at 18:30 (JST), December 28

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/20231228183000_english_1.mp3


Key words : Kishida reportedly
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20231228_01/

Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio is reportedly planning to visit the United States in early March.

Government sources say the two governments are making arrangements for Kishida's official visit. Kishida is considering addressing Congress.

During Kishida's visit to the US in November, President Joe Biden invited him to make an official visit as a state guest early next year.

An official visit to the US by a Japanese prime minister as a state guest would be the first in nine years, since Prime Minister Abe Shinzo made one in 2015.

Meanwhile, arrangements are underway for a summit of the leaders of Japan, China and South Korea in February or sometime later.

Japan has political differences with both China and South Korea. Tokyo wants to use the framework of dialogue among the three nations to exchange views on North Korea, which has made repeated ballistic missile launches, among other issues.

Japanese officials plan to decide on the timing of the two summits, taking into account the deliberation schedule of the next year's regular Diet session.

Key words : bank of japan
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20231227_21/

Bank of Japan Governor Ueda Kazuo says it will be possible for the central bank to judge whether to shift its monetary policy even before the outcome of wage negotiations for all smaller firms is out next year based on relevant data.

Ueda sat down with NHK for an exclusive interview at the central bank's head office in Tokyo on Tuesday. This is his first television interview since assuming the post in April.

The BOJ plans to shift its decade-old easy monetary policy once there is a prospect of achieving its price stability target of 2 percent, accompanied by wage increases.

Ueda said that in assessing whether a virtuous cycle between wages and prices has been achieved, he is closely watching next year's wage negotiations between management and labor and how developments in wage increases so far will be reflected in prices.

Managements of many large companies are expected to respond to labor union demands in mid-March. But it may take more time before the responses of small- and medium-sized firms are known.

Ueda said it will require substantial time before the data of all smaller firms will become available.

He said some may think the BOJ should wait for all the data before making a judgment, but he thinks it would be possible to judge in advance if other indicators of smaller firms are available such as robust profits.

As factors to support their good performance, he said if consumption and investments at the macro level are brisk, then that would likely create a virtuous cycle, so it will be possible to judge in advance to a certain extent.

Asked whether the day in mid-March when managements of major firms are scheduled to come up with their responses to wage negotiations will be crucial for making a policy judgment, Ueda said no single event will determine the BOJ's decision, but he plans to closely watch data at multiple important events, including on that day.

Key words : deputy prime oil and petroleum
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20231228_02/

Russia's deputy prime minister says most of the country's oil and petroleum product exports are heading to China and India. The move is a major shift away from Europe since Moscow invaded Ukraine.

Alexander Novak made the comment in an interview aired Wednesday on Russian television.

He said China grew this year to account for about 45 to 50 percent of the purchases of the exports, which are Russia's main revenue source.

He also said Russia had made almost no shipments to India, but over the past two years, India's purchases of Russia's oil and petroleum products have risen to about 40 percent.

Novak said Europe used to account for 40 to 45 percent of those exports, but now he expects the figure to be no more than 4 to 5 percent.

The US Treasury Department has said Russian tax revenue from the exports was 32 percent lower between January and November this year compared to the same period last year. Trading prices for those products have fallen amid sanctions by the Group of Seven countries and others against Russia.

Observers are watching how the change in export destinations will influence the effects of the sanctions.

Key words : arrested former state
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20231228_14/

Prosecutors in Tokyo have arrested former state justice minister Kakizawa Mito on Thursday over alleged vote-buying in a local mayoral election.

In the April mayoral election of Tokyo's Koto Ward, Kakizawa backed Kimura Yayoi instead of a candidate supported by his own Liberal Democratic Party.

It has been revealed that Kakizawa's office gave cash to Koto Ward assembly members as instructed by the lawmaker, and remuneration to Kimura's election campaign staff.

Sources say Kakizawa told prosecutors in voluntary questioning that the payments to the assembly members were his mid-campaign contributions for an assembly election held at the same time as the mayoral one. He added that he had no intention of buying votes.

He also denied involvement in the payments to the election campaign staff.

Kakizawa resigned as state justice minister in October to take responsibility for recommending that Kimura's camp use paid online ads for her election campaign.

He also left the LDP on December 14th, when his offices were raided by prosecutors.

Key words : nuclear watchdog
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20231227_12/

Japan's nuclear watchdog has decided to lift an order that effectively bans the operation of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast.

The Nuclear Regulation Authority issued the order in 2021 to the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, following a series of revelations about flaws in the plant's anti-terrorism measures.

The NRA decided to lift the order unanimously at a meeting on Wednesday. There, the NRA approved a draft report submitted earlier this month by its secretariat that stated a system for TEPCO to improve anti-terrorism measures on its own is now taking hold.

Prior to the decision the NRA had conducted an onsite inspection of the plant as well as an interview with the head of TEPCO.

The effective ban -- the first such order ever issued to a commercial nuclear plant operator -- had been in place for the past 32 months.

The two of the plant's reactors passed the NRA's screening, necessary for a restart, in 2017.

Following the lifting of the effective ban, TEPCO is now expected to resume work to put the plant back online.

Attention is now focused on whether TEPCO can win local consent to restart.

Local reactions to a resumption of operations are mixed. Some people have expressed hope it will revitalize the local economy, while others have safety concerns.
Niigata Governor Hanazumi Hideyo plans to discuss the matter and hear people's opinions.

He has hinted that one option would be to hold a gubernatorial election to confirm the opinions of local residents.

Key words : researcher epicenter
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20231227_19/

A group of international researchers including Japanese professors says it found a huge cliff in deep waters near the epicenter of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.

The group consists of scientists from Japanese and overseas universities and research institutes, including Niigata University, and the Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology.

In September last year, the group used the manned US submersible Limiting Factor to explore the seabed about 7,500 meters deep in the Japan Trench, off Miyagi Prefecture.

The survey discovered that a nearly vertical cliff with a height of about 26 meters was created near the epicenter. The researchers also found that the surrounding area was dotted with angular mud blocks, which are said to be formed when mud accumulating on the seabed suddenly collapses.

The group says such a topographic feature was not confirmed when a different research team conducted a sonar survey in the same area before the 2011 earthquake.

The group put forward the idea that the powerful earthquake could have caused a fault to slip deep under the seabed and move up about 60 meters, with the upper part believed to have emerged as a cliff.

The researchers say this is the first time that they have filmed the fault appearing on the seabed after the earthquake.

Ueda Hayato, associate professor of Niigata University, went down into the deep ocean inside the submersible.

Ueda said he was able to confirm that something extraordinary occurred on the seabed when the 2011 earthquake struck.

He added that understanding details of seabed changes triggered by earthquakes can create tsunami simulations more accurately.

Key words : yamamoto 12-year championship
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20231228_15/

The Los Angeles Dodgers have recruited another Japanese star player to their line-up. The Major League Baseball team announced a 12-year contract with pitcher Yamamoto Yoshinobu, who has promised to help the Dodgers win the championship.

Yamamoto spoke on Wednesday at his first press conference wearing a Dodgers jersey. He told reporters that he was "excited to become a member of a historic franchise" and cannot express how much it means to be able to call Los Angeles his new home.

The 25-year-old right-hander is moving to Major League Baseball from Japan's Orix Buffaloes.

US media have reported that the contract is worth 325 million dollars, the most ever guaranteed to an MLB pitcher.

Yamamoto said that he is "really grateful" that the team evaluated him highly. He added that he will do his best, so that he won't let his fans down.

Yamamoto is set to team up with Japanese two-way star Ohtani Shohei, another recent signing for the Dodgers.