North Korea could emulate Vietnam-style reforms if Kim Jong Un chooses to follow Hanoi

Abstract: HANOI - Nestled in a leafy park between a rusting Soviet fighter jet and the old East German Embassy, a lonely statue of Lenin stands in the center of Hanoi as a symbol of the Russian revolutionary’s inspiration to communist-ruled Vietnam. Yet in 1986, one year after the statue was erected, Vietnam embarked on its comprehensive program of doi moi reforms, which transformed the country from a war-torn agrarian basket case into one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies. Today, Hanoi’s “Lenin Park” is popular not for Vietnamese paying homage to their communist roots, but for a dedicated crew of skateboarders. As Vietnam prepares to host North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump this month for their second summit, the Vietnamese model of reform is being widely touted as the path for impoverished and isolated North Korea to follow. Vietnam’s reforms have led to per capita GDP soaring almost fivefold since 1986 and kept the ruling Communist Party, which tolerates little dissent, firmly in power. But they have necessitated political change and levels of individual freedoms that would require major reforms in North Korea, where Kim exercises almost total control and is revered by state propaganda as a living deity. “When all the power is in the hand of a single person, decisions are prone to mistakes,” said Cao Si Kiem, the former governor of Vietnam’s state bank who enacted sweeping reforms of Hanoi’s monetary policy from 1989 to 1997. “We had to accept power dilution,” Kiem said. When Vietnamese revolutionary and founding President Ho Chi Minh’s health was failing during the Vietnam War, his right-hand man in the party, Le Duan, took over and ruled until his death in 1986. Duan’s demise ended Vietnam’s “strongman era” and helped facilitate economic and then political reforms, said Le Hong Hiep, a fellow at Singapore’s ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute. “Le Duan was a hard-core communist, an old guard of the Leninist political and economic system,” said Hiep. “After his demise, no single politician could command such a level of control. Instead, the Politburo took over and became the most important decision maker, albeit on a consensus basis.” North Korea, by comparison, has only ever known its strongman era. Kim officially derives his political legitimacy from his father and former leader, Kim Jong Il, and his grandfather and founding leader, Kim Il Sung. Together, they form the “bloodline of Mount Paektu,” a reference to a legendary volcano on the Chinese border where the eldest Kim is said to have coordinated his guerrilla war against colonial Japan. North Korea’s “juche” ideology of self-sufficiency officially replaced Marxism-Leninism in 1972. Although juche has its roots in the Soviet ideology, references to Marxism-Leninism and communism have been slowly phased out. The ruling Kims are afforded godlike status in the country. Even the official exchange rate for the currency, the Korean people’s won, was, until 2001, pegged at 2.16 won to the dollar because of Kim Jong Il’s birthday, Feb. 16. But under Kim Jong Un, who activists say has led a brutal crackdown against dissent and defectors, some progress on economic reforms has been made. Kim has allowed some markets in North Korea to develop, introduced more special economic zones and called for factories to expand their product ranges to cater for diverse consumer tastes. “In the North Korean context, this is huge — so much further than under previous leaders,” said Andray Abrahamian, a Korea expert at Stanford University’s Asia Pacific Research Center. By 2016, four years after Kim came to power, the rate of economic growth in North Korea hit a 17-year high, according to South Korea’s central bank. That growth contracted last year under pressure from international sanctions over its weapons programs, the bank said. “North Korea is embracing markets to an unprecedented degree, but there are still some key limitations,” said Abrahamian, citing the need for official systems of property ownership and land use and a loosening of surveillance on visiting foreigners to encourage offshore investment. So far, economic changes, which are communicated in state propaganda as Kim-led initiatives to improve living standards, have come with little political liberalization. North Korea is still officially tax-free and, despite the fact that many North Koreans rely on the markets instead of the state for food, Pyongyang still professes to have a functioning public distribution system. In Vietnam, such rationing was abandoned as reforms were embraced. Today, the Vietnamese economy has become so open that the “subsidy era,” when Vietnam went through its most literal iteration of communism, is remembered mainly as a “vintage” design trope in novelty coffee shops and restaurants. In North Korea, such imagery is sanctified. “It feels more nostalgic than the more modern coffee shops,” said university student Nguyen Hoang Phuong Ngan as she sipped a coconut latte at Cong Ca Phe, a popular cafe chain that uses communist-era propaganda in its branding. The road to change in Vietnam hasn’t always been so relaxed, however. In 1996, 10 years into the reform program, government officials staged the public destruction of foreign video cassettes and pornographic posters at Lenin Park to rid Vietnam of “social evils.” Now, while the Lenin statue still casts a shadow over the square, skateboarders there are mostly amused or ambivalent about his presence. “This is a street sport from the West, so the fact I’m doing it right here in front of the Lenin statue is really something,” said 27-year-old jazz pianist and skateboarder Nhat Huy Le. “It’s fun.”

north korea
vietnam
kim jong un
nuclear weapons
north korea nuclear crisis
_analysis


The battle for Hmong heritage in Vietnam

Abstract: DONG VAN, VIETNAM - Vuong Duy Bao surveys his ancestral palace, a vestige of Vietnam’s marginalized Hmong ethnic minority that he says was taken from his family by local officials. The wooden structure is laden with historic markers: opium flowers carved into pillars in a nod to the region’s once-booming trade, and an iron fence made with metal imported from former colonial ruler France. Built in 1903 by Bao’s warlord grandfather with his opium fortune, the retired civil servant claims local authorities took possession of the property in the northern Ha Giang province from his family and are now refusing to return it. “Hmong people all over the world acknowledge this as (our) family home … so we can’t lose it,” he said from the building, which the authorities run as a museum. Both sides agree it is an architectural treasure because the historically nomadic Hmong rarely stayed long enough in one place to build anything lasting. Bao had been living in Hanoi, but on return to the family home, he discovered local authorities had taken ownership of the palace and rejected his claim to it because he could not provide deeds. He branded the request “absurd” and said official documents did not exist when the property was built. He also said his family’s connection to it was set out in history books about the area — and even in pictures of it displayed in the museum. Many Hmong fear the government is simply commandeering their culture to boost tourism dollars. For Bao, his battle for repossession goes beyond the personal. He believes Hmong heritage belongs in the hands of Hmong people, a tight-knit minority originally from China who proudly cling to customs wherever they settle — from Laos and Thailand to California and Minnesota. In Vietnam, they have been largely excluded from the economic growth of the past decade; more than 60 percent of the 1 million Hmong live below the poverty line. The ethnic group has long been at odds with the central government — stemming in part from the CIA recruitment of anti-communist Laotian Hmong during the Vietnam War. Hanoi has for decades imposed resettlement, development and assimilation campaigns that have mostly failed. “More than any other ethnic minority in Vietnam the Hmong have been marginalized by programs that purport to develop them,” writes anthropologist Ngo Tam in her 2016 book “The New Way: Protestantism and the Hmong in Vietnam.” Ha Giang authorities are touting tourism as the best way to lift the Hmong out of gruelling poverty, and the province has said in its master plan that it wants the area to be a “key attraction” for visitors by 2030. Officials have opened a series of “traditional cultural villages” where visitors can peek into old-school wooden houses or take photos of themselves carrying a bamboo basket, a common vessel for Hmong farmers ferrying flowers or grass from the field. Local Hmong are encouraged to wear traditional hemp clothing and build traditional houses, and have been asked to shorten funeral and wedding ceremonies — days-long, booze-soaked affairs that are among the most sacred of Hmong rituals. “Sometimes authorities try to impose their ideas on people forcibly, but we resist by refusing to follow,” said Vang My Sinh, a Hmong man in Ha Giang. “We’ve always had strong community spirit. We build things together and preserve things together. Nothing can break us.” That community spirit has proven powerful. Troops were sent to quell a massive Hmong protest in 2011, in which some called for independence. More recently, Hmong in Vietnam have turned to organized religion and embraced Protestantism, which makes the communist government nervous. In Ha Giang, some Hmong are happy to comply with government guidelines if it means improving their lot. “It is good to preserve tradition, for ourselves, for our children, and even for tourists who come out of curiosity and bring us more money,” said Va Thi May, who was selling grilled yams at a quiet roadside stop. Minorities are not always the beneficiaries of Vietnam’s booming tourism sector. In northern Vietnam’s visitor-saturated Sapa, locals complain that hotel owners from the Kinh majority earn big while ethnic minority women and children hawk Chinese-made fabric and fake silver. Regaining control of the Hmong palace could be a small step toward recovering their own history — and benefiting from local tourist spending. For some, the loss of the palace is part of a broader issue. “It’s one of the many things that make Hmong feel marginalized and definitely adds to their disenfranchisement,” said Sebastian Rumsby, a Ph.D. candidate at University of Warwick whose research focuses on Christianity among the Hmong. Bao hopes to push back against that by getting his palace back — so his Hmong clan can regain their spiritual homeland.


