A little Island

当然、トランプさんについて。^^ さてどうなることやら。日本はアメリカ軍を駐留させるために100%の維持費を払った方がいいよ。それ以外の道は核兵器を持つぐらいしか中国と戦えないでしょ。って。きゃー。やっぱりいきなりそうなる？とういうか大方のトランプさん派の意見なのか？というような刺激的な話からトランプタワー前でデモしてるのはお金をもらっている学生ばかりで、バスで運ばれて来るんだよ。って言ってたけど本当？

1)   Japan is now paying “enough” for the cost of stationing U.S. forces in the country, Defense Minister Tomomi Inada said Friday, though she was silent on how the government would respond if the next U.S. administration led by Donald Trump demands an increase in Japan’s budget.

2)   Lady Gaga besieged Trump Tower. Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence penned a thoughtful essay. Miley Cyrus posted a tearful video.

Hillary Clinton’s celebrity supporters were in deep mourning Thursday as Hollywood came to terms with Republican Donald Trump’s stunning election as U.S. president.

Pop princess Katy Perry, whose Twitter followers outnumber the populations of most European countries, urged her fans not to “sit still” or “weep.”

“We are not a nation that will let hate lead us,” she said.

3)   A Japanese journalist deported from Iraq denied on Thursday allegations by Kurdish officials that he is a sympathizer of the Islamic State extremist group.

Kosuke Tsuneoka told reporters in Tokyo that he was in Mosul only to report as a journalist on the battle to retake the IS-held city. Iraqi and Kurdish troops are currently fighting to expel the militant group out of Mosul.

“Let me remind you that I’m not an IS member, not even a supporter,” said the Muslim convert who also goes by Shamil Tsuneoka. “I’m fundamentally against the belief of the Islamic State group … That is not the Islam that I believe in.”

4)   Police are investigating the discovery of 11 cat carcasses found buried in a park in Sagamihara City, Kanagawa Prefecture, earlier this week.

According to police, a park maintenance worker noticed the back part of a cat’s body sticking out of the ground at around 3 p.m. on Nov 7 in Matsugae park in the city’s Minami Ward, Fuji TV reported. An additional five cat carcasses were discovered buried at a depth of 30 cm. Police said another five carcasses were found buried at the root of two trees near the initial discovery site.

5)   Tokyo Olympic organizers agreed Wednesday to hold some of the baseball and softball competition of the 2020 Games in Fukushima, the region devastated by the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster.

While the primary venue for baseball and softball is expected to be Yokohama Stadium, several cities in Fukushima are being considered for games in the preliminary rounds.

6)   Tokyo stocks soared 6% in opening trade on Thursday after diving the previous day on Donald Trump’s shock win in the U.S. presidential election, as global stocks and the dollar rallied.

7)   Do you know who your neighbors are? Probably you don’t. Who cares who they are? Modern urban life liberates us from the neighborhood. Our social and professional ties span the city, span the globe. Next door is another planet.

8)   We will play a leading role in the global community’s efforts to deal with climate change and fulfill our responsibility to safely pass down this precious Earth to our children and their children.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, after Japan ratified the Paris Agreement on fighting global warming. (Kyodo)

9)   Frustrated by the high price of antiviral drugs, thousands of patients from London to Moscow to Sydney are turning to a new wave of online “buyers clubs” to get cheap generic medicines to cure hepatitis C and protect against HIV infection.

While regulators warn that buying drugs online is risky, scientific data presented at a recent medical conference suggest that treatment arranged through buyers club can be just as effective as through conventional channels.

10)   Japan executed a death row inmate Friday, the Justice Ministry said in announcing the 17th execution in about four years since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe returned to power in December 2012.

The ministry said Kenichi Tajiri, 45, was hanged for killing two women in two murder-robbery cases in Kumamoto, southwestern Japan.

