Women live in fear as spycam epidemic takes hold in South Korea

Abstract: SEOUL - South Korea is in the grip of a spycam epidemic, with covert footage of sex, nudity and urination posted online in what amounts to a “social death penalty” for thousands of women forced to live with a pornographic shadow. The footage may be taken surreptitiously by boyfriends or captured on covert devices as small as car keys. Daily camera checks are now part of life for cleaners in many public toilets. The spy camera phenomenon has reached such epidemic proportions in tech-savvy South Korea that tens of thousands of women have taken to the streets to march for action. Women’s groups want greater rights in all walks of life and say the spycam scandal is indicative of wider sexism in society. Under fire for moving too slowly, the government has enacted a slew of measures, including the formation of a task force to help victims and increased inspections in risky public places. “The situation is getting out of hand,” Ryu Hye-jin from the government-backed Women’s Human Rights Institute of Korea, which oversees the task force, said. “Since the establishment of the task force, many victims have called and reached out to us,” she said at her office. In April, her 16-member force launched a free service to help victims remove illicitly filmed footage from the web. The team has been inundated. So far, it has handled some 15,000 requests to remove footage and counselled 3,000-plus victims. SOCIAL DEATH’ Perpetrators typically use tiny devices that can easily film women in public places, such as toilets or changing rooms, and later sell the footage to porn sites for profit. The footage shows women undressing or having sex and can be sold for up to 100,000 won ($90), with top earners netting more than 100 million won a month, according to unverified media reports. In many cases, however, the filming is done by partners — with or without consent — at home or in love hotels, and later used as a form of revenge if the relationship turns sour. “It sends the victims into depression because there is no end to it. It is on the internet forever. It’s a social death penalty,” said Ryu, head of counseling at the task force. Last month, city officials in Seoul said they will assign extra staff to conduct daily checks in public toilets, after official inspectors failed to uncover any hidden cameras. Women who fall victim to the hidden camera have previously turned to “digital laundries,” private firms that remove the videos for a fee, giving rise to a lucrative, new industry. However, the new task force now offers the same services for free, and has taken over the bulk of such work. Making and distributing pornographic materials is punishable under South Korean law, but it remains widespread. The number of spycam porn cases jumped to nearly 6,500 in 2017, from about 2,400 in 2012, according to the domestic Yonhap news agency. Activists say the “laundry” services only go a small way to righting the wrong and that it is just as important to educate people about gender equality, sexual stereotypes and consent. Campaigner Park Soo-yeon said many victims were not even aware they were the subject of such videos, and were reluctant to speak out when they did find out, cowed by social stigma. “These are the people who are trying to hide themselves as much as possible,” Park, who always carries a hidden camera detector, said at her office in the suburbs of Seoul. A fierce government critic, the 22-year-old activist founded the group Digital Sexual Crime Out in 2015 and was credited with bringing down a notorious porn website, Soranet, in 2016. The illicit porn website, set up in 1999 and which had claimed more than a million users, had hosted thousands of videos of women that were filmed without their consent. “What we need to tell people is that this is a crime, this is sexual violence, this is not porn,” said Park, who called for the sales of hidden cameras to be tightened and regulated. NEVER GONE It is virtually impossible to destroy all online traces of illicit images. After a victim asks for help, the task force scours websites to look for the footage in question and — if successful — contacts the website, asking them to remove the video. Should they fail to comply, the task force can ask the authorities to restrict access to the site — but this only applies in South Korea, meaning overseas users can still watch. “These websites are all over the world and every country has different laws. It is really hard to get to a point where we can punish all the perpetrators,” said Song Eugene, a counselor at the task force. She said it has been difficult for victims to speak up about the issue in South Korea, where discussions about women’s rights are still sometimes seen as taboo in a male-dominated society. “It’s important for women to speak up about the issue to create awareness about the pain that has been inflicted.” Ryu said there is no way to stop such crimes so long as women are routinely seen as sex objects. “What we need is to change the way our society treats our women,” she said.

women
south korea
privacy
sex crimes
pornography
revenge porn


Mountain biking project creates job opportunities in depopulated Aichi Prefecture district

Abstract: An ongoing project to create employment opportunities in the depopulated Inabu district of Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, is beginning to bear fruit, as a college student and two other people accepted job offers of working five days a week — three at a local factory and two as mountain biking guides. The Inabu Base Project, launched by some mountain-bike lovers from Aichi and local car seat cover manufacturer Toyotake Industry Co., aims to revitalize the mountainous district of Inabu by establishing mountain biking trails to attract tourists and creating job opportunities by hiring tour guides. They plan to start bike tours in April. Hayate Endo, 22, of Kawagoe, Saitama Prefecture, is the first college student who will be employed by Toyotake under the project. At the end of August, Endo helped out during a mountain biking lesson attended by five elementary school children, which was held on a grassy plateau in Inabu, about 1,200 meters above sea level, overlooking the Central Alps, which are also known as the Kiso Mountains. The event, organized by the Toyota Municipal Government, gave Endo his first chance to work as a guide. Endo, a fourth-year student at Toyo University and a member of a cycling team, learned of the project in March through Twitter. Although he had been accepted by an IT firm while he was hunting for a job, he said, “I was very wary of my future because I couldn’t imagine myself enjoying working.” Then one day in early July, he got on a night bus to visit Inabu to participate in the project and look for potential mountain bike trails. He said he had been worried whether his love for cycling would be enough to enable him to get along with the locals of a mountainous village where he was a complete stranger. But his worries gradually disappeared as he worked with people devoted to the project and experienced an internship at Toyotake the following day. On the night of the internship, Toyotake President Koshiro Yokota, 43, said to him: “How about challenging yourself to something new in Inabu?” Endo accepted the offer without hesitation. One of the trails, built on privately owned land, was shown to the public in March and Yokota said he was surprised by the unexpected high amount of attention it received. In addition to Endo, Takao Tsuchimoto, 28, who currently works at a bicycle shop in Owariasahi in the prefecture, and Robert Schwietzer, 34, a German who moved to the district after marrying a local Inabu girl, are expected to join the company under the project. Although some problems remain, such as the lack of an established system within the company to train guides and the shortage of housing for rent in the area, the people of Inabu pin high hopes on the project which could bring in young people to the district, whose population dropped more than 20 percent in the last decade to about 2,300. There are many things to be done before starting the tours, including expanding trail routes and renovating a closed school building to use as a base for the tours. “You have to be responsible for your job no matter what you do for a living,” Endo said. “I’m sure new values will be created within myself as I adapt to the new way of working and develop new trails.”

mountain bikes
depopulation
aichi
inabu
trails
workers


Aging Japan: Unclaimed burial urns pile up in Japan as family ties weaken, kin steer clear

Abstract: YOKOSUKA, KANAGAWA PREF. - Unclaimed urns containing ashes of the dead are piling up by the thousands across Japan, creating storage headaches and reflecting fraying family ties and economic pressures in a rapidly aging nation. The identities of the dead, cremated at public expense, are usually known. But in most cases, relatives either refuse or don’t respond to requests to collect their remains. Burials can be costly and time-consuming, a burden on family members who may hardly know the deceased relative. “When I die, though I have only ¥150,000 ($1,340), will you cremate me and put me in a pauper’s grave? I have no one to collect my remains,” said a note left by a man in his 70s in Yokosuka who died in 2015 and whose urn was later buried at a local temple. The abandoned remains highlight social, economic and demographic changes in Japan, where more elderly live on welfare and families are more scattered, weakening traditional family bonds and obligations. It is a problem that is likely to grow, experts say; deaths in Japan are projected to rise from 1.33 million a year to 1.67 million by 2040, even as the overall population drops. Yokosuka was so overwhelmed with unclaimed urns that it ran out of space in a 300-year-old charnel house that was about to collapse. It combined ashes of different people into a much smaller number of urns that it now stores in a hillside cave, with about 50 newer urns accumulating at the city office. “Space to store them is running out,” said Hitomi Nakamura, an official in the city of Saitama, where the number of unclaimed urns has grown sharply the last few years to more than 1,700. “Many elderly people are living on welfare,” he added, “and many of them may be estranged from their families.” With Japanese wages barely growing, and many children of the elderly living on pensions themselves, managing death costs, including arranging for their burial, can be a burden. A traditional funeral, including food, drinks and gifts for guests, and hiring a Buddhist monk to chant sutras, can cost ¥2 million ($17,800) or more, industry sources say. New businesses have sprung up offering no-frills funerals for $2,000 to $4,000, but other costs can add up, including the hundreds of dollars it may cost to bury the urn at a temple or cemetery. There are more elderly poor than in years past, some of whom cannot afford their own funerals. Nearly 3 percent of elderly were on welfare in 2015, almost double the rate two decades earlier, government statistics show. Just over half of all Japanese on welfare are 65 or older. “There are more people who die alone, with no one to look after cremated remains because of weaker family relationships,” said Hisako Makimura, a visiting professor of sociology at Kansai University. In decades past, it was not uncommon for three generations of family to live together. But experts say that as Japan’s economy has changed, couples have fewer children, and people tend to move farther from home for work, among other factors. Nearly 6,000 urns have accumulated in the city of Fukuoka, while Osaka buried the remains of 2,366 people in a communal grave this year after no one claimed them after one or two years. The number of Japanese age 65 and older will swell from 28 percent of the population to 36 percent by 2040, according to the government-backed National Institute of Population and Social Security Research. “Families and communities used to play roles of taking care of deceased people,” Makimura said. “But the burden on local governments will likely grow as their involvement in dealing with the dead increases.” In Yokosuka, more elderly are dying without leaving funeral instructions or information about relatives. City officials comb through their homes and census registries, and try to contact family members through the mail, often to no avail. “The dead are ordinary citizens. It could happen to anyone,” said Kazuyuki Kitami, a city official. “These bones are warning those of us who are alive that we are poorly prepared.” Noticing that many unclaimed remains were from poor elderly people, Yokosuka in 2015 started an “ending plan support” service for low-income residents with no immediate family members. Individuals pay at least a fifth of the ¥250,000 cremation and burial costs, with the government covering the rest. Dozens have signed up, and in May the city made similar services available to anyone. “I feel so relieved,” said Sumitaka Horiguchi, 80, after signing up for the service and ensuring he will be buried at a local temple. Horiguchi never married and hasn’t seen his three step-siblings in many years, so he worried what would happen to his remains when he died. “My days have changed,” he said from his nursing home. “I feel calm.”