Security agencies in Australia using vast decryption powers before planned review

Abstract: CANBERRA - Australian security agencies have begun using sweeping powers to access encrypted communications, even before conducting a promised review to address concerns from the likes of Google, Apple and Facebook. The powers were granted under a decryption law that was rushed through Parliament in December amid fierce debate over national security and privacy. The Australian Federal Police have now revealed that agents have already used it while investigating drug trafficking and child exploitation. Under the rules, refusal to grant authorities access to devices is punishable with up to 10 years in prison. Police told a parliamentary inquiry they had used that threat to compel two suspects to hand over their passwords. Citing secrecy provisions in the law, police declined to say if they had used the new law to force device makers or telecommunications firms to break or bypass encrypted communications. The same provisions bar industry from disclosing whether they have received such police demands, known as “compulsory notices.” The government has argued that the law was urgently needed to foil terrorist plots and intercept communications among other serious criminals. But opponents allege it punches a hole in global efforts to keep governments from eavesdropping on secure communications, like WhatsApp chats. They also argue it could undermine security by creating vulnerabilities in encryption technologies, which could then be exploited by malicious actors. The legislation was adopted only after the conservative government agreed to reopen debate in the new year on amendments that would address widespread concerns among civil liberties advocates and tech industry experts that it was ill-conceived and too broad. The Department of Home Affairs says the law is being progressively implemented and that in January it wrote to tech industry members for assistance in drawing up guidelines on how to use the new powers. “The department is also engaging with industry to dispel common misconception, build confidence and to reiterate the intended purpose and operation of the act,” it said in a submission to the parliamentary inquiry. But the tech industry appears far from reassured. “There is no doubt there is an extremely broad coalition of stakeholders that are very concerned about the impact of this bill,” said John Stanton, chief executive of the Communications Alliance, which represents the Australian communications industry. “It is not just industry, it is civil society and digital rights activists.” Stanton warned the new law poses “an enormous threat” to export opportunities for Australian tech firms “because they can no longer provide any assurance that their gear hasn’t been tampered with by Australian security.” “Even to say, ‘No, it hasn’t’ is an offense under the law,” he added. Industry groups have combined forces to present a joint submission to the latest inquiry proposing a series of amendments. These include a higher threshold for using the law, which can currently be applied in any investigation of an offense carrying a maximum three-year prison term — a bar that critics say is too low. The industry also wants more precision about an element of the law barring authorities from forcing companies to introduce a “system vulnerability” into their products — a term they say is ambiguous. Australia is widely seen as a global test case for such laws, with possible applications by other governments seeking to counter the growing use of encrypted messaging, notably Australia’s partners in the “Five Eyes” intelligence alliance: the United States, Britain, Canada and New Zealand. The ongoing review of these powers by parliament’s Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security may have set an Australian political record. It was launched just nine days after the encryption legislation became law and reflects the haste with which it was rammed through. The committee must complete its review by April 3, but any moves to amend the legislation risk running up against the electoral cycle, with a federal vote due by mid-May.

internet australia computers surveillance


MPs told to reset passwords as Australia investigates attempted hack of national parliament

Abstract: SYDNEY - Australian authorities are investigating an attempt to hack into the national parliament’s computer network, two senior lawmakers said Friday, but there is no evidence yet that any data has been accessed or stolen. In one of Australia’s most high-profile cyberattacks, Tony Smith, the speaker of the lower House of Representatives, and Scott Ryan, president of the upper house Senate, said all lawmakers have been told to reset passwords as a precaution. “We have no evidence that this is an attempt to influence the outcome of parliamentary processes or to disrupt or influence electoral or political processes,” they said in a joint statement. “Accurate attribution of a cyberincident takes time and investigations are being undertaken in conjunction with the relevant security agencies.” It is also too early to tell who might have been behind the hacking bid, they added. State-backed hackers were likely to be responsible, one academic said. “To undertake such an attack, you need some big resources, so a state actor is most likely,” said James Der Derian, director of the Centre for International Security Studies at the University of Sydney. “You have to look and see who has a grievance against Australia, and the most obvious suspects would be China and Russia.” Relations with China have deteriorated since 2017, after Canberra accused Beijing of meddling in its domestic affairs. Both countries have since sought to mend ties, but Australia remains wary of China. Media this week said Australia rescinded the visa of a prominent Chinese businessman just a few months after barring Chinese telecoms giant Huawei Technologies from supplying equipment to its 5G broadband network. Australia’s ties with Russia soured after the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17, brought down by a Russian surface-to-air missile over eastern Ukraine in 2014. Moscow has denied involvement.


Wreckage of Imperial Japanese Navy battleship Hiei, first to be lost in WWII, discovered in Solomons

Abstract: LOS ANGELES - Researchers have found the wreckage of the Imperial Japanese Navy battleship Hiei, which sank in the South Pacific during World War II. It was the first Japanese vessel to be lost in the war. The discovery on Jan. 31 by a team funded by Microsoft Corp.’s late cofounder Paul Allen is expected to help identify why the battleship sank, experts said. The 150-meter-long rear section of the Hiei was found upside down at a depth of 985 meters, northwest of Savo Island in the Solomon Islands chain. The ship’s bow section, some 70 meters long, has so far not been found. Video footage recorded by the team shows the battleship’s propellers, high-angle guns and a crate of shells. “It is highly likely that an ammunition room on the battleship’s bow side exploded for some reason,” said Kazushige Todaka, director of the Kure Maritime Museum in Hiroshima Prefecture, after viewing the footage. The Hiei’s crew is believed to have evacuated after scuttling the battleship, control of which was lost after it came under fire in a battle in November 1942. The battle killed 188 crew members aboard the vessel. The discovery offers “an opportunity to reconsider the misery of the war,” Todaka said. The survey team found another Imperial Japanese Navy battleship, the Musashi, on the seabed of the Sibuyan Sea in the Philippines in 2015.

wwii
paul allen
imperial japanese navy
south pacific
hiei


Mirror test in Japanese study suggests self-awareness in fish, raising questions about animal intelligence

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Small tropical reef fish were able to recognize themselves in a mirror, scientists said Thursday, in a finding that raises provocative questions about assessing self-awareness and cognitive abilities in animals. The study involved experiments in which the bluestreak cleaner wrasse was subject to a mirror self-recognition test, a technique developed in 1970 for gauging animal self-awareness. In aquarium experiments at Osaka City University, researchers applied a brown-colored mark on the body of the fish in places that could be seen only in a mirror’s reflection. The fish tried to remove the marks by scraping their bodies on hard surfaces after seeing themselves in a mirror, but never tried to remove the marks without a mirror present, indicating that they understood the reflection was of them, the researchers said. When a transparent, rather than brown, mark was applied, the fish never tried to remove it. The four-inch-long (10-centimeter) species consumes parasites and dead tissue off skin of other reef fish in a relationship benefiting both. The color of the brown marks resembled that of the parasites. The fish show “behaviors during the mirror test that are accepted as evidence for self-awareness in many other species,” said evolutionary biologist Alex Jordan of the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Germany, leader of the study that was published in the journal PLOS Biology. Jordan, however, questioned whether the test represents a reliable measure of animal cognitive abilities. “I don’t claim that fish lack self-awareness, but rather that the minimal required explanation for the behaviors we observe in the mirror test does not require invocation of self-awareness, self-consciousness, or theory of mind,” Jordan said. The test has been passed by great apes including chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orangutans as well as dolphins, killer whales, an elephant and a magpie species, but failed by some other animals. Humans pass it at around 18 months old. “I consider that there is a spectrum of animal consciousness, with some animals, likely primates, showing abilities closer to human consciousness,” Jordan said. “My point with this paper is not that fish are as smart as chimpanzees, but that the way we ask that very question across taxa (animal groups) needs to be re-evaluated.” University at Albany evolutionary psychologist Gordon Gallup, who pioneered the mirror test, called the new study “not methodologically sound” and faulted the researchers for a “zeal to undermine the integrity” of the technique to appraise animal self-awareness. Emory University primatologist Frans de Waal, who has studied mirror self-recognition in mammals, called the findings “interesting and provocative.” “The hope is that this study will throw open the discussion about self-awareness in animals. Instead of the black-and-white distinction we have had thus far, that some animals have it and most of them don’t, we need to develop a more gradualist perspective,” de Waal said.

fish
osaka city university
mirror tests
self-awareness
bluestreak clearner wrasse
alex jordan


Immigration pact needed to thwart dodgy brokers targeting Nepalese heading to Japan, experts say

Abstract: KATHMANDU - As Japan prepares to welcome a wave of new foreign workers, experts are cautioning Nepalese over unethical immigration brokers and urging their government to conclude an agreement with Japan for greater transparency in movements of migrant workers. In April, Tokyo will introduce a new program to accept more foreign workers by creating new visa categories and the number of Nepalese wanting to work in Japan is expected to increase as a result. In Nepal, many experts are expressing concern over cases in which malicious brokers have joined hands with employers in countries accepting Nepalese workers, forcing such people into difficult situations. With job opportunities scarce in Nepal, many people head overseas in search of work. According to a survey by the International Labor Organization, overseas remittances accounted for one-third of Nepal’s gross domestic product in 2015. A survey by Japan’s Justice Ministry showed that over 85,000 Nepalese were residing in Japan as of June, making up the sixth-largest population of foreign nationals. Of the 85,000, one-third were students. With international students legally able to work a maximum of 28 hours a week, a Japanese expert on trends among students from overseas said many students come to Japan to work, rather than study. The expert also suggested many students work as much as 50 hours a week. Brokers play a huge role in recruiting workers and finding companies willing to accept foreign nationals, and preparing required documents. Janak Raj Sapkota, a local journalist versed in immigrant labor issues, said there have been many cases of human rights violations linked to “slave labor” involving malignant brokers in other countries that accept many Nepalese workers, including Malaysia and Persian Gulf nations. Some Japanese-language schools have also acted as unethical brokers. Roshan Bhandari, a counselor who works at Asahi International Consultancy, a Japanese-language school in Kathmandu, said that while his school refuses to send its students to Japan unless they pass the N4 level on the Japanese-Language Proficiency Test, demonstrating that the student is able to understand basic Japanese, some schools in Japan ask that the school send lower-level students. Sapkota, who said thousands of Nepalese students are working at hotels in Japan, added that some hotel owners have conspired with language schools in both countries and “students are forced to work long hours without sufficient payment.” Basanta Mahatara Chetri, 24, who works at a mobile phone repair store in the Nepalese capital, says he is thinking of studying in Japan. But Chetri said he has heard that some people have been unable to save money even after working in the country for three or four years as they had to pay large sums to their brokers and pay off debts incurred as a result of travel costs. He said that he does not know whether the school he is considering enrolling in is unethical. Meanwhile, many experts agree it is difficult to tell whether a broker is malicious. According to Bhola Nath Guragain, director of the Nepalese Foreign Employment Department’s information section, there are already language schools that claim they have adapted to Japan’s new visa program. He stressed the need for a transparent agreement between Japan and Nepal to manage the entry and departure of immigrants in order to eliminate any scope for intervention by malicious brokers. Other experts have also urged the two governments to take action when Japan’s new visa system enters into force.