日本人はヒラリーになった方がいいと思ってるの？って聞かれたがどうなんだろう。むしろオバマさんもう一回でどう？という感じだ。どちらにしてもNeverending electionの空気が漂ってるそうでげんなりだそう。どうなるのかなぁ。

1)   Funeral services and a tomb for Prince Mikasa, uncle of Emperor Akihito, who died Thursday at age 100, will cost an estimated 289 million yen, with the cabinet deciding Tuesday to disburse 209 million yen of the cost from the government’s reserve funds for fiscal 2016.

2)   Japan is set to approve the Paris accord on fighting global warming on Friday, the day the pact will go into force, after the country’s ruling and major opposition parties struck a deal on parliamentary voting schedules.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the Democratic Party agreed to vote on approval of the Paris Agreement at a House of Representatives committee Wednesday and at the lower house’s plenary session on Friday. It has already passed the upper house with a unanimous vote.

3)   With the United States set to elect its next president on Nov 8, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton appears to be a better—and safer—choice than her Republican rival Donald Trump for Japan and other U.S. allies, given her deep understanding of the importance of alliances.

4)   A driver in the first vehicle accident fatality in Japan linked to playing the popular smartphone game Pokemon Go was sentenced Monday to 14 months in prison.

A city in Japan will demand the U.S. operator of the popular smartphone application Pokemon Go disable the game while a player is driving after the recent death of a 9-year-old pedestrian.

5)   In an extraordinary display of abject apology during a moment of supreme crisis, South Korean President Park Geun-hye took sole blame Friday for a “heartbreaking” scandal amid rising suspicion that she allowed a mysterious confidante to manipulate power from the shadows

6)   Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike says it could take as long as 15 months to conduct another environmental impact assessment for a new wholesale food market.

The relocation of the market from Tsukiji in downtown Tokyo to Toyosu on the waterfront had been scheduled for this month. But the governor postponed it until test results show whether the new site is safe.

7)   The Environment Ministry on Tuesday urged workers across Japan to wrap up for winter as the energy-saving Warm Biz campaign got under way.

However, the weather didn’t cooperate with much of Japan yet to experience cold temperatures. In Tokyo on Tuesday, the temperature rose to 21 degrees, but is expected to reach only 14 degrees on Wednesday before going up again.

今朝は満遍なく記事について話した感じ。ハロウインイベントはもはやバレンタインを超えたとな。あと大統領選挙もまたわからなくなって来たらしいし（先週はもうトランプはだめそうだったが。。。）核兵器禁止条約なんで日本は反対したの？と聞かれて、賛成することが「核なき世界へ」続く正しい方向とは違うからって岸田さんは言ってたよと言ったら「はぁ？」言うので同感だ。

1)   Young people dressed in Halloween costumes have started to gather near Tokyo’s Shibuya Station on Friday, 3 days before the actual holiday of October 31st. Tokyo police are deploying officers as crowds of revelers are expected every night through Monday.

Experts say the imported Western custom has become popular in the country as an autumn festival. The total value of spending associated with Halloween in Japan is estimated at more than 1 billion dollars, second to Christmas and surpassing that of Valentine’s Day.

2)   Japanese employees are reporting increased stress in the workplace, with those in their 30s having a high rate of mental disorders due to overwork. The health ministry analyzed more than 2,000 cases of workers’ compensation for mental illness from January 2010 to March last year. At least 368 of the people apparently committed suicide.

Their mental disorders were caused by the type of their work and changes in their workload. Another factor was interpersonal problems, including harassment and bullying at workplaces as well as problems with bosses.

3)   NHK has learned that the Tokyo metropolitan government sees various problems with the proposals for the venue for the rowing and canoeing events of the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The proposals include: building a permanent facility in Tokyo’s waterfront area; building a temporary facility in the same place; or using an existing course in Miyagi prefecture.
The officials found that a permanent facility in Tokyo is projected to generate an annual loss of 200 million yen, or about 2 million dollars, after the Olympics.

4)   Japan’s Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida has defended the country’s decision to oppose a UN committee resolution calling for a total ban on nuclear weapons. The United States and other nuclear powers opposed the resolution. Japan also voted against it.

