The Japanese government has drafted a record budget for next fiscal year.
Japan's Cabinet is set to green-light the dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces personnels to the Middle East.
Russian officials say they are now investigating Japanese fishing boats they seized on suspicion of unreported fish catches.
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/upld/medias/en/radio/news/20191218200000_english_1.mp3
Key words : Japanese government record budget
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20191218_28/
The Japanese government has drafted a record budget for next fiscal year. A major cost factor is the country's aging population. The budget is estimated at 102.6 trillion yen, or about 938 billion dollars.
The Cabinet is expected to approve the draft on Friday..
The budget earmarks more than ever for social security -- a record 35.8 trillion yen.
The spending covers medical and other costs for the elderly.
It also pays for free preschool and nursery services, as well as free higher education for low-income households.
Nearly 1.8 trillion yen is planned for stimulus measures. These include strengthening the country's infrastructure to boost disaster preparedness.
New technology is also attracting funds. About 3.6 billion yen will be allocated to adapting localized 5G networks for agriculture and medical services.
Key words : export fell
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20191218_17/
Japan's exports fell for the 12th straight month in November, hurt by a global economic slowdown.
The trade balance slipped into negative territory for the first time in two months, with a deficit of about 750 million dollars.
The Finance Ministry says exports totaled 6.4 trillion yen, or a little over 58 billion dollars last month. That is a decline of nearly 8 percent from a year earlier in yen terms.
US-bound shipments dropped almost 13 percent, as demand for cars and construction equipment tumbled.
Shipments to China fell more than 5 percent. Organic compounds such as raw materials for chemical products, plunged 33 percent. Exports of auto parts shrank by over 16 percent.
Amid souring relations with South Korea, exports declined 17 percent.
Meanwhile, imports decreased by more than 15 percent to 6.5 trillion yen or about 59 billion dollars, mainly due to lower crude-oil prices.
That was not enough to keep the trade balance in surplus, however.
Key words : government dispatch
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20191218_04/
Japan's Cabinet is set to green-light the dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces to the Middle East after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe briefs Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on the mission's objective.
The governing coalition parties approved on Tuesday a draft Cabinet decision to send a destroyer and a patrol plane to the region to help ensure the safe navigation of commercial ships.
The draft also says the government will report to the Diet when it wants to extend the mission.
Meanwhile, the government said Abe and Rouhani will hold talks on Friday as part of diplomatic efforts to de-escalate tensions and stabilize the situation in the Middle East.
Abe plans to explain to the visiting president why Japan is sending the SDF to the region.
The Cabinet will then approve the plan, next week at the earliest.
Following the decision, the SDF will start necessary preparations, such as loading equipment and training the crew.
The vessel is expected to leave Japan after mid-January.
Upon its arrival in the region, it will join with the P3C patrol plane engaged in anti-piracy operations off the African nation of Djibouti.
Key words : commander
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20191218_08/
The commander of the US Pacific Air Forces says North Korea's threat of a "Christmas gift" for the United States may be a long-range ballistic missile.
General Charles Q. Brown made the remark to US media on Tuesday.
He was referring to a comment North Korea made earlier this month when it warned it is entirely up to the US what kind of "Christmas gift" it gets.
North Korea has unilaterally set a yearend deadline for the US to lift sanctions or make other concessions in bilateral denuclearization talks.
Brown said Pyongyang's rhetoric and a series of tests in recent weeks suggest that the country is preparing for something.
He continued, "What I would expect is some type of long-range ballistic missile would be the gift."
Brown added that there is a "range of things" that could happen, saying the North Korea could make an announcement but not launch a missile.
He stressed the importance of maintaining a rapid response system, saying "our job is to backstop the diplomatic efforts," and "if the diplomatic efforts kind of fall apart, we got to be ready."
Key words : south national assembly speaker submitted
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20191218_32/
South Korea's National Assembly speaker has submitted a bill to establish a fund for paying consolation money to help resolve a wartime labor issue with Japan.
Moon Hee-sang and a nonpartisan group of 13 lawmakers submitted the bill to the National Assembly on Wednesday.
It calls for setting up a fund with donations from Japanese and South Korean businesses and the public.
South Korea's government would cover the cost of operating the fund.
Consolation money would be paid to people including those who say they were forced to work for Japanese firms during World War Two.
The speaker apparently wanted to submit the bill before a summit planned for next week between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
But it's unclear whether the submission will improve bilateral relations, due to opposition by civic groups and some of those seeking damages from Japanese firms. In addition, Moon's administration has not clarified its position on the bill.
Key words : Russian officials
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20191218_19/
Russian officials say they are now investigating Japanese fishing boats they seized on suspicion of unreported catches and they have taken them to one of the Russian-held islands claimed by Japan.
Japan's foreign ministry and other sources say eight boats from Nemuro City in the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido were inspected by Russian border guards on Tuesday. The crews had been fishing for octopuses near the Habomai Islands, which are controlled by Russia and claimed by Japan.
Five of the boats were seized and taken to Kunashiri Island, another island claimed by Japan.
Russian border guards told NHK they have taken the boats to look into possible discrepancies between the volume of catches in their logbooks and the actual catches.
The seized boats are now reportedly moored at Furukamappu port on Kunashiri Island.
Japan's Consulate-General in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk said the crews of the seized boats are reportedly in good health. Officials said the seizure was unacceptable and lodged a request to Russia to return the boats and their crews as early as possible on humanitarian grounds.
