Okuma escapes assassination attempt; League to instill Bushido spirit in lawmakers; World's largest 'new town' planned; Allies bomb Iraq

Abstract: | THE JAPAN TIMES 100 YEARS AGO Friday, Jan. 14, 1916 Count Okuma survives assassination attempt Count Okuma, prime minister of Japan, had a sensational experience Wednesday night, when the veteran statesman narrowly escaped being the victim of a diabolical outrage. The count had attended a state banquet given by His Majesty the Emperor at the Imperial Palace in honor of H.I.H. the Grand Duke George Mikhailovich, and left the palace about 11 o’clock. The prime minister entered his motor car and started in the direction of his private residence at Waseda, the other occupants of the car being the Chief of Police Umai and the premier’s assistant, Mr. Kumatsu. Passing along one of the dark streets near Waseda University the driver of the car saw a man in the darkness make motions as if in the act of throwing something in the direction of the automobile and immediately put on top speed. The next moment the front of the car was hit hard by a missile, which made a heavy dent. Fortunately, however, the bomb did not explode. A second bomb, which missed the car, exploded on the road without causing any significant damage. No arrests have been made. The premier did not appear to have been shaken by the thrilling experience, and he made light of the affair, referring to his experience of 32 years ago when, as the result of a bomb outrage outside the Foreign Office, he lost his leg. The unexploded bomb was taken to the military arsenal and is currently being examined. 75 YEARS AGO Friday, Jan. 24, 1941 League seeks to instill Bushido spirit in Diet Exemplification of the spirit of Bushido, with an emphasis on martial arts and feats of physical skill, is noted in the present session of the Diet, in which 27 members, all experts in their respective fields, pledged themselves yesterday to bringing about more discipline, better manners and the upholding of righteous causes. This new organization, with members in both houses, was named the Martial Arts League of Diet Members. Among the promoters of the league were Mr. Yasutaro Fujiu, sixth grade in jujitsu; Shosuke Yoshiuye, fourth grade in Japanese fencing; and Sai-ichiro Dohke, fourth grade in jujitsu. In a written pledge, the new members stated: “We hereby pledge ourselves to help introduce Diet sessions fitted to the needs of the times. It shall be our duty to bring more discipline among ourselves and also among other members of the Diet to make sure that all members use careful speech and show well-regulated behavior and, thus, achieve that chivalrous Bushido spirit, which is the basis of our martial arts.” 50 YEARS AGO Thursday, Jan. 6, 1966 Plans for ‘new town’ in Tama announced The world’s largest “new town,” accommodating 300,000 people, will be built in eight years on the Tama hills in Tokyo’s western suburbs, with construction work beginning this year. The builder, the government-financed Japan Housing Corp., says the housing project spanning cities and towns of Hachioji, Machida, Tama and Inagi, will spread over an area of 3,200 hectares. At present, the British new town of Basildon in Essex in London’s suburbs is the world’s largest, with a population of 106,000 and an area of 3,100 hectares. Plans call for the construction of three new universities in the town, and a high-speed railway system that will connect the town with downtown Tokyo in half an hour. Cost for the housing project, which will accommodate 80,000 households is expected to cost ¥200 billion. A plot three times as large as Tokyo’s Ueno Park will be reserved for a park of 290 hectares in the area. 25 YEARS AGO Friday, Jan. 18, 1991 Kaifu pledges support as Allies bomb Iraq Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu on Thursday condemned Iraq’s failure to leave Kuwait and pledged the “maximum support possible” for the newly commenced U.S.-led military action against the nation. Kaifu issued the statement in the morning following emergency Security Council and Cabinet sessions held shortly after air attacks were launched on targets in Iraq and Kuwait on Thursday. Later Japan was expected to announce new financial aid for the forces, and to dispatch medical teams and aircraft to help evacuate refugees and Japanese nationals. Details were to be decided quickly by a government-wide task force created Thursday and headed by the prime minister. According to government sources, Japan is considering an additional $4 billion to help defray the allies’ military costs. Kaifu said the government will consider, if necessary, sending Self-Defense Force planes to help airlift refugees and Japanese citizens from the gulf. “Japan pledges its first support to the use of force by the countries concerned carried out in accordance with U.N. Security Council Resolution 687 as the last resort to terminate the invasion and restore peace.” The resolution set the Tuesday deadline for Iraq to get out of Kuwait. Kaifu brushed aside criticism from some opposition parties that Japan’s financial support for the multinational force violates the Constitution. Japan will never participate directly in the use of force and financial contributions are constitutional, the prime minister stressed. In this feature, which appears on the first Sunday of each month, we delve into The Japan Times’ 118-year archive to present a selection of stories from the past. This month’s edition was collated with the assistance of Midori Nishida. The Japan Times’ entire archive is now available to purchase in digital format. For more details, see jtimes.jp/de .


Diet OK looms on bill to rectify rules that currently would prevent some young people from voting

Abstract: Ruling and opposition parties agreed Tuesday to pass a bill soon to enable people aged 18 or 19 to vote in the House of Councilors election this summer even if they change their address shortly before the election. Japan is set to lower the voting age from 20 to 18 on June 19, and the Upper House election, likely to take place in July, will be the first national election in which voters under 20 cast a ballot. Under the current election system, municipal offices compile voter lists based on data of residents who live at the same address for more than three months. As a result, young new voters who move to a different address shortly before the election would not be able to exercise their right to vote. Lawmakers from ruling and opposition parties agreed to pass the bill to correct the election system through the House of Representatives on Thursday, making it certain the legislation will be enacted by the end of this month. Around 2.4 million people aged 18 or 19 will be newly given voting rights before the upcoming national election this summer. But some 70,000 are expected to be unable to vote unless the bill is enacted, according to an estimate by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. Since Japan’s academic year starts in April, many high school graduates tend to move in the spring to start further education or work. “We intend to have voices of the youth reflected in politics,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a news conference. “The government will watch closely to see how deliberations (on the bill) will go.” Under the current election system, if the next Upper House election is set for July 10, the list of voters will be set on June 22, the day before the official election campaign starts. That would mean new voters aged 18 and 19 would not be registered in the voter list if they change their address in the three months through June 22, rendering them ineligible to vote. The envisioned bill would enable young people freshly given the voting right to exercise it in the voting district of their previous residence as long as they lived there for over three months, regardless of their age at the time.

upper house election
voters
japan
voting age
ruling bloc
addresses
voter lists


Several U.S. contractors missing in Iraq

Abstract: BAGHDAD - The U.S. Embassy said Sunday that “several” Americans have gone missing in Iraq, after local media reported that three Americans had been kidnapped in the Iraqi capital. U.S. Embassy spokesman Scott Bolz said, “We are working in full cooperation with Iraqi authorities to locate the missing Americans.” Bolz did not identify the missing Americans or say what they were doing in Iraq. State Department spokesman John Kirby said that “due to privacy considerations” he had nothing further to add about the missing Americans. “The safety and security of Americans abroad is our highest priority,” Kirby said. The comments by U.S. officials came after the Arab news channel al-Arabiya, citing its own sources, reported that three Americans had been kidnapped by militias in Baghdad. Iraqi media reports said the Americans went missing in south Baghdad on their way to Baghdad International Airport. A Western security official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media, said Sunday that he had been told that three Americans went missing 24 to 48 hours ago. There were no immediate claims of responsibility. Kidnappings in Iraq have been carried out by the Islamic State group and Shiite militias as well as criminal gangs demanding ransom payments or disgruntled employees seeking to resolve workplace disputes. The incident comes after a week that has seen a deterioration of security in and around the Iraqi capital after months of relative calm. The Islamic State group claimed a number of attacks in Baghdad and neighboring Diyala province last week that killed more than 50 people, including a high profile attack on a mall in the Iraqi capital. The string of Islamic State attacks on civilian targets within areas of Iraqi government control follow battlefield losses, most recently in western Iraq. Last month, Iraqi troops pushed Islamic State fighters out of the center of Ramadi, the provincial capital of Anbar province in Iraq’s Sunni heartland. In acts of apparent reprisal, armed gangs residents identified as Shiite militias, attacked Sunni owned businesses and mosques in Diyala province just north of Baghdad. After Islamic State was pushed out of the province, security there was left almost entirely in the hands of Shiite militias. Responding to a call to arms from Shiite clerics in Iraq after the Islamic State group swept across the country’s northern and western provinces in the summer of 2014, Shiite militias in Iraq now wield more power than the country’s regular security forces and military.


Hun Sen chooses Singapore for checkup but says it's no comment on Cambodian health care

Abstract: PHNOM PENH - Cambodia’s leader has gone to Singapore for an annual medical checkup, but has pointed out that this doesn’t mean he doesn’t trust the Cambodian health care system. In a message on his Facebook page Monday, Prime Minister Hun Sen said he has no critical illness and sought a checkup after spending “day and night” at work, leaving him little time to rest. Hun Sen said his presence in Singapore doesn’t mean “that I do not trust Cambodian physicians.” He says it was in fact advised by Singaporean and Cambodian doctors. Hun Sen has been in office for more than three decades, is known to often boast about his work and achievements. Thousands of Cambodians travel to neighboring Vietnam and Thailand every year because Cambodia lacks good medical facilities.


