Tokyo marks two years until Olympic Games amid concerns over heat and congestion

Abstract: One of the many challenges facing Tokyo as it prepares to host the next Summer Olympics is the possibility of a deadly heat wave like the one that has gripped the nation in recent weeks. With two years to go until the 2020 Games, Japan is experiencing one of its hottest summers on record. On Monday, the mercury hit 40 degrees Celsius in central Tokyo for the first time in history. If a similar heat wave strikes during the July 24 — Aug. 9 Olympics, the health of athletes, spectators and workers is very likely to be at risk during outdoor endurance events such as the marathon and cycling. Accordingly, the International Olympic Committee has approved a plan to hold some events early in the morning to avoid the heat, and its inspection team has said all venues will be analyzed to determine what further measures can be taken to mitigate the impact of the high temperatures. “We are mindful that we do need to prepare for extreme heat,” said John Coates, chair of the IOC Coordination Commission for Tokyo 2020, during a recent visit to Japan. “But this is not the first country to host games in extreme heat, and the effect of this is something I was addressing when I visited the rowing course.” In 1964, the last time the city held the Olympics, the event took place in October. In October 2017 the average temperature in Tokyo was 16.8 C, whereas in August it was 26.4 C. According to health ministry statistics the nation experienced a sweltering summer in 2010, when heat killed 1,731 people, and again in 2013, when 1,077 people died from heat-related complications as temperatures peaked at 41.0 C. This year, temperatures have soared above 40 degrees for the first time since 2013. As concern grows over health and safety aspects related to the staging of the games, organizers have responded with assurances that they will provide shade and large fans at security checkpoints as well as air-conditioned medical tents and rest areas. Organizers have also started distributing weather information and warnings to national Olympic committees to allow them to prepare for the summer heat and humidity. Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike said Friday that holding events in the early morning is “one option” but is still unlikely to be sufficient, adding that “everyone has to be involved” in coming up with ways to prevent heat-related illness. Another priority is improving transport. There is little doubt that Olympic and Paralympic-driven congestion will compound the already-packed trains and roads in the capital, which is home to more than 9 million people. Last year Koike launched the Jisa Biz program, which promotes staggered work shifts with the aim of reducing overcrowding on trains during peak hours. In 2017 a total of 320 companies participated, but this year the number of companies joining the campaign has doubled to more than 700. “I hope people feel that Jisa Biz is easy. I want to try different things, and ensure smooth transport for the 2020 Games,” Koike said. With congestion issues in mind, the Diet has enacted a law to temporarily move national holidays to coincide with the opening and closing ceremonies. While difficulties remain to be solved around heat and traffic issues, organizers say construction of new venues is progressing on time. During a media tour of the new Olympic Stadium last week in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, they said the project was 40 percent complete and was “going smoothly.” While Tokyo had initially touted a compact Olympics, the metropolitan government eventually decided to spread the games to existing venues across nine prefectures to reduce hosting costs. The games will feature a record 339 events in 33 sports, including four — karate, skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing — that are on the program for the first time. Baseball and softball are returning after being excluded from the last two Summer Olympics. The road cycling events will finish at Fuji Speedway, at the foot of the iconic Mount Fuji, while women’s soccer matches will be held in Miyagi Prefecture and Sapporo. Fukushima Prefecture will host the first event of the games — a softball match involving the Japan women’s team — to showcase the area’s recovery from the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster. Fukushima suffered heavily in the March 11 disaster, which killed more than 15,800 people. The torch relay, which will last 121 days, is set to begin in the prefecture on March 26, 2020. “The starting point of this Olympics has always been about helping the northeastern region,” said Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee president and former prime minister Yoshiro Mori in a recent interview. “We need to keep working toward showcasing our recovery from the disaster.” The Olympic flame is expected to be carried to all 47 prefectures before arriving at the Opening Ceremony on July 24. “The torch relay is what sets the mood in the run-up to the games, when Japanese people will realize that the Olympics are finally starting and that they are a part of it,” Mori said. “It will cost a fortune and it also takes many days, but I’m glad that I can take part in something that makes everybody happy. It’s the best way to set the mood for the games.”

temperature
tokyo 2020 olympics
japan heat wave


China vaccine scandal ripples through domestic market, threatens push for larger global role

Abstract: SHANGHAI - A vaccine scandal in China, which has hit a nerve in the country and prompted quick reactions from leaders in Beijing, is sending ripples across the wider domestic drug market while threatening to dent Chinese ambitions to play a larger global role. Shares in Chinese vaccine makers and biotech firms fell across the board Monday after Premier Li Keqiang slammed Changsheng Biotechnology Co. for having crossed a moral red line and called for swift action. The case erupted a week ago when Changsheng was found to have violated standards in making rabies vaccine. While there have been no apparent reports of people being harmed by the vaccine or having contracted rabies after receiving it, the regulator has already ordered Changsheng to halt production and recall all its vaccines. The case has gone viral in China, where sensitivity over food and drug safety is extremely high after a series of scandals over the last decade. Changsheng’s shares, which have lost 40 percent since mid-July, were suspended Monday. The scandal has sparked anger on social media and dealt a blow to China’s drug regulator, which has been struggling to clean up the world’s second-biggest drug industry and promote domestically made vaccines. It is also a setback for the country given it is looking to play a bigger role globally in the production and export of vaccines and other medicines. In a statement posted on the government’s website late Sunday, Li called for an immediate investigation and urged severe punishment for the companies and people implicated. He added the public needed clear information. “We will resolutely crack down on illegal and criminal acts that endanger the safety of peoples’ lives, resolutely punish lawbreakers according to the law, and resolutely and severely criticize dereliction of duty in supervision,” he said. The China Food and Drug Administration said in a statement that its investigation had found that Changsheng fabricated production records and product inspection records, and arbitrarily changed process parameters and equipment, in “serious violations” of the law. Changsheng said in a regulatory filing that the suspension of its rabies vaccine production would have a significant impact on its finances and that some regional disease-control agencies had suspended some of its other vaccines. An editorial Monday in the state-run China Daily warned that the case could become a public health crisis if it is not handled “in a reasonable and transparent manner.” “The government needs to act as soon as possible to let the public know it is resolved to address the issue and will punish any wrongdoers without mercy,” it said. Late Sunday, the official Xinhua News Agency ran an editorial calling for strict punishment for any violations, big or small, in the vaccine industry and for regulators to close loopholes and tighten oversight of the industry. The China Securities News also weighed in, saying listed companies have a duty to the public and to conduct business with integrity. “Cases like Changsheng Biotechnology, where laws and regulations are ignored and internal controls exist only in name bring a painful price,” it said. State media have said Changsheng made a public apology and recalled all their rabies vaccine available on the market.


A tale of those swayed by a Japanese anti-Korean fake news blog

Abstract: Last year, bar associations nationwide were suddenly flooded with about 130,000 letters seeking to punish lawyers who have expressed support for the subsidization of Korean schools affiliated with North Korea. The move appears to have been triggered by the blog Yomei Sannen Jiji Nikki, which loosely translates to ‘a diary on current affairs kept by someone with three years left to live.’ The blogger, who is considered a netouyo (right-wing internet activist), criticized the lawyers in question. Seeing it as a form of harassment, some lawyers are fighting back, filing civil suits seeking compensation from those who plagued them with undesired mail and obstructed their work. ‘Service to society’ One former reader, in his 30s, still remembers the first time he read a Yomei Sannen Jiji Nikki post that denounced both Korean residents in Japan and opposition parties who were seen as trying to destroy the country. Believing the blog spoke truthfully about matters that mainstream media outlets were failing to report, the man began to check the site numerous times per day. The blog, kept by an unidentified person, asserted, “At a time when the United Nations is adopting sanctions, resolutions (against North Korea), a group demanding subsidies (for the schools) is indeed a group supporting terrorists.” The blogger was reacting to public statements released in 2016 by the Japan Federation of Bar Associations and several local bar associations criticizing local governments’ moves to stop paying subsidies to Korean schools due to Pyongyang’s repeated missile launches and nuclear tests. A statement issued by the federation said the schools are “attended by children of people with roots in the Korean Peninsula who have settled in Japan for historical reasons and are members of Japanese society. … Stopping subsidies for political reasons would violate those children’s right to study.” The blogger provided a list of 21 bar associations and the names of involved and uninvolved lawyers, urging readers to convince them to be reprimanded for supporting Korean schools. In what the reader thought would be an act “of service to society,” the man told the blogger he would take part in the campaign, and the blogger mailed documents that he could use to file requests for disciplinary action. The names of the lawyers targeted in the campaign were already included in the papers, and all he had to do was sign his name, affix his seal and mail the documents to the designated addresses. Systematic abuses The blogger’s methods abused a technicality that was allowed under the Lawyers Act — anyone can demand punishment of a lawyer if he or she engages in a demeaning act. Once such a request is filed, a bar association must conduct an investigation, creating a burden for lawyers under investigation. The man who sent the letter was among hundreds of Japanese who flooded 21 local bar associations across the country last year with thousands of letters demanding disciplinary action against the lawyers, all citing the same reason: their siding with Korean schools over the subsidy issue. The number of requests rose to about 130,000 last year, compared to around 1,000 to 3,000 in an average year, and most concerned Korean schools, according to a tally by the federation. Moreover, the letters regarding the Korean school issue used similar language, suggesting they were all sent by readers of Yomei Sannen Jiji Nikki. The blog began calling for the punishment of lawyers around June 2017. Another former blog reader, who is in her 50s and unemployed, said she came across the blog around 2017. “Although I had been uninterested in politics before, I took an interest in the blog, believing it provided secret information,” she recalled. As she continued to follow the blog, she gradually started to harbor thoughts that she “must protect Japan from enemies” and eventually came to believe that the federation was “trying to disrupt Japan with malicious intent.” The man and the woman both admitted to campaigning against the attorneys on a whim and were later surprised to learn that some had decided to take legal action, saying the campaign constituted a hate crime against Korean residents. It was after reading other blogs denouncing Yomei Sannen that the two realized the rightist blog was making false claims. They came to view it as “like a religious cult.” They have sent letters of apology to 174 lawyers, saying that they demanded punishment “without understanding the system.” The woman says she still opposes spending public funds on Korean schools with ties to the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, also known as Chongryon. But she now believes it is “wrong to label all opinions that go against mine as being ‘anti-Japan’ and take a hostile view of them.” Cult following Popular blogger Ichiro Yamamoto said the Yomei Sannen blog is a netouyo blog with a cult following. Its readers include many middle-aged and elderly people who are isolated at work or at home and discover the internet is a place where they can feel engaged, he said. “If you feed such people with fake news about the existence of ‘enemies’ and conspiracy theories, they tend to jump at them so they can blame their own unhappiness and complaints on others.” According to Yamamoto, who is also a senior researcher at the Japan Institute of Law and Information Systems, netouyo sites attacking South Korea, China and some opposition politicians have been popular in recent years, with some of them being compiled into books. “They are beginning to be a business, raking in revenue from ads, donations and publications,” he said. “Their content gets increasingly extreme and biased (to gain reader attention).” Kenta Ikeda, a Sapporo lawyer who was targeted in the campaign, received a letter of apology from a man who petitioned for his punishment, saying he resorted to “discrimination (against Koreans) in an attempt to escape from the pain of not being recognized in society.” “A society where adults can be easily incited by the internet and be a party to discrimination is perilous,” Ikeda said. “If this problem is left unattended, we might see something similar to the Korean massacre at the time of the (1923) Great Kanto Earthquake at any time.” In the chaos that ensued after the quake devastated wide areas of Tokyo and surrounding areas, military and paramilitary forces killed many Koreans and Chinese, apparently acting on a rumor that they would stage an uprising. Many groundless rumors swirled at the time, including one alleging Koreans were poisoning wells.