Key words : Japanese court
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20191218_22/
A Japanese court has ordered a former television correspondent to pay damages worth 3.3 million yen, or about 30,000 dollars, to a journalist over a rape case.
Journalist Shiori Ito sued Noriyuki Yamaguchi, a former reporter of Tokyo Broadcasting System Television, or TBS, demanding about 100,000 dollars in compensation. Ito said she was raped by Yamaguchi in 2015 after getting drunk at a dinner with him and falling unconscious.
Ito revealed details of her case in news conferences and in a published book. Yamaguchi argued that the act was consensual and counter-sued her for about 1.2 million dollars for damaging his reputation and invading his privacy.
Presiding Judge at the Tokyo District Court Akihiro Suzuki handed down the ruling on Wednesday. He said Ito consulted with police and her friends which backs up her case that sex with the defendant was against her will.
Suzuki dismissed Yamaguchi's claim of having consensual sex saying his statements raised serious doubts about their credibility. The judge said they contradicted emails he sent at the time and a crucial part of the statement underwent unreasonable changes.
Suzuki also dismissed Yamaguchi's damages claim, noting that Ito's disclosure of her case was made to try to change current situations surrounding sexual crime victims. He said that it serves public interest.
Earlier, Ito lodged a complaint with police about the case. But prosecutors dropped the case.
After the ruling Ito spoke to reporters in tears saying that winning the case does not nullify the injuries she suffered. She said thanks to the civil suit, she was able to make public what happened to her and reveal other pieces of evidence. She added that she hopes her case will help improve Japan's system to relieve the pain of as many similar victims as possible.
TBS said in a statement that the case is highly regrettable, because the defendant was its employee at the time.
Key words : Yamaguchi decision
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20191218_25/
A former TV station correspondent who was ordered to pay compensation to a journalist who says he raped her has expressed dissatisfaction with the ruling.
The Tokyo District Court ruled on Wednesday that Noriyuki Yamaguchi, a former reporter of Tokyo Broadcasting System Television, must pay about 30,000 dollars to Shiori Ito. Ito says Yamaguchi sexually assaulted her in 2015 after she had drinks during dinner with him and fell unconscious.
Yamaguchi said at a news conference after the decision that he did nothing illegal.
He said the ruling is very regrettable because it ignored his claims without objective verification but accepted Ito's.
Yamaguchi also expressed intent to appeal the ruling.
He said that according to clinical records at a hospital where she was treated, Ito said she had no memory of when she allegedly suffered sexual violence.
He said this contradicts Ito's claim in court hearings that she was subjected to violence.
Yamaguchi said he has not been prosecuted as a result of a police investigation, and that a prosecution inquest panel agreed with this. He added that the ruling did not refer to the outcome of the investigation.
Key words : top business
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20191218_18/
Japan's top business lobby group Keidanren says it wants to see more female executives at major firms, and it plans to collaborate with an international group to achieve that goal.
Keidanren says it will work with the Japanese arm of the "30% Club", an organization established in Britain with the aim of increasing the proportion of women in senior management positions.
The group wants to boost the percentage of female executives at Japan's 100 biggest companies to 30 percent by 2030.
Currently, only about 5 percent of executives at listed companies are women. That's a long way short of the government's goal of getting to 10 percent by 2020.
The Chair of 30% Club Japan, Masahiko Uotani, said it's important that not only women, but also foreigners and people from a wide range of backgrounds play key roles in business. He described it as an issue of crucial importance in an era of global competition.
Keidanren says it will work closely with the 30% Club to try and address the issue through greater advocacy.
Key words : research institute aging
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20191218_23/
A nuclear research and development institute in Japan says the collapse of a structure at its nuclear research institute northeast of Tokyo was caused by rot in its aging wooden supports.
In September, a cooling facility at the agency's institute in Oarai, Ibaraki Prefecture, collapsed during Typhoon Faxai.
The structure, which was about 17 meters high, was built in 1968.
It collapsed when wind gusts reached about 110 kilometers per hour although it had been designed to withstand winds twice as strong.
The Japan Atomic Energy Agency said an examination revealed that wooden supports had partially rotted.
It said a simulation based on the findings confirmed that the structure would collapse in winds weaker than the design standards.
Officials said the 51-year-old facility does not contain radioactive materials. But its outer wall contains asbestos, and there is a possibility small amounts might have been released into the air.
Officials said they conducted regular checks, but the rot went unnoticed because the wooden parts were clad in metal.
The agency said 89 of its facilities nationwide are aging and 70 percent of them are more than 40 years old. It said it will implement measures to prevent a recurrence.
Key words : agriculture ministry come up
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20191218_15/
Japan's agriculture ministry is planning to come up with legal measures to prevent people from smuggling fertilized eggs and other genetic materials of premium wagyu cattle.
The move is in response to calls from the livestock industry. Arrests have been made in connection with an attempt to smuggle wagyu eggs and sperm to China last year.
An expert panel met on Tuesday. It noted that improvements in the breeding of wagyu cattle are regarded as a breeder's intellectual creative work. It said that genetic resources of wagyu should be protected as intellectual property by law.
The panel proposed concrete measures to prevent smuggling. They included allowing injunctions to be requested and drawing up standards for possible damages. The panel added that drafting new criminal punishments should be considered for malicious cases.
It also suggested that breeders and others should be required to strictly manage such genetic materials by keeping records of all trades.
The ministry plans to submit a bill at an ordinary session of the Diet next year.
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