Rescues point to dangers of searching out backcountry powder

Abstract: Backcountry skiing and snowboarding have come under scrutiny after the recent rescue of two groups of skiers stranded in mountains in Nagano and Fukushima prefectures. Japan’s powder-covered mountains are attracting skiers and snowboarders from overseas, but the risk of being stranded, injured, or killed by an avalanche has prompted safety warnings from experts. The Japan Times looked into the situation surrounding the increasingly popular winter sports and the precautions needed. What happened to the skiers who were stranded in Nagano and Fukushima? Last week, two separate groups of six skiers were stranded while skiing outside regular trails, highlighting the risk of backcountry skiing. On Jan. 12, a group of six males from Finland were trapped in the mountains of the Nozawa Onsen ski resort in Nagano Prefecture after they were unable to climb back up a steep slope they had skied down, away from marked ski runs. Later the same afternoon, while the Finns were still missing, news broke about a group of six Australian men and women similarly trapped in snow after they became lost while backcountry skiing outside the Urabandai Nekoma ski resort in the village of Kitashiobara, Fukushima Prefecture. The Australians were found later that night, while the Finnish group were rescued by helicopter the following morning. The reports stood out because of their coincidence — two groups of the same number of overseas tourists stranded on the same day — the risks they faced are the same for everyone, said Hiroyuki Ogawa, a Nagano Prefecture tourism promotion official. “There were about 20 incidents involving backcountry activity at Nozawa Onsen resort alone (last season), and six or seven foreign nationals were among them,” Ogawa said. Why were they skiing off-piste? They were backcountry skiing, taking advantage of fresh powder snow, as opposed to the groomed slopes common on marked ski runs. “In a way, it’s the root of skiing as we know it,” said Toshio Mizutani, a licensed professional skier who operates outdoor adventure company PowerZone Co. in Nagoya, which operates skiing and snowboarding tours, including backcountry outings. “In the old days, we called it ‘mountain skiing,’ and it has since been enjoyed for a long time ago,” Mizutani said. “Just like in alpine skiing, backcountry skiers go down slopes, but they need to climb back up on foot, because there are no lifts or cable cars like the ones you use at regular skiing trails. That way, it combines elements of both skiing and mountaineering.” What are the risks of backcountry skiing? Backcountry skiers seek out untouched mountains, but in doing so they expose themselves to the same risks faced by winter mountaineers. As the latest incidents indicate, a major risk is getting stranded in snow and being unable to return to the point of departure. Getting caught up in an avalanche is another danger. Why is backcountry skiing and snowboarding popular? Gliding down untamed snow is something skilled skiers and snowboarders crave, said Gota Miura, a professional skier and sports commentator. “When you have advanced skills, you dream of gliding down untouched powder snow, and there are snowboards and skis designed specifically for such snow,” said Miura. “You can experience this feeling of floating in the air, which is so much different from the artificially prepared surface of a skiing course.” “It’s more like you’re on a cloud than snow,” said Miura, who famously accompanied his father, Yuichiro, 80, on a trek to reach the top of Mount Everest where he reclaimed his record of the oldest person to conquer the world’s highest summit. Mizutani of PowerZone described it as a “feeling of weightlessness,” adding, “It’s like what differentiates mountain climbing from just climbing up a steep road. Nothing can replace the feeling of being exposed to the majesty of nature.” How are ski resorts and local governments dealing with the surge in backcountry skiing and snowboarding? “Most skiing course operators separate the designated courses with ropes and discourage skiers and snowboarders from going into areas that are off-limits. But there are many people who go . . . into backcountry areas,” Miura said. “Given this situation, there are still few places that have addressed the risks of backcountry skiing.” Miura mentioned Mount Hakkoda in Aomori Prefecture and Tateyama in Toyama Prefecture as popular resorts for backcountry skiers and snowboarders. In Nagano Prefecture, which hosted the 1998 Winter Olympics, measures to discourage backcountry activities vary by municipality, according to prefectural official Ogawa. “In the Nozawa Onsen resort . . . the village of Nozawa Onsen has introduced an ordinance to ban activities outside of designated courses, and they charge anyone who has used the local rescue squad,” he said. In Nagano, however, more and more resorts are intentionally encouraging the backcountry powder experience, he said. Elsewhere, Miura cited Niigata Prefecture’s Kagura resort and Hokkaido’s Niseko resort as two examples of places where backcountry skiing is allowed, but measures have been taken to improve safety for those people. They typically use a gate to limit people exiting regular courses at times of risky snow conditions or bad weather, and some monitor emergency locator beacons carried by those in backcountry areas. Recent years have seen an increase in foreign tourists at Japan’s ski resorts, such as the Finns and Australians who were rescued last week, making it necessary to warn non-Japanese of the dangers of backcountry skiing, said Hisato Okabe, a spokesman for travel agency JTB Corp. Tourists from Australia, in particular, have grown in number as they come to Japan to ski during their summer holidays. Their numbers grew rapidly after Australian Ross Findlay, a pioneer of the outdoor recreation business in Hokkaido, promoted Hokkaido’s Niseko resort back home. “Municipalities are warning foreign tourists, but we are feeling we also should do something about it,” Okabe said. What safety preparations should backcountry skiers and snowboarders take? People venturing outside regular ski slopes, where rescuers are routinely on standby, should carry adequate safety equipment. Miura recommends a locator beacon, which can transmit its position even if the wearer has been buried in an avalanche, a folding probe to pierce snow when trying to find someone buried, and a shovel to remove snow, as the minimum amount of equipment for backcountry skiers or snowboarders.

fukushima nagano skiing snow fyi snowboarding rescues backcountry


Syrian opposition sets new conditions, casting uncertainty on peace talks slated for Friday

Abstract: BEIRUT - One of the major opposition blocs in the Syrian war said Wednesday that it was unlikely to attend imminent Geneva peace talks, specifying it would only join negotiations if sieges in the country are lifted and other conditions are met. The announcement cast further uncertainty on peace talks scheduled to begin in two days. Expectations are already low for any breakthroughs during talks that U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura has described as the start of a drawn-out process of consultation between various parties to the conflict, rather than actual peace negotiations between the warring sides. Khaled Nasser, a member of the Syrian National Coalition — one of the main opposition groups in the bloc — said Wednesday that he believed negotiations with limited ambitions would “waste time.” “Friday was never going to be the start of negotiations,” said Nasser. “De Mistura said it is for consultations and discussions…. We don’t want to waste time with consultations and discussions.” The talks are intended to start a political process to end the conflict that began in 2011 as a largely peaceful uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad’s rule but escalated into an all-out war after a harsh state crackdown. The plan calls for cease-fires in parallel to the talks, a new constitution and elections in a year and a half. In a sign of the complexity of the task, de Mistura said the delegations in Geneva would be sitting in separate rooms and he would shuttle between them to begin with. There have also been major tensions over who would be invited to the talks, and the opposition has demanded confidence-building measures from the government on humanitarian issues. In a statement released at the end of daylong meetings in Saudi Arabia late Tuesday, the opposition coalition known as the Higher Negotiating Committee referred to the “necessity of realizing genuine improvements on the ground before starting in the negotiating process.” The Saudi-backed committee is headed by Riyad Hijab, a former prime minister who defected to the opposition in 2012. It represents a bloc that includes the Syrian National Coalition, and many of the major rebel factions fighting in Syria. As well as the public statement released Tuesday, the bloc outlined its conditions for participating in the talks in a letter to U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon. While the group left open the possibility of its eventual participation in the talks scheduled to begin Friday, it said it awaits a reply from him on its conditions. The opposition has also accused Russia, a key backer of the Syrian government, of trying to “dictate” who from the opposition would participate. Moscow has insisted on the participation of the main Syrian Kurdish group — the Democratic Union Party, or PYD — which plays an important role in fighting the Islamic State group and is an essential part of any political settlement in Syria. Turkey, a major backer of the rebels, sees the PYD and its YPG militia as branches of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, known as the PKK, which has waged a long insurgency against Ankara. Turkey has threatened to boycott the talks if the PYD is represented. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told France-Culture radio on Wednesday that the PYD was not invited and acknowledged there are several hurdles facing the talks, including determining who will be present. “The PYD group, the Kurdish group, was causing the most problems, and Mr. de Mistura told me he had not sent them an invitation letter,” Fabius said. He said the Riyad-backed Higher Negotiating Committee should be the primary negotiator for the rebels. The Riyadh bloc is a broad coalition that includes several armed Islamic groups, such as the powerful Jaish al-Islam, which the Russian and Syrian governments consider as a terrorist group. It does not, however, include the Islamic State group or Nusra Front, two militant factions that control large areas of Syria and are not participating in peace talks.


Man unwittingly triggers Rome security alert with toy gun

Abstract: ROME - A man who unwittingly caused a major alert at Rome’s central station by wandering through the terminus holding a toy gun handed himself into police on Tuesday after his mother recognized him from security video. Police evacuated the vast station on Monday evening after receiving panicked calls that a lone gunman was on the loose. Heavily armed special forces were sent in but failed to find the suspect and called off the alert. Unknown to them, the man had caught a train home. “I had absolutely no idea that I had caused such a mess,” the 44-year-old man, who has not been named, was quoted as saying by Italian media. He told police a friend had given him the plastic machine gun for his young son. “It is for carnival,” he said. He went to the police after his mother recognized him from a picture that was shown on television and on the front pages of several dailies. “She said to me ‘they are looking for you.’ ” Italian media said the man does not face any charges.