immigration
nepal
expats
foreign workers
students
nepalese
nepalese community


City of Otsu to use AI to analyze past school bullying cases with an eye on future prevention

Abstract: OTSU, SHIGA PREF. - A city in Shiga Prefecture said Friday it plans to use artificial intelligence to predict the potential consequences of suspected cases of bullying at schools, in what would be the first such analysis by a municipality in the country. “Through an AI theoretical analysis of past data, we will be able to properly respond to cases without just relying on teachers’ past experiences,” Otsu Mayor Naomi Koshi said of the planned analysis, set to begin from the next fiscal year. AI will be used to analyze 9,000 suspected bullying cases reported by elementary and junior high schools in the city over the six years through fiscal 2018. It will examine the school grade and gender of the suspected victims and perpetrators as well as when and where the incidents occurred. Statistical analysis of the data is expected to help local authorities and teachers identify forms of bullying that tend to escalate in seriousness and which therefore require extra attention, the Otsu board of education said. The AI analysis will also look at other factors, such as school absenteeism and academic achievement, and the findings will be compiled into a report for use by teachers and in training seminars. “Bullying may start from low-level friction in relationships but can get worse day by day. It is important to know which cases have a tendency to become serious,” an official of the education board said. The city’s education board came under fire over the handling of a bullying case involving a 13-year-old junior high school student who jumped to his death from the condominium building where he lived in 2011. The board initially found no connection between the suicide and bullying, but some students were later found to have stated in a school survey that the boy was told to “practice killing himself.” An independent committee set up by the Otsu Municipal Government attributed the suicide to bullying in a report issued in 2013. The case led Japan to enact a law the same year obliging schools to set guidelines to prevent bullying. In Otsu, schools are required to report all possible bullying cases to the city’s education board within 24 hours. Elementary, junior and senior high schools in Japan reported more than 410,000 cases of bullying in fiscal 2017. Ten of the 250 students who killed themselves had been bullied at school, according to education ministry data.


U.N. rights panel calls on Japan to address high levels of violence against children

Abstract: GENEVA - A U.N. panel expressed concern Thursday about “the high level of violence, sexual abuse and exploitation of children” in Japan, in the wake of the death of a 10-year-old girl in Chiba Prefecture due to alleged mistreatment. The Committee on the Rights of the Child called on the government to “prioritize the elimination of all forms of violence against children,” including by putting in place effective reporting mechanisms for victims. Concerns have been rekindled here over child abuse cases after Mia Kurihara died in January at her home due to alleged mistreatment by her parents, including food and sleep deprivation. Early investigations uncovered how a child welfare center, her school and local authorities failed to respond promptly to the girl’s repeated pleas for help. In its concluding report, the U.N. committee urged the government to “speed up the establishment of child-friendly reporting, complaint and referral mechanisms for child victims of abuse, including in schools, and sexual exploitation, supported by staff trained on the specific needs of child victims.” The Chiba tragedy has led the government to consider further steps to prevent similar incidents. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe convened a meeting of ministers Friday to discuss strengthening cooperation between related organizations and creating a new rule to share information on possible victims. “I would like (the ministers) to make all-out efforts to eradicate child abuse with a strong determination to take every possible measure, giving top priority to protecting the lives of children,” Abe said at the meeting. “We failed to respond to the SOS calls that the girl had courageously sent (to authorities). We, as the government, take this seriously,” he also said during a recent Diet session. Kirsten Sandberg, a member of the U.N. committee, said, “We recommend a 24/7 help line that children can call as well as online possibilities for children to report incidents. “But this is not enough, because at the other end of the help line there should be somebody who reacts,” added Sandberg, who pointed out that Kurihara’s fate demonstrated a crucial lack of responsibility among the adults involved. “There should be a legal punishment if adults do not react,” Sandberg added, before concluding that “there also needs to be a general change of attitude so that all adults coming into contact with children understand they have responsibilities.” The National Police Agency announced Thursday that suspected abuse reported to child welfare authorities reached a record-high of 80,104 cases in 2018, an increase of 22.4 percent from a year earlier. Among last year’s reported cases, 57,326 children suffered from psychological abuse and 14,821 from physical maltreatment, while 7,699 children were reported as being neglected and 258 suffered sexual abuse. The rights watchdog also urged Japanese authorities to look into the root causes of rising adolescent suicide rates, which are currently at a 30-year high. A total of 250 children took their own lives in the year to last March, authorities said, while overall suicide numbers are in steady decline. It also criticized Japan for having lowered the minimum age for criminal punishment from 16 to 14 years, and said children are often removed from families and placed in institutions without court orders for being “likely to commit a crime.” Masato Otaka, deputy director-general of the Foreign Ministry’s Foreign Policy Bureau, told the panel that Japanese children face challenges such as bullying, abuse, sexual exploitation and poverty, and that Japan aims to establish a robust social system in which all generations can enjoy peace of mind. In July, the government promised emergency steps to boost the number of child welfare workers by 60 percent within five years. The U.N. committee reviews the public policies toward children of each member state every five years, and then issues recommendations to improve children’s well-being. Japan had its scoreboard reviewed in mid-January.

children
abuse
united nations
chiba
committee on the rights of the child


Japan's opposition parties lay into ministry officials for extensive role in wage scandal probe

Abstract: Opposition lawmakers continued to grill labor ministry officials over a wage data manipulation scandal Friday at the Lower House budget committee, questioning the political neutrality of what the government says is a special independent investigation committee of outside experts. After the wage data scandal emerged last month, the labor ministry launched the committee under chair Yoshio Higuchi, the president of the Japan Institute for Labour Policy and Training — a think tank affiliated with the ministry. The committee has conducted interviews with 37 officials and former officials at the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare who are suspected of being involved in the scandal. But the ministry later revealed that it was ministry officials, not the committee’s outside experts, who conducted interviews with 25 of the 37 officials. The committee members directly interviewed the remaining 12 officials. But Yumiko Jozuka, a senior official who heads the ministry’s secretariat, and another senior ministry official attended seven of the 12 sessions, which critics and opposition lawmakers say must have put tacit pressure on the interviewees not to say about anything that could cause further difficulties for the ministry. An interim report released by the special committee late last month concluded that it could not find “any evidence of an intentional cover-up” of the alleged data manipulation by ministry officials. The committee instead blamed lax protocols and a lack of professionalism among ministry officials, but stopped short of concluding that the data was mishandled intentionally. During Friday’s session, Hiroshi Ogushi of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP) pointed out that Higuchi approved the interviews by ministry officials in advance, casting doubts on the political neutrality of the committee itself. “It is the chairman who approved (interviews) by fellow officials. Why on earth did the third-party committee approve this?” Ogushi asked. Higuchi declined to answer that question during the session, however, saying the committee had just relaunched its investigation and that it is still in the processes of re-examining the facts. He also insisted he was invited to the session as the head of the think tank, not as the representative of the special investigation committee on that day. “I’d like to refrain from speaking as the chairman of the committee,” Higuchi said, adding he would never compromise his integrity to unfairly favor the ministry. Labor minister Takumi Nemoto, a long-time friend of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, defended Higuchi, calling him a “fair and sincere expert in statistics with great achievements and insight.” Opposition lawmakers also called for a retraction of the report released by the committee in late January. “The report should be retracted, and a fresh probe should start in its place,” said CDP lawmaker Seiji Osaka. “It’s not acceptable that the interviews were conducted by ministry officials,” he added. Last month the ministry admitted that from January last year it had secretly revised the statistical method used for the monthly wage survey, which led to sudden spikes in the year-on-year growth rate of the monthly average wage throughout 2018. Economists say the increases would not force any drastic changes in their view of the overall economic conditions. But opposition lawmakers have suspected officials might have concealed the revision because raising wage levels is considered a key prerequisite for the success of the prime minister’s Abenomics policy program.