Kishida told reporters in Tokyo on Friday that the resolution would only widen the gap between nuclear and non-nuclear weapons states. He said the 2 sides must work together to achieve results, and a practical approach based on cooperation is needed.

5)   The Okinawa prefectural assembly has adopted a resolution protesting an incident last week in which police officers from another prefecture insulted anti-base protesters with derogatory words.

The Okinawa prefectural assembly adopted the resolution by a majority vote on Friday. It condemns the officers’ remarks for, “trampling on the pride and dignity of Okinawa’s people, and for causing them deep, intractable mental scars”. It demands that the incident never be repeated again.

6)   Police in Ichinomiya City, Aichi Prefecture, have arrested the driver of a truck after he hit and killed a 9-year-old boy on Wednesday afternoon. The driver, Nobusuke Kawai, 36, has admitted he was playing Pokemon Go and did not see the boy.

According to police, the incident occurred at around 4:10 p.m. as the boy, Keita Noritake, was on his way home from school..  The driver, Nobusuke Kawai, 36, was arrested at the scene and charged with dangerous driving resulting in death.

7)   Japan’s estimate of dismantling the Fukushima nuclear plant is ballooning far beyond the utility’s estimate of 2 trillion yen ($19 billion). A government study released Tuesday found decommissioning the Fukushima Daiichi plant already has cost 80 billion yen ($770 million) over the last three years. The ministry overseeing nuclear power said the decommissioning costs will continue at several hundreds of billions of yen a year.

8)   A teacher at Kofu Josai Yamanashi Prefectural High School got angry when a student came to school with the sides of his head shaved. The teacher, a man in his 50s, slapped the boy at least 10 times at an after-school club activity and then ordered three other students to help him forcibly shave the boy’s head, Sankei Shimbun reported.

Another male instructor who was at the scene verbally abused the student, and forced the other three students to shave their hair off as an act of collective responsibility.

9)   Seeking to lash Hillary Clinton to her husband’s sprawling post-presidential empire, Donald Trump accused the couple of turning to corruption to enrich themselves while in public service.

On Thursday, the GOP nominee cited newly released emails from her campaign chairman’s personal account showing Doug Band, a former Bill Clinton aide, describing overlapping relationships between the Clinton Foundation and the family’s private gains

10)      Japanese scientists are getting an up-close lesson on how volcanic islands are formed.

Last week, they landed on Nishinoshima, which was just a rocky outcropping in the Pacific Ocean until two years ago, when spectacular eruptions spewed lava and ash, expanding it to 12 times its size.

家人が取材で仕事に行くために早く起こして世話を焼かねばならないから今朝の英語は20分間のショートタイム。大統領選と沖縄問題と豊洲とアイドルi⭐️ris(知らなかったので後で誰だろ？と調べた。)の話をした。

1)   What should be done about the debacle of the new Toyosu fish market which is supposed to replace the 80-year-old Tsukiji fish market, but which has been held up due to contamination issues?

Keep the fish market at Tsukiji and update its facilities if needed.

Relocate the fish market from Tsukiji to Toyosu only after it has been completely decontaminated and given the OK by independent experts.

Find a third location and build a new market.

2)   Japan’s two largest opposition parties refused to show up to parliamentary deliberations Friday on the ratification of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, protesting remarks made by the agriculture minister this week that suggested the ruling parties could steamroll the approval of the pact through the Diet.

3)   A riot police officer dispatched from Osaka to help local police respond to anti-base protests in Okinawa Prefecture hurled an ethnic slur at protesters, calling them “aborigines,” police officials said Wednesday.

The incident came amid intensifying confrontations between riot police and local people over the construction of helipads at a U.S. military training site in the northern part of the prefecture

4)   Hillary Clinton ramped up her pressure on Donald Trump in the election’s most competitive states Friday with an emotional TV ad targeting his criticism of a Muslim-American family. Trump vowed to go all-out in the final three weeks so he’ll have no regrets — even if he loses.