internet
harassment
social media
ethnicity
racism
hate speech
zainichi


Gifu electronics firm Ibiden draws acclaim for its embrace of renewable energy

Abstract: As more firms shift to renewables to power their operations, electronics and ceramics components maker Ibiden Co., based in Ogaki, Gifu Prefecture, is drawing international attention as a forerunner in clean energy use. “Ibiden is the first company in Japan to pledge it will power all of its Apple manufacturing with 100 percent renewable energy,” client Apple Inc. said in a statement in March last year. Apple’s announcement suddenly put the century-old firm in the spotlight. Many global companies have started asking their manufacturing partners to transition to cleaner energy sources amid an increasingly pressing need to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide — a key contributor to global warming. Ibiden was founded in 1912 near the Ibi River as a utility, when business leaders in Ogaki looked to develop power sources to attract more companies to the region. Although its core business later shifted to the electrochemical industry, it still owns three hydroelectric power stations with a total generating capacity of 27,900 kilowatts. The 14,600-kW Higashiyokoyama power station, the company’s oldest that remains in operations, has been running since 1921. At the red-brick plant, a generator is driven by a water mill connected by a tall vertical shaft. “The (power station’s) impact on ecosystems including fish is limited,” said Ibiden official Kyoichi Yamanaka, who explained that the plant takes water from a small weir instead of building a dam. Apple also noted the firm’s eco-friendly approach. Following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, Ibiden started using solar power. Its total solar generation capacity, which includes use of panels that float on water, tops 11,000 kW. The company also owns 189 transmission towers and transmission lines extending 42 kilometers, and sells power — which partly offsets the electricity used at the firm’s factory. Ibiden does not disclose its total power consumption, but through hydro and solar power it produces electricity that can cover more than 70,000 households. “Considering the scale of the Ibi River, we have room to increase our power generation,” says Takuji Asai, 54, manager of the firm’s energy control unit. “We hope to utilize natural energy while handing down to future generations our technology and knowledge regarding electricity.” Similar efforts to go green in the Chubu region include those at a factory in the city of Fukui operated by Tokyo-based cable maker Fujikura Dia Cable Ltd. Since April, the factory has been powering its manufacturing with 100 percent renewable energy. Internationally, an initiative by businesses to declare commitment to 100 percent renewable power — dubbed RE100 — was launched in 2014, and Japanese companies such as Ricoh Co. and Sekisui House Ltd. have joined.

gifu
renewables
solar
apple inc .
environment
ibiden co .


Tojo was convinced of victory before Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, newly unearthed memo shows

Abstract: It was just hours before Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. In Tokyo, Prime Minister Gen. Hideki Tojo was “perfectly relieved” and “tipsy,” convinced Japan would win any conflict with the United States after having finished all the administrative procedures to wage war against American and British forces in Hawaii and Asia. In a meeting with two influential bureaucrats — Internal Affairs Vice Minister Michio Yuzawa and Army Vice Minister Heitaro Kimura — at the Prime Minister’s Office at 8:30 p.m. on Dec. 7, Tojo told them that Emperor Hirohito (posthumously known as Emperor Showa) was “not wavering” and showed no signs of “lingering regret” about the government’s decision to end diplomatic talks with the U.S. and Britain to avoid war. The revelations were uncovered in a five-page memo Yuzawa wrote that night that was discovered by Takeo Hatano, the owner of a secondhand bookstore in Tokyo. The memo’s contents were first reported by the Yomiuri Shimbun on Monday. The Japan Times confirmed the text later in the day. “I’m perfectly relieved. You can say we have already won (the war), given the current situation,” Tojo was quoted as saying in the memo, apparently referring to Hirohito’s endorsement of his war preparations. “This was a private chat. I think Tojo was saying what he was actually feeling,” said Takahisa Furukawa, a professor of history at Nihon University and one of two historians The Japan Times interviewed by telephone. Furukawa and another historian who examined the paper said the memo was exceptional in that it for the first time showed Tojo’s behavior just hours before the attack that triggered America’s entry into World War II. It also revealed that Emperor Hirohito — who had previously been very much concerned about any possible conflict with the U.S. — remained calm after effectively endorsing the government’s decision to wage war on the U.S. several days before Pearl Harbor, Furukawa said. Tojo, who was appointed prime minister because of his passionate admiration for and loyalty to Emperor Hirohito, has been widely described as having the personality of a bureaucrat rather than a decisive military leader. The memo, which quoted Tojo as saying that he was “perfectly relieved” after finishing the administrative procedures for launching the war and receiving the Emperor’s approval, appeared to lend credence to this view, Furukawa said. At the same time, Tojo appeared overly optimistic in his conviction that Japan would prevail even before the Pacific War had begun. The memo showed he was “very narrow-sighted,” said University of Shizuoka history professor Atsushi Moriyama, because Japan’s fate would ultimately be determined by a number of other factors — not merely the war preparations or an Imperial endorsement. “The memo vividly showed (Tojo) was very happy because the Emperor approved of his preparations,” Moriyama said. “This (memo) is invaluable” to understanding him and the situation in Japan in the days before the war. Moriyama pointed out that before the decision to go to war, top government and military leaders had maintained that Japan might be able to win some of the initial battles but doubted whether it could maintain this momentum for three years, given its limited resources, including oil. The memo suggested Tojo had dismissed such critical logistical issues once the Emperor endorsed the decision, he said. Ultimately, while the Pearl Harbor attack proved a success, Japan was eventually overwhelmed by the military might of the U.S., which was backed by its massive manufacturing capacity. Japan surrendered in August 1945 after most of its major cities were devastated by U.S. air raids and two atomic bombings. Yuzawa’s memo was dated 11:20 p.m. on Dec. 7, 1941, a few hours after the meeting with Tojo and shortly before the Pearl Harbor attack. He wrote that he recorded the day’s events because he “was deeply moved and felt honored” as he engaged in war preparations that he said would “determine the fate of the imperial state.” In the memo, Yuzawa quoted Tojo as saying: “If His Majesty feels any lingering regrets about the negotiations with Britain and the U.S., some of his expressions would look somewhat melancholic. But this can not be seen anywhere, which is a result of his determination.” Tojo was also quoted as saying that the entire military had prepared for the war under strict orders, based on the Emperor’s determination.

pearl harbor
hideki tojo
emperor hirohito
wwii


Heat wave sends mercury to all-time high of 41.1 in Saitama

Abstract: Japan recorded its highest temperature ever Monday as the mercury hit 41.1 in Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture, amid a deadly heat wave, the Meteorological Agency said. Scorching weather killed 77 people and sent more than 30,000 people to hospitals across the nation from July 9 to Sunday, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency and a Kyodo News tally. At least nine people died Monday. The heat wave also set a new record in Tokyo, where a sizzling temperature of 40.8 degrees was logged in Ome, the agency said. The record-setting heat wave comes just two years before Tokyo hosts the Olympics. The temperature in Kumagaya hit 41.1 degrees at 2:16 p.m., eclipsing the previous record of 41.0 set in August 2013 in Shimanto, Kochi Prefecture. The temperature also hovered near a record high in Tajimi, Gifu Prefecture, which saw the mercury touch 40.5 on Monday after hitting 40.7 on Wednesday, the agency said. The heat wave has been baking the nation for weeks while survivors of the rain disaster in western Japan continue to recover from fatal floods and hundreds of land slides earlier this month. Despite warnings about the heat across the nation, at least five people — all senior citizens — died in prefectures around Tokyo from Sunday to Monday, local authorities said. The victims included a 90-year-old man in Chichibu, Saitama Prefecture, an 89-year-old man in Namegata, Ibaraki Prefecture, and a 95-year-old woman in Sano, Tochigi Prefecture whose deaths are thought to have been caused by heatstroke. The other two, who also died in Saitama, were an 85-year-old woman in Kuki and a 72-year-old woman in Asaka. The Tokyo Fire Department dispatched ambulances 3,125 times on Sunday alone, the largest figure for a single day since it began emergency services in 1936, apparently due to a surge in the number of people falling ill from the intense heat. As of Monday, the number of people who have been taken to hospitals by Tokyo’s ambulances due to heatstroke this year stood at 3,544, already surpassing the 3,454 for the whole of last year, according to the department’s preliminary report. The intense heat has prompted the Meteorological Agency to issue advisories urging people to drink water frequently and take measures to prevent heatstroke. At a news conference Monday, the agency said the heat wave is expected to continue into early August in both western and eastern Japan. “Please be aware of heatstroke, and make sure to keep yourself hydrated and consume adequate salt,” an agency official said. Japan’s summers are notoriously hot and humid, and hundreds of people die each year from heat-related illnesses, particularly the elderly. But this year’s scorching weather came as a surprise and has since revived safety concerns about the 2020 Olympics, which will be held in July and August, typically the hottest months of the year. Olympic officials and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government are examining such measures as solar-blocking road paint and mobile misting stations to reduce the heat.

heat waves
weather
heatstroke
heat exhaustion
japan heat wave


Did fishermen in Iceland kill a rare blue whale?