Leopalace21 moving over 14,400 residents out of defective apartments across Japan

Abstract: Rental apartment operator Leopalace21 Corp. said Friday that it is moving 14,443 residents out of their homes to repair defects found in 1,324 units stretching across 32 prefectures. The move follows an earlier wave of 7,782 residents evacuated from 641 of its apartments in which a fire-resistant material in the ceilings had been incorrectly installed, after the buildings were judged to be particularly unsafe to live in. The company said Thursday it also discovered cases where external walls did not meet fire-protection requirements, and where interior walls did not meet sound insulation standards because of substandard materials. “I’m concerned that there might be other problems apart from the defects discovered this time,” said Chie Matsuyama, 41, who lives in a Leopalace21 apartment in Minato Ward, Tokyo. “I don’t want to sleep here but there’s nowhere else I can go.” A 47-year-old employed man said he had not yet received any information from the rental apartment operator. “I want them to tell me whether my place is safe or not,” he said. “I have no time to move out” ahead of what he expects to be a busy period at work, he added. A 49-year-old man living in the city of Tondabayashi, Osaka Prefecture, said, “I knew that footsteps on the floor above were noisy, but I was surprised to hear this news. I’m afraid of (the possibility of) a fire.” On Friday, land minister Keiichi Ishii said the defects were “deeply regrettable,” adding that the ministry “will take measures to secure safety.” Residents are being contacted by phone or letter and are being offered temporary accommodations in other Leopalace21 properties. Leopalace21 launched an investigation into possible defects in its nearly 40,000 apartments nationwide after 38 cases were found last May in apartments built between 1996 and 2009. The 1,324 faulty apartments, some of which have substandard fire protection, were built between 1996 and 2001. Reasons given for the defects include poor communication between the company’s design department and procurement section, and misleading instructions in architectural documents, according to the company. “This was because of inadequate construction management,” said Leopalace21 CEO Eisei Miyama during a news conference Thursday, vowing to carry out an investigation into what went wrong. But Kazuto Tajiri, a Leopalace21 executive, who also attended the news conference, said the firm is not planning to launch an independent third-party investigation panel. Since the company plans to shoulder all the tenants’ moving expenses and repair the faulty buildings, it will book a special loss of ¥36 billion in the current fiscal year to March.Leopalace21 now expects a group net loss of ¥38 billion to ¥40 billion for this fiscal year, larger than a earlier estimated loss of ¥5 billion to ¥7 billion. The company’s announcement triggered a drop in its stock price Friday, which fell by the ¥100 daily limit, representing a 19.4 percent drop, and ended the day at ¥415. The Tokyo-based company has decided to cut Miyama’s monthly salary by 30 percent and that of other executives by 20 percent for a six-month period starting in February. Miyama said he intends to continue leading the firm at least until the investigation unearths the causes. “When (this task) reaches a certain point, I’d like our three outside directors to think about” whether I should step down, Miyama said.


Government adopts bill to limit value of gifts in Japan hometown tax donation system

Abstract: In order to cool down heated competition among local governments seeking to attract donations with offers of expensive gifts for benefactors, the government Friday adopted a bill to overhaul the furusato nōzei hometown tax donation system. The amendment to the law on local taxation calls on local governments to limit, from June, return gifts to local items with procurement costs at or below 30 percent of the value of the donations. According to the bill, “local items” refers to products made or services offered in areas in the respective municipalities and prefectures. The internal affairs ministry will come up with a detailed definition later. Prefectures and municipalities that fail to comply with the rules will be excluded from the donation system, and donors will cease to be eligible for tax reductions as a result. Local governments that have been excluded will be banned from rejoining the system for two years. Under the system, people can make donations to prefectures or municipalities of their choice, which do not necessarily have to be their hometowns, and the donors qualify for income tax cuts. Many recipient local governments offer gifts to donors in return, with some of them offering expensive items to attract more donations.


Japan's Reconstruction Agency to air ad for Fukushima products on TV, online and at cinemas

Abstract: The Reconstruction Agency said Friday that it will run a television commercial advertising farm, fishery and forestry products made in Fukushima Prefecture for about a week from Saturday. The 30-second spot is aimed at dispelling harmful rumors about the safety of products from the prefecture following the nuclear meltdown at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.’s Fukushima No. 1 power plant, which was heavily damaged in the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The agency hopes to capitalize on rising interest in Fukushima Prefecture ahead of the eighth anniversary of the disaster on March 11. The commercial, which will also highlight tourism spots in the prefecture, will be broadcast nationwide. It will also be run at movie theaters and online. The agency has also created a section on its website to explain the current conditions in Fukushima Prefecture, helping visitors to learn about radiation and progress in reconstruction efforts.

fukushima
fukushima no . 1
reconstruction agency
disasters
advertising


Majority of women to buy Valentine's chocolates for themselves, averaging ¥4,200, Japan survey shows

Abstract: Over 60 percent of women who plan to buy chocolates for Valentine’s Day are considering treating themselves and buying chocolates for their own enjoyment, a survey by Matsuya Co.’s Ginza department store in Tokyo has shown. Of all respondents, 94.1 percent answered that they will buy Valentine’s Day chocolates. With multiple answers allowed, the survey also asked the women who they plan on buying such gifts for. Those who said they plan to treat themselves to chocolates stood at 61.8 percent, followed by those who will give the sweets to family members, at 56.7 percent. Those who plan on giving chocolates to loved ones or a crush came to 36 percent, while those who will purchase them for colleagues at work totaled 35.2 percent. The online survey, conducted in December, covered 781 women aged from 18 to 78. The average budget for the chocolates women will buy for themselves stood at ¥4,204, while that for chocolates given to loved ones or a potential sweetheart stood at ¥3,808. The budget for chocolates given to family members, coworkers and others stood at ¥1,033. “While Valentine’s Day used to be a special day in which (women) gave presents and confessed their love to someone, nowadays it’s a day in which women buy and enjoy chocolates that they picked for themselves and (the survey) backed these trends,” an official from the department store’s public relations section said. A total of 41.6 percent said they will prepare a present to go with the chocolates. The budget for such gifts dropped around ¥3,000 from the surveys the previous two years to ¥5,251.

women
valentine 's day
chocolates
surveys
matsuya


Two positive kanji, easy to write and read: Japan to follow precedent in selecting new era name

Abstract: The government confirmed Friday that it will follow the procedures taken to pick the current era name of Heisei in choosing a name for the new era. The decision was made at the first meeting held by a committee headed by Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga to discuss the selection process for the new era name. The members included the director-general of the Cabinet Legislation Bureau and the vice minister of the Cabinet Office. The government will announce the name for the new era on April 1, ahead of the start of the new era on May 1, when Crown Prince Naruhito is set to ascend the throne to succeed his father, Emperor Akihito. Suga revealed at a news conference Friday that the government will promulgate an ordinance establishing the new era name the same day. Guidelines for the selection process of a new era name stipulate that the government hold discussions with a panel of experts to seek the members’ opinions, and that the prime minister gather input from the chiefs and deputy chiefs of both chambers of the Diet. The guidelines also say that an era name should have a positive meaning that is appropriate to the people’s ideals, and be written using two kanji characters. The era name should also be easy to read and write, not commonly used and should not have been used in previous era names or in the posthumous names of previous emperors. “We hope that the new era name will be accepted widely among the people and will be deeply rooted in the lives of the Japanese people,” Suga said. He stressed that the government will make thorough preparations for the new name.

diet
emperor akihito
nihongo
imperial family
abdication
reiwa
emperor naruhito


As new free trade pact comes into force, Japan and EU tout deal's benefits

Abstract: Japan and the European Union on Friday celebrated the entry into force of a free trade agreement between them, with officials from both sides hopeful about the potential business and economic opportunities available in a new marketplace of over 600 million people. For Japan, the accord covering a third of the global economy comes in addition to the 11-member Trans-Pacific Partnership, which took effect Dec. 30. The signing of these multilateral deals is seen as an effort by member countries to stem the rise of protectionism, something that has taken on greater urgency amid the U.S.-China trade war. “I hope the pacts will become a new growth engine for the Japanese economy,” economic revitalization minister Toshimitsu Motegi said hours after the trade deal took effect at midnight Thursday. “To maximize its economic benefits, we will steadily carry out measures to encourage small and mid-size companies to venture overseas and to bolster the agriculture, forestry and fisheries industries,” Motegi said. The government estimates the deal with the European Union, which was signed in July, will have an economic benefit of around ¥5.2 trillion ($48 billion) and create about 290,000 jobs, although it does not give a time frame for the expected windfall. Meanwhile, farmers are concerned that the pact, which cuts tariffs across a range of goods, will lead to cheaper European products such as cheese flooding the domestic market. In order to promote the impact of the deal, retailers began offering wines from Europe at a cheaper price on Friday in line with the elimination of a 15 percent tariff imposed by Japan before the pact took effect. Aeon Co. cut prices on 330 wines by an average 10 percent, while convenience store operator FamilyMart Co. plans to follow suit Saturday by reducing prices on 14 European wines by up to 17 percent. At an Aeon store in the city of Chiba, a 47-year-old woman was taking a fresh look at European wines that she would normally only pick for special occasions. “I may buy (European wines) regularly from now,” the woman said. Although negotiations over the pact commenced in April 2013, it gained added impetus for Japan and the EU due to U.S. President Donald Trump’s continued pursuit of his “America First” agenda. Both parties will separately engage in bilateral trade talks this year with the United States. “Europe and Japan are sending a message to the world about the future of open and fair trade,” European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said in a statement. Juncker said the agreement will give consumers greater choice and cheaper prices but it will also “protect great European products in Japan and vice versa, such as the Austrian Tiroler Speck or Kobe Beef.” “More than anything, our agreement shows that trade is about more than quotas and tariffs, or millions and billions. It is about values, principles and fairness,” he said.

eu wine tariffs epa exports imports cheese


Airbus A380 under threat as Emirates weighs rejigged order focused on A350, sources say

