Yusaku Maezawa: Japan's corporate enfant terrible with the world's first ticket to the moon

Abstract: Call it a flashy billionaire’s whimsy or a stroke of PR genius. When Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk hinted on Twitter last week that a Japanese person could be the first tourist to go around the moon on board Space X’s Big Falcon Rocket, social media began buzzing with speculation. Names being bandied about included Takafumi Horie, the brash former president of Livedoor Co., and Daisuke Enomoto, another former Livedoor executive who came close to becoming a space tourist. But the consensus seemed to point to Yusaku Maezawa, the wine- and art-loving founder of Japan’s largest fashion e-commerce company, Start Today Co., which operates the online apparel retailer Zozotown. Horie himself was quick to deflect attention toward his friend when asked on Twitter whether it was him or Maezawa. “No, I’m not. Only @yousuck2020 can pay for the seat,” he said, referring to Maezawa’s Twitter handle. With the live-streamed announcement this week of Maezawa’s plan to fly to the moon along with a group of yet-to-be-decided artists he plans to sponsor, the former punk band drummer may have sealed his reputation as one of Japan’s savviest self-promoters. Here’s a look at the 42-year-old billionaire’s skyrocketing career. What is Start Today? It’s a fashion e-commerce company Maezawa founded when he was 22. Prior to launching his company, Maezawa was a drummer for a hardcore punk band signed with a major label. He had another passion, however: collecting imported punk and hardcore records and CDs, a hobby that turned into a mail order catalog business that was incorporated into Start Today in 1998. The firm went online in 2000 and began offering niche fashion apparel in addition to music before opening the shopping website Zozotown in 2004. Today the site features about 6,800 brands with over 650,000 items, and the company, which began with just four staff members, now employs nearly 1,000. With a market capitalization of about ¥1.03 trillion and annual sales topping ¥98 billion in the fiscal year ended March 31, Maezawa, who owns about 38 percent of Start Today’s shares, is Japan’s 18th-richest man, according to Forbes. How is Maezawa seen in Japan? Much like Horie once was, Maezawa is his generation’s corporate enfant terrible — an anomaly in the nation’s conservative business climate that prefers low-key executives who shun the spotlight. He is active on social media, where he shares glimpses of his lavish lifestyle, and the father of three children from past relationships is a regular on entertainment news, most recently for dating popular actress Ayame Goriki. He also owns a private jet and is known as an avid wine collector, owning thousands of bottles. Unlike many startups, which often opt to headquarter their companies in Tokyo, Start Today’s main office has remained in Chiba Prefecture, where Maezawa was born and raised. Maezawa bought the naming rights to the home of the Chiba Lotte Marines baseball team in 2016, renaming the ball park Zozo Marine Stadium. Maezawa made headlines in July by declaring his desire to own a baseball team, a move that would put him alongside other team-owning tech giants such as Masayoshi Son’s SoftBank Group Corp. and Hiroshi Mikitani’s Rakuten Inc. But perhaps Maezawa is best known for his love of art. Last year he broke the auction record for a U.S. artist by splurging $110.5 million on a painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat at Sotheby’s. That followed a $57.3 million purchase of another Basquiat piece at Christie’s in 2016. He plans to open a museum in Chiba where he can showcase his vast collection of art, furniture and antiques. Maezawa is also a visionary of sorts, preaching world peace and universal basic income. In an essay he shared last month, he laid out his dream of seeing a world devoid of money, a radical change he believes will alter people’s attitudes toward work and relationships for the better. “You don’t really find Maezawa’s type in Japan,” said technology writer Hitoshi Sato. “While Zozotown is a household name in Japan, it’s still relatively unknown elsewhere. His decision to fly to the moon will help boost his company’s brand recognition overseas.” What’s next for Start Today? In an interview with The Japan Times in March, Maezawa said he intends to make his company one of the world’s leading apparel retailers. To that end, Start Today has been opening overseas offices and promoting the Zozosuit, a skin-tight garment that can capture 15,000 precise body measurements. Linked via Bluetooth to a special app, the data from the suit’s sensors allows shoppers to find the best fit from the thousands of brands offered on the Zozotown website, as well as purchase made-to-order clothing from Zozo, the company’s private brand. Start Today will be renamed Zozo Inc. from October. “I think there’s a chance for us to become the No. 1 apparel company in the world,” he said in the interview.


Japan sees surge in foreign nursing care students

Abstract: The number of foreign students enrolling in nursing care schools has nearly doubled this academic year amid a labor shortage in the heath care sector, according to the Japan Association of Training Institutions for Certified Care Workers. The rise in the number of foreign students started in 2015, and gained momentum following a legal amendment last September making it easier for certified caregivers to obtain residential status, the association said Monday. The latest figure means one in six nursing care students in Japan is foreign, as the number of Japanese students fell by half over the last five years to 5,714 as of April, according to a survey conducted by the association on 365 institutions with nursing care programs, including vocational schools, junior colleges and universities. Japanese students appear to be steering clear of care giving jobs. The sector’s average monthly wage is about ¥100,000 less than in other industries. Of the foreign students, the most were from Vietnam, at 542, followed by those from China, at 167; Nepal, at 95; Indonesia, at 70; and the Philippines, at 68. The government has been trying to expand its use of foreign workers in the sector, as it is expecting to see a shortage of 340,000 caregivers in 2025 when those in the boomer generation reach age 75 or above. But it is unclear whether the nation will be able to continue to cultivate growth in foreign student numbers, as other countries such as Germany, Britain, the United States and Singapore are also looking for foreign workers in the health care sector. Japan needs to provide a more attractive work environment, with benefits such as higher wages and support for child-rearing, to keep attracting foreign caregivers, said Miku Ishibashi of the Daiwa Institute of Research. “The increase in international student enrollment is a good thing, but at the same time we hope many Japanese students will become interested in becoming caregivers,” an official at the association said.

foreign students
caregivers
graying society


Telemedicine via smartphone apps gaining in popularity in Japan

Abstract: Remote medical consultation services that connect doctors and patients via smartphones and other devices are spreading across Japan, with their popularity boosted by recent deregulation of telemedicine. Under deregulation in April, health insurance can now be used for such consultations, and health care startups are expected to further accelerate the development of remote health care services that use artificial intelligence amid wider accumulation of health data on individuals. The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry unveiled its vision for developing and utilizing a health care database to support telemedicine applications for remote diagnosis, remote treatment and telesurgery in its proposal titled “The Japan Vision: Health Care 2035,” along with changes in the social environment, including a rapidly aging population and the advancement of medical technology. As an experiment for remote consultations, this reporter tried using the health care mobile app called curon, which is operated by Tokyo-based health care startup Micin Inc. After explaining via smartphone that “I have been taking large amounts of painkillers because I have been bothered by frequent headaches and fevers recently,” the doctor who appeared in a videophone call replied, “You’ll lessen the strain on your stomach and kidneys if you change your medication.” The service was convenient since it could be used at leisure without requiring a physical visit to a hospital. Even the one-on-one dialogue via remote consultation somehow felt closer than a physical face-to-face meeting with a doctor. Currently, about 650 health care institutions use curon, which specializes in consultations for chronic diseases, including diabetes, that require continuous medical care. In July, the app was upgraded with new functions that allow patients to share information with doctors that is collected at home, such as their blood pressure, amount of exercise and hours of sleep. Generally, AI maximizes its potential in data analysis when large amounts of information are collected. Seigo Hara, a doctor and chief executive officer of Micin, imagines that in the future, AI will advise doctors to help compensate for their differences in ability or lack of experience in certain fields to provide “the best treatment plan for each patient.” AI, for example, might advise doctors about when a patient might likely stop taking medication or appropriate ways for patients to take their meals. China has seen an advancement in the merger of medicine and information technology. Health care and technology company Ping An Good Doctor has about 1,000 doctors who provide 370,000 online remote consultations per day in cooperation with other hospitals. By accumulating data from 300 million cases and with the support of an AI-based diagnostic system, the company has been able to provide enormous amounts of medical consultations beyond what could ever be conceived at a conventional hospital. In a lecture in Tokyo in July, Oliver Wang, chairman and CEO of Ping An Good Doctor, said, “Telemedicine can solve health care problems in China, such as shortages of doctors and long waiting lines at hospitals.” He stressed his goal of having “a family doctor for every family.” In Japan, curon vies with other remote consultation service platforms such as MRT Inc.’s Pocket Doctor and Medley Inc.’s Clinics, among others. One person with knowledge of the industry predicts “a pivot to the utilization of health data with apps serving as a basis” and the possibility of developing a health care service using remote consultations similar to China’s system. Even so, a Japanese expert on health care also pointed out issues that can arise with the expansion of remote medical consultations. “There is a risk that rare diseases, not included in data, can be overlooked,” Akira Yokouchi of the Nomura Research Institute said, while at the same time expressing his hope for the improvement of the quality of health care.