JR West chief gives blessing to Obama-Kyoto extension of Hokuriku Shinkansen Line

Abstract: OSAKA - A plan by West Japan Railway Co. to the build an extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen Line between Obama, Fukui Prefecture, and the city of Kyoto has emerged as the front-runner in a tightly contested race, after the railway firm’s president gave it his blessing. However, with July’s Upper House election looming — and local leaders in Kansai all grappling to get the train to pass through their electoral districts — JR West’s preference may be but one factor in any final decision. Three possible routes between Tsuruga and Shin-Osaka were under formal review by a ruling project team. These included one that would bypass the city of Kyoto entirely, one that would go to Maibara, Shiga Prefecture, and one that would have to travel down the western shore of Lake Biwa to Kyoto, where passengers could change to the Tokaido Shinkansen. However, citing those routes’ rising costs and seeking one that would maximize passengers, JR West began informally discussing a fourth option. On Tuesday, the company announced this option as its preferred one. “We want the line to go through Kyoto Prefecture before extending to Osaka, and the foundation of the plan is for the train to pass through Kyoto Station,” said JR West President Seiji Manabe. His announcement sparked different reactions among local leaders. Shiga Gov. Taizo Mikazuki, whose prefecture would be bypassed under the new plan, expressed concern, noting that JR West had yet to provide construction cost estimates for the plan. Mikazuki also noted that Tuesday’s announcement had come despite most Kansai prefectural governors — as well as the mayors of Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe — having all backed the Maibara route in 2013. Kyoto Gov. Keiji Yamada was also apprehensive since the Obama-Kyoto route would not extend the line to Maizuru, Kyoto Prefecture, on the Sea of Japan coast. Yamada has already begun soliciting local support in northern Kyoto for a Tsuruga-Kyoto route that would extend the line to Maizuru and then pass through seven prefectural cities and towns. The Kyoto Chamber of Commerce is also leaning toward this plan. The envisaged Maizuru route, however, lacks details — especially as regards associated costs. Still, much of this route lies within the electoral district of Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Sadakazu Tanigaki, which could influence discussions within the ruling party’s project team in the coming months. The team hopes to whittle the proposals down to at least two final candidates before the Upper House election. What happens after that, though, remains unclear.


Public transit riders in 60 countries strip to undies for No Pants Day

Abstract: NEW YORK - Thousands of New Yorkers thought it was a hot thing Sunday to strip to their underwear during winter and ride on public transportation, along with pantsless crowds in about 60 countries. “I’m a no-pant virgin,” declared a grinning Miguel Ramos amid New York’s No Pants Subway Ride. It was the Mexican-born restaurant worker’s first foray into the “international celebration of silliness,” as organizers billed it. The laughter-filled ritual started in the largest U.S. city in 2002 and has expanded nationwide and overseas, from Atlanta, Chicago and Dallas to London, Berlin, Prague and Vienna. It’s coordinated by Improve Everywhere, a global flash mob. New York participants were assigned personal numbers for central gathering spots in each city borough. “And then at, say, the third stop in Brooklyn, you take off your pants in the train,” explained Latesha Mack, who made it to Manhattan’s Union Square station in fishnet stockings below her panties. “So it’s not like, a bunch of people on one train with no pants.” While most clothed straphangers weaved their way through bare flesh, some were left shocked. A tall, elegant man — totally clothed — stopped in his tracks as he entered the station. “I asked the police, ‘What’s going on?’ and he said, ‘It’s no pants day,’ ” said Manhattan entrepreneur Mark Francis. “And I said, ‘what?’ “ The cop told him it was a “tradition.” More than 4,000 New Yorkers participated. In Phoenix, the city’s light rail system party included a pantsless outing to a pub. Nicole Black brought her Superman underwear from 40 miles (64 km) away for “a day off to have fun and enjoy and see what Phoenix has to offer” — including temperatures in the 50s (10 to 15 C) making the attire reasonably comfortable. Boston also enjoyed spring-like weather, with rain causing some riders to wipe the drops off their legs as they boarded trains. Even families took part everywhere, carrying babies bared to their diapers. And a Berlin woman had a cat’s face splashed across her — well, cheeks. At a London station, coats and scarves warded off the chill — at least from the waist up. Then there were the once shy types. Bill Murphy, a New York translator, said he didn’t realize he had certain talents until Sunday — wearing only a red bikini as he burst out gyrating amid the Union Square station crowd. “I’m 56 and I’m kind of proud of myself. At a senior age, it’s supposed to be not acceptable, but I want to change the perception of that: I’ve become an exhibitionist today,” he said.


Abe goes home to meet with supporters

Abstract: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe went home Monday to Yamaguchi Prefecture to whip up support from his base, telling them he plans to win the Upper House election this summer and underscored the importance of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. “In order to achieve results, we need a stable basis. We have to win the Upper House election,” Abe told a meeting of his supporters in Shimonoseki. He said the TPP free trade deal, which was broadly agreed to in October by 12 nations accounting for 40 percent of the world economy, will bring a “significant chance for Japan.” While expected to help boost exports, the trade liberalization deal will also likely expose Japanese farmers to fierce competition with cheaper imports, sparking criticism of the government in rural areas where agriculture is a key industry. Abe arrived in his home district Sunday and attended meetings with supporters, during which he said he will continue pushing his economic stimulus policy. He also indicated he will step up unilateral sanctions against North Korea following its fourth nuclear test last week.


Abe's constitutional revision hopes ride on July election, right-leaning opposition cooperation

Abstract: Japan’s postwar pacifism will face a critical challenge this year that could drastically change the course of this country forever: the July Upper House election. Right-leaning parties, most notably the ruling Liberal Democratic Party led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, will try to capture more than two-thirds of the 242-seat chamber in the election, and thus have the seats required to initiate a national referendum to revise the war-renouncing Constitution. But which parties currently advocate constitutional revision? And how many seats are those parties likely to win in the election? The following are questions and answers on the numbers in the election and the prospects for the political battle over the Constitution. Why is the Upper House election regarded as critical to the fate of the Constitution? Article 96 of the Constitution states that it can only be amended through a national referendum that is to be initiated by the Diet with support of two-thirds or more of all members of both the Lower and Upper houses. Abe’s ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito now holds more than two-thirds of the 475-seat Lower House but doesn’t boast the same majority in the 242-seat Upper House. Abe, who is still personally popular with voters thanks to his economic policies, is the first-ever prime minister to openly express a willingness to revise the war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution. Believing now is a golden opportunity, right-leaning politicians and activists have been campaigning to help the LDP win as many seats as possible in the Upper House election to gain the political momentum for constitutional change. What chance does the ruling coalition have to win more than two-thirds of the 242-seat Upper House outright? Many observers believe the chances are slim now based on the current support rate for Abe’s Cabinet and the LDP in media polls. But together with other opposition forces that support revising Article 9, the coalition might altogether win more than two-thirds of the chamber, they said. Every three years, half of the 242 Upper House seats are contested in a summer election. Currently, the LDP holds 115 seats and Komeito 20, which adds up to 135 seats, including that of Upper House President and LDP member Masaaki Yamazaki. Of those, 76 LDP and Komeito members are not facing re-election in the summer poll. This means the LDP-Komeito coalition needs to win 86 seats to occupy more than two-thirds — or 162 seats or more — of the chamber. This hurdle seems to be rather high when compared with the results of the 2013 Upper House poll. Back then, the LDP-Komeito coalition enjoyed a victory by winning 76 seats in total. At that time, the support rate for Abe’s Cabinet stood at 57 percent and that of the LDP was 42.4 percent, according to a poll conducted by NHK shortly before the election. The latest NHK poll in December showed the support rate for Abe’s Cabinet stood at 46 percent in December, and that for the LDP was 37.5 percent. This may be why Abe is desperately trying to focus on economic issues to keep voters happy ahead of the election, while maintaining a low-profile on other contentious issues that could dent his popularity. Will any opposition parties cooperate with the LDP on the Constitution revision? How those parties fare in the July poll may be key to whether they can help Abe accomplish his referendum goal. In the Upper House there are three minor parties willing to revise some articles of the Constitution, possibly including Article 9. They are Osaka Ishin no Kai, which now has seven Upper House members; Nippon wo Genki ni Suru Kai (The Assembly to Energize Japan ) with six and Nihon no Kokoro wo Taisetsu ni suru To (Party for Japanese Kokoro) with four, making up 17 seats altogether. “If you add those parties (to the ruling bloc), (the pro-revision) forces could occupy more than two-thirds in total, which would open the way for constitutional revision,” said Koji Nakakita, professor of politics at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo. Will revising Article 9 be a focal issue in the July poll campaigns? This remains to be seen, as the situation is a complex one. To revise the Constitution, it is necessary to gain a majority of all votes cast for the national referendum, but various polls have suggested most voters oppose changing the charter. A poll by the Yomiuri Shimbun taken in March suggested 60 percent of respondents want Article 9 left as is, while only 35 percent said it should be revised. This ratio has not changed significantly in the past decade. Pro-revision lawmakers say they will first advocate revising other articles in a bid to remove the psychological barrier for amending the 69-year-old Constitution, which has remained intact since its promulgation in November 1946. When it comes to revising the Constitution, rather than trying to revise Article 9, LDP lawmakers have suggested the party first propose creating a new article to give the prime minister extraordinary powers in emergencies. Komeito is likely to agree to that revision, although the party is reluctant to support the LDP’s drive to rewrite Article 9. The Democratic Party of Japan and other opposition parties, however, would oppose any revision of the Constitution, believing it could be a Trojan horse to open the way for revising Article 9.

shinzo abe
liberal democratic party
constitution
upper house election


Japan at risk if West unable to confront growing geopolitical threats, says analyst

