Abe murder suspect to undergo psychological exam

The man accused of assassinating Japan's former prime minister Shinzo Abe is set to undergo an examination of his mental condition around the time of the incident, local media reported Saturday.

Abe was gunned down on the campaign trail on July 8 in the western city of Nara, two days before the country's upper house elections. 

His accused killer Tetsuya Yamagami is in custody and reportedly targeted Abe because he believed the former leader was linked to the Unification Church.

On Friday, the Nara District Court approved a request by the local public prosecutors office for a psychiatric examination of 41-year-old Yamagami, the Asahi Shimbun and other local media reported, citing unnamed investigative sources.

The examination is expected to wrap up in late November, the reports said.

Investigative questioning of the suspect will be halted during the mental examination. 

Prosecutors will determine whether Yamagami can bear criminal liability based on the examination before making a decision on whether to indict him, the reports said.

Abe was Japan's best-known politician, maintaining a prominent place in public life even after resigning in 2020 for health reasons.

He was also a divisive figure who faced cronyism allegations and was criticised for his staunch nationalist views.

Prosecution and court officials could not immediately be reached to confirm the local media reports.

Agence France-Presse

Trump pays 'highest respect' to resigning Japanese PM Abe

US President Donald Trump on Friday paid his "highest respect" to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and voiced concern over his "great friend" resigning for health reasons.

"I want to pay my highest respect to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a very great friend of mine," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he returned from a campaign rally in New Hampshire. 

"We've had a great relationship and I just feel very badly about it, because it must be very severe for him to leave."

Abe, 65, who has been holding Japan's top post in a record-setting time, announced he was stepping down Friday, following resignation rumors triggered by two recent surprise hospital visits for unspecified medical checks. 

In recent days, senior government officials had suggested he would serve out the rest of his remaining year in office.

A year into his first term in 2007, Abe had stepped down over health problems. He was then diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, which he said upon return to office in 2012 was under control with the help of new medication.

Agence France-Presse

Japan to secure COVID-19 vaccines by 1st half of 2021: Abe

TOKYO - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Friday Japan would aim to secure COVID-19 vaccinations for all citizens by the first half of 2021.

Abe announced at a government meeting a set of measures against the novel coronavirus, which causes the COVID-19 respiratory illness, including increasing the country's virus testing capacity ahead of the flu season.

The measures will include greatly expanding the country's testing capacity to conduct mass testing on health care providers and nursing home staff, who are seeing a rise in new infections.

The government will review its guidelines on recommending hospitalization of COVID-19 patients, prioritizing those with severe symptoms, and asking those with mild or no symptoms to self-isolate at home or in designated lodging facilities.

It wants to ensure that enough hospital beds are secured for severe cases in anticipation of a scenario in which Japan is also hit by an influenza outbreak in the winter.

Furthermore, there are plans to create a system that will allow residents to easily access the vaccines at their place of residence, alongside implementing relief measures in the event of side effects or other health problems caused by the vaccines.

The government is looking to cover the cost of compensation that vaccine manufacturers may face if health issues occur.

Vaccine purchases will be financed by reserve funds from the budget of the current fiscal year to March 2021.

Kyodo News

Japan unveils $989 billion stimulus package vs coronavirus

TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged on Monday to roll out an unprecedented economic stimulus package, equal to 20 percent of economic output, as his government vowed to take "all steps" to battle deepening fallout from the coronavirus.

The package, to be confirmed by the cabinet on Tuesday, will total 108 trillion yen ($989 billion), far exceeding one compiled in the wake of the 2009 financial crisis totalling 56 trillion yen in size, with fiscal spending of 15 trillion yen.

"We decided to carry out an unprecedentedly massive scale of economic package worth 108 trillion yen, or 20 percent of GDP, following the immense damage to the economy from the novel coronavirus," Abe told reporters after a meeting with senior ruling party lawmakers.

Abe stopped short of providing further details, but the amount may include earlier economic measures valued at 26 trillion yen, which were adopted at the end of last year to cope with risks from the Sino-US trade war.

Still, the package turned out far bigger than the amount anticipated by market players, giving a sense of security for people facing income declines and staying indoors, some analysts say.

"There may be a limited impact on stimulating consumption given many people are refraining from going shopping," said Masaki Kuwahara, senior economist at Nomura Securities. "But it could prevent a second-round effect on aggravating the economy."

The package features cash payouts worth more than 6 trillion yen to households and small and midsize firms, who are facing hardships, Abe said, highlighting extensive damage from the virus, which has fuelled fears of a recession.

Abe said he would declare a state of emergency as early as Tuesday.

To protect employment, the government would also establish arrangements through the package to allow small and midsize firms to borrow at zero interest from private financial institutions, Abe said.

