at 18:30 (JST), December 05

Asian View

"Asian View" is a five-minute news segment broadcast by NHK WORLD-JAPAN. It features the latest news and deep analysis from Japan and the rest of Asia. Listen to "Asian View" and get the latest information from a region that's playing an increasingly important role in the world.

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/upld/medias/en/radio/news/20221205183000_english_1.mp3


Key words : former nursery arrested
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20221204_14/

Police in central Japan have arrested three former nursery school teachers on suspicion of assault on young children at the school.

The suspected assaults occurred when the three women were working for Sakura Hoikuen in Susono City, Shizuoka Prefecture. They all quit by the end of November.

Police officers searched the school on Sunday morning. They say the suspects pushed children in the face, held them upside down by their feet, and hit their heads in June.

The nursery school says that the three were engaged in 15 kinds of ill-treatment between June and August this year.

City officials and the nursery school say the teachers yelled at one-year olds, pinched their cheeks, held them upside down by the feet and forced them to touch the bottom of one child who had symptoms of hand-foot-and-mouth disease.

The teachers also allegedly threatened a four-year-old with a box-cutter.

They reportedly told the nursery school that they had meant to discipline or teach the children how to behave and that they were sorry.

The police suspect that the three had repeatedly committed abusive acts.

Key words : indonesian raised
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20221204_22/

Indonesian authorities have raised the warning for Semeru volcano on Java Island to the highest level on a four-tier scale after Sunday's eruption.

The country's National Disaster Management Agency says the plumes of ash from the 3,600-meter volcano reached a height of about 1,500 meters, and pyroclastic flows have been observed.

Indonesia's Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation has banned all activities within an 8-kilometer radius of the peak and is calling on residents to evacuate.

Mount Semeru erupted on December 4th a year ago, causing pyroclastic flows that killed more than 50 residents and forced over 10,000 people to evacuate.

Key words : indonesian gas evacuate
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20221205_34/

Massive plumes of smoke are rising over the Indonesian island of Java after Sunday's volcanic eruption. Two-thousand people have been forced to flee, and their villages are carpeted in ash.

Every community within eight kilometers of Mount Semeru is on highest alert. Authorities are extending that area in the southeast because of a dense mix of lava, ash and hot gas.

Authorities have banned all activities and called on people to evacuate to shelters. The ash was so thick it blocked out the sun. It's also combining with the monsoon rains to create a messy paste.

There are no confirmed casualties so far.

Mount Semeru's last major eruption a year ago left 50 people dead. The latest comes after a series of earthquakes, one of which killed hundreds.

Key words : policy chief
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20221203_12/

The policy chief of Japan's main ruling Liberal Democratic Party is set to visit Taiwan.

Hagiuda Koichi plans to begin a three-day trip on December 10.

It will be the first visit to Taiwan in 19 years by a person who holds one of the LDP's three key posts of secretary-general, policy chief or head of the General Council, except for the period when the party was not in power.

In 2003, Aso Taro, LDP's policy chief at the time, traveled to Taiwan.

Japan and Taiwan have no diplomatic relations.

Hagiuda will give a speech on security issues at a gathering in Taipei on Japan-Taiwan relations.

He will also meet with officials from the semiconductor industry.

Arrangements are underway for talks with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen.

Hagiuda is expected to use the visit to appeal for stronger cooperation between the two sides amid China's growing military pressure on Taiwan.

Hagiuda is known to have been close to former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, who had placed importance on ties with Taiwan. The policy chief apparently wants to show that he will carry on the late prime minister's stance.

Key words : coalition armed attack biggest change
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20221202_50/

Japan's ruling coalition said the country should be able to launch a "counterstrike" if it's targeted by an armed attack. It's set to be one of the biggest changes to Japanese security policy since the end of World War Two.

The main Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner Komeito held talks on Friday. They said Japan's current system is poorly equipped to deal with growing threats in the region.

LDP's Kumada Hiromichi said, "Compared with a decade ago, the situation has gotten more dangerous, as North Korea has been launching more ballistic missiles. So we agreed Japan should have counterstrike capabilities to defend itself."

