Key words : stepping up understanding
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20230902_09/
Japan's government is stepping up efforts to gain more international support and understanding about the release of treated and diluted water from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea.
The move comes as China has reacted sharply to the release and suspended all imports of Japanese seafood.
The Japanese government plans to take opportunities at all levels, including through meetings with foreign dignitaries and international conferences, to provide information and explanations about the water release.
The Foreign Ministry told senior officials of other Group of Seven nations during a video conference on Thursday that Japan has been continuing to publicize monitoring data in a timely manner after the discharge started on August 24.
On Friday, Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa met his Peruvian counterpart, Ana Gervasi, and explained Japan's position, referring to the International Atomic Energy Agency's report that examined the plan to release the water. The IAEA said Japan's approach and activities regarding the water discharge are consistent with relevant international safety standards.
The Foreign Ministry also issued a statement on Friday rebutting comments by the Chinese embassy in Tokyo about the water release. The ministry said they were not based on scientific evidence.
Prime Minister Kishida Fumio plans to explain Japan's position on the water discharge when he attends summit meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Group of 20 economies later this month.
The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant suffered a triple meltdown in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Water used to cool molten fuel at the plant has been mixing with rain and groundwater.
The accumulated water is treated to remove most radioactive substances, but still contains tritium. Before releasing the treated water into the sea, the plant's operator dilutes it to reduce tritium levels to about one-seventh of the World Health Organization's guidelines for drinking water.
Key words : 744
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20230901_33/
NHK has learned that Japanese students sent letters to the United States to express appreciation for relief aid after the Great Kanto Earthquake, which hit Tokyo and surrounding areas on September 1, exactly 100 years ago.
Japan received relief assistance after the massive quake from countries around the world, including the US.
A research team at Tohoku University in northeastern Japan says it found a total of 744 letters written in English by Japanese students.
They say the letters were kept by descendants of US President Calvin Coolidge, who was in office from 1923 to 1929.
They also say a group named The Japan Students Association called on universities and other schools across the country to write the letters, and sent them to the US government in May 1924.
In the letters, the students express gratitude for the US aid and say they will pass their thanks on to their descendants. They also say their towns were destroyed by the quake but that they are determined to restore them.
Japan at the time had chilly relations with the United States, where there was a movement to expel Japanese immigrants. But the US provided Japan with generous assistance, including goods and cash donations.
The research team says the students may have been trying to improve relations between the two countries by sending the friendly messages.
Team leader Ono Yuichi of Tohoku University's International Research Institute of Disaster Science says the letters show that bonds between people, irrespective of social situations or international relations, are important for building peace.
Key words : south north several
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20230902_08/
The South Korean military says North Korea launched several cruise missiles toward the Yellow Sea early on Saturday.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff announced that the missiles were fired to the west of the Korean Peninsula from around 4:00 a.m. local time, adding that it is analyzing the situation in close cooperation with the US military.
Pyongyang pledged to develop medium- and long-range cruise missiles in its five-year national defense program, announced in 2021. Earlier this year, it said on several occasions it had carried out firing exercises of strategic cruise missiles that were "tipped with a test warhead simulating a nuclear warhead."
South Korea's Yonhap News Agency said the missiles fired on Saturday may have involved a type of strategic cruise missile named "Hwasal." Yonhap suggested that Pyongyang could be intending to demonstrate its ability to launch nuclear attacks against targets in South Korea and US military bases in Japan.
On August 27, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un denounced Japan, the United States and South Korea for beefing up their defense cooperation when he visited a navy command. He vowed to equip his navy with tactical nuclear weapons.
Key words : zelenskyy travel new york
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20230902_06/
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to travel to New York to attend gatherings of the UN General Assembly and Security Council to be held later this month.
Albania's UN Ambassador Ferit Hoxha told reporters on Friday that a summit-level open debate will take place on September 20 to discuss the situation in Ukraine. Albania holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council this month.
Hoxha said he can "almost confirm" Zelenskyy will be in New York, adding that he knows that a meeting between the Ukrainian president and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has already been scheduled.
Zelenskyy is also expected to deliver a speech on the floor of the General Assembly, as the Assembly's General Debate schedule shows Ukraine's top leader will be attending its opening day on September 19.
This would mark Zelenskyy's first in-person presence at UN General Assembly and Security Council meetings since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began in February last year. He has been attending UN meetings online.
World leaders are expected to engage in active diplomacy during the General Debate of the General Assembly over the situation in Ukraine.
Key words : learned culture ministry religious
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20230902_07/
NHK has learned that Japan's culture ministry is considering seeking a court order to fine the religious group widely known as the Unification Church for failing to reply appropriately to the ministry's inquiries.
Ministry officials are looking into the organization's alleged dubious marketing practices and solicitations of large donations from its followers.
They plan to consider requesting a court order to disband it as a religious corporation if they confirm facts that warrant its disbandment. The ministry has exercised legal authority on seven occasions to inquire into the organization.
The Religious Corporations Act says that if a corporation refuses to reply to inquiries by authorities or makes false statements, its representative official will be fined up to 100,000 yen, or about 680 dollars.
The ministry says it has issued more than 600 queries to the group, covering matters including organizational management, property and income, and donations. But sources say the group refused to answer some of the questions, citing the freedom of religion and other justifications.
The ministry is now considering asking the Tokyo District Court to fine the group.
It would be the first time the government has sought to ask for a fine in connection with its legal authority to question a religious corporation. The group can appeal a court decision to impose a fine.
Key words : weather officials highest
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20230902_03/
Weather officials in Japan say the country's average temperature this summer was the highest since records began 125 years ago.
The Meteorological Agency made the announcement on Friday.
The average temperature from June to August was 1.76 degrees Celsius higher than the 30-year average. In northern Japan, it was three degrees higher.
Niigata Prefecture's Itoigawa City recorded the country's hottest night ever on August 10, when the temperature did not fall below 31.4 degrees.
Nighttime record highs were observed in 248 locations nationwide.
Sea surface temperatures around Japan also rose one degree higher than the average. That's also the warmest since records began in 1982.
Last Monday, a panel of scientists working under the meteorological agency described this summer as "abnormal."
They attributed the hot weather to high-pressure systems that often spread across the country.
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