Japan shrugs off constitutional concerns, but question remains: Are aircraft carriers necessary?

Abstract: Although Japan’s defense policy appears to have taken a new twist with a decision to deploy an aircraft carrier, doubts remain over whether the plan will best serve its national interests as the nation struggles with what it views as a growing threat from China. Possessing an aircraft carrier has been controversial in and outside the country in light of its militarist past and the pacifist postwar Constitution, which restricts the nation from possessing what some have deemed as clearly offensive armaments. Despite this, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government waded into the fray Tuesday by endorsing a new five-year defense buildup program that includes a plan to transform existing Izumo-class flat-topped helicopter carriers into ships capable of launching short takeoff fighter jets. The government has apparently sought to shrug off concerns that it is seeking new defensive capabilities that might exceed constitutional limits, with officials insisting the upgraded helicopter carriers would not have the means to inflict “devastating damage” on another country. “This measure is to reinforce our air defense system and it is within the minimum necessary level of forces our country is allowed to possess,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a news conference Tuesday. The government has also said it has no intention to keep fighter jets assigned to the vessels at all times, and stipulated in the defense buildup program that the Izumo-class ships — even after the upgrades — will remain as “multifunctional destroyers” that engage in missions ranging from patrolling to large-scale disaster response. The Maritime Self-Defense Force has two 19,500-ton Izumo-class ships, which are the country’s largest postwar naval vessels, with an overall length of 248 meters and each capable of carrying up to 14 helicopters. For fighters to take off, the deck may have to be coated with heat-resistant material, among other modifications. Some defense experts have echoed the government’s view that refitting Izumo-class ships, in itself, will not make them highly offensive, given that each will only have the capacity to carry some 10 F-35B stealth fighter jets, which Japan plans to introduce as the aircraft are capable of short takeoffs and vertical landings. “Compared with China’s (first) aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, capable of loading some 20 fighters, or 100,000 ton-class U.S. carriers, capable of transporting about 50, Izumo would be too small to use for offensive operations,” said Noboru Yamaguchi, vice president of International University of Japan in Niigata Prefecture. But the retired Ground Self-Defense Force lieutenant general said the presence of Izumo ships would be useful in beefing up defense over far-flung islands in the southwest, including an area where tensions remain high over the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands, which China claims and calls Diaoyu. “The moves of Japanese aircraft will become increasingly unpredictable for the Chinese if they can take off from carriers in waters around the southwestern islands (rather than leaving from fixed bases),” he said. Other experts, however, have criticized the government’s arguments as mere rhetoric. “The modified Izumo ship will obviously be an ‘aircraft carrier’ (in violation of the Constitution) as long as it can launch fighter jets to attack opponents,” said Hideki Uemura, a professor at Ryutsu Keizai University. The important point is how the plan will be perceived by other countries, and the latest move may provide an excuse for China to take a tougher stance against Japan, according to Uemura, an expert in international politics. “I think the conversion of Izumo is not only useless in terms of military purposes, it could even provoke China,” Uemura said. Kyoji Yanagisawa, a former Defense Ministry bureaucrat, expressed disappointment that the aircraft carrier deployment plan appears to have been given the green light without sufficient debate on what functions the vessels should have, as well as their purpose. As a result, Japan may end up just having “floating runways” that may not be useful for substantial missions, including defending remote islands. “It could be just a waste of money,” said Yanagisawa, who now serves as head of International Geopolitics Institute Japan. Following through with the plan will also likely push up the nation’s annual defense budget, which has continued to exceed ¥5 trillion in recent years. Purchasing U.S.-made F-35 fighters for use on the carriers will also be costly, since each is said to have a price tag of around ¥10 billion. Yanagisawa and Uemura both warned of the possibility that the upgraded Izumo-class vessels could also be mobilized to support U.S. military operations in the future, as the United States and Japan continue work on strengthening their alliance via contentious security legislation that expanded the scope of the Self-Defense Forces’ operations.


Japan plans hiring limits for nursing facility operators that bring in foreign workers under new visas

Abstract: The government plans to set hiring limits for nursing facility operators that bring in foreign workers under one of the country’s two new visa categories, it was learned Tuesday. The plan was included in a draft of the government’s operational guidelines for the new permits that are aimed at bringing in more foreign workers. One of the two visas will be granted to foreign nationals that have certain levels of knowledge or experience, covering 14 industrial sectors, while the other will be given to those with higher skill levels. According to the draft guidelines and related documents, each nursing facility operator must keep the number of foreign nationals it employs through the lower-skilled visa category below that of its regular staff members. The rule is believed to be aimed at protecting the employment of Japanese caregivers. Such foreign caregivers will be limited to working at nursing facilities and won’t be allowed to engage in home-visit services. Meanwhile, foreign workers who have completed courses to be a certified care worker will be exempted from taking Japanese proficiency and skills tests. In other sectors, requirements for higher-skilled workers include having experience as a group leader for the construction sector and at least two years of experience as a supervisor for the shipbuilding and marine equipment manufacturing industry. In the construction sector, the government will require companies to offer job contracts to foreign workers that include pay hikes according to their skill level, a measure that aims to secure appropriate work conditions for them. As a condition for hiring foreign workers in the agriculture sector under the lower-skilled visa category, the guidelines said that operators must have previously employed workers for an uninterrupted period of at least six months. In the restaurant sector, skills tests will be held in 10 locations nationwide to prevent a concentration of foreign workers in major cities. Technical tests for three of the 14 sectors of the lower-skilled visa category will start in April, while those for applicants of the higher-skilled category will begin in fiscal 2021. Both new and existing skill tests can be utilized for the construction sector, the shipbuilding and marine equipment manufacturing industry, and the automobile maintenance sector. The government has presented the draft guidelines, as well as drafts of a basic cross-industry policy on the new visa categories, to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner Komeito. The government plans to formalize them on Dec. 25.

foreign workers
visa
immigration
nursing care


Stigma and legal battles show Japan still has tattoo complex even as Olympics loom

Abstract: When Mana Izumi got her first tattoo at 18, she wasn’t trying to rebel or shatter any taboos — just copy pop diva Namie Amuro’s beach-bronze “surfer chick” look. In Japan, where tattoos have for centuries been demonized for their association with criminals, former porn star Izumi turns heads with her copper tan, bleach-blonde bob, and an array of designs inked across half of her body. “I wasn’t really an Amuro fan but I thought her tattoos were cute,” the 29-year-old said. “When my mum first saw my tattoo she burst into tears and I thought my dad was going to kill me. But I like being a bit different.” Mana Izumi smokes a cigarette after getting a new tattoo on her leg at a studio in Tsurugashima, Saitama Prefecture. | AFP-JIJI Tattoos still provoke deep-rooted suspicion in Japan as the country prepares to host the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. People with body ink are refused entry to public swimming pools, bathing spots, beaches and often gyms, while visible body art can be harmful to job prospects. “It’s pathetic the way people discriminate against tattoos,” Izumi said while getting a $500 Aztec skull inked onto her leg. “People might think I look a little scary,” she added, taking a drag on her cigarette. “But I don’t regret getting inked.” Japan has long had a prickly relationship with tattoos. Former porn star Mana Izumi gets a new tattoo on her leg at a tattoo studio in Tsurugashima, Saitama Prefecture, on Oct. 28. | AFP-JIJI In the 17th century criminals were branded as a form of punishment, while today yakuza mobsters pledge their loyalty with traditional, full-body tattoos. As Japan opened up to the outside world in the 1800s, tattoos were outlawed — along with snake-charming and public nudity — because the Japanese feared outsiders would think they were “primitive,” according to Brian Ashcraft, author of “Japanese Tattoos: History, Culture, Design.” At the same time, European royalty would come to Japan to secretly get inked, so coveted were the country’s tattoo artists. Police crackdown The ban lasted until 1948, when the occupying American forces lifted it, but the stigma remains in Japan. “They look at tattoos and they think ‘yakuza’ — instead of admiring the beauty of the art form,” said Ashcraft. “Until that changes, tattooing will continue to exist in a gray zone.” But the situation has worsened, with a recent crackdown involving several police raids and fines plunging the tattoo industry into confusion. Horiyoshi III works on a tattoo for his customer, Japanese ‘salaryman’ Kyono, at his Yokohama studio. | AFP-JIJI Meanwhile, a potentially game-changing legal battle recently ended after Osaka tattooist Taiki Masuda was arrested in 2015 for violating an obscure law that dates back almost 70 years. The 30-year-old was fined ¥300,000 under the Medical Practitioners’ Law, which forbids anyone other than a doctor from performing medical procedures. A 2001 Health, Labour and Welfare Ministry notice ruled that tattooing was medical work because it involves needles, technically criminalizing Masuda’s job. He decided to fight the law, and last month a court overturned his previous guilty verdict after a lengthy and controversial appeal process. “There’s no legal framework regulating the tattoo industry in Japan,” Masuda said. “Livelihoods are at stake — that’s why I had to fight it, to hopefully help legalize tattooing.” Japanese hair stylist Hirotaka Yamakawa displays his tattoos at a Tokyo barber shop. | AFP-JIJI Masuda’s struggle polarized opinion among Japanese tattooists, estimated to number as many as 3,000. Noriyuki Katsuta, a member of Save Tattooing in Japan, a nonprofit co-founded by Masuda, called his arrest “a human rights violation”. But many older artists are fiercely protective of tattooing’s underground roots and resist the idea that it should become a legitimate profession. ‘Like pepper on noodles’ “Tattoos should have a dash of the outlaw about them,” insisted Horiyoshi III, who slammed Masuda’s actions as “provocative” and unhelpful. “It’s like adding pepper to noodles — if you just ate pepper it would be too hot, but as a spice it adds flavor.” In this picture taken on Jan. 27, 2018, Japanese tattoo artist Horiyoshi III poses at his tattoo studio in Yokohama. Katsuta estimates between 500,000 and a million Japanese — or one in every 100 or 200 people — have tattoos. Japan’s squeamishness about tattoos will be put to the test at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and before that at next year’s Rugby World Cup, both set to bring an influx of foreign visitors — including athletes with body art. “I don’t know how much the Olympics is actually going to change opinions,” said Ashcraft, noting that Japanese television still blurs out tattoos. “When people look at foreigners with tattoos, they kind of see that as foreign culture.” At the root of much of the prejudice toward tattoos in Japan is the ancient Confucian idea that defacing the body inherited from one’s parents is disrespectful, according to Ashcraft. “I don’t think people are actively thinking that it’s dirty anymore,” he added. “But I do think that collective consciousness still lingers.” Izumi has little time for such outdated arguments. “Among my mum’s generation, anyone tattooed-up like me was thought to be yakuza,” she shrugged. “But when people preach about spoiling the body my parents gave me, it really makes me sick. I don’t feel I have to explain myself to anyone.”

