. An elderly woman noted how she raised a family in Maspeth, grand-children and now great-grand-children, but now fears the changes in the neighborhood and wants to keep it safe. The announcement of Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley’s (D-Glendale) taking the podium quickly went from jeers to cheers as she did her best to scream over the crowd, “Mayor Bill de Blasio and this administration’s proposal for yet another homeless shelter is short sighted, irresponsible and completely inadequate. “Hotels are not the solution to New York City’s homeless crisis. It is the wrong approach, not only for the homeless but for the Maspeth community.” She added, “We support ourselves and our neighbors and the mayor is trying to solve the City’s homelessness problem on our backs.” Crowley noted that there are already three shelters within walking distance from the Holiday Inn; the domestic violence shelter in Woodside, at the Metro Motel on Queens Boulevard in Woodside and the Pan Am Shelter in Elmhurst. Crowley also pointed to Department of Homeless Services recently putting two sex offenders in the Pan Am shelter as a betrayal to the community. “The real solution to all of this is to create real affordable housing,” said Crowley. She called out Banks for commenting himself that using hotels is the wrong approach to solving the homeless crisis. State Sen. Joe Addabbo Jr. (D-Howard Beach) “All these people and the thousand outside can’t be wrong.” Addabbo pointed out that these temporary shelters become permanent housing for the homeless, that Maspeth does not have the public transportation available that would help, there are no kitchens in the rooms and the City does not provide the appropriate programs. “We need to help these people. Dumping them in the Holiday Inn does not help them,” said Addabbo. He added that although the Department of Homeless Services was retooled to run under the auspices of NYC Human Resources Administration, “the efficiency of spending $1.7 billion dollars to help these people get back on their feet has not worked. “Obviously the pathway we are going down does not work for us, it does not work for these people.” Addabbo noted, “I have been around a while. I have never seen this kind of animosity toward a mayor.” He said they are willing to work with the administration but in “smaller clusters” with people who need the help. Speaking directly to Banks, Addabbo said, “I know you know how government works. I know Mayor de Blasio knows how the government works. This is not working.” Outside the meeting, another 500 people toiled in the heat. After not being allowed in the school, the crowd made their way over to the Holiday Inn a few blocks away. Their protest blocked the street in front of the hotel as police guarded the private property of the hotel. One man was taken away in cuffs after and issued a summons for trying to enter the hotel after the police instructed him not to. According to several witnesses it took several officers to detain him. The protestors kept it quiet towards the end of the type with some quickly dissipating chants of “No homeless shelter.” Other commented that there were already single rooms set aside for the homeless. One man warned patrons rolling their luggage across the street not to stay there because “there are prostitutes and drug dealers inside.” Reach Editor Jon Cronin at 718-357-7400 x125, jcronin@queenstribune.com, or @JonathanSCronin.

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Bullying Not To Be Endured Alone

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Share 0 To The Editor: Another case of bullying has happened again and this time with a young seventh grader named Daniel Fitzpatrick, who attended Holy Angels Catholic Academy in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. He took his life at his Staten Island home on Thursday August 11th. This 13 year old had so much to live for and yet the bullying took its toll. I truly grieve with his family and offer my heartfelt prayers. I myself can relate to this child because as a young child in the fifties and early sixties I was a victim of bullying and other children making fun of me because of my severe stuttering problem. Even when I would walk down the street of my neighborhood, kids would imitate my speech impediment and some would even call me stupid. If this happened today with social media outlets like Facebook, I think that might be too much for me to handle. I have been employed as shipping manager for 36 years at Northeast Plumbing in Mineola and serve as a lector at St. Anastasia’s Church in Douglaston, and I am Grand Knight of St. Anastasia Knights of Columbus council #5911. I survived because I had people who cared about me but there are many that have not survived because a lot of people have not made the effort to help. In my opinion more needs to be done for those children who are victims of bullying and teachers and parents must be more involved or more children might take their lives. And to the parents of Daniel may our Lord help you in this most painful time. Remember also that it takes a village to raise a child. Frederick R. Bedell Jr., Glen Oaks Village

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Astoria Park Receives Renovation Funding

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Share 0 BY ARIEL HERNANDEZ Staff Writer As if the outdoor tennis courts, track, band stand, basketball courts, trails, playgrounds and largest pool in the city weren’t enough to lure visitors from all five boroughs to Astoria Park, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s announcement to fund $150 million in major improvements to the five anchor parks, is going to make the park even better. Last week de Blasio, Council Speaker Melissa Mark Viverito and NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver announced that one large park in each borough will receive major capital upgrades such as new soccer fields, comfort stations, running tracks and hiking trails under the new five anchor parks initiative. “New Yorkers deserve to have the greatest parks in the world steps from their homes. That’s why our administration is focused on park equity, which brings fair access to and development of parks across the city,” de Blasio said during the announcement at Saint Mary’s Park in the South Bronx. “The Anchor Parks program, joined with the Community Parks Initiative and Parks Without Borders, marks another major step in advancing park equity for all New Yorkers.” The five parks that will be receiving $30 million each in major improvements are Saint Mary’s Park in the South Bronx, Highbridge Park in Manhattan, Betsy Head Park in Brooklyn, Freshkills Park on Staten Island and Queens’ very own Astoria Park. Silver said that these sites are called anchor parks because they provide a stabilizing, centering force for the communities they serve, by offering larger and more diverse resources than smaller community parks. “This large investment in Astoria Park, and in four other parks citywide, will go a long way towards improving our vital green space,” Councilman Costa Constantinides said. “The upgraded playgrounds, fields and open areas will reinforce what we already know – Astoria Park has long been the jewel of our neighborhood. Since its inception over 100 years ago, families from across the community have enjoyed this park throughout the year. With these large-scale capital improvements, Astoria Park will have assets and amenities to match its use. I look forward to working with the Parks Department and community stakeholders as these improvements are planned. I thank Mayor de Blasio and Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver for their bold vision and transformation action to improve our park.” The five parks, which were selected based on historical underinvestment, high surrounding population and potential for park development, are part of the de Blasio administration’s Community Parks Initiative. So far they have provided new playground equipment, benches, plantings and resurfaced playing courts to 60 small neighborhood parks. “Astoria Park is a jewel of our city and it gives the people of Western Queens a necessary respite, surrounded by nature, from the hustle and bustle of citylife. As a life-long Astorian raising my own daughter in the neighborhood, I’m delighted that the park is getting the resources it deserves,” said Assemblywoman Aravela Simotas. “This will make a huge difference, not only in the beauty of the park, but also its recreational opportunities.” Reach Ariel Hernandez at (718) 357-7400 x144 or ahernandez@queenstribune.com

