Docomo experiment to take bite out of food waste woes

Abstract: NTT Docomo Inc., the nation’s largest mobile carrier, will be the latest organization to take a bite out of food loss and waste, a global issue that amounts to hundreds of billions of dollars annually. In an experiment starting Friday, users of Docomo’s point-based membership program visiting a supermarket in Tokyo’s Chuo Ward will be able to earn back around 20 percent of the purchase price of products with short expiration dates in the form of loyalty points. That’s 20 times the amount of “d-points” a customer can commonly accumulate through purchases. One such point is worth ¥1. The points can be used at the roughly 30,000 stores nationwide that participate in the program. The carrier has over 63 million d-point users. Hirofumi Yoshitani, a Docomo sales representative, said users will need to upload images of receipts and product expiration dates on EcoBuy, a smartphone app the company created, to receive the bonus points. For the test, slated to last until Feb. 28, 30 products sold in the Mini Piago Irifune 1-chome supermarket, including everyday staples like bread, milk and eggs, have been chosen. Users of e-commerce giant Rakuten Inc.’s Edy e-money service can also receive points. “We will consider expanding the service to more stores after analyzing consumer behavior,” Yoshitani told The Japan Times on Tuesday. Docomo’s move is part of an ongoing effort by Japan Inc. to reduce the immense quantity of food discarded by food companies and retailers each year. The farm ministry estimates that 6.21 million tons of edible food was thrown out in 2014, of which slightly less than half came from households. That figure is almost twice the 3.2 million tons of food distributed by the World Food Program in 2015 to those unable to get enough to eat. Food loss is a global phenomenon. The United Nations says 1.3 billion tons, or roughly one-third of the food produced in the world for human consumption, gets lost or wasted each year. That amounts to approximately $680 billion in industrialized countries and $310 billion in developing countries, it says. In Japan, much of the blame is placed on a commercial practice known as the one-third rule, in which manufacturers customarily deliver goods to retailers before the first one-third term of the expiration date is up. Those that miss that deadline are generally discarded. The stores then typically sell products during the second one-third term. In the last term, goods are often sold with discounts or discarded. Other developed countries have more lenient rules, according to the government. Norihisa Saito, an official at the farm ministry’s food recycle section, said the government has organized food industry working groups to address the issue and has backed programs that, for example, extended the delivery deadline of beverages and snacks from one-third to half of the period before expiration dates. Retail giant Aeon Co. last year announced a goal to cut food waste in half by 2025. As part of its effort, it said that starting in April it plans to change how it displays the best-before date on processed food items from year, month and date, to just year and month. The move is expected to improve efficiency in managing inventory. The change will apply to three products sold under Aeon’s Topvalu brand with expiration dates exceeding a year or more after production, and will gradually extend to other products, it said. The current situation has also spawned new kinds of businesses. Tatsuya Sekito, founder and chief executive officer of Glaucks Co., launched a website called Kuradashi.jp in 2015 that sells products with short expiration dates for hefty discounts. By donating a percentage of the sales to various charities, the site appeals to companies’ corporate social responsibility efforts while offering consumers very low prices Sekito said the website regularly features around 150 items and boasts a membership of approximately 43,500, while 420 companies are currently taking part. On Tuesday, two boxes of snacks from a Kyoto-based maker with a best-before date of Feb. 11 was on sale for ¥2,800, down from ¥6,000, or a 54 percent discount. Of the proceeds, ¥80 will be sent to a charitable organization. Sekito said food waste is one of the issues the organizers are trying to tackle during the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, and manufacturers are trying be perceived as dealing with the phenomenon. “Companies are worried about reputational risks, especially in this age of social media when one incident can rapidly evolve into a crisis,” he said. “Our platform allows companies to avoid discarding products while making a social contribution,” he added.


Japan's largest business lobby seeks 3% pay hike in response to 'social demands'

Abstract: Keidanren, Japan’s most powerful business lobby, has renewed its call on member companies to implement a 3 percent pay hike ahead of annual labor-management wage talks, saying the increase is needed in response to “social demands.” Following Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s repeated calls for pay hikes to spur consumption and beat deflation, Keidanren, also known as the Japan Business Federation, has sought wage increases either through pay-scale hikes or by boosting bonuses and allowances. Keidanren made the call in an annual report Tuesday which will serve as a guideline for businesses in the 2018 spring wage negotiations for the fiscal year starting in April. “We will contribute to (Japan’s) full exit from deflation and further expansion of a virtuous cycle in the country’s economy by making additional efforts to improve labor conditions,” the report said. The Abe administration has requested pay increases for the fifth straight year in a bid to stimulate private consumption, a key driver of the Japanese economy.


Bangladesh and Myanmar agree to finish Rohingya return in two years but forced repatriations worry U.N.

Abstract: DHAKA/YANGON - Bangladesh and Myanmar agreed on Tuesday to complete within two years the return of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who fled an army crackdown last year in Myanmar. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR), responding to the plan, said they were concerned about forcibly repatriating over 650,000 Rohingya who fled to neighboring Bangladesh after a conflict erupted in western Rakhine state in August. Statements from the Myanmar and Bangladesh foreign ministries said Bangladesh would set up five transit camps on its side of the border. Those camps would send Rohingya to two reception centers in Myanmar. The repatriation process would start next Tuesday, the statements said. Myanmar said it would build a transit camp that can house 30,000 returnees. The Bangladesh statement said “Myanmar has reiterated its commitment to stop (the) outflow of Myanmar residents to Bangladesh. Guterres said the UNHCR had not been involved directly in the agreement and that “it will be very important to have UNHCR fully involved in the operation to guarantee that the operations abide by international standards.” “A huge effort of reconciliation is needed to allow it to take place properly,” Guterres told reporters. “The worst would be to move these people from camps in Bangladesh to camps in Myanmar, keeping an artificial situation for a long time and not allowing for them to regain their normal lives.” Myanmar stressed the need for both sides to take preventive measures against possible Rohingya attacks and said it gave Dhaka a list with the names of 1,000 alleged militants. The crisis erupted after Rohingya insurgent attacks on security posts on Aug. 25 in Rakhine triggered a fierce military response that the United Nations denounced as ethnic cleansing. Some 650,000 people fled the violence. The military denies ethnic cleansing, saying its security forces mounted legitimate counterinsurgency clearance operations. The Bangladesh statement called for repatriating orphans and “children born out of unwarranted incidence,” a reference to cases of rape resulting in pregnancy, said a Bangladesh foreign ministry official who declined to be identified. The rape of Rohingya women by Myanmar’s security forces was widespread, according to interviews with women conducted at displacement camps by U.N. medics and activists. The military denies it was involved in any sexual assaults. A UNHCR spokesman said on Tuesday the Rohingya should return voluntarily only when they feel it is safe to do so. “Major challenges have to be overcome,” UNHCR spokesman Andrej Mahecic told a news briefing in Geneva. “These include ensuring they are told about the situation in their areas of origin … and are consulted on their wishes, that their safety is ensured.” Myanmar government spokesman Zaw Htay told Reuters last week the returnees could apply for citizenship “after they pass the verification process Myint Kyaing, permanent secretary at Myanmar’s Ministry of Labour, Immigration and Population, told Reuters this month Myanmar would begin processing at least 150 people a day through each of the two camps by Jan. 23. The meeting that concluded on Tuesday in Myanmar’s capital, Naypyitaw, was the first for a joint working group set up to hammer out the details of a November repatriation agreement. Left out of the talks were the fears and concerns of the refugees themselves, “as if they are an inert mass of people who will go where and when they are told,” Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, told Reuters in an email. “Where are considerations for protection of the Rohingya from Myanmar security forces who months ago were raping and killing them? How come the discussions ignore the deprivation of rights of people held in indefinite detention, which is what these “temporary” accommodations may become?” Robertson asked. A group of refugees at the Kutupalong Rohingya camp near Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh expressed doubt about the camps Myanmar has agreed to establish on its side of the border. Mohammad Farouk, 20, who arrived in Bangladesh following the Aug. 25 attacks, said exchanging one camp for another made little difference — except “the camps in Myanmar will be far worse, because we will be confined there and there will be a risk to our lives.” Another resident of the Kutupalong camp compared the new transit camps to ones set up near the Rakhine state capital of Sittwe following bouts of violence in previous years “where people are living like prisoners. “First, ask the military to give those Rohingya their homes and property back, then talk to us about returning,” said the Rohingya refugee who did not want to be identified. Some said the kind of violence they witnessed toward their community in Myanmar made it hard for them to trust the military. “Even if I don’t get food or anything else here, at least there is safety. I won’t feel safe if I go back to Myanmar,” said Rashid Ahmed, 33. Noor Alam, 37, who came to Kutupalong five months ago, wondered if he could ever get a job in Myanmar. “They don’t even call us Rohingya. Until they consider us citizens we won’t go back.” Some young men in the camp worried they might be arrested on accusations of terrorism if they returned to Myanmar. Camp conditions in Bangladesh are dire enough, but more than 520,000 Rohingya children are at even greater risk ahead of the cyclone season that generally begins in April, the United Nations Children’s Fund said on Tuesday. “Hundreds of thousands of children are already living in horrific conditions, and they will face an even greater risk of disease, flooding, landslides and further displacement,” said Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF representative in Bangladesh. Nearly 1 million Rohingya live in Bangladesh, including those who came after previous displacements dating back to the 1990s.

myanmar
refugees
bangladesh
genocide
rohingya
unhcr
ethnic cleansing


Junichiro Koizumi-led group pitches bill calling for 'immediate halt' to Japan's reliance on nuclear power

