Rethinking the age-old question of youth

Abstract: Japan used to follow a wonderful practice to mark old age: Everyone who reached their 100th birthday received a silver sake cup called a sakazuki . It’s certainly better than the tradition in Britain, where centenarians simply get a letter from the queen. The sakazuki gift was a nice idea when it was introduced in 1963. Back then, there was a certain rarity to it, as there were only 153 centenarians in the entire country. However, life expectancy has been increasing rapidly and Japanese in particular have started living longer. So many centenarians celebrated their 100th birthday in 2014 that an astonishing 29,350 sakazuki were sent out. It was getting out of hand. In 2015, the custom was cancelled. It’s just not unusual to reach 100 anymore. We hear a lot about Japan’s graying society, mostly centered around concerns about how the country is going to cope with so many elderly people. Already 1 in 4 Japanese is aged 65 or older, and the number of elderly people is increasing. However, here’s a fact that cuts through the usual concerns: A child born in Japan today has more than a 50 percent chance of living to be 107. One hundred and seven! We might be dimly aware that we will have to work for longer than our parents, but most of the implications of the extraordinary increase in human lifespan have yet to be addressed. Lifespan has been increasing by three months a year since 1840. We need to start thinking about what to do about it — not just how to care for the elderly, but on a personal level. We need to start making plans for our own long lives. This is the subject of a new book by Lynda Gratton and Andrew Scott, a pair of British academics at the London Business School. In “The 100-year Life” they consider the ways in which we should change our outlook on life to adjust for the fact that we are living for so much longer. There’s a well-known cognitive experiment that has people describe what they wish they’d known when they were younger. Gratton and Scott turn this cognitive experiment around. Instead of examining what you would say to your younger self, ask yourself what your older self might say to you. What advice might your 80- or 100-year-old self give you now? The idea is to bring home the importance of the revolution in lifespans we are all experiencing. We won’t be able to retire at 60 or 65 like our parents did. We’re going to live longer, so will need to save more money into our pensions before we stop working, probably (hopefully!) around 80. The younger generation will live even longer. Currently we think of life as having three main stages: education, work and retirement. However, we need to think of life as having multiple stages, perhaps with different periods of education to stay relevant and engaged with society as we get older. Gratton and Scott argue that rather than thinking of people being older for longer, we need to think about being younger for longer. They call this “juvenescence,” or the state of being youthful or staying young. It’s important to reframe our thinking in this way. Some of the problems our society faces today are that older people may be isolated, lonely and unfulfilled. By planning and altering the choices we make and the paths we follow as we age, we can help ensure that when we get older we are in a better place mentally and physically. Another serious concern, highlighted by the Nippon Institute for Research Advancement, is that as the population gets older, voters vote for policies skewed to their needs. Some 47 percent of voters in the country’s Upper House election in 2010 were 60 or older. The needs of elderly people are, of course, vital but the needs of the young shouldn’t be neglected. The National Institute for Research Advancement has warned that the bias toward older people will place a heavier burden on younger people. All this research is good. We are recognizing the problems, even if we don’t yet have solutions. We are also learning more about the genetics of longevity. An obvious way to investigate this is to study centenarians, so gerontologists — scientists who study aging — go to places where there is an above-average lifespan, such as the island of Sardinia in Italy, and Okinawa in Japan. A study published in the Journals of Gerontology: Series A found the Okinawan genome to be strongly linked to extreme longevity. In one study of 348 Okinawan centenarians born between 1874 and 1902, and 969 of their siblings, researchers were able to determine that there was a stronger genetic component to their old age than has been found in Caucasian centenarians. In centenarians in general, scientists have conducted what are called genome-wide association studies. This is a statistical test that determines which genes are linked to longevity in a person. Genome-wide association studies show that centenarians tend to lack genes linked to a number of diseases, in comparison with the general population. The spirit of juvenescence is probably best represented by an old saying in Okinawa, which is the poorest prefecture but the one with the longest-lived people. “At 70, you are still a child,” so the saying goes. “At 80, a young man or woman. If, at 90, someone from heaven invites you over, tell them to go away and come back when you’re 100.” Maybe the saying needs updating: “If, at 100, someone from heaven comes for you, tell them to go away and come back when you’re 110.” And bring a sakazuki bowl.


Plastic debris in oceans a growing hazard as toxins climb the food chain

Abstract: Plastic is part of the fabric of everyday life, from bags to bottles to synthetic clothing. In 2014, global production amounted to 311 million tons, up from 225 million tons in 2004, according to manufacturers group Plastics Europe. Plastic waste now litters the Earth, with much of it ending up in the oceans in the form of tiny fragments, or microplastics. Moreover, they absorb toxic chemicals and are being ingested by marine animals and climbing the food chain. Experts warn that the environmental and health impact of microplastics is huge. Microplastics were highlighted as one of the key challenges at the Group of Seven environmental ministers’ meeting in the city of Toyama in May. What are microplastics? Microplastics are defined as plastic particles less than 5 mm in diameter. Plastics are processed as recyclable waste, but large quantities are mismanaged and released into the environment. According to Hideshige Takada, a professor at the laboratory of organic geochemistry at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology and a foremost researcher in the field, 90 percent of microplastics come from plastics that we use in daily life that fall through the recycling system, such as plastic waste that blows out of trash bins and washes into rivers or fetches up on beaches. When exposed to ultraviolet rays in strong sunlight, plastics decay and break into small pieces. When they become tiny particles, they are easily carried offshore and accumulate in the oceans. Microplastics also originate in facial scrubs and other cosmetic products that use small particles of polyethylene known as microbeads. Measuring a few micrometers in diameter, microbeads have been widely used in the industry, but the Japan Cosmetic Industry Association in March issued a notice urging its 1,100 members to stop using them immediately. Synthetic clothes also shed microfibers, which are flushed from washing machines into waste water, and into streams, rivers and oceans. What types of plastics are in the ocean? There are four types, according to Takada. Polyethylene, which is used to make soft plastic products, such as lids for containers and bottle caps; polypropylene, which can be used in making hardware, rugs and bottles; PET for clear plastic drink bottles; and the polystyrene used in Styrofoam containers. How bad is it near Japan? The Environment Ministry says the amount of microplastics in the seas around Japan were last year 27 times the global average. China and Southeast Asia are among the world’s worst plastic polluters, as reported in a 2015 paper by Jenna R. Jambeck published in the journal Science. The paper estimated 4.8-12.7 million metric tons of plastic waste entered the ocean in 2010. Some of the plastic waste was believed carried on the oceanic Black Current and washed up on Japanese beaches. But that alone cannot explain the heaps of plastic waste in Tokyo Bay, Takada said, adding that large amounts of plastic consumed in Japan has reached its rivers and the ocean. What are the hazards? For decades, plastic debris has been known to injure seabirds and other marine animals, by clogging up or otherwise damaging their digestive organs. But in recent years, plastic and microplastic chemical hazards have emerged as a major issue. Many plastic products contain toxic additives to increase their durability, such as nonylphenol, an endocrine disruptor that can cause breast cancer or endometriosis. Microplastics also absorb pollutants from the ocean. Among the chemicals that stick to them are carcinogenic and highly toxic PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), industrial chemicals that were widely used in electric appliances until the 1970s, and PBDEs (polybrominated diphenyl ethers), which are used as flame retardants and affect thyroid function. “Such chemicals are hard to dissolve in water but are soluble to oil and fat,” Takada said. “Plastic is made from petroleum, which means it’s a form of solid oil.” Plastic resin pellets, the industrial feedstock of plastic products and a type of microplastic, have a high affinity for pollutants because they dissolve easily in oil. Concentrations of PCBs, for example, are 1 million times higher in pellets than those in surrounding seawater, Takada has written. Chemicals in microplastics have also been found to accumulate in seabirds, he said. Is there evidence of an impact on health? Not yet, in wildlife. A 2013 experiment by U.S. researchers found that medaka killifish fed microplastics for two months showed signs of stress in livers and developed liver tumors. But the concentration of microplastics used in that experiment was more than 10 times higher than in the environment, Takada said. The level of pollutants accumulated in the human body, therefore, is not yet high enough to pose a health risk. But if the volume of marine plastic debris continues to swell, the amount of chemicals we consume through food could eventually threaten our health, he added. What can we do? The first step is reducing our reliance on plastics by turning down plastic bags at retailers and reducing our consumption of one-use-only plastic water bottles. The 3R campaign — reduce, reuse and recycle — should also be stepped up, Takada said. The professor noted that retailers should also do away with excessive packaging and give consumers the option of biodegradable plastic containers or bags, even at a cost. Takada, in cooperation with other organizations, is now trying to develop cellulose nanofiber, a biomass material, as an alternative to plastics. But biodegradable plastics are not a cure-all, because what is biodegradable on land is often not in the ocean, where there is less bacterial action. A 2015 report by the United Nations Environment Programme, titled “Biodegradable plastics and marine litter,” warned against using biodegradables as a “technical fix that removes responsibility from the individual.” “Some evidence, albeit limited, suggests that public perceptions about whether an item is biodegradable can influence littering behavior; i.e. if a bag is marked as biodegradable it is more likely to be discarded inappropriately,” the report concluded. “On the balance of the available evidence, biodegradable plastics will not play a significant role in reducing marine litter.” Takada is asking people to mail him samples of plastic resin pellets. His team will analyze the pellets sent in from any beach from the world and send back data on the pollutants they contain, such as PCBs. For more information, visit www.pelletwatch.org .