tattoos
mana izumi
2020 tokyo olympics
yakuza


Yasukuni Shrine protesters from Hong Kong remanded pending court ruling: activist group

Abstract: HONG KONG - Two Hong Kong activists who were arrested by police over trespassing after staging a protest at the Yasukuni Shrine last week were remanded in custody following a court appearance Wednesday, the duo’s activist group said. A judge at the Tokyo District Court adjourned the case and will deliver a ruling at a later date, a member of the Action Committee for Defending the Diaoyu Islands said. Kwok Siu-kit, one of the activists, was seen in a video clip uploaded online standing at the shrine’s entrance last Wednesday next to a burning makeshift memorial tablet with the name of wartime Prime Minister Hideki Tojo, who is enshrined at Yasukuni, written on it. On the video, he can be seen shouting “Down to militarism! Forget not the Nanjing Massacre! Japan must apologize!” Yim Man-wam, a journalist who filmed Kwok’s actions, was also arrested at the time. The shrine honors millions of war dead, including convicted war criminals, and is seen as a symbol of Japan’s militarist past by neighboring countries that suffered under Japanese occupation or colonialism before and during World War II. China and South Korea regularly condemn visits to the shrine by Japanese leaders. China’s Foreign Ministry has called on Tokyo to ensure the legal rights of the two detainees. Staff members of the Chinese Embassy in Japan have visited them at least once during their detention.

yasukuni shrine
hideki tojo
wwii
china-japan relations


Tokyo stocks end higher in volatile session

Abstract: Stocks finished a volatile session higher on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Wednesday, supported by buying in anticipation of a technical rebound after the previous day’s sell-off. The 225-issue Nikkei average rose 171.32 points, or 0.89 percent, to end at 19,327.06, after diving 1,010.45 points Tuesday. The Topix index of all first-section issues closed up 15.92 points, or 1.12 percent, at 1,431.47. It plunged 72.64 points the previous day. The Nikkei average gained over 370 points briefly in the morning on buying from investors expecting a rally and the yen’s slight weakness, brokers said. But in the afternoon, the market lost steam as stock index futures dropped following the weakness of U.S. futures, the brokers said. The Nikkei average temporarily fell below 19,000 for the first time since April 25, 2017, on an intraday basis. The indicator soon turned around and closed higher thanks to late-session purchases. Tokyo stocks attracted repurchases after being “oversold” the previous day, a market source said. The Nikkei average lost more than 2,300 points over the five sessions through Tuesday. But an official of a brokerage firm said, “The market lacked energy amid thin trading during the Christmas holiday period.” Investors are concerned about a possible negative impact of a prolonged partial shutdown of the U.S. government, said Hiroaki Kuramochi, chief market analyst at Saxo Bank Securities Ltd. While admitting Tokyo stocks have grown affordable, Kuramochi said the market is unlikely to get back to an upward trend soon unless investor concerns over further global stock price drops are dispelled. Rising issues far outnumbered falling ones 1,831 to 254 in the TSE’s first section, while 38 issues were unchanged. Volume decreased to 1.388 billion shares from 1.716 billion shares Tuesday. Factory automation companies attracted buybacks after being oversold, brokers said. Fanuc Corp. added 2.44 percent, Keyence Corp. 2.87 percent and Yaskawa Electric Corp. 1.31 percent. Kose Corp. gained 3.45 percent after Nomura Securities Co. revised up its investment rating and target stock price for the cosmetics maker. Also on the plus side were game-maker Nintendo Co. and drugmaker Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. On the other hand, Japan Tobacco Inc. lost 2.92 percent as the company went ex-dividend Wednesday. In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the key March 2019 contract on the Nikkei average advanced 420 points to end at 19,390.

stocks
tokyo stock exchange
nikkei
topix


Dollar higher above ¥110.40 in late Tokyo trading

Abstract: The dollar was firmer above ¥110.40 in late Tokyo trading Wednesday after moving narrowly for much of the day due to a lack of fresh incentives. At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥110.42-42, up from ¥110.22-30 at the same time Tuesday. The euro was at $1.1401-1402, against $1.1399-1405, and at ¥125.89-91, up from ¥125.67-67. The dollar rose above ¥110.60 in midmorning trading, following a strong opening of the benchmark Nikkei stock average and an upturn of U.S. index futures in off-hours trading, dealers said. “A larger-than-usual volume of dollar buying by Japanese importers” also supported the U.S. currency, a foreign currency broker said. But the dollar fell to levels around ¥110.40 later as the Nikkei stock average grew sluggish and U.S. long-term interest rates declined. While the 225-issue Nikkei average temporarily fell below 19,000 for the first time in 20 months in the afternoon, the dollar stayed above ¥110.30 thanks to real demand-backed purchases, the broker said. The dollar-yen pair will likely remain directionless until investors see how Wall Street will fare after the Christmas break, an official of a bank-affiliated securities firm said.


Doubts raised over Turkey's ability to 'eradicate' IS after U.S. pullout

Abstract: ISTANBUL - A withdrawal of American ground forces in Syria will give Turkey freer rein to target Washington’s Kurdish partners in the fight against the Islamic State extremist group but analysts doubt Ankara’s capacity to “eradicate” the jihadi forces. Turkish officials have said that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan heavily weighed in the decision by his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump to pull all 2,000 American troops from Syria. Trump’s shock order came after Erdogan convinced him that Turkey could eliminate the last remaining pockets of IS after the jihadis suffered a series of military defeats. “We have the strength to neutralize (IS) by ourselves,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu insisted on Tuesday. But Erdogan’s main objective in Syria is actually to target the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia, which the U.S. has trained to spearhead the fight against IS. Turkey is vehemently opposed to a Kurdish entity on its border, fearing it will strengthen the separatist ambitions of the Kurdish minority inside the country, and says the YPG is a Syrian “terrorist” offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The PKK, which has waged an insurgency against Turkey since 1984, is blacklisted as a terrorist organization by Ankara and its Western allies. ‘Victim of own success’ Trump said on Sunday after a telephone conversation with Erdogan that he counted on him to “eradicate” IS which he said was now “largely defeated.” Turkey has repeatedly called on the U.S. to stop training and providing armed weapons to the YPG in the fight against IS, claiming that Turkish military forces would be more effective in eliminating the jihadi threat. “Erdogan is a victim of his own success in selling Trump on the idea that Turkey is ready to assume control over the counter-IS mission in Syria indefinitely,” Nicholas Heras, an analyst at the Center for a New American Security, said. “Turkey does not currently have a Syrian rebel force that is large enough, experienced enough, or legitimate enough to hold eastern Syria, and it would take many months, even with U.S. support, for Turkey to amass such a force,” he added. The last pockets of IS are in fact in eastern and central Syria, hundreds of kilometers away from the northern areas of the country which the Turkish military and Syrian rebels are accustomed to and where they led two offensives in 2016 and 2018. “IS is close to Boukamal, more than 400 kilometers (250 miles) from Turkey, impossible for Turkey to go so far,” said Syria expert Fabrice Balanche. “The Syrian Army and Iraqi Shiite militias will handle it after the U.S. withdrawal.” “Turkey is not even able to eliminate Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), i.e., al-Qaida, from its border in Idlib,” he said. “I cannot see how it can eliminate IS with the help of Arab militia.” Idlib is Syria’s last major rebel and jihadi stronghold in the country’s north. ‘Real problem’ is logistics According to Balanche, Turkey could at most “prevent” an IS resurgence by closing its border with Syria to the jihadis and carrying out targeted operations like in the al-Bab region of northern Syria in 2016. Between August 2016 and March 2017, Turkish troops helped Syrian opposition fighters capture territory from IS in northern Syria. Sinan Ulgen, chairman of the Istanbul-based Centre for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies, said that the distance between the last IS pockets and the Turkish border posed a “real problem” of logistics. “So it is not clear how Turkey would orchestrate a military campaign at such long distances from its border in hostile territory,” he said. Lina Khatib, director of the Middle East and North Africa Program at London-based Chatham House, said Erdogan gave assurances to Trump about his ability to eradicate IS without having a “plan” for doing so. She said that Turkey’s real aim was to “use this opportunity (U.S. withdrawal) to crack down on the YPG.” “Eradicating IS can only happen through a comprehensive strategy that even the current international anti-IS coalition — which is limited to military action without adequate attention to the needed socioeconomic and political aspects of fighting IS — does not possess,” she added. If Turkey were to fight IS alone and then left the battles to Syrian Arab proxies, “militarily weaker” than the extremists, it would not be very effective, Khatib said. “This would also make Turkey vulnerable to revenge attacks by IS.” Turkey was hit by a series of terror attacks blamed on IS in recent years including the last in January 2017 when a gunman killed 39 people in an Istanbul nightclub.

turkey
syria
islamic state
recep tayyip erdogan
donald trump
conflict
u.s .


