Self-Defense Force Thinks of Using Starlink Satellite Service & more –27th June 2023

Konnichiwa from Keswick Village! This is the Rorshok Japan Update from the 27th of Junetwenty twenty-three A quick summary of what's going down in Japan.

On Sunday the 25th, an unnamed government source stated that Japan’s Self-Defense Force is thinking of using Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite service next year. The military already has access to some communication satellites, but Starlink would help to increase their reach and make it more difficult for other countries’ militaries to interfere with Japan’s internal military communications network. This would be especially important if any military conflict were to break out, as intelligence often plays a key role in maintaining the upper hand. They began testing Starlink in March, using it in training and ten undisclosed locations.

In other national news, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Monday the 26th that he wants to work with other Group of Seven, or G7, leaders in dealing with Russia. This statement came after the Wagner Group, a private military company hired by Russia to aid in attacking Ukraine, recently rebelled against Russian leadership. Kishida told officials to analyze the incoming information and to monitor what’s going on, as these potential cracks could be used to help end the conflict in Ukraine. He then said that it was important for him and other G7 leaders to work together as the situation develops.

Meanwhile, the G7 meetings continued with the gender equality ministers, who finished their two-day meeting on Sunday the 25th. They stated that companies need to work more on reducing wage gaps between men and women. Recent global reports on gender equality suggest that the reason for the pay gap is likely due to women taking on the lion’s share of household work, leaving them less time to contribute financially. The ministers said that transparency policies are important to make sure that people receive equal pay for equal work.

The G7 meeting wasn’t the only discussion going on in regards to international policy.

On Wednesday the 21st, the Japanese foreign minister, Yoshimasa Hayashi, gave a speech where he asked China to respect international rules. China’s leadership has wanted to change international maritime rules for years, stating that the current system is unfavorable to their country. However, many of the rules are in place to protect other countries, such as Taiwan, which has a long history of being invaded and colonized by the Chinese government. To add to tensions, China’s military activity near Taiwan and Japan in the East and South China Seas has increased in the past several months. Hayashi spoke at the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London during his five-day trip to the UK and France, urging China not to attempt to change current agreed-upon laws and regulations. He also stated he hoped that Japan and China could coexist peacefully and even productively in the future.

On a more domestic front, Japan’s healthcare industry is well-known for being strict with medications, but it looks like at least one regulation might loosen up. The health ministry announced a plan on Monday the 26th to make it okay to sell emergency contraception, such as the morning-after pill, over the counter this summer. While the morning-after pill has been available for a while, it has required a prescription, which can be impractical since the pill is only effective when taken within seventy-two hours after intercourse. Some people have criticized this, saying that this will make it too easy for people to use the pill irresponsibly, and overuse of the morning-after pill can damage a woman’s health. To be safe, it will be made available over the counter on a trial basis.

Although the price of many things, particularly food, has gone up, Japan’s inflation shows some signs of slowing down. The consumer price index, which measures how the cost of basic goods and services change, is still increasing, but not as much in June as it was in May. This change started after certain government subsidies made the cost of electricity and gas go down by about seventeen percent. This change hasn’t spread to food costs, which has gone up by an average of nine percent compared to last year, which is the biggest jump in costs in forty-seven years.

In an update to a previous story, Tokyo police served YouTuber and ex-Diet member GaaSyy with a brand new arrest warrant on Friday the 23rd. The new warrant was for threatening three different people - an entertainer, a businessperson, and a designer - on his YouTube channel. After they filed complaints with the police, GaaSyy allegedly tried to get two of them, the entertainer and the designer, to back down over social media, implying that they would have to air out their dirty laundry on public television, if they took things to court. Police are also investigating whether GaaSyy used his position as an Upper House member to intimidate other people out of filing complaints, back before he was kicked out of Japan’s Diet.

Speaking of the Diet, the most recent session had legislators planning to impose a new so-called “green transformation” that will impose a fine or tax on businesses that make too much carbon dioxide pollution. In addition, the government hopes to set up a trading system in twenty twenty-four where companies could buy or sell credits that would be earned by cutting CO2 emissions. Many of the details are unclear at this point, but lawmakers hope to finish a complete proposal for this strategy by the end of July.

Meanwhile, Suzuki Motors joined with a startup called SkyDrive to make the long-term dream of flying cars a reality. Or to be exact, an electric-powered aircraft designed in a similar way to helicopters, but with four smaller rotors on either side of the aircraft instead of a big rotor on top. The aircraft should be ready by spring of next year. Suzuki's president says their ultimate aim is to one day make the flying car so people can use it as a means of transportation.

That's not the only company team-up happening, but this next one's a little more unconventional.

South Korea’s Hyundai Motors is partnering with the Culture Convenience Club, a bookstore and lifestyle chain, to open a car-rental business in Japan. The Culture Convenience Club is best known for Tsutaya, a bookstore and media rental chain. They plan to make the car-rental service using zero emissions electric cars available at various bookstores. Like with other car-rental services, people will be able to rent the cars on-the-go and then pay an hourly rate for however long they use the car. They haven't yet announced when the service will be available.

There have also been developments in the world of health and science. On Friday the 23rd, the health ministry announced the world’s first death from the Oz virus. The Oz virus is relatively new. Scientists first discovered it in twenty eighteen in Ehime Prefecture and it is transmitted by ticks. The person who died was a woman in her seventies who went to the hospital last summer with pneumonia-like symptoms. The hospital staff found a tick on her right thigh that seemed to have been sucking her blood for a while. She died of heart inflammation about a month later.

Researchers tested various wild animals and hunters for the virus’s antibodies in order to figure out whether anyone else has been infected. Many wild animals and two of the hunters they tested had antibodies, meaning that they caught the virus but recovered from it. Since the virus is only transmitted via tick bite, the best way to avoid it is to wear long sleeves and long pants when going out into grassy or wooded areas.

And to close this edition, two Japanese dancers won gold medals at the USA International Ballet Competition on Friday the 23rd in Mississippi. The competition is held once every four years to help promote young ballet dancers from around the world, and had a hundred participants this year. The Japanese winners were Sayako Toku, who won in the senior women’s division, and Ryo Sasaki, who won in the senior men’s division.

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

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Mata Ne!