ocean
plastic waste
microplastic
environment


Care facility staffers express concern over security following Kanagawa stabbing

Abstract: As Japan grappled with shock Tuesday following a mass murder carried out by a lone intruder at a care facility for disabled people, employees at similar facilities expressed concerns about their security as the industry is plagued by a shortage of workers. “I did not expect something like this to happen,” the director of a care facility in Tokyo said. “We don’t have a special security guard, and our staff at night is usually shorthanded. They were usually busy handling a heavy workload at night.” At around 3 a.m. Tuesday, Kanagawa Prefectural Police officers arrested Satoshi Uematsu, 26, after he turned himself in and said he committed the stabbing rampage at the Tsukui Yamayuri En (Tsukui Lily Garden) care facility in Sagamihara. Uematsu was reportedly a former employee at the facility, so he would be intimately aware of its layout and security procedures. At least 19 people were killed and a further 25 were wounded, including 20 who were still listed in serious condition as of Tuesday afternoon. “If he broke into the building by breaking a window, I believe it was impossible to stop the incident,” the director of the Tokyo care facility said. Tsukui Yamayuri En was set up by the Kanagawa Prefectural Government and is operated by the social welfare organization Kanagawa Kyodokai. It had 149 residents between the ages of 19 to 75 as of the end of June, according to Kanagawa officials. Many of the residents had mental and physical disabilities and were in need of constant care. Some also had visual and acoustic impairments. The facility is regarded as a core of the local community’s social welfare program and actively cares for people with relatively heavy disabilities who cannot be accepted by other care facilities. The facility is located in a greenery-rich area near Lake Sagami and has 21 buildings, including eight two-story dormitories, spread out over about a 30,000-sq.-meter plot of land. It has a total of 220 care givers, including part-time workers. When the incident occurred at around 2:30 a.m. Tuesday, there were eight care givers and one security guard on duty. The main gate of the facility and doors of each dormitory are usually locked at night, so the intruder must have climbed over a gate and broke into buildings to gain access, according to a prefecture official. According to police, Uematsu apparently smashed windows to break into one of the buildings. Security at the facility was relatively strong as it had a security guard at night, a former director of Kanagawa Kyodokai said. But each room inside the dormitories are usually unlocked, so intruders could easily reach residents if they had any intention of assaulting them, the director said. “If the perpetrator knew the facility well, I believe it was difficult to maintain security,” a staffer of another care facility said. A group of families with members with disabilities furiously denounced the perpetrator of Tuesday’s attack. “It was outrageous to harm people who are in need of support just for living,” said Masahiro Tanaka, 55, a board member of a Shiga Prefecture-based organization. “The only thing I can do is to pray for the victims.” According to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, there are about 2,600 resident care facilities for people with disabilities in Japan, with about 130,000 residents. There are no laws to stipulate the security of such facilities.

kanagawa
stabbings
mass murder
murder
disability
satoshi uematsu
sagamihara


Kanagawa attacker's motive: seeking spotlight or rage killings?

Abstract: Following the murder of 19 people at a care facility by a former staff member, experts are trying to determine the motivation behind the attack. In the leading hypothesis so far, the killer had anger management problems coupled with ill feelings toward people with disabilities. Satoshi Uematsu, 26, was arrested on Tuesday following the attack that also left another 25 people injured at the facility in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, where he once worked. “He may have problems coping with anger. Most people are able to control themselves, knowing they could face arrest or hurt others, even though they are upset, so they act more rationally,” said Kenji Omata, a criminal psychology professor at Surugadai University. “There may be something that happened to him recently” that triggered his murder spree, he said. For example, it is being reported that Uematsu visited the official residence of Lower House Speaker Tadamori Oshima in February, with a letter proposing lawmakers enact legislation that allows for the mercy killing of people with disabilities. “Since his letter was rejected, he may have carried out the murders to place himself (and his cause) in the spotlight.” He added, however, that he had choices other than to kill and he appeared to be acting rationally when he was shown on TV being transported by the police after the murders. “It’s reported that he had recently dyed his hair, and left his job in February. The change in his social status could have caused him to feel anger and frustration,” Oshima said, saying further examination of his relationships, particularly with his family members, is needed to fully make a determination as to why he acted out in the way he did. While mass murder is not completely unheard of in Japan, data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) comparing per capita deaths by country due to assault in 2012, the latest available year, ranked Japan as one of the four lowest, with a rate of 0.3 percent per 100,000, along with Iceland, Britain and Denmark. The rate had fallen from 0.4 percent in 2009. The latest statistics from the National Police Agency also show the number of reported cases of violent crime that includes killing has gradually decreased over the past several years, with 7,625 cases in 2010 and dropping to 6,453 in 2014. However, most mass killings are often committed by loners who have difficulty socializing with others. In one such case in September 2015, in Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture, a 30 year-old Peruvian man named Vayron Jonathan Nakada Ludena was arrested after entering three houses and stabbing six people to death. Co-workers at the deli food factory where he had been employed said he preferred to keep to himself and rarely interacted with others, even during breaks. In June 2008, Tomohiro Kato, 25, was arrested for killing of seven people and injuring 10 more in an incident where he drove a rented truck into a crowd of pedestrians in Tokyo’s popular electronics district Akihabara before jumping out and slashing and stabbing people. Kato was a temporary worker at a car repair factory in Shizuoka Prefecture. He was a constant visitor to online bulletin board where he posted numerous messages. During his trial, prosecutors said he had a strong sense of being ignored by society and the bulletin board provided his only escape.

murder
satoshi uematsu
sagamihara
stabbing


Sagamihara killings reveal shortcomings in law to control knives

Abstract: Tuesday’s stabbing rampage in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, has highlighted the difficulty of reigning in crimes involving knives, despite a recent revision to the Firearm and Sword Control Law. Knives have often been the weapon of choice in single-perpetrator mass murders in Japan, where gun ownership is strictly prohibited. In 2009, the government revised the law to effectively ban the possession of daggers and other doubled-edged knives with blades 5.5 cm or longer, in the wake of the indiscriminate stabbing of pedestrians the previous year in Tokyo’s Akihabara district. In that incident, 25-year-old Tomohiro Kato rammed a truck into a street crowd, running people over and then going on a stabbing rampage, killing a total of seven. Before the 2009 revision, the law banned swords, knives and spears with blades 15 cm or longer. In the Akihabara attack, Kato used a 13-cm dagger. Violators of the revised law face up to a three-year prison term and maximum ¥500,000 fine. It is not yet known what kind of knives Satoshi Uematsu, the alleged perpetrator of the Sagamihara stabbings, used when he attacked residents at Tsukui Yamayuri En, a care facility for people with mental and physical disabilities, in the early hours of Tuesday. Uematsu is reported to have been in possession of three knives, including a Japanese-style kitchen knife, when he turned himself in to local police shortly after the rampage.

sagamihara
knives
stabbings
kanagawa
murder
satoshi uematsu
disability


Man kills at least 15 in knife attack at Kanagawa care facility

Abstract: A knife-wielding man went on a rampage early Tuesday at a care facility for people with disabilities in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, killing at least 19 people and wounding 25 others, 20 of them seriously, in one of the worst mass killings in modern Japanese history. The Kanagawa Prefectural Police arrested Satoshi Uematsu, 26, after he drove to Tsukui Police Station and turned himself in at around 3 a.m. Tuesday, about 15 minutes after staff at the Tsukui Yamayuri En (Tsukui Lily Garden) facility had called police. Police quoted him as saying, “I did it.” “It’s better that the disabled disappear,” the police further quoted him as saying. Uematsu was also quoted by the police as saying, “There is no question I stabbed people who could not communicate well.” The police said Uematsu, a former employee of the facility and a resident of Sagamihara, showed up at the station with three bloodstained knives in a bag. The police initially arrested Uematsu, who is currently unemployed, on suspicion of attempted murder and unlawful entry. They were seeking to determine the motive for the attack, though it emerged Uematsu had been committed to a mental hospital after he made threats to kill people with disabilities earlier this year. Authorities said those killed comprised 10 women and nine men aged between 19 and 70. Uematsu is believed to have broken into the facility at around 2:30 a.m. by smashing a first-floor window, investigative sources said. A hammer was found nearby. They said he may have tied up some residents and staff as he went on the rampage. Eight staff members and one security guard were on duty at the time. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the government will do its utmost to get to the bottom of the incident, while Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga described the stabbing rampage as “highly distressing.” Earlier in the day, Kanagawa Gov. Yuji Kuroiwa offered “sincere condolences and an apology” to the victims and their families. The Kanagawa Prefectural Government, which administers the care facility, will do whatever it can to support the families and come up with measures to prevent a recurrence, Kuroiwa said. A Kanagawa prefectural official said Uematsu worked at the facility from December 2012 to February this year. On Feb. 14 and 15, he took a handwritten letter to the official residence of the speaker of the Lower House, in which he suggested he was planning to kill people at Tsukui Yamayuri En at night when the facility had fewer staff on site, according to the police. “I dream of a world where the disabled can die in peace,” Uematsu wrote in the letter. “I will carry out the plan without hurting the staffers, and I will turn myself in after I kill the disabled.” The letter also said he felt “sorry” for people with disabilities, many of whom were bound to wheelchairs for life. He further wrote that many of them had no contact with their family members. Uematsu had also been questioned by police on Feb. 19 for telling workers at the facility a day earlier that he would “kill the disabled,” according to Sagamihara officials. Uematsu was hospitalized after that until March on the grounds that he was a danger to others. At the same time, he quit his job. Traces of marijuana were detected in his urine when he was tested at the hospital, police said. While his neighbors described him as a courteous and helpful man, he also been accused of breaking the law. Police referred a case against him to prosecutors last December on suspicion of assault in a quarrel with a pedestrian in front of JR Hachioji Station, according to a Metropolitan Police Department official. According to its website, the residential care facility for people primarily with intellectual disabilities was set up by the prefectural government and run by a social welfare corporation. It has about 30,000 sq. meters of total area and can accommodate up to 160 people. As of the end of April, it had 149 residents between the ages of 19 and 75, with 40 of them believed to be over 60. All of the residents are classified between levels 4 and 6 in terms of the care they require, with 115 classified at level 6, the highest on the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry-designated scale. The facility is located about 50 km from central Tokyo near private residences and an elementary school. After news about the stabbing rampage spread, families of the residents as well as neighbors flocked to the scene to get information about the residents’ condition, saying they had received no information from the facility. “I called the facility and they said my son was hurt. But I can’t get in there and I have no idea what’s going on,” said a man in his 80s whose son, in his 50s, was living at the facility. Hospitals in the vicinity rushed to treat the injured, some of whom were covered in blood and moaning in pain. Kitasato University Hospital in Sagamihara, which admitted 13 of the injured, said that eight had suffered serious neck injuries. Tokyo Medical University Hachioji Medical Center said all four of the injured it admitted were unconscious and covered in blood. “We are conducting emergency operations and blood transfusions. We want to save them,” said Takao Arai, head of the center. “I have an impression that the perpetrator was deliberately targeting necks. I suspect he had strong intentions to kill.” The early morning attack was one of the worst single-perpetrator mass murders in postwar Japan. In 2001, a man entered an elementary school in Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture, stabbed eight children to death and wounded 15 other people. In 2008, a man rammed a truck into a street crowd in Tokyo’s Akihabara district, running people over and then going on a stabbing spree. The indiscriminate attack killed seven and injured 10. In 2010, a man set an adult video-viewing shop on fire in the Nanba district in the city of Osaka, killing 16.