5)   The organizers of a photo contest in northeastern Japan have decided to withdraw their revocation and award a prize for a picture of a teenage girl who apparently committed suicide due to bullying. They had originally revoked the prize after learning the girl had died.

The organizers, including Kuroishi City in Aomori Prefecture, said at a news conference on Wednesday that the top prize will be awarded for the picture of Rima Kasai. She was a second-year junior high student in the city.

6)   What is your opinion of organizations such as Greenpeace and Amnesty International?

7)   So perhaps idol unit i☆Ris (pronounced “Iris”) is on to something. Rather than having fans purchase CDs when what they really want is to spend a few moments connecting with (and possibly proposing marriage to) their favorite member of the group, i☆Ris has streamlined the process with a new promotion that simply lets fans pay money to talk with them.

So how much will these three minutes in conversational paradise set fans back? A cool 10,000 yen. However, CD albums in Japan regularly cost about 3,000 yen, and as we mentioned, passionate idol fans often buy multiple copies. As such, even with 49 time slots per i☆Ris member, reservations are already starting to fill up.

ハリケーンマシューの後片付け話とBob Dylanがノーベル賞ってどうよ？（ただ歌で社会への不満を愚痴ってるだけなのに^^って言ってた）、それから大統領戦（もうどちらの候補にも嫌気がさしてるらしい。あれほどトランプを応援していたが）横道にそれすぎて記事は3個くらい読んだだけ。

1)   Major technology firms are racing to infuse smartphones and other internet-linked devices with software smarts that help them think like people.

The effort is seen as an evolution in computing that allows users to interact with machines in natural conversation style, telling devices to tend to tasks such as ordering goods, checking traffic, making restaurant reservations or searching for information.

2)   Japan will lease additional land next year to expand a military base in Djibouti, eastern Africa, as a counterweight to what it sees as growing Chinese influence in the region, three Japanese government sources said.

China is seeking closer ties with African nations that could help it gain access to natural resources and provide new markets. Beijing said late last year it would pump $60 billion into development projects on the continent, cancel some debt and help boost agriculture.

3)   Japan has protested to China over signs it is pressing ahead with maritime gas exploration in the East China Sea despite Tokyo’s repeated requests to stop, Japan’s top government spokesman said on Wednesday.

The exploration platforms are on the Chinese side of the median line between the two countries, but Japan accuses China of ignoring a 2008 agreement to maintain cooperation on resources development in an area where no official border has been drawn.

4)   Lashing back, Donald Trump heatedly rejected the growing list of sexual assault allegations against him as “pure fiction” on Thursday, hammering his female accusers as “horrible, horrible liars” as the already-nasty presidential campaign sank further into charges of attacks on women.

Campaign foe Hillary Clinton said “the disturbing stories just keep on coming” about her Republican opponent, but she let first lady Michelle Obama’s passionate response carry the day. Obama, in battleground New Hampshire, warned that the New York billionaire’s behavior “is not something we can ignore.”

5)   A teacher in her 30s who works at Nihon University’s Third Junior and Senior High School in the Tokyo suburban city of Machida, commenting after the Tokyo District Court rejected her claim that the school operator let her use her pre-marriage surname at work. The court ruled it is reasonable and necessary for an employer to demand employees use their names registered in the family registry.

6)   Try a lychee-flavored coffee infused with jasmine, or a “Chardonnay” espresso served in a wine glass—whatever your taste, Japan’s swashbuckling baristas are bringing some serious sex appeal to the drink.

In a country famous for its tea, the Japanese are increasingly turning to coffee as a quick-fix to help ease the daily grind. Hipster cafés are popping up everywhere, offering exquisitely curated beverages to satisfy even the fussiest of caffeine addicts.

Japan imports over 430,000 tons of coffee a year—behind only the United States and Germany—and boasts some of the world’s top baristas.

7)   Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to refrain from visiting the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine during its autumn festival next week to avoid damaging Japan’s relations with South Korea and China ahead of a summit of the three countries later this year, government sources said Thursday.