Abstract: REYKJAVIK - Is it a blue whale or not? The slaughter in Iceland of what is claimed was a member of the endangered species has triggered outrage and left experts puzzled about its true identity. “There has not been a blue whale harpooned by anyone for the last 50 years until this one,” Sea Shepherd, an international nonprofit marine conservation movement, said in a statement on Wednesday. The group, which published photos of the mammal being butchered for export at an Icelandic whaling station on the night of July 7, said the fishermen “posed for photos next to and even on top of the whale in a sign they knew very well this was a rare blue whale.” But Icelandic experts are not completely certain whether it is indeed the world’s largest leviathan, which the International Whaling Commission has been protecting since 1966. They are also not sure if it could be the endangered fin whale, the second-largest animal on the planet, which can only be legally hunted in Iceland despite an international moratorium on whaling. Kristjan Loftsson, CEO of Hvalur hf, the whaling station that slaughtered the animal, said they did so believing it was a fin whale. Most of the fin whales killed are exported as meat to Japan. “We see blue whales all the time and identify them by their blowholes … but we leave them alone,” he said. For Gisli Vikingsson, a scientist at the Marine and Freshwater Research Institute in Reyjkavik, the butchered whale’s characteristics are similar to both the blue and fin whale. “There is a large dorsal side with a small dorsal fin like a fin whale. … This explains perhaps why it was hunted as such,” he said, adding its “size and markings on the side are like those of a blue whale.” He added the whale could even be a hybrid species resulting from cross-breeding between the fin and blue whale, which is a rare phenomenon. Since 1987, five such animals have been observed in Icelandic waters, and they are known to be infertile. All killed whales in Iceland undergo DNA tests after the hunting season and the results are released during the fall. However, due to the controversy surrounding this particular case, a test will be done earlier than planned and the results are expected at the end of July. But Sea Shepherd said the fishing crew that butchered the animal mixed its parts with previously caught fin whales, making “it difficult or impossible to locate during potential inspections by the authorities.” “This shows how inaccurate and imperfect this hunting is and there is no need to continue it,” said Sigursteinn Masson, Iceland representative for the International Fund for Animal Welfare. Should the killed whale be confirmed as a hybrid, then things could become even more complicated because there are no laws to protect them. “Hybrids are much more rarer than the blue whales,” Masson said.


Fukushima has high hopes for certified farm produce ahead of 2020 Games

Abstract: The Fukushima Prefectural Government has set its sights on promoting local farm products certified under Global Good Agricultural Practices (Global GAP), with an eye toward having them served to Olympic athletes in 2020. It will push locally grown produce including rice, cucumbers, tomatoes and peaches approved under the international standards for sustainable production and process management. The standards cover safety, environmental impact and the health, safety and welfare of workers and animals. To kick-off the campaign, it plans to hold a business meeting Thursday in Tokyo, inviting some 100 representatives from major caterers, hotels and restaurants expected to serve athletes, coaches and other officials at the Summer Games. Between July and October, Fukushima is typically the country’s largest supplier of cucumbers to Tokyo’s Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market, and the nation’s second-largest producer of peaches. The prefecture will look to promote its ability to offer a stable supply of those products and other items. Prefectural officials are planning to organize a fall tour for participants at the Tokyo meeting so they can visit Fukushima’s farmers and see how they are working to ensure food safety. As part of efforts to get rid of the stigma over its produce following the core meltdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in March 2011, the prefectural government launched a safety certification system in July last year. Known as FGAP, with the F standing for Fukushima, it certifies rice, vegetables, fruits, beans, soba, wheat and mushrooms under standards that are stricter than Global GAP when it comes to radioactive material. Prefectural officials hope to turn the Olympics into an opportunity to build stable relationships with food vendors so local producers can expand sales channels at home and abroad afterward. Meals to be served at the athletes’ village will be supplied by caterers chosen by the Olympic organizing committee. Caterers are required to use only ingredients that clear the standards designated by the committee, including Global GAP and Marine Eco-Label Japan — a Japanese initiative to certify marine products caught in sustainably managed fisheries. The prefectural government and agricultural cooperatives in Fukushima are working with an aim of becoming the top prefecture in terms of Global GAP certificates. To push for increased sales and consumption of Fukushima produce, the prefectural government and producers launched an association in June, with two-time Olympic women’s marathon medalist Yuko Arimori serving as an adviser. “We will make efforts to increase Global GAP certifications and promote the safety of Fukushima-made farm products so that they will be eaten by people at home and abroad during the Tokyo Olympics,” said Gov. Masao Uchibori. “We are determined to create an environment in which Fukushima products can secure a place on store shelves even after the Olympics.”

fukushima
agriculture
food
2020 tokyo olympics


Japan plans to launch advanced placement system in high schools

Abstract: The education ministry plans to establish a system that allows students at some 50 high schools to take university courses for credit, with the aim of developing human resources ahead of the advances expected in artificial intelligence. Advanced differential equations, data mining and other subjects in mathematics and science will be covered by the advanced placement system, which is used in the United States and other countries, ministry officials said. The ministry is set to choose at least one high school from each of Japan’s 47 prefectures over the next decade or so to adopt the program. The initiative was included in a report compiled by a ministry panel discussing education policies for coming generations. The ministry hopes the system will allow highly motivated high school students with excellent academic performance achieve even higher levels of education after entering university. It expects the students to take the university courses at their schools or online. To nurture personnel who can play active roles internationally, the ministry also plans to establish a mandatory program to have AP students study abroad, and another program allowing Japanese high school students and international students to take classes together in English. Details of the system, including the universities where the acquired credits can be applied, will be discussed later, the officials said.


Hiroshima mom waited three decades before she shared her A-bomb experience

Abstract: Ren Taoda couldn’t get over the regret she felt about denying her badly burned son water as they fled the fires in Hiroshima sparked by the atomic bomb. On Aug. 6, 1945, Taoda, then 30, was on her way home from visiting her husband at the naval hospital in Kure when the A-bomb detonated while she was headed toward the streetcar stop at Hiroshima Station in Matsubara (now part of Minami Ward) with second son Hiroo on her back. After being blown toward the station by the blast, nearly 2 km away, she lost consciousness momentarily but came to at the sound of Hiroo’s crying. Both had been badly scorched from behind by the heat wave generated by the blast. She picked up a blackout curtain blown off the nearby station and wrapped it around her wounded 2-year-old son. The curtain, along with his bloodstained underwear, are now on display at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Not a single day passed without her thanking Hiroo’s cries for saving her, but that was tempered by the daily regret she felt about not giving him any water. These painful memories prevented Taoda from talking about her experience with the bomb for decades. In the wake of the blast, Taoda tried to make it to her home in Senda (now part of Naka Ward), but the center of the city had been destroyed. After a while, they were taken by a rescue truck to a school that was being used as an aid station. Hiroo begged his mother for water, but she was reluctant to give him any because a rumor had spread that anyone with severe burns would die shortly after drinking water. Her son died that evening while she was watching over him, despite her own immense pain. Taoda had Hiroo’s body cremated and returned home with his ashes. It wasn’t until about 30 years ago, when Hiroo’s sister Matsuko Hasebe, decided to start talking about her own A-bomb experience, that Taoda decided to break her silence. She took the curtain, along with Hiroo’s underwear, out of storage and gave them to Hasebe, asking her to include her story in the testimony. Taoda, who died in 2009 at the age of 94, had kept the curtain and underwear until 2005, when she donated them to the museum 60 years after the atomic bombing. Each summer, Hasebe, who now lives in Uji in Kyoto, returns to Hiroshima to visit the museum, asking the staff to take her brother’s belongings out of storage each time. “Looking at Hiroo’s belongings brings tears to my eyes,” Hasebe, now 79, said. “Although he was very young, he tried his best to survive as long as he could.” She still clearly remembers her younger days, when she cheerfully played with her brother around the house.