kanagawa
disability
sagamihara
satoshi uematsu
stabbings
murder
mass murder


Support rate for ruling LDP up 2.6 points to 33.5%: poll

Abstract: The support rating for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party stood at 33.5 percent, up 2.6 percentage points from the previous poll conducted immediately after official campaigning kicked off last month for the July 10 House of Councilors election, a survey showed Wednesday. Meanwhile, the main opposition Democratic Party was supported by 10.4 percent in the latest poll taken from Sunday to Tuesday, little changed from the preceding survey. According to the nationwide telephone survey, the LDP’s coalition partner Komeito was supported by 5 percent, followed by the Japanese Communist Party at 4 percent, Initiatives from Osaka at 3.3 percent and the Social Democratic Party at 0.9 percent. Those who did not support a particular party stood at 32.8 percent, down 6.9 points from the previous survey. Among them, 14.5 percent said they would vote for the LDP in the proportional representation section, 8.9 percent named the Democratic Party and 4.2 percent backed the JCP. Each voter can cast two ballots — one for a constituency and the other for a proportional representation block. Among 18- and 19-year-old respondents, who became eligible to vote under the recently revised Public Offices Election Law, 66.3 percent said they are very or somewhat interested in the upcoming election, up 21.2 points from the survey last month. Across all age groups, 72.2 percent expressed interest in the election, up 4.6 points from the previous poll. Of the 53,324 people surveyed, responses were received from 43,271.

ldp
shinzo abe
komeito
constitution
diet
upper house election
japan


Party leaders make final Upper House election push

Abstract: Leaders of the major political parties denounced each other’s policies on the economy and the Constitution on Saturday as they wound down their campaigns for the House of Councilors election. While the opposition parties focused on blocking Abe’s lifelong ambition to amend the pacifist Constitution, his ruling bloc has downplayed talk of constitutional reform to avoid worrying voters and kept its focus on Abenomics, his struggling economic policy, despite the unclear outlook for the global economy. Addressing a rally in Tokyo’s Sugamo district Saturday, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged to bring prosperity to Japan. “Abenomics has by no means failed,” he claimed. Sunday’s election puts half of the 242 seats in the Diet’s upper chamber in contention, with the other half having been elected in 2013. A total of 389 candidates are running for the 121 seats up for grabs through a mix of constituencies and proportional representation. Together, Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party and the smaller Komeito aim to win at least half of the contested seats. Abe pressed the flesh in Sugamo after filming a video for Facebook earlier Saturday titled “Final Appeal.” “We must firmly protect this country called Japan, and rebuild the economy,” Abe said. Meanwhile, Democratic Party President Katsuya Okada, leader of the main opposition force, pledged in the capital’s Tsukiji area Saturday to “fight in the Diet, reflecting everyone’s voice.” “The prime minister uses the sheer power of numbers to steamroll (opponents) without proper debate,” Okada said. “We cannot let the LDP achieve any further victory,” he said. The Democratic Party has looked past its policy differences with the Japanese Communist Party and smaller opposition parties to back united candidates in all 32 of the contested single-seat electoral districts. The election has the potential to install enough pro-reform lawmakers from the ruling bloc and smaller parties in the Upper House to provide the two-thirds majority required to propose a national referendum on altering the Constitution. Okada warned Saturday that such a powerful majority would mean the country “will no longer be a normal democracy in which we debate (issues) in the Diet and build a consensus.” Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi slammed the opposition’s united approach at a rally in Kobe, saying the country cannot afford to entrust politics to the Democratic Party and Japanese Communist Party. “I can’t see them taking any responsibility after the Upper House election is over,” Yamaguchi said. Japanese Communist Party leader Kazuo Shii, Initiatives from Osaka leader Ichiro Matsui, Social Democratic Party leader Tadatomo Yoshida, People’s Life Party co-leader Ichiro Ozawa and Nihon no Kokoro wo Taisetsu ni suru To (Party for Japanese Kokoro) leader Kyoko Nakayama each extolled their parties’ values and promises in separate speeches Saturday. The Upper House race is the first national election in which 18- and 19-year-olds are able to vote, following an amendment to the electoral law that reduced the minimum age to 18 from 20. Another amendment has seen constituency boundaries redrawn to address a wide disparity in the relative weight of votes between electoral districts, which led the Supreme Court to label the last Upper House election as being “in a state of unconstitutionality.”

shinzo abe
katsuya okada
natsuo yamaguchi
2016 upper house election


English bar blocks cellphone signals, tries to get patrons talking again

Abstract: LONDON - A new English cocktail bar offers something truly old-fashioned on its menu: the chance to talk to real people instead of staring down your cellphone. The Gin Tub in Brighton has won rave reviews in its first week of business by installing a cell signal blocker and placing throwback rotary phones at its tables. They can be used to dial patrons at neighboring tables or the bar for another round. The Gin Tub is reckoned to be the only British pub blocking cell phones by using a Fara-day shield built into its ceiling, an exception in Britain’s 2006 Wireless Telegraphy Act that otherwise outlaws the use of signal blockers. Proprietor Steve Tyler said, “Mobile phones have killed pubs. When you go out socially, you don’t need social media.”


Sky diver becomes first person to jump and land safely without wearing a parachute

Abstract: LOS ANGELES - Luke Aikins, a 42-year-old sky diver with more than 18,000 jumps to his credit, made history Saturday when he became the first person to leap without a parachute and land in a net instead. He jumped out of the plane at 25,000 feet (7,600 meters), and after a two-minute free-fall, Aikins landed dead center in the 100-by-100-foot (30-by-30-meter) net at the Big Sky movie ranch on the outskirts of Simi Valley. As cheers erupted, Aikins quickly climbed out, walked over and hugged his wife, Monica, who had been watching from the ground with their 4-year-old son, Logan, and other family members. “I’m almost levitating, it’s incredible,” the jubilant sky diver said, raising his hands over his head as his wife held their son, who dozed in her arms. “This thing just happened! I can’t even get the words out of my mouth,” he added as he thanked the dozens of crew members who spent two years helping him prepare for the jump, including those who assembled the fishing trawler-like net and made sure it really worked. The stunt, broadcast live on the Fox network for the TV special “Stride Gum Presents Heaven Sent,” nearly didn’t come off as planned when Aikins revealed just before climbing into his plane that the Screen Actors Guild had ordered him to wear a parachute to ensure his safety. Producers for the show were not immediately available to elaborate on the restriction. He said he considered pulling out at that point because having the parachute canister on his back would make his landing in the net far more dangerous. If he had to wear it he said he wouldn’t bother to pull the ripcord anyway. “I’m going all the way to the net, no question about it,” he said from the plane. “I’ll just have to deal with the consequences when I land of wearing the parachute on my back and what it’s going to do to my body.” A few minutes before the jump one of the show’s hosts said the requirement had been lifted. Aikins left the plane without the chute. He jumped with three other sky divers, each wearing parachutes. One had a camera, another trailed smoke so people on the ground could follow his descent and the third took an oxygen canister he handed off after they got to an altitude where it was no longer needed. Then the others opened their parachutes and left him on his own. Aikins admitted before the jump he was nervous and his mother said she was one family member who wouldn’t watch. When his friend Chris Talley came up with the idea two years ago, Aikins acknowledged he turned it down cold. “I kind of laugh and I say: ‘OK, that’s great. I’ll help you find somebody to do it,’ ” he said while training for the jump. A couple of weeks after Talley made his proposal Aikins called back and said he would do it. He’d been the backup jumper in 2012 when Felix Baumgartner became the first sky diver to break the speed of sound during a jump from 24 miles (36 km) above Earth. The 42-year-old daredevil made his first tandem jump when he was 12, following with his first solo leap four years later. He’s been racking them up at several hundred a year ever since. His father and grandfather were sky divers, and his wife has made 2,000 jumps. His family owns Skydive Kapowsin near Tacoma, Washington. Aikins is also a safety and training adviser for the United States Parachute Association and is certified to teach both students and skydiving instructors. His business, Para Tactics, provides skydiving training to U.S. Navy SEALs and other members of elite fighting forces.


