Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says he did not order the labor ministry to change its methods for conducting a key monthly survey.
The speaker of South Korea's National Assembly has hit back at Japan's request for him to retract a remark about the issue of those referred to as wartime comfort women, and also make an apology.
Stocks in Tokyo surged on Monday as the Nikkei Average hit a 2-month high with investors helding out hopes for a trade agreement between the US and China.
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/upld/medias/en/radio/news/20190218200000_english_1.mp3
Key words : Abe did not order
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190218_20/
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says he did not order the labor ministry to change its methods for conducting a key monthly survey.
The ministry has been under fire for using improper methods to conduct the survey of wages and working hours.
Abe told a Diet committee on Monday that a high level of expertise is needed to ensure the credibility of statistics, but the problems with the survey were not detected for 15 years. He said he takes a serious view of this matter.
Four years ago, Abe's secretary at the time is said to have expressed concern that the labor ministry changed its samples for the survey.
The opposition camp says the ministry may have been under pressure to issue data that showed the success of Abe's economic policies.
Abe said it was only natural for his secretary to tell the ministry that it would be meaningless to change the samples every three years because this would cause fluctuations in the data.
Abe said his secretary told him that wage growth for the month of June 2015 was affected by the switching of samples. But Abe said he did not issue any orders to change the sampling methods.
Abe also denied allegations that the government has been tampering with statistics to make real wages look higher than they actually are. He added that he has never cited the results of the ministry's monthly survey as evidence to prove that wages are rising.
Key words : In US politics
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190218_08/
In US politics, the race for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination is wide open, while President Donald Trump is wooing conservatives to back his re-election.
Many Democrats in Congress are entering the race, which features several female candidates, including Senator Kamala Harris of California, whose parents are both immigrants, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar. Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey will also run.
Potential candidates include former Vice President Joe Biden, former Texas Representative Beto O'Rourke, and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who nearly stole the nomination from Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has shown an interest in running as an independent candidate. He has long supported the Democratic Party but now says the party is moving too far to the left.
Boston's Emerson College conducted a poll of 1,000 voters from Thursday through Saturday of last week.
Twenty-seven percent say Biden is the most desirable Democratic candidate, 17 percent support Sanders, 15 percent Harris, 9 percent Warren, 9 percent Booker, 5 percent Klobuchar and 4 percent O'Rourke.
The Democratic candidates are scheduled to take part in a TV debate in June.
Key words : national assembly hit back
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190218_24/
The speaker of South Korea's National Assembly has hit back at Japan's request for him to retract a remark about the issue of those referred to as wartime comfort women, and also make an apology.
Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said that the speaker's repeatedly inappropriate remarks are regrettable. He also said Japan will continue to take a tough stance on the matter.
Moon Hee-sang said he wonders how Japan can dare to tell him to apologize. He added that it is Japan that should say sorry. In interviews with South Korean media reported on Monday, he likened Japan to a shameless thief.
Japan made the request after the speaker said the issue would be resolved if Emperor Akihito apologizes to the women. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called the comment extremely inappropriate and deeply regrettable.
The speaker said the court of history has no statute of limitations, and that Tokyo owes an apology to the victims of what he called a historical crime.
He urged Japan to look at the situation with more maturity.
On Friday in Munich, Japan's Foreign Minister Taro Kono reportedly conveyed his country's stance on the speaker's remark to his South Korean counterpart Kang Kyung-wha. However, Seoul says that did not happen.
Key words : stocks surged
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190218_25/
Stocks in Tokyo surged on Monday as the Nikkei Average hit a 2-month high. Investors held out hopes for a trade agreement between the US and China at their negotiations in Washington this week.
The Nikkei closed at 21,281, gaining 381 points or 1.8 percent from Friday's finish. The index briefly rose more than 400 points. The closing price was the highest since mid-December.
Many investors were optimistic that the US and China can reach a deal before March 1st. That's when the US will add additional tariffs on Chinese goods.
Key words : US commerce
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190218_26/
The US Commerce Department has sent President Donald Trump a report on whether to hike auto tariffs. The contents have not been disclosed. But it likely calls for import restrictions, including higher duties.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross submitted the report on Sunday. It examines the effects of imports of assembled cars and parts on the US auto industry, and whether tariffs should be increased.
Trump has 90 days to decide whether to act on the recommendations. He earlier promised Japan and the European Union that the US would not increase duties on cars and auto parts while trade talks continue.
Analysts say the Trump administration may use the threat of higher tariffs to make tough demands during the talks, such as limits on auto imports.