Elon Musk's SpaceX names Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa as first passenger for moon voyage

Abstract: In July, Yusaku Maezawa, the founder of Japan’s major online fashion mall Zozotown, was donning chic suits designed by his firm’s private brand to give big presentations about global business strategies. But while the earthly bounds of his firm’s success have yet to become clear, we now know that in 2023 the billionaire entrepreneur is scheduled to leave the planet altogether — dressed in a very different suit (albeit probably not one designed by Zozo). Elon Musk’s SpaceX said Tuesday that Maezawa, CEO of Chiba-based Start Today Co., will be one of the first people to embark on an adventure to the moon aboard its spacecraft, and that he will also be inviting artists as his guests. “Finally, I can tell you that I choose to go to the moon,” Maezawa, 42, said at an event Monday evening at the headquarters of Musk’s space technology company in the Los Angeles suburb of Hawthorne. Maezawa will be the first lunar traveler since the last U.S. Apollo mission in 1972. While Maezawa did not reveal the cost of the SpaceX voyage, he said that he had already paid a deposit. Musk said at the event that the amount was large enough to “have a material effect” on the program, and that it will assist the development of the ship and ultimately help normal people travel to other planets. Musk has estimated that the development of the Big Falcon Rocket system and the spacecraft would cost about $5 billion. Musk praised Maezawa’s decision to travel to the moon, spelling out the safety risks. “He is a very brave person to do this,” Musk said. “I hope this is really seen as a positive thing. “It’s dangerous, to be clear … This is not, you know, (a) walk in a park here. When you’re pushing the frontier, it’s not a sure thing; it’s not like just taking air flight somewhere. There’s some chances something could go wrong and I’ll do anything to minimize (the risks).” Musk said that the Big Falcon Rocket has room for a hundred but will use the space to store extra fuel and oxygen to ensure the travelers have various options for recovery if something goes wrong. “We’d better get this flight right,” Musk added. Maezawa won’t travel alone — he wants artists to keep him company. “In 2023, as the host, I’d like to invite six to eight artists from around the world on this mission,” Maezawa told reporters, adding that he wants to reach out to “top artists” including painters, sculptors, photographers, fashion designers, musicians and film directors. The crew will spend a week in space. Maezawa is going to cover the travel expenses of all the guests, Musk said. Maezawa explained that he didn’t want to miss the opportunity to see the moon up close. “Ever since I was a kid I have loved the moon, and staring at the moon filled my imagination,” he said. The tycoon said his trip will be an attempt to contribute to world peace, in the belief that art has a power to promote this. “I love art and I’m very much looking forward to seeing what different artists getting together can bring to life,” Maezawa said of his expectations regarding the trip. Maezawa’s guests will be asked to create artworks reflecting their experience after returning to the Earth, Maezawa said. He believes the artworks will become a legacy for the entire human race. Maezawa has been known for his lavish spending, especially on art. He was ranked by Forbes as the 18th richest man in Japan this year, and owns works by famed artists such as Picasso, Giacometti and Calder. Last spring, he bought a 1982 painting of a skull by Jean-Michel Basquiat for a record-breaking $110.5 million.


It's not that bad! Science, tourism clash over Australia's Great Barrier Reef

Abstract: SYDNEY - A dispute is raging over Australia’s warming-damaged Great Barrier Reef, with firms worried that scientists’ apocalyptic warnings are scaring visitors out of the water. Every year, more than 2 million snorkel-wielding tourists head to Australia’s famed coral ecosystem, generating revenues of $4.3 billion (5.9 billion Australian dollars) and supporting 64,000 local jobs. But damage done by higher temperatures — which turn patches of the reef ashen white — has threatened to put a break on the number of tourists willing to wrestle their way into a wet suit. There was surprise then, when the Reef and Rainforest Research Centre recently published a markedly more optimistic report, heralding “significant signs of recovery” at major dive sites around Cairns and prompting a flurry of upbeat news coverage. If the report’s findings seemed out of kilter with other studies about the reef, that was by design. It was part of an effort to show that not all of the Great Barrier Reef is an aquatic wasteland, according to Col McKenzie of tourism industry lobby group AMPTO, which helped carry out the research. “Overall, are we seeing a drop in visitation because of the negative press, absolutely we are, there’s no doubt about that,” McKenzie said. He suggested visitor numbers to the reef and nearby islands had dropped by 10 percent in 2017 and were on track to plunge by a further 15 percent this year. Although government data shows that the number of visitors to the broader region has actually increased, those figures are older and don’t include coral-viewing activities. McKenzie said it was vital to get the message out that some areas of the massive ecosystem are still teeming with color and life. “What people miss with our reef system is … it’s a massive structure,” he said. His comments are the latest salvo in a battle between ecologists and the tourism industry, as they struggle to come to terms with competing interests and new realities on the reef. Professor Terry Hughes of James Cook University, who leads the surveys of bleached corals, cautioned that while some damaged coral regain their color within several months, more badly damaged reefs can take a decade to recover. “It’s very early days yet,” he told AFP, describing a patchy recovery that makes generalizations difficult. “Basically we are in year one in the middle of the reef, or year two in the northern reefs, in the decade-long process of recovery.” The government’s Australian Institute of Marine Science says coral cover has “continued to decline due to the cumulative impacts of multiple, severe disturbances over the past four years.” The same institute showed that apart from the risk of extreme sea surface temperatures — with some areas more affected, the reef is also grappling with the impacts of farming run-off, development and severe tropical cyclones. Even within government there are conflicting interests at play, as well as rolling debates about how best to respond. Canberra has — so far successfully — urged UNESCO to hold off listing the reef as an endangered World Heritage site, fearing it would have an adverse economic impact and lead to tougher restrictions on local industry. It has allocated some $1.4 billion to protect the site, but at the same time backed a huge coal project nearby by Indian mining giant Adani and moved away from legislating climate targets under the Paris Accord. A parliamentary inquiry was recently set up to investigate why former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull gave nearly half a billion dollars to a small business-backed reef charity without a competitive tender process. Australians also appear divided on damage done to the reef. Only half of the country thinks that climate change is already causing the destruction of reef, according to an annual Ipsos poll on environmental issues. Whichever way the political winds blow, scientists like Hughes are determined to document changes to one of the world’s most biodiverse regions. But that remains a moving target. “It’s a critical recovery period,” Hughes said. “The unknown, of course, is whether we’ll get another bleaching event, which potentially could come as soon as early next year if we get a heat wave.”

nature
oceans
australia
climate change
reefs
great barrier reef


Scientists look to Chinese soup ingredients to treat dementia

Abstract: SYDNEY, / SHANGHAI - The ingredients in this experimental brain treatment may be better known to enhance cooking, not cognition. Chinese scientists have borrowed three ingredients from its traditional medicine practice — a 3,000-year-old approach that aims to regulate the flow of energy in the body — and used modern pharmaceutical technology to devise a formula to tackle dementia, which has no cure. The resulting blend of ginkgo biloba, ginseng and saffron extracts, called sailuotong (SLT), is due to enter a late-stage study in Melbourne this month, and a larger clinical trial to validate its impact is slated to begin in China later this year. The herbal mix offers an untrodden avenue into a research field riddled with failures. Success for SLT could bring the first approved medicine to treat the vascular causes of dementia, a form of age-related deterioration that resembles Alzheimer’s disease. But its backers’ hopes extend beyond dementia: They seek to validate a new approach to pharmaceutical innovation combining the ancient wisdom of traditional medicines with the scientific rigor of modern drug development. “If we’re successful in treating vascular dementia, it will be a good example of how other traditional Chinese medicines could potentially be developed,” said Zhang Huajian, the Beijing-based director of clinical research at China Shineway Pharmaceutical Group Ltd. Dementia, afflicting about 50 million people worldwide, is a compelling target. Despite hundreds of clinical trials investigating potential treatments in recent decades, no new drug has been approved since 2003. The five medications sold for Alzheimer’s, the most common cause of dementia, provide only modest relief of symptoms. None can slow the disease’s progression. There are no specific drugs for vascular dementia, which SLT targets. Chinese herbal ingredients are already used in some important medicines, including the main treatment for malaria, thanks to a tradition preserved in texts such as Huangdi Neijing, the most important book of ancient Chinese medicine. The group that invented SLT is also working along a similar route to develop treatments for diabetes and related ailments. While modern pharmaceuticals tend to work on single targets, herbal extracts used in traditional Chinese medicine can interact with the body along multiple pathways, according to Zhang. For SLT, researchers isolated the chemical components from each ingredient, identified and characterized their biological activity, and then studied multiple combinations to determine the optimal formulation. Each capsule contains 10 active components, according to the drug’s inventor, Liu Jianxun, director of the research center at the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences’ Xiyuan Hospital in Beijing. Liu and colleagues documented how and where each component is taken up in the body, as well as the effects and mechanisms of action. It is a level of analysis that has tended to elude traditional Chinese medicines, but which is needed for quality control and standardization, said Liu, who began working on the project in 1999, a decade before SLT was licensed to Shineway. “Traditional Chinese medicine has advantages in treating geriatric and chronic diseases,” Liu said over the phone from Beijing, where he is also director of the standardized Chinese medicine pharmacology laboratory with China’s Ministry of Science and Technology. “We want to develop better medicines for dementia, regardless of the cause.” Each of SLT’s ingredients has been used individually in traditional medicine, said Dennis Chang, a clinical pharmacologist at the University of Western Sydney’s NICM Health Research Institute. Chang is chief investigator of the final phase study in Australia. Ginkgo biloba is taken to improve neurocognition and Panax ginseng is used as a “wonder herb” whose benefits include boosting memory and response. Saffron, a spice derived from the flower of Crocus sativus and used to flavor chicken soup in China, has a reputation for aiding blood circulation and offering antidepressant effects, he said. In SLT, the combination is designed to work to improve blood circulation and perfusion in the brain, reduce inflammation and enhance communication between brain cells, according to Chang. In vascular dementia, brain cells are killed by small strokes and other injuries that impede oxygen supply, causing changes in memory, thinking and behavior. While dead neurons can’t be recovered, the aim is to preserve and possibly increase brain function by improving the networks linking healthy cells, Chang said. The same benefits may apply across other forms of dementia, since vascular changes are found in the brains of a large proportion of deceased sufferers on autopsy. “We never say we will try to find a cure, but that there will be a significant slowdown of disease progression — that’s the hope,” Chang said. A 16-week pilot study of SLT in 17 vascular dementia patients used single-photon emission computerized tomography scans to look for changes in blood circulation in the brain and found improvements in areas that control cognition, language comprehension, and working memory, he said. That supported a mid-stage study in China, where SLT was found to improve cognition and daily functioning in patients with mild-to-moderate vascular dementia. The randomized, controlled study in Australia will enroll 230 patients, each of whom will take two capsules containing either SLT or a placebo twice a day for a year. The China one aims to recruit about 500 patients, according to Shineway’s Zhang. Studies in both countries are expected to be completed in 2020 with a possible market launch in 2021, Shineway said in May. SLT would probably cost about 5,000 yuan ($730) for one year of treatment, Zhang said. “This is a hopeful study,” said Amy Brodtmann, a cognitive neurologist who heads the vascular neurodegeneration research laboratory at the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health in Melbourne. Brodtmann plans to enroll patients in the SLT trial. One advantage, she said, is that the active ingredients are “used and taken in everyday life all the time. The chances of an adverse outcome are incredibly low.”

