Japan Q1 GDP shrinks 1.3 percent, hit by virus restrictions

TOKYO - Japan's economy contracted 1.3 percent in the three months to March after the government reimposed virus restrictions in major cities as infections surged, data showed Tuesday.

The quarter-on-quarter fall came after the world's third-largest economy grew for two quarters to December, but the expansion was stopped in its tracks by a winter increase in coronavirus cases.

The government imposed new virus states of emergency in January in response, urging people to stay at home and calling for restaurants to close earlier.

The measures slowed consumption, hitting growth despite the relative strength of the manufacturing sector.

The 1.3 percent contraction was largely in line with economist expectations.

"Personal consumption has been particularly hard hit by the Covid-19 emergency measures," Naoya Oshikubo, senior economist at SuMi TRUST, said in an analysis issued before the release of the official data.

"On a positive note, private capital investment is expected to continue to pick up as the manufacturing industry as a whole remains strong," Oshikubo said.

Economists warn that the slowdown is likely to continue, with the government forced to impose a third state of emergency in several parts of the country -- including economic engines Tokyo and Osaka -- earlier this month.

The emergency measures are tougher than in the past, and have been extended to the end of May and expanded to several other regions in recent days.

Further complicating the growth picture is Japan's comparatively slow vaccine rollout, said Marcel Thieliant, senior Japan economist at Capital Economics.

"With the medical situation still worsening and the vaccine rollout too slow, it will take until the end of the year for output to return to pre-virus levels," he said in a note.

Agence France-Presse

Nintendo teams up with Pokemon Go creator for smartphone games

TOKYO - Japanese games giant Nintendo is teaming up with the US firm behind runaway hit Pokemon Go to develop augmented reality smartphone games, the two companies said Tuesday.

Their first joint venture will involve Nintendo's lovable half-vegetable, half-animal Pikmin characters in a game expected to launch sometime this year.

Augmented reality (AR) technology allows images and animations to be superimposed on the real-world view seen on a smartphone's rear camera.

It was key to the success of Niantic's Pokemon Go, which thrilled users around the world with the appearance of Pokemon characters in their neighborhoods across the globe.

"Niantic's AR technology has made it possible for us to experience the world as if Pikmin are secretly living all around us," Nintendo representative director Shigeru Miyamoto said in a press release.

Miyamoto, creator of Pikmin and other famed Nintendo characters including Super Mario and Donkey Kong, said the new app would be designed around "making walking fun."

Nintendo had in the past been reluctant to let its characters venture outside traditional consoles and into the increasingly popular world of smartphone gaming.

But in recent years, it has released a string of mobile titles, including 2016's "Super Mario Run" and 2019's "Mario Kart Tour."

"The deal could help address complaints among investors that Nintendo hasn't been able to earn much from smartphone apps," Hideki Yasuda, an analyst at Ace Research Institute, told Bloomberg News.

"As we continue to expand our games portfolio, it was a natural next step to team up with Nintendo," Niantic CEO John Hanke said in a joint press release.

"We're looking forward to shaping the future of AR together," he added, without offering details on which other Nintendo characters might be in line for AR games.

Pokemon Go has been hugely successful since its 2016 launch, earning more than a billion dollars in the first 10 months of 2020 alone, according to tracker Sensor Tower.

Agence France-Presse

Japan expected to extend COVID-19 state of emergency - media

TOKYO - Japan is expected to extend a state of emergency to fight the spread of COVID-19 this week for Tokyo and other areas as hospitals remain under pressure despite a decline in cases from their peaks, local media reported on Monday.

The government will decide on the extension after a meeting of its experts panel this week, public broadcaster NHK said.

The government last month declared a 1-month state of emergency, due to end on Sunday, for 11 areas, including Tokyo and its neighboring prefectures, as part of measures to rein in the pandemic.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has launched a raft of measures to contain a third wave of infections as his government remains determined that the Olympics go ahead as planned on July 23.

But support for his administration has weakened over unhappiness with its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which critics have called too slow and inconsistent.

The government may also consider lifting the state of emergency in some less-populated areas such as Tochigi Prefecture, which has seen a decline in cases, local media said.

A Nikkei newspaper poll showed 90 percent of respondents favored extending the emergency period in areas where it is implemented.

Japan has had a total of 390,687 coronavirus cases and 5,766 deaths, NHK said. In Tokyo, new cases totaled 633 on Sunday, below 1,000 for the third consecutive day.

Separately, the lower house is expected to pass on Monday a revision to the coronavirus special measures law, followed by upper house approval on Wednesday, NHK said. The revision would toughen regulations and allow authorities to levy fines on those who break the law.

-reuters

Japan PM Shinzo Abe says he’s resigning for health reasons

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, Shinzo Abe, said Friday he is stepping down because a chronic health problem has resurfaced. He told reporters that it was “gut wrenching” to leave many of his goals unfinished.

Abe has had ulcerative colitis since he was a teenager and has said the condition was controlled with treatment. Concerns about his health began this summer and grew this month when he visited a Tokyo hospital two weeks in a row for unspecified health checkups. He is now on a new treatment that requires IV injections, he said. While there is some improvement, there is no guarantee that it will cure his condition and so he decided to step down after treatment Monday, he said.

“It is gut wrenching to have to leave my job before accomplishing my goals,” Abe said Friday, mentioning his failure to resolve the issue of Japanese abducted years ago by North Korea, a territorial dispute with Russia and a revision of Japan’s war-renouncing constitution.

He said his health problem was under control until earlier this year but was found to have worsened in June when he had an annual checkup.

