A little Island

土曜日にタイの洞窟のニュースを聞いたときは絶望的だと思っていたのだが、発見されたとのことでよかった。早く洞窟から出られますように。

1)   Japan’s unemployment rate fell to the lowest level in more than 25 years in May in the latest sign of a strengthening economy, government data showed Friday, but rising job availability underscored the shortage of workers amid a shrinking population.

The jobless rate stood at 2.2 percent, beating market forecasts to remain unchanged from 2.5 percent in April and hitting a low not seen since October 1992, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

2)   Fair play, a newly implemented tiebreaker in the group stage of the world’s biggest soccer tournament, was put into use for the first time Thursday and Japan came out as the beneficiary.

Despite losing 1-0 to Poland, the Japanese were able to advance to the round of 16 because they received fewer yellow cards than Senegal, which lost to Colombia by the same score at the same time.

3)  The Tokyo metropolitan government on Wednesday passed strict new anti-smoking rules ahead of the 2020 Olympics, leapfrogging national legislation on lighting up that has been watered down after opposition from pro-smoking MPs.

The city’s new laws ban smoking entirely on school premises from kindergartens to high schools, although a space can be created outside university and hospital buildings for smokers.

Lighting up will be outlawed at restaurants in the capital, regardless of size. Restaurants can set up a separate indoor smoking space but customers cannot eat or drink inside the smoking area.

4)   The Diet on Friday enacted into law a bill aimed at reforming working styles in the country despite opposition concern that the legislation would encourage long working hours.

The legislation consists of three key pillars — setting a legal cap on overtime work, ensuring “equal pay for equal work” for regular and nonregular workers, and exempting skilled professional workers with high wages from working-hour regulations.

The last item, known as the “white collar overtime exemption,” has been a major source of contention between the ruling and opposition parties.

5)   The rainy season has ended in the Kanto and Koshin regions, the earliest conclusion of the wet weather since record-keeping began in 1951, the Japan Meteorological Agency said June 29.

The agency’s declaration came seven days earlier than in 2017 and 22 days earlier than usual. It marked the first end to the rainy season in the regions in June and broke the previous record of July 1 set in 2001.

6)   wo longtime political rivals will cooperate for the first time in decades to promote a single issue–moving Japan away from its dependence on nuclear energy.

Junichiro Koizumi and Ichiro Ozawa are both 76 and former members of the Liberal Democratic Party.

7)   A third-party panel investigating a violent tackle in a college American football game has denounced university officials for engaging in a cover up to protect coaching staff who ordered the hit.

The damning comments are the latest development in an off-field drama over the on-field incident, which occurred in a game in May between Nihon University and Kwansei Gakuin University.

8)   A city mayor in Kyoto Prefecture has returned to work after collapsing in a sumo ring in April.

Manazuru Mayor Ryozo Tatami suddenly collapsed while making a speech at a sumo event in the city.

He said the tradition which bans women from the ring is out of date. He added that providing treatment is the top priority in emergencies, and that it should not matter whether providers are women or men. He said the women who rushed to help him must have felt obliged to do so because they are professional nurses.

9)   Officials in Thailand are still trying to locate and rescue 12 boys and their soccer coach believed to be trapped in a flooded cave network.

As the search stretches into its 6th day, crews are exhausting all available options.

Heavy rainfall has been complicating rescue efforts throughout the week as the situation becomes more desperate by the minute.

10)   number of female reporters covering the FIFA World Cup in Russia have been sexually harassed. The incidents have drawn worldwide rebuke.

Before Sunday’s game between Japan and Senegal in Ekaterinburg, a man rushed up to a Brazilian TV reporter and tried to kiss on the cheek. She was about to give a live report in front of the stadium.

The reporter dodged the man and angrily shouted at him in English, “Don’t do this, I don’t allow you to do this, never, OK?” She added, “This is not polite, this is not right.”

11)   A Japanese electric power company that’s grappling with the aftermath of a nuclear meltdown accident says it will begin a geological survey for a possible new nuclear plant.

Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, said on Friday the survey is planned from the 2nd half of fiscal 2018 through fiscal 2020 in Higashidori in Aomori Prefecture, northern Japan.