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Lochte Should Be Stripped of Medals

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Share 0 To The Editor: The Olympic Committee should immediately revoke those medals won by swimmers Ryan Lochte and his three teammates for the abysmal conduct they exhibited in Rio De Janeiro last week. Not only did they lie about being held up and robbed at gunpoint, they urinated in public near the city, and caused damage to the restrooms at a nearby gas station. The athletes who represent our country are supposed to be role models for our children. It’s safe to say that 99 percent of them are fine, dedicated professionals who have worked and sacrificed for months on end to prepare for the Summer Olympic Games. Mr. Lochte and his teammates are not representative of very good role models at all, and have acted in a very immature, disgraceful matter. Some good old fashioned discipline is what these four clowns need. Each one of them should receive 20 whacks across their backsides for this awful behavior. Maybe then, they would think twice about acting that way ever again. They are a disgrace and most unprofessional in their behavior. John Amato, Fresh Meadows

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August 25, 2016

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Ozone Park May Get A Homeless Shelter

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Share 1 BY JON CRONIN Editor Queens may see yet another homeless shelter, this one for 50 adults opening on Atlantic Avenue at the old Dallis Bros. coffee bean factory in Ozone Park at an undetermined time. At a meeting of Community Board 9’s Health and Safety Committee, representatives from Breaking Ground, a nonprofit that helps the homeless and those at risk of homelessness, presented its idea for the location. Breaking Ground’s purpose is to get the homeless into permanent housing with the aid of on-site social workers, and psychiatric and medical staff. The nonprofit recently submitted ita proposal for the shelter to the Department of Homeless Services for a 30-day review process. Its plan entails both what it calls a “Safe Haven” and a “Drop-in Center,” which includes the housing of 50 adults for an average of nine months, while also serving a maximum of 75 clients coming off the street for a day to eat and shower as well as those in need of education and services that aid in the prevention of losing housing. In the Safe Haven portion, residents will get their own room or private space and have no curfews or check-ins, said Amie Pospisil, vice president of Housing Operations and Programs for Breaking Ground. It will also have a robust 24/7 staffing with on-premise security. She noted that residents will not be kicked out during the day as they are in shelters and are encouraged to stay inside and not loiter outside. Assemblyman Mike Miller (D-Woodhaven) wanted to know if they screen sex offenders at the location. Pospisil said that it is not part of their screening model for the drop-in center. Jahi Rose, director of Constituent Service in Councilman Ruben Wills’ office (D-Ozone Park), asked if they considered the proximity of elementary schools and residential homes. Pospisil shook her heads indicating that they did not. Doug Becht, also a vice president at Breaking Ground, said this will aid the immediate area of Ozone Park, alleviating the homelessness on the street. He added that he believes there is no real concentration of homeless in Queens, but there is one or two on the street peppered throughout the neighborhoods. Becht and Pospisil said several times that they will often not seek help if it means traveling to another borough. “To them geography is important,” said Pospisil. Raj Rampershad, chairman of CB 9, asked if they would be handing out medication at the facility. Pospisil said that it is not required of their clients to take medication, but they do have on-site psychiatrists and social workers. If some clients choose to take medication they will house it for them during the day and then give it to them when needed. She noted that they do not have a drug or alcohol treatment program, but work closely with those facilities that do and some of their clients may participate in them. Rampershad noted the recent 1,000-person protest at the proposed shelter at the Holiday Inn Express and the vociferous residents who spoke at the town hall meeting. He said at the next CB 9, “people will scream” during public forum. Both he and Miller acknowledged that although they have notable differences from a typical shelter, all residents will hear is “shelter.” Alexander Blenkinsopp, communications director for the Woodhaven Residents Block Association, alerted everyone at their most recent meeting out of concern for a community that feels it may not be notified if or when a homeless shelter will be erected in its neighborhood. “Nothing has been approved yet,” said Miller. “The mayor’s office hasn’t even discussed it yet.” Blenkinsopp said, “Now what we hope everyone will do is wait until we find out more about what is going on and give this organization a chance to explain what they hope to do before drawing conclusions.” Lauren Gray, a spokesperson for DHS, wrote in a statement, “There are currently zero Department of Homeless Services facilities in Community District 9, where this is being proposed. We are committed to engaging communities on these issues, listening to feedback and working to address community concerns.” Reach Editor Jon Cronin at 718-357-7400 x125, jcronin@queenstribune.com or @JonathanSCronin.

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Kew Gardens Post Office Will Stay

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Share 0 A longtime Kew Gardens post office had its lease renewed last Wednesday, alleviating concerns in a community that hoped to keep the post office alive, U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-Queens) announced on Thursday. The Kew Gardens Post Office on Austin Street has been a fixture in the community since 1951. When its lease expired on July 31st, locals were concerned that the property would be redeveloped, according to previously published reports. However, Meng asked the United States Postal Service about the post office’s future back in March, on behalf of concerned community members, and confirmed that the lease would be renewed. The lease’s signing last week made it offical. “These residents said loud and clear that they wanted this facility to remain in their community, and I’m pleased to deliver the good news,” Meng said in a statement. The new five-year lease will preserve the post office until at least July 31, 2021. At that time, the lease will expire and the post office’s future will be put in doubt again. “We are grateful to Congresswoman Meng for her efforts in ensuring that the post office lease was renewed for another five years,” said president of the Kew Gardens Civic Association Dominick Pistone in a statement. “We would also like to work with the congresswoman on a long-term solution for our post office to avoid another last-minute solution in 2021.” –James Farrell

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Caring For Queens And Beyond

