Welcome to NHK Newsline. I'm Ramin Mellegard in Tokyo.
Japan's Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi has met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in person for the first time.
Iwaya and Wang held talks for about three hours in Beijing on Wednesday. The Japanese foreign minister is the first to visit China since April last year. At the start of the talks, Iwaya expressed hope to build a bilateral relationship in which pending issues between the two countries are reduced and efforts begin to boost cooperation and coordination.
I would like to build a relationship that makes people in both countries feel happy that Japan, China ties have made progress.
Iwaya said it is important that both countries fulfill their responsibilities toward peace and prosperity of the regional and international communities.
He added that the idea is the core of strategic and mutually beneficial relations. Iwaya and Wang likely exchanged views on how to build constructive, stable bilateral ties, as well as the timing of a possible visit to Japan by Wang. Iwaya likely expressed Japan's position on issues between the two countries. They include China's possibly soon resuming imports of Japanese marine products and ensuring security for Japanese nationals in China.
The ministers also apparently discussed North Korea's ongoing military cooperation with Russia.
The six include Chung Kim-hua, the former executive of a thinktank, the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute. Chung was known as a pro-democracy advocate, a critical of the government. He moved to Britain in 2022 to seek freedom of speech.
The police accused Chung of advocating for Hong Kong independence and inciting secession through social media posts without specifying what remarks and actions were suspected to be illegal.
Now the national security law, which took effect four years ago, covers activities outside Hong Kong. Many pro democracy activists have moved overseas since the introduction of the law. Aside from the six people, more than 10 activists living abroad have already been put on the wanted list. Agnes Chow is among them. She's a prominent figure in Hong Kong's pro democracy movement and has also urged support for the movement in Japanese. She currently resides in Canada.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has so far failed to appear for questioning as requested for a for the second time. A joint investigation team, including police, is seeking to question Yoon on suspicion of insurrection and other offenses related to his declaration of martial law early this month.
Yoon was summoned to appear for questioning at 10:00 AM on Wednesday, but he hasn't appeared. The president also skipped a first summons, asking him to appear last week. A lawyer close to Yoon said he's prioritizing the Constitutional Court proceedings of his impeachment trial, which starts on Friday. South Korea's Yonhap news agency quotes a legal expert as saying the joint investigation team may issue a third summons to Yoon if he fails to comply with this second summons.
The expert says the team may consider a filing for a court warrant to detain Yoon if he fails to comply a third time.
Bangladesh's interim government has asked India to extradite its former prime minister. After 15 years in office, Sheikh Hassina fled to India in August as crackdowns on student protesters were set to result in more than 1,000 deaths. Her regime collapsed and she was ousted after student LED demonstrations spread nationwide this summer. A court in Bangladesh has issued an arrest warrant for Hassina on charges she committed crimes against humanity in her responses to the protests.
Bangladesh has an extradition treaty with India. New Delhi hasn't announced whether it will agree to the request.
Tensions between the neighboring countries have flared amid the turmoil.
India denounced a series of violent incidents against Hindu minorities in Muslim-majority Bangladesh earlier this year.
And Japan will remain the third largest financial contributor to the United Nations. It is set to shoulder over 6.9% of the total contributions by member countries from 2025 to 2027. Every three years, the UN reviews each member's contributions by assessing its economy and capacity to pay.
In the resolution adopted at the UN General Assembly, the top three contributors for the period will remain the US, China, and Japan. Japan's share shrank by 1.1 percentage point from the last review to 6.93%.
The US's share is unchanged at 22%, but by contrast, China's share rose by nearly five points to just over 20%, almost on par withthe U.S. This is expected to boost the country's clout at the U.N.
Groups of Palestinians called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Christmas Eve in Bethlehem. The city in the Palestinian territory of the West Bank is said to be the birthplace of JesusChrist.
Children marched through the streets, carrying signs. Hundreds of people, including Palestinian Christians, gathered at a square for a mass presided by the top Roman Catholic cleric of the region. He said he had visited Gaza the day before and saw the destruction.
Christmas in Bethlehem is always nice, but this time is the second year. We have a set Christmas in Bethlehem.