“Faced with the illness and treatment, as well as the pain of lacking physical strength ... I decided I should not stay on as prime minister when I’m no longer capable of living up to the people’s expectations with confidence,” Abe said at a news conference.

In a country once known for its short-tenured prime ministers, the departure marks the end of an unusual era of stability that saw the Japanese leader strike up strong ties with U.S. President Donald Trump even as Abe’s ultra-nationalism riled the Koreas and China. While he pulled Japan out of recession, the economy has been battered anew by the coronavirus pandemic, and Abe has failed to achieve his cherished goal of formally rewriting the U.S.-drafted pacifist constitution because of poor public support.

Abe said he achieved a stronger Japan-U.S. security alliance and the first visit by a serving U.S. president to the atom-bombed city of Hiroshima. He also helped Tokyo gain the right to host the 2020 Olympics by pledging that a disaster at the Fukushima nuclear plant was “under control” when it was not.

Recently, “The coronavirus’s impact on the economy was a blow to Abe, who was stuck at home and lacking an opportunity to make any achievement or show off his friendship with Trump, and was pushed into a corner,” said Koichi Nakano, an international politics professor at Sophia University in Tokyo.

Abe continued to bolster Japan’s defense capability to respond to America’s needs, Nakano said. “For those who believe the Japan-U.S. alliance is paramount, that was his major achievement,” he said. But Abe bulldozed his expanded defense policy and other contentious issues through parliament, repeatedly neglecting public opinion, Nakano said.

Abe is a political blue blood who was groomed to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather, former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi. His political rhetoric often focused on making Japan a “normal” and “beautiful” nation with a stronger military and bigger role in international affairs.

Abe, whose term ends in September 2021, is expected to stay on until a new party leader is elected and formally approved by the parliament, a process which is expected to take several weeks.

Abe became Japan’s youngest prime minister in 2006, at age 52, but his overly nationalistic first stint abruptly ended a year later because of his health.

In December 2012, Abe returned to power, prioritizing economic measures over his nationalist agenda. He won six national elections and built a rock-solid grip on power, bolstering Japan’s defense role and capability and its security alliance with the U.S. He also stepped up patriotic education at schools and raised Japan’s international profile.

Abe on Monday became Japan’s longest-serving prime minister by consecutive days in office, eclipsing the record of Eisaku Sato, his great-uncle, who served 2,798 days from 1964 to 1972.

But his second hospital visit Monday accelerated speculation and political maneuvering toward a post-Abe regime.

Ulcerative colitis causes inflammation and sometimes polyps in the bowels. People with the condition can have a normal life expectancy but serious cases can involve life-threatening complications.

After his recent hospital visits were reported, top officials from Abe’s Cabinet and the ruling party said he was overworked and badly needed rest.

His health concerns came as his support ratings plunged due to his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and its severe impact on the economy, on top of a stream of political scandals, including his own.

There are a slew of politicians eager to replace Abe.

Shigeru Ishiba, a 63-year-old hawkish former defense minister and Abe’s archrival, is a favorite next leader in media surveys, though he is less popular within the governing party. A low-key former foreign minister, Fumio Kishida, Defense Minister Taro Kono, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, and economic revitalization minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, who is in charge of coronavirus measures, are widely mentioned in Japanese media as potential successors.

Abe was often upstaged in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic by Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike, a former governing party conservative who is seen as a potential prime minister candidate by some. But she would have to first be elected to parliament to be in the running for the top job.

Analysts say no major change of policy is expected whoever succeeds Abe, though Japan may return to an era of short-lived leadership.

The end of Abe’s scandal-laden first stint as prime minister was the beginning of six years of annual leadership change, remembered as an era of “revolving door” politics that lacked stability and long-term policies.

When he returned to office in 2012, Abe vowed to revitalize the nation and get its economy out of its deflationary doldrums with his “Abenomics” formula, which combines fiscal stimulus, monetary easing and structural reforms.

Perhaps Abe’s biggest regret was his inability to fulfill a long-cherished goal of his grandfather and himself to formally rewrite the pacifist constitution. Abe and his ultra-conservative supporters see the U.S.-drafted constitution as a humiliating legacy of Japan’s World War II defeat.

He was also unable to achieve his goal of settling several unfinished wartime legacies, including normalizing ties with North Korea, settling island disputes with neighbors and signing a peace treaty with Russia formally ending their hostilities in World War II.

Abe said he will focus on his treatment for now and “continue his political activity and support a new administration as a lawmaker.”

Associated Press

China sees drop in new virus cases, two Japan cruise passengers die

BEIJING, China — China reported a big drop in new coronavirus cases on Thursday, fuelling hopes the epidemic is nearing its peak, but Japan faced a growing crisis as two passengers from a quarantined cruise ship died.

The death toll rose in China hit 2,118 as 114 more people died, but health officials reported the lowest number of new cases there in nearly a month, including in the hardest-hit province, Hubei.

More than 74,000 people have been infected in China and hundreds more in some 25 countries, with Iran reporting two deaths, the first fatalities in the Middle East.

In Japan, a man and a woman in their 80s who had been aboard the Diamond Princess have died, local media reported, citing a government source.

A World Health Organization official noted the progress in China but warned it had not reached a turning point just yet.

Chinese officials said this week that their drastic containment efforts, including quarantining tens of millions of people in Hubei and restricting movements in other cities nationwide, have started to pay off.

"After arduous efforts, the situation is changing for the better," Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at a meeting with Southeast Asian counterparts in Laos late Wednesday, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

Hubei and its capital Wuhan -- where the virus is believed to have emerged in December -- are still "severely affected" by the epidemic, Wang said.

"But the situation is under effective control, while other regions are embracing comforting news," he said.