Abstract: A group advised by former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Wednesday unveiled details about a bill calling for an “immediate halt” to Japan’s reliance on nuclear power to prevent a recurrence of the 2011 Fukushima disaster. The group is seeking to submit the bill to an upcoming Diet session in cooperation with opposition parties. Sporting his signature leonine hairdo, Koizumi, one of Japan’s most popular prime ministers in recent memory, made a rare appearance before reporters with his unabated frankness, lashing out at Prime Minister Shinzo Abe over his persistent pro-nuclear stance. “You may think the goal of zero nuclear power is hard to achieve, but it’s not,” Koizumi said, adding that he believes many lawmakers of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party support nuclear power passively out of respect for Abe, but that they could be persuaded to embrace a zero-nuclear policy under a different leader. “Judging from his past remarks, I don’t think we can realize zero nuclear power as long as Abe remains in power. But I do think we can make it happen if he is replaced by a prime minister willing to listen to the public,” Koizumi told a packed news conference organized by Genjiren, an anti-nuclear association for which he serves as an adviser along with Morihiro Hosokawa, another former prime minister. Claiming that the March 2011 triple meltdown at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant exposed the “extremely dangerous” and “costly” nature of atomic power — with a means of disposing of spent fuel still not in sight — the bill drafted by Genjiren calls for Japan’s “complete switch” to renewable energy. Specifically, it demands that all active nuclear reactors be switched offline immediately and that those currently idle never be reactivated. It also defines the government’s responsibility to initiate steps toward a mass decommissioning and to map out “foolproof and safe” plans to dispose of spent fuel rods. The bill sets forth specific numerical targets, too, saying various sources of natural energy, including solar, wind, water and geothermal heat, should occupy more than 50 percent of the nation’s total power supply by 2030 and 100 percent by 2050. That Japan has experienced no mass power shortage following the shutdown of all 48 reactors in the wake of the 2011 crisis, except for a handful since reactivated, is in itself a testament to the fact that “we can get by without nuclear power,” Koizumi said. A 2017 white paper by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry shows Japan’s reliance on nuclear power has plunged to a mere 1 percent after the Fukushima meltdowns. The vast majority of Japan’s power is supplied by sources such as liquefied natural gas, coal and oil. Although the controversy over nuclear power has rarely emerged as a priority in recent parliamentary debates, the creation of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan may herald a breakthrough. Later Wednesday, Genjiren pitched the bill to the CDP in a meeting with some of its members, including former Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who was in power when the Fukushima crisis erupted. The CDP seeks to submit its own “zero nuclear power” bill to a regular Diet session slated to kick off later this month, positioning itself as a clearer anti-nuclear alternative to Abe’s ruling party than its predecessor, the Democratic Party. The DP, which until recently held the most seats among opposition parties in both houses of the Diet, had failed to go all-out in crusading against nuclear power under the previous leadership of Renho, who goes by only one name. At a party convention last March, Renho balked at adopting an ambitious target of slashing Japan’s reliance on nuclear power to zero by 2030 after reportedly facing resistance from party members beholden to the support of electricity industry unions. In a preliminary draft unveiled Wednesday, the CDP’s bill-in-the-making called for ridding Japan of nuclear power “as soon as possible.”

ldp
nuclear energy
junichiro koizumi
renewables
cdp


U.S. succeeds in initial Nevada tests of nuclear power system to sustain astronauts on Mars

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Initial tests in Nevada on a compact nuclear power system designed to sustain a long-duration NASA human mission on the inhospitable surface of Mars have been successful and a full-power run is scheduled for March, officials said on Thursday. Officials from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and U.S. Department of Energy, at a news conference in Las Vegas, detailed the development of the nuclear fission system under NASA’s Kilopower project. Months-long testing of the system began in November at the energy department’s Nevada National Security Site, with an eye toward providing energy for future human and robotic missions in space and on the surface of Mars, the moon or other solar system destinations. A key hurdle for any lengthy human mission on the surface of a planet or moon, as opposed to NASA’s six short lunar surface visits from 1969 to 1972, is possessing a power source strong enough to meet the various energy needs to sustain a base but small and light enough to allow for transport through space. “Mars is a very difficult environment for power systems, with less sunlight than Earth or the moon, very cold nighttime temperatures, very interesting dust storms that can last weeks and months that engulf the entire planet,” said Steve Jurczyk, associate administrator of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate. “So Kilopower’s compact size and robustness allows us to deliver multiple units on a single lander to the surface that provides tens of kilowatts of power,” Jurczyk added. Testing that has been completed on components of the system, dubbed KRUSTY, has been “greatly successful — the models have predicted very well what has happened, and operations have gone smoothly,” said Dave Poston, chief reactor designer at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Officials said a full-power test will be conducted near the middle or end of March, a bit later than originally planned. President Donald Trump in December signed a directive intended to pave the way for a return to the moon, with an eye toward an eventual mission to Mars. The new system could potentially supply the power human crews on the Martian surface would need to energize habitats and run processing equipment to transform resources such as ice on the planet into oxygen, water and fuel, NASA said. NASA’s prototype power system uses a uranium-235 reactor core described as roughly the size of a paper towel roll.

u.s .
nasa
mars
nevada
reactor
donald trump
uranium-235


Trump poised to pitch 'America First' to skeptical Davos elite

Abstract: DAVOS, SWITZERLAND - U.S. President Donald Trump strode into the lion’s den to confront the world’s political and business elite on Thursday, as his “America First” administration executes an anti-globalist manifesto in trade, taxes and currency rates. A year after taking office, Trump joined the World Economic Forum in Davos with foreign exchange markets in turmoil and Washington’s trading partners in uproar. Taking on one storm, he insisted that he wants to see “a strong dollar,” after comments by his treasury secretary appearing to signal the opposite sent the U.S. currency plunging to three-year lows and provoked anger in Europe. Trump smiled and waved on his arrival at the gathering in the Swiss Alps, as crowds of onlookers held up camera phones. One woman admirer grabbed Trump’s autograph while other delegates muttered — out of his earshot — about wanting to pelt him with fruit. The former property mogul held one-on-one meetings with the British and Israeli prime ministers. Then, having demonized the globalist Davos crowd on his unorthodox march to the White House, he went on to a gala reception and dinner with European business chiefs attending the gathering. Interviewed on CNBC, Trump said there was no contradiction between his populist campaign and his decision to come to the headquarters of the global elite. “When I decided to come to Davos, I didn’t think in terms of elitist or globalist, I thought in terms of lots of people that want to invest lots of money and they’re all coming back to the United States, they’re coming back to America,” he said. Basking in near-daily highs on Wall Street and accelerating U.S. growth, he added: “It’s about coming to America, investing in money, creating jobs, companies coming in, we’re setting records every week, every day, we’re setting records.” Seeking to demonize the president in turn was Swiss activist group Campax, which hung a giant banner on an Alpine peak near Davos reading “Trump not welcome,” and Greenpeace, which beamed anti-Trump laser messages onto another mountain. At an annual dinner he hosts in Davos, billionaire financier George Soros was equally blunt. “I consider the Trump administration a danger to the world,” he said. Trump is due to address the forum on its closing day Friday, at the end of a week that saw his administration announce a new package of trade tariffs targeting China and South Korea, and spark upheaval on the currency markets. “I think the most fascinating thing with President Trump is that he has the capacity to surprise, and I’m sure we will be surprised tomorrow,” Alexander Stubb, former prime minister of Finland and the new vice president of the European Investment Bank, told AFP in Davos. Traders and U.S. partners already had one surprise in Davos this week when Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin appeared to back away from decades of support by his predecessors for a “strong dollar” policy. He declared “a weaker dollar is good for us,” flouting U.S. commitments in international fora such as the G-20. International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde on Thursday urged Mnuchin to “clarify” his stance on the dollar. European Central Bank head Mario Draghi reminded trading partners to “refrain” from language that could cause currency volatility. A weak dollar would potentially boost U.S. exporters but cause headaches for all other trading nations. In comments to CNBC that helped the dollar recover some lost ground, Trump said Mnuchin had been misquoted. The Treasury secretary told reporters Thursday: “We are not concerned with where the dollar is in the short term, it is a very liquid market and we believe in free currencies.” But Mnuchin’s apparently hands-off approach was taken as reinforcing a broad offensive in trade built on the “America First” platform. It drew the ire of French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire. “We want exchange rates to reflect economic fundamentals … and we shouldn’t play with these rates,” Le Maire said in Davos. Business leaders in Davos have this week offered a broad welcome to controversial tax reforms enacted by Trump’s Republicans, which slashed the headline rate of U.S. corporate tax. But European political leaders fear a “race to the bottom” as the United States jockeys for an edge among foreign investors. A year ago, the Davos spotlight was claimed by China’s communist leader Xi Jinping, who took up the torch of global trade to the delight of the well-heeled audience then anxious about Trump’s inauguration. The Davos elite are keen now to see which version of Trump will speak on Friday — the business-friendly tycoon or the leader who berated the rest of the world at the U.N. General Assembly last September. “I think they’ve already built down their expectations so far that anything he may say that’s conciliatory, they’ll be grateful for,” Robert Kaplan, senior fellow at Washington’s Center for a New American Security, told AFP at the forum. French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel “stole the show” at Davos already, Kaplan added, after the European leaders used separate speeches on Wednesday to push back hard against the Trump manifesto.

world economic forum
davos
george soros
greenpeace
donald trump


Harvey's 5 feet of rain made it second-costliest U.S. hurricane, at $125 billion

Abstract: BOSTON - Record-breaking Hurricane Harvey became the second-costliest storm to hit the U.S. and dropped more rain than any other system ever. Harvey, the strongest hurricane to hit the U.S. since 2005, killed at least 103 people and caused an estimated $125 billion in damage, making it the second only to Katrina, which devastated New Orleans in 2005, the National Hurricane Center said in a report Thursday. Drilling down into the casualty figures shows at least 68 people died as a direct result of Harvey’s winds or flooding, the most since Sandy in 2012 and the worst in Texas since 1919, the report said. It was flooding rains that did the most damage and became the signature for Harvey, paralyzing Houston, the fourth-largest American city, and crippling the Western Hemisphere’s oil, refining and chemical hub. About 40,000 people were evacuated or had to flee to shelters across Texas and Louisiana. In addition, 30,000 water rescues occurred during the storm. A record 60.6 inches (153.9 cm) fell near Nederland, Texas, about 90 miles east of Houston. Analysis showed a large portion of southeastern Texas got more than 3 feet of rain and experienced a once-in-1,000-years flood. “While established records of this nature are not kept, given the exceptional exceedance probabilities, it is unlikely the United States has ever seen such a sizable area of excessive tropical cyclone rainfall totals as it did from Harvey.”