japan
urns
family ties
yokosuka
remains
saitama
fukuoka
osaka


Osamu Shimomura, co-winner of 2008 Nobel Prize in chemistry, dies in Nagasaki aged 90

Abstract: Marine biologist Osamu Shimomura, a co-winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize in chemistry, has died at the age of 90, Nagasaki University announced Sunday. Shimomura, a graduate of the university and professor emeritus of Boston University, died of natural causes Friday in the city of Nagasaki. He won the Nobel Prize with Martin Chalfie and Roger Y. Tsien of the United States. They were recognized for the discovery and development of green fluorescent protein (GFP), which has helped researchers establish ways to observe previously invisible processes such as the development of nerve cells in the brain and how cancer cells spread. Born in Fukuchiyama in Kyoto Prefecture in 1928, Shimomura spent his childhood in Manchuria — now northeastern China, when it was under Japanese occupation — as well as Osaka and other locations before moving to Isahaya near Nagasaki. He experienced the U.S. atomic bombing of the city in 1945 when he was 16. In 1951, he graduated from Nagasaki Medical Specialized School, predecessor of the Department of Pharmacy at Nagasaki University, and obtained a Ph.D. in organic chemistry at Nagoya University in 1960. He moved to Princeton University and discovered GFP in 10,000 samples of aequorea victoria jellyfish on the U.S. West Coast. After serving as associate professor at Nagoya University from 1963, he returned to Princeton and then worked as a senior scientist at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, from 1982 until his retirement in 2001.


Third Japan medical school suspected of having discriminated against applicants: sources

Abstract: Juntendo University is suspected of having discriminated against female applicants to its medical school, sources said Monday, in the latest in a series of similar revelations about the manipulation of entrance exams at universities in Japan. The Tokyo-based private university possibly curbed female enrollment at its medical school by assessing their scores against higher passing thresholds, the sources said. The education ministry has asked for an explanation from the university. The ministry surveyed 81 universities across the nation in August after similar manipulation was reported at Tokyo Medical University. In the survey, Juntendo University was found to have had the largest gender gap in its acceptance rate for the past six years. The rate of successful male applicants to successful female applicants stood at 1.67 for that period. Applicants for the university take academic exams first, and those who pass then write an essay and sit for interviews. In the most recent entrance exam this spring, 2,372 men and 1,779 women took the exam for Juntendo University with 239 men and 93 women passing, the ministry said. Following the ministry’s August survey, the university set up an independent committee to investigate the matter. An official at the university denied it had discriminated against women or applicants who had previously failed its entrance exams. But the official also said a private university has “discretion” in entrance exams, which it and the ministry interpret differently. The suspicion regarding Juntendo University comes on the heels of a disclosure of misconduct last week by Tokyo-based Showa University, which admitted to improper admissions practices at its medical school, also since six years ago. But the university denied any discrimination based on gender or age. One of the practices there involved awarding additional points to high school students, or those who had graduated from high school a year earlier, in the second round of entrance examinations when assessing applicants to the Tokyo-based private university’s School of Medicine. The other practice involved giving preferential treatment to children or close relatives of graduates from among reserve applicants when considering their outcomes based on second-term exams, they said.

juntendo university
entrance examinations
gender discrimination


As Canada legalizes recreational marijuana, Japanese citizens warned the law from home may apply

Abstract: Canada’s legalization of the recreational use of marijuana, which went into effect last week, has prompted the Japanese government to issue warnings that Japan’s law on cannabis use may apply to its nationals even when they are abroad. In an Oct. 4 message posted on its website, the Japanese Consulate in Vancouver said that while Canada was set to legalize the possession and use of marijuana on Oct. 17, acts such as possessing or purchasing the drug are illegal in Japan and are subject to legal penalties. It said the Cannabis Control Law may be applicable for actions taken overseas. The consulate asked that Japanese nationals living or traveling abroad respect Japanese law and stay away from marijuana, including food and drink products that contain the substance. An Oct. 11 Japanese language notice issued by the consulate general in Toronto made a similar request. Japan’s law makes growing, importing or exporting marijuana punishable by up to seven years in prison. The punishment can reach up to 10 years — and possibly a maximum ¥3 million fine — for those proven to have engaged in those acts with the intent to profit. Possession, distribution or receipt of marijuana can mean up to five years prison, while those with a profit motive can get a maximum seven-year jail term and up to a ¥2 million fine. An official of the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry suggested that all individuals, not just Japanese nationals, are technically subject to this law, wherever they are. But there are limits to what authorities can do to pursue someone who violates the law when abroad, especially in a country where the acts are legal. “It boils down to whether it can be proven that someone had committed acts in question while abroad after that person returns to Japan,” the official said. “It’s probably difficult to go after a case unless it involves a situation in which the person has been caught abroad and deported to Japan.” Any individual bringing marijuana from overseas to Japan would certainly be subject to the domestic law, and Canada also warns against such action. In an email reply to The Japan Times, John Babcock, a spokesman for Global Affairs Canada, a government organization, said that the legalization of cannabis in Canada will not change the country’s border rules. “Taking cannabis or any product containing cannabis across Canada’s international borders — either exiting or entering — will remain illegal and it can result in serious criminal penalties both at home and abroad. Transporting cannabis used for medical purposes will also remain illegal,” Babcock said. “Each country or territory decides who can enter or exit through its borders. The Government of Canada cannot intervene on your behalf if you do not meet your destination’s entry or exit requirements,” he added. Over the years in Japan, there have been a number of high profile arrests of foreign nationals and Japanese for marijuana possession. In 1980, former Beatle Paul McCartney was caught with eight ounces of marijuana when he arrived at Narita airport and deported nine days later. In 2017, former actress Saya Takagi was sentenced to a year in prison, suspended for three years, for possessing about 55 grams of marijuana, while Koki Tanaka, a former member of the boy band Kat-tun, was arrested for allegedly possessing a small amount of marijuana. Tanaka denied the allegation and prosecutors decided not to indict him. Last year police took action against a record 3,008 people in marijuana-related cases. The National Policy Agency noted that there was a rise in marijuana cases among those between 14 and 19 years old, a fivefold increase since 2013. A separate police survey last year showed that only about 30 percent of those who were investigated for alleged involvement with marijuana thought its use was dangerous.


Japan ministries counted dead and retired people in totals to meet legal quotas for disabled employment, panel says

Abstract: Ministries and agencies “arbitrarily interpreted” guidelines for employing disabled people and counted people who were retired or even dead among their numbers in an attempt to meet legal quotas, an investigative panel said Monday. The committee of lawyers and other experts tasked with looking into the data falsification concluded that such “sloppy handling” had occurred for decades in some cases. The government has said the percentage of people with disabilities in national office workforces as of June last year was actually 1.17 percent, instead of the 2.50 percent figure previously announced. Japanese law requires public institutions to meet the 2.5 percent quota, while the quota for the private sector is set at 2.2 percent. After recognizing 3,700 people had been inappropriately included in the total workforce reported for 28 of the 33 national administrative entities it surveyed, the investigative panel said in its report that the situation was “extremely serious.” The misconduct is regarded as having overshadowed Japan’s aim to achieve a more inclusive society. Separately, the labor ministry announced that local municipalities last year inflated the number of disabled people reported as employed by more than 3,800. The government bodies failed to check disability certificates or other information for 3,426 of them, and also counted 91 people who had retired — including three who are dead — according to the report. “There is no excuse,” said Gan Matsui, a former superintending prosecutor at the Fukuoka High Public Prosecutor’s Office who headed the panel, at a press conference. The panel found the National Tax Agency’s overstatement was most serious, inappropriately counting 1,103 people, followed by the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry with 629 miscounted including 74 people who had already retired. The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry and the Environment Ministry counted staff with limited eyesight based on their uncorrected vision, rather than corrected vision, according to the report. Most entities were unable to indicate when the falsification began, although the Finance Ministry said it started around 1960 or later. The panel said the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, which is in charge of promoting employment of the disabled, neglected to fully grasp the situation for many years. “We will give serious attention to the probe results,” said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, adding that the government will work to prevent such malpractice and achieve the legal quotas properly. While all surveyed entities denied intentionally misreporting employment data, the panel said it can assume they had intended to overstate the numbers “to meet the legal rates.” The labor ministry requires government agencies and private companies to report employment rates of the disabled as of June 1 every year. “The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry and every administrative entity has been given harsh reviews,” labor minister Takumi Nemoto said. “We will give serious thought to this situation.” On Monday, the government said it plans to employ by the end of fiscal 2019 a total of 4,073 people with disabilities at public institutions that have failed to meet their quotas. It also announced preventive measures, including keeping a list of disabled employees at each public institution and copies of their disability certificates and other necessary documents. A law promoting the employment of people with disabilities requires central and local governments and private companies to hire, in principle, people with physical or mental disability certificates, as well as those with intellectual disabilities. If a company with more than 100 employees fails to meet the target, a fine of up to ¥50,000 per employee shortfall per month is charged and in some cases its name is disclosed, while such a rule is not applied to government bodies. In June the labor ministry began investigating ministries and agencies over allegations of misreporting dating back to 1976, after receiving several inquiries about how to calculate the employment rates of disabled people. The government announced in August that its investigation had confirmed 27 national administrative entities inflated reported numbers of disabled employees by a total of about 3,460. The number was revised upward with the latest probe, as the initial figure had counted two part-time workers as one person.


