'Massive confusion and fear': Rohingya flee Bangladesh camps fearing forcible return to Myanmar

Abstract: TEKNAF, BANGLADESH - Rohingya Muslims were fleeing Bangladeshi refugee camps to avoid being repatriated to Myanmar later this week, community leaders said Monday. Authorities plan to begin returning Rohingya refugees, who have fled what the UN has called ethnic cleansing, to the Buddhist majority country from Thursday. But the prospect has created panic in the camps, prompting some families who were due to be among the first to be repatriated to flee, according to community leaders. “The authorities repeatedly tried to motivate the ones on the returning refugee list to go back. But instead, they were intimidated and fled to other camps,” said Nur Islam, from Jamtoli refugee camp. More than 720,000 Rohingya Muslims fled Myanmar’s western Rakhine state in a military crackdown from August last year, bringing with them stories of murders, rapes and torture. Some 2,260 Rohingya Muslims had been scheduled to leave the Bangladesh border post in the southeastern Cox’s Bazar district in the first repatriations from Thursday under the voluntary scheme. But Nur Islam said the plan has created “massive confusion and fear” among the Rohingya and many were unwilling to return to Rakhine unless they were guaranteed citizenship and other rights. An AFP correspondent was able to speak to three families who said they were due to leave this week. “We are truly disturbed by the entire issue. As the day is coming closer, our tension is rising,” Mohammad Khaleque, a Rohingya refugee told AFP. He said he his family were fleeing their camp for another makeshift Rohingya settlement in Cox’s Bazar, in an effort to avoid being forcibly repatriated. “I don’t see a future for my family if we’re forcibly sent back home right now without confirming that we would get full Myanmar citizenship. That’s why I took my family out of the camp and to another one to live with my relatives. We don’t want to go back like this,” he said. The U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR, which received a list from the Bangladesh government on Monday to assess whether the refugees wanted to go back to Myanmar voluntarily, said the start date of Nov. 15 was an “ambitious plan. UNHCR senior spokesman Chris Melzer said “logistical problems” needed to be solved first. “This is the matter of the governments of Bangladesh and Myanmar. Although we still think that the conditions are not conducive now for the refugees to return in Myanmar,” he told AFP. The U.N. assessment may take at least two more days, according to both U.N. and Bangladesh officials, which may delay repatriation. Bangladesh refugee commissioner Mohammad Abul Kalam said the country was ready to start returning the refugees to two centers at the border. An AFP team visited both the centers. One appeared complete while the construction of the second was “over 80 percent” finished, according to builders. A Bangladeshi official, speaking on condition of anonymity, admitted that the Rohingya refugees were not “mentally ready” for returning. “They often say to us they would rather die here in the (Bangladeshi) camps than to go back and embrace the harrowing pain they have already experienced,” he said.

rohingya bangladesh myanmar refugees rakhine unhcr genocide


Taiwan grandpa catches 'em all playing 'Pokemon Go' on 15 phones

Abstract: TAIPEI - Chen San-yuan turns heads as he cycles through a suburb of Taipei, Taiwan’s capital. The reason why? Attached to the front of his bicycle are 15 mobile phones which Chen, 70, uses to simultaneously play the augmented-reality game “Pokemon Go.” The smartphone-based game requires players to “catch” animated characters that appear in real locations. Known as Pokemon Grandpa, videos of Chen and his fan-shaped phone setup cycling between “Pokestops” have gone viral on the internet and made him a minor celebrity in Tucheng district, where he lives. “I used one cellphone and then kept playing and playing,” Chen, dressed in a crisp, white long-sleeved shirt and pants, told Reuters Television on a recent outing. “After a month, it became three cellphones, six cellphones, nine cellphones, 12 and then 15,” he said, crediting his grandson with introducing him to “Pokemon Go” in 2016. Chen said his gear cost more than $4,800 and he spends about $300 a month on virtual currency to use in the game. Playing on multiple phones allows him to get to higher levels in the game more quickly and capture rarer creatures, he said. The pensioner said he sometimes plays all night thanks to the custom-made portable battery packs that recharge the phones. Chen’s fellow players are amazed at his energy. “He’s able to take care of fifteen cellphones at once,” said Shih Wun-sheng, 45. “From going out until returning home, Chen can remain energetic for six to seven hours, not feeling tired. That’s really impressive.” “Pokemon Go,” jointly developed by Nintendo Co. and Niantic Inc., has been the biggest hit so far among games using so-called augmented reality, where digital characters are superimposed on the real world.

taiwan
pokemon go
games
cellphones
smartphones
offbeat


Emigration — not immigration — one of top Japanese concerns amid shrinking population: Pew poll

Abstract: As Japan grapples with the problem of an aging and shrinking population — and whether to allow in an influx of immigrants — a survey published Tuesday has revealed that the public is apparently more concerned about emigration, or how many people choose to leave Japan, than immigration. The public opinion poll, conducted by the Washington-based Pew Research Center from May 24 to June 19 among 1,016 respondents in Japan, focused on views of immigration, the state of democracy and the nation’s economic outlook. With Japan’s population of 127 million expected to shrink to 88 million by 2065, many Japanese appear unsettled by the perceived balance between emigration and immigration, the survey has shown. It found that roughly 6 in 10 Japanese, 58 percent, said that people leaving their country for jobs in other nations is a problem. At the same time, an identical share believes the government should keep immigration at its current level. Just 23 percent think Japan should let in more immigrants, while 13 percent want fewer entrants from abroad. It also found that despite a reluctance to boost immigration numbers, this does not appear to reflect public animus toward immigrants. Rather, the poll noted, some 75 percent of those surveyed said they believe immigrants want to adopt Japanese customs and way of life, with 59 percent saying they think immigrants make the country stronger because of their work and talents. Majorities also said they do not fear that immigrants are responsible for an increased risk of terrorism or more crime. “These opinions reflect a near-complete reversal from attitudes on the same question in 2002,” the survey said. The results come as the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is pushing for legislation to allow migrants to begin filling vacancies from next April in sectors worst hit by the country’s dwindling population. This plan has attracted considerable attention from both proponents, who say it will help alleviate looming economic crises, and from opponents, who are concerned about pay and conditions for Japanese workers, as well as potential problems in their communities caused by foreign nationals with different cultural backgrounds.On the economic front, the survey said that while more Japanese feel better about the economy than at any point in nearly two decades, the overall mood in Japan remains wary, if not pessimistic, with few believing the next generation will fare better than them. Although positive views were up 34 percentage points since the early days of the global financial crisis in 2009, just 44 percent said the current economic situation in Japan is good, while 55 percent called conditions bad. Additionally, some 4 in 10 Japanese, 41 percent, think average people today are worse off financially than they were 20 years ago, the tail end of the country’s “lost decade.” A mere 26 percent said they are better off. At the same time, just 15 percent of those surveyed said children in the country today will grow up to be better off financially than their parents, while 76 percent expect they will be worse off. “That is among the lowest level of optimism about the next generation’s prospects among the 27 nations Pew Research Center surveyed in 2018,” the survey noted in a synopsis. It pointed, in part, to growing concerns about automation, with nearly 9 in 10 members of the public — some 89 percent — believing that in the next 50 years robots and computers will do much of the work currently done by humans. And they don’t foresee that work environment as necessarily positive. More than 8 in 10 — 83 percent — fear that such automation will lead to a worsening of inequality between rich and poor, while more than 7 in 10, some 74 percent, think ordinary people will have a hard time finding jobs. The poll also found that just 40 percent of the public is satisfied with the way democracy is working in Japan — down 10 percentage points since last year. More than half said they see politicians as corrupt, caring little about ordinary people, and believe elections ultimately do not change much. But the public also credits Japanese governance with producing a free, just and safe society, including 7 in 10 who believe most people live in safe neighborhoods.

immigration
aging
jobs
shinzo abe
elections
foreign workers


Natural disasters add to growing economic headwinds as GDP contracts in third quarter

Abstract: Natural disasters this summer combined with global trade frictions were behind the economy’s sluggish third-quarter performance, making GDP fall at an annualized rate of 1.2 percent, government data showed Wednesday. Over the July to September period, torrential rains hit western Japan, shutting down factories and affecting supply chains. A massive earthquake also occurred in Hokkaido, which further weakened the economy. “We think that today’s result was influenced largely by the many natural disasters that occurred, temporarily pushing down personal consumption and exports,” said Toshimitsu Motegi, minister of economic and fiscal policy, at a news conference Wednesday in Tokyo. On a quarter-to-quarter basis, GDP shrank by 0.3 percent, the second contraction of the year. Third-quarter economic activity was dragged down across important sectors of the economy, including the once consistently reliable export sector, which fell sharply by 1.8 percent. Business investment, meanwhile, dipped by 0.2 percent on a quarterly basis, after showing strong positive growth of over 0.7 percent through the past four quarters. Yoko Takeda, chief economist at Mitsubishi Research Institute, agreed with the government that, at least for now, the hit to exports was mainly the result of natural disasters. “I believe the result is due to a slump in U.S. automobile sales and a temporary suspension of domestic production, which was caused by heavy rains in July, ” Takeda said. Motegi, in a nod to growing international concern that Washington’s increasingly aggressive trade position could damage international commerce, warned that “it is necessary to pay attention … to the influence of trade issues on the global economy.” Takeda also warned that trade disputes could eventually take a bite out of economic growth by early 2019, particularly as exports and business investment are sensitive to the uncertainties caused by tariff hikes. Wednesday’s release also showed that external conditions were not the only factor holding back the economy, with household consumption falling by 0.1 percent on a quarterly basis. Sluggish personal consumption is likely to remain a concern for the government as it prepares a slew of policies to encourage spending in preparation for a consumption tax hike scheduled for October 2019. Consumer spending is the largest contributor to growth, accounting for over 50 percent of economic activity. Marcel Thieliant, a senior Japan economist with Capital Economics, wrote in a research note that weak consumer spending was “rather puzzling” because households were finally seeing larger pay raises. Despite Wednesday’s gloomy economic data and the potential for trade disputes to weigh on long-term growth, Thieliant said he believes that “a rebound in Q4 (economic growth) seems likely.”

gdp economy rain earthquakes exports weather


Cyberattacks the biggest risk in doing business in Japan: World Economic Forum

Abstract: LONDON - Cyberattacks are the biggest risk in doing business in Japan, an annual survey report from the World Economic Forum has shown. “Failure of regional and global governance” and “misuse of technologies” are the second biggest risks in the country, followed by illicit trade and natural catastrophes, according to this year’s Regional Risks for Doing Business report. The top-ranked risk across the world is unemployment and underemployment, the WEF report said. “Failure of national governance” and an energy price shock are the second- and third-biggest risks, respectively. The top risk in China is natural catastrophes, followed by deflation and data fraud or theft, the report said. In the United States, cyberattacks are the biggest risk, followed by terrorist attacks and data fraud or theft. The survey was conducted on business executives across the globe between January and June, with some 12,000 responses received.