flooding damages hurricanes houston katrina harvey


One in 20 of South Africa's rhinos slaughtered in 2017

Abstract: JOHANNESBURG - South Africa’s efforts to stem the poaching of endangered rhinos for their horns failed to prevent another 5 percent of the population being slaughtered last year. South Africa has more than 80 percent of the world’s estimated population of just 25,000 rhinoceroses. A total of 1,028 were poached in 2017, just 26 fewer than the previous year, the Environmental Ministry said in a statement. Despite efforts to prevent poaching through patrols, electronic surveillance and monitoring of ports and borders, as well as raising awareness, arrests of suspected rhino poachers and traffickers fell by almost a quarter to 518 last year. Demand for rhino horn has surged in newly affluent Asian countries such as Vietnam, where it is prized as an ingredient in traditional medicines; in 2014, a record 1,215 rhinos were poached in South Africa. Poaching in the Kruger National Park, which has traditionally borne the brunt of the slaughter, did fall by 24 percent last year, but was largely offset by poaching in other regions. “The increases in other provinces, coupled with the sharp rise in elephant poaching, tell us that as we progress and evolve, so do the tactics and methods of the poachers,” the ministry said. Tom Milliken, rhino program leader at the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC, noted that almost three rhinos were still being killed in South Africa every day. Last August, South Africa allowed its first legal auction of rhino horns after the owner of the world’s biggest private rhino herd won a court case against the government. Although global trade in rhino horn is banned, conservationists have expressed concerns that domestic buyers could supply Asian markets illicitly. While the Kruger reserve has had some success against rhino poaching, the killing of elephants for ivory, virtually unheard of a few years ago, is on the rise there. The government said 68 were poached in 2017, up almost 50 percent, all but one of them in the Kruger.

nature
animals
south africa
endangered
rhinos


Plastic waste making coral reefs sick, study finds

Abstract: OSLO - Billions of bits of plastic waste are entangled in corals and sickening reefs from Thailand to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, scientists said on Thursday. The trash is another pressure on corals, already suffering from overfishing, rising temperatures caused by climate change and other pollution. In the Asia-Pacific region a total of 11.1 billion plastic items — including shopping bags, fishing nets, even diapers and tea-bags — are ensnared on reefs, the scientists wrote in the journal Science. They projected the numbers would rise by 40 percent by 2025 as marine pollution gets steadily worse. The plastic increases the likelihood of disease about 20 times, to 89 percent for corals in contact with plastics from 4 percent in comparable areas with none. Trash may damage the tiny coral animals that build reefs, making them more vulnerable to illness. And bits of plastic may act as rafts for harmful microbes in the oceans. Scientists were shocked to find plastic even in remote reefs. “You could be diving and you think someone’s tapping your shoulder but it’s just a bottle knocking against you, or a plastic trash bag stuck on your tank,” lead author Joleah Lamb of Cornell University told Reuters. “It’s really sad,” she said. “Corals are animals like us and have really thin tissues that can be cut and wounded, especially if they are cut by an item covered in all sorts of micro-organisms,” she said. The scientists, from the United States, Australia, Thailand, Myanmar, Canada and Indonesia, surveyed 159 reefs from 2011-14 in the Asia-Pacific region. They found most plastic in Indonesia, with about 26 bits per 100 sq. meters (1,076 sq. feet) of reef, and least off Australia, which has the strictest waste controls. The link between disease and plastic may well apply to other reefs such as in the Caribbean and off Africa, and may be harming other life on the ocean floor such as sponges or kelp, Lamb said. At least 275 million people worldwide live near reefs, which provide food, coastal protection and income from tourism. The presence of plastics seemed especially to aggravate some common coral afflictions, such as skeletal eroding band disease. The scientists urged tougher restrictions on plastic waste. In December, almost 200 nations agreed to limit plastic pollution of the oceans, warning that it could outweigh all fish by 2030. Co-author Douglas Rader of the U.S. Environmental Defense Fund said better management of fisheries was the best way to strengthen coral reefs to enable them to fend off man-made threats such as more plastics. “This is not a story about ‘let’s give up on corals,’ ” he told Reuters. “Overfishing today is the biggest threat.” He said nations from Belize to the Philippines were acting to regulate fisheries on corals.

u.s .
oceans
australia
indonesia
waste
plastic
coral reefs
plastic waste


Proposed Kibo no To policy criticizes Abe-backed security laws, but conservative members may balk

Abstract: The leadership of Kibo no To (Party of Hope) on Friday proposed to rank-and-file members that the opposition party strongly criticize the controversial 2015 security laws pushed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a senior member and media reports said. The new policy, proposed during a party meeting, was designed to promote cooperation with other opposition parties and strengthen the leadership of Kibo no To President Yuichiro Tamaki, according to the senior party member who spoke on condition of anonymity. But according to some reports, the move threatened to split the party, which was first established by Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike, who is widely believed to be a security hawk. She once argued that anyone who opposed the security laws should not be endorsed as a Kibo no To candidate in last October’s Lower House election. The policy shift proposed by Tamaki is likely to further deepen the rift between hawkish party members and those calling for an alliance with liberal opposition forces, most notably the Democratic Party and the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan. The 2015 security laws are based on Abe’s controversial reinterpretation of the Constitution’s war-renouncing Article 9, which had long been seen as banning the use of collective self-defense — the right to attack a country that strikes an ally. Abe’s government has eased this interpretation and now argues the country can come to the aid of an ally — presumably the United States — on three conditions: if Japan’s “survival” is considered to be at stake, there are no alternatives and the use of force would be kept to the minimum necessary. But the wording of the three conditions are vague and are “based on arbitrary, expedient constitutional interpretation,” according to the proposed policy, the text of which was first reported by Jiji Press and later confirmed by The Japan Times. The policy says new rules for the country’s use of force should be drawn up based on “constitutionalism,” a key word for liberal lawmakers who call for a strict interpretation of Article 9. The policy pitch was thus widely seen as designed to promote parliamentary cooperation with the CDP and the DP. Separately, Kyodo News reported Friday that Kibo no To leadership is considering urging Koike, now an adviser to the party, to renounce her membership in a bid to boost popularity with voters. The Japan Times could not independently confirm the report. Kibo no To lawmakers could not reach a consensus on the proposed policy during the meeting and will discuss it further, the party member said. According to media reports, some conservative members who support tougher security policies now appear ready to leave the party. During Friday’s meeting, several members reportedly proposed that the party should split into two. But no decision was reached, Kyodo News said.

constitution
democratic party
yuriko koike
security legislation
kibo no to
cdp


Hiromu Nonaka, Abe critic and former government spokesman, dies at 92

Abstract: Hiromu Nonaka, a pacifist politician from the Liberal Democratic Party who served as the government’s top spokesman in the late 1990s and was critical of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s drive to amend the Constitution, died Friday at a hospital in Kyoto, a party source said. He was 92. Once regarded as one of the LDP’s most influential doyens, the Kyoto native served as chief Cabinet secretary in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi from 1998 to 1999, working toward the establishment of the three-way coalition government comprising the LDP, the Liberal Party and New Komeito. Nonaka became secretary-general of the LDP in 2000. In the party’s leadership race in April 2001, he backed former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, who was defeated by Junichiro Koizumi. He then chose to retire from politics in 2003 instead of running for an eighth term in the House of Representatives. Even after leaving politics in November that year, he remained vocal, rapping Abe’s steering of the government as “dangerous and biased.” He was critical of the Abe administration’s decision to enable the Self-Defense Forces’ use of collective self-defense, or defending an ally under attack even if Japan itself is not under attack. Collective defense was long considered banned by the Constitution. Nonaka also opposed Abe’s ongoing efforts to amend war-renouncing Article 9. “We should not make history that leads to another war. I am against it,” he said. Natsuo Yamaguchi, leader of junior coalition partner Komeito, said Nonaka was steered by his life experiences. “Having experienced the war, he was extremely cautious and restrained about security and defense policies,” Yamaguchi said. Muneo Suzuki, a former House of Representatives member who was close with Nonaka, said, “He was a politician who sought total pacifism.” Nonaka started his political career by getting elected to the assembly of the town of Sonobe, now called Nantan, in Kyoto at the age of 25. He later became its mayor and deputy governor of Kyoto. He only entered national politics at age 57, after getting elected to the Lower House in 1983. His first Cabinet post came in 1994 under the government of Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama. As head of the National Public Safety Commission, he dealt with a number of major crises the following year, including the deadly sarin attack on the Tokyo subway system by cult Aum Shinrikyo and the magnitude 7.3 Great Hanshin Earthquake that claimed the lives of 6,434 people in Kobe and its vicinity.

ldp
chief cabinet secretary
hiromu nonaka


Japan's Kansai region abuzz over chance to host G-20 and climate gatherings in 2019