'Not turning point'

More than 600 new infections were reported in Wuhan -- the lowest daily tally since late January, and well down from the 1,749 new cases the day before.

The national figure has now fallen for three days in a row.

Chinese authorities placed Wuhan, a city of 11 million people, under quarantine on January 23 and quickly locked down the rest of Hubei in the days that followed.

Cities far from the epicentre have limited the number of people who can leave their houses for groceries, while villages have sealed themselves off from outsiders.

Richard Brennan, regional emergency director at the World Health Organization, said China was making "tremendous progress in a short period of time" but cautioned that it was not over just yet.

"Trends are very encouraging but we are not at a turning point yet," Brennan told a press conference in Cairo.

'Chaotic' cruise quarantine

While China touts progress in its fight against the COVID-19 epidemic, Japan's government faces criticism over quarantine measures on the Diamond Prince cruise ship.

The huge vessel moored in Yokohama is easily the biggest coronavirus cluster outside the Chinese epicentre, with 621 positive cases confirmed among the passengers and crew -- one sixth of the total.

On Wednesday, 443 passengers disembarked from the ship after testing negative for the COVID-19 virus and not showing symptoms during a 14-day quarantine period. The complete removal of the passengers was expected to last at least three days.

More passengers left the ship on Thursday, packing into yellow buses and leaving for stations and airports.

But questions are increasingly being asked as to the wisdom of allowing former Diamond Princess passengers to roam freely around Japan's crowded cities, even if they have tested negative.

The death of the two elderly passengers is likely to add to the criticism.

A specialist in infectious diseases at Kobe University slammed "completely chaotic" quarantine procedures onboard, in rare criticism from a Japanese official.

"The cruise ship was completely inadequate in terms of infection control," said Kentaro Iwata in videos he has since deleted.

Japan's health ministry insisted it had conducted "consultations on appropriate infection control in the ship" with experts and taken a range of measures.

Agence France-Presse

2019 G20 Summit Japan

Leaders from the Group of 20 acknowledge that trade and geopolitical frictions have escalated, as they wrapped up a summit in Japan dominated by the US-China trade war.

"Most importantly, trade and geopolitical tensions have intensified," the G20 leaders say in a statement. — AFP

source: philstar.com

G20 frets over global economy amid US-China trade war

FUKOUKA, Japan —The world's top finance policymakers Sunday weighed the impact of ballooning trade tensions on the global economy amid differences over the extent to which they are dragging on growth.

Finance ministers and central bank chiefs from the G20 group of the world's top economies are expected to note the "downside risks" to the global economy from trade battles, notably between the top economic superpowers China and the US.

Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso, who is hosting the talks, told reporters as the first day of talks wrapped up on Saturday that the world economy should "firm" in the second half of the year but "downside risks still remain."

Aso said "market confidence could be eroded" if there were no rapid resolution to the ongoing trade war between Beijing and Washington, which has seen the world's top two economies impose billions of dollars of tit-fir-tat tariffs and threaten even tougher action.

IMF chief Christine Lagarde singled out trade tensions as the "major" headwind facing the global economy, adding that it was a "significant risk on the horizon," in an interview with Japan's Nikkei daily on Sunday.

Lagarde has previously described the trade wars as a "self-inflicted wound" and warned that US-China tariffs so far imposed and threatened could trim 0.5 percentage points off global GDP growth next year -- an amount $455 billion larger than the entire South African economy.

Meanwhile, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said there was a "real risk" that "this global economic slowdown could turn into a global economic crisis due to trade tensions."

"A worsening of the international climate and a real trade war would lead to an even more marked slowdown in global growth, with a direct impact on our jobs, companies, factories and sectors," Le Maire told AFP in an interview on the sidelines of the meeting.

A Japanese official who declined to be named briefed reporters that "very many countries voiced concerns that escalation of the trade friction is a very significant downside risk to the world economy. That is a fact."

'Big economic opportunity' 

However, the treasury secretary from the US, which continues to threaten more tariffs on China if there is no trade deal, played down the risk of a global economic conflagration.

"Clearly there is a slowdown in Europe, there's a slowdown in China, there's a slowdown in other parts. I don't believe that's as a result of trade tensions. That slowdown has gone on for the last year," Steven Mnuchin told reporters on Saturday.

He acknowledged that other policymakers had voiced concerns over the economic impact of a prolonged trade war but pointed to a potential boon for other countries.

As companies move out of China in order to avoid US tariffs, "there's going to be a big economic opportunity for a lot of other countries," he said.

"There will be winners and losers," he predicted.

Nevertheless, Mnuchin also pointed to the positive boost to the world economy that could result from a breakthrough in trade talks, likely to be the main focus of a meeting between the US and Chinese leaders at a G20 summit later this month.

"I think if we get a deal, it's a very positive thing for economic growth, for us, for China, for Europe, for the rest of the world. The opening of these economies tends to lead, in my mind, to more growth on both sides," said Mnuchin.

source: philstar.com

Nintendo says nine-month profit up nearly 25%, lifted by strong titles

TOKYO, Japan — Nintendo said Thursday its net profit jumped nearly 25 percent for the nine months to December, riding out the crucial holiday season thanks to blockbuster game titles for its popular Switch console.

The Kyoto-based games giant said its bottom-line profit rose 24.9 percent to 168.8 billion yen ($1.6 billion) for the April-December period on sales of 997.3 billion yen, up 16.4 percent.

"During the holiday season, software was a great driver of hardware sales," the firm said in a statement.

For the year to March, it maintained its optimistic annual targets, expecting a net profit of 165 billion yen, up more than 18 percent from the previous fiscal year.