Tokyo stocks end slightly higher on buybacks

Abstract: Stocks managed to finish higher after minor fluctuations on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Wednesday, aided by repurchases of beaten-down issues following a sell-off the previous day. The 225-issue Nikkei average gained 35.96 points, or 0.16 percent, to end at 21,846.48, after tumbling 459.36 points on Tuesday. The Topix index of all first-section issues ended up 2.81 points, or 0.17 percent, at 1,641.26, It dropped 33.50 points the previous day. Buybacks and bargain-hunting took the upper hand in early trading, pushing up the Nikkei average by nearly 180 points at one point. But both indexes soon lost steam amid a dearth of fresh trading incentives and moved around the previous day’s closing levels for the rest of Wednesday’s trading. The market failed to maintain its initial momentum after China released weaker-than-expected October retail sales, said Hiroaki Kuramochi, chief market analyst at Saxo Bank Securities Ltd. Investors are closely watching developments associated with the U.S.-China trade woes, a brokerage official said, adding that their immediate focus is on a possible summit between the two economic giants at the end of the month. Italy’s budget problem and last-ditch Brexit negotiations between Britain and the European Union are also attracting market attention. Despite the price indexes’ finish in positive territory, falling issues far outnumbered rising ones 1,292 to 756 in the TSE’s first section, while 63 issues were unchanged. Volume decreased to 1,432 million shares from 1,609 million shares on Tuesday. Mitsubishi UFJ gained 1.47 percent after the bank group announced on Tuesday steady earnings growth in April-September, a rosier profit prospect for the business year to March 2019 and a share buyback plan. Other major winners included mobile phone carrier SoftBank Group, automakers Toyota and Subaru, and power utility Tepco. Otsuka Holdings plunged 5.19 percent following a revision in the drug manufacturer’s earnings forecast for the year to December. Low crude oil prices hurt oil names, among them JXTG, Idemitsu and Inpex. Also on the negative side were game maker Nintendo and technology giant Sony. In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the key December contract on the Nikkei average climbed 60 points to end at 21,820.


Dollar easier below ¥114 in Tokyo trading

Abstract: The dollar moved in a tight range below ¥114 in Tokyo trading Wednesday, with players unable to find major trading incentives. At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥113.89-89, down from ¥114.06-06 at the same time on Tuesday. The euro was at $1.1292-1293, up from $1.1237-1238, and at ¥128.62-62, up from ¥128.17-18. After hovering around ¥113.80, the dollar firmed above ¥113.90 on buying induced by a media report that the United States will withhold imposing new auto tariffs and by the 225-issue Nikkei average’s early gains. The dollar-yen pair was almost at a standstill in the afternoon. “The dollar’s top side was capped by uncertainties about Italy’s budget and the Brexit negotiations between London and Brussels,” said a bank-affiliated securities firm official. “But the greenback was underpinned by the Nikkei’s solid performance,” said an official at a foreign exchange margin trading service firm. Investors took to the sidelines ahead of the release of U.S. inflation data later in the day, another market source said.


Japanese housebuilding startup Homma seeks to give U.S. housing market a dose of innovation

Abstract: Not every Japanese entrepreneur manages to launch a startup in Silicon Valley, and odds are even lower if that person wants to take on the challenge of the U.S. housing market. But this is an adventure that Takeshi Homma has embarked on with his company, Homma Inc. “Efficiency and industrialization have been neglected in the U.S. homebuilding industry, I want to change that,” Homma, the CEO and founder of the company, said in a recent interview. Homma, a former Rakuten Inc. executive, said the U.S. housing market has yet to go through an innovation phase, so he plans to provide middle- to high-end houses that are built more efficiently and feature the know-how and quality products of Japanese housing firms. He also said that as the U.S. housing market is expected to grow in line with an increase in the American population, Homma’s venture will give those Japanese companies a chance enter a new market. Homma’s company is planning a project to build several prototype homes, called Homma One, in Benicia, California next summer. It also aims to eventually provide 100 homes built in the next several years, targeting U.S. millennials. “Looking at Tesla’s (electric vehicles) and Apple’s iPhones, Silicon Valley companies have brought innovation to something that has become a commodity. In that sense, the house has not changed in America,” said Homma. According to a report by McKinsey and Co. released in February 2017, the productivity of the U.S. manufacturing, retail and agriculture sectors has increased by more than 15 times compared to 1945, while the construction industry has “barely increased at all.” Some U.S. media reports have pointed out that the construction sector has been reluctant to streamline operations, since the low profit margins of the industry discourage homebuilders from investing in more efficient operations. Homma said it is still common for carpenters to build houses on-site from scratch, which is inefficient because wood may be cut in the wrong size, and progress is affected by weather. Being a U.S. resident himself, Homma is also unhappy with U.S. houses. “American homebuilders are mainly focused on getting cheap land, building houses there and then selling them as high as possible. They are not really particular about pursuing design and comfort,” said Homma, who has lived there for about 10 years. For instance, while American houses are spacious compared to those in Japan, they tend to lack built-in storage space. Thus, people need to buy a lot of furniture for that purpose, said Homma. Homma wants to solve this by incorporating off-site construction and Japanese-made products with high usability and quality design. Many Japanese firms have industrialized their manufacturing process for various items, such as with kitchens. The so-called system kitchen, a concept where a sink, storage and cooking stove are all built in one, is popular in Japan. Such a kitchen can be manufactured efficiently. Given that the U.S. housing market has plenty of room for innovation and its demand is expected to grow, Homma thought Japanese firms may have a chance. “When you look at Japanese housing demand, it will shrink. But there are excellent manufacturers producing housing products. I was wondering what would happen to them,” said Homma. Homma has partnered with major domestic players such as Panasonic Corp. and Lixil Co. Although Homma is seeking to bring a new wave to the housing scene, the U.S. homebuilding industry is pretty much dominated by domestic companies. The Builder Magazine’s top 100 builders ranking shows the top 10 firms are all U.S. builders. However, his business plan has drawn support from a number of investors, including internet tycoons such as Rakuten CEO Hiroshi Mikitani and Mercari Inc. CEO Shintaro Yamada. Homma has attracted about ¥1.2 billion ($10.5 million) in investment so far. Actor Masi Oka, who starred in the popular TV show “Heroes,” is also chipping in and joining Homma’s firm as an adviser. In the meantime, there are also emerging trends that U.S. companies, including startups, are adopting, such as more prefab or off-site manufacturing. In September, Amazon announced its first investment in Plant Prefab, a homebuilding startup, in an apparent aim to incorporate its Alexa-voice agent into homes more directly. The Plan Prefab’s website says that 90 percent of its homebuilding process is done in-factory, making it 50 percent faster to construct a house. Asked how his company would differentiate from rivals, Homma said while his startup will sell homes, it eventually plans to sell communities by concentrating its homes in the same areas. Selling homes as communities will create scale, reducing costs and also generating new business opportunities. Homma, for instance, said his company can provide services, including security and gardening, that can be shared by people in the community through a subscription business model. “The goal of existing homebuilders is to build and sell houses. Their business ends there. But when we sell houses, we want to make it a start of our relationship with customers,” said Homma.


