at 18:30 (JST), December 26

Asian View
"Asian View" is a five-minute news segment broadcast by NHK WORLD-JAPAN. It features the latest news and deep analysis from Japan and the rest of Asia. Listen to "Asian View" and get the latest information from a region that's playing an increasingly important role in the world.





https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/upld/medias/en/radio/news/20231226183000_english_1.mp3


Key words : set to provide
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20231226_02/

The Japanese government is set to provide the United States with the Patriot interceptor missiles owned by Japan's Self-Defense Forces.

The government last Friday revised its guidelines on defense equipment transfers. This made it possible for Japan to export equipment manufactured domestically under license from a foreign firm to a country where the licenser is based.

The systems that Tokyo has decided to send to the US under the revised rules are PAC-2 units, which are used to mainly intercept aircraft and cruise missiles, as well as PAC-3 units, which intercept ballistic missiles.

Japan's Defense Ministry said the decision was made at the request of the US, whose stockpiles of interceptor missiles have dwindled as it sent military aid to Ukraine.

Tokyo plans to send the PAC-2 units currently owned by the nation's Self-Defense Forces to the US, because officials say it would take several years for Japanese makers to produce new ones from scratch and export them.

Defense Ministry officials said they will further discuss details of the plan with their US counterparts next year.

The officials added that Japan's own stockpiles of Patriot missiles are insufficient.

Key words : share global gross
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20231226_04/

Japan's share of global gross domestic product slipped to 4.2 percent in 2022 -- the lowest since comparable data became available in 1980.

Japan's nominal GDP last year stood at 4.26 trillion dollars, down about 770 billion dollars from the prior year, according to data compiled by the Cabinet Office.

In yen terms, Japan's output grew by 1.3 percent from 2021. But the number was lower in dollar terms as the Japanese currency weakened.

Japan's share of global GDP was down 0.9 percentage point from 2021.

The country remained the world's third largest economy, following the United States and China. But its lead over fourth-placed Germany narrowed to 0.2 percentage points.

Japan's GDP per capita was 34,064 dollars last year, down roughly 5,900 dollars from the previous year. The figure was the lowest among the Group of Seven countries, with formerly last-place Italy overtaking Japan.

The International Monetary Fund has projected that Germany's economy will become the third largest in the world on a nominal GDP basis in 2023, pushing Japan to fourth place.

Key words : iran denied
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20231225_20/

Iran's government has denied an allegation by the US government that an Iranian drone attacked a Japanese-owned chemical tanker in the Indian Ocean.

On Saturday, the US Department of Defense said what it calls a one-way attack drone fired from Iran hit the tanker.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani denied the allegation at a news conference on Monday, calling it worthless.

Kanaani went on to say that the US government is responsible for "the start of the Gaza war and its continuation for more than two-and-a-half months." He said the US government is not in a position to make accusations and claims against others.

Iran has also denied its involvement in attacks by Yemen's anti-government Houthi group on commercial vessels in the Red Sea in retaliation for Israel's attacks on Gaza.

On Saturday, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps warned that if Israel continues with its killings, the United states and its allies "should wait for the birth of new powers of resistance and the closing of the rest of the waterways," including the Mediterranean Sea.

Key words : abe faction all the money
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20231225_18/

The largest faction of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party is suspected of funneling all proceeds from sales of tickets to fundraising events into kickbacks to Upper House members in their election years.

Sources say the Abe faction set no quotas on party-ticket sales for Upper House members facing the elections in 2019 and 2022. All the money from the ticket sales is said to have been given to their offices as kickbacks.

The Abe faction, once led by late Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, is believed to have paid kickbacks to the offices of member lawmakers who sold more than their quota of fundraising event tickets.

They are believed to have systematically failed to record the amounts as revenue in their political fund reports, in violation of the political funds control law.

Tokyo prosecutors raided the faction's office last week to shed full light into the practice.

Upper House lawmakers serve a six-year term, with half of the members being elected every three years. Because the timing of Lower House elections is unpredictable, the payments were not made to Lower House members.

The unreported money collected by the Abe faction over a five-year period through 2022 likely adds up to about 500 million yen, or about 3.5 million dollars.

The prosecutors are believed to be investigating how the kickbacks have been used.

Key words : okinawa procedure
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20231225_17/

The governor of Japan's southern prefecture of Okinawa has maintained his opposition to approving ground improvement work as part of a project to relocate a US air base within the prefecture.

Tamaki Denny on Monday decided to defy a high court ruling that orders the prefecture to give its go-ahead for the work at an offshore site in Henoko, Nago City.

The Fukuoka High Court has told the prefecture to approve the work by Monday.

The central government plans to relocate the US Marine Corps Futenma Air Station to the offshore site from a densely populated area in Ginowan City.

But the seabed at the planned reclamation site was found to be too soft.

The government applied for permission from the prefecture to revise its plan and carry out reinforcement work. Okinawa has not approved the revisions, and the work remains on hold.

Now that Tamaki has defied the court order, the land minister plans to take the unprecedented step of overriding a decision by local authorities to carry out the work.

Procedures are expected to start from Tuesday.

Okinawa officials will consider contesting the high court ruling by filing an appeal at the Supreme Court.

But they have no power to stop the central government from overriding their decision unless the top court rules in their favor.

Key words : hospital drug
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20231225_14/

A hospital in Tokyo has for the first time in Japan started administering a new drug to treat Alzheimer's disease.

Lecanemab was jointly developed by Japanese pharmaceutical firm Eisai and its US partner Biogen.

The drug is designed to slow the progression of the disease by reducing the accumulation of the amyloid beta protein in the brain.

On December 20, the drug became eligible for coverage under the public health insurance system.

On Monday, the Tokyo Metropolitan Geriatric Hospital and Institute of Gerontology administered a drip infusion of lecanemab to a patient in her 50s. The procedure took slightly more than an hour.

The drug is designed for people with mild cognitive impairment who have not yet developed full dementia, and those with early onset dementia.

As the patients have to be checked regularly for side effects, only medical institutions that can conduct special tests are allowed to administer the drug.

The hospital says lecanemab will be given to a patient once every two weeks, with the treatment lasting for about 18 months.

The woman who received the dosage said she feels relieved that the drug became available. She added that she hopes to maintain her current condition to continue her lifestyle.

The hospital's deputy director said the drugs that had been used in Japan up to now are designed only to ease symptoms, but that this new drug has opened promising ways to fight Alzheimer's disease.

Key words : cakes
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20231225_13/

Major Japanese department store operator Takashimaya says it is looking into why some of the Christmas cakes purchased on its online store were delivered in a damaged condition.

Takashimaya issued an apology on Sunday after hundreds of customers contacted the company about receiving ruined frozen cakes.

Takashimaya says the cakes were made and packed by a confectionary maker in Saitama Prefecture, near Tokyo, and delivered to customers by a major logistics company.

The upscale department store says it is working to find out at which stage -- from production to delivery -- the problem occurred.

Most customers received the cakes over the weekend. Takashimaya received some 370 reports of ruined cakes as of 8 p.m. on Sunday. The problem was not limited to specific regions.

Takashimaya says it is refunding affected customers, and will also send a substitute cake when possible.