Dollar closes at ¥112.30 after Tokyo stock slump

Abstract: The dollar stayed on a weak note around ¥112.30 in late Tokyo trading Thursday after falling below ¥112 on sales reflecting a Tokyo stock slump. At 5 p.m. the dollar stood at ¥112.30-30, down from ¥112.50-50 at the same time Wednesday. The euro was at $1.1400-1400, down from $1.1429-1429, and at ¥128.03-04, down from ¥128.58-59. The dollar was hit by safe-haven yen buying from early trading following an overnight rout on Wall Street, traders said. The greenback dropped near ¥111.80 as the benchmark Nikkei stock average opened sharply weaker, but its downside was supported by dollar buying by Japanese importers. After briefly rising above ¥112.10, the dollar fell below ¥112 again past mid-afternoon trading as the 225-issue Nikkei average sank deeper. But in later trading the dollar rose to around ¥112.30, supported by an upturn in Chinese stocks and higher U.S. long-term interest rates. Risk aversion among market participants “waned following a rebound in Chinese stocks and U.S. index futures prices,” an official at a bank-linked securities firm said. “The dollar-yen pair was resilient, considering the size of the drop in the Nikkei average,” said an official at a Japanese bank.


Nikkei average dives to seven-month low on Wall Street rout

Abstract: The benchmark Nikkei average plunged to a seven-month low on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Thursday, as investors took fright from an overnight slump in U.S. equities. The 225-issue Nikkei average tumbled 822.45 points, or 3.72 percent, to end at 21,268.73 — the lowest finish since March 29. On Wednesday, the key market gauge had advanced 80.40 points. The Topix index of all first-section issues closed down 51.15 points, or 3.10 percent, at 1,600.92, reaching a level unseen since Sept. 8, 2017. It had added 1.35 points the previous day. Stocks fell almost across the board from the outset of Thursday’s session, with the Nikkei average briefly losing nearly 900 points, after the 30-issue Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.41 percent Wednesday. The day’s selling spree “did not represent panic sales,” an official at a bank-affiliated securities firm said. “Investors unloaded shares calmly out of concerns over the economy and business results, in response to disappointing earnings and economic data,” the official said. The official noted recent negative earnings-related news from both Japan and the United States as well as sluggish economic data, including dismal U.S. new home sales for September released overnight. “There has been little positive earnings news,” the official said, adding that Japanese corporate profits may have hit a ceiling. “The market is likely to stay unstable,” said Hiroaki Hiwada, strategist at Toyo Securities Co. Investors will continue examining earnings releases, U.S. and Chinese economic data to weigh up possible impacts from the two countries’ trade war and developments related to the Nov. 6 U.S. midterm elections, Hiwada said. Falling issues overwhelmed rising ones 2,072 to 34 in the TSE’s first section, while three issues were unchanged. Volume increased to 1.641 billion shares from 1.417 billion shares on Wednesday. Sharp Corp. dived 9.04 percent after the electronics giant announced a lower sales forecast Wednesday for the April-September period, brokers said. Semiconductor-related issues posted massive losses after their U.S. peers fared poorly. Major losers included Tokyo Electron, Sumco Corp., Disco Corp., Advantest Corp. and Screen Holdings Co. Kao Corp. sagged 2.90 percent after the daily goods manufacturer’s consolidated earnings for January-September failed to impress investors, brokers said. Other major losers included clothing retailer Fast Retailing Co., mobile phone carrier SoftBank Group Corp. and industrial robot producer Fanuc Corp. By contrast, Panasonic Corp. and Tokyo Gas Co. were higher. In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the key December contract on the Nikkei average tumbled 760 points to end at 21,270.


Outrage over Khashoggi gives Trump leverage over Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

Abstract: WASHINGTON - The killing of a journalist has abruptly transformed Saudi Arabia’s crown prince from a partner to a liability in the eyes of Washington — which nonetheless now enjoys more leverage over the ambitious heir apparent. President Donald Trump had enthusiastically endorsed Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s consolidation of power, with the 33-year-old forging a close, chatty relationship with Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner. But amid outrage after Saudi Arabia admitted that U.S.-based journalist and palace critic Jamal Khashoggi was murdered inside the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate, the president has sounded betrayed and taken the initial step of restricting visas to Saudis involved in the killing. Trump, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal published Wednesday, insulated 82-year-old King Salman from blame but pointedly did not shield the crown prince, known by his initials MBS. “The crown prince — he’s running things, and so if anybody were going to be in, it would be him,” Trump said. While defending arms sales to Saudi Arabia on business grounds, Trump said: “Don’t forget, if it wasn’t for us, it could very well be that Saudi Arabia wouldn’t last very long.” Martin Indyk, a top Middle East policymaker under former president Bill Clinton, said Trump had in effect tried to subcontract policy in the region to Saudi Arabia and Israel as he lessens U.S. commitments. But Indyk said Prince Mohammed had instead brought headaches for Washington — not only Khashoggi’s killing but Yemen, where the United States is backing a Saudi-led bombing campaign against Houthi rebels allegedly supported by Riyadh’s regional rival Iran. The United Nations describes Yemen as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with 14 million people facing famine and about 10,000 people killed. “Mohammed bin Salman needs Trump — his very survival depends on Trump working with him,” said Indyk, now at the Council on Foreign Relations. “So we have the opportunity — if we decide we’re not going to ask the king to remove him discreetly — to … sit down with him and say, listen, we can’t go on like this,” Indyk said. “But I don’t think Trump has any concept of the need to do that — let alone how to do that — and therefore I fear that Mohammed bin Salman will survive but he will continue on the path that only advantages Iran and gets the United States continuously into trouble,” he said. Joseph Bahout, a scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said the crown prince will need to show he is tough at home but will face “constant blackmail” from abroad. “It will play out, paradoxically, in very divergent directions. If MBS survives this crisis and he stays in power and becomes king, he will be a permanently weakened monarch but very fierce at the same time,” Bahout said. Prince Mohammed may attempt to show he is a solid U.S. ally by taking an even harder line against Iran, enemy number one for the Trump administration, or, in a less likely scenario, by enacting liberal reforms, Bahout said. But the heir apparent could also need to please Turkey, which has been leaking details about Khashoggi’s murder. Bahout said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan could pressure Saudi Arabia to repair ties with Turkish ally Qatar, which is under an embargo from Persian Gulf Arab states, or to ease pressure on the Muslim Brotherhood, which the kingdom has seen as a threat for its role in Arab Spring protests. “So he will be subject to a whole range of demands and extortions, in ways that could contradict one another. And he will be in a difficult position,” Bahout said. Gary Grappo, a former U.S. ambassador to Oman and deputy chief of mission in Riyadh, said that Mohammed had solidified power to a level where he is unlikely to be removed — but that Western powers would be increasingly wary of him after Khashoggi’s death. “The taint of this will be very hard to scrub from the hands of Mohammed bin Salman — most definitely in the short to medium term and perhaps, let’s see, in the long term,” said Grappo, a distinguished fellow at the University of Denver. After decades of Saudi Arabia buying U.S. weapons and enjoying Washington’s protection, Grappo doubted that Saudi Arabia could easily switch to another supplier such as Russia or China. “I think the balance is much more in our favor, which gives the president far more leverage to deal with this matter than he has let on,” Grappo said.

mohammed bin salman
saudi arabia
donald trump
jamal khashoggi
murder
turkey


SoftBank's Masayoshi Son met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh: sources

Abstract: LONDON/SAN, FRANCISCO - SoftBank Group Corp. CEO Masayoshi Son met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh on Monday, according to two people familiar with the matter, even as the kingdom faces heightened scrutiny following the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Mounting evidence suggests a link between Khashoggi’s violent death and the crown prince, while Saudi Arabia maintains that he was not involved. Son did not attend an investment conference in Riyadh, dubbed “Davos in the Desert,” which finished Thursday and saw an exodus of high-profile speakers amid the controversy over the killing of Khashoggi. The SoftBank chief executive was also said to have skipped a dinner held at the residence of Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the managing director of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, on Monday night, and was set to leave Riyadh on Wednesday. Both sources declined to be identified because the plans were private. Son joined a growing list of business leaders who distanced themselves from the Future Investment Initiative conference, but his move was particularly notable because SoftBank’s $100 billion Vision Fund has a $45 billion commitment from Saudi Arabia’s PIF. Son’s planned absence was earlier reported by The Wall Street Journal. Other SoftBank executives still attended the conference, including Saleh Romeih, who spoke on a panel. Faisal Rahman, SoftBank’s head of operations in the Middle East, was also in the country during the conference. However, its chief operating officer, Marcelo Claure, pulled out of the event on Monday. The situation puts SoftBank in a difficult position. If SoftBank stands behind Prince Mohammed, who spearheaded the kingdom’s investment in the Vision Fund, the fund could become a toxic asset and could find itself shut out of deals with promising startups as founders seek alternative investors. But if SoftBank walks away, the Saudis could pull their funding — including a further $45 billion promised for the next Vision Fund. “We are the creators of SoftBank Vision Fund,” the crown prince told Bloomberg in an interview in early October. “We have 45 percent. Without the PIF, there will be no SoftBank Vision Fund.” Several SoftBank-backed companies, including construction startup Katerra Inc. and indoor-farming business Plenty Inc., have made plans to expand into the Middle East. At the close of the conference, the former signed a memorandum of understanding with the kingdom’s ministry of housing, and the company’s chairman and founder, Michael Marks, also spoke at the event earlier in the day. The Vision Fund is also a big investor in high-profile startups such as Uber Technologies Inc., which has also taken money directly from the Saudi PIF. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi was one of the first business leaders to drop out of the conference following news about Khashoggi.