Abstract: OSAKA - 2018 has just begun, but Osaka and Kyoto are already looking ahead to 2019, when the prospect of hosting two major international conferences has the local political and business circles excited. One of the big 2019 events is the Group of 20 summit. Following media reports at the start of the year suggesting good news, it is widely expected here that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will choose Osaka. The two-day event will likely draw tens of thousands of people, including 20 world leaders ranging from U.S. President Donald Trump to Chinese President Xi Jinping, to the city and the Kansai region, to discuss a gamut of issues from North Korea to climate change. While not yet official, leaders have expressed quiet confidence over the past few weeks they will win the event thanks to a series of circumstances that pushed Osaka to front-runner status. Last year, Aichi Prefecture said it wanted to host the G-20 at a soon-to-be-completed facility beside Chubu Centrair International Airport, which sits on an artificial island about 30 minutes by train from Nagoya Station. Aichi sold its bid as one with security advantages and convenience: Arrive at the airport and be escorted just across the tarmac to the venue. Less hassle for security forces. And though it went unsaid, there is also less of a chance of being embarrassed by international TV footage of protesters who could sneak past security to get close to a venue located in downtown Nagoya. As late as November, some Osaka leaders had been wondering about the political edge of Aichi. Yoshiyuki Kasai, chairman emeritus of Aichi-based Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai), is a close friend of Abe and one of the most ardent supporters of the maglev shinkansen project, which the company hopes to sell abroad. What better opportunity to advertise a magnetically levitated train than at a G-20 meeting in Aichi? But by December, the political winds were shifting. Allegations of bid-rigging for maglev-related work surfaced, and the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor’s Office is now looking into the case. With the Diet due to open Monday, grilling by the opposition camp over the probe is all but certain. So there are now questions in Osaka about whether the city became the reported favorite to host the G-20 partially because Abe wanted to avoid media and opposition party speculation that awarding the G-20 to Aichi would be linked to his relationship with Kasai or the maglev project. For Osaka’s politicians, though, the biggest perceived advantage to hosting the G-20 summit has to do with its lobbying for another international event. The thinking is that an Osaka G-20 will provide a much-needed international public relations boost to Osaka’s bid for the 2025 World Expo, given that the Paris-based organization will choose the winner in November. “It’s not officially decided yet, but hosting the G-20 raises the city’s value and name recognition. It would help make our case for the expo bid and provide members of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) with material that shows Osaka can host international conferences like the G-20,” Osaka Gov. Ichiro Matsui said late last month. Beyond the political factors, there appear to be more solid reasons for Osaka’s front-runner status in the G-20 race: logistics. Osaka has more international luxury hotels than Aichi, including about 500 suite rooms. The proposed venue, near Osaka Bay and about 30 minutes from central Osaka, has vehicle and train access. But there may be a slight bump in the road as the central government is citing some security concerns with the venue. The other major 2019 event on the Kansai calendar will take place in Kyoto. In mid-May, representatives of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the leading international body for the assessment of climate change, are scheduled to meet in Japan. The meeting of the IPCC, whose reports form the basis of United Nations climate change talks, will be held at the same venue where the Kyoto Protocol was signed in 1997. The Environment Ministry, following a long lobbying campaign by the city of Kyoto, said earlier this month that the ancient capital was its choice. “We have decided to recommend Kyoto as the host site. In addition to the presence of the international conference hall and having good (transport) access, Kyoto has hosted international conferences and symposiums related to climate change and is the home of the Kyoto Protocol,” Environment Minister Masaharu Nakagawa said in a Jan. 12 news conference. The IPCC’s job is to review and assess the most recent scientific, technical, and socio-economic information regarding the impacts of climate change. While it does not conduct original research, it acts as an international clearinghouse for U.N. policymakers and its predictions are based on the conclusions of thousands of scientists worldwide. The IPCC has warned that if policies to combat climate change are not strengthened, the world’s average temperature could rise by up to 4.8 degrees C by the end of this century, compared with the average for the 20th century. At a U.N. conference in Paris in 2015, the international community agreed to work to limit the rise to 2 degrees. The panel’s meeting in May 2019 is expected to be a continuation of studies on the effects of climate change on oceans, as well as the relationship between climate change and desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes. Final reports on these issues will be issued by September that year. “There is a high interest among Japanese people, especially in Kyoto, about climate change issues and what policies are needed to mitigate them. Hosting the IPCC conference in 2019 will show Kyoto’s continuing commitment to the spirit of the Kyoto Protocol,” Kyoto Mayor Daisaku Kadokawa said at a meeting last month to mark the 20th anniversary of the protocol.

osaka
chubu
ipcc
2025 world expo
bureau international des expositions


Fukui weighs new wave of reactors to protect status as Japan's 'nuclear capital'

Abstract: OSAKA - With 13 commercial nuclear reactors — more than any other prefecture — Fukui has long been Japan’s nuclear power capital. Prior to the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and triple core meltdown at the Fukushima No. 1 plant, Fukui’s plants provided up to half of Kansai’s electricity. As only two commercial reactors run by Kansai Electric Power Co. are in operation and a total of five Fukui reactors are scheduled to be decommissioned by midcentury, the prefecture’s days as a nuclear power center might appear to be ending. But despite the growing use of renewables, entrenched public opposition to atomic power, and unanswered questions about its future costs and economic competitiveness, Fukui’s nuclear-friendly utility executives and corporate leaders, as well as local politicians, have not given up on the idea of building even more reactors. Earlier this month, Fukui Gov. Issei Nishikawa met with Kepco President Shigeki Iwane and Mamoru Muramatsu, the president of Japan Atomic Power Co., which runs two reactors at the Tsuruga plant in Fukui — including one scheduled for decommissioning. They discussed building new reactors at Tsuruga — which have long been planned — and replacing Kepco’s decommissioned reactors with new ones. The meeting took place amid a review of the nation’s energy mix. “What needs to be done by midcentury? We need to make this clear in the nation’s energy plans as we look to 2050,” Iwane said at a news conference afterward. A couple of weeks later, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hiroshige Seko told reporters that even without building new reactors or replacing old ones, Japan could meet its national goal of having atomic power provide between 20 and 22 percent of all electricity by 2030. Nishikawa, traditionally a staunch supporter of nuclear power plants and the subsidies his prefecture receives for hosting them, has so far avoided coming out directly in favor of building new reactors. He told reporters at the end of 2017 that he wasn’t going to wade into the debate of whether it was a good or bad idea. Instead, he said he was waiting for the central government’s view. “The government needs to make clear what its stance is on new reactors. The main problem is gaining social trust for the use of nuclear power,” Nishikawa said. That could be difficult. A survey by the Fukui Shimbun in October showed that 49.8 percent of respondents favored slowly exiting from nuclear power. Gaining national and local approval to build new reactors could take years. Yet even if construction of new Tsuruga reactors goes ahead, it will likely be years, possibly decades, before they are completed at an unknown cost. In the interim, the use of renewables is expected to expand even more. Furthermore, as Japan’s population declines and uses more innovative energy-efficient products, predicting electricity needs in 10 — let alone 30 or so — years from now is problematic at best. Adding reactors in Fukui will certainly increase the electricity supply for Kansai. But what pro-nuclear politicians and businesses in Fukui want now is assurances from Tokyo that they will still financially benefit from new reactors even if their output may not be needed or wanted by consumers.


Cameroon separatist leader taken into custody in Nigeria

Abstract: ABUJA/DAKAR - A leading member of a separatist movement in Cameroon has been taken into custody in the capital of neighboring Nigeria with his aides, sources and secessionists said on Saturday. The once-fringe Anglophone movement in majority Francophone Cameroon has gathered pace in the last few months following a military crackdown on protests. It represents the gravest challenge yet to the 35-year rule of President Paul Biya, who will seek re-election this year. Julius Ayuk Tabe, the Nigeria-based chairman of the Governing Council of Ambazonia separatist movement, was taken into custody alongside six others at a hotel in Abuja on Friday, said a Nigerian official and a member of the separatist group in Cameroon. Bilateral relations have been strained by a separatist movement in Cameroon that has clashed with the Cameroonian Army and forced thousands to flee violence by traveling across the border to Nigeria. Cameroonian troops last month crossed into Nigeria in pursuit of rebels without seeking Nigerian authorization, causing diplomatic wrangling behind the scenes. Separatists, including armed radical elements, seek an independent state for the nation’s Anglophone regions they call Ambazonia. A Nigerian official said Tabe and six of his supporters were placed in custody at around 7 p.m. on Friday. “They were having a meeting at Nera Hotels in Abuja,” the official said on condition of anonymity. The official did not know who rounded up the separatists. A member of the separatist group based in Cameroon, who wanted to remain anonymous, said the people were taken into custody. The separatist group later issued a statement saying that Tabe and six others were taken from Nera Hotels by Cameroonian gunmen in an “illegal abduction.” The unrest in Cameroon began in November, when English-speaking teachers and lawyers in the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon, frustrated with having to work in French, took to the streets calling for reforms and greater autonomy. French is the official language for most of Cameroon, but English is spoken in two regions that border Nigeria. Protests by separatists prompted a violent crackdown by Cameroon’s military last year in which troops opened fire on demonstrators.

conflict language nigeria ethnicity cameroon


English boy is reunited with camera that drifted to Germany

Abstract: BERLIN - An English boy has been reunited in Germany with a video camera he lost four months ago on the other side of the North Sea. The German news agency dpa reported that the camera was handed back Saturday to the 10-year-old from Hull on Suederoog, a small island off Germany’s western coast. William Etherton’s camera was carried off Sept. 1 by a wave in Thornwick Bay in Yorkshire, on England’s east coast. It drifted for about two months before washing up in Germany. Resident Roland Spreer found it on Nov. 2. It was still functional thanks to its waterproof casing, and Spreer’s son posted footage from the day the camera was washed away on Facebook. Reports on the video eventually attracted the attention of the boy’s father.