Lawmakers agreed on how Japanese "counterstrikes" would be limited to self-defense and could never be used preemptively. Instead, an armed attack would have to have already been initiated against Japan or its ally, the US. The "counterstrike" could only be directed against military targets with the minimum force necessary to neutralize the threat.

Some experts have raised concerns, asking for more clarity on what constitutes an "initiated attack" on Japan. They also question whether a counterstrike would violate international law.

The government says it's planning to finish revisions of documents outlining its proposal by the end of the year.

Key words : Sunday marks nakamura farmland
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20221204_18/

Sunday marks the third anniversary of the killing of a Japanese doctor and aid worker, Nakamura Tetsu. A probe by Afghan authorities has not made any progress in resolving the case.

Nakamura, the local head of a Fukuoka-based NGO, Peshawar-kai, was fatally shot in the eastern province of Nangarhar on December 4, 2019. He was 73 years old.

He worked for many years on healthcare and farmland regeneration projects, including the construction of irrigation systems.

An eyewitness told NHK that four or five men ambushed and shot Nakamura. One of the gunmen saw Nakamura lift his head when they were about to leave and he was shot again.

The Afghan intelligence agency and other authorities carried out the initial investigation of the incident.

The Taliban said it would take over the probe after the group regained power in August last year. But no progress has been made.

The eyewitness says Nakamura dedicated himself to Afghanistan, and the Afghan people want the Taliban to investigate why he was killed.

The Taliban's deputy spokesperson, Bilal Karimi, told NHK that the previous government should have investigated the killing more thoroughly in the early stages.

Key words : yasushi
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20221204_21/

A former Japanese abductee who returned from North Korea 20 years ago has called on Japan's government to take action to immediately bring back other people who were abducted.

Chimura Yasushi made the urgent appeal at a rally in the city of Fukui, central Japan, on Sunday.

Chimura and four others were repatriated after Pyongyang admitted to the abductions at a Japan-North Korea summit 20 years ago. He is from Fukui Prefecture.

Japan's government says North Korean agents abducted at least 17 citizens in the 1970s and 1980s. The whereabouts of 12 remain unknown.

Chimura expressed a sense of crisis as no abductee has returned to Japan since the five were repatriated.

The 67-year-old said the remaining abductees are aging and the issue will become a sad part of history unless they are saved now.

Chimura said the Japanese government needs to act now and he wants Japan and the North to hold talks to bring home as many abductees as possible.

Iizuka Koichiro, the son of abductee Taguchi Yaeko, made a similar appeal.

He said he has been unable to see his mother for 44 years and he wants people to know about those who are still waiting to be reunited with their loved ones.

The 45-year-old said the key to resolving the issue is realizing a Japan-North Korea summit. He said he wants the North's leader, Kim Jong Un, to stop procrastinating and to let the abductees return home.

Iizuka said he wants Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio to tell the North in a firm manner that his government wants to take back its own nationals.

Key words : government promote exports
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20221204_02/

Japan's government plans to promote exports of ornamental nishikigoi carp to meet its goal of increasing overseas shipments of cultivated products.

The government has drawn up a draft strategy aimed at boosting shipments of farm, forestry and fishery products, as well as processed food products, to an annual value of 2 trillion yen, or about 15 billion dollars, ahead of the original target of 2025.

The draft plan suggests that nishikigoi carp be added to 30 key export items, including beef, rice, and fruits that the government is promoting.

The proposal calls for the government to strengthen its support for ornamental carp producers and areas of production as the fish fetches high prices overseas.

The draft strategy also includes the establishment of an organization to monitor registration of licenses to grow certain varieties of agricultural products, and protections to prevent them from being used illegally abroad.

It also says that Japan's food labelling rules should be aligned with international standards.

The export value of Japan's of farm, forestry and fishery products, as well as processed food products, stood at about 7.5 billion dollars by October.

The value for 2022 is expected to surpass last year's record high.

The government aims to soon adopt an official strategy to achieve its goal earlier than had been initially planned.