Hamas announces cease-fire with Israel after worst escalation in years

Abstract: GAZA CITY, PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES - Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip announced an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire with Israel on Tuesday after a severe escalation of violence threatened to descend into full-blown war. The groups, including Hamas, issued a joint statement saying they would abide by the ceasefire as long as Israel did the same. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office and the military had not commented on the announcement. Israel’s hard-line defense minister, Avigdor Lieberman, issued a statement saying he did not support stopping the strikes. “Egypt’s efforts have been able to achieve a cease-fire between the resistance and the Zionist enemy,” the statement by the Gaza groups said. “The resistance will respect this declaration as long as the Zionist enemy respects it.” Kuwait and Bolivia meanwhile requested an urgent closed-door meeting later Tuesday of the U.N. Security Council to discuss the violence, diplomats said. The violent escalation between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza was the worst since a 2014 war. Seven Palestinians were killed in Gaza over the course of some 24 hours as Israeli strikes targeted militants and flattened buildings while sending fireballs and plumes of smoke into the sky. Sirens wailed in southern Israel and tens of thousands of residents had taken cover in shelters as around 460 rockets and mortar rounds were fired from the Gaza Strip, wounding 27 people, including three severely. A Palestinian laborer from the occupied West Bank was killed when a rocket hit a building in the Israeli city of Ashkelon. Schools were closed in the Gaza Strip and in southern Israel as both sides warned the other that it would respond forcefully to any further violence. Egypt has negotiated cease-fires following previous flare-ups, while U.N. Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov has also been seeking a long-term truce between the two sides in recent weeks. Mladenov had earlier called the escalation “extremely dangerous” and said on Twitter that “restraint must be shown by all. After an Israeli security Cabinet meeting that reportedly lasted some six hours on Tuesday, a statement was issued saying the ministers “instructed the (military) to continue its operations as necessary. Netanyahu had cut short a visit to Paris as tensions rose and arrived back home on Monday. The latest round of violence began on Sunday with a botched Israeli special forces operation inside the Gaza Strip that turned deadly and prompted Hamas to vow revenge. The clash that resulted from the blown covert operation killed seven Palestinian militants, including a local Hamas military commander, as well as an Israeli army officer. Palestinian militants responded with rocket and mortar fire, as well as an anti-tank missile that hit a bus that Hamas says was being used by Israeli soldiers. A soldier was severely wounded in the attack. Missile defenses intercepted more than 100 rockets from Gaza and most others fell in open areas, though some hit houses and other civilian structures. “Within two seconds (after air sirens) we heard a huge boom, we saw our curtains flying in the air, windows (broken), and only after a few minutes when we went out, we realized that the missile had hit the building next to us,” said Claude Bonfito, who lives near an block of flats hit by a rocket in the Israeli city of Ashkelon. Israel hit back with major airstrikes, with targets including Hamas’s Al-Aqsa TV station and internal security headquarters in Gaza City. The military said it struck some 160 targets in the Gaza Strip. “What happened was like an earthquake,” said Abu Ayman Lemzeni, who lives near the destroyed TV building. At least five of the dead in Gaza were claimed as members of various militant groups. Some 26 other people were wounded in the Palestinian territory, according to Gaza’s health ministry. The escalation came despite Netanyahu’s decision to allow Qatar to transfer millions of dollars in aid to the Gaza Strip for salaries as well as fuel to ease an electricity shortage. The agreements had led to calmer protests along the Gaza border after months of deadly unrest. Sunday’s special forces operation and resulting clash upset those efforts, leading to questions over the timing of the covert Israeli move. Israel said it was an intelligence-gathering operation and that those efforts must continue to defend the country. Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza have fought three wars since 2008, and protests and clashes along the Gaza border since March 30 have repeatedly raised fears of a fourth. At least 234 Palestinians in Gaza have since been killed by Israeli fire, the majority during protests and clashes. Two Israeli soldiers have been killed over the same period.

hamas
israel
palestinians
benjamin netanyahu
conflict
u.n .


Indigenous Indonesians work to claim traditional lands to stave off threats from mining and palm oil plantations

Abstract: GAJAH BERTALUT, INDONESIA - In a community hall, a group of men sit cross-legged on mats, poring over documents and maps marked with forests, farmland, a river and the village of Gajah Bertalut on Indonesia’s Sumatra island. They are gathered to work on their claim to legal rights and a collective title to 4,414 hectares (17 square miles) of land on which they have lived and farmed for years. Holding a sheaf of papers, Rakhmat Hidayat of the research organization World Resources Institute (WRI) explained: “This is proof that you have lived here and used the forest land, and that you have customary rights over it as indigenous people. Once you get the title, you will have more control over the land, and you need not worry about the land being taken for mining or palm oil plantations against your wishes.” Gajah Bertalut in Riau province is among the first villages to have its land mapped by WRI as part of the government’s drive to clarify land holdings using satellite technology and local records, with the help of community leaders and researchers. Indonesia aims to register all land holdings under its “One Map” initiative by 2025. Following a landmark 2013 ruling by the Constitutional Court to remove customary forests, or hutan adat , from state control and restore them to indigenous communities, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has vowed to return 12.7 million hectares of land. As of 2017, titles to 1.9 million hectares of forest land have been given, benefiting about 500,000 households, according to the ministry of environment and forestry. But progress has been slow because of conflicting claims, a paucity of records and a multiplicity of maps, according to WRI, which compiles competing claims on a single map and attempts to resolve conflicts by bringing everyone together for talks. “We have lived here a long time, and we have used the forest and cultivated the land with our traditional knowledge,” said a resident of Gajah Bertalut named Darman. “All around us, we have seen forest land taken for mining and for palm oil plantations that are not good for the environment or for the people. When our rights are recognized, we will preserve the forest and plan for the future.” Indigenous and local communities own more than half the world’s land under customary rights. Yet they only have secure legal rights to 10 percent, according to the advocacy group Rights and Resources Initiative. Governments maintain control over more than two-thirds of global forest area, much of which is claimed by local communities, RRI said in a recent report. In Indonesia, indigenous people are estimated to have ownership rights over 40 million hectares of customary forest and other land. The concept of “adat” (custom) has been in place since the Dutch colonial era, and referred to the rules that determined who used land and resources, and how. When the federal government took charge, it declared much of the forest land as state forest areas and decided who could use it. This undermined customary adat rights and dispossessed many communities of their land, activists say. Decentralization in 1999 led to the granting of land concessions to investors tapping the palm oil boom, further weakening indigenous rights and their claims over land. The 2013 ruling has “dramatically strengthened” indigenous peoples’ tenure rights, said Rukka Sombolinggi of the Indigenous Peoples Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN). But claims can only be recognized at the federal level, and not by local officials. This has led to an expensive and time-consuming process, made more challenging by the requirement of clear titles, she said. “The government’s insistence on ‘clean and clear’ titles places an unfair burden on indigenous people, many of whom have never had formal titles,” she said. AMAN, which is also a part of the “One Map” program, has submitted maps of indigenous land of about 9.65 million hectares to the government to be recognized, she said. In addition, passing a long-delayed law on indigenous people will speed up the return of land, she said. The draft law recognizes their customary and collective rights over land, as well as their right to self-governance. Indonesia is one of only a few Asian nations, including India and the Philippines, with legal frameworks recognizing communities as forest owners. But the process is beset by delays and attempts to dilute the laws, activists say. Villagers also need support to manage their resources better and diversify land use. In Gajah Bertalut, where families have tapped rubber trees and cultivated forest land for generations, WRI is teaching residents organic farming to supplement their fishing income and conserve the soil better. A group of young men and women are growing chili peppers, spinach and vegetables on about an acre (0.4 hectare) of common land with training from WRI, said Elin Purnamasari, 24. “It’s only a small plot now. But when we get the community rights, perhaps more people can join and we can cultivate on more land,” she said. “This can be our future.”

indonesia tradition forests agriculture poverty ethnicity


Pence tells Suu Kyi violence against Rohingya 'is without excuse'

Abstract: SINGAPORE - U.S. Vice President Mike Pence criticized Myanmar’s military over the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in a meeting with national leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday and said those responsible should be held accountable. “The violence and persecution by military and vigilantes that resulted in driving 700,000 Rohingya to Bangladesh is without excuse,” he told Suu Kyi in a brief meeting with the media before they went into private talks on the sidelines of a regional ASEAN summit in Singapore. “I am anxious to hear the progress that you are making of holding those accountable who are responsible for the violence that displaced so many hundreds of thousands and created such suffering, including the loss of life,” he added. He said Washington is also keen to hear about progress in making it possible for Rohingya to voluntarily return to the western Myanmar state of Rakhine from the vast refugees camps in southern Bangladesh where they now live. The United States has accused the military of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya, a Muslim minority who are widely reviled in Buddhist-majority Myanmar. U.N.-mandated investigators have accused the military of unleashing a campaign of killings, rape and arson with “genocidal intent.” Myanmar says its operations in Rakhine were a legitimate response to attacks on security forces by Rohingya insurgents in August last year. Suu Kyi, responding to Pence, said: “Of course people have different points of view, but the point is that you should exchange these views and try to understand each other better. In a way, we can say that we understand our country better than any other country does, and I’m sure you will say the same of yours, that you understand your country better than anybody else.” Amnesty International this week withdrew its most prestigious human rights prize from Suu Kyi, accusing her of perpetuating human rights abuses by not speaking out about violence against the Rohingya. Once hailed as a champion in the fight for democracy, the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner has been stripped of a series of international honors over the Rohingya exodus. Pence also said Washington wants to see a free and democratic press in Myanmar, and the jailing of two journalists last year was “deeply troubling” for millions of Americans. “In America, we believe in our democratic institutions and ideals, including a free and independent press,” he said. He did not mention by name Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, two Reuters journalists who were arrested in Yangon in December 2017. They were found guilty in September of breaching the Official Secrets Act and sentenced to seven years in prison. On Nov. 5, lawyers for the two Reuters reporters lodged an appeal against their conviction. At the time of their arrest in December, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were working on a Reuters investigation into the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim villagers during an army crackdown in Rakhine state. Reuters published its investigation into the massacre on Feb. 8.

rohingya
mike pence
myanmar
aung san suu kyi
asean
ethnic cleansing
religion
discrimination