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Share 0 BY RODNEY D. GANTT For more than 100 years the nonprofit organization Parker Jewish Institute for Healthcare and Rehabilitation has worked to meet the needs of adults in communities throughout New York City, including those living in Southeast Queens. Established in 1907 by a group known as the Daughters of Israel, the institute originally operated as a homeless shelter catering to a then-vulnerable population. Over the years the organization has grown and changed, with its facility now at 271-11 76th Ave. in New Hyde Park on the Queens-Nassau border. As it grew the institute expanded its services to include health care, adapting its mission along the way “to provide, with compassion and dedication superior quality health care and rehabilitation for adults.” “The mission has always been to serve the underserved and those that need us the most,” said Lina Scacco, assistant vice-president of corporate outreach and development. “Moving forward, that mission became even stronger, adjusting to and more focused on the needs of an aging population.” The Parker Institute operates residential facilities providing both short-term and long-term rehabilitation care as well as a certified home health agency dedicated to helping people recuperate and transition back into their daily lives with in home care after surgery or any other medical event. The institute’s home health care division is licensed in seven counties including Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan and Westchester County. The institute offers outpatient services like, the medical home visits program Parker At Your Door, providing treatment for acute and chronic illnesses, care coordination and 24-hour telephone access to care specialists. “We try to keep people in their homes as long as possible and as long as it’s safe,” said Scacco. “Our goal is to take care of people wherever they live and we know the best care for that person emotionally is in their home where they feel most independant.” Although they strive to keep patients in their homes the institute also works to make short-and long-term residential care at its facility as comfortable and pleasant as possible for residents, patients and their families, where Scacco said safety is the top priority. “When someone needs long-term care and they turn to us, I think they realize we have that kind of experience and compassion,” said Scacco. “We understand that sometimes people can’t be cared for in their home because it may be unsafe and we offer that as an alternative.” As part of its continuum of care, in early September the institute will offer its residents and other patients health care services through its Social Adult Day Care program, Parker On Madison, located in Hempstead. The program is designed to help the elderly and patients with early-stage dementia who are unable to stay at home by themselves while their family member and primary caregiver is at work or away. The program allows patients time for social interaction with activities like music therapy and yoga. It also offers nutritious meals and access to transportation, and acts as a respite for caregivers who can be assured their loved one is well taken care of in their absence. “Ours is exceptional; we were one of the leaders in creating an adult day program,” said Scacco. “Some individuals as they age have greater needs that a regular senior center cannot accommodate, and the program is there to make the quality of life for that individual a pleasant one every day,” said Scacco. Along with its long-and short-term care facilities, the institute also provides on-site dialysis treatment to residents and the community through its hemodialysis center, Queens-Long Island Renal Institute. Licensed in Queens and Nassau Parker Institute prides itself on the quality of hospice care it provides for residents as well as in home patients, and at other assisted living and nursing facilities. With the variety of services the institute provides including medical transportation through its company, Lakeville Ambulette Transportation, Scacco said she likes to think of the institute as a “one stop shop” but also said the type of care is not one size fits and is in fact very “person centered” and catered to the individual’s needs. “It’s the individual who defines what type of care needs they have because we need to customize it for them not the other way around,” said Scacco. Also because of the diversity in Queens Scacco said the institute also tries to be sensitive to a patient’s unique cultural needs. To ensure residents and patients are treated by a skilled staff, Parker Institute offers many education programs and is affiliated with several medical schools including Columbia University, C.W. Post, Hofstra University, Queens College and more for programs in art therapy, occupational therapy, medicine, dentistry, psychiatry, social work and more. With its own fellowship program, the institute offers both on-and off-site training for its staff. The institute employs its own medical team with doctors who work with medical staff at other facilities. “We are continually educating our staff and we really invest in them because they are our best assets,” said Scacco. The Nerken Center for Research and Grants is an on-site research center focused on studying emerging issues of aging. Through the research center the institute has received grants that have allowed the institute to develop various programs and services like Parker at Your Door and volunteer programs like WIlling hearts Helpful Hands, connecting caretakers with volunteers who provide them with respite services. All the services Parker Jewish Institute provides from short-and long-term rehabilitation and home health care to dialysis treatment and hospice care is in continuum with its mission. “In our mission we strive to help the community and be that resource. It’s not for our own gain; it’s so that we can perpetuate that mission which is to keep growing and make it an organization that goes on forever,” said Scacco.

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Residents Keep Fighting SBS Plan

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Share 0 BY MATT SHORTALL Local residents and members of the Woodhaven Residents’ Block Association met in Queens this past Saturday to protest plans for the expansion of Selective Bus Service (SBS) routes. The Department of Transportation is planning an overhaul of Woodhaven Boulevard that would remove two lanes of traffic and multiple bus stops. The DOT and MTA have been pushing for Select Bus Service, sometimes referred to as Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), for the last several years. The agencies claim this will provide faster bus service along the entire boulevard, stretching from Rockaway all the way to Woodside. The SBS proposal for Woodhaven Boulevard would remove two lanes of traffic—one in each direction—from use by any vehicles except MTA buses. All other vehicle traffic on the boulevard would have to utilize fewer lanes. In addition, the DOT and MTA have proposed banning left turns from the boulevard onto cross streets such as Jamaica Avenue and Liberty Avenue, because those turns would interfere with the dedicated bus lanes. Moreover, at several busy intersections, bus riders would have to wait on medians in the boulevard instead of on sidewalks. Cameras and enforcement officers would enforce the new bus lane rules, and violators would receive tickets. More than 50 people turned out on a hot and humid late-summer day to have their voices heard. They carried signs that read “Save Our Lanes,” and “No SBS!” In between speakers the protesters chanted, “Trash this plan.” Sherman Kane, a member of Community Board 9, has lived on Woodhaven Boulevard for the last 20 years. “It will negatively affect all of Woodhaven, but especially Woodhaven Boulevard,” said Kane. “It’s going to take away two lanes of traffic. We don’t need that. Whether on the service road or the main road, it’s going to increase traffic everywhere. Marian Molina is another member of Queens Community Board 9 who lives right on Woodhaven Boulevard. “No one here is against public transportation,” she explained. “We’re against taking lanes from the drivers in order to give them to the buses. If you look around right now, it’s Saturday afternoon and we have so much traffic.” The Queens Public Transit Committee, an advocate group for improved public transportation in the borough, has criticized the DOT’s SBS proposal as sacrificing one mode of transportation in favor of another. “The intersection at Woodhaven and Cross Bay boulevards is one of the most congested thoroughfares in the entire city,” said Scala. “It doesn’t take a genius to know that if you take a glass full of water and start adding more water, it’s going to overflow. South Queens is in danger of cardiac arrest because its main artery is congested.” The DOT says it’s listening to residents’ concerns and is open to making revisions on the SBS plan if it feels such changes are warranted. “Woodhaven Boulevard is an incredibly important street, but one that is not serving all the residents of Queens as best as it could,” said a spokesperson for the DOT. In addition to carrying a high volume of traffic, the corridor carries over 30,000 bus passengers daily. Moreover, it has Vision Zero priority status, Mayor Bill De Blasio’s initiative to completely eliminate traffic fatalities by the year 2020, in an area that has one of the highest fatality rates of any street in all of New York City. “We have made multiple changes to the original plan after listening to the community and working with stakeholders to address their concerns,” said the DOT spokesperson. “This extensive community outreach process has yielded alterations asked for by residents such as not banning left turns on Jamaica Avenue in either direction, while still offering safety enhancements along the corridor that will benefit thousands of pedestrians, drivers and bus riders who travel, shop and work on the corridor every day.” The DOT says it will closely monitor the impacts of these changes, as it does for all projects.