Abstract: PARIS/DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - Dubai’s Emirates is exploring switching some orders for the world’s largest jetliner, the Airbus A380, to the smaller A350 in a move raising new doubts about the future of Europe’s superjumbo, people familiar with the matter said. The Gulf carrier, which has invested tens of billions of dollars in more than 100 A380s, has been struggling to finalize a deal to buy another 36 to keep assembly lines open, due to differences with engine maker Rolls-Royce. Now, Airbus is looking closely at closing A380 factories sooner than expected as part of a reshuffle of orders, with Chief Executive Tom Enders unlikely to leave the situation unresolved when his mandate ends in April, they said. A person familiar with the matter said Airbus was looking “extremely seriously” at setting the timetable for a shutdown but said no decision had been taken. Airbus said in a statement after Reuters first published news of the talks that it “confirms it is in discussions with Emirates airline in relation to its A380 contract.” But it said details of negotiations were confidential. Emirates and Rolls-Royce declined comment. Emirates announced the deal for up to 36 aircraft worth as much as $16 billion at list prices a year ago, throwing a lifeline to the program’s roughly 3,000 workers and securing its future for at least another decade. The airline is an ardent supporter of the jet, which was designed with luxury features like bars and showers. But sales of four-engined planes are tumbling as many airlines switch to smaller twin-engined jets like the A350 and Boeing 777 due to improvements in range and efficiency. A year-long impasse between Emirates and Rolls-Royce over shortfalls in fuel savings has so far blocked the order. Airbus is trying to broker a complex workaround that could see Emirates take smaller jets also powered by Rolls-Royce while it tries to secure homes for as many A380s as possible, with British Airways recently expressing interest. Airbus has dangled the prospect of closing A380 production before, and industry sources say such maneuvers can be a negotiating tactic to force the feuding parties to agree. But time is running out for the A380 with few airlines willing to spend the sums invested by Emirates, which has made it a backbone of its global network alongside the Boeing 777. The production line is “untenable,” a senior industry source said A decision by Emirates to order the A350 would offer a respite for Airbus and its main engine partner Rolls-Royce after the Gulf carrier axed an order for the A380 in 2014. Airbus and Rolls are keen to maintain a foothold with the Gulf carrier and prevent Boeing filling the gap with more of its General Electric-powered 777s.

france
boeing
airbus
uae
a380
emirates
rolls royce


Japan's jobless rate fell to 26-year low of 2.4% in 2018 amid labor crunch

Abstract: The unemployment rate in Japan fell to the lowest level in 26 years in 2018, as businesses sought to hire more workers amid a deepening labor shortage, government data showed Friday. The average jobless rate stood at 2.4 percent, down 0.4 percentage point from the previous year and the lowest figure since 1992, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. The number of unemployed fell by 240,000 to 1.66 million, the ninth consecutive year of decline. The world’s third-largest economy added 1.34 million jobs, bringing the number of people in work to 66.64 million, the most since comparable data became available in 1953. Many of those jobs were filled by elderly people and women in part-time positions, with notable growth in the hotel and food service industries, a ministry official told a news briefing. “Labor market conditions continue to show solid improvement,” the official said. Job availability during 2018 was the second highest on record, with the ratio of openings to job seekers standing at 1.61, behind the 1.76 logged in 1973 at the tail-end of the postwar economic boom, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. For December, the unemployment rate was 2.4 percent, down 0.1 percentage point from the previous month for the first improvement in three months. Koya Miyamae, an economist at SMBC Nikko Securities Inc., said the rate is likely to remain near this level for some time, with the likelihood of a further drop hampered by the difficulty of matching hopeful workers with positions that would satisfy them. Despite the tight labor market, companies have been reluctant to raise wages so they can keep fixed costs low, preventing households from increasing spending. That has prevented inflation from rising to 2 percent, the target set by the Bank of Japan, which last month decided to maintain its ultralow interest rates. The economy shed a seasonally-adjusted 450,000 workers during December, with the number of people holding jobs standing at 66.68 million. The number of unemployed fell by 60,000 from the previous month to 1.67 million. Among working-age people between 15 and 64, 77.0 percent held jobs. Within that age group, 84.3 percent of men and 69.6 percent of women were working.


King Tut's tomb restored to splendor, made safer from effects of tourism

Abstract: LUXOR, EGYPT - A century after the tomb of Tutankhamun was discovered, revealing the mummified boy-king buried more than 3,000 years ago, it has reopened, brighter and safer thanks to painstaking work to repair damage caused by dust, damp and visitors. The intricate frescoes on the walls and ceiling were also restored to the pristine state they were in when British archaeologist Howard Carter first entered the tomb in 1922. In a process that took 10 years and was delayed by political upheaval in 2011 — when protests forced Hosni Mubarak from power — wooden flooring, lighting and ramps inside the tomb were all replaced. And that meant Tutankhamun himself had to be moved. “It is an incredibly precious object, so it was a very stressful time to safely move the mummy,” said Neville Agnew, communications director of the Los Angeles-based Getty Conservation Institute, which led the work. “It was terrifying,” he said of the operation to lift the mummy and its 250-kg (550-pound) case and carry it from the tomb by hand. “Twelve men, chanting and carrying it up the ramp. I said, ‘If one slips, it will slide and will kill somebody.’ They said, ‘Don’t worry.'” Nearly a victim of his own fame, long years of mass tourism had left their mark on the boy king’s burial place near Luxor on the east bank of the Nile River. “A hundred years of visits, after being sealed for 3,000 years … can you imagine the impact on the grave?” said Agnew. “Visitors, humidity, dust … .” The ancient site in the Valley of the Kings had been renovated several times before, but perhaps never with this rigor. Conservationists, architects, environmental specialists and scientists began with nearly five years of analysis that found environmental impact as well as visitor damage including graffiti, scratches and lost items. “The water vapor produced by visitors’ breathing affected everything in the tomb,” said Hussein Shaboury, an arts professor at Alexandria University, adding that it had also been hard to breathe there. “We had to change this and create a method by which fresh air enters the tomb, and air is circulated in a way where all the air in the tomb is changed in 30 minutes.” The preservation work began with a comprehensive study of the funeral chamber, including its ornate golden-yellow murals, which had been blanketed over the decades by a gray veil of dust. Lori Wong, a curator specializing in murals, specifically looked into the “material composition of the paintings and how it was applied.” The goal in doing so was “to understand the current state of the paintings, to determine if they were in danger and to establish a plan to safeguard them for the future,” she said. Scientists brought heavy-duty microscopes into the royal tomb, which they refer to as KV62, to analyze mysterious “brown spots” found on its ancient artwork. Researchers had worried the spots were a fungus that might spread and damage the murals of Tutankhamun’s life. Careful analysis showed the blotches were indeed of microbiological origin, but the organisms were long dead. One problem still remained — the deeply embedded marks were impossible to remove. “We did conservation, not restoration,” said Agnew, adding that the mission had been to stabilize and protect the site. “The brown spots are also part of the story,” he said, adding that they had not developed since Carter’s discovery. Architects worked to redesign the platform where visitors stand to keep them away from the fragile walls, and engineers developed a new ventilation system to limit the devastating effects of carbon dioxide, moisture and dust. While some of the most cherished pieces of Tutankamun’s treasure are now held at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, the tomb still holds the pharaoh’s mummy in an oxygenless glass box, along with his outer sarcophagus — made of gilded wood. Famed Egyptian archaeologist and former antiquities minister Zahi Hawass, who initiated the project, said that the project had “saved the tomb of Tutankhamun.” “Still I really think after this great work that has been done, we need to limit the number of tourists who enter inside,” he added. “If we let mass tourism enter this tomb, it will not last more than 500 years,” he warned, advocating for a complete halt of visits to site. Tourists could instead visit a replica built nearby, he added. “We have to think of the future from now. In 500 or 1,000 years, if we leave the tourist situation like this, the tombs of the Valley of the Kings will be completely finished.”

egypt
tourism
luxor
king tut
getty conservation institute


Cheaper goods in store as Japan-EU free trade pact enters into force amid U.S.-China tariff war

Abstract: Japan’s economic partnership agreement with the European Union entered into force Friday, creating a free trade area that covers about a third of the world’s economy. The pact will eliminate tariffs on most reciprocal trade, encourage business investment and ensure the protection of intellectual property rights, as Japan and the European Union hope to provide a strong counter to creeping protectionism amid a U.S.-China tariff war. Under the pact, which was signed in July and ratified in December after five years of negotiations, consumers will gain access to cheaper imported food items, while the elimination of duties on industrial products will help curb costs for exporters. In all, Japan will scrap tariffs on around 94 percent of agricultural and industrial products and the European Union will end duties on around 99 percent of imports. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pinned his hopes on the pact, along with an 11-member trans-Pacific free trade agreement that took effect in December, as a growth driver for the world’s third-largest economy. Preparing for the immediate removal of a 15 percent tariff once the deal takes effect, Japanese retailers Aeon Co. and Seven & I Holdings Co. have already promised to cut prices on imported wines from the European Union — home to major wine-producing countries like France, Italy and Spain. The elimination of tariffs promises to be good news for winemakers in the 28-member union. Years of competition with Chile has increased the South American nation’s market share in Japan, with its affordable wines gaining a foothold thanks to a Japan-Chile free trade pact. The Japanese cheese market is also poised to see an influx of cheaper products from the European Union, a headwind for domestic natural cheesemakers but an opportunity to enhance global competitiveness. The existing 29.8 percent tariff imposed by Japan on hard cheeses like Gouda and cheddar will be reduced to zero in stages over a 16-year period. For soft cheeses like mozzarella, Japan will set a quota and the tariff will be removed completely over the same time span. Japanese automakers, which exported over 640,000 vehicles in 2017 to the European Union, are likely to reap benefits from the pact as the current 10 percent import tariff will be reduced to zero over 8 years. Intellectual property rights protection is another key feature of the agreement. Japan and the European Union will each protect product names associated with their origin, called “geographical indications,” such as Kobe beef and Japanese sake. According to a Japanese government estimate, the trade initiative will give a roughly ¥5 trillion ($45.7 billion) boost to the economy and lift Japan’s real gross domestic product by nearly 1 percent. When combined with the revised Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, the economic impact is estimated at around ¥13 trillion. Still, Japanese farmers are worried that they will be threatened by inflows of cheaper products, even though some key agricultural products, such as rice, will be protected. Japan and the European Union — together accounting for about 30 percent of the world’s GDP — are separately planning to start negotiations with the United States as President Donald Trump pushes for bilateral deals to fix what he considers imbalanced trade relationships. While Japan scrambled to salvage the original TPP following an abrupt departure by the United States in 2017, it also stepped up negotiations with the European Union to conclude their own free trade agreement. The entry into force of the trade deal is a major achievement for Japan and the European Union as they strive to promote free trade, but the U.K.’s planned exit from the bloc is casting a shadow of uncertainty over the future, trade experts say. The U.K., where many Japanese companies operate, is seen as willing to take part in the revised TPP, formally called the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. The current members have said the CPTPP is open to all economies that can meet its high standards, while setting procedures for more countries to join.