Japan saw record 3,451 rain- and quake-induced mudslides in 2018

Abstract: A record 3,451 mudslides occurred in 2018 due to torrential rains and earthquakes, according to land ministry data. The preliminary figure is the highest since comparable data became available in 1982 and more than three times higher than the annual average of 1,015 through 2017, the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry said Wednesday. This year, mudslides occurred in 44 of the 47 prefectures, sparing only Tokyo, Tochigi and Ibaraki. With concerns growing about an increase in downpours and typhoons linked to global warming, the government plans to enhance preparedness for people living in areas prone to natural disasters by raising awareness of the potential hazards they may face. “Mudslide disasters from heavy rain may happen frequently in the future,” the ministry said. According to the land ministry data, 161 people died in mudslides this year, the third-highest on record, and 1,443 homes were damaged or destroyed. More than a third of the landslides, or 1,243, occurred in Hiroshima Prefecture, followed by 419 in Ehime, 237 in Hokkaido, 193 in Yamaguchi and 171 in Kochi. Forty-one people were killed after a magnitude 6.7 earthquake hit Hokkaido in September, triggering landslides and a blackout across the island.


Osaka Gov. Ichiro Matsui reveals deal with Komeito to hold referendum on merging city wards

Abstract: OSAKA - Osaka Gov. Ichiro Matsui revealed Wednesday that his Osaka Ishin no Kai (One Osaka) political group had signed a deal with Komeito, in April 2017, to hold a referendum on merging the city’s wards during the current terms of the prefectural and municipal assembly members, which expire in April 2019. The governor also hinted that he and Osaka Mayor Hirofumi Yoshimura, both of whose own terms expire at the end of 2019, may soon decide to quit and hold their re-elections in April to coincide with the Osaka local elections. “I’m not excluding any possibilities,” Matsui told Osaka media when asked about whether he and the mayor would step down before their terms officially expire. Matsui’s stance reflects growing frustration with Komeito, which works with Osaka Ishin in both the municipal and prefectural assemblies to form a majority. The two parties, however, have long been at odds over Osaka Ishin’s desire to abolish the city’s current 24 wards under the current municipal assembly system and create four semi-autonomous wards, each with its own mayor and separate assembly — a plan Komeito continues to oppose. Matsui and Yoshimura’s threat to resign earlier this week if Komeito didn’t keep a promise to honor the April 2017 agreement, which was not then public, prompted Komeito’s Osaka chapter head and Lower House member Shigeki Sato to tell reporters Tuesday that carrying out a referendum “during the term” meant during the terms of Matsui and Yoshimura, which expire in late 2019, not during the terms of the local assembly members. Citing a busy political schedule next year, Komeito wants to put off the referendum until after the April local elections and the July Upper House election. Matsui and Yoshimura had hoped to hold the referendum on the same day as the Upper House election. Osaka Ishin faces tough elections in April, and losing seats to the Liberal Democratic Party — which is nominally the opposition — could lead to an LDP-Komeito ruling coalition in one or both local legislative bodies. On Wednesday, Matsui released the one page agreement with Komeito that refers to holding a referendum within the terms, on the proviso that a joint prefectural-municipal committee in charge of discussions on the merger plan makes its best efforts. “The agreement clearly refers to the terms of the assembly members. If (Komeito) is a responsible political party, they’ll respond based on this agreement,” Matsui said. The fate of the merger plan, which was narrowly rejected by voters in a May 2015 referendum, along with Osaka’s quest to win a bid to host a casino integrated resort, are expected to be two of the main issues in April’s local elections.

osaka
ichiro matsui
komeito
osaka ishin no kai


Tokyo Games volunteer drive exceeds target with over 186,000 applicants

Abstract: The organizers of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games said Wednesday they have received applications from 186,101 prospective volunteers, more than double their recruitment target of 80,000. Of the people who turned in applications by the 5 p.m. deadline on Friday, 63 percent were female and 37 percent were non-Japanese. The committee had hoped to attract 80,000 volunteers through online recruitment, which started in September. The volunteers will provide personal, operational and media support and become the “face of the games,” the organizers said. Orientation sessions will start in February and basic training in October. Separately, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government said it has received 36,649 applications for so-called city volunteers, who will provide transport and sightseeing information to visitors during the games. It said it surpassed its initial target of 20,000 volunteers. The Tokyo Olympics are scheduled to be held from July 24 to Aug. 9, 2020, followed by the Paralympics from Aug. 25 to Sept. 6.


Getting away from it all: More overseas tourists to Japan opt for a taste of the country life

Abstract: NAGANO - An increasing number of foreign visitors are traveling off the beaten path and taking part in farm-stay programs to get a taste of the typical Japanese country life. It’s hoped that the popularity of stays in traditional farming villages, which have helped attract overseas travelers away from tourism hot spots like Tokyo and Kyoto, can help revitalize rural communities amid the nation’s tourism boom. The annual number of foreign travelers to the country has already reached the 30 million milestone for the first time in 2018 and the country aims to welcome 40 million by 2020. In late October, when leaves began to take on their fall colors, two workers for Chinese travel magazines were having fun harvesting carrots, green peppers and other vegetables on a farm in the Takeshi district of Ueda, Nagano Prefecture. At night, they ate tempura made from the vegetables they picked earlier in the day, and sat up late playing hanafuda card games and other traditional pastimes at the farmhouse. “We had a good time chatting with farmers, something that we can’t enjoy at ordinary sightseeing places,” said Jin Qiyang, 34, one of the two Chinese visitors. “Chinese people are curious to understand Japanese culture deeply. I suppose there is a strong demand for farm stays,” Jin added. The two were invited to the area by the central government, the Nagano Prefectural Government and a local tourism promotion body. Tranquil mountainous farming communities like the Takeshi district, about 150 km northwest of central Tokyo, can be found across the country. “At first, it never crossed my mind that so many people would come here all the way from other countries,” said Ichiro Kobayashi, 67, president of Shinshu Seishun-mura, a local firm operating farm-stay programs in the district. The company has accepted Japanese students on school trips at contracted farmhouses in the area since 2002 and foreign tourists since 2005. Alongside Japan’s rising number of foreign visitors, the number of overseas guests participating in the program has been on the rise, hitting 2,322 and accounting for about 40 percent of total visitors in 2016. Charging ¥8,000 per person per night, with dinner and breakfast included, overseas travelers from 20 countries and territories, including China, Taiwan and Australia, have joined the company’s programs. According to a survey on farm stays by Mitsubishi UFJ Research and Consulting Co. conducted in December last year, 66.2 percent of 71 program operators that responded to a question about foreign visitors said their number is “on the upward trend.” By contrast, 43.3 percent of 104 respondents to a question about Japanese participants said their number “remains flat.” Municipalities in other prefectures are also attracting foreign tourists with farm-stay programs. In the town of Minakami, Gunma Prefecture, visitors can try planting and reaping rice and kneading dough to make udon (wheat flour noodles) and soba, with 195 households accommodating them as of 2016. Some farmers of mandarin oranges, one of the specialty products of Tanabe, Wakayama Prefecture, are trying to attract visitors with a fruit-picking program. “It’s important for business operators to offer services and items that cater to what the overseas visitors want,” said Kazunobu Tsutsui, a Tottori University professor studying farm tourism for foreign tourists. “It would be hard to keep the tourism industry running unless the agricultural business itself remains commercially sustainable. Amid a decline of farmers, it will be vital to secure successors through the migration of younger generations” to farming communities, Tsutsui added.


210 public school teachers disciplined over sexual behavior in fiscal 2017, Japan's education ministry reports

Abstract: A total of 210 teachers at public schools in Japan were disciplined over sexual behavior in fiscal 2017, which ended in March, according to an education ministry survey. The number fell by 16 from the record high marked the previous year, but it has remained above 200 since fiscal 2013, the survey showed Tuesday. Of the latest annual total, 56 were punished for touching the victim’s body, followed by 42 who carried out secret filming or peeping, and 38 who had sexual intercourse. Of the teachers at public elementary, junior and senior high schools who faced disciplinary measures, including dismissal and admonishment for acts of obscenity or sexual harassment, 97 committed such acts against students at the schools where they worked while 26 victimized teachers or other staff at those schools. Of the total offenders, the number of men came to 206 and the figure for women stood at four. “The result reflects a low level of awareness among the teachers,” a ministry official said. “It is good to build a relationship based on trust with students but crossing the line is totally unacceptable.” Elsewhere in the survey, the number of teachers who took sick leave due to depression or other mental health problems increased 186 to 5,077. The rise apparently stemmed from increased amounts of work and stress from handling unreasonable requests from parents and others, according to the ministry official. The official suggested promoting teachers’ work style reforms, including the more active use of outside personnel such as support staff to help teachers prepare for teaching and to conduct clerical work. Meanwhile, women held 17.5 percent of managerial positions in schools, such as school heads and vice heads, marking the highest-ever level. The government aims to raise the share of managerial workers who are women to 20 percent in fiscal 2020.