Its annual sales target also remained unchanged at 1.2 trillion yen.

Nintendo's latest portable console the Switch has become a huge global seller, helped by the release of innovative, family-friendly titles that have wowed critics and gamers alike.

Nintendo shares soared more than 15 percent in January on expectations that sales were solid for the Christmas shopping season.

source: philstar.com

Japan inflation edges up but way below target in August

TOKYO — Prices in Japan edged up modestly in August, according to government data on Friday, as the world's third-largest economy continues its years-long battle with deflation.

Inflation stood at 0.9 percent year-on-year in August, still far below the Bank of Japan's two-percent target, even though slightly higher than 0.8 percent in July and June and 0.7 percent in May.

The latest figure was in line with market consensus.

With fresh food and energy stripped out, prices rose by even less -- just 0.4 percent year-on-year in August, the internal affairs ministry said.

Japan has battled deflation for many years and the central bank's ultra-loose monetary policy appears to be having limited impact.

The Bank of Japan will not raise interest rates "for an extended period of time", its chief said after the latest rate-setting meeting, even as US and European peers tighten monetary policy.

Deflation is bad for the economy partly because the expectation of falling prices discourages spending and dampens growth.

The latest data come a day after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe won comfortable re-election as leader of his ruling party, setting him on course to become Japan's longest-serving premier.

During the election campaign for the vote, Abe said he wanted the economy to strengthen enough to allow the central bank to wind up the current super-loose monetary policy "by the end of" his new three-year term.

Analysts say Abe's re-election means that the government will take active fiscal measures to boost the still-fragile economy along with the central bank.

source: philstar.com

Toll from Japan quake rises to 18 as hopes fade for survivors

TOKYO, Japan — Japanese rescue workers with bulldozers and sniffer dogs scrabbled through the mud Friday to find survivors from a landslide that buried houses after a powerful quake, as the death toll rose to 18.

Around 22 people are still unaccounted for in the small northern countryside town of Atsuma, where a cluster of dwellings were wrecked when a hillside collapsed with the force of the 6.6-magnitude quake, causing deep brown scars in the landscape.


"We've heard there are people still stuck under the mud, so we've been working around the clock but it's been difficult to rescue them," a Self-Defense Forces serviceman in Atsuma told public broadcaster NHK.

"We will take measures to find them quickly."

An elderly woman in Atsuma told NHK: "My relative is still buried under the mud and has not been found yet, so I couldn't sleep at all last night. There were also several aftershocks so it was a restless night."

Around 1.6 million households in the sparsely populated northern island of Hokkaido were still without power after the quake damaged a thermal plant supplying electricity to the region.

Industry minister Hiroshige Seko said that number should be reduced to 550,000 households on Friday.

"It will take about a week" before the largest thermal power plant recovers, "so during that period, we are sending power-generating vehicles to hospitals," Seko told reporters.

He urged citizens to conserve energy by having fewer lights on in shops and restaurants and "for example family members staying together in one room".

Some 22,000 rescue workers including troops called up from the Self-Defense Forces handed out emergency water supplies and long lines formed at petrol stations and supermarkets, as people stocked up fearing further quakes.

"Please give your sympathy to people who spent a dark night in fear, and do everything you can to restore electricity as soon as possible," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told a cabinet meeting to discuss the quake.

The earthquake, which scored the maximum on a Japanese scale measuring the power of a quake's shaking, also collapsed a handful of houses and walls in the main city of Sapporo.

However, considering the strength of the quake, the death toll was relatively light, with the majority of victims coming from the landslide in Atsuma.

- 'Pay attention' -

Transport services were gradually coming back on line with bullet trains resuming operations late Friday morning and the main airport in Sapporo operating a partial service after cancelling all flights the day before.

But a football friendly between Japan and Chile in Sapporo planned on Friday was scrapped due to the transport and power chaos in Hokkaido.

The quake was the latest in a string of natural disasters to batter the country.

Western parts of the country are still recovering from the most powerful typhoon to strike Japan in a quarter of a century, which claimed 11 lives and shut down the main regional airport.

And officials warned of the danger of fresh quakes.

"Large quakes often occur, especially within two to three days (of a big one)," said Toshiyuki Matsumori, in charge of monitoring earthquakes and tsunamis at the meteorological agency.

The risk of housing collapses and landslides had increased, he said, urging residents "to pay full attention to seismic activity and rainfall and not to go into dangerous areas".

Japan sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" where many of the world's earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are recorded.

In June, a deadly tremor rocked the Osaka region, killing five people and injuring over 350.

On March 11, 2011, a devastating 9.0-magnitude quake struck under the Pacific Ocean, and the resulting tsunami caused widespread damage and claimed thousands of lives.

source: philstar.com

Nokia signs its first official 5G equipment deal with NTT DoCoMo

FRANKFURT, GERMANY — Finland’s Nokia said on Friday it signed its first major deal to supply new 5G wireless radio base stations to Japanese telecom operator NTT DoCoMo, which boasts nearly half of the country’s mobile subscribers.

The contract marks Nokia’s first sizeable deal for its flagship mobile base station equipment based on official global New Radio (NR) standards for the fifth generation of wireless networks, which were only finalised in December 2017.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

The deal contemplates DoCoMo starting commercial 5G network service by 2020, in time for the Tokyo Olympics, Nokia said. Initial installations are expected in greater metropolitan Tokyo with a national roll-out to follow in subsequent years.

Nokia, a major supplier to DoCoMo in both the 3G and 4G network eras, has been working with the Japanese operator since at least 2014 on trials of 5G equipment, which promises far faster data rates, greater capacity and quicker response times.