Keio researchers plan to treat spinal cord injuries with stem cells

Abstract: Keio University is poised to conduct the world’s first treatment of patients who have sustained spinal cord injuries using induced pluripotent stem cells, sources close to the matter said Tuesday. If approved by the state, the private university plans to inject neural stem cells produced from iPS cells into four people aged 18 or older who were injured while playing sports or in traffic accidents, starting next year. For the planned treatment, a team of Keio researchers led by Hideyuki Okano, a professor in the School of Medicine, will first create neural stem cells from iPS cells in storage at Kyoto University and then freeze them for preservation, the sources said. When a patient is presented who has lost motor function or sensation due to damage to their spinal cord, the researchers will inject the neural stem cells to encourage nerve regeneration. Researchers will aim to perform the treatment within four weeks of the patient’s injury — the period when the therapy is expected to be effective. It is not currently targeted at chronic-stage patients, or those who have had damage to the spinal cord for six months or longer. But the research team will also try to develop a treatment that is effective for such patients, the sources said. Keio University gave a tentative endorsement for the treatment plan on Tuesday. On Friday, Kyoto University said it had conducted the world’s first transplant of nerve cells created from iPS cells to treat Parkinson’s disease. The institution is also expected to begin a blood transfusion test using platelets created from stem cells to treat patients with aplastic anemia. Among other applications of iPS cells for health treatments in Japan, the government-backed Riken institute conducted the world’s first transplant in 2014 of retina cells grown from stem cells to treat patients suffering from serious eye problems. Osaka University is planning to transplant a heart muscle cell sheet derived from iPS cells into the hearts of patients suffering from serious heart failure. Kyoto University’s Shinya Yamanaka won the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine in 2012 for discovering iPS cells, which can grow into any type of body tissue and are seen as a promising tool for regenerative medicine and drug development.

spinal cord
keio university
ips
kyoto university
parkinson 's disease


H&M to halt use of plastic bags at Japan stores and charge for paper bags

Abstract: H&M Hennes & Mauritz Japan K.K., which operates 88 H&M casual clothing stores in the country, said Tuesday that it will abolish use of plastic shopping bags in December. The company plans to sell paper bags for ¥20 apiece instead, aiming to encourage customers to bring their own bags. CEO Lucas Seifert told a news conference in Tokyo that just switching from plastic to paper bags is not enough in terms of sustainability. The most important thing is to eliminate the consumption of shopping bags, he said, adding that the company has a goal of halving the amount of shopping bags used in 2019 compared with 2018 figures. The company plans to donate some of the profits from its sales of paper bags to World Wide Fund for Nature Japan. Moves to stop using plastic products such as straws are spreading globally to fight ocean pollution. H&M stores in Europe, the United States and elsewhere have been switching from plastic to paper bags in stages since September. A council within Japan’s government approved on Tuesday an environmental policy draft to cut disposable plastic waste by 25 percent by 2030, and boost the use of bioplastics made from plants. The government plans to officially adopt the strategy by next March and offer it as a pledge at the summit of the Group of 20 economies in Osaka next June. Japan produces the largest amount of plastic waste per capita after the United States, and has lagged behind other countries in curbing use of plastics such as disposable containers and shopping bags. Although the Environment Ministry aims to decrease plastic waste, the draft does not specify the benchmark year for the targeted percentage in waste reduction due to industry concerns about negative economic repercussions and feasibility. The draft approved by the Central Environment Council makes it mandatory for retail outlets to charge for shopping bags. The draft also aims to increase the use of bioplastics to around 2 million tons by 2030, and for all plastic waste to be “effectively utilized” by 2035. It also pledges to help developing countries reduce plastic waste by sharing Japan’s experience and technical knowledge.

plastic bags
sustainability
pollution
h & m


SoftBank to invest $2 billion in Coupang, S. Korea's largest online retailer

Abstract: SoftBank Group Corp.’s Vision Fund will invest $2 billion in South Korea’s Coupang, giving the e-commerce giant funds to accelerate development of new shopping and delivery services. Founded in 2010, Coupang is South Korea’s largest online retailer and sells more than 120 million items from consumer electronics to food. The Seoul-based company says that half the nation’s population has downloaded its mobile app. The deal marks another enormous bet on e-commerce for SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son, who made a fortune backing Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. before it turned into China’s dominant provider. SoftBank put an initial $1 billion investment into Coupang in 2015, valuing it at $5 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. The valuation in the current deal is $9 billion post-money, or after the additional capital is included, the people said. “Masa is a visionary leader. He’s always challenged us to think big,” said Bom Kim, founder and chief executive officer. “This round came from understanding that what we’ve built is now the foundation for immense impact on customers.” The investment is one of SoftBank’s biggest since the suspected assassination of a journalist by Saudi Arabian agents that sparked a global outcry. The brutal murder escalated scrutiny of SoftBank’s ties to Saudi Arabia, which contributed $45 billion to the nearly $100 billion Vision Fund. Son had been planning to raise the same amount every two to three years, but it’s unclear if he can achieve that goal without more money from Saudi Arabia. With the previous $1 billion investment from SoftBank, Coupang built its own fulfillment and last-mile delivery infrastructure, according to Lydia Jett, an investor at the Vision Fund focused on consumer internet and e-commerce. Earlier this year SoftBank had been in discussions with the company about raising a smaller slice of money ahead of a potential public offering in 2019. Yet as SoftBank observed Coupang’s accelerating growth, the firm decided that it would be best to give Coupang a larger cash infusion so it can grow its business before subjecting it to the public markets. “It will be a public company in the not too distant future, but just not 2019,” said Jett, who sits on Coupang’s board. “It’s going to give them runway to make investments in new categories.” The startup is a rare success story in a country where 10 family-run conglomerates control more than a quarter of all business assets. Its early push into e-commerce and fast delivery helped maintain its lead. The Rocket Delivery service promises to get goods to customers within 24 hours, while Coupang Fresh delivers produce to customers within hours of ordering. Firms that have invested in the company include BlackRock, Sequoia Capital and Wellington. Revenue has more than doubled in the last two years and is forecast to reach nearly $5 billion by year-end, according to the firm. Though it is focused on reaching Korean consumers, the company also has offices in Beijing, Los Angeles, Seattle, Seoul, Shanghai and Silicon Valley.


Government panel paves way for Japan's working age limit to be raised to 70

Abstract: The government wants to raise the working age limit from its current threshold of 65 to 70 as part of efforts to promote economic growth in the fast-graying country, a draft plan compiled by a government panel showed Thursday. The draft midterm report by the committee, which is responsible for coming up with the government’s growth strategy, also calls for big firms to disclose the percentage of different age groups among their employees — a move aimed at promoting mid-career employment among companies in an environment where many people are recruited freshly out of school. The plans will likely be decided at a meeting of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy on Monday to serve as a basis for an action plan to be created next summer. It marks the first step by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government toward revamping the social security system over a three-year period to better cover all generations, although it still needs cooperation from the business world before the plan can be realized. In the course of preparing to submit bills on the age limit in 2020, the government will also consider promoting different working styles — such as working shorter hours or working remotely from home — and facilitating employment of seniors by providing subsidies and setting up special councils of municipalities and firms. The government plans to maintain the principle of awarding public pensions from age 65, although it aims to give people a new option of postponing receive of the funds until they reach the age of 70. By law, one’s pension can be tapped at any time between 60 and 70. If a person chooses to start receiving his or her pension after their 65th birthday their monthly payments are raised, but the option is not widely adopted. Other measures covered by the plan included creating a new drivers’ license targeting the elderly who drive vehicles with special safety functions, as well as automatically sending nursery school applications to people with appropriately aged children rather than making them visit an office to apply for a place. According to a data released in September by the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry, over a fifth of Japan’s population is now aged 70 or over. The data shows that the 26.18 million people in that age group accounted for 20.7 percent of the population, crossing the 20 percent line for the first time.


Japan less attractive than 28 other countries for highly skilled foreign workers, survey shows

Abstract: LONDON - Japan has less appeal for highly skilled foreign workers than other world economies, according to a Swiss survey. In the 2018 global survey by the International Institute for Management Development , a business school in Switzerland, Japan came 29th among 63 countries and regions — rising two places from the previous year’s survey. The institute’s IMD World Talent Ranking is determined after assessing the methods countries and regions use to attract and retain talented staff needed by their businesses in order to thrive. Points were distributed to each economy in 30 categories such as human development and investment, attractiveness to highly skilled foreign workers, and public expenditures on education. Japan’s overall ranking improved, albeit slightly, chiefly thanks to higher scores on the ready availability of skilled labor. But the country ranked close to the bottom, at 62nd, for the international experience of its senior corporate officials, at 60th for cost of living, and in 57th place for education expenditures relative to gross domestic product. Its ranking for firms’ eagerness to attract and retain talent dropped seven places, to ninth position. Switzerland topped the list overall, followed by Denmark and Norway. The United States came 12th, South Korea 33rd and mainland China 39th.