eu
wine
carmakers
tariffs
epa
exports
imports
cheese
trade war


Lego to open 80 new toy shops in China this year

Abstract: NUREMBERG, GERMANY - Danish toymaker Lego plans to more than double the number of shops in China this year to 140 in its most rapid expansion in any market as demand for its colourful plastic bricks remains unaffected by a broader slowdown in the economy. With declining or stagnating sales in its core U.S. and Western European markets, China is still a bright spot for Lego though copycats remain a problem despite an announced government clamp-down, the head of the toymaker said in an interview. Lego plans to have around 140 shops in 30 different Chinese cities at the end of the year, up from 60 shops at present, most operated by local partners. “I’m not really seeing any stagnation (in the Chinese toy market) at this time,” Chief Executive Niels B. Christiansen told Reuters at a toy fair in Nuremberg. China reported its slowest economic growth in 28 years in 2018, and a trade war with the United States and rising amounts of personal debt have added to concerns about a slowdown in the world’s second biggest economy. China, whose toy and games market is worth $31 billion, accounts for less than 10 percent of Lego’s overall sales. But the importance of the market is growing after Lego opened a factory south of Shanghai in late 2016 and as Chinese parents shift away from a disciplined focus on learning towards free play. “Ninety-five percent of Chinese parents want their kids to play more, and they are interested in giving them high quality toys,” he said. Lego, an abbreviation of the Danish “leg godt” meaning “play well,” plans to open its third flagship store in Beijing in March and continue its partnership with Chinese internet giant Tencent. It did not give any financial details on the planned 80 new shops. The privately-owned toymaker has with some success increased its efforts to fight breaches of copyrights in China, but copycats remain a big problem despite an announced government clamp-down, Christiansen said. “It’s clear that China’s ambition is to do something about this problem, but we haven’t really seen the implication of it yet,” Christiansen said. Lego has won two court cases over copyrights in China. “One of the biggest hurdles is that court cases take a long, long time. We would like that when we win a court case, the enforcement would be better and stronger,” he said.


Systematic cover-up? Labor ministry says officials knew of improper wage surveys for over a decade

Abstract: The labor ministry said Friday its officials have been aware of an improper method used for wage surveys for more than a decade, raising the possibility of a systematic cover-up. The fresh revelation could deal a blow to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s administration, which is already under fire for another data scandal involving the ministry. The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry admitted that regional branch officials were supposed to visit companies in person for the wage structure survey but that in most cases, they sent questionnaires by mail. Earlier in the day, labor minister Takumi Nemoto dismissed a senior official in charge of the survey for not reporting the discovery of the practice — dating back to 2006 — to the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry, which oversees statistics at all governmental ministries and agencies. The announcement casts doubt on the accuracy of government statistics as a whole, prompting the internal affairs ministry to order other governmental organizations to launch full-scale investigations. Abe said Friday the government is considering revising data on workers’ wages in response to growing criticism of the labor ministry’s faulty statistics. The revision, according to sources close to the matter, will lead the government to acknowledge that, from a year earlier, real wages dropped on average around 0.5 percent for the 11 months through November, dealing a serious blow to Abe, who has touted salary increases as a major benefit of his Abenomics economic policy mix. The ministry has only released recalculated figures on nominal wage changes, suggesting salaries continued growing during the 11-month period. But now it is also set to present figures on real, or inflation-adjusted, wages to the Diet next week, the sources said. The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry “is examining whether it is possible to calculate” real wage data to reflect actual conditions, Abe told an Upper House plenary session. Opposition parties are stepping up their offensive against the Abe administration, claiming the ministry released faulty data to make Abenomics appear more successful. Specifically, the opposition is demanding the resignation of Nemoto for his oversight over the fiasco. But Abe has so far refused the opposition’s request to dismiss him. “I want Minister Nemoto to continue to take a leading role in swiftly repaying the missing benefits, thoroughly investigating the case and preventing a recurrence,” Abe told a plenary session of the Lower House on Wednesday. He made the comment in response to questions from Yukio Edano, who heads the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, which along with other opposition parties is stepping up pressure on the Abe administration in the run-up to this summer’s Upper House elections. During Wednesday’s session, Nemoto explained he first learned of the matter on Dec. 20 but said it was difficult to know at that stage whether it would have an impact on the draft budget. Abe has maintained that workers’ incomes are actually on an upward trend, citing surveys conducted by the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, the nation’s largest labor organization, which is also known as Rengo. The ministry admitted last month it had published faulty jobs data for more than a decade and failed to properly pay work-related benefits. As a result, it emerged the government failed to pay a total of more than ¥56 billion ($512 million) to more than 20 million people. In the monthly labor survey, the ministry is required to gather results from all businesses in the country with 500 or more employees. But in Tokyo it had only surveyed a third of the roughly 1,400 such businesses since 2004. In January 2018, the ministry quietly began tweaking the survey results to make it appear that it had collected the necessary data, leading to a sudden rise in wage figures. In addition to the tweaks, the ministry replaced some of the workplaces covered in the survey from that month. As a result, it became impossible to compare figures released before December 2017 with those made public afterward. Last week, a third-party investigative committee concluded that there was no definitive evidence that the incident was caused by a systematic cover-up.

shinzo abe
ldp
diet
scandals
takumi nemoto
mhlw


U.S. envoy to EU: Customers should avoid Huawei due to security breaches, most of it classified

Abstract: BRUSSELS - The United States wants to steer people away from Huawei toward Western products, the U.S. envoy to the European Union said on Thursday, adding that there exists a great deal of classified evidence of security breaches by the Chinese telecoms gear provider. “The U.S. is very supportive of the discouraging the purchase of any Chinese digital products that involve potential national security implications and steering people away from Huawei into Western products is our desired outcome,” Gordon Sondland told Reuters before an event in Brussels. Asked about security issue with Huawei’s products, he said: “There is a lot of evidence, most of it classified.” Reuters on Jan. 30 reported that the European Union is considering proposals that would effectively amount to a de-facto ban on Huawei Technologies Co. equipment for next-generation mobile networks on security grounds.


Mos Burger announces switch to paper cutlery across Japan in bid to curb plastic waste

Abstract: Major hamburger chain operator Mos Food Services Inc. has said it will switch from plastic to paper cutlery for takeout food at its corporate-owned outlets as it joins growing efforts to tackle the issue of plastic waste littering the oceans. The firm will implement the initiative on a trial basis in February at five restaurants in Tokyo and nearby prefectures, and aims to introduce the initiative at all of the roughly 250 outlets it directly operates nationwide by 2020, according to the Thursday announcement. The Mos Burger operator will also consider shifting some 1,100 franchised outlets to paper cutlery. Mos Burger offers stainless steel cutlery to customers who dine-in. Among other domestic companies that have made similar moves, Skylark Holdings Co. has stopped the use of plastic straws at all of its roughly 1,360 Gusto restaurants.

restaurants
fast food
recycling
mos burger
mos food services


As Japan moves manufacturing into Thailand, kingdom becomes top importer of Japanese steel

Abstract: Thailand emerged as the top importer of Japanese steel products for the first time in 2018, as major Japanese makers of cars, home appliances and machinery have moved into Southeast Asia’s biggest production hub. Japan shipped 5.9 million tons of steel products to Thailand last year, up 5.2 percent from a year ago and surpassing South Korea and China, which had been Japan’s two largest steel consumers for the last two decades. South Korea imported 5.4 million tons, down 9.5 percent, and China imported 5.6 million tons, a 1 percent dip, the Japan Iron and Steel Federation said Thursday. Steel is Japan’s fourth-largest export item after automobiles, semiconductors and auto parts. Japan, the world’s second-largest exporter after China, shipped 36.5 million tons abroad last year. South Korea had been the top importer of Japanese steel products partly because of its position as the world’s leading shipbuilder. Generally, the construction sector accounts for a large portion of steel consumption in many countries. But Thailand has a distinctive steel consumption structure compared to other Southeast Asian nations, with automobiles, consumer electronics and machinery accounting for 19 percent, 8.7 percent and 6.6 percent of all steel consumption, respectively, according to data of the South East Asia Iron and Steel Institute. “In the wake of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, Japanese automakers relocated their production lines to Thailand as a market and a manufacturing and export hub for pickup trucks and later for small eco-friendly cars,” Kazushi Shimizu, an economics professor at Kyushu University, wrote in an email. Thailand, Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy after Indonesia, boasts about half of the regional vehicle output of around 4.4 million units, according to 2018 statistics. The Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement, which took effect in 2007, has also boosted steel shipments to Thailand by eliminating tariffs on such products in 2018, said Shimizu, a Southeast Asian economy expert. Major Japanese steel-makers such as Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. and JFE Steel Corp. only have blast furnaces in their home markets due to massive investment sizes, political and economic risks abroad and other reasons. But Japan’s two largest steel mills and Japanese trading houses have established a number of downstream processing bases in Southeast Asia, mainly in Thailand. Japanese steel-makers have shipped crude steel to these countries and processed it there to meet demand for high-quality products from Japanese manufacturing affiliates operating in the region. Southeast Asia’s robust demand has supported Japanese steel exports as its shipments to the region account for 35 percent of the world total, the Japan Iron and Steel Federation says. But the World Steel Association forecast in its short-term outlook last October that growth of global steel demand will slow to 1.4 percent this year, down from a 2018 estimate of 3.9 percent. “Japanese steel-makers are likely to face weak external demand amid tepid growth in global steel consumption in the long run,” said Masashi Kaneko, head of the international trade and overseas market research group at the Japanese federation. Despite Thailand’s strong appetite at present, “Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia and Vietnam are gearing up to boost domestic steel output for domestic use.”

