Welcome to NHK Newsline. I'm Ramin Mellegard in Tokyo.
People in Japan are remembering the victims of a deadly sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system 30 years ago.
Members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult release toxic nerve gas. In packed rush hour subway cars in central Tokyo on March 20, 1995, fourteen people died and about 6,300 others were injured. Bereaved relatives, people affected by the attack and subway passengers offered prayers and placed flowers on a stand set up at Kasumigaseki Station. Takahashi Shizue, who lost her husband in the attack, says she's concerned by the rise in fake news and other forms of misinformation spreading unchecked.
We should not allow the memory of the incident to fade away, so that we can continue to protect young people from cults. I hope that what happened will not be forgotten.
Aum Shinrikyo's former leader, Asahara Shoko, real name Matsumoto Chizuo, was executed in 2018, along with 12 other members of the cult. Three successor groups of Aum Shinrikyo are still active. They're under surveillance in accordance with a law aimed at preventing acts of indiscriminate mass murder. The Public Security Intelligence Agency continues to conduct inspections of their facilities to this day.
US media report that the Pentagon is considering halting a plan to expand its forces in Japan as the administration of President Donald Trump moves to cut federal spending.
According to a briefing document obtained by multiple media outlets, the move is one option being considered by the Department of Defense. The document says it could save about $1.1 billion, but also notes that it could create political risk and reduce the scope of command and control in the Pacific. The US has been planning to reconstitute its forces in Japan as a joint force headquarters to enable better coordination with the country's self-defense forces. Trump has tasked the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency, or Doge. With finding ways to reduce federal spending, the Pentagon has indicated that it will work in cooperation with those to make efficiency improvements. Now, other measures reportedly being considered include merging the military commands for Europe and Africa into a single command.
The United States will meet with Russia and Ukraine in the coming days after the two warring sides agreed to ceasefire on energy facilities. The talks are set to take place in Saudi Arabia.
The development comes after US President Trump spoke separately by phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Zelenskyy later said the halt to strikes on energy facilities could be seen as a first step to fully ending Russia's invasion. He also referred to civilian infrastructure, but not everyone appears to be on the same page.
The US side said infrastructure will be included after Trump spoke with Putin, but Russia said it only covers energy facilities. White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt was asked on Wednesday to clarify what the ceasefire covers. She told reporters to refer to the White House readout, saying that's our understanding.
And the European Union has unveiled a plan to boost military spending in response to threats from Russia. The aim is to enhance defense readiness and establish a stronger military-industrial base. The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, released its first ever white paper for European defense on Wednesday. The document outlines policies aimed at strengthening the bloc's defense capabilities by 2030. The paper notes that Russia spent up to 9% of its GDP on defense in 2024 as the country continues its invasion of Ukraine, says Moscow will keep expanding its war economy, adding that Russia will remain a fundamental threat to Europe's security for the foreseeable future. The paper acknowledges that EU defense investment has been insufficient for decades.
It also notes that the United States has been pushing Europe to take more responsibility for its own defense.
Now, the paper proposes that member states focus on seven priority areas. They include air and missile defense to protect against threats such as cruise missiles, ballistic and hypersonic missiles, and drones. EU foreign policy chief Kaya Kalas told reporters that Europe faces an existential threat, and said we need to do more.
And Israel is continuing airstrikes and has resumed a partial ground operation in the Gaza Strip, ramping up pressure on Hamas for refusing to free Israeli hostages. Israel hit the enclave with airstrikes on Wednesday following a massive airstrike the previous day. More than 430 people have been reportedly killed. Israel's military also revealed it has resumed ground operations in parts of the Gaza Strip. Gaza health authorities say Israeli forces attacked a United Nations site in the central Gaza Strip, killing one official and injuring five others. But Israel's military denies striking the compound. Talks on transitioning to the second phase of the ceasefire remain stalled. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that further negotiations will take place under fire.