teachers
women
depression
overwork
sexual offenses


Japan drags feet on cutting deficit as pre-tax hike budget tops ¥100 trillion

Abstract: The government’s budget for fiscal 2019 makes abundantly clear where Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s priorities lie when it comes to the economy. The spending plan, which received Cabinet approval on Friday and is now headed to the Diet in January, shows government outlays rise above ¥100 trillion ($900 billion) in an initial budget for the first time, pushed over the threshold by ¥2 trillion in funding for measures to lessen the shock of raising the consumption tax in October. The colossal sum is a testament to Abe’s desire to prevent the tax hike from putting the brakes on the economy by triggering a plunge in domestic demand, as happened after the previous increase in 2014. But it also means Japan makes little progress in shedding its unwelcome status of having the worst fiscal health among major industrialized countries. Abe has promised to achieve fiscal consolidation by bringing the primary balance — tax revenue minus expenses other than debt-servicing costs — into the black by the target year of fiscal 2025. Under the latest budget for the year beginning in April, the primary deficit is set to shrink from ¥10.4 trillion this fiscal year to ¥9.2 trillion. This will be made possible by tax revenue climbing to a record high for the first time since fiscal 1990, before the bursting of the asset bubble, lowering the government’s issuance of new bonds. But the government continues to rely on debt to fund about a third of the budget. By its own reckoning, without an improvement in cash flow it will run a primary deficit of at least ¥2.4 trillion in fiscal 2025, a figure that could fall further into the red after official growth estimates were downgraded this month. The ¥2 trillion tranche of the budget covers a slew of measures including free pre-elementary education, a rebate program for purchases made by cashless methods such as credit cards or smartphones, and spending on public works to improve resilience against natural disasters. “We’ve taken sufficient steps to overcome the economic impact of the consumption tax increase,” Finance Minister Taro Aso said on Friday. But skeptics say the measures have been orchestrated to win favor among voters for Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party ahead of Upper House and local elections next year. The Abe administration is “using the tax hike to purposely stoke fear among the public and acting as if it is coming to the rescue with these measures,” said Takahide Kiuchi, executive economist at the Nomura Research Institute and a former board member at the Bank of Japan. “Next year’s elections are clearly in consideration here.” The nation’s prospects for achieving fiscal health could worsen in fiscal 2020 given that the government has already announced plans to ramp up spending on public works and take additional steps to mitigate the impact of the tax increase. The hike was intended to increase tax revenue to help cover social security costs that are swelling along with the number of elderly in the country. But Kiuchi said that if future budgets continue to grow in a similar fashion to the fiscal 2019 budget, this could negate the increase in tax revenue. “What were initially meant to be one-off measures could be extended if the government deems it necessary, for example, to underpin the economy after the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. It could just keep giving reasons to increase spending.” With defense spending also climbing as Japan steps up purchases of state-of-the-art stealth fighters and seeks the deployment of aircraft carriers, fiscal consolidation increasingly seems to be lower on Abe’s agenda. This may be because with his final term as LDP chief, and therefore prime minister, set to end in 2021, the politically thorny task will fall on his successor. Social security costs took up more than a third of the total budget, a record-high ¥34.06 trillion, as a rapidly aging population pushed up spending on health care and pensions. Among the outlays, spending on public works projects including the disaster-proofing of infrastructure will come to ¥6.91 trillion, a 15.6 percent jump from the previous year. An additional ¥556.6 billion will be used for official development assistance in foreign countries. Along with the fiscal 2019 initial budget, the Abe administration plans to seek approval by the Diet for a second supplementary budget for fiscal 2018 worth ¥3.04 trillion. More than a third of the extra budget will also go toward disaster-proofing measures. The rest will be used for other miscellaneous purposes such as shoring up the agricultural sector in view of the entries into force of the 11-member Tokyo-led Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement on Dec. 30 and a trade pact with the European Union in February.

taxes
budget
shinzo abe
disasters
defense


Cabinet Office report says Japan's economy remains on recovery track amid solid domestic demand

Abstract: The economy remains on a recovery track amid increasing domestic demand, though risks including trade tensions warrant caution, the government has said. In the December edition of its monthly economic report, the Cabinet Office maintained its headline assessment that the economy “is recovering at a moderate pace” and retained its evaluations of key elements such as private consumption, business investment and exports. “Although a moderate pace of recovery is expected to continue, there are risk factors in foreign demand,” Toshimitsu Motegi, the minister in charge of economic and fiscal policy, said at a news conference, citing the trade dispute between the United States and China among other developments abroad. Motegi admitted that the nation’s economy shrank in the July-September quarter but he added that it was a one-time setback due to damage from torrential rain in western Japan, a major earthquake in Hokkaido and other natural disasters. From 2002 to 2008, when Japan posted its longest period of economic expansion in the postwar period, the annualized growth rate was 1.6 percent. The Cabinet Office estimates 1.2 percent growth during the recent period of overall positive growth that dates back 73 months. Private consumption, which accounts for more than half of the economy, is “picking up,” while spending by companies is “increasing” and expected to remain strong amid robust corporate profits, the Cabinet Office said. Exports are “almost flat” as a slowdown in demand for smartphones in Asia has caused a decline in orders for electronic components and manufacturing machinery. As in the previous month’s report, the office warned of the negative impact of the tariff war between the United States and China. “Attention should be given to the risks including the effects of situations over trade issues on the world economy, the uncertainty in overseas economies and the effects of fluctuations in the financial and capital markets,” it said.


As social security, defense expenses continue to rise, Cabinet OKs record ¥101 trillion draft budget

Abstract: The Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday approved a record-high ¥101.46 trillion draft budget for fiscal 2019, topping ¥100 trillion for the first time amid swelling social security and defense expenses, meaning Japan remains far from consolidating its battered fiscal health despite increasing tax revenue. The spending plan also includes funding for measures to bolster the economy against an upcoming consumption tax hike. The draft of the initial budget for the general account, which will be submitted to the Diet in January, consists of a record-high ¥77.95 trillion for policy spending and ¥23.51 trillion in debt-servicing costs. Among the policy spending, ¥2.03 trillion will go toward the “extraordinary measures” Abe had promised to underpin domestic demand after the consumption tax is raised from the current 8 percent to 10 percent next Oct. 1. More than half of that amount will be used to make infrastructure such as roads and river embankments more resilient and procure equipment for emergency services after the country was hit by a series of natural disasters this summer including a typhoon that flooded Osaka’s main airport and an earthquake that caused a massive power outage in Hokkaido. The measures also include a rebate program that aims to encourage consumers to shop at smaller businesses using credit cards and other cashless payment methods, as well as providing shopping vouchers for households with low incomes or small children and incentives to make home purchases. “I’m confident that these steps are sufficient to overcome the economic impact of the consumption tax increase,” Finance Minister Taro Aso told a news conference the same day. Social security costs took up more than a third of the total budget, a record-high ¥34.06 trillion, as a rapidly aging population pushed up spending on health care and pensions. The scheduled launch in October of free pre-elementary education also contributed. Defense spending will also hit a record high of ¥5.26 trillion, with significant outlays coming through preparations to introduce the land-based Aegis Ashore missile defense system and half a dozen F-35A stealth fighters. Based on the assumption that Japan’s economy will grow an inflation-adjusted 1.3 percent in the year ending in March 2020, tax revenue is expected to increase 5.8 percent from the previous year to ¥62.50 trillion, another record high. A steady rise in tax revenue has reduced the government’s dependence on public debt in recent years, with 32.2 percent of the budget to be funded by debt compared with 43.0 percent five years earlier. New bond issuances will decrease for the ninth straight year to ¥32.66 trillion. “With this budget, we’ve been able to balance supporting the economic recovery with fiscal consolidation,” Aso said. Still, Japan continues to have the poorest fiscal health among major industrialized economies, with public debt more than twice the size of gross domestic product. Among the outlays, spending on public works projects including the disaster-proofing of infrastructure will come to ¥6.91 trillion, a 15.6 percent jump from the previous year. An additional ¥556.6 billion will be used for official development assistance in foreign countries. The budget also sets aside ¥14.4 billion for activities related to the abdication of Emperor Akihito and the ascension of Crown Prince Naruhito to the throne in the spring. The ascension is to be commemorated with a series of ceremonies that will see dignitaries from around the world in attendance. Along with the fiscal 2019 initial budget, the Abe administration plans to seek approval by the Diet for a second supplementary budget for fiscal 2018 worth ¥3.04 trillion. More than a third of the extra budget will also go toward disaster-proofing measures. The rest will be used for other miscellaneous purposes such as shoring up Japan’s agricultural sector in view of the entries into force of the 11-member Japan-led Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement on Dec. 30 and an FTA with the European Union in February.

defense
budget
shinzo abe
consumption tax
welfare


Dollar falls below ¥111.30 in late Tokyo trading

Abstract: The dollar was weaker below ¥111.30 in Tokyo trading late Friday, driven down by lower stock prices in Japan and the United States. At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥111.25, down from ¥111.85 at the same time Thursday. The euro was at $1.1469, up from $1.1414, and at ¥127.59, down from ¥127.69. “Market sentiment deteriorated after U.S. stocks slid on disappointment with the Federal Reserve’s indication of a continued interest rate increase,” an official of a major securities firm said. The dollar attracted buybacks after falling below ¥111 for the first time in over three months in overnight trading overseas. There was some relief that Japan’s benchmark Nikkei stock average did not fall below 20,000 in Friday’s trading, an official of a foreign exchange margin trading service firm said. The dollar was supported by buying after facing sales by short-term players to cut losses, but the buybacks waned shortly, the official said. An official of a major life insurer said that the dollar “may lose further ground” versus the yen as downward pressure on the U.S. currency remains strong.


Nikkei hits another 15-month low

Abstract: Stocks continued to tumble on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Friday, with the benchmark Nikkei average marking a fresh 15-month closing low. Investor sentiment was hurt by a continued sharp fall in U.S. equities on Thursday and the yen’s strengthening against the dollar, market sources said. The 225-issue Nikkei touched a low of 20,006.67 before closing 226.39 points, or 1.11 percent, lower at 20,166.19, a level unseen since Sept. 15, 2017. On Thursday, the index fell 595.34 points. The Topix index of all first-section issues was down 28.97 points, or 1.91 percent, at 1,488.19, its worst finish since April 20, 2017. It fell 38.99 points on Thursday. A sluggish performance of Chinese stocks was another factor behind Friday’s tumble, an official of an asset management firm said. Foreign investors sold stocks before the Christmas break, an official of a bank-linked securities firm said, noting that Friday was effectively the last trading day of the year for them. Market participants “closed their positions ahead of the three-day holiday” in Japan, said Yutaka Miura, senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities Co. The Tokyo market will be closed on Monday for a national holiday. But buybacks supported the market’s downside, preventing the Nikkei from falling below 20,000, Miura said. Losers overwhelmed winners 1,886 to 225 on the TSE’s first section, while 19 issues were unchanged. Volume grew to 2.07 billion shares from Thursday’s 1.82 billion shares. The stronger yen battered automakers Toyota, Mazda and Suzuki. FamilyMart Uny ended 6.31 percent lower after the convenience store chain’s failure to accumulate a target amount of shares in discount store operator Don Quijote in a takeover bid, brokers said. Other major losers included Sony as well as cosmetics maker Shiseido. By contrast, Coca-Cola Bottlers Japan shot up 9.83 percent on a news report that the company will raise product prices as early as April next year. Also on the plus side were semiconductor manufacturing equipment maker Tokyo Electron and air conditioner producer Daikin. In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the key March contract on the Nikkei average fell 160 points to 20,050.