13)   Japanese employers can often be heard complaining about the nationwide labor shortage. Some will be taking heart after seeing a successful trial of self-driving trucks near Tokyo.

Researchers put 2 trucks through tests in a convoy led by a manned vehicle. The autonomous trucks used sensors and wireless technology to follow the leader.

There were people on board just in case things didn’t go exactly to plan.

ハワイに持って行くPCを新しく買おうと思うけれど、これどう思う？ってAmazonのページを見せられたので、プログラマーだけどPCのスペックには詳しくないよ。と言ったらガッカリしてた。ごめん。そして着々と準備中だね。

1)   Police in Tempe, Arizona said evidence showed the “safety” driver behind the wheel of a self-driving Uber was distracted and streaming a television show on her phone right up until about the time of a fatal accident in March, deeming the crash that rocked the industry”entirely avoidable.”

2)   The ruling Liberal Democratic Party is arranging to hold its presidential race on Sept 20, with party president and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe seeking to win a third term to become Japan’s longest-serving leader, party lawmakers said.

Former LDP Secretary General Shigeru Ishiba, the party’s policy chief Fumio Kishida and Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Seiko Noda are viewed as possible candidates.

3)   A powerful earthquake hit Osaka and other parts of Japan’s second-largest metropolitan area Monday morning, leaving at least four people dead and more than 300 injured as concrete walls around buildings crumbled, water pipes burst and power was cut off.

4)   Komeito, the junior party in the ruling coalition, changed its stance and voted in favor of a bill that will legalize casinos.

5)   An elementary school principal revealed on June 21 she was warned in 2015 of the danger of a wall that collapsed in an earthquake on June 18, killing a 9-year-old schoolgirl.

The wall beside the swimming pool of Juei Elementary School here was identified as one of a few safety concerns by a disaster prevention adviser, who was invited by the school and the PTA to give a disaster prevention workshop on Nov. 2, 2015.

Yoshimi Tanaka, the school principal, informed the city education board about the warning and requested a safety inspection.

6)   Six major Japanese companies plan to introduce a new labor system for “highly skilled professionals,” while 31 will not mainly over fears of possible “karoshi” (death from overwork), a survey of 100 companies showed.

Under the proposed “highly skilled professionals system,” employees engaged in certain jobs would be exempted from labor regulations concerning working hours.

7)   The operator of Legoland Discovery Center Tokyo apologized for refusing to allow four hearing-impaired customers, including two children, to enter the amusement facility in April because of their disabilities.

8)   The Japan Coast Guard is alerting ships navigating Tokyo Bay to watch out for a large whale.

Coast Guard officials say they received a report on Friday morning from a ship’s crew that had seen a whale, about 15 meters long, near Tokyo Gate Bridge.

9)   About 150,000 people with intractable diseases lost their financial support at the start of this year after a Japanese government program was revised.

10)   Japanese soccer fans have been celebrating their national squad’s 2-1 win over Colombia in its first group match in the World Cup finals.

11)   The Thai government says it will ban imports of recyclable waste, amid a public outcry over environmental degradation. Government officials say they are prepared to revise existing legislation.

The government says most of the waste the country accepted up to last month came from Japan.

The import ban will likely have an impact on Japan, which exports huge amounts of waste to the Southeast Asian country.

12)   North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reportedly wants denuclearization to be carried out in stages, with the backing of China.

Kim is in China on a 2-day visit, his third in recent months. It comes just one week after the historic summit with US President Donald Trump.

ハワイへお引越しまであと46日だよーと！と開口一番。楽しみにしてるんだねぇ。もうお部屋も契約したらしい。などとハワイの話が多かった。

1)   The Japanese government says foreign travelers with unpaid medical bills will be denied entry to the country in the future, with the number of foreign visitors set to surge in the run-up to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics.

2)   Wandering off by people with dementia continues to be a serious problem in Japan’s rapidly aging society, with a record 15,863 such people reported missing in 2017, police data showed Thursday.

3)   A 78-year-old man died after he was shot by a hunter who thought he was shooting at a wild monkey on a mountain slope in Kamogawa, Chiba Prefecture, police said Friday.