Key words : China new car sales
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190218_27/
China's new car sales in January fell more than 10 percent year-on-year for the fifth straight month. The decline apparently reflects a slowdown in consumption amid trade friction with the United States.
The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers says 2.36 million new vehicles were sold in January. That's down 15.8 percent from the same month last year.
This comes after the figure for 2018 marked the first year-on-year decline in 28 years.
The association expects demand for new cars to remain weak for a while.
The Chinese government plans to introduce subsidies for buyers of trucks in rural areas and for purchases of new vehicles that meet certain environmental standards.
Key words : Japanese food
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190218_11/
Japanese food producers are pitching products that conform to Islamic law at one of the world's largest food fairs in Dubai.
The five-day event, which started on Sunday, has attracted more than 5,000 exhibitors from about 120 countries.
44 of the producers showcasing "halal" products are from Japan. A company from the southwestern prefecture of Miyazaki gave visitors a chance to taste its sweet potatoes.
A sales official from the firm said, "I want to learn more about the food requirements of Muslim people and find out what they think about Japanese vegetables."
He said Dubai is an important market, as it serves as a gateway to Saudi Arabia, North Africa and India.
Key words : Tokyo metropolitan
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190218_06/
The Tokyo metropolitan government is asking businesses to help reduce traffic congestion during Olympic and Paralympic Games next year.
More than 10 million people, including athletes and spectators, are expected to visit Tokyo during the Games.
In preparation, the metropolitan government, the Olympic Organizing Committee, and the central government launched a project last August aimed at promoting what's being called TDM, or "traffic demand management."
The TDM promotion project calls for the cooperation of businesses to ease congestion on roads and railways during the summer games.
Metropolitan government officials will hold a seminar in Tokyo on Monday, inviting companies which are members of Keidanren, or the Japan Business Federation. Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike will also attend the gathering.
The officials are expected to ask the businesses to change working hours and encourage their employees to take summer holidays or work from home. They will also ask for changes to distribution hours and routes.
Tokyo officials are also expected to ask the firms to draw up business continuity plans ahead of the Games.
The metropolitan government plans to hold seminars in areas with heavy traffic, and where event venues are concentrated.
Key words : people across
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190218_18/
People across Japan suffering from asthma caused by air pollution have filed a request for mediation with a government committee seeking medical expenses.
Ninety-four asthma patients and an association of people with air pollution-related illnesses made the submission on Monday. Some of the patients were plaintiffs in a lawsuit that was settled 12 years ago.
In the suit, more than 600 Tokyo residents sued the Tokyo government, the national government, and automakers for asthma-related medical expenses.
The case was settled out of court in 2007. Defendants agreed to set up a 180 million dollar fund to fully cover the patients' medical expenses.
But lawyers who worked on the case say the fund has dried up and their clients have been paying medical costs partly from their own pockets since April of last year. They also said the central government and carmakers refused requests to provide additional funding.
The patients demand that the national government and automakers finance a new support system. It would fully cover medical costs for all patients nationwide receiving treatment for air pollution-related asthma.
The government panel is expected to mediate negotiations.
Key words : Japanese government approved
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190218_22/
The Japanese government has approved a clinical trial for a treatment aimed at repairing spinal cord injuries using a special type of stem cells called iPS cells.
A health ministry panel on Monday approved the trial, which will be conducted by a team led by Keio University Professors Hideyuki Okano and Masaya Nakamura.
The team will make use of iPS cells, which are created by reprogramming adult human cells and have the potential to grow into any type of body tissue.
Team members will transplant about two million iPS-derived cells into each of four patients who have lost mobility in their limbs after damaging their spinal cords.
The members hope the cells will develop into neurons to help restore limb movement.
They will take one year to confirm the safety and effectiveness of the treatment.
The team says it hopes to start treating the first patient this year.
It is said that about 5,000 people in Japan damage their spinal cords every year because of traffic accidents or other reasons.
This is the first-ever clinical trial using iPS cells for spinal cord injuries, for which there is currently no effective treatment.
Key words : Yamaguchi
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190218_14/
People in Yamaguchi Prefecture are preparing for the arrival of spring by burning grass on the Akiyoshidai, one of Japan's largest limestone plateaus.
More than 1,000 local residents, firefighters and volunteers from the city of Mine set fire to a field of dry grass on Sunday morning to clear the way for new growth.
The flames reached a height of two to three meters, blanketing the area with smoke.
About three hours later, the brown hillside had turned black, making a sharp contrast with the white limestone of the plateau.
Some visitors took photos of the burning grass.
A woman in her 30s said she watched the event for the first time with her child, and they were both impressed by the powerful fire.
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