at 20:00 (JST), January 04 AS

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says his government will announce the name of the country's new era on April 1st.

Former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn is set to appear in a court in Tokyo to hear the reason for his detention.

Tokyo's Nikkei benchmark kicked off the first trading day of the year closely tracking Thursday's sharp tumble on Wall Street. The Nikkei briefly dropped more than 700 points in the morning session.

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/upld/medias/en/radio/news/20190104200000_english_1.mp3


Key words : Abe says
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190104_22/

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says his government will announce the name of the country's new era on April 1st. He said the name will take effect on May 1st when Crown Prince Naruhito ascends the throne.

Abe held a New Year's press conference on Friday after visiting Ise Shrine in Mie Prefecture.

Since the Meiji period, the name of a new era, or Gengo, has been chosen every time an Emperor ascended the throne.

Abe said past names were decided and announced on the day the new era started. But he said this time, the name will be announced one month in advance to minimize the impact on people's daily lives.
The prime minister said the name of the new era will be announced immediately after it is endorsed by the Cabinet on April 1st.

He said his government will do its utmost to prepare for the Imperial succession so that all members of the public can celebrate the occasion.

Abe added that he wants to make 2019 a year that begins a new future for the nation.

Emperor Akihito is due to abdicate on April 30th, bringing an end to the Heisei era. He will be the first Emperor to abdicate in 200 years.

Abe also expressed his resolve to advance peace treaty talks with Russia this year.

He said he hopes to sign a peace treaty with Russia after settling the issue of four Russian-held islands.

Abe said that if possible, he will visit Russia in late January for peace treaty negotiations. He said he intends to seek a total reassessment of Japan's postwar diplomacy.

Russia controls the four islands. Japan claims them.

The Japanese government maintains the islands are an inherent part of Japan's territory. It says they were illegally occupied after World War Two.

The prime minister also referred to rising concerns over trade protectionism around the world. He said Japan will raise the banner of free trade, and take the lead in creating fair rules for a new era.

Key words : Kono
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190104_24/

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov will meet in Moscow on January 14th to discuss a peace treaty.

Japan's Foreign Ministry announced that Kono will start his five-day trip to Russia on January 12th.

The leaders of the two countries earlier agreed to arrange a foreign ministerial meeting before a bilateral summit early this year.

The upcoming talks would be the first time for Kono and Lavrov to negotiate the signing of a peace treaty, which would include resolving the issue of the Northern Territories.

Chief negotiators under the foreign ministers will also attend the meeting. Senior Deputy Foreign Minister Takeo Mori and Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov will represent their countries' leaders as envoys. Separate talks between Mori and Morgulov are being arranged.

Last year, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Vladimir Putin agreed to accelerate negotiations on a peace treaty based on the1956 joint declaration.

It says Moscow will hand over to Japan two of four Russian-held islands after the conclusion of a peace treaty.

Japan claims the islands. The Japanese government maintains they are an inherent part of Japan's territory. It says they were illegally occupied after World War Two.

Key words : Carlos
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190104_23/

Former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn is set to appear in a court in Tokyo to hear the reason for his detention.

NHK has learned that Ghosn's lawyer filed a request with the Tokyo District Court on Friday for the legal step.

The court is required to hold an open hearing within 5 days of such an application in principle. The detainee is allowed to state his opinions.

Ghosn's lawyer says the former Nissan chairman intends to appear in court.

Ghosn was served a fresh arrest warrant on December 21st on suspicion of aggravated breach of trust.

He allegedly had a Nissan subsidiary illicitly channel about 15 million dollars to a firm run by a Saudi Arabian businessman.

The Saudi is said to have helped Ghosn obtain credit guarantees to cover his personal investment losses.

Ghosn is reportedly telling prosecutors that he did not cause any losses to Nissan, and therefore the charge of aggravated breach of trust should not stand.

On New Year's Eve, the court approved a request by the prosecutors to detain Ghosn for another 10 days, until January 11th.

Ghosn was initially arrested on suspicion of underreporting his pay. He has been in detention since mid-November.

Key words : Nikkei benchmark
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190104_20/

Tokyo's Nikkei benchmark kicked off the first trading day of the year closely tracking Thursday's sharp tumble on Wall Street. The Nikkei briefly dropped more than 700 points in the morning session. It closed down by 452.81, or 2.26 percent lower, at 19,561.

The broader TOPIX ended the day down 1.53 percent.

The main cause of the sell-off was the drop in Apple stocks stateside. They tumbled nearly 10 percent after the IT firm blamed disappointing iPhone sales in China for its weak forecast. That was in part due to the ongoing US-China trade dispute.