southeast asia
thailand
manufacturers
steel makers


After progress reported in China-U.S. trade talks, Donald Trump plans meeting with Xi Jinping to reach 'biggest deal ever made'

Abstract: WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday he will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping soon to try to seal a comprehensive trade deal, with Trump and his top trade negotiator both citing substantial progress in two days of high-level talks. Trump, speaking at the White House during a meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, said he is optimistic that the world’s two largest economies can reach “the biggest deal ever made.” The Chinese trade delegation said in a statement that the two days of high-level talks made “important progress,” China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported. No specific plans for a meeting with Xi were announced, but Trump said there could be more than one meeting. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin were invited to bring a U.S. negotiating team to Beijing around mid-February, with dates still pending. At the end of the talks next door to the White House, Liu told Trump that China will make a new, immediate commitment to increase soybean purchases. An administration official later clarified the amount as a total of 5 million tons, effectively doubling the amount bought by China since resuming limited purchases in December. U.S. soybean sales to China, which totaled 31.7 million tons in 2017, were largely cut off in the second half of last year by China’s retaliatory tariffs, and the announcement drew a positive reaction from Trump, who said it will “make our farmers very happy.” The Chinese delegation’s statement said China will expand imports of U.S. agricultural, energy, service and industrial products, according to Xinhua. While China has offered increased purchases of U.S. farm, energy and other goods to try to resolve the trade disputes, negotiators dug into thornier issues, including U.S. demands that China take steps to protect American intellectual property and end policies that Washington says force U.S. companies to turn over technology to Chinese firms. Lighthizer said there was “substantial progress” on these issues, including verification mechanisms to “enforce” China’s follow-through on any reform commitments it makes. “At this point, it’s impossible for me to predict success. But we’re in a place that if things work out, it could happen,” Lighthizer said at the Oval Office meeting. Later, he told reporters that the U.S. objective was to make China’s commitments “more specific, all-encompassing and enforceable” with a mechanism for taking action if China fails to follow through, but declined to provide specific issues. It was previously reported that such an enforcement mechanism would involve a snap-back of U.S. tariffs. Asked whether the two sides discussed lifting U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods, Lighthizer said tariffs were not part of the talks. A person familiar with the discussions said a broad range of concerns about access to Chinese agricultural markets were raised in the talks but little progress was made. The White House said in a statement that a scheduled March 2 tariff increase on $200 billion of Chinese goods to 25 percent from 10 percent was a “hard deadline” if no deal has been reached by March 1. Trump said he does not think he will need to extend the deadline. “I think when President Xi and I meet, every point will be agreed to,” Trump added. But Trump has vetoed multiple proposed trade deals with China, choosing to push ahead with tariffs on Chinese goods to gain leverage. Earlier, Trump said on Twitter he is looking for China to open its markets “not only to Financial Services, which they are now doing, but also to our Manufacturing, Farmers and other U.S. businesses and industries. Without this a deal would be unacceptable!” The U.S. complaints on technology transfers and intellectual property protections, along with accusations of Chinese cybertheft of American trade secrets and a systematic campaign to acquire U.S. technology firms, were used by Trump’s administration to justify punitive tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese imports. China has retaliated with tariffs of its own, but has suspended some and is allowing some purchases of U.S. soybeans during the talks. Chinese officials have said their policies do not coerce technology transfers. The Chinese delegation said China will actively respond to U.S. concerns on intellectual property and creating a fair market environment, Xinhua reported. The U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods are just one front in Trump’s efforts to upend the global trading order with his “America First” strategy. He has also imposed global tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, washing machines and solar panels, and has threatened to raise tariffs on imported cars unless Japan and the European Union offer trade concessions.

china
u.s .
trade
xi jinping
tariffs
donald trump
robert lighthizer


Despite shipping 9.4 million consoles in quarter, Nintendo struggling to expand Switch's appeal

Abstract: Nintendo Co. cut its outlook for annual Switch shipments, the strongest sign yet that the hybrid console is struggling to attract a wider swath of users and become a worthy successor to the Wii. Shares of Nintendo fell as much as 6.9 percent after it forecast 17 million Switch shipments for the fiscal year through March, compared with its prior outlook for 20 million units and analysts’ average prediction for 18 million. The revision comes even as the Kyoto-based company reported better-than-projected profit during the December holiday shopping quarter. The big question is whether Nintendo will have to cut the Switch’s ¥29,980 (about $300) price tag to get more people to buy the device, which can be used at home or on the go. Like the PlayStation and Xbox consoles, more hardware users fuels greater demand for software, creating a virtuous cycle of demand. But so far, President Shuntaro Furukawa hasn’t succeeded in expanding the Switch beyond a base of loyal customers. “It was worse than even I expected,” said Amir Anvarzadeh, analyst at Asymmetric Advisors Pte., who has been recommending selling Nintendo shares since May. “Nintendo has no option but to drastically cut its Switch price tag and hope for the best.” Nintendo may already be thinking of new ways to attract Switch buyers. The Nikkei newspaper reported Friday that the company is planning to introduce a compact model by March 2020. A representative for Nintendo declined to comment. Nintendo’s stock, which fell 29 percent in 2018, had been climbing on optimism that the company will be able to stage a recovery. The shares were down 5.9 percent mid-morning in Tokyo on Friday. Although Nintendo delivered profits and kept its earnings outlook for the fiscal year intact, Furukawa said more work was needed to keep sales momentum going for the Switch. Nintendo shipped 9.4 million of the consoles in the latest quarter, just above what analysts had been predicting. “Given the negative revision on the Switch guidance, I do believe the stock will re-test ¥30,000 and then ¥27,000,” said Cornelio Ash, an analyst at William O’Neil & Co. in Los Angeles. “A break below the December lows suggests investors will continue to step away from the Switch story and the stock will remain in a downtrend for a prolonged period of time.” “We didn’t put in enough effort to communicate the appeal of Switch hardware and software,” Furukawa said in a briefing after the results. Operating profit was ¥158.6 billion ($1.5 billion) in the latest quarter. Analysts were projecting ¥147 billion on average, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Revenue rose 26 percent to ¥608 billion. The game-maker kept its operating profit outlook of ¥225 billion for the current fiscal year. That compares with analysts’ prediction for ¥267 billion. “Nintendo needs to expand the audience reach of the Switch,” David Cole, founder and chief executive officer of DFC Intelligence, said in an interview this month. “That is really a marketing challenging.” Back in May, analysts predicted Nintendo would sell 21 million Switch units this year, but the average projection steadily decreased to 18 million. Nintendo shipped 53 million software units during the quarter, double from a year ago. The company raised its guidance to 110 million games this fiscal year, up from 100 million. The biggest hits were “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate,” which has shipped 12 million units since its release on Dec. 7. “Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee,” released Nov. 16, saw 10 million units. Nintendo pushed back the release of “Mario Kart Tour” to summer in Japan from March, an unexpected delay. The smartphone game has the potential to become the company’s highest-earning mobile title, according to Newzoo analyst Jelle Kooistra. “The franchise has more mainstream appeal than any other Nintendo title, and its fast-paced gameplay is a great fit for mobile,” he wrote in a report this month. Smartphone revenue during the quarter grew 31 percent to ¥14.6 billion, driven by a new title, “Dragalia Lost,” which was released in September. Even so, the game’s co-developer, CyberAgent Inc., on Wednesday slashed its earnings outlook and froze hiring, saying results were below expectations. The title generated ¥3 billion in revenue in its first month, but has since struggled to monetize users, executives said. While the mobile games business remains challenging, Nintendo will keep seeking partners, Furukawa said at a briefing Friday. The company’s 8-year-old 3DS business continued to struggle, with revenue shrinking to ¥27 billion in the latest quarter, down 71 percent from a year ago. It was the first holiday season for the handheld system without a new Pokemon game, which was instead released on the Switch. Nintendo cut its forecast for 3DS shipments to 2.6 million units, and software to 13 million, for the current fiscal year. Nintendo’s operating margin improved to 26 percent from 24 percent, aided by higher sales through its more-profitable online shop, with digital revenue almost doubling from a year ago to ¥84.2 billion. That was also boosted by the launch of its new online service in late September, which requires users pay about $20 a year for access to multiplayer features.