Abstract: DAVOS, SWITZERLAND - The world can expect more geopolitical conflicts that will also impact Japan if Western powers fail to tackle global issues such as the Syrian refugee crisis and the rise of terrorism, according to leading political risk analyst Ian Bremmer. “I think the real worry about the geopolitical environment is that we are setting in motion a world that is much more fragmented, a world where conflicts will grow and no one will respond to it effectively,” Bremmer, who heads research and consulting firm the Eurasia Group, told The Japan Times during the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, last week. “I believe we are in this ‘G-zero world,’ so we are going to see much more geopolitical conflict,” said Bremmer, who coined the word “G-zero world,” which refers to a vacuum of power in international politics due to a decline in Western powers the G-7 and G-20. Dominating last week’s discussion among leaders who gathered in Davos was the Syrian refugee crisis in Europe, declining oil prices after Iran’s re-entry into the oil market, Britain’s possible exit from the European Union and China’s economic slowdown. Due to growing opposition against its refugee intake, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a regular at the WEF’s annual meeting, canceled her trip to Davos. In her place German President Joachim Gauck delivered a speech, saying Germany may introduce measures to limit the number of refugees entering the country in the near future. Such a strategy is “morally and politically necessary” to preserve the state’s ability to function, he said. “Merkel is really losing leadership on refugees. . . (Gauck) basically gave permission to everyone in Merkel’s coalition to come out against her. This is a real problem,” Bremmer, who lives in New York and Washington, said. He also pointed out that unlike the time when East and West Germany reunited in 1989, the U.S. was not providing enough support for Germany. “Americans were there for Germany when the (Berlin) Wall came down. We were there, and the entire alliance really responded,” Bremmer said. “This was a tough thing to do and it took a lot of courage. It was enormously expensive, but everyone supported it. Now, we are not there and the walls are going up. Nobody is there for Merkel.” Without a unifying sense of crisis among the U.S. and European countries, Japan’s biggest partners as industrial democracies, Japan will also be vulnerable in the long term, he warned. China may be flexing its political muscle, but Beijing isn’t in the driver’s seat to tackle global issues, he said. Bremmer said China may become a big risk to Japan in the next five to 10 years. China’s growth will be open to question, as it has many internal problems, including weak exports and investment, he said, questioning the Chinese government’s ability to control its economy and political forces in order to open its market. China gross domestic product grew 6.9 percent in 2015, figures released last week show, slightly lower than the government’s forecast of 7 percent but a significant drop from the 7.3 percent growth in 2014. “If China starts having serious problems in the medium to long term, not only will the Japanese economy be exposed to that, but you could also see the real rise of nationalism in China, which is very dangerous to (Japan),” he said. Because of these uncertainties, Bremmer welcomed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s recent diplomatic efforts to reach out to India, Southeast Asia and other regions that provide alternatives to China. In December, Abe and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed to introduce Japan’s bullet train technology to India, and formalized a civil nuclear cooperation pact. “Abe really is reaching out to the Indian government at the recent summit, and I thought it was a big win for Japan,” Bremmer said . “I think it is really important for the Japanese to get India right. It’s a great edge and it’s also a great market for the Japanese in the long term.”

india
terrorism
syria
davos
refugees
wef
ian bremmer
eurasia group


Rules fixed for new voters deprived of chance to cast ballot due to changes of address

Abstract: A law addressing a flaw in Japan’s voting rules was enacted in the Diet Thursday ahead of the lowering of the voting age to 18 from 20, ensuring new voters will not miss the chance to cast ballots just because they have changed their addresses before an election. The revised Public Offices Election Law is expected to go into force on June 19, when the voting age will also be lowered. The rules are likely to be first applied to an Upper House election scheduled in the summer. The House of Councilors passed a bill to revise the law on Thursday after the House of Representatives cleared it last week. According to a government estimate, some 70,000 of the 2.4 million new voters aged 18 or 19 were expected to become ineligible to vote in the Upper House election as voting rules had prevented those who move to a different municipality less than three months before an election from casting a ballot. Since Japan’s academic year runs from April to March, many high school graduates tend to move in the spring to start further education or work. That has raised concerns that the number of votes cast by young people would be limited in the upcoming election, while the government seeks to raise their interest in and increase their participation in politics. The latest revision will allow people who have moved to different municipalities to vote in their old municipalities as long as they had lived in the latter for at least three months, but no longer than four months have passed since they moved out. If, as floated by some political pundits, the Upper House election is set for July 10 with official campaigning starting on June 23, voters who move out on March 23 or later would have been deprived of their chance to vote if the law had not been revised. The voting age in Japan was last changed in 1945, when it was lowered to 20 from 25.

diet
upper house election
japan
voting age


Rengo to focus on monthly pay in wage-hike talks, not annual income

Abstract: This year’s shunto spring wage talks should focus on raising monthly pay rather than annual pay, Rikio Kozu, president of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo), said in an interview Thursday. Keidanren called on member companies to raise annual pay, including bonuses and allowances. Kozu said higher monthly pay will encourage consumers to spend more than higher bonuses do, calling on employers to raise monthly pay scales. The last two years of shunto talks “reaped certain results,” said Kozu, head of the largest labor union group in Japan, citing high levels of pay scale increase. A pay scale increase should continue for more years to come so that consumers will think wages will continue to rise, he said. Kozu also sought to narrow wage gaps between large and smaller companies. Rengo hosted meetings in some regions last year that brought together employers and municipal officials to discuss labor conditions at small and midsize companies. The meetings were based on the belief that improving labor conditions at small and midsize companies is essential for regional revitalization, Kozu said. This year, Rengo plans to hold such meetings in all 47 prefectures. “We will remain active in exchanging opinions with small companies,” Kozu said.

keidanren
rengo
shunto
wage talks
rikio kozu


Murakami is right about jazz and the brain

Abstract: “Music brings a warm glow to my vision, thawing mind and muscle from their endless wintering.” The above line is from the English translation of Haruki Murakami’s 1985 novel, “Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World.” It offers a theory on the way in which the brain perceives the world. Famous for his wildly successful experimental fiction, Murakami is also crazy about jazz. So it’s fascinating to learn that what Murakami has intuitively written about composing music — that the creative process of making music, particularly jazz, is linked to emotion — has now been confirmed by brain scans. U.S. neuroscientists at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, scanned the brains of jazz pianists while the musicians were improvising songs on a small keyboard. The scientists found that brain circuits known to be involved in creativity changed their activity when different emotions are expressed. In other words, emotion — in this case, simply whether the musician was creating happy or sad music — caused different parts of the brain’s “creativity network” to operate. “The bottom line is that emotion matters,” says Charles Limb, a neuroscientist at the University of California, San Francisco. “It can’t just be a binary situation in which your brain is one way when you’re being creative and another way when you’re not. Instead, there are greater and lesser degrees of creative states, and different versions. And emotion plays a crucially important role in these differences.” This might sound obvious. You might imagine that sometimes you may be feeling incredibly creative and inspired, and other times less so, and that these periods of varying creativity are linked to emotion. That may indeed be the case, but it doesn’t mean that it’s the same creativity circuit just operating at different speeds. As Limb says, the new research suggests that creativity cannot be fully explained in terms of the activation or deactivation of a fixed network of brain regions. Instead, when creative acts engage brain areas involved in emotional expression, activity in these regions strongly influences which parts of the brain’s creativity network are activated and to what extent. Scientitsts have conducted a number of studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study creativity. Musical improvisation, freestyle rapping and the rendering of caricatures are creative acts that occur in real time. They primarily don’t draw on planned or stored ideas, but on spontaneous thoughts. They are, therefore, perfect behaviors to study in a lab. We already know from previous experiments that this sort of spontaneous creation deactivates a brain region known as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), which is involved in planning and monitoring behavior. You can imagine that when this constraint is taken away, ideas can flow more easily. This is why pyschologists sometimes talk about artists getting into a “groove” when they are working. In the new study, published in the January issue of the journal Scientific Reports, researchers had jazz pianists playing a small keyboard while looking at a photograph. They were asked to improvise melodies to capture the emotion shown in the photograph, which was either a woman smiling or the same woman looking sad. The results showed that deactivation of the DLPFC was greater when the musicians were creating happy music. In other words, the state of flow could be entered more easily when working on positive creations. When working on sad tunes, however, the brain’s reward centers were more active. These regions reinforce behaviors that lead to pleasurable outcomes. “There’s more deactivation of the DLPFC during happy improvisations, perhaps indicating that people are getting into more of a ‘groove’ or ‘zone,'” says lead author Malinda McPherson, “but during sad improvisations there’s more recruitment of areas of the brain related to reward.” McPherson, who is herself a violist, says this suggests there may be different mechanisms that determine why it’s pleasurable to create happy versus sad music. Brain-scanning studies are extremely difficult to interpret correctly. For example, just looking at a happy or sad image of a woman will induce all sorts of different kinds of brain activity. So to attempt to control for this the researchers also scanned the musicians’ brains while they just passively looked at the photos. They then subtracted the resulting brain patterns from what was recorded when the musicians were improvising. The results should give scientists a better idea of the components of brain activity in emotional regions that are strongly associated with creating improvisations. The musicians were not prompted to make happy or sad music, but just to try and convey the emotion in the image they saw. “The notion that we can study complex creativity in artists and musicians from a neuroscientific perspective is an audacious one, but it’s one that we’re increasingly comfortable with,” Limb says. Murakami has spoken in the past about how he first got into jazz. He saw a jazz band in Kobe when he was 15 and was “thunderstruck.” “Inside my head,” he wrote in The New York Times in 2007, “I did often feel as though something like my own music was swirling around in a rich, strong surge. I wondered if it might be possible for me to transfer that music into writing. That was how my style got started.” Murakami wrote that he enjoyed free improvisation the best. “Through some special channel,” he said, “the story comes welling out freely from inside. All I have to do is get into the flow.” That we are now starting to understand the process of human creativity is like exploring the “hard-boiled wonderland” in us all. I would love to know what Murakami thinks about this.