The 5G antennas and related base stations act as the local connections between users of mobile phones and computing devices with the backbone of any operator’s network.

The new equipment also promises to enable DoCoMo to provide new services for autonomous driving, industrial automation and smarter homes by providing wireless links to millions even billions of wireless sensors. Nokia said it will work with DoCoMo to ensure a smooth transition from existing 4G networks.

source: interaksyon.com

North Korea missile fears in Japan: 'Whatever will be, will be'

FUSSA, Japan — Residents living near US military bases in Japan are facing a fresh reality: Their neighborhoods are on the frontline of North Korea's dispute with America and if Pyongyang were to attack they would have just minutes to shelter from incoming missiles.

"It's impossible. There is no way we can run away from it," said Seijiro Kurosawa, a 58-year-old taxi driver in Fussa, near Yokota Air Base. "We don't have bunkers, shelters or anything like that."

His company recently instructed drivers to park their cabs and take immediate refuge in the event of an attack, but he isn't sure where he could go. "All we can do is run into a department store perhaps," he said.

A possible missile strike and what to do about it have dominated TV talk shows and other media in Japan in recent weeks as regional tension has spiked, with the North Korean regime continuing to test-fire rockets and President Donald Trump sending an aircraft carrier to nearby waters in a show of force.

North Korea has yet to reach its goal of developing a nuclear-tipped missile that can reach the US mainland, but its current arsenal is capable of striking the 50,000 US troops stationed across Japan.

The government raised caution levels in March after Pyongyang said four ballistic missiles that landed a few hundred kilometers off Japan's coast were meant to simulate a nuclear strike on US bases there.

While Japanese tabloids and television programs have reported on nuclear shelters ordered by a handful of rich people or touted gas masks as a more affordable option, it's largely business as usual in Fussa, a town of 58,000 people in Tokyo's western suburbs.

"Whatever will be, will be," said 34-year-old Jumpei Takemiya, who runs a shoe repair shop across from Yokota Air Base. "Just think calmly about it. Is Yokota really going to be the first one to be hit? I doubt it, and frankly I'm not so nervous," he said.

Looking out his shop window, he added: "As you can see, there is no heightened security or any other unusual development around here."

For 75-year-old Yoshio Takagi, the talk of North Korean missiles brings back memories of World War II, when he had to temporarily relocate to a rural village to avoid American bombs falling in and around Tokyo that killed his two older brothers. He remains opposed to the use of weapons, but is also realistic about current circumstances.

"Tension has escalated and the situation has become more unpredictable under Trump," he said. "But Japan relies on the US military and there is a base here. I think we just have to accept the consequences."

Visits to a government crisis management website surged to the millions in April from a previous record of tens of thousands in March, as the government tweeted and put out fresh instructions for what to do in the event of a missile attack.

The instructions are simple: If you are outdoors, take refuge in strong buildings or underground shopping arcades and if no such facilities are nearby, drop to the ground and cover your head. A chemical weapon is possible, so the instructions advise covering your nose and mouth with a cloth and shutting doors and windows.

A first-ever missile attack drill was held in March in Akita prefecture in northern Japan, and the government recently instructed all 47 prefectures to draw up plans quickly for similar drills. So far, only two others — Yamagata in the north and Nagasaki, home to Sasebo naval base, in the south — have started to make concrete plans for drills in the coming months.

"We need to plan carefully in order to raise awareness, not to scare off the public," said Keiko Nakajima, a Tokyo crisis response official.

Some think the risk is overblown.

North Korea is "mostly bluffing its military capability, and the missile scare is further hyped up largely by TV," said Hiroki Fujii, a 40-year-old utility employee who lives near Yokota.

Akinori Otani worries more about a US military plane crashing in the area. At bases around Japan, residents have raised concern about the safety of the tilt-rotor MV-22 "Osprey" aircraft.

"Ospreys are actually flying around," said Otani, a 42-year-old resident of Hamura, another town near Yokota. "I'm more concerned about them than a missile that I think is unlikely to hit us."

In the southwestern town of Iwakuni, home to a US Marine Corps air station, residents began asking about attack response plans after the area was mentioned on TV among possible targets, said Yuji Yamaguchi, an emergency response official there.

He questioned whether it is possible to predict a missile's course and issue an alert before it reaches Japan and said that without such information, drawing up an evacuation scenario is difficult.

It is believed that it would take about 10 minutes for a North Korean missile to reach Japan, yet when the four missiles landed off the coast in March, it wasn't until 20 minutes after that the government notified local fishermen.

For Reiko Naya, who runs a gift shop just outside the Yokota base, she is concerned that the tension may be used by the government as a justification to bolster Japan's military capability.

"Japan has renounced war, but it seems we are gradually getting embroiled into a conflict," she said. "We thought North Korean missiles would never reach Japan, but after all these tests, they now seem routine. Eventually, one of them might come flying."

source: philstar.com

Strong 6.4-magnitude quake hits southwestern Japan

TOKYO - A strong 6.4-magnitude earthquake hit Japan's southwestern island of Kyushu on Thursday, but there was no danger of a tsunami, local authorities said.

The quake, which the US Geological Survey measured at 6.0, struck at 9:26 p.m. (1226 GMT) in Kumamoto, central Kyushu at a relatively shallow depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles), the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

The quake was followed about 30 minutes later by another smaller one with a magnitude of 5.7, the agency said. That quake also did not generate a tsunami warning.

Japan's public broadcaster NHK reported that some buildings had collapsed on Kyushu with people possibly trapped, though details were scarce.

Cameras set up by NHK showed violent shaking at the time of the quake, which was felt throughout Kyushu.