china
medicine
aging
dementia
alzheimer 's disease
mental health
tradition


From chat room to courtroom: China's #MeToo movement takes legal turn with case involving TV star

Abstract: BEIJING - When a former intern at China’s state broadcaster wrote in July about being groped and forcibly kissed by one of the country’s most recognizable television stars, her story ignited a social media firestorm in a country where a backlash against sexual harassment was growing. Now her case is set to go before the Chinese legal system. The 25-year-old former intern said she had been informed Tuesday by a court in Beijing’s Haidian district that she was being sued in a civil case for damaging Zhu Jun’s reputation and mental well-being. Also named in the suit was Xu Chao, a friend who had been championing the case online. At her request, Reuters is withholding the name of the accuser and identifying her by her online name, Xianzi. Zhu is demanding that the two women apologize online and in a national newspaper, pay compensation of 655,000 yuan ($95,254.72) and cover the costs of legal fees for the case, according to a copy of the filing seen by Reuters. Descriptions of Zhu forcibly kissing and groping Xianzi were “pure fiction” and had caused “grave damage” to Zhu’s public image and his mental health, according to the filing, which was dated Sept. 18 and is not available to the public. In response, Xianzi applied to file her own civil suit against Zhu on Tuesday for “infringement of personality rights,” she said. Personality rights is a broad term used within Chinese law to refer to personal dignity rights, but does not specifically mention sexual harassment. “I decided that you have to use the law to prove what you said happened,” Xianzi said on Wednesday. Zhu, 54, whose lawyers have publicly denied the allegations, did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Zhu’s lawyer issued a statement earlier this month saying he had sued the two women. Reached by telephone, Xu confirmed the filing of the lawsuit. China’s justice and public security ministries did not respond to requests for comment. China does not have a law that specifically prohibits sexual harassment. However, on Aug. 27 China’s parliament announced that it was considering adding provisions to a civil code, expected to be passed in 2020, that would allow a victim to file a civil suit against someone who uses words, actions or exploits a subordinate relationship to sexually harass them. The changes would also require employers to take measures to prevent, stop and handle complaints about sexual harassment. Vague laws, culture of silence In recent months, women have made several allegations of sexual abuse against powerful men, including prominent university professors, the head of China’s Buddhist association and leading figures in the media and at nongovernmental organizations, which have reverberated across social media in China. That intensified with the arrest and release by U.S. police last month of Richard Liu, chief executive of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com , on a rape allegation. Liu has not been charged and through a lawyer has denied any wrongdoing. Up to now, vague laws, patchy implementation and a lack of understanding among lawyers, judges, police and the public have hampered attempts to handle cases through the courts, and deterred many victims from filing suits, according to activist groups. The lack of a clear definition of sexual harassment, or an agreed upon standard for addressing complaints, entrenches a “culture of silence,” according to the nonprofit Beijing Yuanzhong Gender Development Center. The group said that while workplace sexual harassment is widespread in China, only 34 specific cases have been logged in the official court case database since 2010. Household name Xianzi was a 21-year-old intern at state broadcaster CCTV when she said she met Zhu, who is famous across China for hosting an annual spring festival extravaganza, one of China’s top-rated programs. In an interview, Xianzi said she had been alone in a dressing room with Zhu when he asked her if she wanted to work for the channel after her internship, before trying to take her hand on the pretext of reading her fortune. Despite her protests, Xianzi said, Zhu groped her under her skirt before pulling her head and forcibly kissing her, only stopping when interrupted by knocking on the door. CCTV did not respond to requests for comment. Xianzi said she was moved to act after reading accounts of sexual assault and harassment posted on Chinese social media by women emboldened by the country’s fledgling #MeToo movement. In July, Xianzi, now a screenwriter, wrote about her own experience on WeChat, sharing it with a small circle of friends. When Xu, her friend, shared the post on the Weibo platform, it went viral. On Tuesday, Xianzi returned to social media. “Still a bit angry, this is Xianzi, hello everyone, I’m getting ready for a fight,” she wrote on Weibo.

china
media
courts
rights
women
sex crimes


India's top court rules adultery is no longer a crime

Abstract: NEW DELHI - Adultery is no longer a crime, India’s top court ruled Thursday, declaring a colonial-era law that punished the offense with jail time unconstitutional and discriminatory against women. The more than century-old law prescribed that any man who slept with a married woman without her husband’s permission had committed adultery, a crime carrying a five-year prison term in the conservative country. A petitioner had challenged the court to strike down the law, describing it as arbitrary and discriminatory against women. “Thinking of adultery from a point of view of criminality is a retrograde step,” unanimously declared the five-judge bench of the Supreme Court. Women could not file a complaint under the archaic law nor be held liable for adultery themselves, making it solely the realm of men. The court said it deprived women of dignity and individual choice and “gives license to the husband to use women as a chattel.” “It disregards the sexual autonomy which every woman possesses and denies agency to a woman in a matrimonial tie,” said Supreme Court Justice D. Y. Chandrachud. “She is subjugated to the will of her spouse.” It was the second time this month the court overturned Victorian-era laws governing the sexual choices of India’s 1.25 billion citizens. Earlier this month, the court struck a ban on gay sex introduced by British rulers in 1861. The bench argued that Section 377 had become “a weapon for harassment” of homosexuals and “history owes an apology to the members of this community and their families.” On adultery, government lawyers argued it should remain a crime as it threatens the institution of marriage, and caused harm to children and families. But in its ruling, the court said extramarital affairs — while still a valid ground for divorce — were a private matter between adults. Prashant Bhushan, a lawyer in the Supreme Court, said watershed decisions on gay sex and adultery had shown the judges’ “adherence to liberal values and the constitution.” “Another fine judgment by the SC,” he Tweeted after Thursday’s ruling. In 1954, the court upheld adultery as a crime arguing “it is commonly accepted that it is the man who is the seducer, and not the woman.” But in their ruling on Thursday, the judges said this narrative no longer applied, noting also that Britain did away with its own laws penalising adultery long ago. “Man being the seducer and women being the victim no longer exits. Equality is the governing principle of a system. Husband is not the master of the wife,” the verdict added.


China executes man who stabbed nine children to death

Abstract: BEIJING - A man whose brutal knife attack left nine schoolchildren dead and injured 12 others was executed in China on Thursday. Zhao Zewei was sentenced to death in July for the massacre — reportedly motivated by a grudge against the school in northern Shaanxi province, which he had attended as a child. The defendant “intentionally deprived others of their lives,” the court that handed down the decision said in a statement on its official social media account. “Because his work and life were not going well, Zhao Zewei held a grudge in his heart and took it out on innocents,” it said. The April attack on the Number Three Middle School came as children were heading home from class. At the time, Zhao told police he had been “bullied” when he attended the school as a child, “hated” his classmates and decided to use a “dagger” to exact revenge. Knife attacks are not uncommon in China. Incidents have targeted schoolchildren in the past, forcing authorities to increase security around schools. In January 2017, a man armed with a kitchen knife stabbed and wounded 11 children at a kindergarten in the southern Guangxi Zhuang region. The previous February, a knife-wielding assailant wounded 10 children on the southern island of Hainan, before committing suicide. The man had entered the school in the afternoon, claiming that he was there to pick up his son.