Police said Masaru Takahashi, 67, who has a license to use firearms for culling wild animals, has been charged with negligence resulting in death after he shot Hisashi Mori with a shotgun. Sankei Shimbun reported that the incident occurred at around 5 p.m. Thursday. Hunters have been culling wild monkeys in the mountain forest recently.

4)   The Japanese government is looking to arrange a summit between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in September in Russia, with Kim having expressed readiness to meet with Abe during his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, a government source said Thursday.

5)   EU countries on Thursday approved a raft of tariffs targeting U.S. goods including whiskey and motorcycles in retaliation against painful duties imposed by President Donald Trump on European metals.

6)   A new law stipulating the rules on operations of “minpaku” private lodgings took effect on June 15.

The “Jutaku Shukuhaku Jigyo-ho” (House stay business law), among other stipulations, compels people or companies to register their properties with prefectural governments and have them approved before they can rent them to tourists for overnight stays.

7)   A railway company in western Japan has partially suspended operations on a Shinkansen bullet train line, after finding evidence that one of its trains hit a person.

West Japan Railway says the driver of a bullet train on its Sanyo Shinkansen line reported seeing a major dent in the nose of another train as they passed each other.

The damage was spotted at around 2 PM on Thursday soon after the Tokyo bound train left Hakata Station in Fukuoka Prefecture.

8)   Japan’s national soccer team has arrived at its training base in the Russian city of Kazan ahead of the start of the FIFA World Cup on Thursday.

9)   An 18th century Chinese vase that was found in an attic in France has sold for about 19 million dollars.

The vase was auctioned in Paris on Tuesday for 16.2 million euros.

It is 30 centimeters tall and depicts deer beside a pine tree with cranes. The neck is decorated with gold.

The auctioneer says the piece was discovered in a shoebox. The owner used public transport to bring it to the auction venue.

10)   Electronics maker Sharp is branching out into a new product area with a so-called smart kitty litter box that helps owners track the health of their pets.

Company officials developed the device together with researchers at Tottori University, and they aim to sell it in Japan and overseas.

The device has 2 sensors that are connected to the Internet —

11)   The head of US electric-car maker Tesla has announced a 9-percent cut of its workforce.

The move is to reduce costs and make the company profitable.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed the plan on Tuesday.
His announcement does not say how many employees would be laid-off. US media reports put the number from 3,000 to 4,000.

来月はクラスを1月くらいお休みにするというので、？と思ったらついにハワイに引っ越すのだそうだ。その話と記事をざっと。

1)   Rental site Airbnb said Thursday it had been forced by Japanese authorities to cancel thousands of reservations ahead of a new law regulating short-term rentals, apologising for the “extraordinary disruption.”

2)   Keiichiro Koyama, 34, and Shigeaki Kato, 30, members of popular group News, promoted by Johnny & Associates, are in hot water for allegedly encouraging an underage girl to drink at a party.

The scandal was reported by tabloid magazine Shukan Bunshun in its June 7 edition. The story said the party was organized by Koyama himself, and that a then 19-year-old girl had been urged to drink alcohol in gulps.

3)   A 41-year-old man has been sentenced to 19 years in prison for the arson-murders of his 31-year-old wife and two children aged 3 and 1, last year in Tome, Miyagi Prefecture.

The Sendai District Court handed down its verdict against Yoshiaki Shimaya, who had pleaded guilty to killing his wife Miyu, daughter Mao and son Kyosuke, Fuji TV reported Thursday.

4)   U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday after White House talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that the two leaders were working together to improve trading relations and that Abe promised new Japanese investment in the United States.

x

5)   The summit of the Group of 7 nations will open in Canada on Friday. But the leaders may struggle to put on a show of unity.

On free trade, Abe is expected to speak out in the G7 summit against retaliatory tariffs, saying they benefit no country. He will also express Japan’s stance of strengthening multilateral trade systems and promoting economic partnership deals.

6)   An NHK crew has been allowed to enter a village engulfed by lava and ash from the Fuego volcano in Guatemala.

The volcano, about 40 kilometers southwest of the capital Guatemala City, erupted violently on Sunday.

Villages at the foot of the mountain were swamped and destroyed by pyroclastic flows.