Warning level raised on Mount Zao a week after fatal volcano eruption in Gunma

Abstract: The Meteorological Agency raised the warning level on another volcano Tuesday, exactly a week after a dramatic eruption at another peak killed one man, injured nearly a dozen others and stranded scores of skiers for several hours. The agency elevated the warning on Mount Zao, a cluster of volcanoes on the border of Yamagata and Miyagi prefectures whose highest point is 1,841 meters (6,040 feet), to 2 from 1, meaning people should avoid going near the crater. “There is a possibility of a small-scale eruption,” the agency said in a statement, noting that a number of small earth movements were detected Tuesday, along with a slight bulging of the ground in one area. It also warned of the possibility that volcanic rocks could be jettisoned as far as 1.2 km in an eruption. According to the agency, volcanic tremors, caused by movements of hot subterranean water and volcanic gas, were observed over a period of 31 minutes from 2:18 p.m. on Tuesday and were larger than those recorded on Sunday and early Tuesday morning. The Yamagata Municipal Government has issued an evacuation advisory for the areas around the crater and also advised a nearby ski resort to stay on alert. The announcement came a week after a member of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces was killed when rocks from the sudden eruption of Mount Moto-Shirane rained down on skiers at a mountain resort in Gunma Prefecture. Video footage taken by people on the mountain showed black ash spewing into the sky as volcanic debris rained down, some punching holes in the metal roof of a ski gondola. Eleven people were injured and around 100 skiers took refuge in a mountain hut for several hours until rescued. Between the eruption and Jan. 26, a little more than 20,000 people canceled room reservations in Kusatsu, according to a survey by an organization representing local hotels and inns. Zao, like Moto-Shirane, is a popular resort area famed for its so called “snow monsters” that are created by water vapor freezing on trees in winter. Its slopes are packed with skiers in winter and hikers in other seasons. Currently, 50 out of 111 active volcanoes nationwide are under constant watch by the agency. The 50 were selected by a team of experts in coordination with agency officials. New activity is a crucial factor in deciding whether to begin continuous monitoring, an official said. In September 2014, 63 people were killed on Mount Ontake in the country’s worst volcanic disaster in nearly 90 years.


Iran bans English in primary schools after leaders' warning of 'cultural invasion'

Abstract: DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - Iran has banned the teaching of English in primary schools, a senior education official said, after Islamic leaders warned that early learning of the language opened the way to a Western “cultural invasion.” “Teaching English in government and non-government primary schools in the official curriculum is against laws and regulations,” Mehdi Navid-Adham, head of the High Education Council, told state television late Saturday. “This is because the assumption is that, in primary education, the groundwork for the Iranian culture of the students is laid,” Navid-Adham said, adding that noncurriculum English classes may also be blocked. English lessons usually start in middle school in Iran, around the ages of 12 to 14, but some primary schools also have English classes. Additionally, some children also attend private language institutes after their school day. And many children from more privileged families attending nongovernment schools receive English tuition from day care through high school. Iran’s Islamic leaders have often warned about the dangers of a “cultural invasion,” and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei voiced outrage in 2016 over the “teaching of the English language spreading to nursery schools.” Khamenei, who has the final say in all state matters, said in a speech to teachers: “That does not mean opposition to learning a foreign language, but (this is the) promotion of a foreign culture in the country and among children, young adults and youths.” “Western thinkers have time and again said that instead of colonialist expansionism … the best and the least costly way would have been inculcation of thought and culture to the younger generation of countries,” Khamenei said, according to the text of the speech posted on l eader.ir , a website run by his office. While there was no mention of the announcement being linked to more than a week of protests against the clerical establishment and government, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has said that unrest was also fomented by foreign enemies. Iranian officials said 22 people were killed and more than 1,000 arrested during the protests that spread to more than 80 cities and rural towns, as thousands of young and working-class Iranians expressed their anger at graft, unemployment and a deepening gap between rich and poor. A video of the announcement of the ban was widely circulated on social media on Sunday, with Iranians calling it “The filtering of English,” jokingly likening the ban to the blocking of the popular app “Telegram” by the government during the unrest.

protests iran education schools english languages


BBC editor Carrie Gracie quits China post over pay discrimination against women

Abstract: BEIJING - The BBC’s China editor has resigned her position in Beijing in protest over what she called a failure to sufficiently address a gap in compensation between men and women at the public broadcaster. Carrie Gracie’s departure is the latest aftershock from the BBC’s forced publication last year of pay levels for its top earners that showed two-thirds of those in the top bracket were men. A 30-year veteran of the BBC, Gracie said in a statement on her website addressed to BBC viewers that she could no longer perform her job at a high level while battling with bosses over pay equality. Gracie said she learned that two of the BBC’s four international editors — both men — made at least 50 percent more than their two female counterparts. She said she was not seeking more money for herself but only demanding that the BBC observe British law requiring equal pay for equal work. Gracie said she would stay with the BBC and “return to my former post in the TV newsroom where I expect to be paid equally.” “The BBC must admit the problem, apologize and set in place an equal, fair and transparent pay structure,” Gracie wrote. Rather than waste money on an “unwinnable court fight against female staff, the BBC should immediately agree to independent arbitration to settle individual cases,” she wrote. The BBC on Monday quoted a spokeswoman as reaffirming its commitment to equal pay and saying a separate report on pay for on-air staff would be issued in the “not too distant future,” the statememt said. “A significant number of organizations have now published their gender pay figures showing that we are performing considerably better than many and are well below the national average,” it continued. “Alongside that, we have already conducted an independent judge-led audit of pay for rank and file staff which showed ‘no systemic discrimination against women.’ “ Gracie, who took on the newly created job of China editor four years ago, said women at the BBC are running out of “patience and goodwill” in the face of what she called a “divide and rule” approach and a continuing refusal by the corporation to admit to discriminatory policies. She said those who complain face the threat of retaliation and even dismissal, while others are either bogged down in arbitration talks or offered new pay packages on condition the terms remain secret. “Despite the BBC’s public insistence that my appointment demonstrated its commitment to gender equality, and despite my own insistence that equality was a condition of taking up the post, my managers had yet again judged that women’s work was worth much less than men’s,” she wrote. Gracie’s move received voluble praise online from her colleagues, with veteran BBC journalist Lyse Doucet tweeting, “Brilliant Brave.” The list published last year showed that two-thirds of the BBC’s highest earners were men, with the highest-paid woman earning less than a quarter of the highest-earning male star. Many BBC men were also found to be receiving far higher salaries than women in comparable jobs.


Village in Nagano comes up with hunk calendar to help 12 bachelors find mates

Abstract: Women hoping to find Mr. Right in 2018 should check for dates on the Otoko Goyomi (Men’s Calendar) published by the village of Otari in Nagano Prefecture. The calendar showcases a dozen local bachelors who are looking for wives. Otari is promoting the charms of its rustic scenery and hot springs along with the strong men living in the mountainous region. It hopes the calendar will help the 12 men find wives either within or outside the village. The village office will serve as an intermediary if a woman wants to go on a date with one of them. The village of 3,000 near the border with Niigata Prefecture is experiencing population decline. Its population now stands at roughly a third of its mid-1950s figure. The National Institute of Population and Social Security Research predicts Otari’s population will drop to 909 by 2060. The village hopes the wall calendar, which features men aged from 20 to 37, will reduce the pace of decline. The village office approached a community development group formed by young people to help find men for the project. The 12 chosen were either self-nominated or recommended by others. Mr. July, whose hobby is mountain climbing, can be seen staring into the distance from a snow-covered peak. Mr. October is pictured grinning into the camera after finishing a day of harvesting rice. November focuses on a man soaking in an outdoor onsen (hot spring), while Mr. January hits the slopes at Otari’s ski resort. The calendar lists the names, professions, hobbies, goals and other data about the men and their dream girls on each page. “I want to enjoy this scenery with someone, just the two of us,” one profile reads. Another teasingly says: “I like to go fast in the snow.” The village printed 1,500 copies of the calendar for sale at its office, ski resort and other places for ¥1,500 each. It is also accepting orders by mail. “Please contact us if you would like to go on a date or get acquainted with one of the men,” said a representative from Otari’s planning and finance section. For inquiries, contact the Otari Village Office at 0261 (82) 2001.

relationships
marriage
depopulation
nagano prefecture
otari


U.S. launched massive attacks on Japanese mainland after taking Okinawa, documents show

Abstract: NAHA, OKINAWA PREF. - Toward the end of World War II, the United States was able to launch massive attacks on mainland Japan after seizing Okinawa, dropping around 7,000 tons of bombs, a study of U.S. documents shows. The findings are based on an analysis of more than 10,000 pages of declassified military documents conducted by Kanto Gakuin University professor Hirofumi Hayashi. The analysis helps clarify the overall picture of how U.S. forces attacked the mainland from Okinawa, said Masahiko Yamabe, a researcher at the Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, in Koto Ward. According to the documents, which were found at the U.S. National Archives, more than 65 locations in 13 prefectures in southwestern and western Japan were targeted from Okinawa, with 7,000 tons of bombs dropped in the last three months of the war. U.S. forces landed on a small group of islands west of Okinawa’s main island in March 1945, starting a fierce three-month ground battle. The documents show that on May 13 the same year, Marine Corps F4U fighters flew from Okinawa’s Yomitan airfield to bomb a small island to the north. Four days later, two U.S. Army P-47 fighters that took off from Okinawa conducted an attack on Kyushu for the first time. Before then, the U.S. had also used the Mariana Islands as a base for launching attacks. The documents analyzed also refer to civilian casualties. For example, an Army document describing an Aug. 10, 1945, attack states, “1 individual strafing pass on a large group of people numbering approximately 150 to 200 in the main street” in what is now Ebino, Miyazaki Prefecture, which resulted “in killing 15 to 20 people.” Professor Hayashi, who specializes in contemporary history, said the documents make clear that “U.S. military bombers and fighters carried out attacks on civilians indiscriminately, hitting small communities, areas where people gather as well as trains.” Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, 1945, after the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, bringing an end to World War II.

