Chinese Military Aircraft Flying Over the Pacific Ocean & more –13th June 2023

Konnichiwa from Keswick Village! This is the Rorshok Japan Update from the 13th June twenty twenty-three A quick summary of what's going down in Japan.

In troubling news, Japanese defense officials spotted a Chinese military aircraft flying over the Pacific Ocean, south of Okinawa Prefecture. The aircraft was a modified version of a Y9 intelligence-gathering aircraft and flew from the Bashi Channel between Taiwan and the Philippines on Thursday the 8th. It circled the air near the Sakishima Islands south of Okinawa, but did not actually enter Japanese airspace. Then it flew back toward the Bashi Channel. Nothing else has happened yet, but defense officials said that they will keep an eye on aircrafts.

Authorities also remain alert in regards to the North Korean situation. Last month, North Korea announced that it would launch a satellite between the 31st of May and the 11th of June. This is similar to past incidents in twenty twelve and twenty sixteen when North Korea said that it would launch a satellite, but instead launched ballistic missiles. This time around, the first satellite launch failed due to a faulty engine. They said they would launch another satellite, but did not do so. The Maritime Self-Defense Force Aegis destroyers will keep being deployed in the East China Sea, equipped with advanced radar and interceptor missiles just in case. Ground Self-Defense Force officials will also continue to monitor Okinawa in case any rescue is needed or hazardous objects fall down on land.

Meanwhile, an earthquake with a 6.2 magnitude hit Hokkaido on Sunday the 12th, but luckily, there weren’t any reported injuries or damages.

There were some minor damages in another quarter, though.

On Saturday the 10th, two airplanes at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport got into a minor collision while taxiing down the runway. There were no injuries, but a small piece of one of the planes fell off. The airport staff closed down the runway and brought in a shuttle bus to transport passengers from both flights to the airport. The runway was closed for around two hours while the crew checked for debris, which caused flight delays for other airlines since they could not use that runway during that time.

On Thursday the 8th, the Upper House committee approved a change to immigration law that will make it easier to deport illegal immigrants. Before, it was possible for those seeking asylum to enter the country illegally and apply for refugee status over and over, all while being shielded from deportation. The new law means that such people would no longer be exempt from deportation after their second time applying unless they gave a good reason. The law also said that those facing deportation wouldn’t have to stay in a detention center as long as they were under supervision.

But there's no need to worry that Japan is going to start cracking down on immigration unfairly. The very next day, on Friday the 9th, the Cabinet made it easier for more foreigners to get long-term or permanent residency. Before, those on a worker visa could only apply for permanent residency if they were in certain industries. While this is still true to an extent, the number of viable industries has now expanded to include things such as aviation.

Lawmakers are being proactive on the technological front as well. Government officials recently met to discuss the rapid advancements of AI and how to protect copyright in light of it. AI works by generating content based off of human-composed art and writings, after all, so it's important to draw a line between derivation and outright stealing in order to protect people's intellectual property. Even though no solid conclusions came out of the meeting, officials are planning measures to protect creators and work out a clearer definition of what copyright violation is in today's digital age.

Japan isn’t stopping there. The government has also drawn up a set of guidelines on security in outer space, called the Space Security Initiative. The ultimate goal is to counter threats from outer space, such as from military satellites, and contains three basic policies. The first is to expand the space program for the sake of national security; second, to make sure it’s safe and sustainable; and third, to have space security and space industry development support each other. Japan also aims to join the Combined Space Operations Center, currently operated by the US, UK, Australia, and Canada, which keeps an eye on who is attacking or trying to block military and commercial satellites.

In other news, on Wednesday the 7th and again on Saturday the 10th, Japan's economy and industry minister held discussions with fishermen from Fukushima and surrounding areas about releasing treated water from the Fukushima power plant. The government plans to release the water into the ocean after ensuring it meets the World Health Organization’s safety standards for drinking water. Some fishermen are worried about the safety of this plan and said that the government should focus on safely decommissioning the damaged nuclear power plant, but are willing to continue meeting to discuss further.

Recall we talked about Johnny & Associates agency, and a case of sexual abuse? Well, two former members of the talent agency visited the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters on Monday the 12th to address the abuse issue. During the special committee meeting, they asked for the child abuse prevention law to be changed so that anyone who saw child abuse taking place would have to report it to the police. They also asked that elementary and middle schools tell students they could contact school authorities in case they were being sexually abused. After the meeting, the special committee deputy secretary-general said that the meeting helped him realize they had to make sure the legal system would protect children. In addition to revising the child abuse prevention law, he wants the whole system to protect minors properly.

Moving on, the Dentsu Group released a report on Friday the 9th looking into the bid-rigging scandal during the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. Earlier this year, Tokyo district prosecutors charged six companies, including Japan’s biggest advertising agency, the Dentsu Group, for violating the Antimonopoly Act. Prosecutors said these companies illegally assigned contracts and colluded for the pre-Game test event. The Dentsu Group asked a third party to do an investigation into the matter, and their report found that the corporate culture focused way too much on satisfying clients' demands. Moreover, management didn’t seem to care about legal risks and disregarded fairness and transparency. The report emphasized the need for Dentsu executives to reform the company's principles and code of conduct. Dentsu Group’s president admitted they ignored due process, and established a panel to prevent future incidents.

In sports-related news, two Japanese tennis players made headlines in the French Open.

First was seventeen-year-old Tokito Oda, who won the men's wheelchair singles Grand Slam title. He became the youngest ever to win in that category since nineteen sixty-eight when the French Open first opened up to both amateurs and professionals. Oda stated that he hoped his performance inspired more people to watch wheelchair tennis.

Next was Miyu Kato, though her headlines weren’t nearly as triumphant. Officials at the French Open disqualified her for accidentally hitting someone with a ball on the opposing side when she was practicing between plays. Although the official in charge was only going to give her a warning, the other side complained that a warning was too light. So, he disqualified Kato from the rest of the competition. Kato made a public apology for her carelessness, but also appealed the decision. The Professional Tennis Players Association backed her up, saying that removing her and her partner was an unjust and disproportionate punishment.

And that's it for this week. Another quick question. How are we doing on bias? Ax grinding? We try to be independent and stick to the facts and context with favor and fear of none. How are we doing? So do we seem even a teensy bit biased? Tell us at japan@rorshok.com

Mata Ne!