Japan unveils first homegrown stealth fighter prototype

Abstract: A prototype of the first Japan-made stealth fighter was unveiled to the media Thursday at a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. factory in central Japan. The Defense Ministry’s Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency displayed the prototype, which was developed by a consortium of domestic companies led by Mitsubishi Heavy, at the plant in the town of Toyoyama, Aichi Prefecture. The fighter will first undergo ground tests before making its maiden flight in mid-February or later. The country’s first domestically made stealth fighter — 14.2 meters long, 9.1 meters wide and 4.5 meters high — is scheduled to fly from Nagoya airport, which is adjacent to the factory, to the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force’s Gifu Air Base in Kakamigahara in neighboring Gifu Prefecture. The agency said the development of a full-scale test model began in fiscal 2009, with costs for the program totaling about ¥39.4 billion (about $331 million). The fighter features stealth capabilities, with the use of carbon fiber absorbing radio waves and making it difficult for radar to detect the aircraft. The agency plans to assess data obtained from the prototype and decide by fiscal 2018 whether to develop domestically or engage in joint international development of aircraft to replace the ASDF’s F-2 fighter.

mitsubishi heavy industries
mhi
stealth fighter


Musician leaves $2.6 million violin on German train, and gets it back

Abstract: BERLIN - German police say they have recovered a violin worth $2.6 million that a musician had mistakenly left on a train. A spokesman for German federal police says the woman forgot the violin when she stepped off a local train between Mannheim and Saarbruecken in the west of the country. She alerted police who were able to recover the instrument, described as a General Dupont Grumiaux Stradivarius made in 1727. Police spokesman Dieter Schwan said in an email that the unidentified musician was American.


Court rules pop idol has right to pursue happiness, can date

Abstract: The Tokyo District Court has rejected a damages suit filed by a talent agency against a former member of an idol pop group for breach of contract because she dated a fan. The court ruled Monday that the contract restricted her freedom to pursue happiness. The same court in September ruled that a different former teen group member should pay compensation for having a romance in defiance of the ban on dating imposed on many idol entertainers. In the latest lawsuit, the talent agency based in Tokyo argued it could seek compensation from the 23-year-old woman based on a clause in the contract. The clause stated that compensation can be requested when losses stem from an idol group member dating a fan. But Judge Katsuya Hara said that the contract “significantly restricts the freedom to pursue happiness” and that whether to go out on a date falls under “the right to self-determination,” which is equal to “living in a way one wants to.” He also said cases in which compensation can be requested are limited. The woman signed the contract with the talent agency in April 2012. After she started going out with the male fan, she told the agency in July 2014 that she wanted to annul the contract. In the other ruling in September, the Tokyo District Court said revelation of a love affair “deteriorates the image of idols” and ordered the former female teenage idol group member to pay ¥650,000 in compensation. Judge Akitomo Kojima also said in that case that the dating ban clause was “necessary for idols to win the support of male fans.” The six-member idol group, which debuted in July 2013, disbanded that October after the woman was found to have dated a male fan. The judgment was finalized in the following month as the woman did not appeal the ruling.


Dollar-savvy Yokosuka businesses targeting Japanese currency stashes

Abstract: The city of Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, home to the U.S. 7th Fleet, has no problem extracting dollars from the hands of American sailors. What it really wants to do is prize greenbacks from the pockets of Japanese customers. A private-sector estimate puts that amount at more than ¥1 trillion, in bills and loose change left over from trips overseas. In 2013, the Yokosuka city office began a campaign offering gifts to Japanese tourists who collect stamps at shops in the area after paying for goods in dollars. The campaign initially involved some 50 shops, mainly those on the Dobuita-dori shopping street. That’s the strip near the main gate of the military base that is flanked by restaurants and bars with English signs. The 2015 campaign saw about 90 shops participate. The stores receive payment in dollars and convert it into yen at banks or at currency exchanges across the city. Three years ago, a knife shop put up a sign that read “U.S. Dollars Here!” But few Japanese use their dollars there: It is foreign tourists who tend to buy Japanese-made kitchen knives with the U.S. currency, a female employee, 64, said. In October, when the campaign was underway, the city conducted a survey, finding that sales remained level from a year earlier at 48 shops, decreased at nine and increased at 23. The government prepared a new pamphlet in December to enhance public recognition of shops accepting payment in dollars. It also runs a campaign promotion bus. “We will expand it by stages,” said a city official in charge. But some say what is poorly known is the fact that the cash is always accepted there. “Few people probably know that payment in dollars is accepted all year round instead of during the campaign,” said a 47-year-old restaurant owner. The municipal government should make the U.S. currency acceptable “not only on the Dobuita-dori street area but also in the rest of the city,” he added.


Diamond-topped chocolate cake on sale as Japan gears up for Valentine's Day

Abstract: OSAKA - It would break your teeth and your wallet. A diamond-topped chocolate cake is among the more extravagant marketing gimmicks on offer this year as Osaka department stores kicked off their Valentine’s Day confectionery sales campaigns on Tuesday. The cake is topped with 125 diamonds and has a price tag of ¥14.1 million. It will be available from Wednesday at Takashimaya Osaka Store, when the store launches its range of Valentine’s products. The Kintetsu department store at Abeno Harukas, Japan’s tallest building, has some 120 different brands of chocolate on offer, including truffles at ¥1,800 apiece. The Hankyu Department Store in central Osaka, which will also start its Valentine’s sales on Wednesday, touted a range of domestic and imported chocolate that it says is exclusive to the store. A tradition has arise in Japan — fueled by the tireless efforts of marketers — that it is women who must purchase chocolate for Valentine’s Day for the men in their lives. It is the men’s turn later in the year. This year, the department stores have focused their lineups on products for women buying for themselves. This is because Feb. 14 this year is a Sunday and they expect a drop in sales of chocolates intended to be given out at workplaces.


Sharp gets ¥600 billion offer from Foxconn

Abstract: TAIPEI - Foxconn Technology Group has offered about ¥600 billion to buy struggling electronics maker Sharp Corp., according to a person familiar with the talks, in what could mark the largest acquisition since 2009 for the assembler of Apple Inc.’s iPhones. A decision to accept or reject the bid is expected before the end of January, the source said, asking not to be identified as the discussions are private. However, Sharp is leaning toward accepting a rescue bid by the government-backed Innovation Network Corp. of Japan despite its reportedly lower offer, according to two people familiar with the talks. A deal with INCJ would allow Sharp to keep its technology within Japan and cooperate more closely with domestic companies, said the people, who asked not to be named because the matter is private. Chu Wen-min, a spokesman for Foxconn’s Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., declined to comment Thursday. In 2012, Foxconn offered ¥66.9 billion for a 9.88 percent stake in the supplier of electronics and components. Those discussions foundered after both sides failed to agree on management control, but they were said to have been revived in the past year after Sharp turned to INCJ for possible funding as a new round of debt payments approaches. Foxconn is interested in expanding its business beyond the assembly of products and logistics by adding a wider array of components to its offerings. Sharp, one of the world’s largest makers of displays for smartphones and tablets, could gain more business from Apple and other Foxconn customers like Amazon.com Inc. and Xiaomi Corp. “There need to be core products around which Sharp can build a market position. What those will be isn’t clear, regardless of which side they join,” said Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management Co. in Tokyo. “Outside of short-term speculators, most investors will stay away from Sharp’s shares until the final details are settled.” The Japanese company’s shares surged as much as 25 percent in Tokyo. They closed 6 percent higher on Thursday, taking the firm’s market value to about ¥218 billion. The stock dropped 53 percent last year and 20 percent in 2014. Sharp is considering a $5.3 billion offer from Foxconn and a competing bid from INCJ, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter. Sharp had a total debt of ¥791.8 billion as of Sept. 30, data show. The Osaka-based company has booked more than ¥1.1 trillion in losses over the past four fiscal years..

sharp
foxconn technology group
hon hai precision industry


Low wages at the heart of foreign labor shortage woes

Abstract: There has been a lot of discussion recently about allowing more foreign workers into Japan to make up for severe labor shortages in some fields. As of the end of 2014, the labor ministry estimated there were 790,000 foreign nationals working in Japan legally, which is more than the number of national civil servants (640,000). However, the Japan Civil Liberties Union believes that many employers don’t report the number of foreign workers they use, so the number could be more than 1 million if you go by Ministry of Justice statistics about immigration. A question that is rarely asked, however, is what sort of conditions and wages can foreign workers expect if more were permitted to immigrate? Officially, the government has said that before it accepts foreign labor it needs to maximize the use of the current potential Japanese workforce, then it will decide which kind of foreign labor is best for boosting the domestic economy. The most favored demographic is foreign workers with good education and needed skills. However, it’s likely that such people are just as valued, if not more so, in their native countries, so it seems unlikely they would go out of their way to seek employment in Japan. After that, the government says it will bring in workers as caregivers for the aging population. The main question about these workers is: How long will they be permitted to stay, and will they be allowed to bring dependents or family members? The principal sticking point is manual laborers who will do the work that Japanese people don’t appear to want to do. At the moment, the only non-Japanese who take on this sort of work legally are those who are already allowed to be in Japan for other reasons, as well as so-called trainees, who are supposed to be here to learn a skill they can take back to their respective countries. However, it’s generally assumed that they are here mainly to fill manual labor positions in factories or on farms, and for pay that is below the minimum wage. As part of its business growth strategy, the government is now considering extending trainee visas from three to five years. But even non-Japanese who are legal immigrants and can work freely are often taken advantage of by the system. A recent article in the Asahi Shimbun profiled a man from Bolivia with Japanese ancestry who came to Japan 18 years ago. He currently works for a temporary agency that has dispatched him to Fukushima Prefecture to clean up areas contaminated by radiation. He makes ¥16,000 a day, and says it is the most money he has ever made. However, the environment ministry has “instructed” companies who provide this type of work to pay ¥25,000 a day, although they aren’t required to do so. And while the Bolivian man says that he is satisfied with his pay and the work situation, he had to go to an outside labor union to help him collect wages that weren’t paid to him last summer. He mentions three other non-Japanese colleagues who have had the same problem. This isn’t to say that these men are being exploited simply because they are not Japanese. But the kinds of jobs they can expect to get are often open to exploitation because the workers don’t have much power nor the ability to communicate readily with employers. The company they work for in Fukushima first told the temporary agency that dispatched them that it didn’t want foreign workers because it thought they would “cause problems.” The only reason they ended up taking them was because they couldn’t find anyone else for the job. Another sector that the government is talking about in relation to using foreign labor is housekeeping, which traditionally was not a recognized occupation in Japan except when it comes to the hotel industry. The reasoning given by the government for opening up this field to immigration is that it could help more Japanese women enter the workforce. The government is expected to start accepting non-Japanese for housekeeping work this March, at least in specially designated “economic zones,” on condition that they stay for no longer than three years. In order to get an idea of what this situation might turn into, the Asahi interviewed some foreign housekeepers who are already working here. Usually, they are Southeast Asian women married to Japanese men. A 42-year-old Filipino woman who speaks Japanese that is “good enough for everyday communication” works for a woman in Shibuya, Tokyo, for two shifts a week, three hours per shift. She is paid ¥1,500 an hour plus transportation expenses. The housekeeper actually works for a service, which says it has 3,000 customers at the moment and is now looking for more workers as the government increases the number of special economic zones. Another temporary employment agency, Pasona, is planning to bring 30 women from the Philippines to Japan under the new program and is currently training them in Japanese language and housekeeping skills in Manila. However, their visas will essentially be the same as a trainee’s, which means they will be limited in scope and period of stay. Pasona’s long-term idea is to provide housekeepers for companies where employees may need extra help with housework due to work obligations. The companies would call Pasona on a needs basis. The problem here is that such solutions may simply exacerbate the problem of overwork that tends to be endemic in Japanese companies. The main difference between housekeepers in Japan and those overseas is that the law in Japan prohibits live-in maids. Nevertheless, as one lawyer interviewed by the Asahi points out, if the employment of housekeepers becomes more widespread they could supplant more dedicated workers in other occupations, such as day care personnel and caregivers, since housekeepers could mind children and the elderly in the home, thus driving down wages for those occupations. One of the main problems in the field of day care and elderly care is that turnover is high because the pay is already considered too low. If the government really wants to maximize the untapped Japanese workforce before hiring more foreign workers, it has to get wages up.