Dollar slightly above ¥113 in late Tokyo trades

Abstract: The dollar was marginally firmer above ¥113 in Tokyo trading late Thursday, with its downside supported by moves to close positions ahead of the three-day weekend in Japan and Thursday’s market closure in the United States. At 5 p.m. the dollar stood at ¥113.01, slightly up from ¥112.85 at the same time on Wednesday. The euro was at $1.1400, up from $1.1387, and at ¥128.85, up from ¥128.55. In early trading, the dollar moved around ¥113, carrying over its strength from overseas trading overnight thanks to relatively strong U.S. equities, traders said. The greenback rose above ¥113.10 following a firm start of the benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average in midmorning trading, but fell below ¥113 soon as the buying ran its course before the U.S. currency market closed for Thanksgiving Day. Later, the U.S. currency fluctuated narrowly around ¥113. In late trading, the dollar slipped below ¥113 briefly following a reported remark by Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda showing a cautious stance on additional monetary easing, before climbing to around the threshold as Chinese stocks cut earlier losses. Currency market players “closed their positions and did little else” during Thursday’s trading ahead of the U.S. market holiday on Thursday and a national holiday in Japan on Friday, an official at a Japanese bank said. An official at a major life insurance firm predicted that the dollar is also unlikely to show major movements in overseas trading later on Thursday.

currencies
exchange rates
foreign exchange
forex


Tokyo stocks rebound on buying on dips

Abstract: Stocks bounced back on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Thursday, helped by purchases after recent falls. The 225-issue Nikkei average gained 139.01 points, or 0.65 percent, to end at 21,646.55. On Wednesday, the key market gauge fell 75.58 points. The Topix index of all first-section issues closed up 13.07 points, or 0.81 percent, at 1,628.96. It retreated 9.78 points the previous day. Although the market’s topside was capped by selling on a rally, both indices moved on the positive side for most of Thursday’s session. “A sense of relief spread” among investors as the S&P 500 index and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index turned higher on Wednesday, said Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management Co. Chihiro Ota, general manager for investment research and investor services at SMBC Nikko Securities Inc., noted that a wide range of issues attracted small-lot buying, apparently by individual investors. “Trading was thin” ahead of the three-day weekend in Japan and Thanksgiving Day in the United States on Thursday, Ota also said. The Tokyo market will be closed on Friday for a national holiday. Yutaka Miura, senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities Co., attributed Thursday’s rally to purchases to cover short positions ahead of the long weekend. Rising issues far outnumbered falling ones 1,451 to 580 in the TSE’s first section, while 81 issues were unchanged. Volume decreased to 1.20 billion shares from 1.39 billion shares on Wednesday. Price comparison website operator Kakaku.com closed 5.80 percent higher after announcing a share buyback plan on Wednesday. Cosmetics maker Shiseido, discount store operator Don Quijote and other foreign tourist demand-oriented names were upbeat after the Japan National Tourism Organization said Wednesday that the number of foreign visitors to Japan in October grew 1.8 percent from a year before to 2,640,600. Other major winners included drugmaker Astellas and supermarket and convenience store operator FamilyMart Uny. By contrast, Mitsubishi UFJ ended 1.43 percent lower after The New York Times reported Wednesday that U.S. authorities are investigating the megabank group over an alleged violation of anti-money laundering rules involving North Korea. Mobile phone carrier SoftBank Group and clothing retailer Fast Retailing were also on the minus side. In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the key December contract on the Nikkei average rose 180 points to end at 21,700.


Kim Jong Who? South Korea revamps how students study their northern neighbor

Abstract: SEOUL - A year of warming relations between North and South Korea has raised the prospects of closer ties, if not some form of unification for the still-warring neighbors far in the future. But it might not be obvious in a typical South Korean classroom. “I really don’t know anything,” 17-year-old student Roh Ha-na said. “It’s like only twice a year that the school teaches about unification and national security, and about North Korean life … but I just let most of it go in one ear and out the other.” This year’s inter-Korean detente has highlighted what many observers see as a lack of knowledge among South Koreans about their northern neighbor, prompting government efforts to revamp the way South Koreans learn about North Korea and unification. Baek Jun-kee, the head of South Korea’s Institute for Unification Education, says current education methods have failed to show young South Koreans the importance of a nuanced understanding of North Korea, its people and leader Kim Jong Un. “If we don’t approach the issue in a rational manner or show how the issue affects (students’) personal lives in middle school or high school, it will be difficult to keep their attention,” Baek told Reuters in an interview. The education shortcomings are contributing to a shortage of North Korea experts across public and private institutions at a time when increased cultural and governmental exchanges between the two Koreas make them all the more important, analysts say. “Every regional government has rolled out plans for inter-Korean exchange, but they don’t have any experts, no knowledge, no networks,” said Hong Min, a research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification. “When the heads of South Korean conglomerates went along to the September Pyongyang summit, most of them didn’t have an in-house North Korea expert to brief the chief.” After facing criticism at a parliamentary hearing earlier this month over funding cuts to education programs, Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon told lawmakers creating a new curriculum on unification was “crucial and urgent.” Cut off from the North for 70 years and still technically at war after their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce instead of a peace treaty, many South Koreans have come to see unification as an increasingly distant and unrealistic goal. Surveys show younger generations of South Koreans are particularly ignorant or apathetic about their northern neighbors, seeing them as a troublesome distraction from the more pressing concerns of work or school. Interviews with 17 high school students revealed most had never heard of the ‘parallel progress’ policy key to North Korean affairs this decade. Most didn’t know about the growth of private markets that has transformed many areas of North Korea’s economy. “I’ve never heard about these North Korean issues in school, aside from learning about the Korean War in history class,” said Moon So-in, a 17-year-old student at Sunil Girls’ High School. “My friends don’t seem very interested since we are so used to being a divided country.” Education in South Korea is focused on competing for college entrance, culminating in high-pressure nationwide exams in the last year of high school, on which students stake their futures. North Korea is “not on the test,” students and teachers said, and is therefore seen as a “waste of precious time,” said high school teacher Choi Ki-bok. Generally, North Korea is addressed in a single chapter once a year in 4th and 6th grade, briefly in middle school and once in high school, two teachers said. In higher education, meanwhile, five out of six North Korean studies departments at South Korean universities have been shut down or changed into other programs in recent years, in part because of a lack of applicants. In North Korea, the South appears to be discussed more often in schools. As well as propaganda, North Korean defectors say they were taught minute details about the South. “I was taught South Korean geography down to what minerals and grains are produced in each region, history that happened on South Korean soil,” said Park Na-ri, a North Korean defector educator who taught Korean and literature in Pyongyang and now teaches defector children in Seoul. “I was shocked to find South Koreans know much less about where anything in North Korea is,” she said, noting that ignorance can lead to a lack of empathy for North Koreans. Five South Korean educators interviewed by Reuters said teachers don’t feel equipped to navigate the thorny issue of North Korea, which in the words of one high school teacher is “an enemy, a long-lost brother, and a separate country sharing a border, depending on who you ask.” The Institute for Unification Education, which oversees all lower education on North Korea, says it is setting up the first-ever year-long training programs for teachers to learn how to teach North Korea. That will include a shift away from rote teaching on unification as a given to a more flexible approach focused more on the goal of peace and designed to spark discussions among students. This year, the 91-page “Unification Education Guidelines” was cut down to 48 pages and renamed “Unification and Peace Education, Directions and Viewpoints,” mirroring President Moon Jae-in’s argument that reaching peace with North Korea is a more pressing and realistic goal than full unification.

south korea
north korea
education
kim jong un
korean war


Health ministry panel gives conditional OK to regenerative medicine for patients in Japan with spinal cord injuries

Abstract: A health ministry panel has given a conditional green light to the commercialization of a regenerative medicine to treat those with spinal cord injuries. Given the decision Tuesday, the health minister is expected to allow the production and sale of the preparation made from human mesenchymal stem cells and related apparatus by the end of the year, people familiar with the matter said. In June this year, medical equipment-maker Nipro Corp. applied for approval of the commercialization of the preparation and related equipment the company jointly developed with professor Osamu Honmo at Sapporo Medical University. In the treatment, mesenchymal stem cells taken out of bone marrow fluid from patients with spinal cord injuries roughly within a month of them becoming injured will be cultured to make the preparation, which will then be injected back into the patients whose stem cells were used. The treatment, personally tailored for each patient, will be sold under the Stemirac brand. The cells are expected to restore damaged nerve cells and improve symptoms, such as paralysis of the arms and legs. The safety of the medicine was confirmed through a clinical trial. But because it stopped short of fully demonstrating its efficacy, the panel recommended that the minister make a formal decision on whether to approve the product after examining data collected from 90 patients who had received the medicine.

health
regenerative medicine
medicine
nipro
mhlw


Japan immigration bureau's tweet over pro-refugee graffiti criticized for focus on vandalism

Abstract: A Twitter post by the Tokyo immigration bureau that appears to chide people who vandalized public property with messages that criticize the country’s treatment of asylum-seekers has gone viral, with many criticizing the tweet’s focus on the graffiti rather than the broader issue over refugees. The Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau posted the tweet on Tuesday, along with photos of a sidewalk, a wall and a nearby pedestrian bridge in Tokyo’s Minato Ward that were vandalized with graffiti reading “free refugees” and “refugees welcome” in English using all capital letters. The bureau, which said the graffiti had been found Monday morning, commented: “Freedom of expression is important but this is public property. Isn’t it a bit much?” The post was hit with a barrage of criticism over its focus on graffiti rather than refugees. “If you are going to criticize graffiti, then don’t repeat human rights violation,” one comment read. As of Thursday afternoon, the bureau’s post had been retweeted more than 10,000 times and had attracted over 2,000 comments. Japanese immigration facilities have long been criticized inside and outside the country for their lengthy detention periods for foreign nationals who lack residency status and face deportation orders. They are not immediately repatriated if their home countries refuse to accept them or if they seek refugee status. More than a dozen people have died from illness or suicide at immigration facilities since 2007. Earlier this year at the Tokyo bureau, staff were found to have withheld treatment for a Turkish man for about one month, even though he had complained of pain after undergoing an appendectomy. In April, an Indian man died at a detention center in Ibaraki Prefecture in an apparent suicide. According to the East Japan Immigration Center, guards at the facility found the man, who was in his 30s, in a shower room with a towel wrapped around his neck. An official of the bureau said its tweet was not intended to “fight back” against what was written on the sidewalk. “We have an obligation to accept criticism over immigration control policies, but we tweeted in the hope of warning (about graffiti) because it will cause trouble to others who have nothing to do with the issue.” Koichi Kodama, a lawyer familiar with immigration detention issues, said: “Graffiti could be a crime. But there are some practices that the Tokyo immigration bureau should also reflect on. … I think the way it acted was childish.”