Millions on U.S. East Coast prepare for potentially catastrophic Hurricane Florence

Abstract: RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA - With mandatory evacuations already issued for parts of three East Coast states, millions of Americans are preparing for what could become one of the most catastrophic hurricanes to hit the Eastern Seaboard in decades. Carrying winds of up to 140 mph (220 kph) as a Category 4 storm, Hurricane Florence is expected to strengthen and become a Category 5 storm Tuesday. It’s then forecast to close in on North or South Carolina on Thursday, hitting a stretch of coastline that’s vulnerable to rising sea levels due to climate change. “Please be prepared, be careful and be SAFE!” President Donald Trump tweeted Monday evening. South Carolina’s governor ordered the state’s entire coastline to be evacuated starting at noon Tuesday and predicted that 1 million people would flee. And Virginia’s governor ordered a mandatory evacuation for some residents of low-lying coastal areas, while some coastal counties in North Carolina have done the same. The storm’s first effects were already apparent on barrier islands as dangerous rip currents hit beaches and seawater flowed over a state highway. For many people, the challenge could be finding a safe refuge: If Florence slows to a crawl just off the coast, it could bring torrential rains to the Appalachian mountains and as far away as West Virginia, causing flash floods, mudslides and other dangerous conditions. The storm’s potential path also includes half a dozen nuclear power plants, pits holding coal-ash and other industrial waste, and numerous hog farms that store animal waste in massive open-air lagoons. Airlines, including American and Southwest, have started letting passengers change travel plans that take them into the hurricane’s possible path. National Hurricane Center Director Ken Graham warned that Florence was forecast to linger over the Carolinas once it reaches shore. People living well inland should prepare to lose power and endure flooding and other hazards, he warned. “It’s not just the coast,” Graham said. “When you stall a system like this and it moves real slow, some of that rainfall can extend well away from the center.” A warm ocean is the fuel that powers hurricanes, and Florence will be moving over waters where temperatures are peaking near 85 degrees (30 Celsius), hurricane specialist Eric Blake wrote. And with little wind shear to pull the storm apart, Florence’s hurricane wind field was expected to expand over the coming days, increasing its storm surge and inland wind threats. By 11 p.m. Monday local time, Florence was centered about 1,085 miles (1,745 kilometers) east-southeast of Cape Fear, North Carolina, and moving west at 13 mph (20 kph). Its center will move between Bermuda and the Bahamas on Tuesday and Wednesday and approach the coast of South Carolina or North Carolina on Thursday, the National Hurricane Center said. Two other storms were spinning in the Atlantic. Hurricane Isaac was expected to lose strength as it reaches the Caribbean, and Helene, much farther out to sea, may veer northward into the open ocean as the 2018 hurricane season reaches its peak. In the Pacific, Hurricane Olivia triggered warnings for multiple Hawaiian islands as it blew west toward an arrival over the state as soon as late Tuesday or early Wednesday. Preparations for Florence were intensifying up and down the densely populated coast. Since reliable record-keeping began more than 150 years ago, North Carolina has been hit by only one Category 4 hurricane: Hazel, with 130 mph winds, in 1954. The parking lot has been full for three days at the Ace Hardware store in coastal Calabash, North Carolina, where manager Tom Roberts said he sold 150 gas cans in two hours Monday, along with generators, plywood, rope, manual can openers, sand bags and a plethora of other items. “I’ve been doing this since 1983,” Roberts said as he completed an order for another 18-wheeler full of supplies. “This is the craziest one.” Many newcomers have moved to the coast in the nearly 19 years since the last strong hurricane — Floyd — threatened the area. Roberts said he’s telling them to get out of town. “I’m telling them to go inland, but I’m worried about the rain and tornadoes too,” Roberts said. Several meteorologists said Florence could do what Hurricane Harvey did last year over Texas, dumping days of rain, although not quite as bad. “I think this is very Harvey-esque,” said University of Miami hurricane expert Brian McNoldy. “Normally, a landfalling tropical cyclone just keeps on going inland, gradually dissipating and raining itself out. But on rare occasions, the steering patterns can line up such that a storm slips into a dead zone between troughs and ridges.” On North Carolina’s Outer Banks, Dawn Farrow Taylor, 50, was gathering photos and important documents and filling prescriptions Monday before heading inland. She grew up on the island chain, and says this will be only the second time she’s evacuated. “I don’t think many of us have ever been through a Category 4. And out here we’re so fragile. We’re just a strip of land — we’re a barrier island,” she said. In announcing his evacuation order, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster said an estimated 1 million people would be fleeing the coast. Eastbound lanes of Interstate 26 heading into Charleston and U.S. 501 heading into Myrtle Beach will be reversed when the order takes effect. An evacuation order from Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam applies to about 245,000 people, including parts of the Hampton Roads area and Eastern Shore. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said his state was “in the bullseye” of the storm and urged people to “get ready now.”

flooding
disasters
hurricanes
hurricane florence


China tells U.N. rights chief to respect its sovereignty after Xinjiang comments

Abstract: BEIJING - China on Tuesday called for U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet to respect its sovereignty, after she urged it to allow monitors into the restive far western region of Xinjiang and expressed concern about the situation there. China has said Xinjiang faces a serious threat from Islamist militants and separatists who plot attacks and stir up tension between the mostly Muslim Uighur minority who call the region home and members of the ethnic Han Chinese majority. Last month, a United Nations rights panel said it had received credible reports that up to one million ethnic Uighurs may be held in extralegal detention in Xinjiang, and called for them to be freed. In Bejing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang signalled that China did not want the United Nations to get involved. “China urges the U.N. human rights high commissioner and office to scrupulously abide by the mission and principles of the U.N. charter, respect China’s sovereignty, fairly and objectively carry out its duties, and not listen to one-sided information,” he told a daily news briefing. The government has previously blamed anti-China forces for being behind criticism of its policies in Xinjiang. During the past two years, authorities have dramatically stepped up security and surveillance there, likened by critics to near martial law conditions, with police checkpoints, re-education centers and mass DNA collection. Bachelet’s appeal for access came as New York-based Human Rights Watch said the Turkic Uighur minority faced arbitrary detentions, daily curbs on religious practice and “forced political indoctrination” in a mass security crackdown. In her maiden speech to the U.N. Human Rights Council, Bachelet said the panel had brought to light “deeply disturbing allegations of large-scale arbitrary detentions of Uighurs and other Muslim communities, in so-called re-education camps across Xinjiang”. Reports had been received of “patterns of human rights violations in other regions”, added Bachelet, a former Chilean president, calling for Beijing to permit access for her staff across China, saying she expected discussions to start soon.

china
rights
u.n .
uighurs
michelle bachelet


In sign of further easing of childbirth controls, China shuts family planning offices

Abstract: BEIJING - China’s health commission is getting rid of three offices that were previously dedicated to family planning, it announced late on Sunday, the latest signal that Beijing may further reduce restrictions on childbirth to combat an aging population. State-media has hinted in recent weeks that China, the world’s most populous nation, may be preparing to end its decadeslong policy of determining the number of children that couples can have. Last month, speculation of a further easing mounted after a new stamp unveiled by China Post featured a family of two pigs with three cheerful piglets, followed weeks later by a draft of the civil code dropping all mention of family planning. Three offices responsible for grass roots implementation of family planning policies have been removed from the new structure of China’s National Health Commission, according to an announcement from the commission. Instead, a new office for “population monitoring and family development” will be responsible for “improving birth policy and to organize implementation, and to establish and improve the system of extraordinary family assistance for family planning.” The commission still retains responsibility for “family planning management and facilitation work” and for the “improvement of family planning policy,” it said. “Family planning” was dropped from the commission’s name in March, as part of a sweeping government overhaul to reform government departments and reduce policymaking red tape. China has loosened its family planning policy as its population greys, birth rates slow and its workforce declines. In 2016, the government allowed couples in urban areas to have two children, replacing a controversial one-child rule enforced since 1979. While China’s population growth fell well below the world average under the one-child rule, Chinese policymakers have become wary of falling birth rates and a rapidly growing aging population. As of 2017, people aged 60 and above accounted for about 16.2 percent of China’s population, compared to 7.4 percent in 1950, according to the U.N. Population Division. Bloomberg reported in May that China was planning to scrap all limits on the number of children a family can have by the end of 2018.


A rare look behind the wire in Australia's 'Pacific Gulag' on Nauru

Abstract: YAREN, NAURU - A cluster of prefabricated huts pokes out of Nauru’s sweltering rocky landscape to reveal refugee settlement camp No. 5, a place defined by desperation and rarely visited by outsiders. Although access to the weed-infested camp is severely restricted, with the Nauru government seeking to prevent journalists from visiting the area, AFP recently managed to enter and speak with detainees. Inhabitants are there against their will, the subjects of a controversial deal between this island’s government and authorities in Canberra keen to avoid boat people setting foot on Australian shores. Most are asylum-seekers who tried to reach Australia by sea but were detained and processed in compounds run by the Nauru government and paid for by Canberra under its hard-line immigration policy. A swastika spray-painted on a large water tank alongside initials “ABF” make clear the inhabitants’ views on the Australian Border Force, which helps oversee them. Many are willing to speak only on condition of anonymity, but they describe existence on this remote speck of land in the South Pacific as devoid of hope, filled with desperation and of families living with the unbearable cloud of suicide attempts. A refugee from Iran — who asked not to be named — worries about himself, but above all about his children. His 12-year-old daughter once doused herself in petrol and threatened to set herself alight, after struggling to cope with spending half a decade and almost half her life on Nauru. “She took the lighter, she was screaming ‘Leave me alone! Leave me alone! I want to kill myself, I want to die,’ ” he said. He managed to wrest the lighter from her hands, but the despair that drove the girl to contemplate suicide still hangs over the lives of this family of four. Her 13-year-old brother said in a monotone: “I have no school, I have no future, I have no life.” Somali asylum-seeker Khadar Hrisi watches over his depressed wife like a hawk, afraid even to go to sleep because of her repeated suicide attempts, including one just a few days earlier. He took her to the nearest hospital, which is funded by Australia, but they received little help. “Last night, they called the police and they kicked us (out of) … the hospital,” he says. Refugees say medical services are limited and habitually overwhelmed because so many inhabitants suffer from psychological illnesses. Nauru’s roughly 900 detainees, including 100 children, often wait years to find out if they have been deemed genuine refugees. Even if they are, Australia still refuses to take them, leaving them stranded in the settlement camps unable to leave the 21 square-kilometer (8 square-mile) island they have come to regard as an open-air prison. ‘Stolen years’ A Refugee Council of Australia report released last week to coincide with the Pacific Islands Forum summit on Nauru said the mental health of many detainees was buckling because they could see no end to their plight. “Those who have seen this suffering say it is worse than anything they have seen, including in war zones … people are broken,” the report said. Rights activists say detainees endure harsh conditions including substandard housing in scorching heat, with reports also detailing allegations of physical and sexual abuse. Reporters Without Borders in August also accused the Australian government of failing to defend journalistic freedoms in relation to the camp, which it described as a “Pacific Gulag” and “Australia’s Guantanamo.” However, Canberra denies mistreatment and says offshore processing is needed to stop deaths occurring when people-smugglers cram asylum-seekers into rickety boats for the treacherous voyage to try to reach Australia. Nauru President Baron Waqa has dismissed the mental health fears and says the refugees can move freely around the island. “They’re provided all the services that are available to the Nauruans and we live together very happily,” he told reporters. But detainees say their relations with Nauruans are deteriorating and claim that they have been the target of violence and burglary at the hands of locals. The camp is an economic lifeline for Nauru, which has a population of 11,000 and scant natural resources. However, some Nauruans say they have yet to see any benefits from the Australian-bankrolled camps, with one young man saying: “We do not know where this money goes.” Many Nauruans live in dire conditions themselves and do not understand why the detainees are complaining. For their part, the refugees say they would be ready to move anywhere, as long as it meant their search for a home was finally over. “The Australian government has stolen five years of our life,” said the Iranian father whose daughter attempted suicide and whose son spends his days in depressed resignation.