foreign workers
day care
hospitality
housekeeping
manual labor


Myanmar, Japan-linked consortium reach agreement on new airport plan

Abstract: YANGON - The Myanmar government and a consortium that includes Japanese engineering firm JGC Corp. has reached a broad agreement over a plan to construct a new airport on the outskirts of the country’s largest city, Yangon. With the deal, the consortium, which also includes Singapore’s Changi Airport Group, came a step closer Saturday to receiving a formal order for the airport construction project and its estimated $1.5 billion price tag. In October 2014, Myanmar granted preferential negotiating rights for the project to the consortium. The Myanmar government plans to build the new Hanthawaddy international airport, which can handle up to 12 million passengers a year, in the Bago region, north of Yangon. It hopes that about half of the total costs will be covered by the official development assistance from the Japanese government. The new airport is set to become operational in 2022, four years later than the original plan. Transportation systems linking the new airport with Yangon must also be constructed, prompting the Japan International Cooperation Agency to survey the situation to gauge whether it can offer help in this area through fresh ODA funds. The new airport is intended to accommodate a surge in foreign visitors to Myanmar — one of Southeast Asia’s biggest attractions for foreign investors — as it makes the transition to democracy after years of junta rule. Yangon International Airport, the country’s busiest, has far surpassed its annual capacity.

airlines
myanmar
aid
development
construction industry


After one butt too many, tiger tosses goat in Russian odd-couple partnership

Abstract: MOSCOW - A “romance” that enchanted Russia may be over: Timur the goat and Amur the tiger have had a fight and aren’t together anymore. In November, the goat was placed in the tiger’s compound in a wildlife park near Vladivostok with the expectation that the big cat would eventually kill and eat him. But the two not only tolerated each other, they appeared to become friends. The odd couple became a popular topic on social media, and T-shirts celebrating them went on sale. But Timur started pushing it, constantly annoying and butting the tiger. “Finally, the tiger couldn’t hold back, grabbed the goat by the withers and tossed him,” park director Dmitry Mezentsev told state news agency Tass on Friday. “We decided to put them in different enclosures for a while,” he said.


DPJ looks to block LDP blitz

Abstract: Lawmakers in Japan’s struggling main opposition party pledged Saturday to stop the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, headed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, from winning a critical election they see as the last chance to preserve the postwar pacifist Constitution. “This summer’s Upper House election is of paramount importance to Japan,” Katsuya Okada, president of Democratic Party of Japan, told fellow lawmakers from across the nation at the party’s annual convention. A sense of urgency filled the air at this year’s gathering, because Japan, in Okada’s words, “is at a crossroads” in defending the supreme code against the right-leaning plans of Abe. Letting the ruling coalition win a two-thirds majority in the 242-seat Upper House would give Abe a huge chance to amend the Constitution — his long-held goal and one that Okada says threatens Japan’s pacifist philosophy and basic human rights. “We must not lose this fight. We must not let the Abe administration have its way. We need to win back power,” Okada said. The DPJ, however, is likely to face an uphill battle. The party suffers from lackluster public support stemming from its first — and only — stint in power from 2009 to 2012, which was fraught with broken promises, hazardous foreign diplomacy and an unprecedented triple calamity. When public anger heated up as the ruling LDP-led coalition bulldozed controversial security bills last year, the DPJ tapped anti-Abe sentiment to oppose them but didn’t make any gains. In a dig at Abe’s much-hyped goal to “create a society where all 100 million people can play an active role,” Okada said the government’s conservative policies appear contradictory. “How can a nation that easily abandons one person make all 100 million people happy?” he asked. “We, on the other hand, aim to create a coexistent society where no one is marginalized.”

shinzo abe
dpj
upper house election
katsuya okada


U.S. House may see bipartisan vote next week on North Korea sanctions bill with added financial squeeze

Abstract: WASHINGTON - The House of Representatives could vote in the coming days on legislation backed by Republican and Democratic lawmakers to broaden U.S. sanctions on North Korea, House leaders said on Thursday, a day after Pyongyang announced it had tested a hydrogen nuclear device. Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan did not provide a timeline for the vote on the long-delayed legislation but a congressional source said it was expected as soon as Monday. Nancy Pelosi, the House Democratic leader, told reporters that Republicans, who control the House, were likely to move a bill as early as next week and that Democrats would support it. She said there was strong backing in both parties for the legislation. The measure would target banks facilitating North Korea’s nuclear program and authorize freezing of U.S. assets of those directly linked to illicit North Korean activities. It would also penalize those involved in business providing North Korea with hard currency. Congressional sources told Reuters on Wednesday that Republican House leaders were discussing the sanctions bill and planned a vote as soon as next week. Republican Ed Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Eliot Engel, the panel’s top Democrat, introduced the measure last year, and it was passed by the committee in February. House Republican leaders did not bring the measure up for a vote in 2015, but North Korea’s announcement on Wednesday left lawmakers clamoring for a strong U.S. response. The vast majority of North Korea’s business dealings are with its ally China, which bought 90 percent of the isolated country’s exports in 2013, according to data compiled by South Korea’s International Trade Association. There was no immediate word on whether the U.S. Senate planned to consider similar legislation. Senators do not return from their year-end recess until next week. For the measure to become law, it would have to pass both the House and Senate and be signed by President Barack Obama. U.S. lawmakers from both parties expressed outrage over North Korea’s action and called for an international response.

north korea
banks
republicans
assets
u.s. house
democats
sanctions bill
h-bomb test


DPJ to submit bill to lower minimum age of election candidates

Abstract: Democratic Party of Japan leader Katsuya Okada said Tuesday the main opposition party plans to submit to the regular Diet session a bill to lower the minimum age of people running for elections. Speaking at a news conference a day after the Diet convened the 150-day session, Okada said the DPJ will discuss specific rates of reduction, but that the party intends to include the idea in its pledges for the House of Councilors election this summer. “The minimum age of candidates should be lowered,” he said, citing similar instances in other countries. According to the Public Offices Election Law, candidates must be at least 25 years old to run for House of Representatives, mayoral, town and village head elections, and at least 30 years old to run for Upper House and prefectural governorship elections. “It is strange that young people in their 20s cannot become prefectural governors or Upper House members,” Okada said. “Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said (this year) is a year of challenge, but I would like to stress that this is a year for young people.” In the wake of last year’s revision to the law to lower the minimum voting age to 18 from 20, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga has referred to the need to consider lowering the minimum age of candidates.

dpj
upper house election
candidates
katsuya okada
election age


Opposition makes plans to grill economy chief Amari

Abstract: Davos, Switzerland - The opposition Democratic Party of Japan plans to urge embattled economy minister Akira Amari, who attended the World Economic Forum in Davos this weekend, to clarify graft allegations made against him in a tabloid magazine. A key architect of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s deflation-busting “Abenomics” program, Amari and his secretary have been accused by the weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun of taking money from an unidentified construction company in an alleged violation of political funding law. “I want him to show good faith and clear up the graft allegations,” Tetsuro Fukuyama, the DPJ’s vice secretary-general, said on NHK Sunday. The party wants to hear from Amari on Monday before the start of the Lower House plenary session, which is scheduled to kick off a day later, Fukuyama said. “I feel that this is not the place to talk about my personal scandal,” Amari said in Davos on Saturday, when asked about the magazine’s allegations. “In the course of the next week I should be in a position to give a news conference.” Earlier, Amari had expressed regret over the outbreak of the scandal. “I apologize for causing the prime minister trouble when I’m one of the key ministers of the Abe Cabinet,” Amari said. “I have caused such a commotion. I really wish I could have come here happier.” Amari has so far taken great pains to avoid answering questions over the scandal, saying he must first thoroughly look into what has been reported. Shukan Bunshun reported Thursday that the total cash and expenses Amari and his aides received from the company amounted to ¥12 million ($101,000). But not all the payments were apparently logged in the minister’s political funds report. Amari was scheduled to return home from Davos on Sunday. He is one of the key ministers in Abe’s Cabinet and negotiated the TPP deal reached in October with 11 other Pacific Rim countries.