London's Gatwick Airport shutdown highlights the havoc drones can cause

Abstract: LONDON/WASHINGTON - The disruption of hundreds of flights at London’s Gatwick Airport after it was buzzed by miniature drones shows just how easy it can be to disrupt advanced aviation networks with simple, inexpensive devices. Airports have been raided by drones before. Dubai International was briefly closed in 2016, and the main hub in Wellington, New Zealand, was shuttered for 30 minutes this year when a mystery craft was spotted close to the runway. But as thousands of travelers at Britain’s second-busiest airport try desperately to salvage their holiday plans, the incident reveals how tough it is for authorities to combat the problem created by this game-changing form of aviation technology. Gatwick was still closed Thursday evening, about a full day after the drone sightings first shut down commercial flights. While airfield operators around the world have been girding for more drone disruptions and safety issues, the length and severity of the chaos at Gatwick is a stunning eye-opener, said Christopher Oswald, vice president for safety and regulatory affairs at the Airports Council International, a trade group in North America. “It just represents all of these very thorny challenges, which Gatwick does really bring into very stark relief,” he said. The law already is clear in most jurisdictions and penalties for violation can be severe. In the U.K., drones aren’t allowed to fly within 1 km (0.6 mile) of airports and can’t climb above 400 feet (122 meters), to avoid conflict with flight paths. Aviation Minister Liz Sugg said the operators of the Gatwick craft could face five-year jail terms if caught. That’s a big “if.” Modern airports rival the size of some cities, making their perimeters almost impossible to permanently police. And surrounding buildings offer almost limitless opportunities for drone operators to hide while maintaining line-of-site control of their troublesome devices. The latest drone technology adds a new dimension. Relatively affordable unmanned devices can be flown miles away from an operator using remote video that shows the equivalent of a plane’s cockpit view. Neutralizing threat British police said the Gatwick incursions were clearly deliberate, as the drones variously appeared, vanished and then emerged again from Wednesday night through most of Thursday. That could shift attention from how best to regulate drone flights to practical ways of neutralizing the threat and finding scofflaws. U.S. law enforcement and homeland security agencies are drafting standards that would require all but the tiniest drones to broadcast their identity and position so authorities could identify operators who have crossed the line. The FBI and other agencies blocked aviation regulators from moving ahead two years ago with rules allowing more unmanned flights over crowds until authorities could move ahead to address security concerns. Another mechanism that may help is “geofencing.” Drone makers including China’s DZ DJI Technology Inc. use built-in GPS to alert a pilot who is about to fly into restricted skies, such as around airports and prisons. But such systems have vulnerabilities, according to researchers. And they raise even more vexing legal and political issues. Tracking technology works for lawful operators who blunder into the wrong place, but criminals may subvert such efforts. Similarly, GPS limitations won’t stop deliberate attempts to interfere with flights. Illegal technology The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration last year advised airports not to experiment with the growing number of anti-drone products because the agency hadn’t had a chance to vet them. And solutions such as jamming radio signals could create safety problems by interfering with existing aviation radio systems. Some technologies are illegal. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission prohibits broadcasting on frequencies used by other devices, and there are questions about whether tracking a drone’s radio signal could be considered prohibited wiretapping. “There won’t be a silver bullet,” said Randy Villahermosa, executive director of innovation at Aerospace Corp., a federally funded research organization in the U.S. “It will be a constant cat-and-mouse game. You’ll always have to think in layers of defense in order to ensure that you have some effective means of countering the threat.” Unlike the aviation safety and security issues of the past, addressing errant drones is more like battling hacking, said Villahermosa, whose organization has tested anti-drone technology. Falcons, nets There are many remedies — and proposals get pretty creative. Dutch police in 2016 proposed using trained raptors to take out rogue devices, a variation on employing hawks to scare birds from runways. A study funded by the U.S. Air Force and conducted by researchers at the University of Oxford suggested using peregrine falcons, which in their natural element kill their quarry by colliding with them. Colorado-based Liteye Systems Inc. has developed a system that uses radio signals to halt a drone and force it to land, while Australia-based DroneShield Ltd. is developing a device resembling a traditional ballistic weapon. Police in Japan have experimented with snagging target objects in flight using a net deployed from an even larger drone. Meanwhile, people concerned that drones are invading their private space have developed countermeasures using open-source hardware to jam drone flight capabilities.


Australia admits it will miss climate targets by a wide margin

Abstract: SYDNEY - Australia on Friday admitted it is off track to meet the 2030 emissions targets agreed under the Paris climate accord. The Department of the Environment said the country is on course to meet the more modest 2020 targets, but will struggle to reduce emissions by 26 to 28 percent by the end of the following decade. Australia was the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas last month and is one of the world’s top coal producers. The conservative government of Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been tepid in its drive to tackle climate change and has prioritized the economy over reduction targets. He has claimed that investments in renewables mean Australia will meet the targets “at a canter.” Although emissions forecasts have improved slightly, the government admits it is still a long way from the desired trajectory. Australia estimates it would need to cut the equivalent of 695 to 762 megatons of carbon dioxide between 2021 and 2030. At the moment, it is forecast to miss that target by almost 20 percent. “The Morrison Government has no policies to address Australia’s climate pollution problem,” said the Australian Conservation Foundation in a statement. As part of the Paris Agreement in 2015, countries agreed to limit global temperature rises to below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit).


Rare albino orangutan Alba is returned to jungle in Indonesia

Abstract: BUKIT BAKA BUKIT RAYA, INDONESIA - The world’s only known albino orangutan climbed trees, foraged for food and began building a nest after being released into a remote Borneo jungle more than a year after conservation officials found her starving and dehydrated in an Indonesian village. The Borneo Orangutan Survival foundation says the great ape, called Alba after thousands worldwide responded to an appeal for a name, has tripled in weight since being rescued in April last year. Her name means “white” in Latin and “dawn” in Spanish. Alba and another rehabilitated orangutan, Kika, were released inside Bukit Baka Bukit Raya National Park on Wednesday after a more than 24-hour journey from their rehabilitation center by vehicle, boat and hiking. The foundation originally planned to create a 5-hectare (12-acre) “forest island” for Alba rather than release her into truly natural habitat because she has health issues related to her albinism, including poor sight and hearing and the possibility of skin cancer. But the government’s Natural Resources Conservation Agency and other agencies decided it was appropriate to release Alba into the wild because of her strong physical condition and intrinsically wild behavior. She will be electronically tracked and regularly monitored by a medical team. “Alba has no inferiority complex as we imagined before. She is very confident compared to other orangutans,” said veterinarian Agus Fathoni. “I think the real threat actually comes from humans. What we’re worried about is poaching where this very special condition makes her a target,” he said. Patrols of Alba’s new home by national park and conservation agency staff will aim to deter poachers, though they admit the number of personnel is limited. “We don’t have enough to cover all the area of the national park but we’re confident of covering all the patrol lines that we have set,” said national park official Wirasadi Nursubhi Orangutans, reddish-brown primates known for their gentle temperament and intelligence, are critically endangered and only found in the wild on the Indonesian island of Sumatra and on Borneo, which is divided among Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. The International Union for Conservation of Nature, which declared Borneo’s orangutans critically endangered in 2016, says their numbers have dropped by nearly two-thirds since the early 1970s as plantation agriculture destroyed and fragmented their forest habitat. The Sumatran orangutan is a separate species and has been critically endangered since 2008. Alba, approximately 5 years old, was given final medical tests and anesthetized for the journey to Bukit Baka Bukit Raya. Workers shouted, “Alba’s going home!” as her cage was lifted onto a truck at the Nyaru Menteng Rehabilitation Center in Central Kalimantan province on Borneo. “It’s true this is a big gamble but we hope that with our collaboration we will win the big bet we have made today” said the orangutan foundation’s chief executive Jamartin Sihite after releasing Alba from her cage.

orangutans alba indonesia nature animals


Man sentenced to four years for abducting nurse who was later found dead

Abstract: A court sentenced a 28-year-old man to four years in prison Thursday for abducting and confining a nurse who was later found dead in central Japan. The Hamamatsu branch of the Shizuoka District Court ruled that Motoki Ito, in conspiracy with two other men he became acquainted with online, abducted Mayuko Uchiyama, 29, at a parking lot outside a fitness gym in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, on May 26 and kept her confined until early morning the next day. Uchiyama’s body was found buried in a mountainous area in the Shizuoka city of Fujieda on June 9. Neither Ito nor Mitsuru Suzuki, one of the two accomplices, was acquainted with the victim. The third man, a 39-year-old from Niigata Prefecture who committed suicide in June, is suspected of being the main culprit, but his death made it difficult to shed light on the motive for the attack on the nurse and other details of the case. “It was an indiscriminate crime targeting a woman who had no association with the defendant, and it created great anxiety in society,” said presiding Judge Naoyuki Yamada in handing down the ruling. “The physical and psychological pain the victim suffered was extremely serious. The defendant played a crucial role of driving the car, and there is no room for leniency in his motive to gain money,” Yamada said. Ito became acquainted with Suzuki, 43, from Nagoya and the third man through a post on an internet message board about “profitable” work, and they met in person for the first time on the day of the attack. The accused forced his way into Uchiyama’s car and mainly drove the vehicle, according to the ruling. Ito said during his trial that the third man was making phone calls, saying he needed to talk to his “client,” indicating there may have been others involved in the case. He also told the court he thought the abduction was aimed at taking money from Uchiyama. Prosecutors had sought a seven-year jail term for Ito, but the court judged it was too heavy when compared with punishments for similar cases and gave Ito a shorter term, saying he “willingly confessed to the crime and has shown remorse.” Ito was arrested on June 8 on suspicion of illegally confining Uchiyama, while he was being questioned by Tokyo police over a separate case. Suzuki, who was arrested on June 11 over the case, is on trial on charges including the disposal of Uchiyama’s body. Ito and Suzuki had been served arrest warrants for murder as well, but the charge was later dropped.