softbank
masayoshi son
mohammed bin salman
murder
jamal khashoggi
saudi arabia
media
rights


Malaysian ex-PM Najib Razak and ally charged in $1.6 billion graft case

Abstract: KUALA LUMPUR - Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and an ally were Thursday charged with allegedly looting $1.6 billion of public money, the latest accusations against figures from the scandal-plagued old regime. Najib has now been hit with 38 charges since losing power, most of them related to allegations that he and his cronies plundered vast sums from sovereign wealth fund 1MDB. The scandal played a major part in prompting voters to oust his coalition at elections in May after six decades in power and elect a reformist alliance headed by Mahathir Mohamad. Najib was jointly charged in a Kuala Lumpur court with ex-senior finance ministry official, Mohamad Irwan Serigar Abdullah, with six counts of criminal breach of trust. They denied all the charges. The crimes involved 6.6 billion ringgit ($1.6 billion) of public money and allegedly took place between December 2016 and December 2017. Each charge is punishable by up to 20 years in jail. Local media reported that some of the money was used to pay debts owed by 1MDB to Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund IPIC. The Malaysian fund slid into a massive debt hole as huge sums of money were allegedly stolen and used to buy everything from a super-yacht, to high-end real estate and pricey artworks. The U.S. Department of Justice, which is seeking to seize assets allegedly bought with looted 1MDB money in America, alleges that a total of $4.5 billion was misappropriated from the fund. Another key Najib ally, former spy chief Hasanah Abdul Hamid, is expected to be charged in court later Thursday. The former prime minister’s luxury-loving wife, Rosmah Mansor, and the new leader of his party and longtime lieutenant, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, have also been arrested and charged.

najib razak
mahathir mohamad
courts
malaysia
corruption


More than 30% of low-income households with children in early teens struggle to afford food: survey

Abstract: Among low-income households with children in their early teens, 34.7 percent have experienced difficulty buying food for financial reasons, a survey by a Tokyo-based nonprofit organization showed Monday. With child poverty a problem in the country, the survey result suggests that many low-income earners are struggling even to ensure sufficient food for their children. The nonprofit organization supporting children in poverty, Kids’ Door, conducted the survey in February 2017 on low-income households with junior high school children who go to free tutoring schools in Tokyo and Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. It collected responses from 207 students and 147 parents. The average annual income of responding households stood at ¥3,049,000. Those with incomes of less than ¥2 million made up the largest group, at 30.6 percent, and single-parent families accounted for 63.2 percent. Of the responding parents, 1.4 percent said they often had difficulty buying enough food due to a lack of money over the past year, 10.9 percent sometimes faced the same situation and 22.4 percent experienced such problems but infrequently. Respondents who had faced such difficulties made up 34.7 percent in total. The survey also asked about the level of education that respondents wanted to receive before starting to work, or the level they wanted their children to receive. Of the parents, 38.8 percent said they wanted their children to finish high school — the largest group. Meanwhile, going on to college was the most frequent answer among children, at 37.7 percent. Asked whether the children visited museums or similar places when they were fourth to sixth graders, 1.6 percent said they were unable to for financial reasons. The same answer was received from 5.2 percent of respondents with lower academic scores. “We want the government to improve its grant-type scholarship program and take other steps to create an environment in which children from low-income households can receive education and have hope (for their futures),” said Yumiko Watanabe, head of Kids’ Door. “The revenue from the planned consumption tax increase to 10 percent in October next year should be used to establish a system that allows low-income households to benefit more,” she said.


Number of cases of school bullying rises to new high in Japan

Abstract: Japanese schools reported a record number of bullying cases in fiscal 2017 amid a nationwide effort to have teachers identify even the most minor cases in order to tackle problems while they are still at an early stage, the education ministry said Thursday Public and private elementary, junior and senior high schools, as well as special schools, reported a total of 414,378 cases of bullying in the year to the end of March, up 91,235 from a year earlier, according to a ministry survey. The number of serious bullying cases resulting in students suffering severe physical and mental injuries rose to 474, up 78, while 10 of the 250 students who killed themselves during the reporting year had been bullied at school, the ministry said. Elementary schools tallied the highest number of bullying cases at 317,121, up 79,865, followed by junior high schools at 80,424, up 9,115, and high schools at 14,789, up 1,915. The number of cases at special schools, which cater to students who have learning difficulties, stood at 2,044, up 340, the ministry said. While 85.5 percent of the total bullying cases have been resolved, some were still being dealt with, according to the survey. About a quarter of the surveyed schools said they had not identified a single case of bullying in the year. Asked to describe what form of bullying took place, teasing accounted for 62.3 percent of the total cases. Online slander accounted for 3.0 percent, with the number of cases rising to a record 12,632, up 1,853. Of cases designated as serious incidents under the law on the prevention of bullying, students suffered serious injuries including broken bones in 191, while in 332 cases, students stayed away from school for 30 days or longer in the year, with some of the cases overlapping. The serious cases included that of a girl who died in July last year after falling from a Hiroshima junior high school building. The girl’s parents claim she took her own life and it was later confirmed she had been bullied.


Foreign parents fight in vain for custody of their children in Japan despite Hague Convention

Abstract: Emmanuel, Stephane, Henrik and James come from very different backgrounds, but they share the same painful experience of battling Japan’s legal system — in vain — for access to their children after divorce. Once married to Japanese women, they say they were prevented from contact with their children when their relationships disintegrated, and sometimes even after court rulings in their favor. Tough laws and patriarchal cultural norms that overwhelmingly see mothers granted sole custody after a divorce — 80 percent of the time, according to official figures — mean that fathers rarely see their children again. Frenchman Emmanuel de Fournas has spent years battling for access to his daughter after his Japanese ex-wife moved back to Japan. Despite winning a court order in France and filing a case under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction in September 2014, he is still fighting for the right to see his daughter. “I thought I could benefit from the clear rules of the Hague Convention, but … they aren’t respected in Japan,” he said. “I’ve lost everything: my savings, my job,” he said tearfully. AFP was not able to contact the mother of his child. His experience is not unusual. Henrik Teton from Canada and James Cook from the United States have similar stories to tell. “What kind of justice system is it if decisions are not implemented? There is room to do more and better,” says Richard Yung, a French senator who came to Japan to plead the cases of several French parents. Patchy enforcement Although Japan has signed the Hague Convention, which is designed to prevent a parent from moving a child to another country and blocking access by the former partner, Tokyo demonstrates “a pattern of noncompliance” with the pact, according to the U.S. State Department. For foreign parents, most often fathers, “this poses major problems, because they have a different mentality and they can’t comprehend losing custody or the right to visit their child,” said Nahoko Amemiya, a lawyer for the Tokyo Public Law office. Even when foreign parents win their cases in Japanese courts, enforcement is patchy. The State Department’s 2018 report described “limitations” in Japanese law, including requirements that “direct enforcement take place in the home and presence of the taking parent, that the child willingly leave the taking parent, and that the child face no risk of psychological harm,” using the term “taking parent” to refer to those who have abducted the child. Opinion is divided on what causes the most trauma to children, so the longer a child is separated from one parent, the more reluctant authorities are to intervene, citing a “principle of continuity.” “It’s not that Japanese courts favor the Japanese parent, it’s that they favor the ‘kidnapper,’ ” who is living with the child, said John Gomez, founder of the group Kizuna, which advocates for parents separated from their children. ‘Horrible shock’ Japan’s government defends its record, saying most of the 81 cases filed under the Hague Convention since 2014 have been settled. “The majority of the cases in which we intervened have been resolved, but we are aware of six or seven where the return decision could not be implemented,” said Shuji Zushi, a foreign ministry official. “In these cases, there is a very strong conflict between the two sides and that leads to media attention or political action,” he said. Stephane Lambert spent years fighting to see his son after his wife and child moved away from their home within Japan — a case not covered by the Hague convention. “The Japanese police don’t do anything in this kind of case,” he said. “On the basis of a court ruling, I saw my son for a total of 14 hours for the whole of the following year, and not at all after that, because my wife refused the visits,” he said. “I can’t think about my son anymore. Looking at a photo of him tears me apart. I’ve learned to forget him.” There are some signs of change: A panel of experts met in June to discuss new ways to enforce court orders, as well as the issue of joint custody and amendments to the law. But regardless of changes in law, the pain of parental separation is always traumatic — as demonstrated by the case of Joichiro Yamada, who was 10 when his Japanese father and American mother split up. “My dad told me: You live with me now,” the 20-year-old said, still brought to tears at the “horrible shock” of being separated from his mother. “I spent a year with him. I wanted to go back to my mother. A year felt like an eternity.”

children
hague convention
courts
parental child abduction
family law


Japan's Financial Services Agency sees need to protect elderly investors

Abstract: The Financial Services Agency has released an interim report pointing out the need to better protect elderly investors as life expectancy continues to rise. The agency released the report Tuesday with a goal of improving investment conditions for the elderly by helping them manage and utilize their assets effectively without worry. The report analyzed the country’s aging population and the risks associated with the issue. The agency projects an increase in the number of households using up all of their savings as a result of longevity and having to rely on public pensions alone. The report also noted that elderly people become unable to effectively change their investment portfolios as their cognitive abilities decline. Citing private-sector data, the agency said that 15 percent of overall securities in the nation, including stocks, may be held by people with dementia by 2035.