australia
rights
refugees
mental health
nauru


73.8% of Japan workers in the service sector are harassed by customers: survey

Abstract: A labor union survey showed Tuesday that 73.8 percent of Japan workers in the service sector have faced harassment from customers. Of them, over 90 percent felt stressed due to such unreasonable acts, according to the survey by the Japanese Federation of Textile, Chemical, Food, Commercial, Service and General Workers’ Unions, or UA Zensen. The proportion of male workers who have faced harassing customer behavior stood at 79.5 percent, and that of female workers at 69.7 percent. Use of abusive language was most cited, by 24.8 percent, followed by threats or intimidation, by 21 percent, and repetitive complaints, by 14.9 percent. In one of the reported cases, a worker was given a death threat from a customer, according to the survey. In other cases, a customer put a lit cigarette on a worker’s skin and another pointed a cooking knife at an employee. Various cases of sexually harassing behavior were also reported, including the use of offensive language and physical contact. “It’s important for companies to draw up measures to protect their employees,” said Jiro Shimo, deputy chief of UA Zensen. “Society as a whole should promote necessary measures, including the establishment of related legislation.” The survey was conducted in February-May, with 30,396 workers from 95 unions giving valid answers.


Rubella infection spikes in Japan, with many cases in Tokyo area

Abstract: The number of rubella patients reported in the nation this year stands at 362, nearly four times the number seen the previous year, with many of the cases located in Tokyo and its vicinity, the National Institute of Infectious Diseases said Tuesday. The institute is warning a potential rubella outbreak could even affect the 2020 Games, and is urging people — mainly men in their 30s to 50s — to get vaccinations, as many have not been vaccinated fully against the disease. The latest report through Sept. 2 showed 75 cases had been newly reported in a week, down from 97 the previous week. Of these, 28 were in Tokyo, followed by 11 in Chiba Prefecture, eight in Kanagawa Prefecture, seven in Aichi Prefecture and five each in Ibaraki and Saitama prefectures. Rubella is highly contagious and is often transmitted through coughing and sneezing. It can have a serious health impact if contracted by women in the early stages of pregnancy as it tends to cause birth defects such as heart disorders, hearing impairments and cataracts in babies. Vaccination is effective in preventing infection, but women who are already pregnant cannot be vaccinated as the vaccine itself is feared to have an impact on the child. Japan saw a major rubella outbreak in 2013, with over 10,000 people infected. Cases of infection have since declined but there has been a resurgence since late July this year, with many of the patients being men in their 30s and older.


Japan's shut-in elderly men more likely to suffer from undernourishment

Abstract: Elderly men who go out less than once a week are more likely to suffer from undernourishment than those who leave their house more often, a 2017 health ministry survey revealed Tuesday. There was little difference in the nutritional status for elderly women, regardless of how often they go out. “Elderly women tend to be more active while staying at home, doing their household chores,” the ministry said. “Men who don’t go out often tend to be physically inactive and don’t use up a lot of energy. They may be eating less as a result,” it added. The share of elderly men who said they go out once a week or more stood at 94.8 percent for the 65-74 age bracket and 92.6 percent for those 75 or older. For women, the share came to 97.2 percent and 87.5 percent, respectively. Of people aged 65 or older, those who are undernourished — defined by the survey as people with a body mass index of 20 or lower — totaled 12.5 percent for men and 19.6 percent for women, the survey said. Of the undernourished portion, men who said they leave their home at least once a week accounted for 11.5 percent and those who said they go out less came to 28.6 percent. There was little difference for women, standing at 19.5 percent and 18.6 percent, respectively. The annual health survey studied the daily lives and the muscle volume of the elderly for the first time. Among men and women aged 60 or older, the muscle volume in the four extremities is more likely to be larger for those who take more protein and spend more time doing physical work. “It’s important (for the elderly) to pay attention to both diet and exercise in their daily lives,” the ministry said. The survey was conducted in November last year and covered 5,149 randomly selected households nationwide, of which 3,076 households answered.


U.S. base relocation top issue in Okinawa gubernatorial election

Abstract: OSAKA - Okinawa Gov. Takeshi Onaga’s death last month at age 67 from pancreatic cancer came just over three months before the originally scheduled gubernatorial election and just days after he announced the prefectural government would take steps toward retracting permission for landfill work related to a new U.S. military base in Henoko, in northern Okinawa Island. Onaga, who was elected in November 2014 by promising no new base would be built in the prefecture, had been ill for months. At the time of his death, it was uncertain if he would run again or designate a successor to carry on the legal battle with the central government over Henoko. Official campaigning kicks off Thursday for the election that was rescheduled for Sept. 30. Who are the main candidates? The front-runners include Atsushi Sakima, 54, who stepped down as mayor of Ginowan, in central Okinawa Island, to run for governor. Ginowan is home to U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, and many of its functions are to be relocated to Henoko, in northern Okinawa, where the new U.S. base is to be built. The other main challenger is Denny Tamaki, 58, a Lower House member representing the Okinawa No. 3 district in the northern part of the main island, which includes the city of Nago, where Henoko is located, as well as the city of Okinawa. Who is supporting the candidates and what are their positions and strategies on the base issue? Sakima has the strong support of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the Liberal Democratic Party, and is said to be ideologically close to Abe. In addition, Komeito, which did not officially endorse a candidate in 2014, is supporting Sakima this time around. He also has the support of Nippon Ishin no Kai and Kibo no To (Party of Hope). Many Okinawan firms and others who expect to benefit from base construction or subsidies from the central government for local public works projects have also thrown their support behind Sakima. Sakima is carefully avoiding a direct position on Henoko. His campaign strategy is not to debate the Henoko issue, but to emphasize the dangers of continuing to operate Futenma in crowded Ginowan and the need to close that base as quickly as possible. LDP politicians from the central government and local chapters have been told not to mention Henoko in their public messages of support for Sakima. Instead, the LDP’s focus is on support for Sakima in the Abe administration, which they insist will translate into more central government spending on a raft of local public works projects and local jobs. Tamaki has been tapped as Onaga’s designated successor and has the support of all major opposition parties except Nippon Ishin. He is also supported by Onaga’s “all Okinawa” coalition of traditional anti-base, anti-military activists, workers unions, students, and local small and medium business leaders, and individuals who support or are neutral on the U.S.-Japan military alliance but oppose the Henoko base. Tamaki’s strategy is to vow to continue Onaga’s fight to oppose the Henoko base transfer and appeal to Okinawans across the political spectrum by saying opposition is not a matter of political ideology but of Okinawan identity. His supporters also include those who want to put the Henoko plan to a local referendum to settle, they say, the issue once and for all. What are some of the promises being made by both sides? Sakima is proposing that once Futenma’s operations are finally relocated somewhere else, the land can be used to host an as-yet unspecified agency of the United Nations, which would provide a continuing source of income to the over 3,700 owners of the land on which the Futenma base is situated. The owners receive land-lease fees from Tokyo. On nonbase issues, Sakima has promised to raise the prefecture’s average annual income to ¥3 million per person from the current level, which is around ¥2.1 million per person. He also says he’ll lobby the central government to support child poverty issues and to provide free nursery schools and medical care to young children. He refers to higher central government subsidies that Yamaguchi Prefecture received after a previous realignment of U.S. bases in Japan as an example of how he might seek funding. Yamaguchi Prefecture is Abe’s home turf and it hosts a U.S. Marine base in Iwakuni. Tamaki is essentially vowing to continue Onaga’s policy of opposing the central government on building the Henoko base, including legal challenges against it. He supports efforts to withdraw landfill permission and has indicated he’ll continue the fight in the courts and through whatever administrative means he can employ as governor. He wants Futenma’s operations relocated outside of the prefecture. Beyond the base issue, Tamaki is emphasizing social welfare policies, the environment and support for women, children and the elderly, and investment for small and medium-size businesses. Tamaki has said he opposes revising Article 9 of the Constitution and of deploying Ground Self-Defense Force elements to Miyakojima and Ishigaki islands, which are part of Okinawa Prefecture. He has also indicated support for getting out of nuclear power and into renewable energy, and for laws to curb hate speech. What would a victory by Sakima likely mean, and what would a victory by Tamaki mean for the base issue? A Sakima victory would force him to decide quickly whether to continue the legal effort by the prefecture to revoke the landfill permit for Henoko, which is what the prefectural assembly wants, or to withdraw it, pleasing Abe, the central government and the U.S., but straining relations with the assembly. That decision would also allow the filling in of the offshore area to go ahead sooner rather than later, arousing the anti-base opposition. A Tamaki victory would be seen as a defeat for Abe and the pro-base crowd, and would mean the political standoff between Okinawa and Tokyo over building the Henoko facility, which dates back to the mid-1990s, would continue. It also means a prefecturewide referendum on the issue would likely become a reality, probably sometime next year.