abduction
hamamatsu
shizuoka
mayuko uchiyama


With eye on China, Japan unveils record defense budget

Abstract: The defense budget will swell to a record ¥5.26 trillion for the 2019 fiscal year, the government said Friday, as Tokyo looks to beef up its missile defense and deploy stealth jets in a bid to counter China. The defense spending was part of a ¥101.46 trillion national budget for the fiscal year starting in April that was approved by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Cabinet. The ¥5.26 trillion budget for defense marks a record for the fifth year in a row and covers the cost of introducing the U.S. military’s Aegis Ashore land-based missile interceptor system, Defense Ministry officials said. The fiscal 2019 allocation covers six F-35A stealth jets, and part of it will be spent on the nation’s first aircraft carriers since World War II. The government will spend ¥70 million to research the plan to upgrade and enable its two Izumo-class flat-top helicopter carriers to transport and launch fighter jets. The budget is the initial allocation of a new five-year defense plan, announced on Tuesday as the latest in a series of steps under Abe to boost the nation’s military. Abe’s government argues the efforts are necessary given growing defense challenges in the region, including tensions with North Korea, and particularly “strong concerns” about the expansion of China’s military footprint. “Japan’s growing defense budget is directly aimed to counter China’s military threat,” said Akira Kato, professor of international politics and regional security at Tokyo’s J.F. Oberlin University. But the move is controversial, with critics arguing it shifts Tokyo further away from its commitment to strictly defensive capabilities under the pacifist Constitution. Beijing immediately expressed its “strong dissatisfaction and opposition” to the program unveiled on Tuesday, urging Tokyo “to adhere to a purely defensive policy”. Last year, China unveiled its first domestically built aircraft carrier as it continues to assert claims in the South China Sea. Its only other carrier, the Liaoning that was commissioned in 2012, is a second-hand Soviet ship built nearly 30 years ago. Japan’s defense program announcement comes after pledges to buy more U.S. military equipment following pressure from President Donald Trump. Under the draft budget, the government earmarked ¥68.1 billion to purchase six U.S. F-35A stealth fighters. The Defense Ministry initially estimated the cost at ¥91.6 billion but reduced it by deciding to import finished products, rather than assembling parts in Japan. Trump has repeatedly complained about Washington’s huge trade deficit with Tokyo and also urged Abe to expand the country’s defensive capacity. For his part, Abe has campaigned for years to amend the Constitution, arguing that it ties the hands of the country’s Self-Defense Forces even in protecting the country’s allies from attack. Expenditures for the realignment of U.S. Forces Japan decreased 22.3 percent to ¥167.9 billion, including an outlay of ¥61.1 billion to proceed with the plan to relocate U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa Prefecture.

china
defense
budget
shinzo abe
security


Costs for key Daijosai Imperial ceremony to total ¥2.7 billion

Abstract: The Imperial Household Agency said Friday expenses for Daijosai, a key ceremony that will be carried out by Crown Prince Naruhito next year after his accession to the throne, will total ¥2.72 billion, up a nominal ¥470 million from the previous rite held in 1990. The agency plans to scale down the Daijokyu complex to be used for the ceremony in a bid to reduce spending, but steep growth in personnel and materials costs will push up the total outlays. The government set aside ¥1.87 billion in spending for Daijosai in its draft budget for fiscal 2019, which starts April 1. During Daijosai, regarded as the most important enthronement ceremony conducted by a new emperor, prayers are offered for the well-being of the people and a good harvest. The coming ceremony, scheduled for Nov. 14 and 15 next year, will be held after the Crown Prince assumes the throne on May 1 that year following the abdication of his father, Emperor Akihito, the day before. Expenses for the construction of the Daijokyu complex, including costs for dismantlement, will stand at ¥1.91 billion, up 31 percent from the 1990 ceremony. The rise reflects the consumption tax hike from 3 percent to an expected 10 percent by next October, as well as a hefty increase of 30 to 80 percent in personnel costs. The agency estimated that Daijokyu construction would cost some ¥2.5 billion if the complex is built to the same size and uses the same materials as in the previous ceremony. It curtailed related expenses by about ¥600 million through a cut of more than 20 percent in the size of the complex and by using different materials for the roofs of the main three structures. Costs for Daikyo no Gi (official banquets) to be held after Daijosai will total ¥258 million, down from ¥347 million in 1990. There will be two grand banquets, down from three, while the number of invited guests will be reduced from some 900 to 700. Total outlays related to Imperial succession ceremonies will stand at ¥3.78 billion, up 42 percent from the ¥2.66 billion it cost in 1990. The agency’s draft budget for fiscal 2019 increased 12.8 percent from the previous year to ¥24.06 billion.

daijosai
budget
abdication
emperor akihito
emperor naruhito


U.S. probe of China's Huawei includes bank fraud accusations linked to Iran sanctions-busting, sources say

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.’s chief financial officer was arrested as part of a U.S. investigation into an alleged scheme to use the global banking system to evade U.S. sanctions against Iran, according to people familiar with the probe. The United States has been looking since at least 2016 into whether Huawei shipped U.S.-origin products to Iran and other countries in violation of U.S. export and sanctions laws, Reuters reported in April. More recently, the probe has included whether the company used HSBC Holdings Plc to conduct illegal transactions involving Iran, the people said. Companies are barred from using the U.S. financial system to funnel goods and services to sanctioned entities. If the mobile phone and telecoms equipment maker conducted such transactions and then misled HSBC about their true nature, it could be guilty of bank fraud, experts say. Huawei declined to comment, but said in a statement after the arrest that it complies with all applicable export control and sanctions laws and other regulations. An HSBC spokesperson declined to comment. HSBC is not under investigation, according to a person familiar with the matter. A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn, which is the office investigating Huawei, also declined to comment. In 2012 HSBC paid $1.92 billion and entered a deferred prosecution agreement with the same U.S. prosecutor’s office for violating U.S. sanctions and money-laundering laws. As part of that deal, HSBC was required to be monitored for five years to review its efforts to prevent money laundering and sanctions violations. HSBC’s U.S.-listed shares fell as much as 6 percent on Thursday after Reuters reported the bank’s link to the Huawei case. They ended down 3.6 percent. Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, daughter of Huawei’s founder, Ren Zhengfei, was arrested in Canada on Dec. 1. She will appear in court on Friday and faces extradition to the United States. The news broke on Wednesday, roiling global stock markets over fears the move could escalate the Sino-U.S. trade dispute. Huawei said it has been provided little information on the charges and that it was “not aware of any wrongdoing by Ms. Meng.” The probe of Huawei is similar to one that threatened the survival of China’s ZTE Corp., which pleaded guilty in 2017 to violating U.S. laws that restrict the sale of American-made technology to Iran. ZTE paid a $892 million penalty. Earlier this year, the United States said ZTE made false statements about disciplining some executives responsible for the violations and banned U.S. firms from selling parts and software to the company. After ceasing major operations as a result, ZTE paid another $1 billion as part of a deal to get the ban lifted. In an incident similar to Meng’s case, ZTE’s chief financial officer was stopped at Boston’s Logan Airport during the U.S. investigation of that company, according to sources familiar with the case. U.S. authorities seized a laptop that contained a “treasure trove” of evidence concerning ZTE’s illegal business in Iran, one of the sources said. In 2016, the Commerce Department made documents public that showed ZTE’s misconduct and also revealed how a second company, identified only as F7, had successfully evaded U.S. export controls. In a 2016 letter to the Commerce Department, 10 U.S. lawmakers said F7 was believed to be Huawei, citing media reports. In April 2017, lawmakers sent another letter to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross asking for F7 to be publicly identified and fully investigated. U.S. authorities also subpoenaed Huawei in 2016 seeking information related to possible export and sanctions violations, sources have said. In January 2013, Reuters reported that Hong Kong-based Skycom Tech Co. Ltd., which attempted to sell embargoed Hewlett-Packard computer equipment to Iran’s largest mobile-phone operator, had much closer ties to Huawei than previously known. Meng, who also has used the English names Cathy and Sabrina, served on the board of Skycom between February 2008 and April 2009, according to Skycom records. Several other past and present Skycom directors also appear to have connections to Huawei.

china
huawei
iran
sanctions
meng wanzhou
canada
trade
espionage
xi jinping
donald trump