In Tokyo, stocks in Japanese firms that supply parts to Apple nosedived as expected. The entire tech sector was hit hard after the Nasdaq lost over three percent in New York on Thursday.

That's fueling concern about slowing global demand, especially with regards to the world's two largest economies. Most sectors ended the day in the negative in Tokyo.

Data this week showed US factory activity and Chinese manufacturing for December both slowed, adding to an already tense market environment.

Key words : south defense ministry P-1
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190105_10/

Japan's Defense Ministry has said in a statement that the content of a video clip released by South Korea presents claims that are different from Japan's stance over a radar incident.

Japanese officials say a South Korean destroyer directed its fire-control radar at Japan's P-1 patrol plane in the Sea of Japan on December 20th.

Japan released a video of the incident about a week later, calling the destroyer's action dangerous. South Korea denies the claim.

In turn, South Korea's Defense Ministry released a video clip on Friday. It said the Japanese patrol plane's actions were intimidating. It added the destroyer's crew could hear the noise and feel the vibration of the Japanese plane.

Japan's Defense Ministry released a statement Friday night asserting again that directing a fire-control radar is a hazardous act.

It said that defense officials from the two sides will discuss the incident. Japan plans to rebuff the South Korean claim, based on objective data such as the flight route and altitude recordings of the patrol plane.

The majority of the South Korean video clip consists of footage also shown in the Japanese video.

Japan's Defense Ministry does not think the South Korean video shows any new evidence contradicting its claims.

Key words : Kono urge
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190104_25/

Japan's foreign minister has urged South Korea to take appropriate steps to deal with the latest moves by South Korean plaintiffs to seize the assets of a Japanese steelmaker.

Taro Kono talked by phone with South Korean foreign minister Kang Kyung-wha for about 30 minutes on Friday. The talks were requested by South Korea.

Kono was briefed about a court application filed on New Year's Eve by South Korean plaintiffs aiming to seize the assets of Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal in the country.

The move comes after South Korea's supreme court ordered the Japanese firm in October to compensate the plaintiffs over wartime labor.

Kono told Kang that Japan is taking the issue extremely seriously. He said the Japanese government will have no choice but to take countermeasures if a Japanese company suffers an unjust loss. He urged South Korea to respond quickly.

Kono later told reporters that Japan hopes to quietly watch the situation for the time being, but that it will prepare to take resolute action in accordance with international law, if and when it becomes necessary.

Kono and Kang also discussed the two countries' disagreement over a radar incident on December 20th.
Japan says a South Korean destroyer directed its fire-control radar at a Maritime Self-Defense Force patrol plane.

Kono said he and Kang agree that the best scenario for both countries is for their defense authorities to thoroughly check the facts, engage in talks and resolve the matter as quickly as possible.

Key words : China says trade issue
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190104_17/

China says it will discuss trade issues, including intellectual property rights, with the United States on Monday and Tuesday next week.

The Chinese Commerce Ministry announced on Friday that US delegates headed by Deputy Trade Representative Jeffrey Gerrish will come to Beijing for the two-day talks.

The ministry said the countries will hold discussions to implement the important consensus reached last month in the US-China summit.

This will be the first face-to-face trade meeting between officials from the two countries since the summit.

In December, the US agreed with China to delay raising tariffs on Chinese imports until March 1st. The tariff hikes were due to take effect on January 1st. The two countries also agreed to start discussions on trade issues, including allegations of China violating intellectual property rights.

After the summit, China lowered tariffs on US automobile imports. Beijing also began working on legislation to ban forced transfers of technology from foreign companies operating in the country.

China's economy has been showing signs of a slowdown amid the trade friction.

But the US administration says it will raise tariffs if the two countries can't reach an agreement on trade issues by the March deadline.

Key words : number of people traffic
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Key words : tuna
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190105_09/

The auction bell at Tokyo's new wholesale food market rang for the first time this year on Saturday, with bidding marked by a record price for a blue fin tuna.

The auction began shortly after 5:00 AM.

A 278-kilogram blue fin tuna caught in Japan's northern prefecture of Aomori fetched more than 333 million yen, equivalent to over 3 million dollars. The new record is more than double the previous one.

The new market opened in October last year in Toyosu, moving from Tsukiji.

A wholesaler's representative said there were a lot of tuna up for bidding at the start of the New Year's trade, just as there typically was at Tsukiji market. He called on dealers and bidders to work together to develop the new market.

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said she is looking forward to Toyosu establishing itself as a great market loved by everyone.

A new visitor's space will open on the first floor of Toyosu on January 15th, allowing people to better experience the atmosphere of the auctions.