world economic forum
tpp
akira amari
democratic party of japan
opposition
tetsuro furukawa


Barring the unforeseen, Kyoto's dwindling voters look set to keep kimono-clad mayor

Abstract: KYOTO - Given Kyoto’s prosperous domestic and international tourism industry, the mayoral election on Feb. 7 is widely expected to be an easy win for incumbent Daisaku Kadokawa, 65, who is backed by the Liberal Democratic Party, Komeito and the Democratic Party of Japan. His main challenger, Kumiko Honda, 66, is supported by the Japanese Communist Party, and the third candidate, running with no party support, is former prefectural assemblyman Takashi Mikami, 85. The kimono-clad Kadokawa has been a distinctive presence since becoming mayor in 2008, and not just in the city. While other Kansai region politicians, notably Toru Hashimoto, the former Osaka mayor and governor, often seem to go out of their way to avoid foreign residents and VIPs, Kadokawa has been a highly visible ambassador within and without the city, promoting not only Kyoto’s traditions, but also environmental issues and the local economy. He is seeking a third term at a time when the home of the Kyoto Protocol is in the international spotlight more than ever. Thanks to a favorable exchange rate, strong tourism efforts, and good publicity that saw Kyoto ranked as the world’s top city for travel, according to one U.S. magazine, over 55 million tourists visited Japan’s ancient capital in 2014, including 1.8 million from overseas. Although Kadokawa is the clear favorite, there is growing unease about the tourist boom he has helped create. It starts with the fact that the ancient city was never designed to handle the huge number of tourists it’s getting. Traffic jams are creating not only commuter headaches, but also concerns about whether fire trucks and ambulances can respond to emergencies in a timely manner. Another issue that has many in Kyoto concerned is whether there are sufficient plans to deal with a disaster at one of the nuclear power plants in nearby Fukui Prefecture. Much of the city lies within about 60 km of Kansai Electric Power Co.’s Takahama reactors, two of which are set to be restarted later this week. Parts of eastern Kyoto have been designated to receive a few Fukui evacuees in the event of a nuclear accident. But what to do about Kyoto residents who may try to flee along with them, and how to evacuate large numbers of foreign tourists, if need be, are also questions on the minds of voters. On these issues, Kadokawa has promised efforts to strengthen municipal disaster drills and radiation monitoring but has not put up any official resistance to restarting the reactors in Fukui, unlike his main challenger Honda. Only the dark horse, Mikami, says roads would have to be widened for evacuation purposes. Despite these concerns, voter turnout could once again prove low: Since 2004, less than 40 percent of the city’s roughly 1.1 million voters have cast ballots. Kadokawa won the 2012 election, when about 37 percent went to the polls, by about 32,000 votes. While not a large margin, barring some last-minute crisis, a combination of a booming local economy and an apparent lack of strong opposition are expected to put Kyoto on track for another four years of the kimono-clad incumbent.


In obituary, Pittsburgh man's sons ask mourners not to vote for Trump

Abstract: PITTSBURGH - A Pittsburgh chiropractor’s obituary is asking people not to vote for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, in lieu of sending flowers. Jason Brown tells the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette he and his brother decided to include the line in their father’s obituary after recalling one published in August for a New Jersey woman: Elaine Fydrych had urged her loved ones not to vote for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. Brown’s father, Jeffrey Cohen, died Sunday at age 70. Brown says his father didn’t request the line in his obit. Brown and his brother included it in their light-hearted remembrance thinking it would be “the perfect joke.” Brown doesn’t know whether his dad was a Democrat or an independent. But he’s virtually certain his dad was not a Republican and didn’t like Trump.

elections
republicans
democrats
offbeat
donald trump
2016 u.s. presidential election


China punishes man who altered headline to 'two-wife' policy

Abstract: BEIJING - A Chinese man was detained after he altered an image of a newspaper front page to add a headline declaring the official adoption of a “two-wife” policy, a joke on the country’s new “two-child” policy, the state-owned Yangjiang Daily said Friday. The newspaper from the southern province of Guangdong fell victim to the prank and reported the incident to local police Tuesday. The Yangjiang Daily said the altered image spread quickly on social media, causing an “ill impact.” Chinese authorities have been cracking down on rumors and false information circulating online, saying they disrupt the proper flow of information on the Internet. The Yangjiang Daily said the man, identified only by his family name, Lin, altered the image of the newspaper as a joke with colleagues but that it was shared online. Lin was detained on the charge of fabricating a rumor, the newspaper said. It did not say how long he would be held. The original headline was about the opening of a city meeting.


SMAP dodges bullet; Becky isn't so lucky

Abstract: When media leaked intelligence on Jan. 10 that eternal boy band SMAP might be dissolving, the outpouring of fan emotion overwhelmed anything else that was happening in the show business world. One person who was probably grateful for the distraction was Rebecca Eri Ray Vaughan, the TV personality better known by her nickname, Becky. Since the beginning of the year, Becky’s storied charms had been sullied by her alleged affair with married pop singer Enon Kawatani of the group Gesu no Kiwami Otome, a scandal the press gleefully pursued. Then the SMAP news broke. To tabloid reporters, two stories of this scale happening at the same time created an overabundance of riches, and SMAP monopolized the attention — well, in the print media it did. TV was interested but cautious, since the story was still in flux. The group’s presumed split — or, at least, the departure of four of its five members — from their longtime management company, Johnny & Associates, was related as hearsay, the fallout from an internal struggle between SMAP’s manager, Michi Iijima, who is credited with turning the group into superstars, and Mary Kitagawa, older sister of the company’s imperious president and namesake. Since Johnny’s is the most powerful talent agency in Japan, TV producers are reluctant to air anything that might upset the company, which is notoriously protective of its commercial prerogatives. If SMAP decided to leave, the agency still had a stable of male idols on whom the industry already relied, so if you listened carefully you could hear a huge collective sigh of relief last Monday night when SMAP’s members appeared live on the air just before their weekly Fuji TV variety show to assure the public that they weren’t breaking up. Many fans were overjoyed at the news, but others were perplexed . The usual spoilsports took to social media to express their frustration, saying the group had squandered its chance to make a statement about the sclerotic nature of the Japanese entertainment production system, which relies completely on manufactured talent. Rumor has it the four members planning to quit were doing so in solidarity with Iijima, who has reportedly been at odds with another manager regarding bookings. That other manager happens to be Mary Kitagawa’s daughter, who is set to inherit the company, and the pressure was such that Iijima has been forced out of Johnny’s. Her four charges pledged to leave with her, which, in the scheme of things, sounds like a noble act. Changing their minds thus comes across as a cowardly act . Though the group says they are sticking together for the fans, more likely they thought that their positions in show business away from Kitagawa’s care were not assured. In any event, Iijima’s career would have been over regardless of what they decided. In that regard, Becky’s fate within this system is instructive, even if the circumstances of her leaving it are different. Her value to her management company, Sun Music, is wholly contained in her image, which is that of a cheerful “good girl” ( ii ko ). Publicly she has said that she lives to work, and since that work amounts to being chipper and agreeable on television, anything that diminishes the image is seen as a liability by the people who hire her. Sure, she sings and acts, too, but those activities mean nothing without her reputation as a TV personality. Before the scandal, she was appearing in 10 commercials, which is more of a yardstick for gauging success in Japanese show business than CD sales or movie roles. So when Becky was outed as an adulterer, it negated her image and, in turn, made her less appealing to those who buy it — meaning TV producers and, more significantly, advertisers, whose contracts with Sun Music include clauses regarding the safeguarding of her image, as well as consequences should it deteriorate. Some magazines said she has already been dumped by several companies, and Sun Music will have to pay each one tens of millions of yen in damages. Becky’s perfunctory press conference earlier this month, where she apologized without specifying why, was covered extensively and ridiculed as being insincere , thus making matters even worse. It’s too soon to declare her career over, but much will depend on how Kawatani addresses his side of the romance . For what it’s worth, he seems to want to divorce his wife of six months so that he can be with Becky, but given that he’s a man and relatively independent as a musician, it’s no skin off his nose if he doesn’t. If Becky were more savvy as a self-promoter she could exploit the public’s sympathy for idols whose handlers contractually limit their love lives, but since she’s bet the farm on her image as a pure young thing (for the record, she’s 31), her value to the industry is already diminished. It has nothing to do with human rights and everything to do with the commodification of personality. SMAP, on the other hand, has actual fans, which means its members could theoretically break from Johnny’s and still be viable as money-makers. The tyranny of the system Johnny’s exemplifies is that it denies the agency of its charges in selling themselves as “products” on the free market. It threatens them with blacklisting, because the people who would buy their product will continue to want other product from Johnny’s, who could withhold it as a means of retribution. That’s why so many people were hoping those SMAP members would quit Johnny’s. It would have been interesting to see how the entertainment industry adjusted to such a major challenge to its basic attitude toward talent. And that’s “talent” in production jargon, as in bodies to place before cameras and microphones, not as a wellspring of performance or thought, because what Becky and SMAP have in common is that they toil in a world where their ideas — if, in fact, they have any — are immaterial. Becky is nothing without Sun Music, and SMAP proved by sticking together at their age that they realize Johnny & Associates is as good as it’s ever going to get.