Huawei arrest another sign of Trump administration's disjointed diplomacy

Abstract: WASHINGTON - When Donald Trump flew back from a summit with China in Buenos Aires, he hailed it as “amazing” and raised hopes of a breakthrough on ending a trade war. That same day, Canada was arresting a top Chinese executive on a U.S. request, enraging Beijing and at the very least souring the mood as the world’s two largest economies open trade negotiations. The detention of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou marks the latest case of incongruous diplomacy for this most untraditional of U.S. presidents, who has vowed dramatic detentes only to find out that his own administration is pressing ahead with moves that will anger the same nations. On Russia, Trump took office speaking glowingly of President Vladimir Putin and promising to patch up relations. But Russia — which, according to U.S. intelligence, intervened to sway the 2016 election — has voiced frustration as the United States keeps imposing sanctions over actions including Moscow’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and the attempted poisoning of a Russian double agent in Britain. Trump, who early in his term boasted of befriending Chinese President Xi Jinping, in recent months piled tariffs on Beijing as he pressed the rising Asian power on trade practices including its alleged theft of U.S. technology. At the dinner summit in Buenos Aires, where Trump and Xi were taking part in a Group of 20 meeting, the United States agreed to hold off on raising tariffs on another $200 billion worth of Chinese goods for 90 days as the two sides negotiate. Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat who has often criticized Trump, said he shared concerns about alleged espionage by Chinese companies but called the administration’s approach disjointed. “This is a textbook case of how one part of this administration doesn’t seem to be on the same wavelength — or even not connect — with each other,” Wyden said. “Because there is no question now that the gap seems to be widening between the president’s national security advisers and the president,” he said. National security adviser John Bolton declined to say whether Trump was aware of the arrest plans when he and his top aides sat down with Xi in Argentina. But Bolton told National Public Radio that he himself was aware through the Justice Department of the operation in Vancouver, where Meng — the daughter of Huawei’s founder Ren Zhengfei, a former engineer in China’s military — was changing planes. U.S. officials have stayed tight-lipped on the arrest, mindful that statements could endanger prosecution. But Sen. Ben Sasse said Meng was arrested over alleged Huawei activities in Iran, which the Trump administration has hit with sweeping sanctions. There was at least one report that the arrest may not just be spectacularly bad timing. CNN, quoting an unnamed source, said the Trump administration could see Meng’s arrest as leverage in the negotiations, but White House trade adviser Peter Navarro told the channel that “the two issues are totally separate.” And U.S. authorities would still need to present a legal case for any charges against Meng. She faces an extradition hearing Friday in Canada. The arrest of such a prominent executive has quickly touched a patriotic nerve in China, where commentators say the United States is trying to keep down Huawei, which has made rapid inroads in the developing world with smartphones that are significantly more affordable than Apple’s iPhones. Eurasia Group analysts in a note to investors expected China to voice anger but still to send a trade delegation to Washington to kick off talks. But they said that U.S. actions, including future steps under consideration, such as declaring China in violation of an accord against cybertheft, cast doubt on whether negotiations would succeed. The arrest “suggests that the gloves are now fully off in this arena, and U.S. law enforcement officials have a green light from senior administration officials to pursue individuals the U.S. may not have gone after in a more benign bilateral political climate,” they wrote. Shaun Rein, managing director of the Shanghai-based strategic market intelligence firm CMR, warned in an essay that U.S. tech executives should worry about tit-for-tat arrests if visiting China. If the United States is basing its action over Huawei’s involvement in Iran, China could for example make arrests citing operations in Taiwan, the self-governing island that Beijing considers a province awaiting reunification, Rein said. “If you think anything was solved last week at the G20 meeting between Trump and Xi, I have some swampland to sell you.”

huawei
donald trump
china
trade
canada
meng wanzhou
sanctions
xi jinping
espionage
iran


Japan to exclude Huawei and ZTE from public procurement: source

Abstract: Japan plans to effectively exclude Chinese telecommunication equipment-makers Huawei Technologies Co. and ZTE Corp. from public procurement, a government source said Friday, amid concerns about security breaches that have already led the United States and some countries to ban them from supplying infrastructure products. Cybersecurity officials of relevant government agencies will likely agree in a meeting as early as Monday to block the Chinese firms from taking part in government procurement without explicitly naming the two companies in consideration of the potential impact on Tokyo’s relations with Beijing, which have shown signs of improvement, the source said. The officials are expected only to confirm that public procurement contracts should take into account security aspects, the source added. While declining to comment on the details of government procurement policies, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference, “Ensuring the cybersecurity of government agencies has become increasingly important. We will deal with the matter from various perspectives.” Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya also pledged efforts to ensure security. According to a Defense Ministry official, the ministry does not use products from Huawei or ZTE in the key components of its information systems. The move by the government comes after the United States, Japan’s key ally, enacted the National Defense Authorization Act in August that bans the government’s use of Huawei and ZTE technology products and services out of concern over their connections with Chinese intelligence. Australia has also excluded both companies from its next-generation mobile network. “There have been global concerns about the two companies’ ties with the Chinese government. But we need to make sure that we will not stop the recent trend of improvement in Japan-China ties,” a Japanese government source said. Canadian authorities arrested Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei and the daughter of its founder, on Saturday in Vancouver at the request of U.S. authorities, the country’s Justice Department said Wednesday.


Ericsson boss apologizes for 'faulty software' behind huge SoftBank service disruption

Abstract: Swedish communications giant Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson said a problem with its software caused Thursday’s massive telecommunication disruption that affected SoftBank users across Japan. People were unable to make emergency calls to report a fire or request an ambulance as the phone and data connection trouble that hit SoftBank Group Corp.’s mobile unit lasted for more than four hours, from 1:39 p.m. to 6:04 p.m. Thursday. Ericsson President and CEO Borje Ekholm said in a statement, “The faulty software that has caused these issues is being decommissioned and we apologize not only to our customers but also to their customers.” According to SoftBank, the country’s third-largest carrier by user base, the disruption affected network operators in 11 countries using Ericsson’s communications system. Services were restored after it switched to an older version of the software. The problem came less than two weeks before the telecommunication giant’s mobile unit, SoftBank Corp. is scheduled to be listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in what could be the biggest-ever initial public offering in Japan. The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry is planning to demand SoftBank report the details of the service disruption, which could fall under “a serious incident” stipulated in the law on telecommunications business. Communications minister Masatoshi Ishida said Friday his ministry may give direction or guidance to SoftBank over the matter. SoftBank said the network outage was caused by Ericsson-made software errors linked to packet-switching machines across Japan. After restoration of service, some users continued to experience unstable connections for several hours, according to the company. The disruption also affected SoftBank’s landline phone and Wi-Fi users as well as customers with the group’s discount Y!mobile brand. Including Y!mobile, SoftBank had a total of 40 million contracts as of late September. Users of Line Mobile and Mineo, which utilize SoftBank’s network capacity, also experienced connection troubles, and drivers of parcel company Sagawa Express Co. were unable to receive delivery information through their communication devices. The incident prompted the Tokyo Fire Department to issue an alert via its website. Given the system glitch, SoftBank and its bankers held emergency conference calls with institutional investors Friday to address any concerns they might have after the carrier’s mobile service went down days before the ¥2.65 trillion ($23.5 billion) initial public offering. Three conference calls were hosted at separate times and regions by Nomura Holdings Inc., Mizuho Financial Group Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., according to a document obtained by Bloomberg. Representatives for SoftBank and the three banks declined to comment.


Dollar weaker below ¥112.80 in late Tokyo trading

Abstract: The dollar was weaker below ¥112.80 in late Tokyo trading on Friday, amid a wait-and-see mood prior to the announcement of U.S. jobs data for November later in the day. At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥112.78, down from ¥113.10 at the same time on Thursday. The euro was at $1.1372, up from $1.1322, and at ¥128.25, up from ¥128.06. In early trading, the dollar moved in a narrow range around ¥112.70 while concerns remained over a deterioration in U.S.-China ties following the recent arrest of an executive of Chinese telecommunications equipment giant Huawei Technologies Co. by Canadian authorities, apparently at the request of the United States, on suspicion of violating U.S. sanctions on Iran. After moving aimlessly later in the morning, the greenback firmed to around ¥112.90 in afternoon trading, backed by a solid performance of the benchmark 225-issue Nikkei average on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. A currency broker said a risk-averse mood prompted by worries about U.S.-China tensions “came to a pause” thanks to the firmness of Japanese stock prices. But the U.S. currency fell back below ¥112.80 in late trading. Investors increasingly retreated to the sidelines, waiting to confirm the outcome of the jobs data from the U.S. Labor Department, an official of a foreign exchange margin trading service firm said.


Tokyo stocks rebound on buying on dips

Abstract: Stocks rebounded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Friday, supported by purchases after the previous day’s plunge. The 225-issue Nikkei average rose 177.06 points, or 0.82 percent, to end at 21,678.68. It tumbled 417.71 points on Thursday. The Topix index of all first-section issues finished up 9.85 points, or 0.61 percent, at 1,620.45, after losing 28.89 points the previous day. Both indexes finished higher for the first time in four days. The Nikkei soared more than 230 points soon after the opening. The index lost most of the gain later in the morning as the initial buying ran its course. In afternoon trading, stocks attracted renewed purchases in line with the yen’s drop against the dollar, market sources said. Friday’s rebound resulted partly from futures-led buying prompted by the yen’s weakening and relatively solid performances of other Asian markets, an official of a bank-linked securities firm indicated. Ryuta Otsuka, strategist at the investment information department of Toyo Securities Co., pointed to the possibility that the Bank of Japan stepped in to buy exchange-traded funds in the afternoon. Meanwhile, some brokers said that the market’s topside remained capped by rekindled concerns over U.S.-China trade friction following the recent arrest of Meng Wanzhou, deputy chair and chief financial officer of major Chinese telecommunications equipment-maker Huawei Technologies Co., by Canadian authorities apparently at the request of the United States for her suspected violation of U.S. sanctions on Iran. Thursday’s tumble of the Tokyo market was blamed on media reports on the arrest. Investors “found it difficult to build positions” during Friday’s trading prior to the announcement of U.S. jobs data for November later in the day, the bank-linked brokerage official said. Falling issues slightly outnumbered rising ones 1,028 to 1,016 on the TSE’s first section, while 78 issues were unchanged. Volume dropped to 1.37 billion shares from Thursday’s 1.51 billion shares. Drugmaker Eisai closed 2.04 percent higher after tumbling the previous day. Round One rose for the first time in five days. The amusement facility operator said Thursday that its like-for-like sales in November dropped 1.7 percent from a year before. But investors believe that the sales would have effectively been up by about 1 percent, considering the fact that the reporting month had a total of nine Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, compared with 10 in November 2017, brokers said. Other major winners included retailer FamilyMart Uny and clothing shop operator Fast Retailing. Meanwhile, lower crude oil prices battered oil wholesalers JXTG, Idemitsu and Inpex. Also on the minus side were chipmaking equipment-maker Tokyo Electron and industrial robot producer Fanuc. In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the key December contract on the Nikkei average advanced 170 points to 21,620.