hiroshima
ren taoda
atomic bombing
history
chugoku shimbun


Mazda restarts auto plants in flood-hit parts of western Japan

Abstract: OSAKA - Mazda Motor Corp. resumed operations at its plants in western Japan on Thursday in the wake of devastating flooding and landslides. Operations resumed at Mazda’s headquarters plant in Fuchu, Hiroshima Prefecture, and a factory in Hofu, Yamaguchi Prefecture, after the automaker confirmed employees would be able to reach work safely. The combined output of the two facilities, which had been closed since Saturday, accounts for about 60 percent of Mazda’s total auto production. There was no major damage, but the houses of more than 100 employees at the Fuchu plant were flooded. Hours at the Fuchu plant will be curtailed until July 20 due to adverse traffic conditions. Rival Mitsubishi Motors Corp. resumed operations Thursday at its plant in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, one of the hardest-hit areas, a day after calling a halt to ensure its workers were safe. In the meantime, major retail chains and logistic firms were trying to mend distribution networks severely damaged by torrential rain over the weekend, but progress has been slow. On Wednesday, 14 Seven-Eleven Japan Co. convenience stores mainly in Okayama Prefecture remained closed. To restore outlets in stricken areas, the company has been sending in bread products from Nara Prefecture by helicopter and bottles of drinking water from Shikoku by ship. Lawson Inc. saw 17 convenience stores remain closed mainly in Hiroshima and Ehime prefectures. Rival FamilyMart Co. said 15 stores mostly in Hiroshima had been shuttered. But the disaster-hit outlets are gradually resuming operations, the two companies said. Retailer Aeon Co. has been unable to reopen seven outlets, although a superstore in Ozu in Ehime is selling drinking water, sweet buns and underwear in front of its shuttered building. The government designated delivery trucks as emergency vehicles Tuesday. This has raised expectations that distribution networks in the afflicted areas will recover in the near future, though traffic jams and road closures may hamper the process. Among parcel delivery firms, Yamato Transport Co. has partially suspended operations in Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi and Ehime prefectures, as has rival Sagawa Express Co. in Okayama, Hiroshima and Ehime. Japan Post Co. has yet to resume service at 40 post offices in eight prefectures including Okayama and Hiroshima. Deliveries of letters and parcels have been delayed substantially in Kyoto, Osaka and seven other prefectures.

mazda
flooding
hiroshima
mitsubishi motors
disasters
west japan floods


Stone tools 2.1 million years old unearthed in China suggest human kin left Africa earlier than thought

Abstract: NEW YORK - Stone tools recovered from an excavation in China suggest that our evolutionary forerunners trekked out of Africa earlier than we had thought. Until now, the oldest evidence of human-like creatures outside Africa came from 1.8-million-year-old artifacts and skulls found in the Georgian town of Dmanisi. The new find pushes that back by at least 250,000 years. There have been other claims of even older fossil discoveries, the study authors said, but those remain unproven. “There may be older evidence in places like India and Pakistan, but so far … the evidence is not strong enough to convince most of the research community,” said study co-author Robin Dennell of Exeter University in England. “With this type of claim, for an early human presence in a region, the evidence has to be absolutely water-tight and bomb-proof.” “It’s absolutely a new story,” said archaeologist Michael Petraglia of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena, Germany, who did not participate in the study. “It means that early humans were getting out of Africa way earlier than we ever realized.” That exit came long before our own species, Homo sapiens, even appeared. The researchers believe the tools were made by another member of the Homo evolutionary group. “Our discovery means that it is necessary now to reconsider the timing of when early humans left Africa,” Dennell said. Hominins — humans and their extinct predecessors and relatives — are believed to have emerged in Africa more than 6 million years ago. They are thought to have left the continent in several migration waves starting about 2 million years ago. The first migrants were likely members of the species Homo erectus (“upright man”) or Homo ergaster (“working man”) — extinct predecessors of Homo sapiens (“wise man”), which first emerged about 300,000 years ago in Africa. The oldest known African fossil attributed to a member of the Homo family is a 2.8-million-year-old jawbone from Ethiopia. The items found in China include several chipped rocks, fragments and hammer stones. The 96 artifacts — mainly flakes made with rudimentary hammers, and likely used for cutting meat and other food — were dug up from 17 layers of sediment in an area known as the Loess Plateau, north of the Qinling Mountains, which divide the north and south of China. The youngest layer where tools were found was 1.26 million years old, and the oldest 2.12 million years, according to the study published in Wednesday’s journal Nature. The layers were used to date the tools, which are of a type known to have been manufactured by Homo species in Africa since at least 3.3 million years ago. So far, no hominin bones have been found. The team used paleomagnetism — minerals that show how the Earth’s magnetic field was oriented when they formed — to date the sediment layers, and so the artifacts found within them. The dates of geomagnetic reversals, when north and south flipped, are well known to scientists, and the movements of the magnetic poles and the continents can narrow down a date. “We were very excited,” said Zhaoyu Zhu, a professor at the Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, who led the fieldwork. “One of my colleagues suddenly noticed a stone embedded in a steep outcrop. After a short while, more artifacts were found — one after another.” The tools were distributed throughout layers of dirt, suggesting that our unidentified ancient relatives came back to the same site over and over, possibly following animals to hunt. Researchers also found bones of pigs and deer, but were not able to provide proof that the tools were used for hunting. Some experts not involved in the research think that the findings need to be considered with caution. “I am skeptical,” said Geoffrey Pope, an anthropologist from William Paterson University in New Jersey. “I suspect this discovery will change very little.” The problem, he said, is that sometimes nature can shape stones in a way that they look as if they were manufactured by hand. Scientists know, for example, that rocks smashed together in a stream can acquire sharp edges. But Sonia Harmand, an archaeologist at Stony Brook University in New York who studies stone tools, disagreed. “This could be, frankly, one of the most important (archaeological) sites in the world,” Harmand said.

china archaeology evolution paleontology


Large-scale evacuation a key concern in the event of a major flood in Tokyo

Abstract: The large-scale evacuation of millions of people living across numerous jurisdictions is a crucial concern for government officials in preparation for the possibility of major flooding in Tokyo, officials and experts say. As advanced planning will be important in coordinating the movement of such large numbers of people, the central and local governments in the Tokyo area launched a commission in June to consider how many people would actually need to evacuate and where they should go in the event a significant flood hits the capital. The government says 1.76 million residents live in places below sea level, encompassing an area of 116 square km near Tokyo Bay and along the Edo, Ara and other rivers. In March, a panel of experts under the government’s Central Disaster Management Council estimated in a report that up to 1.78 million people in five Tokyo wards — Sumida, Koto, Adachi, Katsushika and Edogawa, where the combined population totals 2.55 million — may have to evacuate before a major typhoon strikes. That compares with the approximately 30,000 people who were forced to evacuate due to torrential rains in western Japan this month — an event which left about 200 people dead across 14 prefectures. “Currently, each ward, city, town and village has its own designated evacuation areas based on local disaster management plans, but we need to figure out which places would have room to accept evacuees from other municipalities,” a Tokyo Metropolitan Government official said. The commission is tasked over the coming two years with calculating exactly how many people would need to evacuate in case of major flooding or high waves in the metropolitan area. It also aims to identify which evacuation shelters outside the regions that are projected to be inundated will be available to take in evacuees from outside, and assign roles to related entities. “If the evacuation goes beyond administrative districts, the number of people who must take refuge will inevitably be very big and there are many related issues that also need to be addressed,” he said. “We will have to determine the ability (of areas outside flooded zones) to accept evacuees and how many people they can take, also considering situations such as whether they themselves are located near minor rivers or whether they are likely to be vulnerable to landslides.” The official also pointed to the need to arrange methods for the mass exodus, including via public transportation, and to consider how to mitigate the concentration of people at train stations and come up with ways to guide evacuees smoothly, especially in dangerous areas such as bridges above overflowing rivers. Authorities will have to seek cooperation from railway operators to expedite the transfer of people away from hazardous areas as quickly as possible and have police officers dispatched to control traffic to make sure streets do not get congested. The actions and awareness of individual residents are also important in ensuring their safety in the event of disasters. The official recommended that people obtain hazard maps of the areas where they live from local government offices so that they can learn beforehand about what potential dangers there are in their respective neighborhoods when catastrophes occur and where the evacuation areas are in their community. “If they need to evacuate, it is desirable for them to bring with them some food, clothes and water just in case — although they may be provided with them at the evacuation sites — so it’s a good idea to have some stocked regularly,” he said. “It’s also important for people to have the latest information that would help them decide whether or not to evacuate when a disaster is actually about to happen, so they should do their best to keep informed,” the official said.

evacuation
flood
tokyo
west japan floods


Japan population declines at fastest pace yet, with only Tokyo seeing significant growth