Meanwhile, a Hamas official told France's AFP news agency that the group remains open to talks, indicating it will seek to establish a ceasefire through negotiations. The official demanded that Israel immediately halt its aggression and begin the second phase of negotiations.
About 30 people took part in the tour, including representatives from travel companies in western Japan's Fukuoka Prefecture.
Folks, please take a powerful photo from the front.
Their first stop was the mausoleum of the first Shin Emperor, the UNESCO World Heritage Site is home to thousands of life-sized terracotta warriors. The group then attended a seminar where a senior local government official made a pitch.The official said the direct flights between Fukuoka and Shanxi province's capital, Xi'an, create infinite possibilities for bilateral cultural cooperation. Now, travel agencies from China and Japan also held business talks about tours aimed at Japanese travelers. China's had trouble getting Japanese tourists to return since the coronavirus pandemic.
Improving bilateral relations and alleviating safety concerns of Japanese visitors are among the challenges China faces. Xi'an officials say roughly 95,000 Japanese tourists visited the city in 2019, but last year that plummeted to about 11,000.
And those are the top stories for this hour.
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Japan has various kinds of landmarks that fascinate visitors. They range from cultural and historic locations to modern buildings created with cutting-edge technologies. The Backstory of Japanese Landmarks brings you the stories behind these amazing places.
In this episode of The Backstory of Japanese Landmarks, we feature Kusatsu Hot Springs.
The first thing a visitor notices upon entering the town of Ksatsu is what appears to be a giant pond of hot water.
Some 4,000 liters of hot spring water gushes up every minute at this yubatake, or literally hot water field. It's 60 meters across and 20 meters wide.
The area is filled with the sound of flowing water, steam rising from the yubatake, and a sulfurous odor typical of hot spring resorts. It all adds up to create an atmosphere that helps visitors step away from their everyday mind state. Kusatsu Hot Springs is in Guma Prefecture in the central part of Japan. You can get there by the Shinkansen bullet train or buses from Tokyo. Kusatsu has been a renowned hot spring resort for many centuries. Emperors and shoguns, as well as regular people, have long taken a dip in its baths. The natural hot springs are said to ease fatigue from long travels, and supposedly have curative effects for illnesses, bruises and sprains. Kusatsu is ranked as one of the top three hot springs in Japan.
Bathing is a well-loved part of life in Japan, but bathing in hot springs is not the same as taking a bath at home. Under Japan's hot spring law, in order to be officially considered a hot spring,The water, steam, and gas must well up from the ground and contain certain natural elements, and the temperature must be at least 25 degrees Celsius.
One of the main features of Kusatsu Hot Springs is the sheer amount of water that wells up from the ground in the area. In terms of volume, it's the top hot spring in Japan, with more than 32,000 liters gushing out a minute. That's enough to fill 230,000 oil drums a day. The Yubatake hot water pond at the center of the town is where visitors can get a sense of the vast amount of water flowing out from the ground. Seven wooden conduits line the oval-shaped Yubatake.
Hot water of around 50 degrees Celsius cools as it flows through the conduits before being distributed for bathing to some baths. The conduits also accumulate what are known as yunohana, or literally hot spring flowers.
They're crystalline compounds that form from the elements in the water as it's cooled by the air. The crystals are gathered and dried and made into a powder. The powder is a popular souvenir, as it can be used as a natural bath salt. But the most famous of the attractions at Kusatsu is a water-stirring event called Yumomi.
With a temperature of around 50 degrees Celsius, the hot spring water must be cooled down to a temperature suitable for bathing. One way to do this is yumomi, stirring the water using wooden paddles. Locals stir the water while singing traditional folk songs to keep rhythm. The most famous of these are the kusatsu folk songs. Visitors can enjoy yumomi performancesand even try their own hand at stirring the water.
Thank you for tuning in to the back story of Japanese landmarks. We hope you have a chance to visit these landmarks and see for yourself what makes them so special.
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