More than a quarter of eligible voters in Sunday's Okinawa referendum rejected the landfill work to relocate a US military base.
US President Donald Trump has reiterated that he is not in a rush on the issue of North Korea's denuclearization.
Trump has announced he is extending the March first deadline to reach a trade deal with China.
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/upld/medias/en/radio/news/20190225200000_english_1.mp3
Key words : more than a quarter rejected
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190225_03/
More than a quarter of eligible voters in Sunday's Okinawa referendum rejected the landfill work to relocate a US military base. This outcome obliges Okinawa's governor to convey the result to Japan's prime minister and the US president.
Japan's southern prefecture of Okinawa held the referendum on the ongoing landfill work in waters off the Henoko district of Nago City in the prefecture. The central government's project aims to prepare reclaimed land to transfer the US Marine Corps Futenma Air Station currently located in a densely-populated area within the prefecture.
With all votes counted, 434,273 voters rejected the reclamation project, followed by 114, 933 others in favor.
52,682 voters chose the "neither" option. The voter turnout was 52.48 percent.
The referendum result shows 38 percent of eligible voters are against the landfill. The figure exceeded the ordinance-designated benchmark of 25 percent that obliges the governor to honor the result and report it to the prime minister and the US president.
Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki says the referendum has clearly shown the residents' objection to the landfill project. He now plans to step up his call on the Japanese and US governments to give up the planned relocation of the US air station. He says he will take all possible measures to halt the relocation.
But the central government plans to proceed with the relocation work to have the Futenma air station returned to Japan as soon as possible. The referendum result is not legally binding.
There is concern that antagonism could further deepen between the central and Okinawa governments.
Key words : Tamaki satisfaction
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190225_19/
The governor of Okinawa Prefecture indicated his satisfaction with the referendum result by giving a thumbs-up sign to reporters on Monday morning.
Denny Tamaki thanked prefectural government employees for their work on promoting the referendum, which had a voter turnout of more than 50 percent.
He said the result reflects the views of Okinawa's residents.
Key words : defense shows the will
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190225_17/
Japan's defense minister says while Sunday's referendum result rejecting a plan to relocate a US air base shows the will of people in Okinawa, it is clear they also strongly want the current base returned to Japan.
Takeshi Iwaya was speaking to reporters on Monday after nearly 40 percent of the southwestern prefecture's eligible voters rejected the ongoing landfill work for the relocation of the US Marine Corps Futenma Air Station.
The defense minister said he wants to answer the people of Okinawa's call to have Futenma returned. He said the government will proceed with the landfill work, while continuing to make the case for it sincerely.
Iwaya also said the security environment surrounding the southwestern region is becoming increasingly severe.
He said the region must be protected through efforts by Japan's Self-Defense Forces and the deterrence of the US military presence in Okinawa.
The defense minister said he believes protecting Okinawa means protecting Japan and that the government will seek to reduce the burden of hosting US bases in Okinawa while maintaining deterrence.
Key words : Iwaya existing
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190225_27/
Japan's Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya says an existing method for stabilizing soft ground can be used at the relocation site for the US Marine Corps Futenma Air Station in Okinawa Prefecture.
Iwaya was speaking at a Lower House committee meeting on Monday.
It comes after the Defense Ministry revealed that about 77,000 piles are needed to stabilize land to be reclaimed at the site, located in the coastal district of Henoko in the prefecture. The area accounts for 40 percent of the site, and is as deep as 90 meters.
Iwaya said he will disclose details such as how to drive piles into the seabed at an appropriate time.
A senior ministry official explained about previous cases of piling work to the committee. He said 1,700 piles were driven into the seabed to a depth of up to 65 meters at Yokohama Port.
The official also said 250,000 piles were used for ground stabilization at Haneda Airport, and over one million at Kansai Airport in Osaka Prefecture. In both cases, they went to a depth of up to 44 meters.
When asked by an opposition leader how much time and money were spent on those projects, the official said the ministry needs permission from the companies that did the work before disclosing the details.
Key words : Trump rush
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190225_24/
US President Donald Trump has reiterated that he is not in a rush on the issue of North Korea's denuclearization.
The president was speaking at the White House on Sunday on the eve of his departure for the second US-North Korea summit, in Hanoi, Vietnam .
Trump said he saw eye-to-eye with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and that they had developed "a very, very good relationship."
He said he would be happy as long as North Korea maintains its suspension of nuclear and missile testing.
He said he is not in a rush nor would he let anybody rush into a nuclear deal, implying that he will take time to achieve denuclearization.
Some US lawmakers have voiced concern that pressure on the North could be eased without seeing substantial progress on denuclearization at the upcoming summit.