Abstract: While the country’s rapidly graying demographics again headlined the internal affairs ministry’s latest census, the annual report also highlighted the fact that only the Tokyo area is seeing significant population growth, due primarily to an influx of younger people. At the same time, a larger presence of foreign residents was observed in all but one prefecture. According to the census released Wednesday by the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry, the country’s population as of Jan. 1 declined from a year earlier at its fastest pace since 1968, the year the survey began. The population, excluding foreign residents, stood at 125,209,603, a record drop of 374,055 from a year earlier and the ninth straight year of decline. The number of registered foreign residents, however, rose to 2,497,656, up 174,228 from 2017. The report showed the number of foreign residents increased with students and technical trainees from overseas heavily contributing to the rise. Kumamoto Prefecture logged the greatest increase at 16.64 percent, due primarily to the prefecture’s active recruitment of foreign trainees to large-scale farms. Only Nagasaki Prefecture saw a decline, likely due to the completion of a shipbuilding project that had employed many foreign workers. The number of foreign residents is expected to increase further in the coming years, in view of a policy approved by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government last month to welcome more foreign workers to address labor shortages resulting from the shrinking population. The number of births nationwide fell to a record low of 948,396, below the 1 million mark for the second straight year, and deaths totaled a record high 1,340,774 in 2017, with deaths outnumbering births for the 11th consecutive year. People age 65 or older accounted for 27.66 percent of the population, up 0.49 point from a year earlier. Reflecting the country’s graying demographics, the proportion of people aged 14 or younger stood at just 12.57 percent. Takanobu Nakajima, professor of economics at Keio University, said Japan needs to thoroughly examine factors behind its aging society in order to find “fundamental solutions” for population decline. “The birthrates in Southeast Asian countries have also been falling and they cannot keep an abundant workforce in the long term. (Japan) could scramble to secure more workers in competition with China,” which is also dealing with a rapidly graying population, he said. Among Japan’s three largest metropolitan areas, only Tokyo and its vicinity — which includes Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa prefectures — saw an increase to its population. The survey showed the region was home to 35,443,084 people, or 28.31 percent of the national population. In Tokyo itself, the population jumped by 72,000, most among the country’s 47 prefectures, despite the Abe administration’s attempts to curb excess concentration in the capital. The population dropped in 41 of 47 prefectures, with Hokkaido recording the biggest overall decline by 34,805. Among the six that showed population growth, births outnumbered deaths only in Okinawa, while the rest — Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba and Aichi — saw their populations increase on the back of migration. Even large regional cities saw continued population decline, with half of 20 such cities seeing year-on-year drops in the number of Japanese residents. For example, the Japanese population in Kobe dropped about 5,000 from a year earlier to 1,496,055, continuing a downward trend that began in 2012. With deaths outnumbering births and many young people moving to Tokyo and Osaka in search of jobs, a Kobe Municipal Government official said, “It is difficult to make (Kobe) stand out from other areas, although we have been promoting our city to attract young entrepreneurs.” In Niigata, those aged 15 to 24 moving out of the city outnumbered those moving in, with many going to the Tokyo area for school or work. On the other hand, 187 cities in the country bucked the trend and succeeded in increasing their population, with some of them providing strong support for households with kids. Among the municipalities that saw population increases was the town of Hayashima, Okayama Prefecture, which offers free nursery services for some children ages 4 to 5 and weekly English conversation classes run by native speakers for elementary and junior high school students. “The entire community has been promoting education for children and I believe those interested in raising their kids in such an environment have moved in,” a Hayashima official said. In the city of Nagareyama, Chiba Prefecture, about 30 minutes by train from the capital’s Akihabara district, the population grew some 30,000 from 2005 to 183,083, thanks to the completion of the Tsukuba Express Line the same year. “The population has been growing in cities that have good transportation accessibility for commuters and reasonably priced real estate,” said a ministry official.

population
foreign trainees
immigration
depopulation


Ogasawara Islands: Remote witnesses on the front lines of Japanese history

Abstract: The Ogasawara Islands, also known as the Bonin Islands, have faced a number of unique — if not bizarre — developments over the course of history. Clustered in three groups, the volcanic, tropical chain of more than 30 islets about 1,000 km south of Tokyo looks hopelessly isolated on a map, and the only way to get to the main island is still by ferry, a 24-hour journey from Tokyo. But the chain, now inhabited by about 2,600 people, was a key junction during the wave of globalization from the 17th century to the late 19th century. The islands were witness to dramatic events that greatly affected the course of modern Japanese history, including the arrival of American Commodore Matthew Perry whose “black ships” eventually forced Japan to end its 214-year-old closed-door policy and embark on a course of modernization and Westernization. Given their strategic location, one of the islands, Iwo Jima — now officially called Iwoto — became a bloody battlefield in the closing days of World War II. “They were considered strategically important in World War II as sites for naval and airplane bases,” reads a passage in “Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia,” published in English by Kodansha Ltd. in 1993. Archaeological studies of ancient relics suggest some of the islands — including Kita-Iwoto, about 70 km north of Iwoto — were inhabited by humans around 2,000 years ago. But later, the islands were empty for hundreds of years. Who re-discovered them is not clear, but they were probably spotted by Westerners who were exploring the Pacific Ocean in the 16th and 17th centuries, aspiring to discover lands blessed with gold, silver or spices that would bring them riches. A Japanese legend says the islands were first discovered by samurai lord Sadayoshi Ogasawara in 1593, although historians say this is likely a fabricated story, given the errors and contradictions in materials left by those who claimed in the 18th century to be his descendants. In 1675, a 43-meter official exploration ship from the Tokugawa shogunate traveled to Chichijima and Hahajima. The crew drew up the first detailed maps of the islands and built a monument declaring that they belonged to Japan. But the shogunate didn’t effectively control the islands thereafter. In 1830, a group of five Westerners and 20 Hawaiians settled on Chichijima and Hahajima, including American citizen Nathaniel Savory of Massachusetts. Many of their descendants still live there. Commodore Perry visited the islands in 1853 while on his way to Tokyo, then known as Edo, with a mission to end Japan’s isolation. “The Commodore, having been satisfied of the importance of these islands to commerce, was induced to visit them, chiefly by a desire of examining them himself and recommending (Chichijima) as a stopping place for the line of streamers which, soon or later, must be established between California and China,” reads the official record of Perry’s journey to Japan, published in 1856. Perry also purchased a plot of land on Chichijima from Savory to store coal. Alarmed by the frequent visits by Western ships and the purpose of Perry’s journey, Japan declared the Ogasawara Islands part of its territory in 1876. This was endorsed by Western powers. Since that time, many Japanese have settled on the islands, building port towns based on agriculture, fishing and whaling. Many farmers grew wealthy because the tropical climate allowed them to grow vegetables unavailable on the mainland during winter. The combined population of the Ogasawara chain peaked in 1944 at 7,711. When the Pacific War began in 1941, the islands became part of the front line in the defense of mainland Japan. Many residents whose ancestors were Westerners faced discrimination and were often suspected of being spies. In 1944, the Imperial Japanese Army forced 6,886 residents to evacuate. On Jan. 29, 1945, U.S. forces started attacking Iwo Jima, leading to what became one of the fiercest ground battles of World War II. In October 1946, only the descendants of Western immigrants and their spouses were allowed to return. The total number of returnees was 135. Although the Allied Occupation officially ended in 1952, when the Treaty of San Francisco took effect, the Ogasawara Islands were held by the U.S. until 1968. Though thousands of residents were eager to go back after the war, their petitions were all rejected during the Occupation, and they were unable to step foot on their home islands until the 1968 handover to Japan.

ogasawara islands
matthew perry
world war ii
occupation


Transport networks across western Japan still crippled as death toll from downpours reaches 200

Abstract: Torrential rain across western Japan has severed transportation links in the region, with the discovery of more bodies on Thursday pushing the death toll up to 200. The number of casualties announced by the National Police Agency could grow further as more than 60 people are still missing, according to local authorities. The transport ministry said West Japan Railway Co. and other operators of 27 train lines suffered damage at more than 100 locations. As of Thursday morning, most of the railway companies had said they would be unable to resume service within the next few days. Some were struggling to gather enough people to check track integrity and facility conditions. “We have to prioritize (which train services) can resume, according to their importance,” a JR West official said. Over 60 of the damaged locations along the train lines have been hit by landslides, with many of them completely submerged. Many bridges and roads were also severely damaged, affecting distribution networks as well as routes to and from schools, officials said. More than 70,000 rescuers continued to search for missing people in the affected areas, including the hardest-hit prefectures of Hiroshima, Okayama and Ehime. About 6,700 people remained in shelters as of Thursday morning, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency. That number has dropped from Sunday’s tally of more than 30,000. Volunteers and supplies have begun to arrive in affected areas, although a local official in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, said there are “not enough people or vehicles” to distribute the abundant aid. “Since supplies have been given by people nationwide, we want to deliver them swiftly to accommodate the needs of evacuation centers,” the official said. As skies cleared across the region temperatures soared above 30 C in many places, raising concerns about possible heatstroke and the spread of infectious diseases among evacuees and rescuers as well as volunteers entering the areas. Some were already feeling unwell under the summer heat as they lined up in the open air for a water supply truck at an evacuation center in Mihara, Hiroshima Prefecture, despite the presence of a portable air conditioning device. To support efforts to maintain public health, the government’s Disaster Health Emergency Assistance Team started working in Kurashiki, also in the prefecture, in its first mission since its inception in March. “We want to demonstrate what we have been training for as a center for summarizing and resolving problems such as food poisoning at evacuation centers, and secondary harm accompanying prolonged evacuation,” said Yoko So, a doctor who leads the team of experts in public health. The government has set up a disaster response task force, and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will visit Ehime Prefecture on Friday. “I saw the tremendous scars (left by the rain),” Abe said following his visit to Okayama Prefecture on Wednesday during a task force meeting, while revealing that the government has secured about 71,000 dwellings as temporary housing for people affected by the disaster. Parts of the region saw as much as four times the average July rainfall during 11 days through Sunday, the Meteorological Agency said. Many locations logged their heaviest rainfall on record for 24-hour, 48-hour and 72-hour periods as a rainy front hovered over the region and a typhoon neared the archipelago, according to the agency.

transportation
rain
disasters
flooding
floods
mudslides
west japan floods


Mizuho to halt ATM, online banking services over three-day weekend

Abstract: Mizuho Financial Group Inc., the parent of Mizuho Bank, will temporarily suspend ATM and online banking operations over the three-day weekend starting Saturday to conduct data transfers. Services will be suspended from midnight Friday to 8 a.m. Tuesday to allow the group to conduct the second round of data transfers, part of its attempt to unify its core computing systems for banking. Mizuho Financial has an enormous amount of customer data, with about 24 million customers in its retail banking operations alone. The group plans to conduct nine rounds of data transfers over a yearlong period to securely complete the process after its banking unit experienced two massive system failures years ago. The first round was completed on June 11 without any hitches, but a glitch occurred later that month in a securities trading system separate from its banking operations.