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Attorney Calls Jamaica Attack A Hate Crime

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Share 0 BY JAMES FARRELL Staff Writer An assault on a Bangladeshi immigrant should be prosecuted as a hate crime, attorney Ali Najmi argued on Monday at a press conference in front of the Queens Criminal Court in Kew Gardens. Immigrant Gazi Rahman was allegedly assaulted by a stranger, later identified as a man named Christopher Porr, while talking on his cell phone on Hillside Avenue in Jamaica back in May. Rahman suffered a broken nose, and witnesses’ pictures showed a significant amount of blood at the scene. Immediately after the attack, both Rahman and Porr were arrested for assault and released on desk appearance tickets. However, at the press conference, Najmi pointed to newly uncovered NYPD surveillance footage that he said exonerates Rahman of wrongdoing. Najmi added that witness testimony – which included several accounts of Porr’s shouting “F**k Indians” as he attacked Rahman – shows that the attack should be tried as a hate crime. Najmi said that he had shared copies of the video, witness testimonies and pictures of Rahman’s injuries at a July 8 court date at the Kew Gardens Criminal Court. Since then, Najmi added, the Queens District Attorney’s office said they would drop the charges against Rahman, but there was no word yet as to whether they would prosecute the incident as a hate crime. “We are here gathered today, as a community, to make a statement that we absolutely believe this amounts to a hate crime,” Najmi said, surrounded by Rahman and a number of eyewitnesses, one of whom was holding a blown-up picture of Rahman bleeding on the sidewalk. Najmi pointed to Porr’s social media presence, claiming that it showed Porr is an “avid supporter of Donald Trump,” anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim. After the conference, he Tweeted snapshots of Poor’s Facebook account, which included a number of posts in support of Trump and about Muslims. One post read, “As long as there’s one homeless child in America, we have no room for Muslim refugees.” Another read, “I don’t think it’s fair to put illegal immigrants ahead of the American worker.” Said Najmi, “In an era of racial incitement that we live in, and the political environment that we are unfortunately living through, we have come together as a community to say that we will absolutely not tolerate any hate crimes, especially in the county of Queens, and that we are calling on the office of the Queens District Attorney to take this matter very seriously and to prosecute it accordingly.” Najmi also added that both parties were offered a cross-dismissal, where both cases would be dismissed, but that he turned it down. He said that he believes a prison sentence would be appropriate. At the scene, Porr made a statement that Rahman had assaulted him, and in those cases, it is common for the police to arrest both parties, Najmi said. However, Najmi expressed frustration that the arrest had happened, and even more so that Porr was released on a desk appearance ticket, which Najmi said is not appropriate for a hate crime. Meanwhile, the video shows a man, allegedly Rahman, speaking on the phone when another man, allegedly Porr, approaches him and says something. There is no audio in the video, but after Rahman appears to dismiss Porr, Porr shoves Rahman and a fight breaks out, which ends after Porr punches Rahman, knocking him to the ground. Rahman said that Porr approached him asking for money and attacked him after Rahman rebuffed his request. Witness Glen Rozado, present at the press conference, corroborated Rahman’s claims that Porr yelled either “f**k Indians” or “f**king Indian” during the fight, and added that he tried to explain to police that Porr had started the fight. “They weren’t that interested to listen to what I say,” Rozado said of the NYPD. Rahman added that he was still shaken after the attack. Reach James Farrell at (718) 357-7400, jfarrell@queenstribune.com, or @farrellj329.

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Honey Harvest Festival Abuzz With History And Tasting

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Share 1 BY MATT SHORTALL The annual Honey Harvest Festival was held at the Voelker Orth Museum, Bird Sanctuary and Victorian Garden in Murray Hill this week, where visitors not only enjoyed sampling the locally sourced honey, but also learned why honeybees are a critically important component of our ecosystem. The annual August Honey Harvest Festival is a celebration of the noble honeybees and all the hard work they do throughout the summer. A local beekeeper and a team of volunteers only started harvesting the homegrown honey during the past week. “We’re not doing this to become professional honey producers,” said beekeeper and horticulturist Urte Schaedle. “We’re more concerned about using the hive as a teaching tool.” Schaedle estimates there are now more than 50,000 honeybees living in the 6-foot-tall hive on the property. “This is special, because it’s fresh,” said Schaedle, citing the health benefits of the naturally produced honey, which is said to ease allergies. “Most people never get to taste fresh honey like this.” Museum Director Deborah Silverfine believes running Voelker Orth property has a lot in common with running a successful mom-and-pop store. “The bee colony helps us pollinate our plants, and we also use it for our educational programs,” she said. “In order to stay in business it takes constancy and quality of service, building and retaining an audience and staff. We have the special challenge of retaining the period character of the house and garden, while making it available and inviting for audiences, some of whom have never been to a museum, and are used to the comforts of 21st-century urban life.” Located at 149-19 38th Ave., the Voelker Orth Museum is just 20 minutes away from Penn Station via the Long Island Railroad station at Murray Hill, but it feels much more distant in the sense of time. The museum occupies the former home of a German immigrant family who bought the property in the late 1890s, and restoration efforts have preserved the house much as it looked back then. The property also features a spacious Victorian-style garden, where museum staff and volunteers have been looking after a bee colony for the last 10 years. Silverfine has emphasized the impact of their educational and group programs, as well as events like the Honey Harvest Festival and an Oktoberfest coming up on Sept. 23, which will combine the history of Queens with the modern culture of Flushing. The museum offers a beekeeping class at the beginning of spring each year, which for some people turns into a volunteer apprenticeship among local hives in Queens. “We’d really like to create an active community of beekeepers,” Silverfine said. “It’s a hobby that requires some skill and it works best when there’s a team of people working with you.” The museum first started the classes when beekeeping was legalized in the city in 2010. It was initially launched as a nearly yearlong, in-depth series, but now it’s offering a shorter version for beginners who are just interested in basic knowledge.