smap
celebrity
becky
gesu no kiwami otome


Japan honors Hank Aaron with Order of the Rising Sun

Abstract: ATLANTA - Japan has honored former home-run king Hank Aaron with one of its highest awards on Thursday, saying he is a symbol of its close relationship with the United States and their shared love of baseball. The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette was presented during a ceremony and reception at the home of Japan’s consul general in Atlanta, Takashi Shinozuka. “It is an honor for Japan to have such a wonderful friend,” Shinozuka said. The 81-year-old Aaron was singled out for his long relationship with Japan’s home-run leader, Sadaharu Oh, and their efforts to bring young people together through the World Children Baseball’s Fair, which recently celebrated its 25th anniversary. Oh was unable to travel to Atlanta, but the 75-year-old sent videotaped remarks. Aaron sat through most of the ceremony, next to his wife, Billye. He now must use a cane to get around after undergoing hip replacement surgery. “The communication between the two countries is great,” Aaron said. “Baseball has always played a pivotal role in whatever happens in everyday life.” Aaron first met Oh shortly after breaking Babe Ruth’s record for most career homers in 1974. Aaron went on to hit 755 homers in his career, a major league mark that has since been eclipsed by Barry Bonds. Oh, who played his entire career in Japan, has more homers than any professional player in baseball history, finishing with 868. Aaron and Oh are co-founders and honorary directors of the World Children’s Baseball Fair, a weeklong event held each summer that brings together children from Japan, the U.S. and countries around the world for clinics and cultural exchanges. “For 25 years, we’ve been going back and forth trying to help young kids,” Aaron said. “Not to make them home-run hitters, but just to make them pen pals. By that, I mean someone that can write letters and be able to communicate with each other. The Japanese people have helped me out quite a bit. I want to thank them for all they do.” Aaron’s brother-in-law, U.S. Rep. David Scott, called the Hall of Famer a “God-blessed man and a God-sent man” who overcame racial prejudice to break one of the most hallowed records in sports and helped bring Atlanta together during the turbulent civil rights era of the 1960s. “Atlanta would not be Atlanta if not for Hank Aaron,” said Scott, a Georgia Democrat. Coming out of the bitterness of World War II, baseball helped forge a tight bond between the U.S. and Japan, Scott added, calling that relationship particularly important in today’s world, given the tensions with North Korea. “Baseball has kept our two nations together,” the congressman said. Shinozuka pinned the medal to the lapel of Aaron’s jacket, then played a three-minute video made by Oh. “This makes me happier than if I had received the decoration myself,” said Oh, who spoke in Japanese with English subtitles. Derek Schiller, an executive vice president for the Braves, toasted Aaron with a glass of sake. A longtime executive in the Braves front office, Aaron has played a largely ceremonial role with the team in recent years, though he has used his stature to push for more African-Americans in the game. He said he is pleased by the recent hiring of two minority managers, former teammate Dusty Baker by the Washington Nationals and Dave Roberts by the Los Angeles Dodgers. After the toast by Schiller, Aaron took a small sip of sake and smiled. “You’re forever an Atlanta Brave,” Schiller said. “We’re very proud of that, everything you mean for us. You’re our hero. You’re our champion.”

baseball
award
sadaharu oh
hank aaron
atlanta


Mayoral candidates in Okinawa face off over U.S. base

Abstract: OSAKA - Less than two weeks remain until a local election that may influence both the planned relocation of the Futenma military base and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s effort to secure a two-thirds majority in this summer’s Upper House election. The Jan. 24 mayoral election in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, pits incumbent Atsushi Sakima, 51, against challenger Keiichiro Shimura, 62, a former prefectural official. Sakima has the support of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito, while Shimura is the favorite of the opposition parties, and is backed by Okinawa Gov. Takeshi Onaga. Dominating the issues is the question of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma and whether it should be moved to northern Okinawa as agreed by Tokyo and Washington or whether it should be relocated out of Japan, as Onaga and a majority of Okinawans prefer. Sakima’s main campaign strategy has been to argue for its closure and the return of its land. “The U.S. and Japanese governments have taken a strong position of absolutely not letting the Futenma base remain stuck in Ginowan, and we have to make sure this moves forward,” he said during a recent debate with Shimura. Shimura, however, has made it clear that he will press the central government to get Futenma out of Okinawa — and that he opposes the Henoko plan. “What’s important is to deal with the danger posed by the presence of Futenma by getting rid of the MV-22 Ospreys and seeking the closure and return of Futenma without approving relocation within Okinawa,” he said. The race could be quite close. In the 2012 election, Sakima defeated a challenger backed by all of the opposition parties by just 900 votes out of nearly 45,000 cast. A win by Shimura would mean that the governor’s office and the mayoral seats in Nago, where Henoko is located, and Ginowan would be in the hands of leaders opposed to the Henoko plan. That, in turn, could create political problems for Abe and the local LDP chapter, especially Upper House member Aiko Shimajiri, Abe’s minister of state for Okinawa and Northern Territories affairs. She is up for re-election in this summer’s Upper House election at a time when Abe needs every LDP ally he can keep to achieve the supermajority needed for his goal of constitutional revision. At a Lower House Budget Committee meeting Tuesday, Abe insisted that the Ginowan election will have no effect on the plan to move Futenma to Henoko. However, late last week, the government announced it would suspend construction on the seabed in Henoko Bay until after the election to help Sakima’s chances. With no solution to the standoff between Okinawa and the central government over Henoko in sight, there are efforts in Okinawa to check with other prefectures about hosting Futenma. A poll by the Okinawa Times last month, however, showed that only Akita and Shiga prefectures might have even vague interest in discussing that possibility if sounded out by the central government. Akita Gov. Norihisa Satake said only that he would make an inquiry as to what hosting the base would involve, if approached, while Shiga Gov. Taizo Mikazuki said his decision would depend on the details and the purpose of the request.

shinzo abe
okinawa
futenma
ginowan
upper house election
mayoral election


Tilting-condo companies slapped with malpractice penalties

Abstract: Contractors of a tilting condominium in Yokohama were given business suspension orders and other administrative dispositions on Wednesday for malpractices at the site, the land ministry said. As the condo’s subcontractor Hitachi High-Technologies Corp. was found to have handed the main part of the construction work to its subcontractor Asahi Kasei Construction Materials Corp. in violation of the construction industry act, both companies were ordered to suspend business for 15 days and improve operations, the ministry said. The two also failed to have full-time chief engineers at the construction site, and engineers were rarely present at the site as they were also working on other projects at the same time. The prime contractor Sumitomo Mitsui Construction Co., responsible for overlooking the subcontractors, will also be banned from receiving orders from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism for one month as it failed to instruct the subcontractors to correct such practices or report them to the authorities, the ministry said. After one of the buildings at the Yokohama condominium complex was found to be tilting in October, Asahi Kasei Construction Materials admitted to data fabrication in 360 out of the 3,052 projects it worked on over the past decade, including in piling works for the condo, sparking public concern over the safety of buildings in general. The scandal prompted an industry-wide probe, and eight other constructors have been found to have falsified piling work data in other projects. The ministry will also order the companies to prevent a recurrence. The Yokohama condominium is still under investigation for possible violation of the building standards act. The scandal over piling work data for building foundation projects has been spreading industrywide. In November, Japan Pile Corp. became the first found to have engaged in piling data manipulation since the scandal involving Asahi Kasei Construction Materials.

housing
scandals
real estate
asahi kasei
condominium
construction industry


Paris attackers seen committing earlier murders in Islamic State video

Abstract: PARIS - New video released by the Islamic State group on Sunday shows the extremists who carried out the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris committing atrocities in territory controlled by the group, while plotting the slaughter in the French capital that left 130 people dead and hundreds injured. The group also threatened to attack Britain. The 17-minute video shows the extent of the planning that went into the multiple attacks in Paris, which French authorities have said from the beginning was planned in Syria. The video was provided online by the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadi websites. All nine militants seen in the video died in the Paris attacks or their aftermath. Seven of the attackers — four from Belgium and three from France — spoke fluent French. The two others — identified by their noms de guerre as Iraqis — spoke in Arabic. Seven of the militants, including a 20-year-old who was the youngest of the group, were filmed standing behind bound captives, described as “apostates,” who were either beheaded or shot. “Soon on the Champs-Elysees,” says Samy Amimour, who was raised in a Paris suburb near the French national stadium, as he holds a captive’s head aloft. The Nov. 13 attacks targeted a packed concert hall, a restaurant and cafe, and a soccer match at the national stadium. French Foreign Ministry spokesman Romain Nadal said the government is studying the video but would not comment on its contents. France’s Interior Ministry and the Paris prosecutor’s office had no immediate comment. The video was filmed before the men sneaked back into Europe and contains no footage shot by the attackers during the days of terror that began Nov. 13 and ended only on Nov. 18 with the death of Abdelhamid Abbaoud, who was believed to be the leader of the attacks. Instead, it was assembled from material shot before the men left for Paris, news video and amateur video. The video did not specify where the nine men were filmed, but it was believed to have been in Syria. Abbaoud is seen simply speaking in a room One militant, Brahim Abdeslam, is seen at a makeshift shooting range. Abdeslam, whose brother Salah fled Paris that night and remains at large, blew himself up at a Paris cafe where he was the only victim. Salah Abdeslam is not seen in the video. According to the anti-Islamic State activist group Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, Brahim Abdeslam and two other attackers were trained in Raqqa, the extremist group’s stronghold and the capital of its self-proclaimed caliphate. In the video, as in other Islamic State propaganda trying to drive a wedge between European Muslims and their governments, the men say it is a religious duty to join them. They threaten more attacks in Europe, and the footage closes with one of the militants holding a severed head and footage of Cameron giving a speech — with a text in English warning that whoever stands with the unbelievers “will be a target for our swords.”