at 20:00 (JST), December 26

NHK has acquired details of a case involving a Japanese registrator arrested on charges of taking bribes from a Chinese company.

Former internal affairs minister Hiroya Masuda is expected to replace Masatsugu Nagato, as President of in battled Japan Post Holdings.

エラー 2042

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/upld/medias/en/radio/news/20191226200000_english_1.mp3


Key words : NHK taking bribes Chinese company
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20191226_12/

NHK has learned that a Japanese lawmaker arrested for allegedly taking bribes from a Chinese company is suspected of having received cash worth about 27,000 dollars on the day the Diet was dissolved for a snap election in 2017.

Tokyo prosecutors arrested Tsukasa Akimoto on Wednesday on charges that include taking bribes from the Chinese company, 500.com. The company was seeking to enter Japan's integrated resort business, which includes casinos.

At the time of the alleged bribery, Akimoto was state minister at the Cabinet Office and the tourism ministry.

Sources say Akimoto is suspected of having received money in a paper bag on September 28, 2017, at his office in the Lower House office building. They say it was handed to him by Masahiko Konno, an adviser to the Chinese firm.

The prosecutors suspect that the bribe was a donation to his campaign.

A lawyer who met Akimoto said he denies the allegations.

Key words : Masuda
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20191226_06/

Japan Post group firms are discussing candidates for their new top executives as the current presidents are set to resign in connection with the dubious sale of insurance policies.

The group said last Wednesday that an internal investigation identified more than 12,000 policy sales that are suspected of having broken the law or company rules. Six-hundred 70 of them have already been confirmed of actually being in violation.

The Financial Services Agency and the internal affairs ministry are planning to take administrative disciplinary action on Friday and strongly call on the group to clarify management responsibility for the scandal.

Japan Post Holdings President Masatsugu Nagato, Japan Post President Kunio Yokoyama, and Japan Post Insurance President Mitsuhiko Uehira will step down to take responsibility.

Sources say former internal affairs minister Hiroya Masuda has been considered as a replacement for Nagato, among other candidates. The other two posts will likely be filled by internal candidates.

There is speculation that Japan Post Holdings senior executive vice president Yasuo Suzuki might also resign.

Japan Post Holdings is expected to convene a nomination committee meeting and a board meeting on Friday to announce the new management.

Key words : emperor and Murai
#N/A


Key words : cross-border Korea
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20191226_02/

Thursday marks one year since the groundbreaking ceremony for the connection of cross-border railways and roads between the two Koreas. But full-scale work has not yet begun, due to a lack of progress on the North's denuclearization.

The two countries held a ceremony to mark the start of the work on December 26 of last year at a station near the Kaesong industrial complex in the North.

In February, the US-North Korea summit failed to produce results. Full-fledged construction has not started out of concern that the project could violate the international community's sanctions on North Korea.

A spokesperson for South Korea's Unification Ministry said Seoul plans to press ahead with the procedure for devising basic plans in stages after holding talks with the North. The official also said it is important to make progress in dialogue between not only the Koreas but also the US and the North, and Seoul is working on that goal.

North Korea is increasingly frustrated that sanctions have not been lifted and economic cooperation between the Koreas has made little progress.

In October, Pyongyang demanded that South Korea remove facilities it built in the North's Mount Kumgang resort as part of a joint tourism project.

In December, China and Russia revealed they proposed a draft resolution to the UN Security Council for easing sanctions on the North, but the US says it is too early to do so.

Key words : Thursday Indian
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20191226_15/

A memorial was held on Thursday in the Indonesian province of Aceh for the victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami 15 years ago.

A major earthquake occurred off the island of Sumatra on the morning of December 26, 2004, sending tsunami waves over a wide area ranging from Southeast Asia to eastern Africa. More than 220,000 people were killed or went missing.

Aceh was among the hardest hit by the tsunami, with the death toll at 160,000 people.

About 7,000 people attended the memorial. The participants, including bereaved relatives, offered prayers.

The acting governor of Aceh, Nova Iriansyah, said disasters are unpredictable and people need to rack their brains about how to face such threats.