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Historic RKO Keith's Theatre Bought By Chinese Developer

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Share 2 BY JAMES FARRELL RKO Keith’s, the historic and long-defunct theater in downtown Flushing, was purchased by a Chinese developer, Xinyuan Real Estate Co., for $66 million on Monday, the company announced in a press release. The announcement marks the next chapter in a long history of changing hands and stalled development at the landmarked theatre, which is located at 135-35 Northern Boulevard. The theater’s ornate lobby and ticket foyer were landmarked by the Landmarks Preservation Committee in 1984. Over the past two decades, the landmarked interior has made it challenging for developers to move forward on plans at the site. Xinyuan Real Estate will now be the next developer to try to repurpose the theatre. Xinyuan Real Estate was one of the first Chinese real estate developers to enter the U.S. market. In September 2012, the company made its entry in the New York market by purchasing land at Kent Avenue and South 8 th Street in Williamsburg. That project, known as the Oosten, is still under construction, and will contain over 200 units of luxury condos. The company has another project in Midtown Manhattan as well. “We are very pleased to be developing our third major project in the New York residential real estate market,” said Yong Zhang, Xinyuan’s chairman in the press release. “The location for this project in downtown Flushing is ideally situated particularly as there is a shortage of inventory in the higher-end condominium segment. Given the location of this project, we expect it will be appealing to both local and foreign buyers and investors. We believe our new project will become a unique site in downtown Flushing and a successful project for our Company.” In March 2015, Community Board 7 approved plans for development at RKO Keith’s, presented by architect Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. Those plans include 269 condos along with amenities like a 24-hour doorman, gym, tenant lounge, a 305 space parking garage and a landscaped courtyard. Reach James Farrell at (718) 357-7400×127, jfarrell@queenstribune.com , or @farrellj329

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Hoop Dreams Doc Interview At MoMA

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Share 0 BY DAVID RUSSELL The Museum of the Moving Image screened Hoop Dreams on Sunday, as part of its “Kartemquin at 50” series. The Chicago-based company has been making documentaries for half a century, perhaps none more popular than the 1994 entry Hoop Dreams, the three-hour documentary about two amateur basketball players. “At the time when “Hoop Dreams” came out, you really had to go out of your way to see a documentary in a movie theater,” said Steve James, the director of the film, who spoke at the museum. The movie was made by James, Peter Gilbert (who was also the cinematographer) and Frederick Marx, who co-wrote the film with James. Famed movie critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert both thought “Hoop Dreams” was the number-one movie of the year, ahead of “Pulp Fiction”, “Forrest Gump” and “The Shawshank Redemption”. “I was thinking, ‘Boy, those are some great critics.’ I never thought Gene Siskel was this great critic like I do now’,” James said to laughter from the audience. The film, originally intended to be a 30-minute TV special, follows Arthur Agee and William Gates, a pair of African American high school students in Chicago. Filming took place over five years and looks at all the hardships on and off the court that the two deal with in trying to one day make the NBA. “We were originally going to follow two kids, thinking, because we didn’t have any money, well one of them will work out, be interesting at least, probably not both of them,” James said. “Of course, imagine the film if it was just about one of them. It would not be nearly as interesting a film. But it’d be shorter.” The student-athletes play in high school, and deal with trying to stay eligible for major colleges while juggling family issues. Siskel and Ebert reviewed it initially when it was only playing at the Sundance Film Festival. “They went on their show during Sundance, while the film was at Sundance and they gave it a rave review,” James said. “That had never happened before and I think that was a huge thing for this film, this three-hour documentary about some kids you’ve never heard of dreaming of basketball.” During the initial review, Ebert said, “This is one of the best films about American life that I have ever seen, and for three hours I was just absorbed by these two families; it’s not just the kids.” When talking about the movie at the end of 1994, Siskel felt that the three-hour running time shouldn’t scare people away. “This is an eight year project by these three filmmakers. I’ve heard people say, ‘Oh, it’s three hours.’ Well if these guys can spend eight years out of their lives, can you think you could spend an hour more than you spent on, let’s say, seeing “Richie Rich”? I think you can handle it.”

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Tribcast Episode 20- Spring has (kinda) sprung

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Share 0 As winter (very gradually) turns into Spring, join the Queens Tribune crew as we discuss the annual New York political rite of spring- state budget negotiations and how education has become the nucleus of this year’s debate. We’ll explore proposals to toll the free East River bridges and discuss a Jamaica woman’s lawsuit against her former employer whom she alleges discriminated against her for being pregnant. We’ll also take a look at a planned interactive art project at Socrates Sculpture Park that will be sure to liven up the summer months.