Tokyo NPO founder shows foreign residents how to survive disasters

Abstract: No one can truly be prepared for a calamity like the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, even for Japanese who have gone through disaster drills regularly since childhood to learn how to react. But for non-Japanese residents who don’t speak the language, the experience could be horrifying, not being able to understand news or instructions provided at evacuation centers that may prove critical to survival. And that was exactly what Motoko Kimura, 37, witnessed during the unprecedented quake, tsunami and nuclear crisis in March 2011, where damage in the Tokyo metropolitan area was minor compared with hard-hit Tohoku but fear was sky high. “Even foreigners who used Japanese on a daily basis were in fear, as they had no idea where to get information and trouble understanding what was reported on TV as the sirens blared outside,” Kimura recalled. This prompted Kimura, then a Japanese-language teacher on maternity leave, to get together with friends to launch a disaster-preparedness workshop in English for foreign residents in May 2011, offering practical tips on how to react when the next big quake strikes. What was originally intended to be a one-time event spread via word of mouth, prompting Kimura to found WaNavi Japan, a Tokyo-based nonprofit organization aimed at providing practical tips to foreign residents, soon after. The workshops it offers today provide tips on everything from using hospitals and the health care system to food safety, but disaster-preparedness is the most popular program. “As long as you live in Japan, you can’t avoid the risk of an earthquake,” said Kimura, who also serves as a visiting lecturer on emergency preparedness and Japanese culture at Hitotsubashi University Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy. “But by gaining knowledge, by knowing tips such as ways to react in times of a major earthquake, you can gain a sense of security. “I want people to be prepared before the next big quake hits Japan,” she said. Earthquakes are a fact of life in Japan, where thousands of small tremors hit every year. Since it is crucial to be prepared for natural disasters, children are taught how to act when a big earthquake hits through disaster drills held regularly at schools, kindergartens and day care facilities. But it is a different story for non-Japanese. According to a metro government survey from October to November in 2011, about 40 percent of non-Japanese residents said they had never experienced an earthquake before coming to Japan. Many also had no knowledge whatsoever of disaster-preparedness, Kimura said. “Basic knowledge of disaster-preparedness is hammered into our heads from childhood. But many non-Japanese don’t have that and some don’t know what to do when an earthquake hits,” Kimura said. Lacking the knowledge and language skills, some foreigners, especially those with children, became depressed during the triple calamity, feeling helpless and unable to protect their loved ones, Kimura said. Hoping to alleviate their anxiety, WaNavi’s workshop teaches participants not only how to respond when an earthquake hits, but also crucial Japanese phrases and kanji needed to understand emergency instructions. Non-Japanese often find it difficult to understand kanji, but the workshop utilizes pictographs to make them fun and easy to memorize. “At the end of the workshop, we let them listen to actual past NHK news reports or municipal emergency announcements. And they can understand what’s being said. They also started to recognize the kanji for words such as hinan (evacuation),” she said. “Through that experience, they become confident about living in Japan as long as they know those key points. “I was really happy when one of the participants told me because she now knew how to prepare for a disaster she no longer felt uneasy,” she said. Spending her childhood in Napier, New Zealand, where she was the only Japanese at her school, Kimura has long sought coexistence with people of other cultures. After graduating from Keio University in 2001, Kimura joined the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, where she worked on yen-loan projects to aid developing countries. During her years at JBIC, she met refugees from Sri Lanka, realizing for the first time how closed Japanese society was toward foreigners. That experience led her to turn her eyes to foreigners living in Japan, and mull ways to contribute to supporting people in need. Kimura started working as an intern at Japan Association Refugees, a Tokyo-based nongovernmental organization. After helping with the group’s Japanese classes and seeing the refugees’ faces light up, Kimura knew it was her calling. “I’ve realized how learning the language of the country you live in, and starting to understand things surrounding you, like what a sign says, can plant a seed of confidence in a person. It made a lot of sense to me to provide support and care for the refugees through language learning opportunities,” Kimura said. After being certified to teach Japanese, Kimura taught at a shelter for refugees in Kanagawa Prefecture and at Sendagaya Japanese Institute in Tokyo, until taking maternity leave before the 2011 calamity. Now, as the head of WaNavi, Kimura hopes to create more opportunities for Japanese and foreigners to interact and share each other’s cultures. In one such effort, the group organized events to celebrate days like Hina Matsuri (Girls’ Day) in March and Tanabata (Star Festival) in July, where both Japanese and international families gathered to share their cultures. “I want to create similar opportunities where both Japanese and foreigners can interact and learn from each other,” Kimura said. Key events in Motoko Kimura’s life March 2001 — Graduates from Keio University. 2001 to 2004 — Employed by Japan Bank for International Cooperation. 2005 — Moves to the Philippines to accompany husband. 2006-2007 — Becomes an intern at Japan Association for Refugees. 2008-2011 — Teaches Japanese at Sendagaya Japanese Institute and a refugee shelter in Kanagawa Prefecture. May 2011 — Establishes WaNavi Japan.

foreigners
disaster
motoko kimura
wanavi japan
3/11


Man arrested in fatal stabbing of woman in Hamamatsu

Abstract: SHIZUOKA - A 42-year-old man in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, was arrested early Friday morning for allegedly stabbing a woman to death on a street, police said. Kenichi Matsuzaka turned himself in shortly after the stabbing, which took place in Hamamatsu at around 10:20 p.m. A passer-by witnessed the attack and reported it to the police. Investigators are trying to identify the victim, who appeared to be in her 40s. She had been stabbed more than 10 times in the breast and neck, leading the police to believe the suspect had clear intent to kill. The woman was pronounced dead at a hospital. The male witness who reported the crime told investigators he heard a woman cry out in a loud voice. When he rushed toward her, he saw her covered in blood. When Matsuzaka turned up at the police station, he also had bloodstains on him, police said. The stabbing took place some 300 meters southeast of Saginomiya Station on the Enshu Railway in western Shizuoka. The area is dotted with rice paddies and residences.


Sunday's election likely to result in majority needed for constitutional revision: poll

Abstract: Sunday’s election may put Japan in a position to rewrite its Constitution, as lawmakers who support revising the contentious document are likely to win the required two-thirds majority in the Upper House, a Kyodo News survey has found. Released Tuesday, the survey showed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party and coalition partner Komeito are likely to win at least 74 of the 121 seats up for grabs in the election, surpassing Abe’s stated target of 61, a majority of the contested seats. With the addition of Osaka Ishin no Kai and independents thought likely to support constitutional revision, the bloc will likely comprise at least two-thirds of seats after the election. Constitutional amendments also require a two-thirds majority in the 475-seat Lower House, which the LDP and Komeito already have. On its own, the LDP could win at least 60 seats. By combining at least 57 of the contested seats with the noncontested seats it already holds, the LDP is gearing up to achieve a simple majority in the Upper House for the first time in 27 years, according to the survey. But the election outcome is far from certain, as more than 40 percent of respondents said they are undecided on either their constituency or proportional representation votes. Under Article 96 of the Constitution, revisions to the Constitution can be proposed by two-thirds of the members of each chamber of the Diet and must be approved by a majority of voters in a referendum. In the Upper House, at least 162 of the 242 lawmakers must approve it before putting the issue to a national referendum. The survey found Komeito is likely to gain ground with 14 seats, while Osaka Ishin no Kai is likely to win six seats. The four pro-constitutional change parties — the LDP, Komeito, Osaka Ishin no Kai and the Nihon no Kokoro o Taisetsu ni suru To (Party for Japanese Kokoro) — together hold 84 noncontested seats. If the four parties win 78 of the contested seats, they will reach the two-thirds majority. About 43,000 eligible voters responded in the three-day telephone survey. Two ballots will be cast each for constituencies that will account for 73 of the 121 contested seats, and for 48 seats through the proportional representation system. As for those against amending the Constitution, the opposition Democratic Party appears weak and is likely to win between 25 and 30 seats, below its 43 contested seats. The Social Democratic Party is likely to win just one of the contested seats, down from the two it currently has. The People’s Life Party and Nihon no Kokoro face an uphill battle. The Japanese Communist Party, meanwhile, is likely to gain ground by securing nine seats, up from three of the contested seats it already holds. The opposition camp is not faring well in the 32 single-seat constituencies, pitting an LDP candidate against a rival backed by four opposition parties, namely the DP, JCP, SDP and People’s Life Party. The LDP has the lead in around 20 of the constituencies as well as in constituencies where three to six seats are up for grabs. In the proportional representation system, the LDP could secure at least 20 seats and the DP at least 10.