The Japanese government is planning to host in early December a trilateral summit of the three countries for the first time in five and a half years, with the aim of deepening cooperation for regional stabilization.

8)   Tokyo’s governor said on Wednesday that now was the last chance to take steps to rein in soaring costs for the city’s 2020 Olympics, projected to cost 3 trillion yen – over four times higher than planned.

Gov Yuriko Koike, who took office in August, ordered a review of Olympic expenses that last month recommended changing three venues to save money, a move criticised by both the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee and international sports officials.

9)   Book shops and music stores in Japan on Friday set up special sections devoted to renowned singer-songwriter Bob Dylan after he was awarded the Nobel prize in literature for 2016 on Thursday.

A spokesman for HMV&Books Tokyo said he wants this to be an opportunity for young people to know about the legendary musician, Fuji TV reported.

As in previous years, acclaimed Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami had been anticipated to win the award, and fans were met with a mix of confusion and surprise as it was given to Dylan, media reported.

10)   Kumamoto Prefecture and its neighboring areas Friday marked six months since the first of two powerful earthquakes rattled Japan’s southwestern region, killing a combined 50 people, with rebuilding homes for displaced residents remaining an issue.

Local officials said all evacuation centers in Kumamoto are expected to be closed in the next few weeks, even though there are still 205 evacuees taking refuge at shelters as of Thursday.

11)   On Wednesday morning, the U.S. military fired Tomahawk cruise missiles from the battleship U.S.S. Nitze, destroying three radar sites on the coast of Yemen, on the Red Sea. The sites are controlled by Houthi rebels. The rebels have been fighting pro-government Yemeni forces. The U.S. is an ally of neighboring Saudi Arabia, which is also fighting the Houthi rebels.

今日は読めない単語が多かったー。発音の練習も難しい。まぁ楽しんでやろう。単語の勉強はボチボチと。^^

1)    Police increasingly suspect that the killing of two patients at a hospital in Yokohama may have been conducted by a person connected with the hospital and with some medical knowledge, investigative sources said Thursday.

The person may also have randomly sought to tamper with intravenous drips because some 10 unused drip bags were found with small holes, in a possible sign someone tried to inject into them surfactant compound, which police believe was used to kill the two patients.

2)   The Japanese government approved Friday a proposed contract with a joint venture to build Tokyo’s new National Stadium, the main venue for the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics in the capital, at a construction cost of 149 billion yen ($1.47 billion).

3)   Spending among Japanese households tumbled last month and consumer prices fell again, data showed Friday, after the Bank of Japan announced it was overhauling a faltering bid to conquer deflation.

The disappointing data marked the latest red flag for the world’s number three economy.

4)   The Tokyo District Court on Thursday ordered the effective head of the Kyokuto-kai crime syndicate to pay damages over extortion by members of an affiliated gang.

The court ordered Keika So, the 88-year-old former Kyokuto-kai chairman, and other gang members, to pay about 200 million yen in damages to 27 men and women who had filed suit.

5)   Democratic Party leader Renho slammed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s economic and social policies Wednesday in her first opportunity as leader to directly go up against the premier in a question-and-answer session in the House of Councillors.

Renho, who was elected to lead the main opposition party on Sept 15, took aim at a policy speech Abe gave on Monday to open an extraordinary Diet session set to run through Nov 30. She alleged that the “Abenomics” economic and fiscal policy package has failed to live up to its goal of ending Japan’s long-term deflationary trend.

6)   “Salary thieves!” “Incompetents!”

The old are intolerable. They slow things down, screw things up, deck themselves in impressive titles, draw bloated salaries – and for what? For keeping everybody else – the energetic, quick-witted, well-adapted, competent, idea-generating young – down?

7)   In the quest for globalization, language remains top priority — especially in the medical field. Because non-Japanese have represented a very small percentage of patients in the country’s hospitals, there is a drought in medical support and assistance for non-speakers of Japanese. As the number of non-Japanese residing in and visiting Japan rises, there is an increasing need for multilingual support to make medicine more accessible to the foreign community.