okinawa
history
world war ii
u.s.-japan relations


Likud party calls for de-facto annexation of Israeli West Bank settlements

Abstract: ISRAEL - Reuters Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party unanimously urged legislators in a nonbinding resolution on Sunday to effectively annex Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, land that Palestinians want for a future state. By enacting civilian law over settlements, the move could streamline procedures for their construction and expansion. That land is currently under military jurisdiction and Israel’s defense minister has a final say on building there. The settlers are subject to Israeli civilian law. “We will now promote the recognition of our sovereignty of the Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank). … We must begin to enact this sovereignty, we have the moral right and obligation towards our settler brothers,” Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan told a meeting of Likud’s Central Committee. Netanyahu is not bound to follow the resolution. He did not attend the meeting, which attracted several hundred delegates, including ministers, legislators and party officials. The Likud Central Committee is the party’s governing body. At least two previous Likud Central Committee decisions have been ignored by party leaders: In 2002, it voted against the creation of a Palestinian state, but then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he would act as he saw fit and Netanyahu in 2009 voiced conditional support for the establishment of a Palestinian state in a landmark speech. Political commentators said the decision might bolster right-wing support for Netanyahu, who could seek a public mandate in an early election as he awaits possible criminal indictments against him on corruption suspicions. He denies wrongdoing. Although parliamentary elections are not due until November 2019, the police investigations in two cases of alleged corruption against Netanyahu and tensions among partners in his governing coalition could hasten a poll. Most countries view settlements that Israel has built on land captured in the 1967 Middle East war as illegal. Israel disputes that and cites biblical, historical and political links to the West Bank, as well as security interests. About 400,000 settlers and 2.8 million Palestinians live in the West Bank. The Palestinians want to establish a state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with east Jerusalem as its capital. In 1981, Israel enacted civilian law on the Golan Heights, territory captured from Syria in 1967, a de-facto annexation of the strategic plateau. The move has not won international recognition. Israeli settlements have been one of the main stumbling blocks in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks that have been frozen since 2014. Efforts by U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoys to restart them have not yet shown any progress. Trump in December recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, reversing decades of U.S. policy.

israel
benjamin netanyahu
palestinians
likud
settlements
west bank
donald trump


Amid tight security, hundreds of couples ring in new year at mass Jakarta wedding

Abstract: JAKARTA - Hundreds of Indonesian couples celebrated New Year’s Eve on Sunday night by tying the knot in a mass wedding in Jakarta. Nearly 450 couples gathered in a large tent in the city center just hours before midnight to pray with their families before signing marriage certificates. Government officials oversaw each brief ceremony. “We wanted an unforgettable experience and we’re so happy that we decided to participate today,” said Hartiningish, a 38-year-old East Javanese bride, while a live band played a set of traditional and pop music in the background. Her husband, Ricky Rangga, 30, said the couple was grateful to the city administration for making the wedding possible. Many couples wore matching colors and colorful traditional Indonesian outfits, with some brides donning elaborate headdresses and grooms carrying traditional daggers called keris. Jakarta Gov. Anies Baswedan congratulated those taking the plunge and said the city would now host the event every New Year’s Eve. The city government raised donation funds to pay for token gold dowries for the couples to exchange. Grooms in Indonesia traditionally present gold jewelry or money to brides on the wedding day. “We’re planning to do this every year,” Baswedan said, after posing for photographs with some couples. Security was tight around the event’s venue in the heart of the city, which took place just a few meters from the site of a militant attack in January 2016, when Islamic State-linked radicals killed four people using guns and bombs. Tens of thousands of police and military personnel have been deployed in Jakarta and across the country to safeguard holiday celebrations as the country remains on high alert. One young pair from west Jakarta said they were looking forward to their honeymoon in the holiday island of Bali, where an active volcano, Mount Agung, remains on alert status for an imminent eruption. “If we’re together, there’s no need to be afraid of (the volcano), we will just enjoy,” Ruri Nurhayati, 22, said, just minutes after marrying her partner Andrianus, who goes by one name. The couple were accompanied by a wedding party of 20 friends and family members, and joined New Year’s Eve revelers setting off fireworks in the city center, while others left the venue in cars bedecked with flowers.

terrorism
indonesia
bali
jakarta
new year 's
islamic state
mass weddings


Blackface, suicide and celebrity abuse: Welcome to 2018!

Abstract: We’re one week into 2018 and it seems Japan has an image problem. You can thank the country’s New Year’s Eve TV block for the bulk of that. The controversy marathon began with popular comedy special “Downtown no Gaki no Tsukai ya Arahende!,” which, hours before 2018 arrived, managed the rare feat of angering viewers both international and domestic. Let’s start with the prior. This year’s “Gaki no Tsukai” boasted the already tightrope-clinging theme of “American Cops,” meaning the five comedians starring in the seven-hour-long laugh jamboree sported law enforcement clothes. Except for Masatoshi Hamada, one half of the comic duo Downtown, who dressed as Eddie Murphy from the film “Beverly Hills Cop” — complete with blackface . This did not go over well with non-Japanese viewers, many of whom took their disgust to social media after Hamada made his entrance. Japan Times columnist Baye McNeil summed up the anger in several posts , while also pointing out the frequency Japanese comedians resort to it for a cheap laugh ( including earlier in the week on another show altogether ). News of the incident spread, and late last week it was picked up by such outlets as the BBC and The New York Times , among others. Japanese netizens (and some non-Japanese ones) responded to Hamada’s gag as they had to the blackface incidents that came before it: They played it down. The Japanese, the argument goes, are unaware of the history behind blackface and many just don’t get why it is offensive. If anything, they say, Hamada was simply “honoring” Murphy with his extreme attention to detail. Yet a large (and growing) chunk of Japanese responses to the incident online — whether expressed via the comments section on McNeil’s interview with Huffington Post Japan or as part of numerous tweets — felt different this time around. Many worried about what message these blackface gags send to the international community, with plenty mentioning the upcoming 2020 Olympics. However, a spokesman for Nippon Television Network Corp. said the scene did not intentionally attempt to discriminate on racial grounds, adding that Hamada was just trying to portray Murphy’s “Beverly Hills Cop” character, Axel Foley. “We are aware of different opinions surrounding this issue and we will refer (to the feedback we received) when producing new shows,” the spokesman said. Hamada’s cosplay wasn’t the primary thing Japanese netizens were upset about, however. Later in “Gaki no Tsukai,” TV personality Becky was the victim of a Muay Thai-style roundhouse kick to her lower half . The “Thai kick” has long been a staple punishment in “Gaki no Tsukai,” and nearly every male comedian experienced one earlier in the show. Becky’s turn, however, outraged viewers, who condemned it as “too violent.” Part of the anger stemmed from the idea that it was partially “punishment” for her much-discussed 2016 affair with musician Enon Kawatani. Some compared it to AKB48 member Minami Minegishi shaving her head after being caught having a boyfriend, noting how behind-the-times such attitudes are. Although the Becky incident hasn’t been picked up internationally, many online felt it sent a similarly ugly image of Japan into the world. Flipping the channel to other New Year’s Eve programming only lead to further controversies. NHK’s “Kohaku Uta Gassen” music extravaganza may have registered its third-lowest ratings ever, but enough people saw idol group Keyakizaka46’s performance to note that three members appeared exhausted during it . Tweets and posts to blogs expressed anger at the performers’ treatment, reigniting debate about overwork in Japan’s idol-pop world. All three of these incidents became big deals online in Japan, but were dwarfed in overseas news coverage by another Japan-based incident. American YouTuber Logan Paul ventured into Aokigahara — an area by Mount Fuji dubbed the “suicide forest” — and found a dead body , which he filmed and seemed to joke about. The video went viral worldwide, prompting social media rants and articles focused on Paul’s disrespect, exoticization and general idiocy. He later apologized on video . While no pop culture story was bigger this week internationally, Japanese reactions were relatively muted. Plenty took to 2chan or the YouTube comments of his videos to note his stupidity, but most were simply left asking, “Who is this?” As far as they were concerned, the New Year’s Eve stories generated more buzz. So is this a case of one demographic serving as an outlier? Japan-based YouTubers of Western origin ( though not all , That Japanese Man Yuta weighed in) switched coverage to Paul’s suicide tourism only a day after Hamada’s blackface scandal. Some made video responses , while others just expressed disbelief at how he acted (or, fitting for “Black Mirror” debut week, complained about video monetization). Paul’s livelihood depends on YouTube, though, which may explain why he has tried to apologize while Hamada, as yet, has not. So welcome to the Year of the Dog! There are only 51 more weeks to go — and it seems U.S. President Donald Trump’s Twitter vacation is now officially over.

minami minegishi
aokigahara
becky
kohaku uta gassen
blackface
enon kawatani
logan paul
masatoshi hamada
gaki no tsukai


