JAPAN: Kishida’s Speech & more – 6th Feb 2024

Konnichiwa from Keswick Village! This is the Rorshok Japan Update from the 6th of February twenty twenty-four A quick summary of what's going down in Japan.

Last week we told you that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida delayed his policy speech from the first day of the Diet session. On Tuesday the 30th, he gave the speech and offered condolences to those affected by the earthquake, talked about improving the economy, and spoke on ways to reform political funds laws so there isn’t a repeat of political parties making slush funds and giving kickbacks to members. He suggested that political factions should be separated from personnel and money affairs, as this would help increase transparency and make it harder for members to hide funds.

The Abe Faction of the Liberal Democratic Party, the faction that underreported funds by the biggest amount, also came out with the correction to their reports on Wednesday the 31st. The new reports said that the faction gave kickbacks totaling almost five million dollars to its members from twenty seventeen to twenty twenty-two.

The leader of the opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party, told Kishida that he should make all lawmakers who had their fingers in the slush fund resign as Diet members. Kishida said that they had to keep investigating before going that far.

That same day, two parliamentary vice ministers from the Liberal Democratic Party resigned. Investigations revealed they also left some numbers off their political funds' reports and took kickbacks. This is in addition to the fifteen senior government officials who left their positions in December because they violated the political funds law.

Meanwhile, people along the Noto Peninsula are still recovering from the earthquake that took place on the 1st of January. Many places don’t have water yet. Officials said that some areas would get their water supply back in March, but others won’t get it back until April.

Local businesses and markets are gradually reopening despite some of them having damaged infrastructure. Authorities are currently focusing on helping those local businesses rebuild and supporting evacuees in temporary housing.

Some have taken the chance to come together to show their support. On Saturday the 3rd, in New York, in the US, Japan Village hosted the Noto Earthquake Sake Charity Event. The event had both live music and rice wine tastings to raise money for those struggling after the earthquake. Broadway performer Minami Yusui also sang at the event, including classics like Kyu Sakamoto's song Sukiyaki, known better in Japan as Ue o Muite Aruko. Sukiyaki is the only Japanese-language song to hit number one on the USA’s Billboard Hot 100 music charts.

180 Japanese nationals and Japanese Americans attended the event. Its proceeds will go to support recovery efforts in the Noto Peninsula area.

Moving on, on Wednesday the 31st, a fire broke out at a thermal power plant in Aichi Prefecture, central Japan. There was a small explosion followed by a fire on a conveyor belt in the plant’s boiler area. Fortunately, it didn’t injure anyone.

Firefighters managed to put out the flames in under four hours.

In international news, on Friday the 2nd, the US Marines and Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force announced they will hold joint drills in Kyushu and Okinawa, Japan’s southern region, from the 25th of February to the 17th of March. They will do landing exercises and live fire practice.

The two militaries have been doing these joint drills since two thousand six to practice defending remote islands. However, last year was the first time they did them in Japan.

Speaking of drills, Japan’s Coast Guard sent some of its members to take part in rescue drills in Micronesia and the Marshall Islands. The drills took place from the 13th to the 28th of January and focused on helping people in the water climb onto a boat using a net. Another goal of the drills was to train these countries to save fishing boats.

Japan has been trying to bolster its fellow nations with these kinds of efforts since twenty seventeen, partly in reaction to China stepping up its maritime activities.

This is also reflected in Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa's visit to two other Pacific Islands, Samoa and Fiji. She announced on Friday the 2nd that she would go to a preparatory meeting for the tenth Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting, which will be held in Tokyo this July. Japan has been hosting these summits every three years since nineteen ninety-seven. Kamikawa said it's important for the region's security to strengthen ties with fellow island nations.

Moving on to business news, brokerage SMBC Nikko Securities recently announced that their president will step down on the 1st of April. Back in twenty twenty-two, financial regulators found out the company had manipulated the stock market and slapped them with a business suspension order and a bunch of fines in twenty twenty-three.

The new president will be Shuji Yoshioka. a senior managing executive officer. With new leadership, the company hopes for a fresh start. Their goal is to root out any remaining corruption and rebuild their corporate culture.

Meanwhile, on Friday the 2nd, the Tokyo city government announced its plans to open a new subway line to Haneda Airport, Tokyo’s second biggest airport. The new line will be six kilometers or nearly four miles long and go from near Tokyo Station to the convention center Tokyo Big Sight. They plan to open it by twenty forty.

Tokyo Waterfront Area Rapid Transit, which runs the Rinkai Line and is funded by the Tokyo government and East Japan Railway, will operate the subway line once it’s ready.

The government aims to make it easier for people to get from Haneda to Tokyo’s bay area as part of an overall goal to help develop that region. The governor said that better access will make it easier for overseas visitors to get to the bay area and the rest of central Tokyo.

In science news, Japan’s space agency introduced two astronaut candidates in a press conference on Wednesday the 31st. The agency chose the candidates in February twenty twenty-two after fourteen years of not recruiting anyone for their astronaut program. They are currently in a two-year basic training program that includes piloting, learning English and Russian, and physical fitness. Other parts of the program cover science, engineering, and medicine. The candidates will finish training and be certified as astronauts around November.

In another interesting development, education provider Benesse is going to start a new service that uses AI to help elementary and middle school students answer questions. The AI service will use things like animation to give advice on learning methods and different subjects. The company hopes that students will have an easier time asking the AI questions, which can be less intimidating than calling for a teacher.

Benesse isn’t the only one capitalizing on the AI trend. Education company Nagase Brothers plans to start using AI in April to help correct students’ English tests and essays.

Meanwhile, in sports, Major League star Shohei Ohtani made his first appearance in front of Los Angeles Dodgers fans at a fan festival in Dodger Stadium on Saturday the 3rd. Ohtani said that he feels like he’s become a part of the Dodgers and made light-hearted jokes. He also said he was determined to help the Dodgers win the World Series and encouraged fans to “join the team’s fight” to make it happen.

He also told reporters later on that, hitting-wise, his right elbow is practically as good as new after having surgery last year. He will play as a designated hitter once the season opens on the 20th of March. However, he will take it easy when it comes to pitching until his right elbow fully heals.

Aand that is for this week.

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