okinawa
fyi
elections
u.s. bases
atsushi sakima
denny tamaki


Parent-subsidiary listings under closer scrutiny of Japanese investors

Abstract: Companies listed on stock exchanges along with their subsidiaries have come under closer scrutiny by investors due to continuing concerns over corporate governance. Such listings serve a dual purpose for parent companies, as they can maintain their influence over subsidiaries and at the same time generate profits from the sale of some of their shareholdings in the units. But investors have questioned the independence of such listed subsidiaries. For listed subsidiaries, remaining under the auspices of their parent companies contributes to management stability, which in turn can help sustain morale and boost the hiring of capable workers. As listed companies, both a parent and a subsidiary have multiple ways of raising funds and can pursue faster growth as a corporate group. In July, SoftBank Group Corp. filed a preliminary application to the Tokyo Stock Exchange for approval of the listing of mobile phone subsidiary SoftBank Corp. Increased awareness of sound corporate governance has highlighted disadvantages in dual listings of parents and subsidiaries, however. The drawbacks sometimes outweigh the benefits. If a subsidiary is forced by a company with a controlling stake in it to do business on unfavorable terms, the rights of minority shareholders in the subsidiary can be impaired. Institutional investors are looking closely at companies’ independence from their parents. In December 2017, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank came up with guidelines requesting that at least one-third of listed subsidiaries’ boards of directors be outside directors. When Nisshin Steel Co., a subsidiary of Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp., failed to meet the guidelines this year, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust voted against a proposal to reappoint all 10 directors at Nisshin Steel. Dual listings of parents and subsidiaries may contravene the principle of fairness of shareholder rights as set out in the TSE’s corporate governance guidelines, so the exchange carefully examines listing applications to check whether mechanisms and operations are in place to enable management independence from parent companies, an official said. Requirements for high levels of internal controls mean higher costs for maintaining dual listings of parents and subsidiaries, and the number of businesses ending such listings may increase. According to the Nomura Institute of Capital Markets Research, the number of companies involved in dual listings stood at 263 at the end of March, down 40 percent from the peak of 417 in March 2007. “Some companies are reviewing their parent-subsidiary listings in an effort to lift corporate values by a strategy of selection and concentration,” said Kengo Nishiyama, chief researcher of the institute. “The number (of such listings) will likely continue to fall.”

softbank
shareholders
corporate governance
subsidiaries


About 40% of world's seabirds have toxic substances in their bodies due to plastic waste, research by Japanese universities shows

Abstract: About 40 percent of seabirds surveyed around the world had toxic substances derived from plastic waste in their bodies amid concern over marine plastic pollution, according to a recent study by two Japanese universities. The research conducted by Hokkaido University and Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology from 2008 to 2016 found that about 43 percent of the seabirds had ingested toxic chemicals such as ultraviolet absorbers. Harmful substances such as brominated flame retardants and phthalate esters were also detected in most of the birds tested in 12 of the 15 regions surveyed, including Awashima Island in Niigata Prefecture. The research group examined 150 seabirds covering 37 species in 15 regions including areas in the Bering Sea, the Galapagos Islands, Greenland, Hawaii, and waters near Australia by taking fat samples secreted from glands near the birds’ tails. “The (maritime plastic) pollution has spread even to polar regions,” Hideshige Takada, a professor at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, said in a recent interview. “We need to further examine such seabirds as albatrosses in Hawaii, which are highly affected by various toxic chemicals, to see if they have shown any sign of the impact,” he said. The research showed nine species, such as the albatross in Hawaii and on Marion Island near the South Pole, face a serious risk from marine pollution because they also carried other contaminants not related to plastic waste. Plastics, used in grocery bags, bottles and many other products, do not disintegrate naturally in the environment. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has estimated in a report that the annual inflow of plastic waste to the oceans was 4 million to 12 million tons in 2010, and that it greatly affected the marine ecosystem and environment and damaged the fishing and tourism industries. There will be more plastic than fish in the oceans by 2050, according to an estimate by the United Nations. During the Group of Seven summit in June, only Japan and the United States failed to endorse the group’s Ocean Plastics Charter to cut plastic waste.

pollution
animals
environment
hideshige takada


Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohamad warns against revising Japan's pacifist Constitution

Abstract: NEW YORK - Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Friday that Japan’s pacifist Constitution stands out in the world for embodying peace and should be emulated, not revised. “Japan is the only country that does not want to be involved in wars, aggressive wars,” he said at a news conference after delivering a speech at the U.N. General Assembly. “If Japan revises its Constitution and allows itself to go to war then I think we are making a very regressive step,” he said. “Instead of promoting peace, Japan will join all the other countries in the world about using war to settle problems.” Mahathir, who returned to power in May after stepping down from the post in 2003 following a 22-year rule, said he agrees with the ideal of rejecting wars and is considering following the Japan model for his own country. “We are thinking about following Japan’s current Constitution which does not allow Japan to go to war — we don’t want to go to war either,” he said. Malaysia has 100,000 troops in its navy, army and air force, whose supreme commander is its king. Revisions to its constitution require a minimum two-thirds approval in both houses of Parliament. Pacifism has been enshrined in Japan’s Constitution through Article 9. It calls for the complete renunciation of war, but debates about formalizing the legal status of the Self-Defense Forces have been ongoing for the past several years with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe being a part of the push for a change. Mahathir, in his remarks delivered at the U.N. General Assembly, stressed how the world has changed for the worst since he last took the stage in the hall in 2003 as part of the yearly debate. “Today the world is in a state of turmoil economically, socially and politically,” he said, identifying worrying new trends regarding trade where “two of the most powerful economies” — the United States and China — are making “the rest of the world feel the pain.” In the political arena, he pointed to global problems related to the huge influx of migrants around the world, wars that have been spurred on by terrorism, the worsening plight of the Palestinians and the alarming situation in Myanmar where he said Muslim refugees have been forced to flee.

shinzo abe
conflict
military
constitution
article 9
mahathir mohamad
malaysia-japan relations


Survey finds most firms are not interested in work hour exemptions for professionals

Abstract: Most Japanese companies have no plans to utilize a new government scheme that removes work hour limits for some highly paid professions, a Kyodo News survey showed Saturday. Only 13 of 113 major firms that were polled are even considering adopting the “high-level professional system,” a key pillar of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s sweeping labor reforms set to come into effect in April. The scheme, which applies to white-collar workers such as financial dealers and researchers who earn at least ¥10.75 million a year, has faced criticism from opposition lawmakers and activists as opening the way for longer hours in a country that is plagued with karōshi , or death from overwork. Among the 49 companies who expressed no interest in the scheme, the most common reason was that they did not have any workers who would be eligible. Reasons cited by the 13 companies in favor included expectations of improved productivity. Many were financial institutions, while some manufacturers said they hope the scheme will eventually cover a wider range of professions. Forty-six firms said they were undecided, though some expressed concern that it will lead to some staffers working longer hours. Meanwhile, 53 — or nearly half of the companies — polled in July were in favor of expanding the “discretionary labor system,” a scheme already in place that allows employers to pay workers based on a fixed number of overtime hours rather than actual time worked. The companies said the move would give greater freedom to workers as well as put an emphasis on results rather than hours worked. Abe’s administration had initially sought to include the expansion in the labor reforms enacted by the Diet in June, but abandoned it after numerous errors were found in government data used to support the idea.