financial services agency
elderly
investments
fsa


New Tokyo research center aims to boost Japan's 'Fourth Industrial Revolution'

Abstract: Technology today is advancing — often so fast that society fails to take full advantage of some great innovations due to outdated regulations, says the head of a new research center in Tokyo. The newly established Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution in the capital aims to update old regulations that hinder effective usage of cutting-edge technologies and accelerate social change by developing appropriate policy frameworks for a rapidly changing society, said Chizuru Suga, who heads the institution. “In short, what we are trying to do is like determining the size of a soccer goal before playing the game. We are trying to set up common policy frameworks that help people play a fair game,” she said during a recent interview with The Japan Times. “Today’s technology has been advancing so fast that no one could have been able to catch up with the most up-to-date movement and set the rules … to benefit as many people as possible,” said Suga, formerly of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The Tokyo facility, which opened Monday, is the first sister institution of the Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution in San Francisco. The so-called revolution refers to the fourth major industrial era since the initial Industrial Revolution of the 18th century and is characterized by a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital and biological spheres. Established in March 2017 by the World Economic Forum — the host of the annual Davos meetings in Switzerland — the U.S.-based center has worked to bring together leaders in both the public and private sectors and leverage the benefits of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, the “internet of things” and blockchain. For example, the U.S. center worked together with the Rwandan government to develop a regulatory framework for drone operations, helping the African country build an aerial network of drones that deliver medical supplies to remote villages. The Tokyo-based center aims to work with specialists to co-design policy frameworks that will be adopted by policymakers, legislators and regulators by focusing particularly on three areas — autonomous driving, big data and precision medicine. Setting a framework “will help the government create technology policies more easily” because it helps them to determine the direction of policymaking, Suga said. The government sees the fourth industrial revolution, which could drastically improve the efficiency of business and organizations through advanced information technology, as one of the key elements for its growth strategy. The government believes implementing cutting-edge technologies will improve its notoriously low productivity at work. Japan’s labor productivity in 2016, calculated by output per hour, was 20th out of 35 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development nations, according to data from the Japan Productivity Center published in December. Despite its high-tech prowess, the country’s digital transformation is still lagging behind other rivals such as the U.S. and Germany in areas such as the internet of things, the sharing economy and financial technology, according to a Cabinet Office report in 2017. The slow transition is partly due to old regulations that were established before the emergence of such technologies, Suga said. She added that some technology companies are forced to alter their services due to the regulations, making their businesses less efficient in the domestic market. For example, Uber Technologies Inc.’s ride-hailing business has been facing a tough battle here due to the country’s regulations on unregistered taxis. And online lodging service Airbnb Inc. had to drop nearly 80 percent of private homes from its listing as it adjusted to a new private lodging law that came into effect on June 15. “In Uber’s case, the regulation was originally made to prevent unreasonably high fares. … Technologies have already solved these problems. There are many cases like that,” Suga said. “What is happening in Japan now is that these old laws still remain even after innovations have brought drastic changes to our social structure.” Asked how the Japan center can serve as a model for other countries, Suga said she would aim to offer a solution to Japan’s aging and declining population as many other countries are expected to face the same problem over next decades. “Many people think Japan has very little investment value because of the dwindling market. I want to show that the country’s weakness can also be a strength,” she said. “I want to prove in a few years that Japan was actually at the frontline of innovation.” WEF opened the Tokyo center in partnership with METI and the Asia Pacific Initiative, a think tank based in the Japanese capital. The institution is sponsored by such companies as Suntory Holdings Limited, Salesforce.com Inc., Sompo Holdings Inc., Hitachi Ltd., precision instrument manufacturer Horiba Ltd. and Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corp. WEF aims to open further sister organizations of the San Francisco-based center in countries including India, China and the U.K.

drone
wef
meti
ai
iot
4th industrial revolution


Vigilante-style slayings sow fear inside Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh

Abstract: COX'S BAZAR, BANGLADESH/DHAKA - Bangladesh is deploying thousands of extra police to Rohingya refugee camps in the south, officials said, after several mostly unexplained killings have sown fear among hundreds of thousands of people who have fled from neighboring Myanmar. Since August, when a military crackdown in Myanmar forced many of the Muslim minority to cross the border into Bangladesh and seek shelter in the crowded camps, 19 people, some of them community leaders, have been killed. Police have made a number of arrests in connection with some of the killings, but say the motives often remain unclear. Conducted after dark and often by groups of men wielding pistols, knives, and sticks, the killings have sent a chill through the camps, which are guarded by the Bangladesh army during the day but manned by fewer police officers at night. A.K.M. Iqbal Hossain, police superintendent of the coastal town of Cox’s Bazar under whose jurisdiction the camps fall, said a special force of roughly 2,400 men was being formed to guard the refugees. A second senior officer, Superintendent Afrujul Haque Tutul, said police numbers were already being increased. “We have 1,000 police officers right now for a million people, so you can imagine,” he said. More than 700,000 Rohingya have taken shelter in Cox’s Bazar district since August, joining thousands who were already living there, making it the world’s largest and fastest growing refugee camp. Even before the August exodus, there had been violence in the camps, which Bangladesh police and aid workers have previously blamed on a struggle for control of supplies to the camps. The latest killing, of 35-year-old Arifullah, took place last month on a busy road outside the Balukhali camp, where he had been appointed a leader of thousands of refugees. A group of men surrounded him on the evening of June 18, stabbing him at least 25 times, police said. A pool of blood stained the spot the next morning, and a crowd of refugees could be seen gathered around. Police said three Rohingya men had been arrested over the killing of Arifullah, who spoke English, had worked for international agencies in Myanmar, and often met foreign delegates who visited the camps. His wife, who did not want to be named and asked Reuters not to disclose the location where she was interviewed because she feared attack, said Arifullah was a critic of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) — a militant group whose assaults on Myanmar security posts in August triggered the crackdown by the military. The group says it is fighting for the rights of the Rohingya. Police said investigations into the murder were ongoing and they had not found links to ARSA. A spokesman for ARSA referred Reuters to its Jan. 31 statement that said other armed groups were responsible for “activities” at refugee camps and were using its name to malign its image. The group said it did not attack civilians and would never carry out killings in the camps because its was thankful for Bangladesh’s generosity in sheltering the refugees. That statement was issued after the Jan. 19 killing of Yusuf, another English-speaking camp leader. Sitting on the mud floor of her shelter, Yusuf’s wife, Jamila, said her husband had been watching a soccer match on his phone with his two sons when around a dozen men barged into their shelter in the Taingkhali camp carrying knives and pistols, shooting him twice. She said police had urged her to file a case and name suspects, but she had refused, fearing retaliation, and because she did not want to leave her shelter for hours to go to court. “I’m scared for my children,” she said. Details of Yusuf’s killing were confirmed by police superintendent Tutul at the Cox’s Bazar police station. He said the police investigation was hampered because the refugees were afraid to name suspects. He said intelligence received so far suggested several of the killings, including those of Yusuf and Arifullah, were due to personal disputes refugees had brought from Myanmar. Police have arrested about 300 Rohingya in cases involving killings, robberies and abductions in the camps since the August influx, Tutul said. Camp leaders at Balukhali and Taingkhali said the army had appointed Rohingya volunteers to keep guard at night, but most had stopped working because they were not being paid. Foreign officials said security inside the teeming camps was a worry. “What I hear from my colleagues is that is obviously a big concern,” Peter Maurer, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, said on a visit to the camps on Sunday. “It is obvious that it is a big challenge when you have big numbers, poor conditions, cramped situations.”

rohingya
refugees
bangladesh
myanmar
u.n .


Macedonian Ambassador to Japan wants to boost academic ties between the two countries

Abstract: Andrijana Cvetkovik, Macedonia’s Ambassador to Japan, says she hopes to expand academic cooperation with Japan, in addition to the agreements it already has with about 10 Japanese universities on student and professor exchanges and scholarships. Several years ago “I received a scholarship from the Japanese government” to study in Japan, Cvetkovik said during a courtesy visit to The Japan Times on Wednesday, adding that she hopes the same opportunities will be extended to more Macedonian students in the future. According to the Foreign Ministry’s website, Japan has been accepting Macedonian students on scholarships since 1996. On the tourism front, Cvetkovik said she hopes to increase the number of Japanese tourists to the Republic of Macedonia four- or fivefold over the next five years. The number of Japanese tourists to the European country has increased 50 percent every year over the past three years, she said. “We have been working with travel agencies to promote Macedonia as a tourist destination,” said Cvetkovik, who became Skopje’s envoy to Tokyo in December 2014. She is the only ambassador in Japan who is a member of the Europe Group of Japan Outbound Tourism Council, a body under the Japan Association of Travel Agents, thanks mainly to her Japanese-language ability, she said. She also voiced hope that more Japanese companies will increase their investments in Macedonia, which is located in the center of Balkan region. Next year will mark the 25th anniversary of Japan-Macedonia diplomatic ties.