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Crowley Envisions Glendale Entrance To Forest Park

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Share 0 BY JON CRONIN Editor To determine what a new Glendale entrance to Forest Park would look like, Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Glendale) held a visioning session to garner community input on what they would like to see at the entrance. The entrance in question is located at the corner of Myrtle Avenue and Union Turnpike. The councilwoman said that she was able to allocate $3 million for the project. She noted that last year, during her brainstorming session for participatory budgeting, many residents brought this up as an idea, but it couldn’t be handled under the participatory budgeting’s $1 million purview. Dottie Lewandowski, Queens Park commissioner, said that currently the entrance is mainly unused. She noted that the Parks Department at one time used it as access to a maintenance department facility, but no longer. Currently, the pathway is blocked by Jersey barriers and is unpaved. Attendees stated that they would like to see at that entrance what other parts of Forest Park currently have: lighting, a seamless use of a pedestrian walkway and bikeway, a generally safe place for people to take their families. One person also suggested bike rentals, while Crowley noted that instead it could be a location for the City’s popular CitiBike program. Crowley noted Juniper Valley Park in Middle Village has many playgrounds and wants residents to consider more in Forest Park. Stephen Fielder, a Community Board 5 member, had the largest vision for the plan. He suggested that the entrance and exit from the Jackie Robinson Parkway be adjusted so that it goes directly onto Myrtle Avenue instead of the longer roadway that it currently has. He would also like to see a sign on the parkway stating that there is an entrance to the park there. Fielder said he would like to see a paved pathway that would go all the way to the parking lot by the golf course. He added that he is aware his plan would be over $3 million. Toby Sheppard Bloch, also a CB 5 member, stated they could just narrow the lanes coming off the parkway and make it more “challenging” for drivers to come off the exit quickly. At the end of the meeting, Crowley said it would take two months to find a consultant on the project, 12 months to design it, a nine month procurement process, and 12 months to construct it. She estimated the whole process to take around three years. In a statement Crowley noted: “Forest Park is one of the biggest, most beautiful parks in all of Queens. The local residents deserve a safe, convenient and accessible entrance to enjoy all the park has to offer. The current entrance in Glendale is unwelcoming to park goers and it’s important we come together as a community to address this, and work with the Parks Department to determine just what we need to make this a beautiful, inviting space.” Reach Editor Jon Cronin at 718-357-7400 x125, jcronin@queenstribune.com, @JonathanSCronin.

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TribCast- Episode 27: Meet The Cops

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Share 0 Mayor Bill de Blasio was in Queens this week to meet the new NYPD recruits and things went far more amicably than last time. On the other side of the borough, the second coffee meeting between the cops at the 113th Precinct and South Jamaica residents also proved amicable and the NYPD unveils its new initiates to make the department more community orientated. Meanwhile, we remember the late Republican Councilman Tom Ognibene, who passed away this week at age 71 and reporter Yvette Brown will tell you why there might be an end in sight to the Van Wyck Expressway construction nightmare in Kew Gardens. Oh…and yeah…Go Mets!!!!

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Burden of Bullying Carries Into Adulthood

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Share 0 The beginning of the school year is less than two weeks away. Parents and children are busy shopping for spiral notebooks and bouquets of number-two pencils as the dog days of summer begin to break. Although many can see this time of year through a haze of sweet nostalgia, for some like Danny Fitzpatrick it was a nightmare. Danny is the 13-year-old Staten Island native, who attended Holy Angels Catholic Academy in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, and took his life after taking pen to paper to describe years of bullying that he felt wasn’t alleviated by his reporting to teachers and administration. It is difficult during childhood to see outside the context of school and those pre-adolescent musings of what matters. Children can be fickle and cruel in their attempts to fit in. The modern-day master of horror, Stephen King, has frequently used bullying and unrelentingly obtuse adults as the premise for many of his terrifying novels. The premise works because we all still contend with those fears long into adulthood. In an interview many years ago, King confessed he drew on many of his own experiences with bullying at the hands of his older brother and fellow students in creating his works. Ana Zambrano-Burakov, the principal of the High School of Arts and Business in Corona, which has one of the highest graduation rates in the city, explained that one of their methods to keep students engaged is concentrating on their social and home life if their grades begin to slip. She believes that a student can’t move forward academically until those issues are addressed and resolved. As the school year begins, let’s take a look back at those years and realize our children may carry the burden of bullying longer than we know. It is our responsibility to pay attention to their problems and not dismiss them, no matter how trivial they may appear.

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PARIS: France’s 38-year-old Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron stepped down on Tuesday, fueling speculation that he will vie to become the country’s youngest ever president in next year’s elections.A thorn in the side of President Francois Hollande’s Socialist government, the reform-minded minister handed in his resignation after sailing down the Seine River for the meeting at the Elysee Palace with his one-time champion.The president’s office released a statement saying Macron had resigned and that Finance Minister Michel Sapin would take over the economy portfolio.

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Macron quits cabinet amid presidency rumors

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PARIS: France’s 38-year-old Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron stepped down on Tuesday, fueling speculation that he will vie to become the country’s youngest ever president in next year’s elections. A thorn in the side of President Francois Hollande’s Socialist government, the reform-minded minister handed in his resignation after sailing down the Seine River for the meeting at the Elysee Palace with his one-time champion. The president’s office released a statement saying Macron had resigned and that Finance Minister Michel Sapin would take over the economy portfolio. The former investment banker and self-made millionaire quit “to dedicate himself entirely to his political movement,” the presidency said, referring to “En Marche” (On the Move), which he founded in April. Macron would be a fresh face in a presidential field that includes former president Nicolas Sarkozy, 61, and 71-year-old ex-prime minister Alain Juppe — both right-wing candidates. Marine Le Pen, 48, of the far-right anti-immigration National Front, is standing for a second time in elections set for April 23 and May 7, 2017. Macron’s departure is a blow to Hollande, whose approval ratings are the lowest of any post-war French president. He has pledged not to seek re-election if he fails to rein in stubbornly high unemployment, which is hovering at around 10 percent. Hollande, who has already alienated the left flank of the Socialist Party through economic and labor reforms, faces further isolation with the loss of the star of his government’s centrist side. Macron’s thinly veiled presidential ambitions heap pressure on his former patron, who has said he will not decide on a re-election bid until the end of the year. Macron launched “En Marche” (On the Move) in April saying he wanted to promote “new ideas ... neither of the right nor the left.” In a speech last month he left little doubt as to his intentions, pledging to lead the movement “to 2017 and to victory.” Macron, like most French politicians a graduate of the prestigious Ecole Nationale d’Administration, indirectly criticized Hollande by describing France as “a country worn down by broken promises.” The remark drew a reprimand from the president, who threatened to sack Macron unless he respected the “solidarity” of the Socialist government he joined in 2014. A maverick in politics as well as in his private life, Macron is married to a divorcee with three children who is some 20 years his senior. Applauded by liberals for challenging the key planks of French Socialism such as the 35-hour work week, the former Rothschild banker is criticized by die-hard leftists as being too cosy with big business. His name is on the first of two economic reform packages that were forced through parliament without a vote under Hollande. Both sparked angry street protests and created a deep divide within the Socialist Party. But Macron’s straight-talking, anti-establishment flair has seen him win over many young, cosmopolitan French people. Yet it is unclear how wide the appeal really is of such a young man who has never held elected office.