Media appear to be ignoring maglev woes

Abstract: Earlier this month, two different Tokyo District Court sessions associated with the maglev bullet train line now under construction were convened. In one, major contractor Obayashi Corp. was prosecuted for rigging bids for work on the project. In the other, a citizens’ network was suing the government to halt it because of the damage it will allegedly cause to the environment and the lives of people who live along the route. The first trial was covered by the mainstream media . The second was virtually ignored by them. The government loaned Central Japan Railways (JR Tokai) ¥3 trillion in 2016 to help finance the maglev bullet train, which is supposed to start operations between Tokyo and Nagoya in 2027. Consequently, the project has become one of “national interest,” which means the mainstream media generally avoids any negative coverage. The bid-rigging charges, which involve three other construction companies, were impossible to ignore and had to be reported, but covering the citizens’ lawsuit requires explanations of planning issues that might have made the government uncomfortable. In an interview with journalist Hideki Kashida in April 2015, even before the loan was approved, Yasumi Iwakami of Independent Web Journal was already saying that close coverage of the maglev was taboo for the mainstream media. Kashida had just published a book about the project that had been canceled by a previous publisher at the last minute — all printed copies were destroyed before they could be distributed — owing to pressure from parties with connections to JR Tokai. The only other media that has covered the maglev critically are the financial press and individual blogs. Among the latter is a blog produced by Toshinori Nakayama. An activist who specializes in public-interest issues, Nakayama wrote in July 2017 that suits to stop the maglev are quixotic efforts . No one who sues the bureaucracy wins unless they can rally public opinion to their cause, and that requires mainstream media exposure. The maglev project originated as a private enterprise, with JR Tokai pledging to shoulder the entire cost . However, extending the maglev to Osaka, which is not JR Tokai’s bailiwick, inevitably involved the central government. Nakayama mentions an Asahi Shimbun journalist who in 2014 revealed that he wanted to write about government involvement but was shot down by the editorial board. Coverage in the financial press has focused on cost. In a Feb. 6 article, Toyo Keizai said the bid-rigging scandal would likely delay completion of the Tokyo-Nagoya leg since there are still aspects of the project that have not been contracted out. Eighty-six percent of the route is underground, and construction of the South Alps tunnel, which goes through Shizuoka and Nagano Prefectures, is supposed to be finished by November 2026, but some sections will be 1,400 meters below the surface, a depth that has never been attempted before. Even if they do finish the tunnel by 2026, they still have to lay track and test them, which will take several years at least. The longer the maglev is delayed, the less revenue JR Tokai can generate from fares and the further it will sink into debt. More significantly, delays on the Tokyo-Nagoya leg will push back the opening of the Nagoya-Osaka leg, which has already been pushed up. Originally, service to Osaka was to start in 2045, but after the government approved the loan the launch was moved up to 2037. In a series of six articles written for Nikkei Business Online this summer, Shinichiro Kaneda and Jun Fujinaka speculated that the maglev debacle would become Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s third scandal after the Moritomo and Kake school controversies, since he is personal friends with JR Tokai Chairman Yoshiyuki Kasai and is believed to have lobbied for the collateral-free loan, approved at 0.8 percent interest and with no payment due on the principal for at least 30 years. It was Abe who announced the Osaka deadline would be advanced by eight years, presumably because that was the only way to get the Osaka business community on board. The president of the company handling the financing scheme told the Nikkei Business Online he had never seen such easy terms for such a risky public works project, and this was after the government had changed right-of-way laws and eliminated some property taxes to make it easier for JR Tokai to secure the land it needed for the route. Some of the Nikkei Business Online’s reporting overlaps with complaints in the citizens’ lawsuits, one of which is: What will be done with all the dirt and rock removed for the tunnels? A professor tells the Nikkei Business Online that 50 Tokyo Domes’ worth will be excavated, and JR Tokai has yet to find places to deposit it all. Roads and secondary tunnels must be built to transport this rock and dirt, which means more negotiations with local governments and residents. In addition, the tunnels will be built through aquifers. A book published by a citizens network opposed to the maglev points out that construction could reduce water volume in the source of the Oi River by up to 2 tons per second during excavation . About 620,000 people rely on this water supply. JR Tokai said it can return 60 percent of the water to the river , but Shizuoka Gov. Heita Kawakatsu demands they replenish 100 percent or he’ll withhold permission to continue construction. The opinion of experts cited in these media is that the maglev will not be completed on time or within budget, and when it is finished it will be inconvenient and unsafe. Since those concerns aren’t being aired in the mainstream media, the government can ignore them. As the president of the financing company told the Nikkei Business Online, by the time JR starts paying off the loan the main players will be “retired or dead.” They won’t be bothered when the chickens come home to roost.


TV shows look to piggyback on the success of social media

Abstract: A growing number of people in Japan are turning to the internet as their main destination for entertainment. Younger folk in particular opt for YouTube and Instagram as a first choice over TV. So how is traditional media adjusting to this new reality? In recent times, some media organizations have attempted to re-create a person’s online experience on their television screen. The most obvious effort to date, which premiered on Nippon TV in mid-September and also appears on the streaming service Hulu, is called “ #Watanabe Naomi no Yaba-stagram .” The show follows popular comedian Naomi Watanabe as she browses through Instagram to find interesting people, whom she then subsequently visits to learn more about the person behind the content. “Yaba-stagram” isn’t the first TV show that has embraced social media as a means of attracting a new generation of viewers used to much smaller screens, and it remains to be seen whether this shift to web-centric programming can woo the younger set back to television. Television and social media used to be viewed in a completely different light, with the prior being far more important than the latter as far as advertisers were concerned. Influencers such as Peco and Ryucheru initially developed huge followings on sites such as Instagram, but whenever they subsequently appeared on a variety show, they became just another celebrity. YouTube creators and Twitter titans can become successful personalities on their own platforms, but they’re typically just another face on broadcast TV. However, as online destinations start becoming a real alternative to TV — and, in the process, attract a much younger demographic — social media stars have seen their status rise. One of the big turning points in 2018 came when the NHK documentary show “Professional: Shigoto no Ryugi” devoted an entire episode to Japan’s most popular YouTuber, Hikakin. Given how internet creators often feel like second-class citizens in the world of domestic entertainment, one going under the microscope and being treated with an air of respect marked a big moment. Watanabe, meanwhile, has successfully managed to produce a show devoted to a social network based on images. She has appeared in movies , TV dramas and variety shows , but she’s best known online, and on Instagram , in particular, where she boasts the most followers of any celebrity in Japan. “Yaba-stagram” taps into Watanabe’s Instagram fame. The first episode features Watanabe meeting interesting Japanese Instagrammers ( getting a firsthand look at tricks they use when manipulating photos ). She gawked at Instagram-friendly catering. There’s no paradigm shift here — it’s still just a variety show — but one that uses Instagram as bait for a new type of audience. Television’s shift toward social media has also trickled over to educational programs. NHK’s “ SNS English ” has joined the national broadcaster’s lineup of language-learning shows, but this recent entry uses trending topics and hashtags from the Western world as lesson points. The concept itself has been a staple on YouTube for some time now , but an educational program built around such themes as “#StrugglesOfAMillennial” is a significant development for NHK’s regular stable. Taking this development a step further is AbemaTV . CyberAgent’s free streaming TV network features a plethora of midday dreck. It’s “ MTV Hits ” corner is a soul-crushing loop of sub “Jersey Shore” reality shows — but the main draw is in its original programming, which sometimes incorporates a social media aspect, albeit one that rarely rises above “Let’s check Twitter for comments.” After initially ignoring it, traditional TV is starting to allow social media closer to the world of Japanese entertainment. To date, however, the networks are simply showing off happenings on Twitter and Instagram, the equivalent of someone trying to explain a meme to you. A better example of a show fusing online and traditional formats came from Yahoo Japan earlier this year via the online series “ Koi no Hajimari wa Hokago no Chaimu Kara ” (“Love Starts when the End-of-school Bell Tolls”). The show itself is a typical high school drama, but the innovation comes from every adolescent character operating their own on-brand Twitter account . Whereas other networks treat social media like something to talk about weekly, the folks behind this one realize social media is always mutating, so they need to have a presence on those platforms updating frequently. And the best part of airing this type of content online? They give viewers something worth tweeting. The most popular online shows in recent years — from “ Kodoku no Gourmet ” to “ Nehorin Pahorin ” (which returns next month) — don’t force Web-centric elements into their structure. Instead, they make good, creative shows that attract a following that wants to discuss it on social media while it airs. Television networks might be better served trying to close the gap with online content by putting greater emphasis on quality.


73% of Japanese worried children may fall prey to sex crimes: Cabinet Office poll

Abstract: Over 70 percent of people in Japan are worried that children close to them, including brothers, sisters or their own kids, may become victims of sex crimes, according to a Cabinet Office poll. According to the survey, released Friday, 73.5 percent of the respondents either said they were apprehensive or a little anxious children close to them may fall prey to sex crimes. It was the first time the government agency has conducted a survey on measures to prevent child pornography, child prostitution and other sex crimes related to children. The poll asked the respondents for the reasons behind their concern. Multiple answers were allowed. Those who answered that children are able to meet strangers easily through social media topped the list at 82.8 percent. This was followed by people citing the existence of so-called JK businesses, in which joshi kōsei (high school girls) and others entertain customers, at 34.3 percent, and those who said children lacked strong bonds with the community and hardly knew the faces of their neighbors, at 28.3 percent. Regarding steps they’d like to see online service providers take, 51.2 percent called for such providers to look out for and erase posts that can lead to children becoming victims of sex crimes, while 49.8 percent urged the providers to create terms of use that ban people from posting content linked to sex crimes. Respondents who asked for an age restriction for using online services came to 49.5 percent, while those who called on the operators to conduct thorough identification checks for people who use the services stood at 44.3 percent. The interview-based poll, conducted between July 19 and Aug. 5, covered 5,000 people age 18 or over across the country, with 58.1 percent giving valid responses.


Ashes of elderly woman's husband stolen in London burglary

Abstract: LONDON - British police are asking the public to help identify two men suspected of stealing the ashes of an elderly woman’s husband along with cash, bank cards and jewelry. Police released images of the suspects Sunday. Detective Robert Costigan called it a “particularly harrowing crime” that has had a devastating impact on the 83-year-old victim. Police said a man posing as a plumber convinced the woman to let him into her home in the southeastern London borough of Greenwich, saying there was a leak. When the man left, the woman realized that items had been stolen, including a heart-shaped locket and a heart-shaped box that both contained her husband’s ashes. Police believe a second man entered the home while the victim was distracted by the man pretending to be a plumber.


Australia offers reward amid mystery strawberry needle scare

Abstract: SYDNEY - An Australian state has offered a large reward for information after sewing needles were found in strawberries sold in supermarkets, in what the federal health minister described as a “vicious crime.” The issue came to light last week when a man was taken to hospital with stomach pains after eating the fresh produce bought at a supermarket in Queensland state. Since then, people have posted on social media photos of other strawberries with small metal pins stuck into them. Several brands grown in Queensland have been withdrawn from supermarkets, and there have been multiple reports of other cases in the states of New South Wales and Victoria. “Whoever is behind this is not just putting families at risk across Queensland and the rest of Australia — they are putting an entire industry at risk,” Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said Saturday. Her government is offering a 100,000 Australian dollar ($71,500) reward for any information that leads to the capture and conviction of those responsible. “I would urge anyone with information that may be relevant to this incident in any way to contact police as soon as possible,” she added. Queensland police told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that the contamination of the strawberries — usually sold in small plastic boxes called punnets — was done “obviously to injure somebody.” They have yet to reveal possible motives but the Queensland Strawberry Growers Association said a disgruntled former worker might be responsible. Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said Sunday he had ordered the national food safety watchdog to assess the handling of the cases, calling the sabotage a “very vicious crime.” The Queensland strawberry industry is valued at about AU$160 million ($114 million). The ABC said Saturday wholesale prices had fallen by half to 50 Australian cents per punnet, below the cost of production. Consumers have been urged to cut up their strawberries before eating.