U.S. Border Patrol arrests fell sharply in June, official says

Abstract: MCALLEN, TEXAS - Border Patrol arrests fell sharply in June to the lowest level since February, according to a U.S. official, ending a streak of four straight monthly increases. The drop may reflect seasonal trends or it could signal that President Donald Trump’s “zero-tolerance” policy to criminally prosecute every adult who enters the country illegally is having a deterrent effect. The agency made 34,057 arrests on the border with Mexico during June, down 16 percent from 40,344 in May, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the numbers are not yet intended for public release. The June tally is preliminary and subject to change. Arrests were still more than double from 16,077 in June 2017, but the sharp decline from spring could undercut the Trump administration’s narrative of a border in crisis. Customs and Border Protection, which includes the Border Patrol, declined comment on the numbers, saying it doesn’t discuss them as a matter of policy until public release “to ensure consistency and accuracy.” The administration announced in early May that it was prosecuting every illegal entry, including adults who came with their children. The separation of more than 2,000 children from their parent sparked an international outcry and Trump reversed course on June 20, ordering that families should stay together. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan told agents to temporarily stop referring illegal entry arrests to the Justice Department for prosecution if they involve parents unless they had a criminal history or the child’s welfare was in question. His edict came “within hours” of Trump’s directive to avoid splitting families. McAleenan told reporters last week that border arrests were trending lower in June but said he wouldn’t provide numbers until their public release in early July. “I believe the focus on border enforcement has had an impact on the crossings,” McAleenan said. Rising temperatures could also be a major influence, discouraging people from walking in the scorching and potentially lethal heat in much of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. Arrests fell from May to June in four of the previous five years, last year being the exception. Still, the month-to-month percentage decline is notable. It fell in the low single digits in 2014 amid a major surge in illegal crossings and in 2015. Declines approached 20 percent in 2016 and 2013. Border arrests — an imperfect gauge of illegal crossings — surged during much of last year after falling dramatically in the early months of the Trump administration. The numbers do not reflect activity at official crossings. The Border Patrol polices between ports of entry, not at them.

border patrol
donald trump
mexico
u.s .
immigration


Myanmar not ready to take back over 700,000 Rohingya, Red Cross chief says

Abstract: CHAKMARKUL REFUGEE CAMP, BANGLADESH - Conditions in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine state are not ready yet for the repatriation of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who have fled a military crackdown, the head of the International Committee of Red Cross said on Sunday after visit to the region. Myanmar has said it is ready to take back the more than 700,000 Rohingya refugees who have fled Bangladesh since last August, and has set up two reception centers and what it says is a temporary camp near the border in Rakhine to receive the first arrivals. But Red Cross President Peter Maurer said he did not believe returns should start any time soon based on what he saw during his visit. “I think there is still a lot of work to do till large scale repatriation is a realistic possibility,” Maurer said. “Much more has to happen in terms of reception structure, preparations, also preparation of the communities to receive again those who came (to Bangladesh) from Myanmar.” Maurer’s comments, made at the refugee camps on Bangladesh’s southeastern coast, followed his visit to Myanmar, where he said he saw abandoned villages and destroyed houses. The Myanmar government spokesman was not immediately available for comment on Maurer’s remarks. The exodus of Rohingya came after militant attacks on Myanmar security posts triggered a military offensive that the United Nations has called a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing. Myanmar has denied the allegations and stated it waged a legitimate counter-insurgency operation. Red Cross has become the main provider of humanitarian aid to Myanmar’s northern Rakhine state since the United Nations had to suspend its operations there last September, following government accusations that its agency had supported Rohingya insurgents. Rohingya who have fled Buddhist-majority Myanmar have reported mass killings, arson and rape by security forces there. The country does not recognize the Rohingya as an indigenous ethnic group and denies them citizenship. The United Nations struck an outline deal with Myanmar at the end of May aimed at eventually allowing hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims sheltering in Bangladesh to return safely and by choice. But Rohingya will have no explicit guarantees of citizenship or freedom of movement in Myanmar, according to details of the agreement Reuters reported on Friday. Many Rohingya living at the refugee camps in Bangladesh have said they will not return until Myanmar recognizes them as citizens and their safety is guaranteed. Myanmar government spokesman Zaw Htay and Social Welfare Minister Win Myat Aye did not answer multiple phone calls seeking comment about the agreement. The director of the Ministry of Labor, Immigration, and Population said he was not authorized to comment and directed inquiries to the permanent secretary, who did not answer the phone. Maurer said he said he met senior government officials in Myanmar’s capital Naypyitaw to seek approvals to scale up the Red Cross operations in Rakhine state. He said he was satisfied with the cooperation from the security forces as well as the government to reach people in need at the present moment. The office of Myanmar’s leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, said the meetings were on “humanitarian assistance and helping the affected communities to create independent sources of income.

myanmar
rohingya
red cross
bangladesh
rakhine
peter maurer
ethnic cleansing
aung san suu kyi
atrocities


Nagoya firm's high-tech service aims to prevent sudden infant death syndrome at nursery schools

Abstract: Unifa Inc., an IT venture firm in Nagoya, has begun offering a monitoring service that can alert nursery school teachers to the warning signs of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), the leading cause of death among babies at day care facilities. The high-tech solution for a task that is usually handled by teachers is attracting attention as a way to sharply reduce the burden on day care staff and ensure the safety of children. SIDS often happens when infants are asleep with their face down. The company’s Look-mee service monitors infants using a sensor in their clothing that relays data to a tablet app. The firm claims the service, and its use of removable sensors, is unprecedented worldwide. The round sensors, with a diameter of roughly 4 centimeters, have formal approval as medical equipment. It monitors an infant’s breathing and checks the body position every second, a frequency impossible for humans to keep up with. If respiratory arrest or prone sleeping is detected, an alarm goes off on the tablet. In many nursery schools, teachers check the conditions of infants every five minutes while they nap and keep handwritten records in notebooks. That makes the teachers extra busy, as they also have to watch children who are awake. The service, which includes extra checks by teachers in addition to the technological solution, can help reduce risks for infants because the alarm allows teachers to respond quickly and correct sleeping positions if needed. With sensors for six infants the service is priced at ¥14,100 a month, with users also having to pay an initial cost for the tablets. Since the firm began offering the service in April, it has already been introduced by around 250 nursery schools — mainly in Tokyo — with some municipalities starting to provide subsidies for the digital solution. Unifa also established a panel of experts including pediatricians and lawyers in February to utilize the accumulated data on sleeping infants in research for SIDS and other diseases. The firm hopes to further support child development from various perspectives, such as by offering advice to teachers and developing a non-contact type thermometer that can be used along with the service. Unifa President Yasuyuki Toki, 37, said he came up with the idea of using technology to support nursery schools because his older sister was a nursery school teacher. “Using cutting-edge technology we can swiftly recognize changes in conditions of infants who cannot tell us using words when they don’t feel well,” Toki said. “We hope to analyze the accumulated data and contribute to the prevention of SIDS and infectious diseases.”

infants
nursery school
sids
digital solution
startup


60% of Japanese commuters kept going to their workplace after June Osaka quake, survey shows

Abstract: OSAKA - About 60 percent of commuters went on to their workplace rather than return home following the major earthquake that struck northern Osaka Prefecture during the June 18 morning rush hour, according to an online survey of 500 people who were on a train at the time of the quake. The survey by Tadahiro Motoyoshi, a professor of disaster psychology at Kansai University’s Faculty of Social Safety Sciences, found that 304 of the people persevered with the morning commute, while 196 returned home. A closer look shows that of the 173 respondents who were closer to their home than their workplace when the magnitude 6.1 quake occurred at 7:58 a.m., 62 opted to keep on heading toward work. “Those people may have had a weaker sense of crisis because they did not see any heavy damage,” Motoyoshi said. “Forcing oneself to head to work could expand the chaos and confusion as it could increase the number of people left stranded away from home.” The survey, which targeted commuters living in Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo and Nara prefectures, found that from the moment the quake hit, 57 people took another 30 to 60 minutes to arrive at their office, followed by 47 who took another two to three hours and 45 people who took another 60 to 90 minutes. More than half of the respondents said they were left without any information about when train services would resume. Following the quake, about 200,000 train passengers were temporarily stranded. Some lines did not resume operations until late that night. As of Sunday, 182 people were still taking refugee in 30 evacuation shelters in Osaka. The earthquake damaged 22,497 residences in Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo and Nara prefectures, according to authorities. Many of these homes are unsafe or otherwise unusable, and their residents have had to find temporary accommodations elsewhere. The Osaka Prefectural Government said it wants to provide public and private housing to evacuees whose residences were damaged so that it can shut down the shelters by the end of July. Osaka evacuation centers accommodated as many as 2,397 people in the immediate aftermath of the quake. According to the Disaster Relief Act, provisional housing will be offered for free for two years to people whose residences were destroyed. But Osaka Prefecture is set to create its own scheme to provide temporary housing for free for up to one year to people whose residences were only partially damaged if their local municipality concludes it would be difficult for them to return home. The prefecture has already secured 120 public housing units and plans to rent private apartments that will be made available to quake victims. The prefecture is also preparing to launch a special interest-free loan program for housing repairs, offering up to ¥2 million. “Since state financial aid does not apply (to some victims), the Osaka Prefectural Government will extend its own assistance. I think our programs cater to their specific needs,” Osaka Gov. Ichiro Matsui said.

commuter osaka earthquakes train housing evacuees


Hundreds of dignitaries honor Yoshio Okawara, former Japanese ambassador to U.S.