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VANCOUVER: A photograph of a crying elderly Canadian couple in wheelchairs, separated into two different care homes after 62 years of marriage because no beds were available together, has received international attention.Wolfram Gottschalk, 83, of Surrey, British Columbia was put in an assisted living home in January after he suffered dementia health complications making it impossible for wife Anita, 81, to care for him at home. Four months later, Anita entered a different facility despite family efforts to keep them together.

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Elderly couple says goodbye after 62 Years

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VANCOUVER: A photograph of a crying elderly Canadian couple in wheelchairs, separated into two different care homes after 62 years of marriage because no beds were available together, has received international attention. Wolfram Gottschalk, 83, of Surrey, British Columbia was put in an assisted living home in January after he suffered dementia health complications making it impossible for wife Anita, 81, to care for him at home. Four months later, Anita entered a different facility despite family efforts to keep them together. The facilities are half an hour apart, with family driving Anita to see Wolfram several times a week. Granddaughter Ashley Bartyik took “the saddest photo I have ever taken” when her grandparents were brought together recently. She notes that he reaches and cries out for her. Wolfram was diagnosed with lymphoma Aug. 23. Now, the family is desperate for the couple to be together to live out their remaining days. “I see desperation,” Bartyik said. “I see people married for 62 years pulled apart by a system. I see the love they have for each other.” She took to social media to draw attention to the family’s plight and said the family had been working to find a care home to accommodate both grandparents. But the couple’s immediate health concerns led them to be put in separate facilities. “It’s a little bit of a broken system right now,” Bartyik said. She said the first call from the local health authority came Aug. 25, after the photo received international attention. “We were told he is a top priority,” Bartyik said. She said Anita is more aware of what is happening than her husband. She said her grandfather’s dementia is growing and the family is afraid Wolfram soon won’t remember Anita. “With the news of cancer, our fight to have them in the same facility is even more urgent,” Bartyik said. Fraser Health spokeswoman Tasleem Juma said the authority tries to keep families together but that Wolfram’s care needs are higher than Anita’s. She said a facility must meet both patients’ needs, and the authority expects to complete that work in several weeks. “This is very upsetting for the family and is upsetting for us as well,” Juma said. “It’s not unusual for senior couples to need different levels of care at different times,” she said. The couple met in Germany in 1954 and married four months later. Wolfram was a bricklayer and a shortage of work after World War II led the couple to immigrate to Canada. Bartyik said the couple speaks in their native German in sad situations and Wolfram calls Anita “my little mouse” in German, Bartyik said. “That’s what he calls out when he sees her,” Bartyik said..

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MEDAN, Indonesia: A knife-wielding man stabbed a Catholic priest and tried to set off an explosive device at a church in Indonesia on Sunday, police said, the latest attack on religious minorities in the mainly Muslim country.Priest Albert Pandiangan was holding a mass in the city of Medan on the western island of Sumatra when a young man approached him and stabbed him in his left arm, said local chief detective Nur Fallah.The attacker was carrying a homemade explosive device, said Fallah.

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Indonesian priest injured in church attack

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MEDAN, Indonesia: A knife-wielding man stabbed a Catholic priest and tried to set off an explosive device at a church in Indonesia on Sunday, police said, the latest attack on religious minorities in the mainly Muslim country. Priest Albert Pandiangan was holding a mass in the city of Medan on the western island of Sumatra when a young man approached him and stabbed him in his left arm, said local chief detective Nur Fallah. The attacker was carrying a homemade explosive device, said Fallah. “Somebody tried to kill the priest by pretending to attend the church service and at that time tried to explode something, like a firecracker, but the firecracker didn’t explode, it only fumed,” Fallah told reporters. The priest suffered slight injuries and has been taken to hospital for treatment. A picture of the attacker’s ID card circulating online said he was Muslim. In recent years there have been a number of attacks on religious minorities and others in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country. A suicide attack in the Indonesian capital in January killed four attackers and four civilians, including a Westerner, and injured 19. In July a suicide bomber linked to the Daesh group blew himself up outside a police station in Central Java. Churchgoers on Sunday quickly caught the attacker and called the police. An eyewitness, Markus Harianto Manullan, said the assailant wore a jacket and carried a bag. “He sat in the same row as I did... I saw him fiddling with something in his jacket, and then I heard a small explosion and he immediately ran to the podium,” Manullan said. Police are still investigating the man’s motive.

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LOS ANGELES: Corey Seager hit his 23rd home run to set a season record for Los Angeles Dodgers shortstops, helping his team to a 3-2 win against the Chicago Cubs in Saturday’s clash of National League division leaders.The Dodgers stretched their lead over San Francisco in the NL West to two games, while the Cubs’ imperious lead atop the NL Central remained at a seemingly impregnable 14 games.In the American League’s meeting of divisional leaders, Texas established a big early lead and shut out Cleveland.

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Seager sets shortstop record as Dodgers down Cubs 3-2