But he added that he also saw life and called on people not to give up.
Attacks by the Israeli military continued on Christmas Eve in Gaza. Local health authorities say the death toll now exceeds 45,300 since October 7 of 2023. The health ministry says more than 800 Palestinians have died across the West Bank in that time.
Syria's state-run news agency says the group leading the country's interim government and other rebel organizations have agreed to join forces. The entities plan to disband and merge under the nation's defense ministry.
The Hayat Tahrir Al Sham group, or HTS, is led by Abu Mohammad Al Jolani. The state media outlet reported on Tuesday Jolani met with senior members of various organizations. The report did not mention whether the Kurdish forces are among the groups that will disband.
The Kurdish rebels are based in the northeastern part of the country.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says heavy clashes between Kurdish forces and Turkish backed groups occurred in the north on Tuesday. The interim government has been trying to reorganize the country's military since President Bashar al-Assad's regime was overthrown. But Syria's new leaders are facing a difficult task. They're striving to build a stable nation that includes various groups with different interests.
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And those were the top stories for this hour.
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And that is a wrap for this edition of NHK Newsline. I'm Ramin Mellegard. Thank you very much for joining us.
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Japan has various kinds of landmarks that fascinate visitors. They range from cultural and historic locations to modern buildings created with cutting edge technologies. The Backstory of Japanese Landmarks brings you the stories behind these amazing places.
In this episode of The Backstory of Japanese Landmarks, we feature Fushimi Inari Shrine.
Kyoto served as the capital of Japan for more than a thousand years until 1868, when the capital was moved to then Edo, now Tokyo. When the imperial capital was moved from Nara to Kyoto in the year 794,It went by the name Heiankyo, which means the capital of peace and tranquility. The city was modeled after the Chinese Tang Dynasty capital of Changwang, and built on a grid pattern system. In fact, the streets of Kyoto today continue to follow this well-arranged grid. The Fushimi Inari Shrine, famous for its seemingly endless rows of vermilion torii gates, is popular among tourists from both Japan and abroad. It's less than 10 minutes by train or bus from Kyoto Station, or about a 35-minute walk. The shrine has a history of more than 1,300 years. It serves as the headquarters for over 30,000 Inari shrines across Japan. As legend goes, more than 1,300 years ago, a deity was enshrined at Mount Inari. The mountain has since been considered sacred.
People express their belief by dedicating torii of various sizes. Another practice is engraving the deity's various names onto stones called otsuka and placing them on the mountain. The most famous part of Shiminari Shrine is the thousand torii gates.
Torii are the gate-like structures at shrines. Although the size may vary, the torii is generally made of two pillars and a beam.
It stands on the boundary of the shrine's precincts and indicates that the area inside is sacred.
Fushiminari Shrine in Kyoto has long rows of vermilion tori that seem to stretch on without end.
Inari shrines are dedicated to a deity popular among common people, representing good harvest, prosperous business, safety for the family, and the accomplishment of ambitions. The Edo period from the 17th century to the end of the 19th century was when much of the popular culture leading up to the present age took shape. It was during this period that people started offering torii to Inari shrines. hoping that their wishes would be fulfilled, or to give thanks when their wishes came true.
As the headquarters shrine, Shiminari Shrine, received the most of these offerings, this is why there are nearly 10,000 Torii gates in various sizes in the precincts. Particularly famous are the rows of Torii called Sembom Torii, or Thousand Torii, which lead to the main shrine building.
The endless torii make for a great photo background for tourists.
Fox statues are a common sight at Inari shrines. The foxes are believed to be messengers for the Inari deity.
Unlike actual foxes, these are imaginary creatures considered sacred and invisible. There are many scary stories about Inari shrines and foxes across Japan. Also, the sushi wrapped with deep-fried tofu is called inari sushi. This is because fried tofu is believed to be a favorite food of the sacred foxes. Inari shrines and foxes have long been a part of Japanese people's lives.
Thank you for tuning in to the backstory of Japanese landmarks. We hope you have a chance to visit these landmarks and see for yourself what makes them so special.
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