Abstract: Several hundred top diplomats, politicians and business people gathered Monday at a Tokyo hotel to honor Yoshio Okawara, a former Japanese ambassador to the United States who died of pneumonia March 29 at age 99. Okawara served as Japan’s man in Washington from 1980 to 1985, a period of intense trade friction with the U.S. After leaving the Foreign Ministry in 1985, he went on to hold a number of important positions, including as president of the America-Japan Society. “He was a real gentleman,” Gerald Curtis, professor emeritus of political science at Columbia University, said in Japanese during the gathering. “He had kept thinking about how we can make better the Japan-U.S. relationship, probably until the very last minute.” Among the organizers of Monday’s gathering were former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, former Toyota Motor Corp. President Shoichiro Toyoda and former U.S. Ambassador to Japan Walter Mondale. Those who attended included former Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, former Japanese Ambassador to the U.S. Kenichiro Sasae, Vice Foreign Minister Takeo Akiba and Yuzaburo Motegi, honorary CEO and chairman of soy sauce maker Kikkoman Corp. “Mr. Okawara was a top diplomat of Japan who strengthened the presence of our country in the world,” Motegi said. “In particular, he played a key role in building up a strong Japan-U.S. relationship.”

yoshio okawara
foreign ministry
u.s.-japan relations


Giving visitors to Japan something they can dance to

Abstract: Is this a case of deja vu on the dancefloor? In 2012, police in Osaka started raiding clubs for violating the adult entertainment business law, popularly known as fūeihō . The law forbids dancing after midnight. When pressed on the matter, police officials said they were simply enforcing the law — a law that had been ignored for years. The enforcement of the regulations decimated nightlife in the city. The police then decided to take a similar approach in Tokyo with much the same effect. In 2015, the Diet revised the adult entertainment business law to enable clubs to operate past midnight provided they met certain conditions. All clubs that allow drinking, dancing and certain “pleasures” after midnight must secure a special license from the authorities, provided zoning regulations allow it. Operators of unlicensed establishments face up to two years in prison or a ¥2 million fine. Nevertheless, those of us who can dance were able to get their groove on. Before too long, however, the police acted in a way that indicated they’re reluctant to let the good times roll. In January, the Metropolitan Police Department raided Aoyama Hachi, a club on the outskirts of Tokyo’s Shibuya neighborhood, in the first crackdown on dancing since the law was revised. Police entered the premises at 2 a.m. and found that the club didn’t have sufficient floor space to allow dancing. What’s more, alcohol was being served to customers and — shockingly — a DJ was playing. The club’s manager and two other employees were arrested. Since its raid on Aoyama Hachi, the authorities have raided more than 20 bars and other establishments in the Shibuya and Roppongi neighborhoods for alleged violations. The police even raided Geronimo, a shot bar popular with the foreign community that barely even has a dance floor (although admittedly many guests can probably be found swaying to the music on the sound system all night). The authorities appear to be focusing their attention on so-called tiny box ( kobako ) establishments such as Geronimo. The manager of one such bar was reportedly warned that if the bar continued to operate in this manner, it would “end up like Aoyama Hachi.” The police have ordered smaller clubs to display emoji-like posters banning dancing. It really has come to this. What’s more, smaller clubs are often located in areas where getting a license to operate is impossible. Many people are frustrated. A manager of a club in Roppongi, who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid being targeted in a raid, expressed dismay at the situation. “Japan is encouraging tourists from Asia and Europe to visit,” he says. “If you’re at a bar where music is playing, it’s only natural to move your body a little. To ask a customer not to dance or move to the music is like insisting they play freeze tag. It makes no sense.” Even former National Police Agency bureaucrat Katsuei Hirasawa thinks the police may be applying the law too strictly. “Japan has many foreign visitors, but there’s few options available after dinner,” Hirasawa says. “We’re nipping culture in the bud.” Hirasawa indicated he was in favor of giving clubs more leeway to allow dancing. The recent implementation of the law regulating minpaku (private lodgings) was a disaster that resulted in thousands of Airbnb cancellations and confusion. Japan keeps saying it wants to attract more tourists. However, if the authorities keep creating discriminatory laws or enforcing laws capriciously, they’re going to find that tourists may not quite be as enamored with Japan as they once could have been. Instead, they need to give the people something they can dance to.


U.K. politicians accuse government of breaching trust after minister reneges on maternity leave voting agreement

Abstract: LONDON - U.K. Cabinet ministers were infuriated this week by an apparent government breach of a protocol that prevents ill or heavily pregnant politicians from being forced to attend Parliament to vote, to the disadvantage of a representative currently on maternity leave. Pro-EU Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Jo Swinson, who is on leave from Parliament following the birth of her second son, Gabriel, on 29 June, had been paired with Brandon Lewis, chairman of the ruling Conservative party and a Cabinet minister, in a convention by which the opposing side agrees to stand down one of their own to even up the numbers if a representative is unable to attend a vote for personal reasons. The long-standing arrangement, known as the pair, is a kind of “gentleman’s agreement,” and is seen by many as central to how Parliament works. But instead of staying away from the House of Commons on Tuesday, Lewis voted with the government — helping Prime Minister Theresa May, who is also leader of the Conservative party, to secure a crucial victory on the U.K. leaving the European Union customs union. The apparently underhand tactic incensed members of May’s team, including Cabinet minister Andrea Leadsom, who has spoken out in favor of helping female lawmakers balance political work and family life. “Who is taking responsibility for failing to honour the pairing agreement?” asked another angry party member and representative, Sarah Wollaston, on Twitter. “More than just an extension of the other heavy handed tactics on display, it disrespects women and why maternity leave matters.” Labour reacted with predictable fury, demanding that Lewis issue an apology. Eventually he did. “I’m sorry Jo,” Lewis said on Twitter. “I think it was an honest mistake made by the whips in fast-moving circumstances. I know how important the pair is to everyone, especially new parents, and I apologize.” The chief whip also issued a statement, saying he was very sorry to Swinson for the “mistake.” The motion, tabled Tuesday in the House of Commons, blocked an amendment put forward by rebels in the Conservative party that could have kept the U.K. within the EU customs union after leaving the bloc. It was passed by 307 votes to 301.

politics
maternity leave
women
children
u.k .
employment
discrimination
parenthood


Japan's government to increase child welfare workers in wake of abuse and death of 5-year-old girl

Abstract: The government decided Friday to boost numbers of child welfare staff, to better tackle abuse following the recent death of a 5-year-old girl who had desperately begged her parents to stop mistreating her. In emergency measures finalized at a ministerial meeting on the day, the government decided to increase the number of child welfare personnel 1.6-fold by fiscal 2022 from 3,253 nationwide as of April last year. Such staff offer consultation and support to both children and parents. The government also mandated that welfare workers be permitted in-home access within 48 hours after receiving reports of abuse or neglect. Police can be enlisted to support them if necessary. The government will urge municipalities to compile data on children possibly at risk, such as those who do not attend kindergarten, by the end of September. The move comes after the March death in Tokyo of Yua Funato, which shocked the public as the extent of abuse by her mother and stepfather came to light following their arrest. According to the police, Yudai Funato, 33, and his wife Yuri, 25, physically abused the girl from late January and failed to provide her with sufficient nourishment. The police found a notebook and memos written by Yua at their home that were filled with pleas to her mother and stepfather to stop abusing her. The family had lived in Kagawa Prefecture, where Yua was taken into temporary protective custody twice by a local child welfare center, before moving to Tokyo. The Kagawa Prefectural Police had referred Funato to prosecutors twice on suspicion of injuring the child. The couple were indicted in June over neglect that led to the girl’s death from sepsis caused by pneumonia. Yua weighed only 12 kilograms when she was found dead, compared with an average weight for her age of 20 kg. Yua’s mother had refused to let welfare staff enter their home.

children
yua funato
child welfare centers
child abuse


Q&A: How to survive this year's scorching summer in Japan

Abstract: This year’s heat wave is again lethal, having already killed over 30 people and sent more than 10,000 to hospitals since July 9 due to heat exhaustion and heatstroke. The extreme weather continued to scorch Japan this week, with many cities seeing their highest-ever recorded temperatures. The mercury rose to as high as 40.7 degrees in the city of Tajimi in Gifu Prefecture on Wednesday. Unfortunately we will have to continue to deal with this sweltering summer for at least the next week or two, and weather forecasts say the high heat will not go away anytime soon. Here is a survival guide for the hot summers in Japan and other heat-related information. What can I do to prevent heat-related illnesses? The number one countermeasure is to avoid sudden exposure to extremely high temperatures. According to the Environment Ministry, heat-related illnesses are caused by the failure of bodily functions meant to have a cooling effect because of reduced sweating and blood flow. The early signs of heat-related illness include dizziness, a flushed face, aching and cramping muscles, and nausea. The disease can lead to even more serious symptoms such as disorientation and coma. The ministry recommends wearing light, cool clothes and staying in the shade when going outside. It also urges people to keep hydrated by drinking plenty of water and consuming sodium. In case of dehydration, oral rehydration therapy or treatments consisting of a solution based on salt and sugar taken orally can be useful as an emergency cure. If such a solution cannot be found at a convenience store, it can be made at home from a liter of clean water, six teaspoons of sugar and a half teaspoon of salt, according to the Japan Committee for UNICEF. Drinking cold barley tea, a popular summer flavor in Japan, is also believed to be effective for rehydration because it helps to top up minerals lost in sweat, according to the weather forecasting website tenki.jp, which is run by the Japan Weather Association. How can I learn about the risks of heat-related illnesses? The Environment Ministry’s website for heat-related illness prevention ( www.wbgt.env.go.jp/en/ ) shows an hourly updated heat stress index by region. The heat stress level is measured by the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature index, which indicates the risk of heat-related maladies based on factors such as temperature, humidity, wind and infrared radiation. A WBGT above 28 degrees significantly increases the risk of exhaustion or heatstroke. The WBGT index in Tokyo at 2 p.m. Friday was 32.5 degrees, a level at which any kind of exercise should be prohibited. When will this extreme heat go away? Weather forecasts say the scorching heat will continue for at least the remainder of this month. The Japan Meteorological Agency forecasts that temperatures everywhere in Japan except for Okinawa Prefecture and the Amami islands in Kagoshima Prefecture will continue to be higher than usual until the beginning of August. The agency forecasts that the heat will ease to the level of a usual summer, or a little higher, from Aug. 4 to 17. But Weathernews Inc. predicts the extreme weather will return in late August to early September, due to the arrival of two anticyclones — the Pacific and the Tibetan — over Japan’s main island. What else should I know about this year’s hot summer? According to Weathernews, the seven-day moving average lowest temperature in Tokyo in August has risen by 2.7 degrees since a century ago, while the moving average highest temperature during the month has also increased by 1.5 degrees. The Chiba-based weather information company says the rising temperature can be attributed to the heat island effect, in which the temperature in urban areas covered with concrete increases due to a lack of cooling provided by trees and plants, as well as heat released by human activities and machines. Meanwhile, increased usage of air conditioners on Wednesday forced Kansai Electric Power Co. to buy 1 million kilowatts of electricity from other domestic power companies to meet the high demand seen in the region from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. The unusual heat has also hit popular summer high school baseball tournaments across the nation. On Thursday, 34 teenagers in Kumamoto Prefecture, mostly high school students who were cheering for their schools at a baseball stadium, were sent to hospital after complaining of symptoms of heat exhaustion.