7)   Nearly 80 percent of respondents to a survey in Japan said they are interested in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but only 15 percent are willing to work as volunteers for the event.

8)   The Reuters news agency reports that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is expected to arrive in Singapore on Sunday. His summit with US President Donald Trump is scheduled to take place on Tuesday in the city-state.

9)   Data from China show that the trade surplus with the United States grew further in May. That’s despite trade talks the 2 countries held last month.

Imports from the US rose more than 10 percent to 14.7 billion dollars. But exports to the US also rose. As a result, China posted a bilateral trade surplus of about 24.5 billion dollars. That’s up more than 10 percent from the level a year earlier.

10)   A record number of foreign tourists came to Japan last year. But a government report says they are spending less these days.

The annual white paper on tourism shows almost 29 million people visited Japan in 2017, marking a record high for the fifth straight year. They spent a total of 40 billion dollars.

モーガンフリーマンが！？ ショックだよーと言っていた。

1)   US President Donald Trump says it’s still possible that a summit between him and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un can go ahead on June 12th as originally planned.

2)   Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman is facing multiple allegations of sexual harassment. The 80-year-old movie veteran has apologized to anyone who felt uncomfortable or disrespected.

CNN reported on Thursday that 8 women said they had been subjected to inappropriate behavior or harassment by Freeman.

3)   A US district court has ruled that President Donald Trump cannot block Twitter users from his account because of their political views. Trump has been blocking tweets that criticize him.

On Wednesday, a judge in New York described the president’s Twitter account as a public forum, and said blocking Twitter users for their views violated their right to free speech under the First Amendment of the Constitution. The judge ordered Trump to unblock his account.

4)   The US State Department says an employee stationed in southern China has been diagnosed with a brain injury after hearing strange sounds.

The worker at the US Consulate General in Guangzhou reported abnormal sensations of sound and pressure from last year until April. The employee returned to the US for tests, and was found to have brain trauma.

More than 20 employees at the US Embassy in Havana became ill last year after what the media described as a “sonic attack.”

5)   The former head of an Osaka-based school operator, the central figure in an alleged favoritism scandal, has been released on bail. He says his detention was politically motivated.

Yasunori Kagoike, who ran Moritomo Gakuen, and his wife, Junko, were arrested by prosecutors late last July. They allegedly defrauded the government out of money in connection with the construction of a planned elementary school.

6)   The former head coach of Nihon University’s American football team has been caught on tape praising a player who injured an opponent in a match earlier this month.

In the audio clip recorded just after the game on May 6th, Uchida was questioned by reporters about the player being sent off for a series of fouls. He replied that it was inevitable because he was the head coach, and said the team had always been that way.

7)   Police in Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, say at least 10 components believed to have fallen from an airplane have been found around a local airport.

A Japan Airlines Boeing 767 carrying 217 people returned to Kumamoto Airport on Thursday afternoon due to engine trouble. The plane was bound for Tokyo’s Haneda Airport.

8)   Japanese Olympic swimmer Junya Koga has tested positive for substances banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Koga said the banned substances may have been in nutritional supplements he began taking in February of this year.

He claimed he did not take the banned substances intentionally, and said he is ashamed to have tested positive.

9)   US civil rights groups are asking Amazon.com to stop offering its facial recognition services to police and other government agencies.

The services have been used in police investigations, checking IDs at building entrances and searching for lost children at amusement parks.

The group also warned that the services could unfairly target minorities and immigrants in particular.

10)   A self-driving vehicle is being tested on public roads near Tokyo in an initiative led by a Japanese retail giant.

Aeon hopes the technology will make it easier for customers who don’t own cars to get to its supermarkets.

11)   A Japanese government-backed fund and a major Japanese trading house have jointly invested in a venture firm that makes food from algae.

The venture produces spirulina, an algae rich in vitamins. Demand for the so-called superfood has been growing, as it’s a popular addition to fruit juices.

12)   Chinese authorities detained 21 Japanese nationals in the southwestern city of Chongqing and elsewhere this month, a source close to Japanese-Chinese relations said Friday.

The Japanese are said to have been Christian group members and their detention may have been part of the authorities’ efforts to crack down on missionary work, categorizing it as illegal activity.