Japan's top government spokesperson has expressed reservations about disclosing who will come up with the name for the country's new era, which begins when Crown Prince Naruhito becomes Emperor.
Japan's Defense Ministry is ramping up construction on a controversial US military facility in Okinawa.
Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei Average saw its biggest fall of 2019. The drop followed a plunge on Friday on Wall Street that came amid new worries of an economic slowdown.
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/upld/medias/en/radio/news/20190325200000_english_1.mp3
Key words : top government reservation
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190325_34/
Japan's top government spokesperson has expressed reservations about disclosing who will come up with the name for the country's new era, which begins when Crown Prince Naruhito becomes Emperor.
The government plans to announce the name of the era on April 1, one month before the Crown Prince ascends to the throne. Emperor Akihito is set to abdicate the day before, bringing an end to the Heisei era.
On Sunday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters the government appointed multiple experts on March 14 to consider the name for the new era.
On Monday, Suga said they are experts in Japanese literature, Chinese literature, Japanese history and Oriental history. But he refrained from disclosing their specific areas of expertise.
Suga said the experts want their identities to remain secret, and that revealing them would stir unwanted speculation.
He also said their names will not be announced even after the name of the new era is revealed.
Key words : government urging check
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190325_37/
Japan's government is urging domestic firms to check whether the calendars on their computer systems will be affected by the nation's upcoming era change.
Japan ushers in a new era on May 1 when Crown Prince Naruhito ascends the throne. Emperor Akihito is to abdicate on April 30, bringing the Heisei era to a close.
The name of the new era will be announced on April 1, one month before it begins.
The government carried out a survey between late January and the middle of February on how businesses are preparing for the change.
Of the more than 2,700 companies surveyed, 20 percent said they have not ascertained whether the calendars in their computer systems use Japanese eras.
More than 500 companies said they plan to revise their current systems because of the era change. Of those, 48 percent said they have not yet set out plans to test new systems.
Industry ministry officials warn that insufficient preparations could lead to unrecognized dates and the possibility of data-processing errors.
An official says information systems are significantly bigger and more complex than 30 years ago -- the last time there was an era change.
He is calling on companies to be fully prepared.
Key words : defense ramping
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190325_39/
Japan's Defense Ministry is ramping up construction on a controversial US military facility in Okinawa. Work is now underway on a new part of the planned site.
Workers have been pouring sand and dirt into the sea to reclaim land off the coast of Nago City.
But there is strong local opposition to the plan. In a non-binding referendum last month, a majority of voters opposed the landfill work.
Protesters rallied against it once again. A woman said, "It's totally unacceptable. The decision of the people of Okinawa is being completely ignored."
The Japanese and US governments want to relocate the US Marine Corps Futenma Air Station from an urban part of the prefecture to a less populated coastal one.
But the Okinawa government wants the base moved out of the prefecture altogether.
Around 70 percent of American military facilities are concentrated in Okinawa. Residents say they shoulder a disproportionate burden.
Local officials reiterated that the work should be scrapped. Okinawa's Vice Governor Kiichiro Jahana said, "The project hasn't won the people's understanding, which is why 72 percent of them opposed it in the referendum. We have to stop the work and hold dialogue."
The central government says it will stay the course with the relocation work.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said, "We'll keep trying to gain understanding and cooperation from the local residents. But we will proceed with the work, giving due consideration to the natural environment and people's living environment, in line with the relevant laws."
Defense officials say they want to complete the current landfill work by the summer of 2020.
Key words : benchmark biggest
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190325_33/
Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei Average saw its biggest fall of 2019. The drop followed a plunge on Friday on Wall Street that came amid new worries of an economic slowdown.
The Nikkei closed Monday's session at 20,977, down 650 points or 3 percent. The index finished below the 21,000-mark for the first time since mid-February.
New York stocks fell on Friday on weak manufacturing data in Europe. Germany's PMI came in at its lowest level in over six years.
The inversion of the yield curve also had investors selling. The yield on the 10-year US treasury note fell below the level of the 3-month treasury bill. Many see it as an indicator of a looming recession.
Key words : tankan
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190325_02/
The Bank of Japan is releasing its Tankan survey on business sentiment on April 1. Analysts expect it to say the mood of large manufacturers has worsened.
The quarterly survey covers about 10,000 businesses and measures how executives feel about the economy.
Analysts at 14 private-sector institutions have been forecasting the results. They predict the index for large manufacturers to fall between 10 and 16 points from the 19 points marked in the previous survey.
The analysts say that's due to a slowdown in the global economy, particularly China, and a decrease in global demand for semiconductors. They say the index for electronics and automobile sectors will drop sharply.
For the large non-manufacturers, 11 out of the 14 institutions say the index will either remain flat at 24 points or fall.
Key words : south approved
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190325_29/
A South Korean court has approved a request to seize Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' assets in the country as compensation for wartime labor.
This is the second case that approves a petition to seize the assets of a Japanese company in the country. A district court in the central city of Daejeon made the decision following a Supreme Court ruling on wartime labor last year.
Earlier this month, the plaintiffs filed a request to seize the rights to a total of eight patents and trademarks owned by Mitsubishi Heavy in South Korea.