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LOS ANGELES: Corey Seager hit his 23rd home run to set a season record for Los Angeles Dodgers shortstops, helping his team to a 3-2 win against the Chicago Cubs in Saturday’s clash of National League division leaders. The Dodgers stretched their lead over San Francisco in the NL West to two games, while the Cubs’ imperious lead atop the NL Central remained at a seemingly impregnable 14 games. In the American League’s meeting of divisional leaders, Texas established a big early lead and shut out Cleveland. Among other key AL games, Boston beat Kansas City to stay within one game of East leader Toronto, while Baltimore dropped three games off the pace after a heavy loss at the New York Yankees, who remain on the fringe of playoff contention. Dodgers starter Julio Urias steered the hosts to victory by allowing only one run over six innings. It was a stark contrast to his previous outing against the Cubs when he gave up six runs in five innings, including three homers. This time he struck out eight and improved to 4-0 since the All-Star break. The Cubs’ four-game winning streak ended, with starter Jason Hammel hooked after just 2-1/3 innings, having given up three runs. Texas’ Mitch Moreland hit a grand slam to cap an unusual five-run first inning that set up a 7-0 win against Cleveland. In the first Ian Desmond and Carlos Beltran singled with one out and both moved up a base on a pitching balk. The next hit was toward third, where Desmond dived back to base and avoided the tag, loading the bases. Rougned Odor then got on base courtesy of an error, bringing in one run, and Moreland followed with his second career slam. Boston beat Kansas City 8-3 in a game where much of the interest centered on Dustin Pedroia’s quest for the major league record on consecutive hits. Pedroia had hits in his first four at-bats to make it 11 straight. Attempting to equal the majors record of 12, he hit into a double play in the eighth inning. Johnny Kling of the Cubs set the record of 12 in 1902, Pinky Higgins of the Red Sox matched it in 1938, and Detroit’s Walt Dropo accomplished the feat in 1952. Boston put a two-game break on Baltimore after the Orioles lost 13-5 at the Yankees. New York rookie catcher Gary Sanchez homered for the third straight game. He has reached 11 homers in 23 games, the fastest of anyone in majors history. The Yankees have won four straight games to move within 2-1/2 games of the second AL wildcard berth. Colorado’s Charlie Blackmon hit two home runs, including the go-ahead shot in the 11th inning, to power the Rockies past Washington 9-4. Blackmon connected in the third, then hit a two-run drive off Yusmeiro Petit in the 11th. He has five multihomer games this season. Washington star Bryce Harper was ejected in the 10th after getting called out on strikes, yelling at the umpire and throwing his helmet to the ground. Chicago’s Jose Quintana pitched 7-2/3 solid innings to guide the White Sox past Seattle 9-3. Quintana allowed one run and struck out eight. Jose Abreu extended his hitting streak to 10 games and his on-base streak to 23 with a solo homer in the first inning. Avisail Garcia, Alex Avila and Tyler Saladino also hit homers for Chicago. New York’s Noah Syndergaard gave up only two hits over seven innings as the Mets routed Philadelphia 12-1. Syndergaard, who also hit a double, gave up his only run with a solo homer in the third. Detroit stars Victor Martinez and J.D. Martinez were ejected, along with manager Brad Ausmus and hitting coach Wally Joyner as the Tigers lost 3-2 against the Los Angeles Angels. Victor Martinez argued with plate umpire Mike Everitt after taking strike one in the third inning. Martinez was tossed after about 30 seconds, but continued the debate. He later flipped his helmet onto the field from the bench. After another contentious strike call in the fifth, Joyner was ejected from the dugout by Everitt. Joyner came out to argue, Ausmus followed and was tossed, too. Oakland’s Khris Davis hustled home on an infield grounder in a two-run eighth inning that lifted the Athletics to a 3-2 victory at St. Louis. Toronto’s Melvin Upton Jr. hit an RBI triple and continued home on a misplay in the eighth inning, completing the Blue Jays’ rally from a five-run deficit to stun Minnesota 8-7. Houston’s Dallas Keuchel threw seven solid innnins to steer the Astros to a 6-2 victory over Tampa Bay. Pittsburgh’s Gregory Polanco had a tiebreaking three-run double as the Pirates overcame a four-run deficit to beat Milwaukee 9-6. San Diego’s Clayton Richard pitched seven scoreless innings to lead the Padres past Miami 1-0. Atlanta’s Mike Foltynewicz pitched 7 2/3 strong innings, leading Atlanta to a 3-1 victory over San Francisco. Cincinnati’s Anthony DeSclafani pitched a shutout in the first complete game of his career as the Reds careered away to a 13-0 thrashing of Arizona.

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NAJRAN: Nine-year-old Yahya didn’t know that he would be suddenly robbed of his life nor did his brother Mahdi, aged 3, that he would be hit by a shrapneland land in hospital.The two boys were playing one Saturday morning recently when a rocket fired by the Houthis fell at the residence of a member of the Al-Abbas tribe in Al-Hudn village, near the Yemeni mountains. Three Pakistani workers were also injured.

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Children bear the brunt of brutal Houthi shelling

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NAJRAN: Nine-year-old Yahya didn’t know that he would be suddenly robbed of his life nor did his brother Mahdi, aged 3, that he would be hit by a shrapnel and land in hospital. The two boys were playing one Saturday morning recently when a rocket fired by the Houthis fell at the residence of a member of the Al-Abbas tribe in Al-Hudn village, near the Yemeni mountains. Three Pakistani workers were also injured. A medical source in Najran province said Yahya was admitted to Najran General Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries during treatment and joined the list of the nation’s martyrs. The emergency ward of the King Khalid Hospital admitted Mahdi and a Pakistani expatriate. Mahdi, who was hit in the face by a shrapnel is in a stable condition, and is under observation. The Pakistani’s injuries were serious and he had to be operated upon. According to statistics issued by the Civil Defense, the number of casualties in Najran during the past 10 days reached 10, including five citizens. Fourteen people were injured. The Iran-backed Houthi militias have been targeting civilian area, including schools, ever since the Saud-led Operation Decisive Storm was launched in March last year to restore the legitimate government in Yemen. During the first week of the campaign, three Katyusha rockets were fired by Houthis on a girls’ school in Al-Diyafa neighborhood, which injured three girls. The attacks continued, with another shelling claiming the lives of Reem bint Hussein Al- Mansour and her child Faisal bin Anwar Al-Mreih, who was only three months old. Mutlaq Al-Inizi, father of an injured child, said his four-year-old son Miteb was playing in his room when their house in Al-Areesa neighborhood in Najran was hit by a shell from Yemeni territory. His son was hit in the head and was taken to King Khalid hospital. He survived the injury but is in shock since then, he said. Abdullah Al-Qrawsh Al-Salah’s arm has been amputated and his intestines, pancreas and left kidney were removed as a result of a Houthi rocket that hit his house in Al-Shrufa neighborhood. Saudi forces guarding the southern borders have been successfully fighting the Houthis while also thwarting infiltration attempts by them. A source said that Saudi artillery dealt a heavy blow to the Houthis and forces loyal to the deposed Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh. “An arms’ store has been destroyed, and a number of mobile targets have been hit by F15 airplanes. An Apache helicopter destroyed a platform for launching shells.” Capt. Mohammed Al-Omari, official spokesman of the National Guards, said Cpl. Ali bin Abeid Al-Nteifat died in Najran while fighting the enemy.

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