refugees
graffiti
twitter
tokyo immigration bureau


Pop-up ninja booth gives tourists a virtual reality experience at Nagoya's Chubu airport

Abstract: NAGOYA - Chubu Centrair International Airport in Aichi Prefecture has set up a booth inside its international arrivals lobby that will allow tourists to experience being a ninja through virtual reality. The booth, which opened Thursday and will be in operation until Dec. 14, is aimed at attracting tourists to two nearby cities famous for their ninja clans: Iga in Mie Prefecture and Koka in Shiga Prefecture. While wearing a headset, users are taken to a virtual-world setting and transformed into a ninja battling monsters with shuriken (throwing stars), one of the many weapons used by the black-clad fighters. Each game lasts about 5 minutes. It is available in Japanese, English and Chinese. After playing the game, players receive free admission coupons for the Ninja Museum of Igaryu in Iga and for the Koka Ninja Village in Koka. The airport has organized events featuring samurai and ninja in the past. The Chubu region is the birthplace of historical warlords such as Oda Nobunaga. “I hope that tourists will recognize this region as a place where they are able to have authentic ninja and samurai experiences. I also hope that will contribute to regional development,” Masato Kondo, the airport’s director, said Wednesday.

ninja
tourists
virtual reality
nagoya
chubu centrair international airport
iga
koka


Supporters of foreign workers call for equal pay and permanent residence in Japan

Abstract: Activists on Wednesday called for the creation of a permanent resident visa for blue-collar foreign workers and equal pay as their Japanese co-workers as the country aims to bring in more laborers from overseas. In a statement released at a gathering held at the Diet, the participants also called for the cancellation of the controversial government-sponsored job training program, under which many foreign trainees are believed to have been exploited. The Tokyo event was organized by the nonprofit organization Solidarity Network with Migrants Japan at a time when the government and ruling parties are pushing ahead to pass a bill that would greatly expand the number of foreign workers in the country. Deliberation over the bill started at the Judicial Committee of the House of Representatives on Wednesday despite resistance from opposition parties, with the government hoping to see its passage during the ongoing parliamentary session through Dec. 10. The government had already been under fire for being slow to provide detailed data on the estimated number of foreign workers that would enter Japan under the new plan. And it further angered opposition parties after the Justice Ministry was found to have released faulty survey results on foreign trainees who quit their jobs, wrongfully stating that 87 percent of them left “in pursuit of better payment” when, in fact, 67 percent of the respondents said they had left due to “low wages.” The organization’s chairman, Ippei Torii, called for the government to engage in parliamentary debate based on the “facts.” Lawyer Shoichi Ibuski, who represents a group of attorneys that help foreign workers, noted that the envisioned immigration system includes a new visa status that does not allow foreign workers to bring their families with them and fails to provide sufficient day-to-day support. “They are real people, not just a workforce. The bill carries problems in various aspects,” Ibuski said before some 200 people at the gathering. A 38-year-old Chinese man shared his experience while working as a technical intern trainee at a farm in Tochigi Prefecture. “I did 150 hours of overwork a month, and it was equivalent to unpaid work. I doubt newcomers to Japan would really be protected,” he said. Japan introduced the training program for foreign nationals in 1993 with the aim of transferring skills to developing countries. But it has faced criticism at home and abroad as a cover for importing cheap labor. Japan has in principle only accepted highly skilled professionals in such fields as medicine and law. But in reality, foreign trainees and students have also been taken on. The country is in need of more foreign laborers due to its aging population and low birthrate.

foreign workers
permanent residence
foreign trainees
shoichi ibuski


Percentage of Japanese university students with dating experience falls to record low

Abstract: The percentage of university students with dating experience stands at around 70 percent, the lowest level since surveys by a sex education body began more than 40 years ago. In the nationwide survey conducted in 2017 by the Japanese Association for Sex Education, 71.8 percent of male university students and 69.3 percent of female students said they had dated, while over 30 percent of both male and female students said they do not want to go out with anyone at present. The percentages of male and female students with dating experience had remained above 70 percent since the association started the survey in 1974. The previous lows of 73.4 percent for male students and 74.4 percent for female students were marked in 1974. Male and female university students who said they were sexually experienced stood at 47 percent and 36.7 percent, respectively. Many of the respondents who lacked sexual experience said they did not have a partner or felt they were too young. The eighth edition of the survey was conducted between June and December 2017, and covered about 4,194 university students, as well as 4,449 junior high school students and 4,282 high school students. The number of junior high school students with dating experience hit record highs of 27 percent for males and 29.2 percent for females. The survey showed the number of junior high school students with sexual experience was also on the rise. Among high school students, less than 20 percent said they had sexual experience. “The figures are falling in total, but at the same time the number of younger students who are becoming sexually experienced is increasing. We are seeing greater diversity,” the association said. Over 70 percent of high school and university students said they use social networking services, with around 10 percent of university students and female high school students saying they had met up with people of the opposite sex whom they had got to know online, according to the survey.


Grassroots protest against gasoline tax turns into biggest challenge yet for France's Emmanuel Macron

Abstract: PARIS - Emmanuel Macron swept aside France’s traditional parties to win the presidency. He tamed unions as he reformed the labor market and income tax, all without much mass protest. Now though, his presidency is being shaken by a grassroots movement with no real leadership. Organized through social media, the so-called yellow jackets have shut down key transport links at times over the past week and Saturday police used tear gas and water cannons to contain thousands of protesters — who lit fires and ripped up cobblestones — on the Champs-Elysees. Polls show they have the support of three-quarters of the French. While Macron has already succeeded in pushing through unpopular reforms his predecessors shied away from, the recent protests show the greater opposition he’s likely to face next year when he aims to overhaul the country’s retirement system. An increase in gasoline taxes triggered the demonstrations, named after the high-visibility safety vests drivers need to keep in their cars. But the complaints against Macron go much further. On Tuesday the government will announce an energy plan setting targets for reducing dependence on nuclear energy and fossil fuels. While the government won’t roll back the gasoline taxes, it plans incentives for buying cleaner cars and heating systems, has forgone a trucking tax, and will organize local debates to gauge public opinion, Energy Minister Francois de Rugy said Thursday. Those measures won’t be enough for the protesters who came to Paris on Saturday. “This movement has gone too far to be satisfied by re-touching a tax here or there,” said Jean-Yves, a 49-year-old from Picardy, in northern France. “Macron never listens anyway. All he wants to do is give to his rich friends and take from us.” Jean-Yves, who wouldn’t give his last name because he works for the local government, said he’ll be back for further protests. Other protesters interviewed between bursts of tear gas and the occasional police charge on Paris’ famed Champs-Elysees avenue agreed the protests were about much more than the gasoline tax: they are fed up with declining services, flat wages and pensions, and feel the price of everything else is going up. “Macron has to come meet people whose salaries don’t stretch to the end of the month,” said Xavier Jiret, a 48-year-old warehouse worker. Crowds that were prevented by police from nearing the president’s Elysee Palace on Saturday frequently broke into chants of “Macron resign!” The protests have shown the divide between Macron’s supporters who tend to live in thriving urban areas and don’t rely on their cars, and small towns where driving is a necessity. They’ve also cast a crude light on Macron’s novelty: coming from outside the mainstream parties was an advantage in his May 2017 election win, but it also means his movement has no historical ties to local communities. Macron will not face any national elections until 2022. But his approval rating has slid below 30 percent in most polls, and his LREM political movement is polling behind Marine Le Pen’s National Rally for next May’s European elections. Macron has repeatedly insisted he is not interested in polls and that his attempts to modernize the French economy will eventually pay off. “His whole presidency is based on steaming ahead with his reforms, but he’s facing growing anger on the issue of cost of living,” said Frederic Dabi, deputy director-general of pollster Ifop. ‘He’s in a difficult spot.’ Under Macron, unemployment has fallen a bit but remains at 9.1 percent, double that in next door Germany and Britain. Meanwhile, growth has slowed across Europe this year, including in France. The protests have been organized by local chapters via social media and began with a day of action last Saturday when 300,000 protesters threw up about 2,000 road blocks across the country. The protests continued throughout the week with highways and fuel depots being blocked, and police struggled to keep up with the wild cat actions. There were about 8,000 protesters in the city mid-afternoon, the Interior Ministry said, with a national turnout of about 81,000. An Odoxa poll released Thursday showed 77 percent of the French support the protests, and an Ipsos poll Wednesday put support at 70 percent. French governments are well practiced in dealing with union leaders who can put thousands of protesters on the street and unions anyway are divided and losing members these days. But Macron’s ministers have been caught off guard by the ad hoc nature of the “yellow vests.” While opposition parties have shown their support for the protests, the protesters themselves say they want nothing to do with them. “I hate politicians,”‘ said Jiret, the warehouse worker. “They are all the same.” Protesters mocked the government’s offer to provide more incentives to buy cleaner cars. “We can’t buy food at the end of the month but we’re going to buy an electric car?” said Valerie Pini, a 45-year-old secretary who lives in the Paris suburbs.


Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party suffers major defeat in local elections; Tsai Ying-wen resigns as party leader

Abstract: TAIPEI - Taiwan’s ruling party was handed a major defeat in local elections Saturday that were seen as a referendum on the administration of the island’s independence-leaning president amid growing economic and political pressure from China. Soon after the results came in, President Tsai Ing-wen resigned as head of the Democratic Progressive Party. She will remain as president and her resignation will have no direct effect on the business of government, although the results bode ill for her re-election chances in two years. Rival China said the results reflected a desire of Taiwanese for better relations with the mainland. Ma Xiaoguang, the spokesman for Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said his government will continue to treat Taiwan as part of China and “resolutely oppose separatist elements advocating ‘Taiwan independence’ and their activities.” In another victory for China, voters rejected a proposal to change the name of its Olympic team to Taiwan from the current Chinese Taipei. They also approved a referendum opposing same-sex marriage in a setback to LGBT couples, though ballot initiatives in Taiwan are non-binding. The DPP lost the mayoral election to the Nationalist party in the southern port city of Kaohsiung, where it had held power for 20 years. The Nationalists also defeated the DPP in the central city of Taichung, home to much of Taiwan’s light industry, while Ko Wen-je, the independent mayor of Taipei, the capital, appeared on track to win a second term. At a brief news conference at DPP headquarters late Saturday, Tsai announced she was stepping down as DPP chair and said she had refused Premier William Lai’s resignation, saying she wanted him to continue her reform agenda. “Today, democracy taught us a lesson,” Tsai said. “We must study and accept the higher expectations of the people.” The elections for mayors and thousands of local posts were seen as a key test for Tsai’s 2-year-old administration, which has been under relentless attack from Beijing over her refusal to endorse its claim that Taiwan is a part of China. Tsai and the DPP won a landslide victory in 2016, but China swiftly responded by cutting all links with her government. Beijing has been ratcheting up pressure on the island it claims as its own territory by poaching its diplomatic partners and barring its representatives from international gatherings, while staging threatening military exercises and limiting the numbers of Chinese tourists visiting Taiwan. The Nationalists, known also as the KMT, had campaigned on their pro-business image and more accommodating line toward Beijing. Since her election, Tsai has walked a fine line on relations with China, maintaining Taiwan’s de facto independent status that the vast majority of Taiwanese support, while avoiding calls from the more radical elements of her party for moves to declare formal separation from the mainland. Taiwanese officials had warned that Beijing was seeking to sway voters through the spread of disinformation online similar to how Russia was accused of interfering in U.S. elections. Although domestic concerns were in the foreground, China played a major factor in voter sentiment, analysts said. “I think part of the reason for the vote on Saturday was concern about relations between Taiwan and mainland China,” said Huang Kwei-bo, vice dean of the international affairs college at National Chengchi University in Taipei. “Their relations have slid backward.” Saturday’s results also throw Tsai’s political future into question. While the DPP still controls the national legislature, local politicians are crucial in mobilizing support among grass-roots supporters. “I’m afraid it will be a big challenge for her in 2020,” said Gratiana Jung, senior political researcher with the Yuanta-Polaris Research Institute think tank in Taipei. Economic growth, employment and pension reforms were among key issues in the elections, which drew high turnout from the island’s 19 million voters. Government employees who feel slighted by pension cuts that took effect in July probably mobilized against Tsai’s party, Jung said. Nationalist Party Chairman Wu Den-yih told reporters Saturday that his party would keep trying to avoid diplomatic friction with China and ensure smooth two-way trade. “We hope the two sides will soon go back to a peaceful and stable trend in relations,” he said. Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalists rebased their government to Taiwan in 1949 amid the civil war with Mao Zedong’s Communists. They ruled under martial law until the late 1980s, when the native Taiwanese population began to take political office, mostly through the DPP. Voters on Saturday also cast ballots on 10 referendums, including one on whether to uphold a commitment to ban nuclear energy by 2025. The vote against changing the name used in international sporting events to Taiwan was seen as a test of support for independence. It was symbolic in nature, as the International Olympic Committee had ruled out a name change, which would be opposed by China. Though referendums are only advisory, the vote in favor of restricting marriage to male-female couples will likely put lawmakers in a difficult position. They face both a court order to make same-sex marriage legal by 2019 and elections in 2020.

taiwan
democratic progressive party
election
politics
tsai ing-wen
kuomintang


Taiwan's progressive image takes hit after divisive polls

Abstract: TAIPEI - LGBT activists in Taiwan fear their newly won right to marriage equality is under threat, while the president is battling for her political future after a wide-ranging vote that saw the island swing toward conservatism. Rival referendums on same-sex unions saw “pro-family” groups defeat pro-gay campaigners in what Amnesty International called a “bitter blow and a step backward for human rights in Taiwan.” The referendums ran alongside local elections in which the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) suffered a massive loss in city and county seats, prompting President Tsai Ing-wen to resign as party leader and sparking questions over whether she will be able to run for re-election in 2020. The Beijing-friendly main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) made gains in the face of China’s increasing pressure on the island, which it sees as part of its territory to be reunified. Tsai has promoted Taiwan as a beacon of democracy in the region since she took office, pitching it as a counterpoint to China’s authoritarianism. Rights activists worldwide also lauded Taiwan after its top court voted to legalize gay marriage last year, the first place in Asia to do so, with the change due to be implemented next year. But analysts said Saturday’s vote showed mainstream sentiment was still uncomfortable with such reforms. “Taiwan is a conservative society and not quite ready for the progressive label it’s been given in some quarters,” said Jonathan Sullivan, director of the China Policy Institute at Nottingham University. Pro-gay marriage campaigners say they fear the new laws will now be weakened as the government faces conservative opposition. “The Taiwanese government needs to step up and take all necessary measures to deliver equality and dignity for all, regardless of who people love,” said Amnesty, urging authorities not to use the referendum as an “excuse” to undermine rights. Observers said the DPP’s shock defeat in local polls was an indictment of policies they felt had not helped ordinary people. Although GDP is rising in Taiwan, voters say they are not seeing the benefits and many have been incensed by cuts to pensions and public holidays. Some traditional DPP supporters had said ahead of the elections that they would punish the party as they felt tensions with China were damaging their businesses. The DPP leans toward independence and Beijing has upped military and diplomatic pressure since Tsai took office, unilaterally cutting all official relations. Tsai and the DPP repeatedly accused China of a “fake news” campaign ahead of the vote, which Beijing denied, and authorities are probing Chinese influence through campaign funding of candidates. Kerry Brown, professor of Chinese Studies at King’s College London, framed the result as a protest vote. “This is not a wholehearted endorsement of anyone else — just a sign of how much like other countries Taiwan now is — divided, very frustrated and looking for chances to protest,” he told AFP. Observers agreed Tsai’s re-election prospects had been severely weakened although some said she still had a chance to run, in the absence of an obvious successor. Tsai had described the vote as a chance for Taiwan to stand up to China, while the KMT pitched it as a no-confidence test. Analysts said that Taiwan’s sense of separateness from China was ingrained, but that voters wanted a cross-strait relationship that did not damage the island economically, a balance that successive governments have found difficult to strike. “(The electorate) remain attached to Taiwan’s de facto independence and democracy,” said Jean-Pierre Cabestan, professor of political science at Hong Kong Baptist University. “They want to see their purchasing power increase and their government to show more competence.”

taiwan
elections
democratic progressive party
tsai ing-wen
kuomintang
china


Singapore buzzes toward the future with plans to use drones for jobs from parcel delivery to security

Abstract: SINGAPORE - High-tech Singapore is planning to roll out a swarm of drones for tasks that include delivering parcels, inspecting buildings and providing security, but safety and privacy concerns mean the initiative may hit turbulence. Companies have already started testing the devices for commercial use, mainly in an area of over 200 hectares (500 acres) dotted with high-rise buildings and shopping malls, specially designated by the government for the trials. It is part of the affluent city’s drive to embrace technological innovation, as well as an effort to tackle a manpower shortage in a country of just 5.6 million, which relies on foreign migrant workers in many low-paying sectors. Commercial use of unmanned aerial vehicles is already taking off around the world, in areas as diverse as crop-spraying and surveying for insurance claims, but Singapore’s push represents a particularly ambitious bet on the technology. Singapore’s Civil Aviation Authority has got behind the project, saying it recognizes the potential for drones “to transform mobility and logistics,” and is working with industry players as it seeks to shape regulations for the sector. During recent tests, a drone buzzed through the air, snapping pictures of a tower block’s facade, trials for a system that could see laborious human inspections of the city’s ubiquitous high-rises replaced by automated checks. “Today’s existing building inspection process is extremely slow, expensive, tedious, prone to accidents, fatigue and human error,” said Shawn Koo, chief technical officer of H3 Zoom, a unit of the firm H3 Dynamics, which is behind the tests. Such inspections are typically carried out by workers from South or Southeast Asia, who hang precariously outside buildings on platforms suspended by ropes. The new system will see high-resolution images taken by drones and analyzed to check for defects, with inspections taking a few days rather than a few weeks, as they do at the moment. H3 Zoom hopes to fully launch the inspections next year. Drones are also being tested as robotic guards by local firm ST Aerospace. At its command center, screens show a simulated security breach in a fence. A black drone is deployed, which chases an intruder while transmitting live images that direct security officers toward him to make an arrest. Tests have also been carried out for drone parcel delivery while a hospital operator plans to use the devices to transport blood samples and specimens between its hospitals and central laboratory. But transforming the futuristic vision into reality faces hurdles. The prospect of having a drone suddenly whizz by your apartment or office has sparked privacy concerns in the land-scarce city. Angry Singaporeans called for police to investigate after a video circulated on social media in September showing a recreational drone flying close to a residential building, while some private condos have banned the devices. Koo from H3 Zoom conceded that many people still have “misconceptions” about drones: “Some might view it as a spying vehicle, others might think drones are out there to do harm.” Flying recreational drones is popular in Singapore, although permits are required in certain circumstances. But commercial drones present more challenges when it comes to safety, as they often fly over longer distances well beyond the sight of their human “pilots.” This requires flight paths to be planned and the use of private communications channels, while takeoff and landing sites must be built. “The main challenge is to address the risks to people on the ground and the risks to airplanes flying in the air, and the risks of colliding with a building,” Teong Soo Soon, program director of the UAV business unit at ST Aerospace, said. Despite the ambitious plans, it will be some time before all the ideas currently being tested are rolled out. Simpler tasks like building inspections and security surveillance look set to be launched commercially next year. But for situations where drones need to fly safely across Singapore — such as to deliver parcels — it could take three to four years as regulations are put in place, Teong said. Industry players nevertheless see a bright future and are already getting inquiries from as far afield as South America about their technology. “A successful Singapore story will help us promote our (drone system) internationally,” said Teong.