Japanese media reported that shinkansen, or bullet, train service was halted on the island.

NHK showed some damage including broken concrete. Residents stood outside making calls on mobile phones.

Watermelons fell from store shelves and lay crushed on the floor of a supermarket in Kumamoto city, near the epicenter, NHK footage showed.

Objects fell from shelves and staff ducked under desks as the quake shook the NHK office in Kumamoto, video showed.

“We intend to do the utmost to grasp the situation," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters. "I’m now planning to hear what we have gathered on the situation."

Kyushu Electric Co. said it was checking conditions at its Genkai and Sendai nuclear plants.

An official at the Sendai nuclear plant in Kyushu, who declined to be named, said the plant was operating normally but that officials were checking for any abnormalities.

There were no irregularities at the Genkai or Sendai nuclear plants, which are on the southernmost main island of Kyushu, or at the Ikata plant on nearby Shikkoku, the Kyodo news agency reported.

Japan sits at the junction of four tectonic plates and experiences around 20 percent of the world's most powerful earthquakes.

But rigid building codes and strict enforcement mean even powerful tremors frequently do little damage.

A massive undersea quake that hit on March 11, 2011, sent a tsunami barrelling into Japan's northeast coast, leaving about 18,500 people dead or missing, and sending several reactors into meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant in the worst atomic accident in a generation.

source: interaksyon.com

World’s first washable smartphone to debut in Japan

TOKYO, Japan — Tired of those unsightly smudges and other dirt on your bacteria-laden smartphone?

A Japanese firm says it has the solution with what it describes the world’s first smartphone that can be washed with soap and water.

Waterproof smartphones have been on the market for a while. But telecom company KDDI says its new “Digno rafre” phone — to be launched in Japan next week — is the only one that can withstand a soapy bath.

“Our development team washed the smartphone more than 700 times to test its durability,” a company spokesman told AFP.

An online commercial aimed at proving its credentials features a child dropping the phone onto a plate of food topped with ketchup.

His mother assures her shocked family that those red globs are nothing to worry about as she soaps up the phone under a running tap.

The 21,600 yen ($175) gadget is mainly aimed at parents who want to keep their smartphones clean for their small children, a KDDI spokesman said.

But he also cautioned that only certain types of foamy soap could be used on the device, which will only be sold in Japan for now.

source: interaksyon.com

Japan shares clear 18-year peak, dollar firm

SYDNEY - Asia shares were trying to score a sixth session of gains on Wednesday as investors chose to be optimistic on the chances of a Greek debt deal, while the dollar held firm as the prospect of U.S. rate rises came back into view.

Japan's Nikkei led the way as a rise of 0.5 percent cleared a peak from 2000 to reach ground last trod in late 1996.

MSCI's index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.13 percent to bring its gains over the past six sessions to about 2.9 percent.

In China, official efforts to calm jittery investors seem to have steadied sentiment after steep losses last week. Shanghai stocks were up 1.6 percent but trade remained volatile.

Gains on Wall Street had been minor, though still enough to see the Nasdaq to a record peak. The Dow ended Tuesday up 0.13 percent, while the S&P 500 added 0.06 percent and the Nasdaq 0.12 percent.

Risk appetites were whetted after Greece's leftwing government expressed confidence that parliament would approve a debt deal with lenders, despite an angry reaction from some of its own lawmakers.

EU finance ministers meet on Wednesday to discuss whether or not to put the plan to euro zone state heads. If it goes ahead, the Greek parliament could vote as early as this weekend.

Bond investors were encouraged enough to push down yields on Greek 10-year debt by 60 basis points, with yields in Italy and Portugal following.

Yields went the other way in the United States following a string of generally upbeat economic data and comments from Fed Governor Jerome Powell that the economy could be ready for interest rate increases in both September and December.

That was unwelcome news for debt markets which are priced for only one hike this year. Yields on 10-year Treasury notes duly rose to their highest in 1-1/2 weeks at 2.43 percent.

"Markets appear to have interpreted the prospect of a deal between Greece and its creditors as removing a source of uncertainty, which may allow the Fed to commence hiking interest rates in September," said analysts at ANZ.

All of which helped give the U.S. dollar index its biggest daily gain since late May.

The greenback was particularly strong against the euro, which had peeled off to $1.1176 from a $1.1410 top at the start of the week. Against the yen, the euro was down at 138.34, having fallen from 140.

The dollar was also firm at 124.86 yen and well above the recent trough of 122.46.

In commodity markets, oil prices rebounding ahead of U.S. inventory data expected to show strong demand for gasoline.

U.S. crude futures added 11 cents to $61.12 a barrel, while Brent rose 10 cents to $64.55.

Gold slipped on the firmer dollar to reach $1,176.90 an ounce.

source: interaksyon.com

Low-key launch as Apple Watch finally goes on sale

TOKYO — Apple Watch launched globally on Friday with a small queue of Japanese tech-addicts lining up in Tokyo for Apple Inc’s first wearable gadget, but there was no sign of the excitement usually attached to the company’s product rollouts.

Buyers can take the smartwatch home from a handful of upscale boutiques and department stores, including The Corner in Berlin, Maxfield in Los Angeles and Dover Street Market in Tokyo and London, which Apple courted to help position the watch as a fashion item.

But the gadget will not be sold at Apple stores on Friday. The company is directing people to order online instead, which should prevent the long lines of Apple devotees who typically flock to iPhone and iPad launches.

About 50 people lined up to buy the watch at electronic store Bic Camera in Tokyo’s Ginza district, while at the nearby Apple Store it was like any other Friday, according to Reuters reporters at the shops.