Giving former gangsters in Japan a chance can reap rewards

Abstract: Fuji Television screened a popular TV series in 2009 called “Ninkyo Herupa” (“Yakuza Helper”) that focused on the life of a former gangster who landed a job at a nursing facility for the elderly. Over the course of the series, he learned to follow the values that all gangsters claim to hold dear: help the weak and stand up to the powerful. It’s a nice idea, although quite obviously fiction. The reality is naturally much more complicated, and experts say that former gangsters typically have a hard time reintegrating into society once they decide to abandon their ties to organized crime. According to figures from the National Police Agency, around 13 percent of former gangsters are arrested on criminal charges each year, with many detained on suspicion of petty crimes such as shoplifting. It’s a little hard to celebrate any improvement in conditions when gang members are quitting their syndicates to become common criminals. Noboru Hirosue, an expert on organized crime, has published a book titled “Yakuza and Nursing: A Study of Those Who Leave the Yakuza.” Hirosue is not only an expert in his field, he’s also a career counselor who does what he can to help the same people he’s researching. He understands why young men join crime syndicates and why they subsequently find it hard to quit. “I get gangsters because they’re part of life growing up in Kyushu,” Hirosue says. “I noticed at an early age that as my friends went from hanging out with gangsters to joining gangs, that we increasingly referred to them in reverent tones. “For example, a guy called Tanaka starts hanging around the Dojin-kai offices. First we’d be saying, ‘That guy is always hanging around gangsters.’ However, once he appears to be included in the inner circle, the guy becomes ‘Tanaka-kun.’ And when he eventually joins the organization, he becomes ‘Tanaka-san.’ We looked up to gangsters back in the day.” Hirosue’s book is divided into two sections. The first section details the story of “Koyama,” an unnamed juvenile delinquent in Kyushu who joined a violent crime syndicate in the region and worked his way up the ranks. Koyama tells his story from a first-person perspective, offering plenty of humor and insight into how crime syndicates really make their money. What’s more, it’s all detailed in a Fukuoka dialect. The second part of the book is more academic in nature and covers the lives of several other gangsters who have struggled to rejoin society. Hirosue put the book together this way because Koyama’s bitter experiences serves to frame what follows later, making the statistics and studies cited much more convincing. Overall, it’s an excellent read. Koyama doesn’t suggest criminal life is glamorous in any way. It’s a constant state of meeting crazy demands, cleaning toilets, doing menial tasks and scrambling for money. “The organization becomes your family,” Koyama says. “And you have to trust them like family. In the end, however, despite all that talk of loyalty, your fellow gangsters are more likely to betray you than anyone. And sometimes, they even outsource the betrayal. It’s kind of insulting.” However, Koyama finds that life outside of the gang also isn’t easy. He applied for a job at a nursing facility for disabled children but was turned down. “I respect your sincerity,” the operator of the facility told him, “but let’s say, for example, you’re working with a child who falls over and hurts themselves. There’s a strong possibility that someone could accuse you of neglect or even child abuse.” Even after securing a job as a nurse, his tattoos led to prejudice. He encountered bullying in the workplace and while he has often felt like giving up, he has so far stuck it out. One can’t read the book without suspecting that Koyama is still dealing with anger management issues on a regular basis. I asked Koyama how he handled situations where a patient might become violent. “I grow to like them after a while,” he replies. “I know that they can’t always help themselves or stay in control. So, I remember them in their better moments and then it’s OK. We need to remember the good in people and try to nourish that.” These aren’t exactly the words you expect to hear from a former gangster but they do give me hope. Maybe one day we can see the good in all gang members and help integrate them back into society. If you give someone a chance, they may eventually prove their worth. Naturally, society also needs to come to the party and pay a salary that’s fair but perhaps that’s an issue best left for later.


Swiss on highest avalanche alert on eve of Davos forum

Abstract: ZURICH - Switzerland went on avalanche alert on Monday as fresh snow smothered much of the Alps a day before the World Economic Forum in Davos gets underway. A bulletin from the SLF Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research in Davos showed a broad band of the mountainous country under Level 5 avalanche danger, the highest on a 1-5 scale. “Fresh snow and snow drift accumulations are prone to triggering (avalanches). Until late in the night a large number of natural avalanches are to be expected,” it said. Snow slides could be deep and large, it added, posing danger to exposed settlements and transit routes. The accumulation of snow was the highest since 1999. In Davos, where authorities have evacuated two dozen people from homes most at risk, access roads were still open as crews used controlled explosions to reduce the chance of slides. The sun was due to come back out on Tuesday. Zermatt in southwestern Switzerland remained cut off by road and rail. A helicopter air bridge that had been ferrying people in and out of the popular ski resort was out of action because of bad weather, a town spokeswoman said. A helicopter rescue team had to fly a pregnant woman out of the town on Elm in Glarus canton where snow drifts had cut off roads as she went into labor. At lower elevations steady rain was causing local flooding.


Black smoke billows from tanker sinking site as worries grows over Japan EEZ sea damage

Abstract: BEIJING - Black smoke was billowing from the East China Sea site where a burning Iranian oil tanker sank, Japanese authorities said Monday, as worries grow about damage to the marine ecosystem from the worst oil ship disaster in decades. The blazing vessel, which was carrying 136,000 tons — almost 1 million barrels — of condensate, an ultralight, highly flammable crude oil, sank Sunday evening after several explosions weakened the hull. The tanker Sanchi had been adrift and ablaze after crashing into the freighter CF Crystal on Jan. 6. Strong winds had pushed it away from the Chinese coast, where the incident happened, and into Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). China’s State Oceanic Administration said Sunday that because the explosions had ruptured the hull of the ship, a large amount of oil in surrounding waters was on fire. The sinking marks the biggest tanker spill since 1991, when 260,000 tons of oil leaked off the Angolan coast. The Japan Coast Guard has sent two patrol boats and an airplane to the area to search for missing crew members and assess the latest situation, a spokesman said Monday over the phone. Japanese authorities lost track of the tanker Sunday, the spokesman said. The ship’s last confirmed location was about 315 km (195 miles) west of Sokkozaki on the island of Amami Oshima. Amami Oshima is one of the northern islands in the Ryukyu Island chain that includes Okinawa. A Chinese salvage team on Saturday recovered two bodies from the tanker, China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency reported. Another body, presumed to be one of the Sanchi’s sailors, was found on Jan. 8 and brought to Shanghai for identification. The salvage team recovered the Sanchi’s voyage data recorder, or “black box” from the bridge of the tanker, Xinhua also said Saturday. But the team was forced to leave the ship after just half an hour because the wind shifted and “thick toxic smoke” had complicated the operation. Iranian officials said Sunday the remaining 29 crew members and passengers of the tanker were presumed dead. The crew consisted of 30 Iranians and two Bangladeshis. Experts worry the ship’s sinking is potentially more damaging to the marine ecosystem than letting the condensate oil burn off. The sinking will likely expel the remaining condensate and the tanker’s bunker fuel, or the heavy fuel oil that powers a ship’s engines, contaminating the surrounding waters. Bunker fuel is the dirtiest kind of oil, extremely toxic when spilled, though less explosive. Condensate is poisonous to marine organisms. A harmful plume of condensate would likely be in the water, out of sight of observers on the surface, said Rick Steiner, a U.S. marine scientist based in Anchorage, Alaska, who has experience of oil spills. “As with all major oil spills, time is of the essence. This is particularly so with condensate spills, as the substance is so toxic and volatile,” Steiner said in an emailed statement. The East China Sea is known for its rich, although already polluted, marine ecosystem, with whales, porpoises, seabirds and fish, he said. Fuel oil is relatively easy to contain because volumes are lower and its viscosity means it’s easier to extract from water, but even small volumes can harm marine life. A Suezmax tanker can hold a maximum of 5,000 tons of bunker fuel. The Sanchi may have been carrying about 1,000 tons by the time it hit the grain freighter CF Crystal, according to bunker fuel traders’ estimates.

china pollution oil iran shipping acidents


China punishes local officials for tampering with smog monitoring

Abstract: SHANGHAI - China has punished officials in the provinces of Jiangxi and Henan for tampering with pollution monitoring equipment in order to reduce smog readings, the environment ministry said. China has been waging a “war on pollution” since 2014 in a bid to reverse the environmental and political damage done by more than three decades of economic growth, but enforcement has been a constant problem. The Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) said Sunday that officials in the cities of Xinyu in Jiangxi and Xinyang in Henan sought to reduce emissions readings by spraying water on their air quality sensors. Both cities are major producers of polluting and energy-intensive nonferrous metals like aluminium and copper. The two governments said the officials responsible were dismissed or subjected to “administrative” punishments. “Regardless of whether they deny deliberately tampering and whether or not it has an obvious impact on emissions data, spraying water on air quality monitoring sampling points … disrupts the normal operations of air quality monitoring,” the ministry said. The MEP has tried to establish a real-time nationwide emissions monitoring system to help fight against pollution and ensure its rules are being enforced throughout the country. But it has also been forced to crack down on the widespread falsification of data, with local officials accused of trying to evade responsibility by misusing or disabling monitoring equipment. Some firms have also sought to evade monitoring by operating only at night. The ministry has sought to reduce “administrative interference” in its emissions data by bringing all its 1,436 monitoring stations under central government control and denying local authorities access to the equipment. This isn’t the first time Henan has been castigated for failing to maintain the integrity of its air quality data, with the ministry accusing local firms of providing fraudulent emissions figures last March. Local environmental officials in the northwestern city of Xian have also been punished for stuffing sensors with cotton and removing surveillance tapes.