Iceberg 4 miles wide breaks off from Greenland glacier as another threatens to swamp village

Abstract: LONDON - An iceberg 4 miles (6 km) wide has broken off from a glacier in eastern Greenland and scientists have captured the dramatic event on video. New York University professor David Holland, an expert in atmospheric and ocean science, said “this is the largest event we’ve seen in over a decade in Greenland.” A June 22 video of the incident was taken by his wife, Denise Holland of NYU’s Environmental Fluid Dynamics Laboratory. They had camped by the Helheim Glacier for weeks to collect data to better project sea level changes due to global warming. Holland said Wednesday that the time-lapse video, which is speeded up 20 times, shows “3 percent of the annual ice loss of Greenland occur in 30 minutes.” “It sounded like rockets going off,” he said, describing it as “a very complex, chaotic, noisy event.” While the couple is studying Greenland, he said that “the real concern is in Antarctica, where everything is so big the stakes are much higher.” In northwestern Greenland, another large iceberg has apparently grounded on the sea floor near the village of Innarsuit. Residents with houses near the shore were prepared to evacuate if necessary amid fears it would break apart and trigger flooding. The authorities have urged residents of the Innarsuit island settlement with houses on a promontory to move away from shore over fears that the iceberg, which was spotted on Thursday, could swamp the area. “We fear the iceberg could calve and send a flood towards the village,” Lina Davidsen, a security chief at the Greenland police, told Danish news agency Ritzau on Friday. The settlement in northwestern Greenland has 169 inhabitants, but only those living closest to the iceberg have been evacuated, Ritzau reported. “The iceberg is still near the village and the police are now discussing what do to next,” Kunuk Frediksen, a police chief in the Danish autonomous territory, said. Last year, four people died and 11 were injured after an earthquake sparked a tsunami off another island settlement called Nuugaatsiaq, sending several houses crashing into the sea.


U.N. readies to send teams to Myanmar's Rakhine after Rohingya return deal: official

Abstract: YANGON - The United Nations is preparing to send teams of experts into Myanmar’s Rakhine state to begin work aimed at eventually repatriating Rohingya Muslims who fled violence last year, the regional head of the U.N. development agency said on Thursday. The U.N. agencies for development and refugees struck an outline deal with Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s government at the end of May to allow Rohingya Muslims sheltering in Bangladesh to return safely and by choice. Haoliang Xu, the United Nations Development Programme’s director for the Asia-Pacific region, said U.N. officials were last week allowed to travel freely around northern Rakhine for the first time since August 2017. But an initial work plan still needed to be devised with the government before proper assessment could begin, Xu told Reuters in an interview in Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon. “You can say we are working with an extreme sense of urgency,” he said. “We’re also preparing in parallel to send in teams.” Those teams would assess the needs of an estimated more than 200,000 Rohingya and other communities who remain in northern Rakhine, he said. Myanmar’s main government spokesman Zaw Htay was not available for comment. Myanmar’s military launched a crackdown in the northern part of Rakhine in response to militant attacks in August, driving 700,000 stateless Rohingya across the border to Bangladesh. Suu Kyi’s civilian administration defended what it described as a legitimate counterinsurgency operation, and denied allegations of ethnic cleansing. It says it is ready to accept back those who fled. Xu said that the plan was designed to “create the conditions for return … by undertaking quick impact projects that will benefit the population who are still there,” such as cash-for-work projects, small-scale infrastructure improvements or agricultural schemes. The deal between the U.N. and the government was not made public, but a draft was seen by Reuters and also leaked online last month. Refugee leaders and human rights groups criticized the memorandum of understanding (MoU) for failing to give explicit guarantees that those who return will get citizenship or be able to move freely throughout Myanmar. The Rohingya, who regard themselves as native to Rakhine state, are widely considered as interlopers by Myanmar’s Buddhist majority and are denied citizenship. Xu said tackling these issues required taking “small steps,” and said Myanmar had committed to providing a “pathway to citizenship.

myanmar
rakhine
rohingya
bangladesh
ethnic cleansing
u.n .
unhcr


Ruling from your home: Inside Australia's micronations boom

Abstract: SYDNEY - Lounging on a sofa in his flowing robes, a gold crown resting on his snowy hair, Paul Delprat looks every bit a monarch. Delprat, 76, is the self-appointed prince of the Principality of Wy, a micronation consisting of his home in the north Sydney suburb of Mosman. Micronations — entities that have proclaimed independence but are not recognized by governments — have been declared around the world. One of the latest is Asgardia, started by the Russian scientist and businessman Igor Ashurbeyli, who in late June declared himself leader of the utopian “space nation.” The pseudo-states are particularly popular in Australia. The continent is home to the highest number in the world — about 35, out of an estimated total of up to 200. “For me it’s a passion, it’s an art installation,” said Delprat, a principal at a school of fine art, as a large painting of himself decked out in full regalia with his wife and children loomed above his head. “My favorite artist is Rembrandt, who loved dressing up. In a world where we haven’t sorted out our differences, art is the international language. … The philosophy of Wy is live and let live — and above all, laugh if you can.” Delprat’s homemade kingdom, filled with monarchical and historical paraphernalia, is, like some micronations, born out of a dispute with authorities. Blocked by the local council for more than a decade from building a driveway, Delprat seceded from Mosman in 2004. Instead of drawing the ire of authorities, he became a local celebrity — even attracting adoring fans from Japan. The rise of micronations hasn’t just stemmed from the relaxed attitude of Australian governments willing to tolerate the tiny fiefdoms as long as they pay taxes. Australians’ healthy disdain for authority — a source of national pride — has also fueled the phenomenon, says constitutional law professor George Williams of the University of New South Wales. “In Australia, there’s a strong streak of people wanting to thumb their noses at authority,” Williams said. “There is a bit of a ‘larrikin’ (maverick) streak here, a sense that this can be a bit of fun … and often they are hobbies that have got wildly out of hand.” Establishing a micronation is not without its hazards. John Rudge, the grand duke of the Grand Duchy of Avram in Australia’s southern island state of Tasmania, issued his own notes and coins in 1980 after writing a Ph.D. thesis about setting up a central bank. The government disputed his use of the word “bank” on the notes and took him to court, although the case was eventually dismissed, Rudge said. The country’s oldest micronation — the Principality of Hutt River, 500 km north of Perth — was set up by Leonard Casley in 1970 after a dispute with the Western Australia state government over wheat quotas. Prince Leonard, who owns some 75 square kilometers (29 square miles) of farmland — an area larger than that of more than 20 bona fide states, territories or dependencies — was last year ordered by a court to pay 3 million Australian dollars ($2.2 million) in taxes. Even so, the property reportedly makes a tidy sum for the now-retired prince, who handed over the reins to his youngest son, Graeme, last year as a tourist attraction. Other micronations use their realms to talk about good governance. George Cruickshank, aka Emperor George II, established the Empire of Atlantium as a teenager with his two cousins after being horrified by “confrontational” attitudes during the Cold War. The 51-year-old has built a government house, post office and even a pyramid on a 76-hectare patch of farmland 300 kilometers south of Sydney. He markets the empire on Airbnb as the only country that people can rent for just AU$100 a night, and uses his fame to promote his progressive globalist agenda. “The moment I put on medals and a sash and I become George II, Emperor of Atlantium, suddenly the media is interested by what I have to say,” said Cruickshank, who runs a Facebook group for micronation leaders. “I think the world generally is taking a temporary step backwards with this nativism, localism, Trumpism, Brexit. “Micronations offer a possibility to say, ‘Stop, take a step back, how could things be made better than they are now?’ “ The concept of sovereignty has also been a source of contention for Australia’s Aboriginal population. The “First Nations” of Australia, whose cultures stretch back tens of thousands of years, were driven off their lands when British settlers arrived in 1788. Two micronations — the Murrawarri Republic, which straddles Queensland and New South Wales, and the Yidindji nation in Queensland — have sought treaties with Australia that acknowledge their land rights. “They’ve never agreed to be dispossessed from those lands. In fact, many still reject the idea that the Australian nation was created on their lands,” Williams said. “They do often look at asserting their sovereignty through micronations and the like, because they want a better and more just settlement for them and into the future.”


Tainted water exhibition roves around Beijing as a reminder of the costs of China's rapid economic development

Abstract: BEIJING - At first glance, it may seem like just a black truck filled with bottles of water, but a closer look reveals a darker — or rather murkier — side to what’s sloshing around inside. Its cargo of more than 500 bottles of Nongfu Spring, a ubiquitous Chinese brand, filled with contaminated drinking water from the village of Xiaohaotu in China’s northwest Shaanxi province is being driven around Beijing as a reminder of the costs of the country’s rapid economic development. The mobile exhibition, created by “Nut Brother” — an artist known for advocacy work on environmental and social issues — was created in defiance after his initial show was shut down. Shocked by Shaanxi’s dirty drinking water during a work trip to the province in May, the 37-year-old enlisted the help of villagers to fill 9,000 empty Nongfu bottles and brought them back to Beijing, where they were installed in a museum. The exhibition caught the attention of Nongfu Spring Company and two weeks later, authorities from the Industrial and Commercial Bureau dismantled his display, removing most of the bottled water. The company later filed a complaint claiming his work infringed on its copyright. “Nongfu Spring literally means ‘farmer’s spring water’, using village farmers as a brand,” said Nut Brother — who does not reveal his name to the media. “But the reality is farmers don’t drink this water. A lot of their water is seriously tainted with pollution.” Nongfu Spring Company’s legal department refused interview requests and calls to their public relations team went unanswered. Large parts of China are blanketed in toxic smog and suffer from polluted waterways as a result of the country’s economic boom. While much attention has been paid to the impact of rapid industrialization on China’s air, the effects on the country’s water supply are less well known — and less visible. Across China, much of the water is “unfit for human contact,” according to a 2017 report by Greenpeace East Asia, and 14 of 31 provinces failed to meet water quality targets despite a nationwide push for improvement in previous years. “They’ve been drinking this water for more than 10 years,” Nut Brother said. The samples contain high levels of iron and manganese, which can be toxic in large doses, he added. “It’s not fit for consumption but the villagers have no choice.” The roving exhibit seems to have startled some visitors. “It’s shocking to know we have people who drink this kind of water,” one of the onlookers said. Another passerby bravely took a swig from the bottle. “You can definitely feel bits of the dirt,” he said. “It makes me feel very lucky to be able to drink clean water. Very lucky.”