To rectify the situation, Mayumi Sawada founded mediPhone, a medical interpreting service that aims to create a world in which medicine and healthcare is accessible to all.

8)   Demonstration is said to be the most successful form of marketing. Taichi Yamaguchi, Corporate Planning Division General Manager for TBM Co Ltd, puts his business card on the table, pours some water on it, then tries to tear it but can’t. The card is made of LIMEX, an innovative material manufactured from limestone that can be used to make “paper” and “plastic.”

The advantages of LIMEX are that it does not cause deforestation and saves on water and oil resources. Furthermore, limestone supplies are abundant in many countries, including Japan.

9)   Donald Trump abruptly resurrected Bill Clinton’s impeachment on Thursday, adding the former president’s infidelities to the already-rancorous 2016 campaign. Trump warned voters in battleground New Hampshire that a Hillary Clinton victory would bring her husband’s sex scandal back to the White House.

It was Trump’s latest effort to bounce back from Monday night’s debate performance, which has been widely panned as lackluster.

10)   Will the day come, three years from now, when “unagi” (eels) vanish from the dinner table? It appears that the EU is backing a moratorium on eel harvesting and if it passes, an expert tells Yukan Fuji (Sept 27), then three years from now, trade in illegally caught or transported eel fry used for fish farming (aquaculture) will be halted.

今朝はあれこれいろいろ話す前に発音のレッスンをした。なかなか難しいし気恥ずかしい。^^

1)   The Tokyo Prefecture government says that a slight amount of lead was found in water that has accumulated below the site of a proposed new food market. It would replace the aging Tsukuji market.

The results of the analysis of water that was collected on September 14th was made public on Friday.

They show that the amount of lead in the water is about one tenth the level permitted by environmental standards.

2)   Japan’s defense minister has asked the United States to prevent a recurrence after a fighter jet crashed off Okinawa Prefecture.

Tomomi Inada told reporters on Friday that the ministry has received no reports that the crash damaged ships or other property.

The Marine Harrier jet crashed on Thursday in waters about 150 kilometers off Point Hedo. The pilot was rescued.
3)   The mayor of Tsuruga City said on Wednesday the government’s decision to comprehensively review the Monju program is deeply regrettable. The reactor is located in the city.

Takanobu Fuchikami said when he met government officials on Tuesday to ask them to keep the program alive, they told him that they’d decided nothing and that they will consider a broad range of options. He added they hold him in contempt.

Fuchikami also said the officials indicated that they will respect the opinions of host communities.
4)   Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pledged more than 1.1 billion dollars in aid to Syria, Iraq and neighboring countries.

Abe announced the plan at a high-level UN Security Council meeting on Syria in New York on Wednesday.

He said the money will go toward food, water and vaccines, and promoting education and vocational training. He said Japan will work with international aid organizations to put the programs in place.

5)   The US Federal Bureau of Investigation has begun investigating the theft of data from US IT giant Yahoo.

The company announced on Thursday that hackers had stolen information for at least 500 million user accounts in late 2014. Experts say it’s the biggest security breach of the Internet age.

The FBI said in a statement that it takes this type of security breach very seriously and will determine how it occurred and who is responsible.
6)   SMAP, one of Japan’s most popular and longest-lived pop groups, will release a greatest hits album on Dec 21—10 days before its breakup.

The three-CD boxed album, called “SMAP 25 YEARS,” will consist of around 50 songs chosen by fans through online voting, out of about 400 the group has released since its CD debut in 1991, Victor Entertainment Corp said Wednesday.

7)   The FBI is gathering information about an incident involving actor Brad Pitt and his family aboard a private flight last week, the agency confirmed Thursday.

Spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said the FBI is still evaluating whether to open an investigation into allegations Pitt was abusive during the flight toward one of his six children with actress Angelina Jolie Pitt, as several media outlets have reported.