A 33-year-old man said he feels sad at this time of year about his brother, sister, and aunt, who died in the tsunami. He said he is always prepared to evacuate in the event of a tsunami.

Since the 2004 tsunami, large scale quakes and tsunami have repeatedly hit various areas of Indonesia.

But efforts to put disaster prevention measures in place, including making buildings quake proof, have been slow in coming.

The country still has a heavy task of finding ways to better deal with disasters.

Key words : Japanese authorities
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20191226_09/

Japanese authorities have executed a Chinese death-row inmate convicted of killing a family of four in the city of Fukuoka, southwestern Japan.

Authorities executed Wei Wei, a former student in Japan, on Thursday.

He was charged with killing and robbing the Japanese family in 2003. His death sentence was finalized in 2011.

Justice Minister Masako Mori told reporters that it was an extremely cold-blooded and brutal incident that killed all family members, including children aged 8 and 11, who had lived happily, for truly selfish reasons.

Mori said the death sentence was finalized after a sufficient trial process. She said she ordered the death penalty to be carried out after giving it very careful consideration as justice minister.

This was the first execution since August and also the first under Mori, who became justice minister in October.

Wei is the 39th inmate executed since Shinzo Abe made his comeback as prime minister in 2012. The executions were carried out in 17 rounds.

Key words : defense ministry take about
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20191225_22/

Japan's Defense Ministry says it will take about 12 years and much more money than initially expected to complete the planned relocation of the US Marine Corps Futenma Air Station.

The Ministry says building a replacement facility in the Henoko District of Nago City may cost about 8.5 billion dollars. That's more than 2.5 times the initial estimate.

In the relocation plan compiled in 2013, Japan and the United States said the Futenma site could be returned to Okinawa as early as fiscal 2022. They also said it would take five years to complete reclamation work.

But Japan's Defense Ministry later found extensive soil improvement work was needed.

The Ministry presented the outline of the revised construction period and cost at a meeting of civil engineering and geology experts on Wednesday.

The new plan says it will take about 12 years to complete the construction of an airfield, including about nine years and three months for soil improvement work and land reclamation.

The relocation is likely to be delayed until at least the 2030s.

The Ministry says it will seek permission from Okinawa Prefecture to alter the construction plan, a request the prefecture is expected to reject. This will likely lead to further delays in the construction work.

Key words : researcher 3D digital
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20191226_13/

A group of researchers has reconstructed in 3D digital form the main hall of fire-hit Shuri Castle in Okinawa Prefecture using some 30,000 images provided by the public.

The group for the Shuri Castle Digital Reconstruction project says about 3,000 people sent in photos and video clips they had taken during their visits to the castle. It says the images were sent not only from Japan but China, South Korea and elsewhere.

A lecturer at the University of Tokyo, Rei Kawakami, led the call for donations for the project after a massive fire destroyed the historic castle on October 31.

The ruins of the original castle, built about 500 years ago, are designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The researchers combined the images to recreate the main hall in vivid colors, detailing its arched roof and dragon pillars at the entrance.

They say the view can be experienced in virtual reality images through a smartphone app.

The group is hoping to collect more images to rebuild other structures of the castle as well.

Kawakami says she appreciates the cooperation of so many people. She says she wants people in Okinawa to know how much the castle is loved.

The project's website is: https://www.our-shurijo.org/

Key words : large number of
#N/A


Key words : a lack of snow
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20191225_19/

A lack of snow is preventing some ski resorts in the northern Japanese prefecture of Hokkaido from opening.

A city-run ski resort in Minami Ward, Sapporo City was scheduled to open last Saturday. But the date has been pushed back.

Officials say 30 centimeters of snow is the minimum required for safe skiing conditions. There are currently 10 centimeters on the ground. Most of the slope appears to be covered but the ground can be seen in some places.

The officials say skiers from Hokkaido and elsewhere have contacted them to ask when they will open.

Two years ago, the resort did not open until December 28. There is even less snow this time around and it remains to be seen if the facility can open before the end of the year.

A senior official says he hopes a substantial amount of snow falls so the resort can open as soon as possible for the many people who are waiting anxiously.