JAPAN: Lawsuits against Biden & more – 9th Jan 2025

Konnichiwa from BA! This is the Rorshok Japan Update from the 9th of January twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what's going down in Japan.

In an update to a story from previous shows, Joe Biden, the US president, blocked Nippon Steel's nearly fifteen billion dollar acquisition of US Steel. He said it was because of national security concerns and the need to maintain American ownership of a major steel producer.

In response, Nippon Steel and US Steel jointly filed a lawsuit against Biden, saying there were violations of due process and of statutory requirements, and also political interference. They sought to overturn Biden's order and its review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US.

The companies also filed a lawsuit against Cleveland-Cliffs, a competing steel maker; its CEO; and David McCall, the United Steelworkers union leader. Nippon and US Steel accused them of anticompetitive actions that undermined the deal, demanding an injunction and damages.

In other business news, the Ibaraki Prefectural government in east Japan recently made an announcement that they would get rid of nationality requirements for clerical government positions, allowing non-Japanese to apply. This policy is an attempt to support the growing foreign population, attract inbound visitors, and help workforce needs. The change will begin in March twenty twenty-five.

However, non-Japanese employees will still be excluded from roles involving public authority or decision-making that affect residents' rights, such as tax enforcement, inspections, and issuing permits.

This policy builds on existing practices, as nationality requirements are already waived for positions like doctors and nurses. Ibaraki is the twelfth prefecture to let non-Japanese residents hold clerical and technical positions.

A tragedy occurred on Monday the 6th when a Japanese fishing boat capsized off the Pacific coast near Kashima port, Ibaraki Prefecture. Of the twenty people on board, including Japanese and Indonesian nationals, the Japan Coast Guard rescued seventeen. The other three went overboard and are still missing. However, of the seventeen rescued, two died.

The vessel had originally gone out to catch sardines and sank after overturning. The Japan Coast Guard rescue efforts are ongoing.

While the three fishermen’s fate remains unknown, police in Nagano Prefecture, central Japan, had much more luck in their rescue efforts on Tuesday the 7th of three skiers in the mountains. The three backcountry skiers, all foreigners, got lost on Monday the 6th while skiing off regular slopes in Otari Village. They had no injuries, and survived the night by digging a snow hole to stay warm.

Over ten police personnel began the search on Tuesday the 7th and found the skiers around an altitude of 1,200 meters or nearly 4,000 feet. This incident follows the recent death of a backcountry skier in Nagano, after which police warned skiers to check the terrain and carry essential equipment before skiing.

That wasn’t the only boat-related incident this past week. A nearly 4,000-ton tanker hit a rocky beach near Cape Esan in Hokkaido, north Japan, on Monday the 6th, and caused an oil spill. Fortunately, its cargo of 3,800 kiloliters, which is 24,000 barrels, of diesel fuel and kerosene was perfectly fine, but its fuel tank, containing 1,200 barrels of fuel oil, was damaged, which was where the spill came from.

A fuel slick measuring 2.7 km by one km was discovered on Wednesday the 8th, during salvage preparations. Wako Kisen, the company that owns the tanker, tried to tow it but failed, and on Wednesday, told the local Coast Guard that they found an oil spill. The tanker’s crew put up an oil fence to try to contain the spill.

The Japan Coast Guard is investigating the incident, while the shipowner and salvage company are assessing the spill and planning further actions.

Meanwhile, Wednesday the 1st marked the one-year anniversary of the Noto Peninsula earthquake. The city of Wajima in Ishikawa Prefecture, central Japan, held a memorial service for the victims of the quake and the heavy rainfall at the Japan Aviation Academy's Noto Airport campus.

Hiroshi Hase, the Ishikawa governor, and 300 family members of the victims attended the service.

On another note, Resona Bank announced on Tuesday the 7th that its internet banking service for individual clients has likely suffered its second distributed denial-of-service or DDoS cyberattack, temporarily suspending transactions. This followed a similar attack on another bank, MUFG, around Christmas last year, during which no customer data was compromised.

Other Japanese companies, such as Mizuho Bank and Japan Airlines, have also faced DDoS attacks recently. Resona Bank apologized for the disruption, and confirmed no one stole any customer data in the latest incident.

Speaking of cyberattacks, the National Police Agency or NPA reported that the Chinese hacking group MirrorFace has conducted 210 cyberattacks on Japanese government agencies and companies since twenty nineteen, targeting confidential information related to security and advanced technology. Victims include the Japan Space Agency, members of the Liberal Democratic Party, and ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defense.

The NPA believes that MirrorFace is linked to China's intelligence agency and that these cyberattacks are part of a systematic government operation to get confidential information. While no major data leaks have been confirmed, the hacking group accessed some terminal and network data. The agency urges caution with suspicious emails and calls for stronger communication monitoring.

Japan plans to introduce active cyber defense measures and submit related legislation to the Diet on the 24th of January.

In a follow-up to a story from a previous show, the sentencing of Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter for baseball star Shohei Ohtani, has been postponed for the third time to the 6th of February. In June twenty twenty-four, Mizuhara admitted to charges of filing a false tax return and bank fraud, having stolen nearly seventeen million dollars from Ohtani's account.

Mizuhara’s lawyer requested the latest delay, citing the incomplete report from a forensic psychologist evaluating Mizuhara's gambling issues. The report was delayed due to the psychologist's other commitments during the holiday season.

While Mizuhara faces a maximum sentence of thirty-three years, he will likely receive a reduced sentence under a plea deal with prosecutors.

In sports news, Hideki Matsuyama, a professional golfer, scored the eleventh PGA Tour win of his career on Sunday the 5th at the tour’s season-opening event in Hawaii. He set a record-breaking total of thirty-five-under par. This is more than the previous PGA Tour record of thirty-four-under that Cameron Smith set in twenty twenty-two, and marks the best score in PGA Tour history since records began in nineteen eighty-three.

Collin Morikawa, his closest competitor, finished second at thirty-two-under par.

In entertainment news, Nippon Television cut scenes featuring Masahiro Nakai, a former member of SMAP, a popular Japanese boy band that disbanded in twenty sixteen, from a program aired on Tuesday the 7th following allegations reported by magazines about an incident involving a woman. Nakai, who is fifty-two years old, reportedly paid ninety million yen, which is 570,000 dollars, in an out-of-court settlement. However, no media has reported any further details, so not much is known about what actually happened.

The broadcaster said that they made the decision after a thorough review, and Nakai accepted the move. Other networks have also suspended Nakai’s appearances, with some programs set to be replaced, but they declined to provide further details.

Finally, Tomiko Itōka, the world’s oldest person, passed away at age 116 on the 29th of December, twenty twenty-four, at a nursing home in Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture, central Japan. Born in Osaka on the 23rd of May, nineteen eight, she became the world's oldest person after the death of Spain's Maria Branyas Morera in twenty twenty-four.

Itōka had four children and five grandchildren. Since her passing, the current oldest person in the world is Okagi Hayashi, who is 115 years old and lives in Toki, Gifu Prefecture, central Japan.

Japan’s aging population highlights its demographic challenges, with over 95,000 over 100 years old as of September twenty twenty-four, eighty-eight percent of whom are women. Nearly one-third of Japan's 124 million citizens are aged sixty-five or older, straining healthcare and welfare systems amid a shrinking workforce.

Aaand that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us!

Thanks for sticking around for this episode of the Rorshok Japan update! Thank you for your support, shares, and feedback. Got ideas, suggestions, or just want to say hi? Just drop us a line at info@rorshok.com.

Here’s to another year of keeping you on the loop with what's going down in Japan. Happy twenty twenty-five!

Mata Ne!