constitution
japan
shinzo abe
komeito
ldp
diet
upper house election


Kyoto pushes to retrieve share of Imperial action to honor deep cultural roots

Abstract: KYOTO - When a young Emperor Meiji moved to Edo from Kyoto in 1868, many of Kyoto’s noble families were strongly opposed to his leaving what had been Japan’s capital and home to the Imperial family since 794. Those who traced their aristocratic lineage back to ancient times convinced themselves the Emperor was merely “visiting” Edo, and would one day return to his true home. The Emperor himself reportedly said he would return to Kyoto someday. But his departure also drained Kyoto of wealthy merchants, skilled craftsmen and artists, and intellectuals, all of whom followed him to Edo, now present-day Tokyo. Within a few decades, Kyoto was considered a stagnant backwater by a Japan that was racing to catch up with the West. But Kyoto never really gave up hoping that at least some members of the Imperial family would one day “come home.” Now, nearly a century and a half after the Meiji Restoration, during which the capital became Tokyo, Kyoto, a major international tourism mecca, is once again pressing its case for relocating part of the Imperial family there under the guise of a project local officials dub the “twin capitals” system, part of a larger vision for 2040 that top city and prefectural officials, as well as leading members of Kyoto’s business community, are supporting. The 2040 vision, revealed three years ago, includes the usual large-scale, bureaucratically managed construction and real estate projects with lofty names and vague goals that bureaucrats, politicians and their financial supporters in the construction and real estate sectors always love. It also emphasizes municipal support for the development of renewable-energy technology to generate electricity locally and make Kyoto nuclear-free by 2040. But another key goal is to further emphasize Kyoto’s role as an internationally recognized city of Japanese culture. One of the ways Kyoto wants to do this is through its “twin capitals” concept, in which Kyoto would become Japan’s official historical cultural capital and Tokyo would be remain its political and economic capital. That would mean moving members of the Imperial family to Kyoto. “As Kyoto has become the center of Japanese culture, Kyoto is the most appropriate city for Imperial family members to live in,” Kyoto Mayor Daisaku Kadokawa said in 2013. Other Kyoto officials insist that the reasons for the move are not only historical or cultural but also practical. “The twin capitals concept was born of the desire to have members of the Imperial family live not only in Tokyo, but also in Kyoto for the safety, security and prosperity of the Imperial household in the midst of a Japan that is dangerously over-concentrated in Tokyo,” Kyoto Gov. Keiji Yamada said in the report. Yuichi Ishizawa, a prefectural official involved with the project, said while efforts have continued since 2013 to achieve the twin capitals goal, none of the basic questions has been answered, including which members of the Imperial family might be persuaded to move and, most importantly, what their roles in Kyoto would be. Since 2013, an advisory panel consisting of Kyoto-based academics and others has met to discuss issues related to the twin capitals concept. The panel has suggested the royals might participate in Kyoto’s traditional cultural events, including festivals, as well as international conferences, and meet with foreign VIPs visiting the region. It’s also been proposed that their transfers to Kyoto be conducted gradually, starting with facilities that allow long-term stays of a week or month to be made for certain events before settling them in Kyoto permanently. What Kyoto wishes, however, would require approval from both the Diet and the Imperial Household Agency. Last July, Kenta Izumi, a Lower House member from Kyoto, raised the twin capitals concept in the Diet and called for more royal ceremonies to be conducted in Kyoto, although he did not specifically call for any member of the Imperial family to move there. In his reply, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga merely said the government was aware Kyoto was pursing the twin capitals concept but did not dismiss it out of hand. Behind the scenes, Kyoto politicians and business leaders continue to quietly lobby the central government on the issue. Recent reports that Emperor Akihito may abdicate in a few years may also affect the debate in coming months, although how, exactly, is unclear. Given Kyoto’s long history as the home of the Imperial family and Japan’s historical and cultural traditions, its political leaders are unlikely to abandon their quest to have some of the royals “return,” regardless of what the prime minister or the Diet of the moment might decide to do.

kyoto
emperor
imperial family
relocation


Osaka Ishin no Kai seeks less-provincial name as identity crisis festers

Abstract: OSAKA - Bowing to long-standing criticism that it must change its name in order to win over more voters, Osaka Ishin no Kai will select a new party name next month. For an organization based in Japan’s traditional business capital, Osaka Ishin officials showed a remarkable lack of marketing savvy, salesmanship and consumer knowledge when it created the national party last year and attempted to sell it to skeptical voters outside the region by rendering Osaka in hiragana instead of kanji. This was intended to differentiate it from the local political group, which has the same name but spells Osaka in kanji. This version of Osaka Ishin, they insisted, was not a place but a new brand name signifying a political philosophy that emphasized more regional autonomy, more efficient local government and a more prosperous local economy. As the Upper House election made clear, almost nobody outside Osaka bought that message. The party won only three single-seat districts, two of which were in Osaka. The other was in neighboring Hyogo, which is filled with former Osaka residents who commute there daily. In the end, Osaka Ishin remained fixed in the minds of voters elsewhere as a group of Osaka-based politicians promoting an Osaka-focused agenda in the Diet. The party’s new name will be formally decided in late August and various suggestions are being discussed. While some Osaka Ishin members worry that removing Osaka from the name will turn it into just another small party voters will ignore, others hope the new moniker will offer a new start and appeal to a broader range of people who might otherwise turn their noses up at the thought of casting a ballot for something named after “Osaka.” Osaka Ishin leaders have rejected various combinations of words and phrases that sound pretentious, pompous or strange when translated into English. The favored candidate is Nippon Ishin no Kai, or Japan Restoration Party. But that’s the just same name Osaka Ishin no Kai used before splitting last year with its Tokyo-centered faction. Osaka Ishin officials thus face the unenviable task of convincing voters that a new (but actually old) brand name represents a fresh new party that is still Osaka-based but still aspires to go nationwide.

osaka
party name
2016 upper house election


Lucky bug eluded eternal entombment in 50-million-year-old amber

Abstract: WASHINGTON - A chunk of amber found along the Baltic Sea in Russia provides evidence roughly 50 million years old of an extremely fortunate bug. An Oregon State University scientist on Thursday described a remarkable piece of amber — fossilized tree sap — containing a mushroom, a strand of mammalian hair and the recently shed exoskeleton of an insect that got away from the oozing sticky stuff in the nick of time, escaping eternal entombment. The tiny bug looks similar to insects alive today known as walking sticks, whose stick-like appearance provides camouflage that helps keep them safe from hungry birds and other predators. The amber memorialized a little scene that unfolded in an ancient subtropical forest of evergreen trees roughly 15 million years after the dinosaurs went extinct and mammals began to assume their new position as Earth’s dominant land animals. “The mushroom was growing at the base of a tree,” Oregon State entomologist and amber expert George Poinar said. “The insect was exploring the mushroom and getting ready to feed on it. A rodent came along, bit off the stem of the mushroom at the same time some resin from the tree was flowing down toward the mushroom.” “The resin caught the feet of the insect that was probably ready to molt and decided that this was a good time to leave its skin and flee. So now we have the rodent hair and the skin of the insect together with the prize mushroom in amber,” he added. “Gourmet chefs should not get too excited about this find since the mushroom is way to small for an omelet.” Numerous creatures have been found entombed in amber including insects, lizards, amphibians, mammals and birds, as well as plants including flowers. They are sometimes beautifully preserved and offer unique insight into ancient animals and plants. “Finding insects and plants together creates a minievent and shows interactions of the past that we couldn’t determine by finding them separately,” Poinar said. The insect was the type that would have shed its exoskeleton over and over before becoming an adult and likely lived just a couple of months. It is clear that the exoskeleton trapped in the amber had been recently shed because it contains fine strands that would not longer be present if it had molted a significant amount of time before being overtaken by the sap. The research was published in the journal Fungal Biology.


Tokyo to send top Foreign Ministry bureaucrat to Beijing on Monday

Abstract: The Japanese government plans to send the Foreign Ministry’s top bureaucrat to Beijing from next Monday for talks with his Chinese counterpart, in an effort to improve bilateral ties despite China’s rising assertiveness at sea, sources said Tuesday. During the stay through Wednesday, Vice Foreign Minister Shinsuke Sugiyama is set to meet Executive Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui and other senior officials of the Chinese government, the sources said. Sugiyama hopes to lay the groundwork for a resumption of dialogue between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping, possibly on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit to be held in Hangzhou, China, in September, they said. It will be Sugiyama’s first visit to China since assuming his post in June. As vice foreign minister, Sugiyama’s predecessor, Akitaka Saiki, last visited the country in July 2013. Sugiyama and Zhang are expected to discuss the ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague on Tuesday that said China has no historic rights to resources in the South China Sea based on its “nine-dash line” claim. The ruling sided with the Philippines, which brought the case. Japan said the ruling is “legally binding” and that all parties should comply with the decision, while China immediately rejected the verdict. Sugiyama’s visit will come as Tokyo has expressed concern about intensifying Chinese military activity, including naval operations, in areas near the Japan-controlled Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. The isles are also claimed by China, which calls them Diaoyu.

foreign ministry
japan
china
shinsuke sugiyama
south china sea
senkakus


Skydiver to leap from 25,000 feet without a parachute

Abstract: LONDON - American skydiver Luke Aikins will leap out of a plane at 25,000 feet (7,6000 meters) without a parachute and attempt to land safely in the California desert in a live television broadcast titled “Heaven Sent.” The married 42-year-old third-generation skydiver, who has made about 18,000 jumps in his 25-year career, will leap on July 30 and land on his back on a device that organizers would only describe as a “slide.” “I’m going to do something that’s definitely out there and most people in the world will think is crazy,” Aikins said on Monday. Aikins, who claims it will be a world record for jumping without a parachute, previously worked with Felix Baumgartner on the Austrian daredevil’s 2012 record sky dive, which started 24 miles (38 km) above earth.