Japan's homeless ranks down to 15-year low under 5,000, survey says

Abstract: The number of homeless people in Japan has dropped to a 15-year low below 5,000, according to the welfare ministry, which credited municipal and prefectural efforts to help them regain independence. As of January, the ministry said Friday, 4,977 people were living in places such as riverbeds or parks, down 557 from a year ago and under 5,000 for the first time since it began surveying the ranks of the homeless in 2003. “Support measures from governments, such as counseling, are believed to have produced certain effects” that reduced the number of homeless people, a ministry official said. The survey was conducted by having local officials patrol communities to spot people without permanent dwellings. More than 90 percent of the total, or 4,607, were men and 177 were women, but the sex of the remaining 193 was left blank as they were bundled up in clothing when they were found. Three-quarters of the homeless were observed in Tokyo’s 23 wards or other major cities. Tokyo had 1,242 homeless, followed by Osaka with 1,110 and Kanagawa with 934. Six other prefectures — Aomori, Akita, Yamagata, Nara, Shimane and Nagasaki — reported no homeless people. The ministry noted, however, that the actual number could be higher because the survey was based on informal observations. A homeless person would not have been included, for example, if he or she was elsewhere when officials strolled by to scan the parks and train stations.


Tokyo still world's largest city but Delhi forecast to pass it in 10 years

Abstract: Washington/New York - For now, Tokyo is still the world’s largest city with 37 million inhabitants in the metropolitan area, according to data released by the United Nations. But its population has plateaued and is projected to begin declining around 2020, while Delhi continues to ascend and is forecast to take over as the world’s largest city in 2028. Osaka is also forecast to drop down the list. The metropolitan area placed second in the U.N.’s report in 2000 with a population of over 18 million, but is forecast to slide to 15th by 2030 as growth flatlines. Population decline is widespread across the country. Between 2030 and 2035, 63 of the 1,800 urban areas in the world with a population of 300,000 inhabitants or more in 2018 are expected to shrink. Of which, 33, or more than half, are in Japan. By the end of the century there could be 50 million fewer people living in the country than at its peak. Years of low fertility, emigration, political strife, economic contraction and natural disasters have contributed to population losses in many global cities, according to the U.N. report. Besides Japan, most of the cities with falling populations are located elsewhere in Asia and eastern Europe, including Poland, Romania, Russia and Ukraine, where overall populations have been either stagnating or in decline. In the span of a generation, from 2000 to 2030, the population of many industrial cities is expected to fall significantly, including the Chinese city of Yichun, Youngstown, Ohio, and Hamhung, North Korea. Among the most populous cities in the 2000 report, some will see dramatic changes by 2030. The New York metropolitan area will be pushed out of top 10, while Paris, the only Western European entry in the top 20 in 2000, will place number 35 in 2030, with a forecast population of 11.7 million.


Dementia is pushing cancer out of the medical spotlight

Abstract: The media love cancer — what causes it, how to prevent it, who has it. Cancer is something that potentially touches everybody in a dramatic way, and therefore public interest is keen. There’s a lot invested in cancer, particularly in the area of early diagnosis. An article in the May 26 issue of Toyo Keizai discussed the industry surrounding cancer screenings , which some doctors now question. Although early diagnosis is considered vital, mis-diagnosis or, more significantly, “over-diagnosis,” is a serious problem, since it leads to unneeded surgeries or treatments that can be just as harmful as the disease itself. However, the article says that Japanese news outlets rarely if ever reports on these doubts, which are becoming more widespread in the international medical community. Toyo Keizai reports that too many doctors, nurses and technicians are involved in the business of cancer screenings in Japan. Various public corporations also exist, including the Japan Cancer Society, that “create a lot of work” that would be at risk if people didn’t receive regular cancer screenings, which generate ¥90 billion a year. The establishment of the Japan Cancer Society was supported by the Asahi Shimbun in 1958, and to this day the organization’s head director is always an Asahi Shimbun executive. In other words, one of the country’s major newspapers has a stake in the continuation and growth of cancer screenings. Due to cancer’s reputation as the star of diseases this situation is not likely to change, but in a sense it’s being nudged out of the spotlight by another illness — dementia. News outlets are now compelled to share their unconditional love with ailments such as Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer’s Disease International estimates there were 46.8 million people in the world with dementia in 2015. In Japan alone, there were 4.62 million patients in 2012, and that number is expected to increase to around 7 million by 2025. In a forum about dementia that appeared in the Asahi Shimbun on July 4, medical researcher Atsushi Nishida cited an article in the British medical journal Lancet that said one-third of all dementia cases could be prevented if nine factors were eliminated from people’s lives. Among these factors were a lack of educational opportunity during one’s youth and deterioration of hearing during middle age. The article was widely reported, but Nishida said there is “limited evidence” that removing these factors would have the intended effect. However, it is widely assumed that one of the factors, chronic loneliness, has an incubating effect on the development of dementia. “People think that isolation is an individual’s own responsibility,” says Nishida, “and therefore not a public health concern.” However, the British government, for one, has created a ministry portfolio to address social isolation. A lot of money is being spent on research into early diagnosis and new drug development, but Nishida thinks more money should be invested in social structures that would reinforce cognitive capabilities. In the same forum, Katsunori Kondo, a Chiba University professor in the field of preventive medicine, recommends exercise to combat dementia, and the government agrees. However, Kondo says current promotional campaigns don’t work well because people who are normally disinclined to exercise are not being persuaded to do so for the sake of preventing dementia, so he suggests combining exercise with social engagement activities. Such programs are expensive, but those costs would be offset by the money saved on dementia treatment. The third participant in the forum, Yuka Sekiguchi, is not a medical professional or an academic. She’s a filmmaker, and she disagrees with the other two participants, but not because she thinks their ideas wouldn’t work. Sekiguchi, who has made three documentaries chronicling her mother’s Alzheimer’s , feels that people with dementia are liberated by their disease. She describes her mother as a proper wife and good parent, but in order to fulfill these roles she gave up many things that might have made her happy. Sekiguchi isn’t being flippant. Every dementia case is unique and it’s not useful to “force” patients into a uniform program of treatment, as shown by the often abusive environment surrounding institutional care . Society says dementia is a “problem,” but it’s mainly a problem for family and friends. To Sekiguchi, her mother’s condition is, at worst, occasionally inconvenient. It requires adjustments. Sekiguchi lived in Australia for 29 years, but eventually moved back to Yokohama when her mother, Hiroko, showed signs of cognitive deterioration. With her sister’s family living upstairs in Hiroko’s house, taking care of her wasn’t a major nuisance, and the first two movies in the series, “Everyday Is Alzheimer’s,” which cover 2009 to 2013, are almost lighthearted in the way they address Hiroko’s condition as a continuum of minor eccentricities and major forgetfulness as Sekiguchi attempts to carry out “person-centered” care. In the latest and last installment, Sekiguchi expands her exploration of dementia to end-of-life considerations. The 61-year-old director herself undergoes two hip replacement surgeries, forcing her to confront her own mortality. She travels to the United Kingdom to learn about palliative care and to Switzerland to find out about assisted suicide. In this context, Alzheimer’s is a final step on the road to oblivion, which is the real issue and one the media avoid when they obsess over prevention and treatment of cancer and dementia. “Medical people talk about treating dementia, not the person,” says a woman in the film who runs an “open” home for people with dementia. Her patients “do what they want,” and when they can’t any more, they die, naturally. Meanwhile, Hiroko keeps going at age 87. Some might even say she’s thriving, despite her affliction. She lives to eat, as Sekiguchi often jokes, and no one stops her.


Recent flooding highlights power of social media in a disaster

Abstract: Online users in Japan followed the storms that lead to devastating floods and landslides in the western part of the country closely as they unfolded last week. The topic remained central to discussion on social media as the days went on and the full extent of the damage became clear . Many sprung into action as scenes from affected areas became more evident, and the incident highlighted the changing way in which internet publications and users themselves respond to events such as this. Specifically, it shows how good netizens have become at supporting those impacted by natural disasters, both during and in the aftermath of what happens. As it became clear early on how rough the situation was going to get, online news sites and Twitter users started sharing guides on what to do during a flood. This is becoming more common during the early stages of disasters — similar articles were published quickly after the recent earthquake in Osaka — and sites such as Buzzfeed quickly shared pieces detailing what to do in a flood zone , how to keep things disinfected during such an emergency and even information on toilets . Social media users shared links to other guides , including information for foreign residents . A Facebook group geared toward tourists even became an information center . In the days that followed, more and more information was published online, including places mothers with babies should go during evacuations and locations where people can go to access running water , among others. Television broadcasters also acted quickly, but in a situation like the one that unfolded in western Japan, speed and access is vital. The internet provides both, and information on TV can still be slow or misguided. One of the more noteworthy criticisms to appear online was aimed at Nippon TV, which aired an episode of “The Music Day” rather than coverage of the heavy rain. Many registered their disgust on Twitter. Nevertheless, that criticism paled in comparison to the outrage that followed the screening of footage taken by a Fuji TV cameraman who kept shooting instead of helping a man rescue an elderly gentleman from a vehicle that was sinking . More importantly, Twitter proved to be vital for many trapped due to rising waters. Many started using hashtags — listing specific places and words such as hanran (“flooding”) — to draw attention to areas where people were stuck . Netizens used Twitter as a general way to keep people online informed about the situation in hard-to-reach corners , while some even used the social media platform to ask for help more directly . To make sure things ran smoothly, some even made guidelines on how to avoid mucking up these efforts. Once again, many applauded sites such as Twitter during these disasters , as they moved quicker than more traditional platforms and allowed anyone a chance to note that they needed help. People residing outside of Western Japan were soon seeking out ways to help raise money to help relief efforts in the area. Yahoo! Japan offered up the first effort to really gain attention, with a system that allowed contributors to use credit cards or T-Points accumulated from everyday purchases. It helped that Hikakin, the most popular YouTuber domestically, made a video of himself donating a large amount of money via Yahoo!, which quickly climbed up the video sharing sites trending charts, inspiring others to also contribute some money (or virtual points). He inspired other YouTubers to make similar clips , while English-language uploads encouraged viewers to keep the situation in mind, while also providing regional sites collecting donations (of which there are many, including one to get more portable toilets into the region ). Celebrities did what they could online to help people out, too. Blouson Chiemi transformed her Twitter account into a place to disseminate helpful info and updates, from guides to flooding to updates on road conditions . Founding X Japan member Yoshiki further spread awareness of places where fans could donate funds, while also contributing a large amount of his own. Other notable names also did what they could to spread info , or even just offer words of encouragement to those in areas hit by the rain. The next step focuses on actual relief activities, which many online have been asking about. Those are starting to appear , with local cities asking for assistance and even mascots helping guide people to the proper organizations . The Huffington Post Japan made a guide on how to go about doing it, including info on which clothes to wear. There’s one area where further help might not be needed — the construction of paper cranes, which was the topic of debate recently, specifically on how they are more of a hindrance than a help. However, other avenues are well represented online, a reflection of the positive power that social media can have in a disaster.