“I buy one or two Apple products every time they release something new,” Chiu Long, a 40-year-old IT worker from Taiwan, told Reuters while queuing up at Bic Camera.

“I like to run, so the heart rate reader is a progress,” he added.

At a retail outlet of mobile carrier SoftBank Corp around 20 people queued to get their hands on the gadget.

“I want to develop my own application that’s compatible with the smartwatch,” 27-year-old IT worker Tatsuya Omori said as he waited in line outside the store.

“I’m also an Apple fan. I simply want it.”

Technology lovers and investors keen to find out the components of the watch were left frustrated, with a tough resin coating protecting the core computing module from scrutiny.

Gadget repair firm iFixit, which has successfully prised open other Apple products on their launch day to reveal their components, said the U.S. company also appeared to be promoting its brand on the watch’s inner workings, complicating detailed analysis of the parts’ origins.

Gauging demand

The lack of queues at Apple stores will make it hard to judge popular demand for the watch, which comes in 38 variations with prices ranging from $349 for the Sport version to $10,000 and more for the gold Edition.

Apple has not released any numbers since it opened for pre-orders on April 10, although many buyers were told their watches would not arrive for a month or more as supply appeared to dry up.

Wall Street estimates of Apple Watch sales vary widely. FBR Capital Markets analyst Daniel Ives raised his sales estimate this week to 20 million watches from 17 million, based in part on online order backlogs.

“There was a question over whether the trajectory and demand for wearables in the Apple ecosystem was there and real,” said Ives. “But it’s a resounding yes.”

Apple itself said on Wednesday that some customers will get watches faster than promised.

“Our team is working to fill orders as quickly as possible based on the available supply and the order in which they were received,” Apple said in a statement.

The Cupertino, California company previously predicted that demand would exceed supply at product launch.

source: interaksyon.com

In Japan, happiness is… wearable sensors?

TOKYO, Japan — It is a problem that has defeated generations of philosophers, poets and painters, but one Japanese company thinks it has come up with a way of knowing for sure if people are happy.

Hitachi High Technologies, a subsidiary of ovens-to-trains conglomerate Hitachi, says its new happiness measuring device will let bosses know if they run a happy office — or if their employees are secretly bored at work.

The company has developed a credit-card size wearable device loaded with sensors that determine where the wearer is and whether he or she is sitting, standing, typing or nodding.

It also records who is talking to whom and for how long, among other activities.

The data is then sent back to a base unit, which calculates the happiness of the group as a whole by comparing the patterns of activity with pre-determined patterns from groups who report being… well, happy.

Hitachi says the idea behind the system is to help employers find ways that can increase the group’s happiness, thereby improving their productivity.

The system, which cannot be used to measure an individual’s state of mind, will go on sale in Japan in April, with each measuring tag costing 100,000 yen ($840) a year.

source: interaksyon.com

Dollar gains ground on yen, Japan shares test highs

SYDNEY - The U.S. dollar was holding broad-based gains in Asia on Tuesday in a boon for shares of Japanese exporters but a burden for oil, gold and stocks in the energy majors.

As the dollar finally broke to a six-year peak on the yen and a one-year top on the euro, Brent oil sank to 16-month lows while gold carved out a three-month trough.

A falling yen tends to be viewed as positive for Japanese exporters and corporate profits, and helped lift the Topix 0.2 percent to 1,301. That was within a whisker of this year's peak at 1,308.08 and a break there would put it on ground last trod in July 2008.

According to Nomura Securities, a fall of 1 yen against the dollar boosts aggregate operating profits at Topix firms by 300 billion yen.

Markets elsewhere in the region were steady with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan down a slight 0.1 percent.

Despite market concerns over China's economy, stocks there have been buoyed by talk of more stimulus and reform measures.

The CSI300 of the leading Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listings edged higher on Tuesday having put in its best performance in a year last week with gains of almost 5 percent.

On Wall Street, the Dow closed down 0.15 percent, while the S&P 500 fell 0.31 percent but the Nasdaq eked out a 0.2 percent gain.

Energy led the decline, with the S&P energy index .SPNY off 1.6 percent and Exxon Mobil down 1.5 percent.

Investors were now eagerly awaiting the launch of new products by Apple later on Tuesday in a much-hyped event at Cupertino, California.

Apple has fed high expectations, with promises by executives that the company's best product pipeline in 25 years is being readied inside its secretive facilities.

Dollar up, pound down

In currencies, the dollar index climbed as far as 84.425, bringing into view the July 2013 peak of 84.753. A break there will take it to highs not seen since July 2010.

Giving bulls encouragement was a research from the San Francisco Fed noted that investors are pricing in a lower trajectory for interest rates rises than members of the Fed itself are.

"The market's interpretation is that perhaps it had better re-price those expectations," said Emma Lawson, senior currency strategist at National Australia Bank.

As a result, yields on 10-year U.S. Treasuries rose to 2.496 percent US10YT=RR, up from a low of 2.3870 touched last Friday after the soft August payrolls report.

The greenback raced to a high of 106.28 yen, while the euro slumped to a low of $1.2878. Investors were already giving the common currency a wide berth after the European Central Bank surprised on Thursday with a fresh round of stimulus.

Sterling was nailed to 10-month lows after a second opinion poll found a marked increase in support for Scottish independence just 10 days before the country votes on whether to break away from the United Kingdom.

The TNS poll found support for independence had risen six points to 38 percent, just a pip behind the 'No' camp at 39 percent. That follows a YouGov poll that showed approval of independence at 51 percent against the unity camp's 49 percent, the first to find a majority for a 'Yes' vote.