SDP leader Yoshida to resign over Upper House election defeat

Abstract: Social Democratic Party leader Tadatomo Yoshida said Thursday he will step down as head of the small opposition party to take the blame for its poor showing in Sunday’s Upper House election. “I’m keenly aware of the responsibility (for the election showing) as the party leader,” 60-year-old Yoshida said at an executive board meeting. The board agreed to select a new leader before holding a conference of representatives of nationwide branches in early September. The party had aimed to secure two seats — one for Yoshida and the other for former party leader Mizuho Fukushima — in the House of Councilors election but only Fukushima was able to retain her seat. Party members also confirmed at the meeting they are in the final stage of negotiations with the People’s Life Party, another small opposition party, to form a joint parliamentary group in both the Lower and Upper houses, starting from the next extraordinary Diet session. The session is scheduled to be convened Aug. 1 to elect the Upper House president and vice president. Yoshida, who was elected as an Upper House member for the first time in 2010, succeeded Fukushima as party leader in 2013 and was re-elected to the post by default last December.

sdp
tadatomo yoshida
mizuho fukushima
2016 upper house election


One year on, gang splinter is tough to explain

Abstract: More than a year has passed since the country’s largest crime syndicate, the Yamaguchi-gumi, split into two. More than a dozen gangs defected from the Yamaguchi-gumi on Aug. 27, 2015, to form the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi, headed by Kunio Inoue, as a rival syndicate and, even now, the reasons for the breakup remain unclear. Although the first few months of what police have called a “turf war” remained relatively calm, the violence has escalated in more recent times. Both syndicates have been accused of throwing molotov cocktails into their rival’s offices and at least one senior figure has been gunned down in an assassination-style hit. The two gangs have been trying to negotiate a truce for months. As the anniversary drew closer, the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi launched what appears to be a PR offensive, with 49-year-old Yoshinori Oda acting as its spokesman. Oda has been featured in a variety of magazines and books, presenting the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi’s version of events. The Yamaguchi-gumi has remained relatively tight-lipped about both the split and the truce negotiations. The most recent issue of the Yamaguchi-gumi Shinpo, the organization’s newspaper, doesn’t mention the tensions but does devote space to the group’s charitable activities after the April 16 earthquakes in Kumamoto. A number of books and magazine articles on the reasons for the friction have been published but one of the most plausible explainations comes from a boss who reportedly retired from the Yamaguchi-gumi in 2013, writing under the alias “Kenji Sakurai.” In a 2015 book titled “The Collapse of the Kingdom,” Sakurai argues that the Yamaguchi-gumi was destined to break up long before its current leader, Shinobu Tsukasa, came to power in 2005. The impetus, he says, can be put down to an increasing willingness to ignore time-honored yakuza codes. Sakurai says that the Yamaguchi-gumi split in 1984 after the death of Kazuo Taoka over who would become leader of the group. One of the contenders, Hiroshi Yamamoto, broke away from the group, taking almost half its members to form the Ichiwa-kai. The Ichiwa-kai eventually lost the bitter all-out war, and Yoshinori Watanabe took over as leader of the Yamaguchi-gumi in 1989. Sakurai, however, believes that Watanabe was merely a puppet for Masaru Takumi, head of the Takumi-gumi. Takumi placed profit before honor and Sakurai effectively accuses him of doing anything for money. This, Sakurai says, includes selling methamphetamine the syndicate had purchased from Aum Shinrikyo in order to make a huge profit — something Taoka would never have approved of. Sakurai alleges that Takumi even had Hideo Murai, a senior member of the cult, killed on April 23, 1995, by a Yamaguchi-gumi member in order to cover up the ties. He claims Takumi eventually grew tired of having to work behind the scenes and decided that Watanabe needed to go. Sakurai claims Takumi first ordered a hit on Watanabe’s right-hand man and best friend, Taro Nakano, but the assassination attempt failed. Nakano eventually figured out what was going on and assassinated Takumi in 1997. In Sakurai’s eyes, Watanabe should have rewarded Nakano. Instead, Nakano was expelled. Sakurai goes on to describe a series of betrayals and failures by Watanabe before claiming that Tsukasa then forced him to retire in 2005. In doing so, he says, Tsukasa planted the seeds of his own downfall. Sakurai repeatedly claims the Yamaguchi-gumi troubles exist because members no longer follow ninkyodo , or “the yakuza code of ethics.” Senior members then kept demanding higher membership dues, which accelerated the split, he says. “Who could afford to pay the dues that the Yamaguchi-gumi top brass demanded? Only gangsters making money from fraud, drugs, loan sharks, thieves and robbers,” he says in a telephone interview. “Dealing drugs, common theft and so on were all things that used to be grounds for expulsion. These days, the only ground for expulsion is failing to paying dues.” Sakurai believes the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi broke away from the Yamaguchi-gumi in an attempt to restore Taoka’s code of honor. Shortly after the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi was founded, however, police raided its headquarters and arrested several members for running scams that targeted the elderly. The rival syndicates both try to claim the moral high ground for the breakup and each side has its own side to the story. In order to keep civilian casualties to a minimum, however, it’s probably better to be rooting for the police in this turf war.

yamaguchi-gumi
kobe yamaguchi-gumi
shinobu tsukasa
yakuza
kazuo taoka
yoshinori watanabe
organized crime


Residents want park where 47 ronin buried; man passes bar exam after 17 failures; birth rate drops due to superstition; USS Independence arrives

Abstract: 100 YEARS AGO Friday, Sept. 29, 1916 Residents want park where 47 ‘ronin’ buried Residents in Shiba are negotiating with the city authorities for the establishment of a park around Sengakuji, where the remains of the 47 ronin (masterless samurai) are buried. It is reported that the city is willing to support the plan, but the priest of the temple has not yet agreed to sell the temple and compound to the city. Sengakuji is one of the most famous spots in Tokyo, and thousands of people from the country as well as foreign lands visit the temple, but the temple itself and the century-old tombs of the 47 ronin have begun to suffer from the effects of rain and wind, and the scanty revenue of the temple is not sufficient to keep the temple and tombs in proper repair. It is the intention of the residents to establish a large park, with the temple in the center. The leading men in Shiba believe that if the temple is left in its present condition, it will be ruined in a few years, and immediate repairs are necessary to preserve the temple and tombs against the ravages of time. 75 YEARS AGO Thursday, Sept. 25, 1941 Man passes bar exams after multiple failures Among the persons who passed the 1941 bar examinations as announced by the Justice Ministry on Sunday was Hideo Watanabe, 44-year-old guard of the Fuji Film Co., Kyobashi Ward. Lawyer Watanabe won the crown after 17 consecutive failures. His hair turned gray, deep lines appeared in his forehead and his eyesight weakened greatly because of constant reading of difficult law books during the past 18 years since 1923 when he first sat in the bar examinations here. But nothing could stop him. “I have to pass the examinations. Yes, I must,” he said to himself when he came up to Tokyo from his hometown in Chiba Prefecture early this year. He knew that he could never become a lawyer if he should fail the examinations this year, for this was the last year he could take examinations under the Special Lawyer’s Qualifications Examination System that was instituted in Japan in 1923 in order to give chances to those who have no regular schooling like Mr. Watanabe. He did not intend to become a lawyer at first, however. In 1915, Mr. Watanabe entered the Army Preparatory School at Nagoya, but had to leave the school on account of a protracted illness several months before his graduation. He turned to helping his father run a sardine cannery in Hanomachi his hometown. The ambition to become a learned man, which never died out in him even after his departure from the Army Preparatory School, burned up again when his father Kinzaemon, who was once an unlicensed lawyer in the first years of the Meiji Era, advised him to take special qualifying examinations for lawyer in 1923. Firmly resolved to pass the examinations by all means, he again came up to Tokyo from Chiba Prefecture early this year and while working as guard in the Fuji Film Co., studied law books 24 hours a day. “I refrained from drinking and smoking. I quit playing go and Japanese chess steel myself for the examinations. I am happy that I have achieved my purpose at last.” 50 YEARS AGO Friday, Sept. 16, 1966 Birth rate plummets due to superstition The birth rate in Japan went down by as much as 27 percent this year because of the superstition that girls born this year are “undesirable.” This was revealed by a survey completed recently by the Health and Welfare Ministry on the birth rate for the first six months of this year. The year 1966 in Japan is a year of hinoeuma , according to the sexagenary cycle. Hinoe means “the elder brother of fire” ( hinoto is the younger version) and uma is the horse in the zodiacal cycle. About 200 years ago, the popular belief developed that a woman born in this year is of a “fiery character” and that she “devours her husband.” When a hinoeuma year came around last — in 1906 — a drop in birth rate was noted. But this year, it is likely to far surpass 1906’s. In 1906, altogether 1,394,295 births were reported, which meant a drop of 58,475 from the preceding year. During the first six months of 1966, altogether 658,456 births were registered, as compared with 955,974 of the same period of last year. This means a decrease 247,518 or by 27 percent compared with the same period last year. It is estimated that the total births in 1966 may be fewer than last year by from 500,000 to 600,000. One question may be whether the hinoeuma superstition will be found still very much alive when the hinoeuma year comes around next time in the year 2026. 25 YEARS AGO Thursday, Sept. 12, 1991 USS Independence arrives in Yokosuka The USS Independence arrived at Yokosuka, its new homeport, Wednesday morning. The aircraft carrier will replace the USS Midway, which will shortly be decommissioned. Citizens’ groups opposed to the deployment of the Independence staged rallies and protests from boats in the harbor. The 80,643-ton ship commissioned in 1959 and is able to carry more aircraft than the Midway. The 67,000-ton Midway left Yokosuka in early August after 18 years of service in Japan. The Independence, which now becomes the only U.S. carrier based outside of the United States, participated in the Vietnam War and was deployed to the Persian Gulf during the gulf crisis. Because the carrier, like the Midway, is capable of carrying nuclear weapons, the question of whether it is actually so armed has already been raised.