Japan's Tanegashima Space Center marks 50th anniversary of its first rocket launch

Abstract: MINAMITANE, KAGOSHIMA PREF. - A ceremony was held Saturday to mark 50th anniversary of the first rocket launch from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture. The ceremony commemorating the September 1968 event was held in the Kagoshima town of Minamitane, which hosts the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s space center. It was attended by JAXA President Hiroshi Yamakawa, astronaut Kimiya Yui and other agency officials, as well as local residents. “My dream is to travel from Tanegashima to space aboard a Japanese-made rocket,” Yui, 48, said in a speech. “I want to bring the people of Tanegashima who supported us, to let them have the chance to view the Earth from space.” Construction work for the space center started in 1966, well before the U.S. occupation of Okinawa ended and it was returned to Japan in 1972. Tanegashima was considered the most suitable location for the space center at that time because it was relatively close to the equator and there was no land east of the island. On Sept. 17, 1968, a 2.8-meter-long upper-air observation rocket lifted off from the facility, marking the first rocket launch from the center. This was followed in September 1975 by the launch of the Kiku-1 satellite on an N-1 rocket, which was achieved with technological support from the United States. Over the past 50 years, a total of 175 rockets have been launched from the space center, including the first H-2 rocket in 1994. Japan is developing the next-generation H-3 rocket series, aiming for the first launch in fiscal 2020. Engine combustion tests and other preparations are underway on the island.

tanegashima space center
rockets
kagoshima
japan aerospace exploration agency


In referendum, the Taiwanese vote to retain ban on food products from five Japanese prefectures

Abstract: TAIPEI - Taiwanese voters approved a referendum to maintain a ban on food products from five Japanese prefectures, imposed after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster, dealing a setback to the government of President Tsai Ing-wen and possibly damaging the island’s relations with Japan. The Central Election Commission website showed that a total of 7.79 million people approved the initiative against 2.23 million who were in opposition. The referendum result is legally binding and government agencies must take necessary action. The result dealt a significant blow to the Democratic Progressive Party government that proposed easing the ban after coming to power in May 2016, but backed away when the main opposition Nationalist Party (KMT) questioned the new government’s ability to ensure the safety of the imported products. Government officials responsible for the policy declined to comment on Sunday, only saying it was a matter for President Tsai to decide. Tsai announced her resignation as DPP leader on Saturday following her party’s disastrous defeat in key mayoral elections that day, races viewed as indicators of voter sentiment ahead of the next presidential and island-wide legislative elections in 2020. Some worry that the result of the referendum on Japanese food imports will have a negative impact on the island’s relations with Japan. Taiwan’s representative to Japan, Frank Hsieh, said the initiative was a KMT scheme aimed at undermining bilateral relations between Taiwan and Japan at a time when the two are seeking closer ties as a way of protecting themselves from an increasingly belligerent China. China is the only other country still restricting imports from Fukushima Prefecture and nearby Ibaraki, Gunma, Tochigi and Chiba prefectures. Farmers and fishermen in Fukushima Sunday called for further efforts to convince the public that their food is safe to eat. “All we can do is to work harder until people understand that our products are safe,” said Masao Koizumi, a rice farmer in Fukushima. The prefectural government of Fukushima has been conducting radiation checks on all rice produced in the prefecture. Since 2015, all shipments cleared the screening, with radioactive cesium levels below the 100-becquerel-per-kilogram limit set by the central government. “When people see the inspection readings, they will know that there is no threat of radioactive materials,” Koizumi said. Tetsu Nozaki, the head of an association representing fishery cooperatives in the prefecture, said, “We are disappointed, but we just need to make sure that we keep communicating the safety of our products.”

taiwan
fukushima
elections
radiation
fukushima no . 1


Japan to add hotel industry to foreign trainee program

Abstract: The hotel industry will be listed as lying within the scope of the type two trainee status under the government’s technical intern training program for foreign nationals, officials have said. The program has three statuses — type one for first-year trainees, type two for those in the second to third year and type three for those in the fourth to fifth year. Trainees who completed the type two program will be allowed to shift without examination to a new visa category planned under a bill to revise the immigration control law, which the government aims to enact during the current Diet session ending Dec. 10. The type one category, one of the two visa categories planned under the bill, would be granted to foreign workers with designated skills, including blue-collar workers, and the other for those with higher skills. The government estimates that 345,000 foreign workers would be accepted over five years under the type one visa category, of whom 45 percent would be those shifting from the type two trainee status. However, the scope of the type two trainee status does not include the accommodation and restaurant sectors, though both are among the 14 sectors that would be designated for the type one visa category. The addition of the hotel industry would therefore make it easier for the sector to secure workers under the type one visa category. The government is considering adding the hotel industry because demand for acquiring related skills in Japan is believed to be high in developing countries where tourism is a key industry, Akihiko Kanai, vice commissioner at the Japan Tourism Agency, told a Diet panel Wednesday.

hotels
foreign trainees
visas
foreign workers
foreign labor law reform


On Tokyo trip, tennis star Roger Federer says he's focusing on future with new sponsor Uniqlo

Abstract: Roger Federer said on Tuesday in Tokyo that his decision to end a 20-year association with Nike and embark on a new chapter with Uniqlo was influenced by the Japanese clothing company’s commitment to stay with him long after his playing days are over. While no financial details have been announced, media reports have said the new deal would be worth about $30 million a year, compared with the $10 million a year agreement Federer had with Nike. The 37-year-old, who has won 20 Grand Slam singles titles — a men’s record — signalled the end of his association with Nike in July when he walked out onto Wimbledon’s Centre Court dressed in Uniqlo apparel. Federer said the belief shown in him by Uniqlo’s CEO Tadashi Yanai and Executive Creative Director John Jay had been key. “John Jay in New York, where I had an event there, said it very nicely: ‘One day I will retire from tennis but I will not retire from life,’ ” said Federer, who was presented as Uniqlo’s new global brand ambassador. “Life will go on and Uniqlo and Mr. Yanai believed in me very strongly as being very important to their brand, even though maybe my playing days are going to come to an end at some point.” By incorporating Federer in their LifeWear range, Uniqlo appear to see the Swiss as a brand off the court as much as on it. One of Federer’s goals after he retires is to develop the charity work started through his foundation, which aims to empower children in poverty through education, and he said Uniqlo shared that vision. “Some people cannot go to school, even though they want to, some people do go to school but do not get a quality education, and so this is where the Roger Federer Foundation has tried to make a difference in the region of Southern Africa,” he said. Federer’s switch to Uniqlo comes at a boom time for Japanese tennis after Naomi Osaka claimed the country’s first Grand Slam singles title at the U.S. Open last month. Federer, a five-time winner at Flushing Meadows, praised the mental strength of the 20-year-old, who has also qualified for the season-ending WTA Finals in Singapore. “I think winning Indian Wells helped her to believe that she could also win another big title,” he said, referring to her victory at the Californian tournament in March. “I think she is a champion in the sense that she doesn’t shy away from the big stage,” said Federer, who is planning an exhibition match in Japan next year. “Indian Wells is the second biggest tennis court we have in the world and the U.S. Open is the biggest one. “She succeeded in both of them and that shows a winner’s mentality.”

tennis
roger federer
uniqlo
tadashi yanai


Japanese government to suspend some Suruga Bank operations over improper loans

Abstract: The government will order regional lender Suruga Bank to suspend some of its operations, possibly as soon as this week, as punishment for a series of improper share house loans, according to sources close to the matter. The Financial Services Agency will suspend the bank’s real estate financing operations for several months as a result of the findings by a third-party committee of lawyers released in September that management were involved in forgeries of loan screening documents, the sources said. Having conducted on-site inspections since spring, the agency has also found that the bank had serious flaws in corporate governance. The bank, based in Shizuoka Prefecture, will be allowed to continue its over-the-counter operations such as deposits and withdrawals. But the agency will request that the lender present a business improvement plan, the sources said. The loan scandal has led the bank’s founding family member, Mitsuyoshi Okano, to step down as chairman, while Akihiro Yoneyama quit as president to take responsibility in September. According to the report by the third-party committee, the improper loans were orchestrated by former senior management executive officer Haruo Aso, who pressured the screening department with orders to approve loans for people who had bought share houses for investment purposes. The bank fabricated documents, including bank balances, to smooth loan screenings for those seeking to invest in the share house sector. It also made false sales contracts with inflated purchase prices so it could extend loans in violation of an in-house rule that puts limits on loans at 90 percent of the purchase price, the report said. The scandal came to light because Smart Days, the operator of a women-only share house chain called Kabocha no Basha, or Pumpkin Carriage, in January ceased paying monthly rents it had guaranteed the owners of the properties due to low occupancy rates. Many owners who had bought the apartments with loans financed by Suruga Bank were then unable to pay back their borrowings. Smart Days went under in April. Suruga Bank said it had extended a total of ¥203.5 billion ($1.8 billion) in loans to 1,258 shared house owners as of the end of March.