china pollution climate corruption scandals police


Japanese opposition parties DP and Kibo no To agree to join forces

Abstract: Top executives from two opposition parties reached a broad agreement Monday to form a joint parliamentary group, a move that could potentially knock the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan — a staunchly liberal party dead-set against Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s bid to revise the Constitution — out of its position as the biggest opposition force in the Lower House. The deal by Kibo no To (Party of Hope) and the Democratic Party, if finalized, would mark a tectonic shift in the Diet since the No. 1 opposition party is usually given a greater say in parliamentary decisions, including how to proceed on constitutional amendments should any be proposed. On Monday, the secretaries-general of the two parties met and agreed to tie up for this year’s regular Diet session, which kicks off on Jan. 22. A group of 14 independents who belonged to the DP before the Lower House election in October are expected to join the parliamentary group, according to the party executives. This would create the largest opposition bloc in both the Upper and Lower houses. Under the deal, Kibo, the DP and the group of independents would maintain their separate organizations and platforms, but all members would be obliged to vote in unity in the Diet. Kibo no To, the key component of the alliance, is considered more flexible on constitutional revision than the CDP, which has 54 seats in the Lower House and six in the Upper House. The new group would have 65 seats in the Lower House and nearly 50 in the Upper House. To be effective, the deal should be approved by the rank-and-file members of each party. Kibo no To leader Yuichiro Tamaki on Friday reiterated his party’s intention to oppose Abe’s proposal to add an explicit reference to the Self-Defense Forces to war-renouncing Article 9. But Kibo no To has several conservative members calling for constitutional revision. Others are known for their strongly nationalist stances, such as Kyoko Nakayama and her husband, Nariaki Nakayama. It has long been the general consensus in the Diet that at least the approval of the biggest opposition force should be secured before making key decisions on constitution-related issues, including whether to initiate a national referendum. Abe has said that Article 9 should be revised to formalize the legal status of the SDF, which he promises would not change the substance of its operations. The CDP, however, opposes Abe’s proposal, saying it’s based on the 2015 security laws, which the party believes violate the pacifist Constitution by partially approving Japan’s use of collective self-defense, or aiding an ally under attack. Use of the right was long considered banned by Article 9. The group of 14 independents includes former DP President Katsuya Okada and other heavyweights. Teruhiko Mashiko, secretary-general of the DP, said Monday he is hopeful the independents will agree to the tie-up but indicated they have yet to explicitly say they will join. Later at a news conference, Mashiko said he will “make a continued effort” to convince the CDP to join the new parliamentary group even after the DP’s deal with Kibo no To is finalized. Yukio Edano, head of the CDP, has consistently rejected the idea of forming an alliance with the DP and Kibo no To lest it be perceived by voters as engaging in what he called a “numbers game” in the Diet. In a document unveiled Monday, the Kibo no To and DP representatives agreed to protect the pacifist elements of the Constitution but offered no stronger commitment regarding Abe’s proposal and Article 9. On Abe’s divisive 2015 security laws, which give the SDF a bigger role overseas, Kibo no To, which has adopted a tolerant stance on them, compromised by agreeing to join the DP’s effort to scrap the parts of the laws deemed unconstitutional. Since winning by a landslide in October’s snap election, an emboldened Abe has missed no opportunity to emphasize his willingness to amend the charter by 2020 — a self-imposed deadline he unveiled in a surprise announcement last May. Speaking in Tokyo in December, Abe said he wants 2020 to mark a “significant rebirth” of Japan with a renewed Constitution. Separately, at a New Year’s news conference, he said he’d like to see the Diet initiate amendments by the end of the year. UPDATE : The original headline and report were amended on Jan. 16 to reflect the fact that party leaders of the Democratic Party and Kibo no To are currently reaching out to the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.

constitutional democratic party of japan


Nobel winner Hiroshi Amano and his team tap gallium nitride technology in bid to transmit power wirelessly from a distance

Abstract: Hiroshi Amano, a professor from Nagoya University who was awarded the 2014 Nobel Prize in physics, is developing together with other researchers a remote power supply system that sends energy to distant places using electromagnetic waves. If put into practical use the research could greatly benefit all of society, such as through recharging electric vehicles (EV) while they are running or sending solar power generated in space to the earth. “Our first target is to create a wireless system to supply electricity to drones within three years,” Amano said. Currently, wires and cables must be connected to an electrical device to supply energy so that it can run continuously. Some wireless power transmission technology is already available, but it is inefficient and limited to products that can run on low power such as mobile phones. The research team aims to develop a system that can convert electricity into high-frequency electromagnetic waves that are then sent to the target destination, like a laser light from an antenna, and converted back to electricity via a receiving antenna. Theoretically it is possible to send a large amount of electricity to a distant place efficiently, but it is difficult to put the idea to practical use with current technology as a lot of energy is lost in the process. Amano, 57, and his team have utilized the technology of crystallizing gallium nitride (GaN) — which was key to developing the blue light-emitting diodes (LED) that won Amano his Nobel Prize — becoming the first in the world to successfully improve the performance of power semiconductors used to regulate voltage and electric current. They believe this will contribute to resolving issues such as power loss. The team has begun by developing a system for drones. With the cooperation of Japanese electronic manufacturers and drone developers, they are currently building a system with an electric circuit and embedded antenna. The first target is to build within the next three years a system that can transfer energy wirelessly over a short distance — of a few dozen centimeters — in three minutes. After that, they hope to develop it further so the system becomes able to charge a drone that can fly approximately 100 meters high. “Remote power supplies will revolutionize the way goods and people are transported. They can enrich our lives,” said Amano. Since drones can fly across areas regardless of geographical features, they have gained attention as a useful tool in disaster rescue missions and as a next-generation alternative for distributing goods. However, they can only fly for a short period of time and need to be recharged frequently. A standard drone that is carrying an object weighing 20 kg can only fly for about 30 minutes. If drones can be recharged while flying using a remote power supply system, their flight time will become virtually unlimited. Manufacturers around the world are also competing to improve the performance of electric vehicles, where the new technology could again offer benefits. One of the shortcomings of EVs is the long period of time needed for them to recharge. However, if remote power supply systems are installed on the road or intersections vehicles could recharge while running, so drivers would not have to stop at recharging stations. Competition around the world to develop wireless power transmission technology is growing increasingly fierce. The most well-known method is the magnetic coupling method, written in a paper published by Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2007, but this method basically covers only short distances. The system Amano and his team aim to build will enable the supply of power by sending electromagnetic waves to remote islands and other places, as well as transmitting electricity from offshore wind power efficiently to cities. In the future, it may even be possible to build a space solar power plant whereby electricity generated in solar panels that are floating in space would be sent to Earth. The development of the blue LED was a revolution in lighting technology, following the invention of incandescent bulbs and fluorescent lamps. “I believe that (the remote power supply system) will become the technology that can make a greater contribution than the blue LED to the well-being of people all over the world,” said Amano.

drones
nagoya university
nobel prize
led
hiroshi amano
remote power supply


Japan's parcel firms test drop-off lockers, as social change increases the costs and reduces the appeal of face-to-face deliveries

Abstract: The timely and secure delivery of packages through face-to-face services has long been a source of pride for Japanese couriers. But times have changed. With more women and seniors working and single-person households increasing, face-to-face deliveries to the home are proving more difficult. The rise of online shopping and the labor shortage have also made it harder for delivery services to handle everything through home deliveries. For these reasons, the logistics industry is trying out a system of drop-off lockers, believing their use could widen pickup options for consumers as well as achieve more efficient parcel handling for the couriers themselves. In today’s ‘FYI’ we look at these new drop-off locker systems in more detail. What is a drop-off locker and how is it used? A drop-off locker is a physical locker used to store items people have purchased online until they are ready to collect the items. Consumers who buy goods from an internet store can ask a courier to put the item in a designated locker. Once it has been dropped off, customers receive a notification via email and can go and pick up the item. Packcity Japan Co., a Tokyo-based drop-off locker operator, started installing PUDO (pick up and drop off) stations in 2016, mainly in Tokyo and the surrounding prefectures. The firm — which is jointly funded by Japan’s top courier, Yamato Transport Co., and France-based Neopost — had set up about 2,000 lockers as of early this month. The lockers can be used not only by Yamato but also its rivals, including Sagawa Express Co. To use the lockers, customers need (in principle) to become registered members of each courier’s online service. Japan Post Co. has also been running a locker service called Hakoposu since April 2015. This service currently only accepts parcels delivered by Japan Post but the firm is considering partnering with others, a Japan Post representative said. The service currently operates 192 lockers in major cities. Where can we find the lockers and what kind of parcels can they hold? Packcity Japan said it mainly installs lockers at train stations, supermarkets and drugstores — places people are likely to frequent in the course of their daily lives. They can pick up packages while commuting or grocery shopping, said Yoichiro Katsu, a Packcity Japan executive overseeing its sales and marketing group. “Supermarkets and drugstores are very cooperative, since they can expect people to shop when they come to get their parcels,” said Katsu. He said Packcity Japan bears the entire cost of installing the lockers and charges parcel delivery providers a fee to use them. The lockers can hold packages for which the sum of their width, height and length is 100 centimeters or less, and their weight is 10 kilograms or less. The operator does not accept parcels containing food. Why is the use of such lockers increasing? Other than the home, parcels in Japan can be picked up at convenience stores and at delivery firms’ branches — both still face-to-face services. Katsu said Yamato learned about NeoPost’s drop-off locker service in France while it was researching potential alternatives for customers. “We thought people might want to receive parcels without having to face anyone,” said Katsu. A Yamato representative said the nonface-to-face service would be helpful for women living alone, for instance, because some may feel uneasy about opening their door to a stranger. The anonymous option may be quite a big change for the country’s logistics industry, since couriers have long valued the importance of face-to-face service. The major providers are competing hard to improve quality, such as handling parcels safely, offering delivery time schedules convenient for users and arriving on time, said Katsu. “In the past, mail orders were used mainly to send gifts, so it was important that those gifts were delivered to homes safely by mailmen,” Katsu said. But thanks to the internet many people now use online shopping services to get even a small item, contributing to a surge in parcels. In fiscal 2016, the number of parcel deliveries were about 4 billion in Japan — an increase of more than a billion from fiscal 2006. What are the other merits of drop-off lockers? Katsu said one of the main reasons for introducing drop-off lockers was to mitigate the labor shortage, which hit Japan’s logistics industry hard last year. Yamato Transport raised its basic shipping rates for individuals by 15 percent on average amid a driver shortage. Japan Post is planning to raise parcel delivery rates by 12 percent starting in March. The increase in working women and working seniors, and single-person households, has also led to more households where no one is home to receive packages during the day. This has resulted in a surge in cases in which delivery services have to repeatedly visit homes to deliver packages when someone is in, resulting in a logistics burden. Katsu said, however, that the lockers have yet to yield a visible impact. Since many people are still not aware of the drop-off lockers, the firm still has to increase their numbers and encourage their use to make them a part of the delivery infrastructure, he said. “Then we’ll start seeing an effect, which I think will still take a while,” said Katsu.

yamato transport co .
japan post co .
drop-off lockers
delivery firms
packcity japan co .