North Korean Ballistic Missile Launched & more –25th July 2023

Konnichiwa from Keswick Village! This is the Rorshok Japan Update from the 25th of July twenty twenty-three A quick summary of what's going down in Japan.

On Monday the 24th, North Korea launched two ballistic missiles that fell into the Sea of Japan, outside of Japan’s exclusive economic zone. Fortunately, there was no damage to any Japanese vessels or aircraft. The Japanese government said that North Korea’s continued missile launches violate UN Security Council resolutions and endanger not just Japan, but the whole region. The missile launch was likely in response to the US submarine carrying nuclear-tipped weapons stopping at a South Korean naval base from the 17th to the 21st of July, and then another arriving in South Korea’s Jeju Island on Monday the 24th. The US has kept such submarines near Korean waters for nearly seventy years to help deter North Korea from breaking its armistice.

With international tensions rising, Japan’s Self-Defense Force has continued to run drills with allied countries. Last week were anti-ballistic missile maneuvers with South Korea and the United States, and this week, they’re anti-ship missiles with Australia. The drills started on Thursday the 20th and continued until Saturday the 22nd, with Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force going to Australia and joining with the Australian military to locate and destroy a target. They used Japanese and Australian drones to find the training target, a small ship, and live-fired a Japanese-developed anti-ship missile from Australia. The two countries hoped to show China, which has been increasing its military presence in international waters, that they are united.

On a related note, the Japanese government also announced on Sunday the 23rd that it’s thinking of putting up emergency shelters on Okinawa’s Ishigaki Island. The reason is, again, due to China, this time poking its nose around Taiwan, which is only 300 km (less than 200 miles) from Ishigaki. An official went to Ishigaki City to inspect the current layout and facilities. The mayor of Ishigaki suggested that the harbor and airport might need to be expanded to help speed up a potential evacuation. While the island doesn’t have a huge population - roughly 50,000 as of twenty nineteen - the fact that it only has a few exits means that a full-scale evacuation would take at least ten days. The government plans to build more emergency shelters for such a scenario.

In a separate show of solidarity with its allies, Japan is joining the United States and the European Union in widening vehicle export restrictions on Russia. The Japanese government already bans some car exports to Russia, but during the Group of Seven and NATO summits, it promised to increase sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine. The current export ban, which was put in place in April twenty twenty-two, only covered luxury vehicles over 6 million yen, or 43,000 US dollars. The new ban will include domestic cars, some diesel cars, and hybrid and electric vehicles, so that the only cars that can be sold to Russia are certain types of compact cars.

On the domestic front, a heat wave is expected to linger over Japan this week, starting on Tuesday the 25th. It is expected to reach at least thirty-seven degrees Celsius, or ninety-nine degrees Fahrenheit, in Saitama Prefecture. In Kyoto, Fukushima, and Oita Prefectures, the expected temperature is thirty-six degrees Celsius, or ninety-seven degrees Fahrenheit. Other areas of western and northern Japan are also expected to get very hot, so if you’re in that area, be sure to stay hydrated and avoid staying outdoors for too long, as the danger of heatstroke is very real.

Meanwhile, there have also been a number of serious, non-weather-related incidents.

On Sunday the 23rd, police arrested a man who started attacking people on a train in Osaka. He injured the conductor and two passengers, but none of the injuries were life-threatening. Police are still investigating the incident. The thirty-seven-year-old suspect was aiming for people’s faces, so he has been charged with attempted murder.

Fortunately, the attack didn’t result in casualties or serious injuries, but the same cannot be said for the next story.

Kyushu is currently mourning the passing of three sixth-grade girls, who drowned in the Inunaki River on Friday the 21st. The girls were part of a group of eight who were playing in the river on the first day of summer break. One of the girls later reported the three missing when she realized they hadn’t come back from playing in the river. Firefighters and police found the three girls at the bottom of the river about three meters down. They brought them to the hospital, where doctors confirmed the girls were dead. Police are still investigating to figure out what happened.

In an update to a story earlier this month, workers in Shizuoka City started getting rid of a fallen girder for an elevated highway on Saturday the 22nd. The girder collapsed on the 6th of July when the construction workers attempted to move the steel frame. The frame slipped and made the road collapse, which killed two workers and injured six more. Officials have since put up traffic restrictions in the area, and expect that they can lift the restrictions around mid-August once the road is repaired. Police will continue their analysis of the girder once it has been divided, removed, and stored to help determine if there was any weakness in the girder that contributed to its collapse.

There has also been a stir in the business world. On Wednesday the 19th, 110 men sued Wolf Clinic, a body hair removal clinic, for taking their money and not providing the promised service. The men came from across Japan and paid an average of 210,000 yen, or fifteen hundred US dollars, for laser hair removal. Wolf Clinic shut down in April twenty twenty-three, saying they would open back up in May - but never did. Now, clients who paid but received only partial or no treatment at all are upset. The lawyers in charge of the case said they've gotten over 900 complaints against Wolf Clinic. Apparently, the company in charge of the clinic is going to file for bankruptcy, to allegedly refund their clients' money.

But not all businesses are going downhill.

Nissan Motor’s oldest plant and the first factory to mass-produce cars in Japan, the Yokohama Plant, reached a milestone last month by producing its forty millionth engine. The company decided to celebrate by inviting the press to the plant on Wednesday the 19th. Among other things, they showcased their efforts to lower CO2 emissions by switching to electric vehicles. In twenty twenty-two, 40% of the engines the plant produced were for electric and hybrid vehicles. They also announced plans to create a new type of car battery that is more affordable and efficient starting next year.

The tourism industry has also seen an uptick in revenue after its long struggle through the pandemic. The Japan National Tourism Organization found that from January to June of this year, over 10 million foreign travelers went to the country. This is the largest number of travelers since twenty nineteen, and there’s still a chance for the number to go up since the year is only half over. The biggest percentage chunk of visitors - around 3 million - came from South Korea, then nearly 2 million from Taiwan, and 1 million from the United States.

In science news, researchers found microplastics in snow all across Hokkaido. Microplastics are tiny pieces of plastic measuring five millimeters or less. They're harmful to marine wildlife such as fish and can be harmful to any who consumes seafood. The research team looked at snow from eight different regions in Hokkaido, some with very little human activity, and found microplastics in all of them. They believe the microplastics were floating in the atmosphere and fell down with the snow.

Aaaaand that’s it for this week! Thanks for joining us!

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Mata Ne!