bar exams
birth rate
uss independence
sengakuji
law
hinoeuma


English heads for elementary school in 2020 but hurdles abound

Abstract: The Japanese school system’s English-teaching regimen will undergo a major revamp in the near future as the government tries to nurture more worldly talent in an age of globalization. The biggest transformation is expected in public elementary schools, where English will be taught as a formal subject for the first time, in conjunction with designated textbooks and formal grades. The change is scheduled to take place in 2020, after a two-year transition period. Will the revision raise Japan’s ability to communicate in English? Here are some questions and answers on the issue. What are the main changes? In 2020, English will become a mandatory subject for fifth- and sixth-graders, instead of a “foreign language activity” class where children are only expected to experiment with English by speaking and listening. This will double the annual number of English classroom hours to 70 from the current 35, and see reading and writing taught for the first time, according to a draft guideline released in August. Along with that change, the foreign language activity classes will become mandatory for third- and fourth-graders instead. Why is the government making English a formal subject? The decision was made because the current system failed to achieve the government’s target of making students fluent enough to debate or negotiate in English. Given the rapid globalization of the economy, the education ministry faced the need to upgrade the nation’s English skills. But discussions on the issue through the 1990s found many people opposed to teaching English in elementary school because they thought it would confuse children who hadn’t even learned their mother tongue yet. In 2002, the ministry introduced English classes in elementary school not as a formal subject, but as an option. In 2011, this had been turned into the foreign language activity class, with the main focus on giving fifth- and sixth-graders a chance to get familiar with English in a more casual environment, such as by singing or playing games. Despite these efforts, Japan is among Asia’s worst performers on the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language). According to the Education Testing Service, which administers the exam, out of 30 Asian countries with TOEFL examinees in 2015, Japan ranked fifth from the bottom, ahead of Afghanistan, Cambodia, Tajikistan and Laos. South Korea, where English became a mandatory subject in elementary school in 1997, ranked 10th. China, which followed suit in 2001, ranked 17th. As for speaking ability, Japan was at the bottom of the list. Will the change improve Japan’s English proficiency? Observers say that the quality of current language classes varies among schools, and that more children end up going to so-called cram schools to fill the gap. The formal introduction of English classes is expected to narrow the gap because they will all use the same textbooks. The government also hopes the change will make it easier to pursue higher-level classes in junior high school. Many parents are behind the change. According to a nationwide poll by education company Benesse Holdings Inc. last year on 1,565 parents of fifth- and sixth-graders, about 60 percent were dissatisfied with the foreign language activity classes. Roughly the same percentage said they were not even aware of what was being taught in them. Are there hurdles to making the new system work? Yes. There is a lack of skilled English teachers, observers say. Under the current system, most municipalities hire native English speakers or highly competent Japanese to support their elementary school staff, with some of the assistants playing leading roles. But when English becomes a formal subject in 2020, it is apparently the main teacher who will be running the classes. According to an education ministry survey in fiscal 2015, only 4.9 percent of elementary school teachers were licensed to teach English. Many didn’t even learn how to teach the subject because it wasn’t necessary to acquire their teaching licenses. The government started providing special training in fiscal 2014 to develop about 1,000 expert English teachers by fiscal 2018 who can train fellow teachers. But observers say that number is far from sufficient, considering that about 144,000 English teachers are expected to be needed by 2020. Haruo Erikawa, a professor of English at Wakayama University, said if the government is serious about beefing up elementary school English, it should use its budget to conduct thorough teacher training and secure a sufficient number. He also expressed concern that more training will only make things tougher for Japan’s already overwhelmed teachers. “In English education, the hardest part is teaching children who don’t have much knowledge of the language,” he said. “Without sufficient training, we can’t expect teachers to offer high-quality English education.”


Freezing of Tsukiji relocation plan draws cheers, jeers

Abstract: Hiroyasu Ito, chairman of the Tsukiji Market Association, has been “extremely shocked” twice in the past two weeks by the latest twist in the world-famous fish market’s relocation plan. The chairman of major fish wholesaler Chuo Gyorui Co. had seen subsidiary Hohsui Corp. invest ¥7 billion in preparations for the move from Tokyo’s Chuo Ward to the Toyosu district about 2 km south. But on Aug. 31, new Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike, elected July 31, suddenly announced that the Nov. 7 relocation would be suspended over soil pollution concerns at the Toyosu site. The second shock came on Sept. 10, when Koike revealed that the Tokyo Metropolitan Government did not place a layer of clean soil under the five main structures at Toyosu as promised, reviving public concerns about soil pollution at the Toyosu site. According to Ito, the fish dealers in his association have invested “tens of billions of yen” in the Toyosu relocation plan. “The construction of the buildings has already been finished. I’ve been so shocked,” Ito told reporters Tuesday at Tsukiji. “The metropolitan government doesn’t have the right attitude toward safety and public concerns. It should confirm that (the Toyosu site) is safe as quickly as possible.” Over the past 20 years, the fish wholesalers at the venerable 81-year-old Tsukiji market have been deeply split by the relocation plan. The flaws revealed by Koike will further deepen that divide and maybe even result in the project’s termination. At a news conference on Sept. 10, Gov. Koike didn’t rule out the option of killing the ¥588.4 billion project and instead refloated the idea of renovating Tsukiji — an idea that was eventually abandoned by the metro government over cost and timeline concerns. “I’ll wait for an objective judgment (on the safety issues). Then I want to choose the wisest way to spend” the taxpayers’ money, Koike said. The metro government came up with a controversial soil replacement plan under Shintaro Ishihara, who was governor from 1999 to 2012, to win over Tsukuji employees and customers who felt uneasy about the Toyosu site, which was known to be heavily contaminated with chemicals from a gas plant that stood there from 1956 to 1988. But Koike revealed last month that the 4.5-meter layer of clean soil that was supposed to blanket the entire Toyosu site was missing under its five main buildings, which occupy 13.4 hectares of the 40-hectare property. This means that about a third of the site has not been insulated by clean soil as set out in the metro government’s relocation plan. Metro bureaucrats say groundwater and air surveys show that the density of the toxic chemicals in Toyosu is below their safety limits, and experts say the current levels don’t pose any danger to human health. According to the plan, the top 2 meters of soil were supposed to be removed, decontaminated and returned to the compound to be topped by another 2 meters of clean soil. But this only occurred in areas other than where the five structures now stand. Koike’s disclosure has generated more doubts about the metro government’s construction work and upset the major fish dealers who decided to back the relocation project. As for the fish dealers, suspension or termination of the relocation project will cause huge financial losses. Hohsui has already begun chilling its newly built 23,000-ton storage warehouse in Toyosu to a frigid 60 degrees below zero. The cooling process cannot be halted because raising the temperature would severely damage the facility, a company official claimed. Wholesale merchants in Tsukiji are already calling on the metro government to compensate them for any damage caused by suspension of the relocation project. In the meantime, many small and intermediate fish wholesalers have welcomed Koike’s decision and a new investigation into Toyosu’s contamination problem. Intermediate businesses buy seafood from wholesalers for sale to retailers and restaurants. About 570 intermediate wholesale businesses now have shops at Tsukiji. “The problem is toxic gas. I don’t want to sell fish and work at such a place,” said Yukio Kato of Koei, an intermediate tuna wholesaler at Tsukiji. Benzene, one of the chemicals left in the soil and groundwater at Toyosu, transitions to a gas easily. “Unless every problem is solved, I won’t feel comfortable moving to Toyosu,” he said. Many Tsukiji fish dealers interviewed by The Japan Times said the facilities prepared for them at Toyosu lack features critical to handling fish. For example, the drain outlets in the floor are too small, even though fish merchants regularly use large amounts of water to wash away scales and small pieces of meat. Many also complain the shop spaces allocated to them are smaller than those at Tsukiji. The smallest shop compartment is 1.5 meters wide. Some tuna wholesalers have lamented they cannot even cut the huge fish in their own shop. Citing sanitary reasons, the metro government decided to separate the shop compartments with walls and shutters. This automatically narrowed the amount of space available for each shop. “People who don’t know anything about a fish market designed the Toyosu site. We were never consulted,” said Tai Yamaguchi of Tsukiji-based fish merchant Hitoku Shoten. Echoing many other Tsukiji workers, Yamaguchi said the staff of Hitoku Shoten have been allowed to visit the company’s new shop compartment in Toyosu only two to three times so far. To visit the site, a fish dealer needs to obtain written permission from the metro government. Only a few people are allowed to visit at one time because of the ongoing construction work. “We don’t have much information about Toyosu yet. We are still unable to get a clear image of how we will work there,” said Eiji Ikuine, president of the Tsukiji-based intermediate fish wholesaler Eikoh-Suisan. “We even don’t know where our customers can park their cars at Toyosu. If the market opens in November, we would just see chaos,” he said, welcoming Koike’s decision to freeze the relocation plan.