Nintendo plans its first-ever Japan store in Tokyo to showcase its characters and Switch

Abstract: Nintendo Co. is opening its second major official store, this time on its home turf, seeking to broaden the appeal of its gaming hardware and software. Called Nintendo Tokyo, the shop will open this fall in the Shibuya district. In addition to selling the Switch console, games and other products, it will be a space “to host events and offer opportunities to play games,” the Kyoto-based company said in a statement Friday. Nintendo’s first retail store opened as a Pokemon shop in 2005 at New York’s Rockefeller Center, and has since been rebranded. Nintendo is also planning to open attractions at Universal theme parks in Osaka, Orlando and Hollywood. Additionally, the company is looking to participate in more esports tournaments, where gamers get together and compete in stadiums. More Nintendo stores could help boost the appeal of the Switch, which is struggling to attract a wider swath of users. On Thursday, Nintendo cut its shipments forecast for the console, which can be used at home or on the go. Apple Inc.’s stores are well-known for their design and profitability, and Sony Corp. and Microsoft Corp. have also had a retail presence for years to showcase their products and sell hardware. The Nintendo store in Japan will have its own floor in a new department store that’s being rebuilt in a prime location in Shibuya, an area of Tokyo bustling with teens, commuters and retailers.

tokyo
shibuya
nintendo
video games
switch


Nikkei ends slightly higher amid mixed earnings reports

Abstract: The benchmark Nikkei average closed marginally higher on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Friday, as investors weighed mixed results from a slew of major Japanese companies amid the earnings reporting season. The 225-issue Nikkei average gained 14.90 points, or 0.07 percent, to end at 20,788.39, after rising 216.95 points on Thursday. But the Topix index of all first-section issues closed down 2.86 points, or 0.18 percent, at 1,564.63. It gained 16.73 points the previous day. Buying outpaced selling in early trading on the back of expectations for easing of trade tensions between the United States and China, briefly pushing up the Nikkei average more than 150 points, brokers said. Both indexes lost upward momentum later, however, as selling to lock in profits gained strength. Throughout the session, the market saw crosscurrents of buying and selling in response to good and bad earnings reports from major firms, brokers said. “Foreign investors appeared to step in to buy and sell in response to earnings releases,” an official of a Japanese brokerage firm said, noting a pickup in trading volume. Volume increased to 1.42 billion shares from 1.36 billion shares on Thursday. The U.S.-China ministerial-level trade talks ended in Washington on Thursday. “While progress has been made, much work remains to be done,” the White House said in a statement. Optimism about U.S.-China trade continued in the market as the two sides avoided any negative escalation in their trade war, brokers said. Mitsuo Shimizu, chief strategist at Aizawa Securities Co., said some investors retreated to the sidelines ahead of the weekend and the release of the U.S. government’s jobs data for January later on Friday. Falling issues outnumbered rising ones 1,268 to 793 in the TSE’s first section, while 66 issues were unchanged. Murata Manufacturing jumped 8.46 percent after the electronic parts maker on Thursday announced double-digit increases in sales and operating profit for April-December. Kose gained 3.06 percent a day after the cosmetics maker announced brisk earnings. Other major winners included messaging app provider Line and clothing retailer Fast Retailing. By contrast, Nintendo plunged 9.19 percent after the game maker revised down on Thursday its global sales target for the Nintendo Switch console for fiscal 2018 from 20 million units to 17 million. Zozo tumbled 4.70 percent a day after the operator of online fashion marketplace Zozotown lowered profit forecasts for the year to March 2019. In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the key March contract on the Nikkei average slumped 30 points to end at 20,720.

stocks
nikkei
tokyo stock exchange
topix


Dollar firmer above ¥108.90 in late Tokyo trading

Abstract: The dollar was firmer around ¥108.90 in Tokyo trading late Friday, after moving in a tight range amid a wait-and-see mood ahead of the weekend. At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥108.93-94, up from ¥108.72-72 at the same time on Thursday. The euro was at $1.1446-1447, down from $1.1497-1497, and at ¥124.69-69, down from ¥125.03-03. After trading around ¥108.80-90 in early trading, the dollar rose above ¥108.90 as the benchmark 225-issue Nikkei stock average moved on a firm note. The greenback dropped below ¥108.80 in midmorning trading, pressured by a drop in the Nikkei and weak readings of the Chinese manufacturing industry purchasing managers’ index for January, traders said. The dollar resurfaced above ¥108.90 around noon on the back of strong stock performances in other parts of Asia. The U.S. currency moved mostly around ¥108.80-90 in the afternoon, as selling on rallies weighed on the dollar’s upside. It briefly rose to near ¥109 thanks to late purchases. “Dollar-selling orders were lined up around the ¥109 level,” a currency broker said. “The dollar’s topside was very heavy versus the yen after the dollar failed to remain above ¥109 the previous day,” the broker said. Some investors refrained from active trading ahead of the release of the U.S. government’s jobs data for January later on Friday, an official of a Japanese bank said. U.S.-China ministerial-level trade talks ended in Washington on Thursday. While no specific progress was made in the talks, hopes for an early settlement supported the dollar’s downside, a bank official said.


Sony raises fiscal 2018 net profit outlook on solid game and music businesses

Abstract: Sony Corp. on Friday raised its group net profit outlook for the current business year to ¥835 billion ($7.67 billion) from a previous estimate of ¥705 billion, due to its solid game and music businesses. But the electronics and entertainment giant cut its sales projection to ¥8.5 trillion from a previous estimate of ¥8.7 trillion, citing expected weakness in its chip business, including the sales of image censors, as well as in the financial sector. The company said the upgrading of net profit is owing to a reversal of deferred tax assets, which led to a lower corporate tax burden. It maintained its operating profit forecast at ¥870 billion. In the nine months through December, Sony said its group net profit rose 63.2 percent from the same period a year earlier to ¥828.41 billion. Its consolidated operating profit in the April-December period increased 13.9 percent to ¥811.51 billion. Sales were down 0.8 percent at ¥6.54 trillion. “Sony remains on recovery track,” Hideki Yasuda, an analyst at Ace Research Institute in Tokyo, said ahead of the announcement. “Its game sector has continued spearheading its recovery although sales of PS4 consoles are gradually slowing down.” Sony’s movie segment also drove home more profits, said Yasuo Imanaka, an analyst at Rakuten Securities. “Its recent box-office movies are now generating profit through sales of DVD and Blu-ray discs as well as profits from their television license fees,” he said ahead of the announcement. In the three months to December, including the all-important holiday shopping season, Sony said it continued to enjoy robust game software sales, although sales of PlayStation 4 consoles slowed down. EMI Music Publishing, now a Sony subsidiary, also contributed to profits, while the movie “Venom” added to the group’s sales.


Hitachi sees net profit fall due to halting of U.K. nuclear project

Abstract: Hitachi Ltd. on Friday reported a 68 percent decline in group net profit in the April-December period from a year earlier, with the firm primarily attributing the fall to its subsidiary’s suspension of a nuclear power plant project in the United Kingdom. The Japanese electronics giant said net profit sagged to ¥82.6 billion for the nine months, down from ¥258.58 billion for the same period the previous year, due to a special loss attributed to the project. The firm also slashed its net profit projection for the full year through March by 50 percent compared with the previous fiscal year, to ¥180 billion. The disappointing results reflect the Jan. 17 announcement that Horizon Nuclear Power Ltd., a Hitachi subsidiary, and the U.K. government reached an impasse over funding for the ¥3 trillion project. Hitachi Chairman Hiroaki Nakanishi was previously quoted as saying that “nationalization is the only path” toward resuming the suspended project in Wales. As for its business in China, Hitachi Chief Financial Officer Mitsuaki Nishiyama mentioned a “mixed” performance. While the company saw an increase in demand for elevators, its automotive sales were down, he said. He added that even though trade frictions between China and the United States had a limited impact on the company’s business, he is worried about wider effects on the nation’s economy. “This matter is something we need to monitor closely,” he said at a news conference. Despite the financial setback, the company did announce some bright spots. During the nine-month period, the firm’s revenue went up by 1.6 percent to ¥6.78 trillion, and operating profit rose 12.6 percent to ¥534.54 billion. Nishiyama cited increases in construction machinery orders in the Asia-Pacific region and North America, as well as strong sales of railway systems in Europe, as factors contributing to the revenue increase. Referring to Brexit, Nishiyama said that while uncertainties remain, the company has still seen strong demand for railway systems in the country . Hitachi announced in December that it had reached a deal with a Swiss engineering group ABB Ltd. to purchase a majority stake in its power grid division, its biggest-ever acquisition.


Nissan board to meet next week on post-Ghosn leadership

Abstract: Nissan Motor Co. plans to hold an extraordinary board meeting as early as next week to discuss its top management after its alliance partner Renault SA appointed new leadership to replace Carlos Ghosn, sources said Friday. Renault’s newly elected chairman, Jean-Dominique Senard, is set to be chosen as a nominee for the Japanese carmaker’s new board, for final approval by shareholders at an irregular meeting slated for mid-April. Ghosn and his close aide Greg Kelly, who were arrested over alleged financial misconduct at Nissan, are expected to be officially removed as board members at the shareholders meeting. They have been stripped of their roles as chairman and representative director, respectively. Nissan and Renault, while committed to maintaining the alliance, are at odds over who will have controlling influence over one of the world’s largest auto manufacturing groups, created and led by Ghosn over the past two decades. The positions of Nissan chairman and the head of an Amsterdam-based company overseeing the alliance have remained vacant since the arrest of Ghosn on Nov. 19. Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa has said he wants to review the capital structure of the alliance and make it more equal. Currently, Renault has a 43.4 percent stake in Nissan, which in turn has 15 percent in the French peer without voting rights while contributing to about half of its net profit. The French government, Renault’s biggest shareholder, has recently requested a merger of the two companies, sources close to the matter said earlier, in a sign it wants to wield influence over the alliance. On Thursday, Saikawa and Senard met for the first time in Amsterdam since the French automaker’s launch of its new leadership. They held off on discussing a possible change to the capital tie-up but agreed to hold talks regularly, also involving Osamu Masuko, CEO and chairman of Mitsubishi Motors Corp., the third partner in the alliance. Their meeting in the Dutch city coincided with a regular two-day meeting running through Friday between members of the alliance. Renault named Senard, who has headed French tire maker Michelin since 2012, as chairman and promoted deputy CEO Thierry Bollore to chief executive last week, replacing Ghosn, who remains in detention in Tokyo. Mitsubishi Motors has also removed him as chairman.

nissan
carmakers
renault
carlos ghosn
hiroto saikawa