Typhoon Hits Japan Twice & more –8th Aug 2023

th of August: 2023

Typhoon Khanun battered Okinawa from Tuesday the 1st until Friday the 4th. A third of homes experienced blackouts, and seventy people were injured. Two people died, one under a collapsed roof and another from a fire while using candles during the blackout. The typhoon also cut off the water supply in Ginowan City. Officials gave out emergency supplies to the locals and warned people to stay alert for swollen rivers and flooding.

Worse yet, the typhoon made a U-turn over the East China Sea and returned to Okinawa and Amami Island for a second round. It hit for the second time on Sunday the 6th with heavy rain and winds strong enough to topple trucks. In Yaese town, the wind tore a piece off of a building and blew it into the road. Okinawa Electric Power Company worked to restore electricity through the weekend, but many households didn't have power until Monday the 7th. In Naha, Okinawa’s capital, some didn’t have access to water, either, so local officials gave out water to those in need. Weather officials expect rain to continue in both Okinawa and Amami, and predict the typhoon will hit the Kyushu region on Wednesday the 9th. They expect record-setting levels of rainfall and urge people to be on high alert for landslides and flooding, and listen to evacuation notices.

In the midst of the natural disasters, many took the time to remember the anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing on Sunday the 6th. For instance, many bomb survivors came forward to ask Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to sign the UN treaty to ban nuclear weapons. Although the Group of Seven leaders released a document on nuclear disarmament called the Hiroshima Vision, it doesn’t show any clear, concrete plans to get rid of nuclear weapons. The bomb survivors said that if Japan truly wants to move towards nuclear disarmament, Kishida should sign the UN’s Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Meanwhile, Kishida responded that the Hiroshima vision will be enough to aid in currently-existing disarmament efforts. Essentially, he argued that the road toward nuclear disarmament has to be taken one small step at a time. The bomb survivor group held firm that as a country that has survived nuclear warfare, Japan should lead the efforts to ban nuclear weapons.

In another UN-related matter, former members of Johnny & Associates held a press conference on Friday the 4th in response to the UN’s plans to look into their sexual abuse claims against the talent agency's late founder. They expressed their gratitude towards the UN human rights council, who took their allegations seriously. The former members said that some still suffered from psychological aftereffects because of the abuse and that there are likely many more who feel like they can’t speak up. They also said they’re waiting to see how Johnny & Associates will respond now that the UN has gotten involved.

On a political front, Masatoshi Akimoto, a lawmaker accused of accepting bribes, received ten million yen, around 70,000 US dollars, at his government office. Tokyo prosecutors have already accused Akimoto of taking over 200,000 dollars from Japan Wind Development, a wind power company. After prosecutors searched Akimoto’s office, he resigned as the vice minister for foreign affairs. A source told them that Akimoto funneled the money into a racehorse group, which Akimoto owns and manages. The wind power company denies giving any bribes. They say that the money was for the racehorse group, not for Akimoto as an individual.

In other news, ballooning inflation and stagnant salaries are taking a toll on the Japanese population. The labor ministry released a report saying it found that June was the fifteenth month in a row that the average real wage dropped. The real wage is the wage adjusted by inflation. While earnings in June were 2% higher than last year, the real wage had dropped almost 2% compared to last year, meaning that inflation is so bad that earnings need to go up by 4% from last year just to keep up. The Japanese Trade Union Confederation said that companies are increasing wages, but officials said they still need to see if the higher pay will lead to real wages going up.

With inflation getting so out of hand, it's no surprise that prices are shooting up everywhere, and that includes gasoline prices.

Since Monday the 1st, gas has been 177 yen per liter or almost five dollars per gallon. That’s the highest cost in Japan in fifteen years. Part of the reason for the increase is that the government is gradually reducing a subsidy program intended to keep gas costs low. Because of the sky-high prices, the executive backpedaled a bit and increased the subsidy slightly on Thursday the 3rd. However, the subsidy doesn’t address the heart of the problem. According to the Oil Information Center, the problem remains because Saudi Arabia, Russia, and others aren’t selling as much crude oil.

Though some countries are tightening crude oil exports, others have loosened imports. Most notably, the European Union ended import restrictions on Japanese food products. The EU imposed import restrictions back in twenty eleven after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident. Before, in order for Fukushima and nearby prefectures to sell to Europe, they had to submit a certificate of origin and proof of radiation screening for seafood and other items. Norway and Iceland also lifted their restrictions. Nine other countries, including China and South Korea, still have restrictions in place for some Japanese food.

Meanwhile, the labor ministry reported over seven thousand two hundred companies violated laws related to foreign technical trainees last year. The technical trainee system invites people from developing countries to work in Japan to improve their skills. When the labor ministry investigated nearly 10,000 establishments participating in the trainee system, they found that 74% of them committed legal violations, the highest number since tracking began in two thousand and three. Almost a quarter of the companies had work safety violations, and a sixth was guilty of wage theft, mostly for not paying overtime. In some cases, overtime was over 110 hours a month. The labor ministry says it will keep an eye on the businesses to make sure they treat their trainees right.

In entertainment news, Warner Bros.' methods of promoting its newly released movie, Barbie, has upset many Japanese movie-goers. In the US, theaters released Barbie and Oppenheimer, a movie about the scientist who invented the atomic bomb, at the same time. As a result, many fans on social media began combining images of the two, such as with a smiling Barbie in front of an atomic mushroom cloud, to which Warner Bros. responded positively. To many Japanese users on social media, this seemed to be mocking the suffering that hundreds of thousands of Japanese people experienced at the hands of the atomic bomb. One user pointed out that Americans don't make fun of nazis or 911, but this made light of Japan’s tragedy. It got to the point that the voice actress dubbing Barbie for the upcoming Japanese release stated she is thinking of dropping out of a promotional event for the movie. Despite the controversy, Warner Bros. still plans to release the Barbie movie in Japan on Friday the 11th.

On a lighter note, two-time Olympic figure skating champion, Yuzuru Hanyu, announced his upcoming marriage on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. He tweeted it on Friday the 4th, but did not say when he's planning to get married or who his future partner will be.

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

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Mata Ne!