Explosion in a Restaurant & more – 4th July 2023

Konnichiwa from Keswick Village! This is the Rorshok Japan Update from the 4th of July twenty twenty-three A quick summary of what's going down in Japan.

On Monday the 3rd, an explosion near Tokyo’s Shimbashi Station injured four people. It came from a restaurant on the west side of the station and blew out the windows while the staff were prepping to open. When the manager lit a cigarette in the smoking room, it exploded. A science professor who observed the scene said that the explosion might have been caused by a gas leak because the windows on the floor above weren’t shattered and damage was relatively minimal. Those injured included the restaurant manager, one of the staff, as well as two passersby who were outside the building at the time. Police have closed off the area so that they could investigate.

Meanwhile, heavy rains are currently sweeping through Kyushu and Yamaguchi Prefecture. It started on Saturday the 1st and is expected to continue until at least Tuesday the 4th. River levels have risen, including Kiyama River in Mashiki Town, which has overflowed, and the Shirakawa and Mifune rivers, which have gone past flood risk levels. So far, reportedly, one person has gone missing, and one died An evacuation notice was sent out on Monday the 3rd for areas at high risk for flooding and damage. There are landslide alerts across Kyushu and residents should stay informed of where their nearest evacuation center is and listen to the news in case they receive an evacuation notice.

Although the weather is looking grim in Kyushu, there have been some good diplomatic developments in politics.

On Wednesday the 28th, the secretary-general of the Liberal Democratic Party met with Taiwan's vice premier. The meeting marks a trend in potentially strengthening relations between Japan and Taiwan. Back in nineteen seventy-two, Japan broke off diplomatic ties with Taiwan because the country wanted to be on good terms with China. Japan didn't want to anger China by considering Taiwan an independent country instead of one of China’s territories. But since July of twenty twenty-two, when the Taiwanese vice president visited Japan to offer his condolences after Prime Minister Abe Shinzo's murder, and considering recent tensions between Japan and China, the secretary-general spoke of improving ties with Taiwan in the future.

Relations with Japan’s other neighbor, South Korea, also show signs of improving.

On Thursday the 29th, the finance ministers of both countries agreed to a currency swap deal. The deal would let the countries exchange their reserves of up to 10 billion US dollars to have extra cash supplies in case of an emergency. The deal originally started in two thousand and six, but expired in twenty fifthteen when relations between Japan and South Korea were poor. While part of the agreement is to work together in creating clean energy products and keeping an eye on mischief from North Korea, it's mostly symbolic of repairing economic relations between the two countries.

Moving on, the Nuclear Regulation Authority finished inspecting the Daiichi nuclear power plant on Friday the 30th to release its purified water. The formerly radioactive water will be released into the ocean, treated, and diluted, so that it conforms to the World Health Organization’s guidelines for safe drinking water. The officials checked for possible leaks or oddities and tested emergency shut-off valves. The inspection went smoothly, but they won’t release the official report until next week. Afterward, they will likely issue a certificate to Tokyo Electric Power Company, the operator of the plant, so that they can begin releasing the water.

In response to the government’s impending approval, a fisheries group announced their opposition to the treated water being released for the fourth year in a row. Their main concern is that people will hear about water containing tritium and think that it’s radioactive, which might make consumers avoid buying seafood fished from that area. That’s why the fisheries group wants the treated water to stay on land. They said that the plant needs to be decommissioned, and don’t think this is the right way to dispose of the built-up water used to cool the reactors. They said that the government needs to support the fishing industry.

Meanwhile, in business news, the Bank of Japan conducted its quarterly Tankan survey and released its results on Monday the 3rd. The survey is sent out every quarter to thousands of businesses across Japan to figure out how business conditions are in terms of economics, hiring, and more. The businesses rate the conditions of various parts of their industry on a point-based system. The latest survey found that large manufacturers rated their conditions as improved from the last survey in March, probably because of a recovery in auto production and better earnings. Large non-manufacturers had an even more positive sentiment. This is likely due to an increase in foreign tourists and the incoming revenue from hotels and restaurants.

Let’s talk about AI. Amidst the hubbub surrounding AI advancements, NEC, a Japanese electronics giant, also announced its plans to launch business services based on its own generative AI later this month. The AI includes a large-scale language model specifically designed for the Japanese language and utilizes customized technical terms for various business fields. NEC has also optimized software processing in order to reduce power consumption. By keeping the entire process within Japan, the company aims to provide enhanced data security and is considering offering the services to public entities in addition to businesses. Other Japanese companies like SoftBank, Line, and CyberAgent are also developing their own generative AI systems.

Despite the overall optimism, some companies have experienced pitfalls. Most notably, Japan Post Holdings announced on Friday the 30th that it lost around 85 billion yen (or 587 million US dollars) on its stake in Rakuten Group, an e-commerce giant. Rakuten’s cellphone business is bleeding money, and their stock is going down. Their shares are currently worth three and a half US dollars, less than half of what Japan Post Holdings bought them for. So, they’ve essentially lost half of their investment. Some are questioning what strategy they’re using to invest, but the company, which is thirty-four percent owned by the government, hasn’t yet made any comment on the situation.

On a more festive front, on the 7th of July, Tanabata will be celebrated in many places across the country. Tanabata, also known as the Star Festival, celebrates the meeting of two star-crossed lovers, Orihime and Hikoboshi, who are separated by the Milky Way and can only meet once a year, on the seventh day of the seventh month. People celebrate by writing down a wish on a strip of paper and hanging it from a bamboo tree, but some cities have additional celebrations, such as parades, fireworks, and decorations. The biggest Tanabata Festival is held in Sendai from the 6th to the 8th of August during the evening.

Other summer activities are opening up as well, including hiking Mt. Fuji. On Saturday the 1st, a Shinto shrine located at Mt. Fuji’s fifth station held a ceremony to mark the Yoshida Trail’s opening and pray for the hikers’ safety. The Yoshida Trail in Yamanashi Prefecture is the most popular trail and has many mountain huts and amenities along the way. Although it rained, hikers were still able to enjoy views of Lake Yamanaka and other areas. The summer climbing season in Yamanashi Prefecture will last until the 10th of September, while the other three trails on the Shizuoka side will open on the 10th of July, and also close on the 10th of September.

That’s it for this week! Thanks for joining us!

This Japan Rorshok Update is one of the country-specific podcasts we do.

But we've always wanted to try some on other topics less tangible than countries. And we finally have!

Last week we have launched the Rorshok Ocean Update, about the 70% Earth's surface covered in salt water as well as The Rorshok Multilateral Update, covering the world's major multilateral institutions. And coming soon, the Rorshok Arctic Update. You can look for them in your podcast listening app of choice or follow the links in the show notes! Tell your friends!

Mata Ne!