Foggy Fukushima river tour draws influx of visitors

Abstract: A river tour conducted by rowboat in the town of Kaneyama, Fukushima Prefecture, is becoming popular with tourists for its scenic views of the thick fog covering the quiet waterway. During the Mugenkyo no Watashi tour along the Tadami River, local photographer Kenko Hoshi leads his guests past the Mifuke district — a community that was lost following a massive landslide over 50 years ago. Under favorable weather conditions, visitors can travel through the serene setting and take in views of the beautiful fog that blankets the river. Thanks partly to photos posted on Instagram and other social media sites, visitors to the area had jumped threefold through August compared with a year ago. The tour was also covered by a major travel magazine, leading to an increase in both individual and group travelers. A further influx is expected in autumn, when the leaves begin to change. Rowboats were used by Mifuke’s residents to cross the river daily. But a landslide in 1964 destroyed the community, turning it into a ghost town. Deserted houses and abandoned statues of the bodhisattva Jizo still stand untouched 54 years on. The round-trip crossing, which lasts an hour, includes a short tour of Mifuke during which visitors can experience a kind of time warp back to the lost village. Kaneyama residents started the tour in 2010 with two boats as a step toward revitalizing the economy. But they were forced to suspend it in July 2011 because of torrential rain that damaged the region. After a rebuilt dam stabilized the water levels, the tour finally resumed in April 2017. Hoshi, 69, is from Mifuke. He has dedicated himself to taking photographs of the Tadami railroad line and the surrounding areas. During the tour, he discusses the Tadami River’s charms and the history of his abandoned hometown. An official at Fukushima Prefecture’s tourism promotion office said it is important to note that the town tapped local resources for the project and saw it succeed through social media. Aizu Bus Group, a local transportation firm, is cashing in on the river tour as well. In August it launched a new bus route called the Tadami River line and made a bus stop specifically for the Mugenkyo no Watashi tour. Accommodating the surge in visitors, however, is a challenge. Large tourist buses come on weekends but there are no parking and toilet facilities for the tour, forcing them to rely on a nearby hot springs facility. Moreover, there are only two skippers for the boats, forcing them to turn down some reservations. As the fog often appears early in the morning, it is not unusual for Hoshi to start rowing at 6 a.m. and continue until sunset. Train runs on the Tadami Line are expected to fully resume in fiscal 2021 after a partial suspension caused by rain damage. Officials say local resources must be developed further to attract rail passengers. “There is a limit to our work. We need to get more skippers and need more infrastructure development,” Hoshi said.

fukushima
tourism
river crossing
mugenkyo no watashi
kenko hoshi


World's first human case of rat disease found in Hong Kong

Abstract: HONG KONG - A Hong Kong man has developed the world’s first human case of the rat version of the hepatitis E virus, according to new research from one of the city’s leading universities. There had previously been no evidence the disease could jump from rats to humans, the University of Hong Kong said Friday, warning the discovery had “major public health significance.” “This study conclusively proves for the first time in the world that rat HEV can infect humans to cause clinical infection,” the university added. Rat hepatitis E virus is very distantly related to human hepatitis E virus variants, HKU said. The disease was found in a 56-year-old man who persistently produced abnormal liver function tests following a liver transplant. He could have contracted the illness through food infected by rat droppings, researchers said, according to details of the findings reported in the South China Morning Post. The man lived in a housing estate where there were signs of rat infestation outside his home. He is now recovering after being treated for the virus, the SCMP added. The human version of hepatitis E is a liver disease that affects 20 million people globally each year, according to the World Health Organization. It is usually spread through contaminated drinking water. Symptoms include fever, vomiting and jaundice, and in rare cases liver failure. Rodent problems in Hong Kong have escalated in recent months because of a sustained spell of hot and humid weather. Hong Kong has been hit hard by disease outbreaks in the past. In 2003, almost 300 people died from SARS — severe acute respiratory syndrome. The bubonic plague, carried by rats, swept through mainland China and Hong Kong in the late 19th century, killing thousands.


China school sued by fired gay teacher in potential landmark case

Abstract: BEIJING - A gay kindergarten teacher in China is suing his former school after being fired last month, in what his lawyer called a landmark case to test China’s protection of minority groups. The teacher was dismissed in August from a school in the coastal city of Qingdao after he posted a comment on social media about an LGBT event he had attended, he said. The teacher, who declined to be identified, said he was told by the school principal that parents may not want a gay man teaching their children. He said that made him feel “grave apprehension” that parents were choosing to raise their children in a society where people of different sexual orientations were not respected. “I hope that I can use this case to push forward Chinese society to be more balanced and accepting,” he said. After decades of prudent rule by China’s Communist Party, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people are now openly tackling bureaucracy, legal uncertainty and entrenched social norms to assert their place in society. The teacher was asked to leave without sufficient severance or payment for his 10 percent stake in the school, said his lawyer, Tang Xiangqian. “The main reason we filed this case is not just as a labor dispute but to make the gay community more visible to a wider group of people. To let more people realize that they can easily be victims of discrimination,” Tang said. Chinese labor laws lack specific sections on LGBT issues, but there are broad provisions against discrimination that can be used by minority groups to protect their rights, Tang said. A court in Qingdao accepted the teacher’s case on Thursday. Tang said, as far as he was aware, it is the first case in China of a gay teacher taking a school to court after being fired over sexual orientation. The teacher is seeking a court order that he be rehired and paid compensation for his financial losses, according to a copy of the court filing seen by Reuters. The name of the school and the court were redacted in the court filing. Tang declined to give the names of the court and the school because he said it might affect the case. Chinese activists have organized rallies to press for greater protections for the LGBT community — and same-sex marriage — to be included in a civil code set to be passed in 2020. Despite thriving gay scenes in many of China’s big cities and growing awareness of LGBT issues, gay people have battled against conservative Confucian values and government censorship.

china
rights
lgbt
sexuality
same-sex marriage


Record 385 foreign nationals in Japan stripped of resident status in 2017

Abstract: A record 385 foreign people were stripped of their resident status in 2017 as suspicious cases involving students surged, the Justice Ministry said Friday. The figure is 31.0 percent higher than a year earlier and the highest since 2005, when comparable data became available. With cases linked to student status doubling from a year earlier and accounting for 44.7 percent of the total, a ministry official said the overall rise in foreign students in Japan may have pushed up the figure. As of May last year, the number of foreign students in Japan stood at a record 267,042, up 27,755 from a year earlier, according to the Japan Student Services Organization. In some cases, students were found to have remained in Japan after being expelled from schools. By type of status revoked, the top three were “student” at 44.7 percent; “spouse or child of Japanese national” at 17.4 percent, including those who received that status through bogus marriages; and “engineer/specialist in humanities/international services” — a working visa status — at 17.1 percent. Vietnamese accounted for the largest portion of those stripped of residency status at 46.5 percent, followed by Chinese at 21.8 percent and Filipinos at 7.8 percent. Some were found to have obtained the status by listing the names of companies that had no plans to hire them in their visa applications. The ministry also revoked residency from individuals who used a status obtained under the government-sponsored technical training program to work at other companies after disappearing from their originally assigned workplaces. If document falsification and other circumstances deemed doubtful arise, the justice minister or the heads of regional immigration bureaus must decide whether to revoke resident status after hearing from the individual concerned. If their residency is stripped, foreign nationals face deportation and can be detained at immigration facilities. In the meantime, 26 people have been arrested by Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department and the Fukushima Prefectural Police over alleged fake marriages involving Japanese men, which granted residential status to Filipino women, investigative sources said Friday. Among those arrested were two marriage brokers in Tokyo’s Katsushika Ward — Emma Red Hiratsuka, a 50-year-old Filipino restaurant employee, and Hiroyuki Hoshino, a 54-year-old company executive. An international sham marriage syndicate may be behind the case, the sources said. The 26 were arrested for their alleged involvement in submitting false marriage papers for 10 couples to the Sumida Ward Office in Tokyo and elsewhere between 2013 and 2017. The Japanese men who entered the sham marriages are believed to have cooperated in return for being paid ¥50,000 per month. The Filipino women were working at places including a restaurant, which Hiratsuka has effectively been running, the sources said. Hoshino was married, but his own marriage also proved to be fake, the MPD said. Amid a labor crunch, the government is aiming to lure more foreign workers and students to Japan while stepping up a crackdown on those staying in the country illegally. The central government is set to open the door to blue-collar laborers from abroad in April and upgrade the Immigration Bureau to an agency to respond to the anticipated surge. The justice and labor ministries are expected to share information on the employment of foreign nationals so they can swiftly identify those whose activities are incompatible with their status. Police and local immigration branches will also collaborate to strengthen their clampdown on those in the country illegally. As of October 2017, Japan’s foreign population had doubled from 680,000 in 2012 to a record 1.28 million, according to statistics compiled by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry. In 2015, a record 15,657 foreign students secured jobs in Japan right after graduating from schools in the country, according to the Justice Ministry. But to work in Japan, foreign students need to switch their resident status in line with the industries in which they work.

immigration
labor
foreign students
police