Key words : beers and cocktail
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190225_18/
Beers and cocktails with a summit theme are being sold in Hanoi ahead of the meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
A bar in the Vietnamese capital started serving a craft beer named "Kim Jong Ale" last week.
Chili powder gives the dark brown brew a spicy flavor. The drink costs about three dollars.
The bar manager says they are getting about 10 orders a day for the beer, and she hopes the summit will be a success so that many people will enjoy the drink.
A pub has created a cocktail with bourbon from the US, a Korean spirit called soju, and Vietnamese pineapple juice. The pink concoction is topped with a strawberry and the US and North Korean flags.
A man who tried the cocktail said it's a bit strong, but he can also taste a hint of pineapple and he liked it.
The pub's owner is hopeful that the summit will lead to lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.
Key words : Trump extending concluded
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190225_15/
US President Donald Trump has announced he is extending the March first deadline to reach a trade deal with China.
Trump tweeted on Sunday that the two sides have made substantial progress in talks and he will be delaying the US increase in tariffs as a result.
The announcement comes as the two countries wrapped up extended high-level trade talks in Washington.
Trump says the negotiations have led to progress on intellectual property protection, technology transfer, and agriculture.
He also says he's hoping to host a summit at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida to conclude an agreement with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
Senior officials from the two countries have been trying to narrow their differences over four days of talks.
China's state-run Xinhua news agency quotes the country's delegation as saying the negotiations concluded with significant progress.
The world's two largest economies started slapping heavy tariffs on each other last year. And the US is threatening to take things a step further by raising tariffs on 200 billion dollars' worth of Chinese goods to 25 percent, if the two sides fail to come to an agreement by the deadline.
Key words : huge
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190225_20/
Huge sums of money sit stagnating in unclaimed, dormant bank accounts in Japan. Now thanks to changes in the law, the government plans to start putting some of it to good use.
Officials will give out up to four billion yen, or roughly 36 million dollars, in fiscal 2019.
That's out of an estimated one billion dollars that is deemed dormant every year. The money is in accounts that have been inactive for a decade or more.
The distributed funds will help support good causes. These include non-profit organizations and volunteer groups that revitalize local communities and provide child-care support.
The money is being made available based on a law passed in 2016. It allows the dormant cash to be used to fund public projects run by the private sector.
Officials say the money will be offered through foundations and other groups to be chosen by the Japan Network for Public Interest Activities.
The government wants to start doling out the funds toward the end of the year. Officials plan to gradually increase the amount given annually from fiscal 2020.
Key words : sharing
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190225_25/
Two leading Japanese firms plan to launch an on-demand ride-sharing service. Toyota and Softbank see a promising market in the growing number of people who think of cars as something to use, but not to own.
The joint venture is called Monet Technologies. A trial run of the new service starts on Tuesday.
80 people who work in Tokyo are taking part in the month-long test. They'll use a smartphone app to reserve rides for their daily commute.
Groups of up to four people will share a van. It comes with Wi-Fi and individual desks.
Feedback from the trial run will be used in developing an AI-program that dispatches vehicles efficiently. Researchers also want to find out what specific features commuters want.
Monet Technologies plans to launch the service using self-driving vehicles as soon as 2023.
Key words : solar panel
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190225_21/
The Japanese government is unveiling new measures designed to make sure solar panels are disposed of without harming the environment.
Nearly 200 million of the panels are in use around the country.
But the devices contain toxic materials, including lead. Officials worry that the high cost of disposing of them could result in illegal dumping.
Solar array operators are currently required to set aside funds to cover disposal costs. The industry ministry instead wants this money to go to a third party in order to prevent misuse.
Officials plan to finalize the details by the end of the year.
Solar panels spread rapidly in Japan after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, when power shortages prompted the government to push renewable energy.
Key words : researcher Showa
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190225_30/
A team of Japanese researchers has developed software featuring artificial intelligence that helps doctors make diagnoses from endoscopic examinations.
The AI-based software used for colonoscopies will hit the market next month.
Researchers from Showa University Northern Yokohama Hospital and Nagoya University Graduate School are among the experts who developed the software.
The software immediately analyzes endoscopic images and displays numerical values that indicate whether polyps found during examinations are malignant and the probability of them becoming malignant.
This will help shorten the time for examinations and help doctors make diagnoses.
More and more people undergo endoscopic examinations amid increasing public awareness.
But with the number of medical institutions declining, there is a heavier burden on doctors.
Professor Shinei Kudo heads the Digestive Disease Center at Showa University Northern Yokohama Hospital. He said some doctors conduct endoscope examinations even if they are beginners and sometimes remove polyps that don't need to be removed.
Kudo said the AI-based software will help doctors make quicker diagnoses and its use is a step forward for medical treatment.
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