The court granted approval to four plaintiffs to seize assets worth some 800 million won, or over 700,000 dollars. The plaintiffs say they'll sell the assets unless Mitsubishi Heavy industries takes sincere action.
In January, another South Korean court approved the seizure of assets held in the country by Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal for another group of plaintiffs.
Tokyo has repeatedly urged the South Korean government to discuss the issue based on an agreement reached in 1965, when the two countries normalized relations. Tokyo claims the agreement completely settled the issue of right-to-compensation claims.
Seoul says it is still considering Japan's position.
Key words : top government south
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190325_38/
Japan's top government spokesperson has described South Korea's responses to recent lawsuits over wartime labor as extremely serious.
On Monday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Seoul has done nothing to correct violations of a 1965 bilateral agreement, and allowed plaintiffs to seize company assets.
He reiterated that Japan has been calling on South Korea to discuss the issue based on the agreement. And he said he believes this request will be accepted.
He said the government will keep in close contact with the companies involved to help protect the legitimate activities of Japanese firms. He added that the government's stance on the issue has not changed.
Suga declined to answer questions from reporters asking when Japan would start taking arbitration procedures and countermeasures based on the bilateral deal.
He said that doing so would tip Japan's hand.
Key words : exclusive interview
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190325_04/
Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai is in Japan to attend the World Assembly for Women. In an exclusive interview with NHK, she said that the education of refugee children is often ignored. Malala has called on world leaders to invest in education for refugee girls.
She has been advocating education for children, especially for girls, since winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014.
Despite her consistently upbeat attitude, there is a hint of frustration when she talks about the lack of progress on educational issues.
Malala said, "I think the refugee children's education is often ignored because it is considered as a temporary issue. The priority is often shelter, water and food. Countries are lagging behind in their commitment, and that means countries need to increase their spending on education; they need to invest more in girls' education."
Malala stresses that businesses too should get on board, not just governments.
She added, "When we invest in girls' education, it boosts economies, adding up to 30 trillion dollars to the global economy. It helps us reduce poverty and tackle climate change. That is reminding these leaders and the business community that if you are thinking about investment, and you want good returns, then you want high returns; invest in girls' education."
Japan is hosting the G20 Summit this year. Malala says she hopes girls' education gets the attention it deserves, and that leaders make it a top priority.
Key words : key note
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Key words : after 40 years summit
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190325_16/
After 40 years, Japan's official development assistance to China is coming to an end now that China is the world's second largest economy. The two nations are instead aiming to work together as equal partners in providing economic support to other countries.
At a summit last October, the leaders of both nations agreed to stop commitments to assistance for new projects as of the current Japanese fiscal year through March.
The two governments plan to hold the first meeting in Beijing as early as April to discuss how they can cooperate on an equal footing.
The participants in the talks on both sides are likely to include officials at bureau-chief-level from ministries and agencies involved in economic cooperation. The discussions will mainly focus on the kinds of economic assistance they will provide to third countries.
China has provided huge sums of money to other nations in the form of loans for infrastructure projects as part of its Belt and Road initiative, designed to create a large economic zone.
Some observers say the loans have become a burden for the countries receiving the assistance.
Key words : NHK poll
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190325_06/
An NHK poll has found that 19 percent of local assemblies across Japan have no female members.
NHK surveyed all of Japan's 1,788 local assemblies between January and early March, ahead of upcoming nationwide local elections.
The survey shows that women have no seats in as many as 340 local assemblies in Japan.
It found that men hold 28,180 of the 32,450 local assembly seats nationwide, or 87 percent. Consequently, women hold just 13 percent of the seats, or 4,270.
On average, Tokyo's assemblies, including the prefectural parliament, have the highest rate of female participation, at 27 percent. Kanagawa's assemblies are next, with 20 percent.
Women make up only 7.3 percent of Aomori Prefecture's assemblies, while in Nagasaki's the rate is only marginally higher, at 7.4 percent.
By municipality, the highest rate of female participation is in the township of Hayama in Kanagawa Prefecture. Fifty-four percent of its assembly is made up of women.
More than 740 prefectures and municipalities across Japan are scheduled to hold unified local assembly elections in April. These will be the first such nationwide elections since new legislation aimed at closing the gender gap took effect last May. The new rules call on political parties to do more to field an equal number of male and female candidates.
Key words : oldest rock
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190325_30/
A group of Japanese researchers say they have unearthed the oldest rocks ever found in the country. They say the 2.5-billion-year-old rocks are a window on the formation of Japan's islands.
The team, led by Yasutaka Hayasaka, an associate professor at the Graduate School of Science at Hiroshima University, announced its findings on Monday.
The rocks were found at two areas in Shimane Prefecture, western Japan, in 2017. Researchers concluded they were made of magma that solidified some 2.5 billion years ago under the earth's crust.
The previous record holder was a 2-billion-year-old rock found in 1970 in Gifu Prefecture, central Japan.
The researchers say the rocks come from a time when Japan's islands were connected to the Asian Continent.
They say the findings are significant for studying how the archipelago was formed.
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