The YouGov poll caused tremors in financial markets on Monday, knocking the pound lower and hurting stocks of companies with a large Scottish presence. Sterling was at a fresh trough of $1.6079 on Tuesday in Asia.

The gains for the dollar meant losses for commodities, with gold down at $1,255.56 an ounce after losing more than 1 percent on Monday.

Brent crude oil eased another 6 cents to $100.14, after slumping as far as $99.36 overnight, the lowest since May 2013. U.S. crude managed to bounce 30 cents to $92.96 a barrel.

source: interaksyon.com

One dead as Neoguri hits Japan's Okinawa

TOKYO -  One man died, more than 500,000 people were urged to evacuate and hundreds of flights were canceled as a strong typhoon brought torrential rain and high winds to its southwestern islands and could bring heavy rain to Tokyo later this week.

Typhoon Neoguri weakened from its original status as a super typhoon but remained intense, with gusts of more than 250 km per hour (155 mph). It was powering through the Okinawa island chain where emergency rain and high-seas warnings were in effect.



Hundreds of flights were cancelled in Japan and more than 500,000 people urged to evacuate as a powerful typhoon brought torrential rain and high winds to southwestern islands and was forecast to reach Tokyo later in the week.

The storm will be at its most powerful as it passes Okinawa, some 1,600 km (1,000 miles) southwest of Tokyo on Tuesday, but the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) warned of heavy rains and potential flooding in Kyushu, the westernmost of Japan's main islands, as well as heavy rain in the rest of the nation as the storm turns east.

"People must take the utmost caution," Keiji Furuya, state minister in charge of disaster management, told a news conference.

One man was missing after his boat was swamped by high waves, NHK national television said. Several people suffered minor injuries from falls.

More than 50,000 households in Okinawa lost power and an oil refinery halted operations. Television footage showed street lights rocking in high winds and branches being blown down largely deserted streets.

There are no nuclear plants on Okinawa but there are two on Kyushu, which lies in the area through which the typhoon is likely to pass after hitting Okinawa. There is another on Shikoku island, which borders Kyushu and could also be affected.

All are shut down due to national policy and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, which was wrecked by an earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, is on the other side of the country.

"When the wind blows most strongly, it's impossible to stand. You have to hold on to something," said Kei Shima, a self-employed Okinawa resident in her 30s.

"The lights are fading in and out, like the house is haunted. The rain is getting stronger and falling sideways."

Neoguri was roughly 110 km (68 miles) southwest of Kumejima of island at noon (0300 GMT) and moving north at 25 kph (16 mph), with sustained winds of 180 kph (110 mph).

Kadena Air Base, one of the largest U.S. military facilities on Okinawa, was on its highest level of storm alert and all outside activity was prohibited.

Nansei Sekiyu KK, a Japanese refiner wholly owned by Brazil's Petrobras, said it had suspended oil refining operations at its 100,000 barrels-per-day Nishihara refinery in Okinawa on Monday evening.

A JMA official said the storm will maintain its strength as it heads north but gradually turn to the east, making landfall in Kyushu before raking its way up the main island of Honshu and coming close to Tokyo on Friday.

"But it will be weaker by then, so that Tokyo can mainly expect a lot of rain, and maybe some gusts of wind," he added.

Around two to four typhoons make landfall in Japan each year but they are unusual in July.

source: interaksyon.com

Japan medics bring high-tech fixes to Philippines typhoon

TACLOBAN — Japanese medics working to help victims of the Philippines typhoon have deployed wireless mobile X-ray kits using tablet computers, a world first in a disaster zone, a team spokesman said Saturday.

The technology, which was developed after the huge tsunami that hit Japan in 2011, allows doctors to take a look inside patients instantly, and even lets them enlarge the image with familiar iPad gestures.

Joji Tomioka, coordinator of the Japan Medical Team for Disaster Relief, said the system had been created in response to what doctors needed in the aftermath of the Japanese disaster.

“This is the first time that we are deploying it in a disaster situation,” Tomioka told AFP at a modern tent medical clinic put up by the Japanese government to help victims of typhoon Haiyan, which crashed through the central Philippines more than a week ago.

At the partly air-conditioned clinic in the ruined city of Tacloban on Leyte island, a radiologist placed a camera on the chest of 72-year-old Carlos Llosa as he sat in his wheelchair.

The X-ray image was instantaneously transmitted through a wireless router to an iPad and to a nearby laptop.

With a thumb and a finger, the doctor was able to zoom in for a more detailed view of the problem area.

“It looks like he has tuberculosis,” Tomioka said after looking at the image as the patient was wheeled out.

Japan’s 26-strong medical team includes doctors, nurses, pharmacists, cardiologists and medical technicians. The outfit is able to provide medicine and carry out minor surgery.

Tomioka said Japanese medical experts are seeing about 200 patients a day as part of a large international aid effort to reach the estimated 13 million people affected by one of the most powerful storms ever recorded.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council in the Philippines says 3,633 people are now reported to have died when the ferocious storm hit.

The United Nations said Saturday that 2.5 million people still “urgently” need food.

“The Philippines helped us during our hour of need in the tsunami,” Tomioka said, referring to the global outpouring of sympathy in the aftermath of a catastrophe that cost 18,000 lives.

“Now it’s our turn to give back.”

Japan said Friday it was tripling its emergency aid package for the Philippines to more than $30 million, and was sending up to 1,000 troops to help with relief efforts.

It is expected to be the first time that Japanese troops are active in Leyte since the island turned into one of the biggest battlegrounds of World War II, when US forces counter-invaded in 1944.

Tacloban was the first Philippine city to be liberated from Japan’s occupying forces.

source: interaksyon.com