Enter the Bull: Fighters mix kung fu with bullfighting in China

Abstract: JIAXING, CHINA - Several times a week, kung fu teacher Ren Ruzhi enters a ring to spar with a bovine opponent around five times his weight and capable of killing him. Ren’s mixing of martial arts and bullfighting worries his mother, but the 24-year-old has never been hurt. Besides, he says, grappling with a snorting bull is exciting. “It symbolizes the bravery of a man,” said Ren in an interview in Jiaxing in China’s Zhejiang province. Unlike Spain’s more famous sport, the Chinese variant of bullfighting involves no swords or gore but instead fuses the moves of wrestling with the skill and speed of kung fu to bring down beasts weighing up to 400 kg (880 pounds). “Spanish bullfighting is more like a performance or a show,” said Hua Yang, a 41-year-old enthusiast who watched a bullfight during a visit to Spain. “This (the Chinese variety) is truly a contest pitting a human’s strength against a bull. There are a lot of skills involved, and it can be dangerous.” Bullfighter Ren Ruzhi poses at the bull stable of the Haihua Kung Fu School in Jiaxing, China, on Oct. 27. | REUTERS The physically demanding sport requires fighters to train intensively and they typically have short careers, said Han Haihua, a former pro wrestler who coaches bullfighters at his Haihua Kung Fu School in Jiaxing. Han calls the bullfighting style he teaches “the explosive power of hard qigong ,” saying it combines the skill and speed of martial arts with traditional wrestling techniques. Typically, a fighter approaches the bull head on, grabs its horns and twists, turning its head until the bull topples over. Martial artist Li Bo, 22, wrestles with a bull during a Chinese bullfighting performance in Jiaxing, China, on Oct. 27. | REUTERS “What do I mean by explosive power?” Han asked. “In a flash! Pow! Concentrate all your power on one point. All of a sudden, in a flash, wrestle it to the ground.” If the first fighter gets tired, another one can step into the ring, but they have just three minutes in which to wrestle the bull to the ground or lose the bout. The bulls, too, are trained before entering the ring, Han said, and learn how to spread their legs or find a corner to brace against being taken down. “A bull can also think like a human — they are smart,” Han added. Although he says his bulls get better treatment than the animals involved in the Spanish sport, animal rights activists believe Chinese bullfighting is still painful for the animals and is cruel as a form of entertainment. “In Chinese bullfighting, we cannot deny the bulls experience pain,” said Layli Li, a spokeswoman for the animal welfare group PETA. “As long as it exists, that means there is suffering.”


Thousands of Myanmar women forced into marriage in China: study

Abstract: BANGKOK - Thousands of vulnerable women and girls from northern Myanmar are being trafficked to China and forced to marry, a study said Friday, offering a rare look at an issue that grips the conflict-hit borderlands. China has around 33 million fewer women than men due to the decades-long one-child policy. To plug the gap, tens of thousands of poor women from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam are sold as brides each year. Some go willingly, while others are tricked or trafficked. In the first research of its kind, a report by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health estimated 7,500 women from war-torn Kachin and northern Shan states have fallen victim to forced marriage in China. Based on interviews with scores of people who escaped and returned to Myanmar, and others still inside China, the study found that the majority of those trafficked were also forced to carry a child for their husband. Women leave Myanmar because of “conflict, displacement and poverty” said report author W. Courtland Robinson, while “the male-female sex imbalance in China, especially in rural areas” means demand for a wife is high. One woman told researchers that she was trafficked into China three times, and each time “pushed into giving birth,” said Moon Nay Li of Kachin Women’s Association Thailand, who led the field research in Kachin and Shan states. “Because of political instability, conflict and land confiscation … security for women is a big challenge,” she said. Marriages are often arranged and brokered by the women’s own families and village elders, with brides-to-be unable to refuse as they are at the bottom of the social hierarchy. The youngest women command higher prices of up to $10,000 to $15,000. Their matches in China are typically to older, sick, or disabled men in rural areas — people considered undesirable to the Han Chinese — while the women’s lack of documentation plunges them into a legal limbo. The study found that women were often “hired” to bear children for their husbands and then forced out or sold on to new husbands to recoup money. Some women have successful marriages and the issue of consent is complex and varies case by case, Robinson said. But all unions should be entered into without “threat, menace or penalty,” he added. Often daughters “can’t say no to their parents,” said Moon Nay Li, and feel compelled to go ahead with the marriage once “traffickers and agents have given money to their parents.” Researchers called for Myanmar to end the conflict in Kachin and Shan states, which has displaced tens of thousands of women, and to train anti-trafficking officials to enforce the law and recognise the women as victims.


Nobel winner Tasuku Honjo sees bigger role for immunotherapy in battling cancer

Abstract: STOCKHOLM - Japanese scientist Tasuku Honjo, who jointly won this year’s Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for his research on the immune system that contributed to cancer treatments, said Thursday that he believes most cancers will become treatable with immune therapy by 2050. The 76-year-old professor and deputy director-general at the Kyoto University Institute for Advanced Study spoke at a news conference at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, joined by American scientist James Allison, who shared the prize. The discovery by Honjo and Allison — on methods to inhibit negative immune regulation — established a new principle for cancer treatment that stimulates the inherent ability of the human immune system to unleash attacks on tumor cells, according to the Nobel Assembly. Honjo said it may become possible to contain the growth of most cancer cells through such treatment, even if cancer cannot be completely eliminated, as he discussed the effectiveness of combination therapy using drugs in the development of which he and Allison were involved. The Kyoto native and his team discovered PD-1, a protein on immune cells that operates as a brake on the immune system. The discovery led to the development of Opdivo, a drug which enhances the immune system in fighting cancer. The checkpoint inhibitor therapy, studied by Honjo and Allison, a professor at the University of Texas, has revolutionized cancer treatment and drastically changed the view of how cancer can be managed, according to the Nobel Assembly. On Thursday morning, Honjo visited the Nobel Museum with other laureates and signed the bottom of a chair in the cafe — a tradition for new laureates.During the Nobel Week, which lasts until Tuesday, Honjo is scheduled to deliver his Nobel lecture, titled “Serendipities of acquired immunity,” and attend the award ceremony as well as a royal banquet at the palace. In commemorating Honjo winning the Nobel Prize, a fund was established at Kyoto University to support researchers engaged in basic medical research. The fund was initiated by Honjo’s donation of his prize money, and further donations will be solicited, according to the university.

tasuku honjo
cancer
nobel prize
medicine
james allison
health


69 foreign technical interns died in Japan between 2015 and 2017, ministry data reveals

Abstract: A total of 69 foreigners working as part of the technical intern program died between 2015 and 2017, according to a Justice Ministry tally made available by an opposition lawmaker on Thursday. The figure comprises those who died due to accidents, illness or suicide, according to Yoshifu Arita of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan. Arita read out the figure to a parliamentary committee that was deliberating a bill to accept more foreign workers into Japan. Justice Ministry officials said they had no knowledge of the matter and would investigate. Japan introduced the training program for foreigners in 1993 with the aim of transferring skills to developing countries. But the scheme, which allows interns to stay in the nation for up to five years, has been criticized as a cover for companies to import cheap labor. With Japan moving to more broadly accept foreign laborers to address a serious labor shortage amid the country’s graying population and falling birthrate, opposition parties have grilled the government over issues in its management of the technical intern system. A number of interns have also left their positions due to low wages or poor working conditions. “There should be no new system without a comprehensive review of the technical intern program,” Arita said. Justice Minister Takashi Yamashita said the ministry has no plan to disclose information on individual cases due to privacy concerns. According to government data, about 258,000 foreign interns were working in Japan as of October last year, accounting for about 20 percent of the total number of foreigners working in Japan.

yoshifu arita
foreign workers
immigration
diet
immigrants


Taro Aso was top fundraiser in Abe Cabinet in 2017, figures show

Abstract: Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Taro Aso raised ¥258.17 million in political funds in 2017, the highest amount in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a tally of reports submitted by political parties and groups showed Friday. Aso was the only Cabinet member who raised more than ¥200 million, while Abe came second at ¥175.96 million. Toshimitsu Motegi, economic and fiscal policy minister — who ranked No. 1 the previous year — was third at ¥166.54 million. The average amount raised by Abe and his 19 Cabinet ministers stood at ¥94.65 million, according to the tally of the reports submitted to the internal affairs ministry and prefectural election administration commissions. Seven Cabinet members each raised more than ¥100 million. Besides the three top fundraisers, they were Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, minister for science and technology policy Takuya Hirai, Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Hiroshige Seko and Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Takumi Nemoto. Aso collected ¥163.40 million in donations from individuals, companies and other groups, up some ¥90 million from the previous year and accounting for 60 percent of his political funds income. He raised ¥67.05 million at one fundraising party held in Tokyo in March 2017. Abe raised a total of ¥73.05 million at three breakfast events, held between July and December 2017, with attendees including the lobbying groups of the Japan Medical Association and the Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers’ Associations of Japan. The amount made up 40 percent of his total. Abe received ¥51.64 million in donations from companies and other groups, the second highest after Aso. Seko collected ¥58.87 million in donations from individuals, the highest in the Cabinet, while Suga was the top earner in business income, including revenue from fundraising parties, with ¥83.34 million. Transport minister Keiichi Ishii raised the least in the Cabinet, while Satsuki Katayama, minister for regional revitalization, was second from the bottom.

taro aso
political funds
shinzo abe
toshimitsu motegi
yoshihide suga