toyosu
yuriko koike
contamination
tsukiji fish market


Tokyo's safety claims for Toyosu fish market cleanup getting harder to sell

Abstract: On Sept. 10, Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike revealed that the people in charge of the soil remediation work for the Toyosu market, the relocation site for the famed Tsukiji fish market in Chuo Ward, ignored the recommendations of outside safety experts. The discovery has reignited public concern about the environmental safety of the man-made area 2 km south of Tsukiji, adjacent to Tokyo Bay. Will the soil pose a health risk to the market’s produce, workers and consumers? Let’s take a closer look. What problems have emerged at the new site? The soil at the Toyosu site, which was formerly a Tokyo Gas Co. production plant, was contaminated with toxic chemicals including benzene and cyanogen. Under the relocation plan, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government was to remove and decontaminate the top two meters of soil at the Toyosu site and return it to the compound. That was then supposed to be topped off with a 2.5-meter layer of fresh, clean soil before construction began. But on Sept. 10, Koike revealed this 4.5-meter layer of soil was missing from under the five main structures at the new market. So instead of sitting on a foundation of clean soil, the five structures were built on hollow concrete utility rooms filled with pipes and electrical cables. These undisclosed structures occupy about a third of the 40-hectare Toyosu site, which was built on reclaimed land. The revelation has shattered the credibility of Tsukiji relocation plan, which has been dogged by environmental concerns from the very beginning. What kind of health risks will the missing layer of soil pose? Experts are not sure, but some warn that, over time, toxic gas or chemicals might seep to the surface or accumulate in the buildings’ hollow foundations, posing health risks to those working there. The rooms’ vulnerability to contamination may already be evident in the form of large pools of tainted water found in the utility rooms of three of the five facilities, which are destined for use by seafood, vegetable and fruit wholesalers. The pools were discovered by assemblymen from the Japanese Communist Party. Testing has found the pools in two of the five facilities to be tainted with arsenic and chromium at density levels around 10 to 35 percent of the legal limit. The metropolitan government said the groundwater might have seeped in through their sides during the heavy rains in August. Akio Hata, former president of the Japan Association on Environmental Studies, said the presence of a substance like chromium proves groundwater can come to the surface and speculated that any clean soil provided to protect the site has been re-contaminated, raising the chance that the density levels of the toxins will rise in the future. He also raised issues with the site’s underground water control system, which is supposed to monitor water levels at the site and pump any excess into the sewage system, and its susceptibility to powerful earthquakes. The metro government, meanwhile, said the pump system is still running in test mode and that all the water on the floors will be drained once it enters full operation. Hata also said that, since chromium and arsenic don’t evaporate, the chemicals will likely remain underground, waiting to be freed by an event large enough to cause liquefaction, as happened at Toyosu during the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. Kazuko Mizunoya, an architect who was hired to observe the decontamination work as an outside expert, said in an email that the metro government should have dug deeper at Toyosu when collecting soil samples. She said the revetment work carried out by the contractors wasn’t sufficient to stabilize the ground in the area, pointing out that parts of the Toyosu site liquefied during the March 2011 quake, bringing sand and stones to the surface. Do the toxic substances found at Toyosu pose a health threat right now? Probably not. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government said recent groundwater and air surveys at the site have shown the density of the chemicals, including benzene, to be within legal limits. Minoru Yoneda, a professor at Kyoto University Graduate School of Engineering’s Division of Integrated Biosciences, believes the Toyosu market’s current condition doesn’t pose any health threat. He said the safety limit for benzene is based on the consumption of 2 liters of groundwater every day, which is impossible at the Toyosu site. While traces of benzene are still in Toyosu’s air, its density level is within the safety limit, according to metropolitan government data. Has the Tokyo Metropolitan Government violated any public safety regulations? Metro officials say no. Koji Yoshida, one of the officials in charge of the Tsukiji relocation project, said “all has been done to ensure safety” under measures required by law. In 2008, an environmental advisory panel recommended that the Toyosu site be blanketed by a 4.5-meter layer of soil. The metro government apparently ignored this advice and assumed the walls of the secret concrete utility rooms would be sufficient to shield the market buildings instead. Yoshida said there were no legal requirements for further measures to be taken as long as the groundwater at Toyosu is not to be used. Although not required to do so, Tokyo has sampled groundwater at the Toyosu site nine times since November 2014 to reassure the public, Yoshida said. The results of the last sampling test in November will be released in January. Why was the environment panel’s advice ignored and who made the decision? This is not clear yet. According to the daily Mainichi Shimbun, a senior official in the metro government said the hollow utility spaces were built to let power shovels or other heavy equipment be brought in to handle any new soil contamination problems. Quoting a former metro official, the newspaper said the change in the Toyosu construction plan was kept secret because the planners feared that revealing it to the public would fan unfounded fears of pollution.

tokyo
toyosu
yuriko koike
tsukiji fish market
health
contamination


Hitachi, Toshiba, Mitsubishi Heavy may integrate nuclear fuel units

Abstract: Hitachi Ltd., Toshiba Corp. and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. are considering integrating their nuclear fuel businesses, sources said Thursday. The tie-up could come in the spring. Their nuclear businesses have been in the doldrums since the 2011 meltdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, which led to most plants being kicked into shutdown. Integrating the fuel units would reduce costs and is seen as bolstering their respective financial standings. The units that would be merged are Nuclear Fuel Industries Ltd., in which Toshiba holds a majority stake through U.S. subsidiary Westinghouse Electric, the Japanese unit of Global Nuclear Fuel, a joint venture of Hitachi, Toshiba and General Electric, and Mitsubishi Nuclear Fuel Co., an affiliate of Mitsubishi Heavy. The three companies are studying a range of options, including placing the nuclear fuel business units under a new holding company, the sources said. Toshiba and Mitsubishi Heavy separately said while various options are under consideration, no decision has been made yet. The government introduced tougher safety standards in the wake of the Fukushima crisis, and most nuclear reactors have remained idle since then. The only ones currently on line — after they passed the new safety checks — are the No. 1 and No. 2 reactors at Kyushu Electric Power Co.’s Sendai plant and the No. 3 reactor at the Ikata plant, which is operated by Shikoku Electric Power Co. Still, Japan’s nuclear industry is not alone in experiencing difficulties. Nuclear plant construction has slowed globally, shrinking profits at companies like French nuclear energy giant Areva. Although the government maintains that Japan needs nuclear power, it is likely to be forced to look at what can be done to keep the sector afloat at a time when it is burning through cash.

hitachi
toshiba
nuclear fuel
fukushima no . 1
westinghouse
mhi


Fiat Chrysler recalls 1.9 million cars over deadly defect that keeps air bags from deploying

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV said on Thursday it is recalling 1.9 million vehicles worldwide for an air bag defect linked to three deaths and five injuries. It is the latest in a series of large-scale air bag recalls, as the auto industry grapples with a widening array of problems from potentially unstable inflators to bad software. The Fiat Chrysler recall involves nondeployment of air bags and seat-belt pretensioners in some crashes. It affects 1.4 million U.S. vehicles sold between 2010 and 2014, including the Chrysler Sebring, 200, Dodge Caliber, Avenger, Jeep Patriot and Compass SUVs. “There is a hypersensitivity now in the industry to vehicle safety,” said Scott Upham, of Valient Market Research. Automakers continue to tweak air bag software, he said, noting that there is “a fine line between telling the bag when to deploy or not” in some situations. Last week, General Motors Co said it would recall nearly 4.3 million vehicles worldwide due to a software defect that can prevent air bags from deploying, a flaw already linked to one death and three injuries. That defect is similar but not identical to the Fiat Chrysler issue. Fiat Chrysler said the problem occurred when vehicles equipped with a particular control module and specific front impact sensor wiring are involved in certain collisions. GM said in its recall that the module that controls air bag deployment has a software defect that may prevent frontal air bags from deploying in certain “rare circumstances.” Fiat Chrysler said it no longer uses the occupant restraint controllers or wire routing design. The notice did not say when it will begin recall repairs, which spokesman Eric Mayne said the automaker is “finalizing.” Automakers and the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have been grappling with numerous recall issues. In February, Continental Automotive Systems said it supplied potentially defective air bag control units to 5 million vehicles built over a five-year period. It said the units may fail and air bags may not deploy in a crash or may inadvertently deploy without warning. In August, NHTSA said it was upgrading and expanding a probe of more than 8 million air bag inflators made by ARC Automotive Inc. after a driver was killed in Canada when an inflator ruptured in a Hyundai Motor Co vehicle. In May, NHTSA said automakers will recall another 35 million to 40 million Takata Corp. air bag inflators that could rupture and send deadly metal fragments flying. More than 100 million inflators worldwide have been deemed defective and are linked to at least 14 deaths and 100 injuries. In July 2015, NHTSA fined Fiat Chrysler $105 million for mishandling nearly two dozen recall campaigns covering 11 million vehicles. In December, NHTSA separately fined the automaker $70 million for failing to report vehicle crash deaths and injuries since 2003.

fiat chrysler
recall
air bags
nhtsa
takata
u.s .


French, U.S. lightning bolts deemed to be world's longest

Abstract: NEW YORK - Researchers have identified lightning bolts in Oklahoma and France as the longest on record and warn that their discovery could alter traditional thinking of when it is safe to go outside after a storm passes. A 2007 storm in Oklahoma produced a lightning bolt nearly 200 miles (320 km) long. A 2012 storm in southern France produced a single flash that lasted 7.74 seconds. Both events were added Wednesday to a list of weather extremes kept by the World Meteorological Organization. “We should be more aware of lightning if we can have lightning that can travel 200 miles,” said Randy Cerveny, the WMO’s spokesman on weather and climate extremes. “If thunder roars, go indoors.” Timothy Lang, a researcher at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, said the record Oklahoma lightning bolt streaked from Tulsa, near the Arkansas border, to near the Oklahoma Panhandle. The bolt started at an altitude of 6 miles (9.6 km) and reached the ground in a number of places, he said. A researcher in Colorado saw the streak, and Lang said its length could change thinking about safety after a storm. “The lightning can start tens or hundreds of miles away and then come back to where you are,” Lang said. “You have to be careful of where the lightning is coming to ground, even though the storm is past.” Meteorologists generally suggest a “30-30” rule when storms are near. Start counting when you see a lightning bolt. If you reach 30 seconds before hearing the thunder, it is generally safe to continue outdoor activities. If thunder is heard in under 30 seconds, stop outdoor activities and wait 30 minutes before resuming. “These kinds of rules need to be looked at. It’s going to depend on the kind of thunderstorm,” Lang said. “You really need to know where it (lightning) is occurring. There could be a lower risk — the lower the flash rate — but it’s not ‘no-risk.’ “ Cerveny said not all storms will have lightning as extreme as the Oklahoma and French storms. The Oklahoma storm was in a particularly large complex of bad weather that occurred very early on June 20, 2007. Lightning sensors on the ground tracked the bolt’s path. “Most lightning will strike within the 30-30 rule,” he said. “The 30-30 rule is one that we still want to stress and make sure people are aware of … but it does demonstrate that lightning can hit far from where the storm actually is.” The Oklahoma flash lasted a bit more than five seconds, while the French bolt doubled back on itself, extending its life to 7.74 seconds, said Cerveny, a professor of geographic sciences at Arizona State University. The aerospace industry has an interest in lightning because it can endanger people on airplanes in flight, while meteorologists can use spikes in lightning to judge a storm’s severity, Lang said. “Oklahoma is a good place to study storms like this.”