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Media stews over growing Chinese numbers in Japan

Abstract: Since last year, immigration has been dominating the news in North America and Europe. Recently, it’s become a hot topic in Japan as well. Business weekly Shukan Diamond (July 7) ran a 34-page, three-part special titled “Nippon no Chugokujin: Zen kaimei” (The Chinese of Japan: A full clarification”). Its subhead reads, “The unknown world of Chinese in Japan.” As of June 2017, reported Diamond, the number of resident Chinese nationals, including those on short-stay or posted here by the government, reached 878,000. “Add to this the more than 100,000 kajin (ethnic Chinese) who have naturalized as Japanese and illegal sojourners, and they’re on the verge of passing 1 million,” the magazine remarks. “In less than 20 years, from 320,000 Chinese in the year 2000, they’ve increased approximately threefold.” “Year by year, it gets harder to grasp what’s going on with Chinese in Japan,” journalist Kei Nakajima, an author who studied in China and speaks Chinese, is quoted as saying. “This is not only owing to their growing numbers, but because they engage in a wider variety of occupations of which the quality has been improving. Only Chinese can resolve all the problems that crop up in China’s society, and for that reason, it’s become difficult for Japanese, who are on the outside, to see what’s been happening.” Around 2007, Chinese passed the combined figure of North and South Koreans (currently about 560,000) to become Japan’s largest foreign group. Diamond devotes a two-page spread to demographics, with data showing almost 1 out of every 3 foreign nationals in Japan is Chinese. In terms of age, they are comparatively young, with 58 percent between the ages of 20 and 39, and females considerably outnumber males, 57 percent to 43 percent. Broken down by visa status, 28.3 percent are permanent residents, 17.4 are on short-stay status, 13.7 are students, 9.6 are technical trainees and 8.3 percent are accompanying family members. A sidebar in Diamond quotes Li Xiaomu, a “guide” to Shinjuku’s sleazy Kabukicho district, who took Japanese nationality in 2015 and subsequently stood unsuccessfully for a seat on the Shinjuku Ward Assembly. He now operates a restaurant serving spicy Hunan-style dishes. “I am neither completely Japanese nor completely Chinese, so I can do things that other politicians can’t,” Li says. “I can convey the voices of foreigners to Japanese society, and can also persuade foreigners to ‘obey Japan’s rules.'” Prices of condominiums in Chinese cities have become so expensive, writes Atsushi Ozuka, that a pad in the vicinity of Kawaguchi in Saitama Prefecture, on Tokyo’s outskirts, is cheap by comparison. That municipality has become home to nearly 20,000 foreign residents, ranking it fifth overall nationwide. Part two of Diamond’s report examines the forming of large “neo-Chinatowns” around the north side of Tokyo’s JR Ikebukuro Station and Nishi-Kawaguchi Station in Saitama. Learning to love one’s neighbor is also challenging in multiethnic neighborhoods, as underscored by a plethora of cautionary Chinese-language signs spotted by the reporter, such as: “Please don’t loiter around here” (outside a kindergarten); “It is prohibited to remove carts from the store” (at a supermarket); “Please flush after defecation” (a public toilet); and “Please refrain from spitting off the veranda”(an apartment building). Spa! (July 10) focuses on Chinese who operate through large-volume, small-margin trading, by cornering the market on limited edition brand goods. They are referred to as tenbai-yā (resellers), with the yā extended to resemble the English word baiyā (buyer). Their modus operandi is to hire students or housewives to stand in long queues for limited edition items; they then buy as many as allowed. “Hot” items of late include rice wine from Niigata Prefecture, deluxe golf clubs, fishing rods and Balenciaga sneakers. “It means that nearly all types of limited edition goods don’t reach Japanese,” commented Yuki Okukubo, a freelance writer. “The consumer has the right to exchange his or her money for goods,” countered a reseller. “When the supply is insufficient, the manufacturer on the supply side should take steps to relieve the shortage. It’s not a problem for which we should be blamed.” Meanwhile, Sunday Mainichi (July 22) ran a three-page story titled “Tokyo is becoming Chinatown-ized.” Just as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been criticized for allowing Japan to become the 51st U.S. state, the magazine writes, if you walk around the area of Takadanobaba in Shinjuku Ward, you might conclude that a new state — or province if you prefer — of the “Chinese Empire” is on the verge of coming into being. Chinese journalist Zhou Laiyou, who has been based in Japan since 1987, tells the magazine: “At the time I first came to Japan, Takadanobaba was a student area with maybe two or three Chinese restaurants, which were operated by Japanese. Now things have really changed.” Last August, a new Sichuan-style eatery called Honkaku Panda (Real Panda) joined the dozen or so others clustered between the station and Waseda University campus, where some 3,000 Chinese students have matriculated. “Chinese married couples are attracted to places with a favorable environment for raising children,” observes a legal scrivener who assists Chinese in the neighborhood with their visa applications. “I’m under the impression that many of them are in fairly good shape economically and not driven here out of resignation.” Rissho University professor Kiyomi Yamashita offers an explanation of the distinctions between the old-style chukagai self-identified ethnic neighborhoods, such as Japan’s “big three” in Yokohama, Kobe and Nagasaki, with the “Chinatowns” (using the English word) that have been spontaneously springing up more recently in places such as Tokyo’s Takadanobaba, the north side of JR Ikebukuro Station, JR Kameido Station in Koto Ward and Nishinari Ward in Osaka. “If you take the long view, these ‘new Chinatowns’ are helping to invigorate local economies,” Yamashita said. “And I also suppose that as venues for exchanges between Japanese and Chinese, they will help sow the seeds of dispelling friction between the two nations.”


Inclusive approach needed as Kansai pushes U.N. development goals

Abstract: OSAKA - Over the past six months or so, efforts have been underway by local governments and private businesses to promote the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Numerous speeches are being made about what Kansai might do to contribute to lofty ideals like ensuring the world has access to clean water and proper sanitation, that children have access to education and that gender equality is achieved and women and girls are empowered. One senses that the interest has less to do with a sudden burst of altruistic spirit and more to do with political realities. Osaka’s leaders want the 2025 World Expo and were wondering how to spin their bid to make it appeal to the international community. Somebody came up with the idea of tying it to helping achieve the 2030 U.N. goals, and an international marketing campaign was born. However, Osaka and Kansai must now also think about the role of the SDGs in next year’s Group of 20 leaders’ summit in Osaka. This includes their own role in promoting and supporting those goals and pushing (very gently, of course) the Japanese government to consider whether SDGs of interest to Kansai-area firms could be put on the official G20 agenda. Water, sanitation and medical technologies, including pharmaceutical research, are areas related to the SDGs where politically powerful Osaka and Kansai firms have traditionally been strong. With international political and media attention now on the crisis of plastic waste in the ocean, especially the Pacific Ocean, Japan has said it will raise the issue with G20 members next year. No doubt Kansai firms and researchers in the sanitation industry are discussing how they might address, with technology, the issue of ocean garbage. But whether suggestions from Kansai governments, businesses and nongovernmental organizations on dealing with the plastic garbage crisis might include one that G20 nations, especially Japan, stop manufacturing so many plastic bags, bottles, and wrapping, or that local governments in G20 member states ban the use of certain plastic items, remains to be seen. No doubt, anything along those lines would immediately run afoul of politically connected businesses in Japan’s plastic industry. That is a problem when considering how Osaka, and Kansai, can influence the G20 members on SDG-related initiatives that are politically unpopular or opposed by certain corporate interests. There is much cynicism, often justified, on the part of those working to implement the SDGs about what 20 disparate nations operating by consensus can jointly agree to in Osaka, or anywhere else, to meet the 2030 goals. Yet within such cynicism lies an opportunity. Over the next year, Osaka’s leaders have a choice. In raising public awareness of the SDGs and attempting to get the Japanese government to adopt a proactive stance as G20 host, local leaders can be inclusive or exclusive. Inclusive means seeking the advice of those in Kansai’s large and diverse NGO and academic communities, regardless of whether they’re thick as thieves with local political and corporate bigwigs. It means — and yes, I know I’m being radical here — talking to Kansai’s large and diverse population of foreign residents about the SDGs. Especially members of the Kansai consular corps, foreign business groups, and foreign environmental activists. It means, in other words, doing something official Kansai, and official Japan, too often does not do, which is listen and take the advice of gaikokujin , which in this case simply means “anyone not part of our insular little group.” No one should expect miracles, of course. But it would be a shame if the only people in Kansai talking about SDGs and the G20, and influencing the agenda, are just the usual old men in suits.