heat
exhaustion
weathernews
stroke
japan heat wave


Takeda bets on China for global growth, seeing the country as 'on a par' with the U.S. and Europe

Abstract: Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. sees China becoming a “core country” for its global growth strategy, and is optimistic its $62 billion (¥6.94 trillion) acquisition of Shire PLC will win approval by the country’s regulators. Takeda is preparing to begin selling seven new drugs in China in the next five years, more than in any other region, while working to secure reimbursement for them under the country’s medical insurance program, CEO Christophe Weber said in an interview in Beijing. He didn’t say how many drugs would be introduced in other markets in that period. “There’s no reason in the long term China shouldn’t be our second-biggest business in the world,” Weber said. Takeda’s goal is to launch drugs in China “at the same tempo as all of our markets, especially Europe and U.S. It’s a big, big shift.” Takeda is in the thick of getting approvals for its acquisition of U.K.-listed Shire from regulators around the globe. Weber said he’s optimistic about getting China’s sign-off for the deal, despite concerns that Beijing may retaliate against U.S. tariffs by delaying or even blocking acquisitions of American companies. “It’s one thing to create an economic situation where people have less choice to buy your cars, but it’s totally different thing to restrict access to medicine, impacting patients and health,” Weber said. “My only wish is it doesn’t go there.” While conducting the largest-ever overseas acquisition by a Japanese company, Takeda is also seeking growth in China, where the government is working to speed the approval process for drugs and widen access to health services and treatments. Health authorities in the country are negotiating with drugmakers to lower drug prices so that they can be reimbursed by medical insurance and affordable to patients. China is now a “core country,” Weber said, and the company views it as on par with the U.S. and Europe in research, new drug approvals and reimbursement. Demand for new therapies is surging in the country as the population ages and chronic diseases such as diabetes and cancer become more common. Takeda plans to introduce medicines such as Ninlaro, which treats a cancer of white blood cells called multiple myeloma. China’s pharmaceutical market is second only to the U.S. in size, and expenditures are expected to grow as much as 8 percent per year to $170 billion in 2021, according to researcher QuintilesIMS. China’s medical imports stood at $28.7 billion in 2017, according to the General Administration of Customs.


12 dead, nearly 10,000 taken to hospitals last week as ongoing heat wave engulfs Japan

Abstract: Twelve people died and nearly 10,000 people were taken to hospitals for heat exhaustion or heatstroke during the week through last Sunday, as a heat wave continued to scorch wide areas of Japan, the government said Wednesday. Temperatures soared to more than 35 degrees, with cities in central Japan seeing the highest levels this year at about 40, the weather agency said. As intense heat is expected to continue, the Meteorological Agency has warned people to take precautions, such as drinking sufficient amounts of water. According to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency, the heat sent 9,956 people to hospitals, 3.7 times higher than that of the previous week. A Kyodo News tally showed more than 5,000 people were taken to hospitals during the three-day weekend. For Wednesday, temperatures climbed to 40.7 in the city of Tajimi in Gifu Prefecture, and the city of Mino in the same prefecture reached 40.6. The last time such temperatures were reached was August 2013. By prefecture, Osaka saw the largest number of people sent to hospitals at 752 people, followed by 704 in Tokyo and 687 in Aichi Prefecture. Of the 9,956 people, nearly 190 needed to be hospitalized for more than three weeks. People aged 65 or older accounted for 46.1 percent of the total. Among the fatalities last week was a 6-year-old boy. The first-grade elementary school student in Aichi Prefecture was attending an outdoor class for about two hours with his teacher and classmates at around noon on Tuesday. The temperature was about 33 at that time. The heat has also continued to make it difficult for relief operations in regions ravaged by the recent flooding and landslides. Although more than a week has passed from the downpour, more than 10 people remain missing in the prefectures of Hiroshima, Okayama, Ehime, Osaka and Nara, according to a tally. About 4,800 people in 16 prefectures had evacuated to shelters, according to the National Police Agency. In the three hardest-hit prefectures — Okayama, Hiroshima and Ehime — a total of 813 people were taken to hospitals last week, including volunteers for removing and cleaning up debris. In the areas hit by the downpour, Ozu in Ehime Prefecture logged 35.9, while Kurashiki in Okayama Prefecture and Higashihiroshima in Hiroshima Prefecture recorded 33.9 and 33.4, respectively. Of the 927 monitoring points nationwide, 185 points logged 35 or higher on Wednesday, the Meteorological Agency said. In Osaka Prefecture, firefighters took nine female students to hospital at about 1 p.m. after receiving an emergency call from the school. Three are apparently in serious condition, they said. It was around 38 at just past 2 p.m. in Osaka. The Tokyo Fire Department said it received about 2,900 emergency calls the previous day, a record high for a single day since it started emergency services in 1936. The Environment Ministry, which releases a color-based map on its website to convey heat exhaustion or heatstroke risks, has decided to change the colors to make it easier to read for people with color vision deficiency.

hospitals
heat wave
heatstroke
meteorological agency


Number of foreign visitors to Japan up 15.6% in first half of 2018

Abstract: The estimated number of foreign visitors to Japan from January to June rose 15.6 percent from the same period a year earlier to 15.89 million, a record for the first half of the year, the Japan Tourism Agency said Wednesday. If the pace of increase is maintained, the annual figure will top 30 million for the first time. The government aims to attract 40 million foreign visitors in 2020 when Tokyo hosts the Olympics and Paralympics. An increased number of budget airline flights, mainly from elsewhere in East Asia, led to robust growth, with independent Chinese travelers and cruise ship passengers pushing up the total figure, according to the agency. By country and region, China accounted for the largest number of foreign tourists at 4.05 million, up 23.6 percent, followed by South Korea at 4.02 million, up 18.3 percent, and Taiwan at 2.51 million, up 9.5 percent. In June alone, 2.7 million foreign tourists visited Japan, up 15.3 percent from 2017. The agency said the major earthquake that rocked the Kansai region last month had little impact on foreign visitor numbers, except for those from South Korea, adding that it will keep an eye on the possible effect of deadly torrential rain in western Japan earlier this month. Some hotel operators in the hardest-hit prefectures of Okayama, Hiroshima and Ehime have said they’ve had an increased number of cancellations in the wake of the disaster. A separate report showed spending by foreign tourists between April and June totaled ¥1.12 trillion ($9.9 billion), up 4.2 percent from a year earlier. In the six-month period through June, spending reached ¥2.24 trillion, up 9.3 percent from a year earlier. Spending per visitor in the April-June quarter declined 3.5 percent to about ¥144,000, apparently due in part to a fall in spending by Chinese visitors on items such as cosmetics and pharmaceutical products.

japan tourism agency
tourism
foreign tourists


Washington and Tokyo to discuss trade in August, U.S. trade representative says

Abstract: WASHINGTON - U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer suggested Thursday that the first meeting of a new trade dialogue between he and economy minister Toshimitsu Motegi will take place in August. “We’re going to have a meeting … in the next 30 days,” he told a Senate committee hearing. The United States “ought to be negotiating” a free trade agreement with Japan, Lighthizer said, reiterating Washington’s hope to enter into such talks. The United States’ trade deficit with Japan in 2017 stood at some $69 billion — behind only China and Mexico and accounting for nearly 10 percent of the country’s total trade deficit. The trade deficit with Japan is “chronic,” Lighthizer said, specifically pointing to “unfair barriers”on the country’s beef imports. “We have a fairly aggressive agenda” for U.S.-Japan trade dialogue, he said, showing his expectations that the talks will lead to reductions in the trade deficit. But in Tokyo, Finance Minister Taro Aso said Friday that Japan “has no intention to conclude (a free trade agreement with the United States), as we have been saying from the start.” Lighthizer and Motegi will meet as the U.S. mulls imposing additional tariffs of up to 25 percent on imported cars and car parts. If invoked, the new duties will significantly affect Japan and other major car exporters. Lighthizer said that U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have a “very good relationship,” but expressed frustration about Washington’s trade deficit with Tokyo. Regarding his North American Free Trade Agreement partners, Lighthizer said it’s possible they will reach a tentative agreement next month to revamp the 24-year-old pact. Lighthizer said the timetable would meet the Mexican objective of having President Enrique Pena Nieto sign a new deal before he leaves office in December. U.S. trade law requires a three-month period after a deal is reached before the parties can sign it. If the three countries don’t strike a deal until September or later, then the incoming Mexican president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrado, would have to sign off on it after he takes office. “You’re probably looking at having to have some conclusion during the course of August, and my sense is that that’s not an unreasonable time frame if everybody wants to get it done,” Lighthizer said.