JAPAN: Summit & more – 28th May 2024

Konnichiwa from BA! This is the Rorshok Japan Update from the 28th of May twenty twenty-four. A quick summary of what's going down in Japan.

On Monday the 27th, China, South Korea, and Japan held a summit in Seoul, South Korea. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida flew to the city ahead of time and held one-on-one meetings with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Sunday, the 26th.

Kishida told Yoon he wanted to keep close contact with him as next year will be the sixtieth anniversary of peace between Japan and South Korea. He also said it was important to work together to keep the Indo-Pacific region free and open for everyone. The leaders agreed to expand youth exchanges and strengthen cooperation against North Korea's nuclear and missile threats. They also aimed to enhance the trilateral relationship among Japan, the United States, and South Korea.

In the meeting with Premier Li, Kishida said they should try to have a better relationship for the sake of both countries and the international community. Li agreed they need to manage their differences and build constructive, stable ties.

The two leaders decided to work together on environmental issues, energy conservation, and medical care. Kishida urged China to lift its ban on Japanese seafood imports, which China placed in response to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant’s treated water release. They also talked about China's maritime activities, the detentions of Japanese nationals, and maintaining peace in the Taiwan Strait.

For the actual summit, the three leaders made a joint declaration reaffirming their commitment to the UN Charter's principles and an international order based on the law. They agreed to hold regular trilateral summits and foreign ministers' meetings.

Speaking of China, the Group of Seven or G7 finance ministers talked about China’s industrial issues on Saturday the 25th during their meeting in Stresa, Italy. They said that Beijing sold electric vehicles overseas at unfairly low prices, making it hard for other nations to compete. They criticized China's non-market policies for undermining workers, industries, and economies in G7 countries. The officials hinted at creating measures to ensure fair competition according to World Trade Organization principles.

The G7 ministers also discussed using Russia’s frozen assets to support Ukraine amidst the ongoing conflict. However, Shunichi Suzuki, Japan's Finance Minister, said they had to stick to international law regarding the use of these assets. The finance ministers couldn't agree on what to do with the Russian assets, so they will likely discuss it further during the next G7 summit.

On Sunday the 26th, North Korea told the Japanese Coast Guard that they planned to launch an artificial satellite soon. They launched it on Monday the 27th, but the rocket carrying the satellite exploded mid-air. North Korea’s National Aerospace Technology Administration said that a the newly-developed engine that wasn’t reliable enough caused the accident.

The launch marked North Korea's fourth attempt to launch a satellite. However, they have only been successful once.

Regarding that successful satellite, Haruhiko Kataoka, a former chief of staff of the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force, said the satellite’s orbit is similar to Japan’s intelligence-gathering satellites. He said it’s probably trying to monitor US bases, but he can’t be sure if it’s successful since he has no solid data.

North Korea plans to launch three additional military satellites this year. Kataoka said nighttime darkness and clouds can interfere with regular satellite pictures, so they need to pay attention in case North Korea launches satellites with radars.

In political news, on Sunday the 27th, Shizuoka Prefecture residents elected Yasutomo Suzuki, the former mayor of Hamamatsu City, as the new governor. He defeated five candidates. It was the first time in fifteen years that no former governor ran for office. The opposition parties, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and the Democratic Party for the People, supported Suzuki.

During his campaign, he talked about his achievements as mayor and supported the high-speed maglev train project in Shizuoka. He also pledged to revive the local economy by attracting businesses and supporting start-ups.

Meanwhile, a health ministry expert panel approved using Avigan, an anti-influenza drug, to treat severe fever caused by thrombocytopenia syndrome or SFTS. Avigan will be the world's first therapeutic drug for SFTS. This disease is transmitted primarily through tick bites and causes fever and diarrhea. It has a thirty percent mortality rate in Japan.

Fujifilm Toyama Chemical developed Avigan, and the health ministry approved its use for influenza in twenty fourteen. The government stockpiled the drug but later asked people not to use it because they found that it sometimes caused deformities in pregnant women’s babies.

In conservation news, the Asian tree frog, an invasive species of frog, has been spreading on Tokunoshima Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, since last year. The Environment Ministry recently said that it might push out the Amami green tree frog, which is native to the island. The Asian tree frog is originally from Southeast Asia, and it might eat the Amami frog's food and take up its breeding grounds.

To protect the native frog species, the ministry set up nets to stop the invasive species from spreading. They also asked natives to report if they heard the frog, which sounds like a deep quack, or found its spawn.

In tech news, Osaka Expo twenty twenty-five will feature payments made through facial recognition technology to make checkout faster and easier. Before the expo, users will download an app and enter a photo of themselves plus their payment information, such as name and credit card number. Then, after bringing their items to the shop counter, they'll look at a camera that will check their facial features against the Expo's database.

Anyone who likes looking through cameras might have heard about a town in Yamanashi Prefecture that installed a black screen along the sidewalk of a convenience store to block a view of Mount Fuji. The town had been having problems with tourists going onto private property to take pictures of the famous mountain, so they put up the screen, hoping tourists would go somewhere else to take photos.

However, this past week, the town found ten holes in the screen, each one centimeter or half an inch across, enough for a smartphone camera to see through and take a picture. Officials have not yet decided how to respond, but they’re thinking of patching the screen and promoting other areas of town where people can take pictures of Mount Fuji without trespassing on private property.

On Thursday the 23rd, a University of Tokyo team of researchers published a study in Alzheimer’s Research and Therapy, an international medical journal, saying a blood test can detect early-stage Alzheimer’s. Specifically, the test detects the abnormal protein amyloid beta, which accumulates in the brain long before Alzheimer's symptoms appear.

The study analyzed blood samples from 474 individuals in Japan without the disease and compared the results to brain imaging diagnoses. They found that measuring amyloid beta and p-tau217 in blood, combined with age data, predicted amyloid buildup with over ninety percent accuracy.

Takeshi Iwatsubo, the head researcher, said that new drugs approved for Alzheimer's treatment make early detection crucial, and these blood tests would make it easier.

Another important medical advancement was a new, expandable cardiac patch for children with congenital heart disease. Traditionally, patches need to be replaced with surgeries as a child grows. The new patch will stretch with the child as they grow so that they won’t need regular replacement surgeries.

Osaka Medical and Pharmaceutical University developed the patch with textile makers in Osaka and Fukui. Shintaro Nemoto, a professor from the university, spoke to reporters on Monday the 27th. He said they are planning a five-year follow-up study to make sure the patch is safe, and then they will try to get the FDA to approve it so they can sell it internationally.

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

Quick question, listeners! Do you ever go to libraries? If you do, we'd love to talk to you about them. Let us know. Rorshok's Ourzine project is interested in libraries. Find out about Ourzines on our website, there’s a link in the show notes. Thanks!

Mata Ne!

Updating attemp