It would also give struggling companies a grace period for tax payment and social security fees totaling 26 trillion yen to help them continue business operations, he added.

"BIGGEST CRISIS SINCE WWII"

Global cases of the new coronavirus have passed 1 million and more than 64,000 people have died. Japan has been spared the kind of explosive surge seen in Europe, the United States and elsewhere, with some 3,500 cases and 85 deaths all told as of Monday, but the rate of new infections has been increasing, particularly in Tokyo itself.

In a measure of how seriously the government views the situation, a draft document prepared by the government refers to the pandemic as the "biggest crisis" the global economy has faced since World War Two.

The document says the government and the Bank of Japan need to share a sense of crisis and closely cooperate with each.

The package draft also aims to boost the production of Fujifilm Holding Corp's Avigan anti-flu drug during this fiscal year so it can be used to treat two million people.

To fund the package, the government would issue deficit-covering bonds, adding further strain to the industrial world's heaviest public debt at more than twice the size of its $5 trillion economy.

Sources told Reuters last week Japan would boost government bond issuance by 16 trillion yen to around 145 trillion yen to be sold in the market this fiscal year, which would mark the first rise in annual bond issuance in four years. (Writing by Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell and Nick Macfie)

-Reuters-

Japan says Tokyo Olympics may be postponed due to coronavirus

TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said for the first time on Monday that the Tokyo Olympic Games may need to be postponed if the event cannot be held in its "complete form" due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Sunday after an emergency meeting that it is stepping up its "scenario planning" for the 2020 Games due to start on July 24, including a possible postponement.

Abe said that while cancelling the Games was not an option, a delay was now on the cards if that was the only way to hold the event in its complete form.

"If that becomes difficult, we may have no option but to consider postponing the Games," he told parliament.

He said he had conveyed his views to Tokyo Games chief Yoshiro Mori on Sunday evening, who then discussed the issue with IOC President Thomas Bach.

Under mounting pressure from athletes, federations and national committees to postpone the Games, the IOC did a partial U-turn on Sunday after long insisting, with Tokyo organisers, that the Games would go ahead as planned.

Tokyo 2020 organisers have started drafting alternative dates for the Olympics, sources have told Reuters.

More than 13,000 people have died globally since the coronavirus outbreak began in China late last year, with the epicentre now in Europe.

As of Sunday morning, Japan had 37 deaths and 1,055 coronavirus cases, excluding those from a cruise ship that was quarantined near Tokyo last month and returnees on chartered flights from China, a tally by public broadcaster NHK showed.

Abe said all travelers from the United States, including Japanese citizens, would be asked to go into quarantine for 14 days after their arrival in Japan.

In the United States nearly one in three residents has been ordered to stay at home to slow the spread of the flu-like virus as cases nationwide topped 32,000, with more than 415 dead, according to a Reuters tally.

Japan's foreign ministry has advised citizens to avoid non-essential and non-urgent travel to the United States. 

(Reporting by Leika Kihara; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim and Stephen Coates)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Japan to work with WHO to mitigate coronavirus impact on Olympics

TOKYO - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Monday that Japan will coordinate closely with the World Health Organization to prevent the recent outbreak of a new coronavirus from impacting the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics this summer.

The health ministry, meanwhile, will take phlegm from possible coronavirus patients to accurately determine whether they are actually infected with the deadly pneumonia-causing virus, ministry officials said.

The government is stepping up efforts to stem the spread of the virus, which originated in Wuhan in central China, with 20 cases of infection confirmed in Japan so far. Abe said the development of a rapid test kit for the virus is under way so more institutions, including private ones, can conduct screenings.

"We will closely work with the World Health Organization and others to make sure that preparations for the Olympics and Paralympics will steadily proceed without an impact (from the outbreak)," Abe told a parliamentary session.

Olympic organizers and relevant sports associations will meet, possibly later this week, to discuss how to respond to the new coronavirus and other infectious diseases, according to Olympics minister Seiko Hashimoto.

The increasing number of coronavirus infections, mainly in China but also in other parts of the world, has raised calls among ruling and opposition party lawmakers for the government to do more to protect the public.

"We have already embarked on the development of a simple test kit," Abe said. "As cases of infection in Japan are rising, it's an urgent task to improve testing (for the virus) and enhance consultation services."

The comments came in response to Fumio Kishida, the policy chief of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, who said that virus testing is currently conducted only at state-run or public institutions such as the National Institute of Infectious Diseases.

The government is attempting to make sure that people have access to medical services and supplies, including masks. Abe has instructed ministers to deal with the outbreak and its impact on the economy.

On Saturday, a man in his 80s was diagnosed with the virus after returning to Hong Kong on a cruise ship from Japan. The man flew to Japan from China on Jan. 17 and left Yokohama near Tokyo on the Diamond Princess cruise ship on Jan. 20, arriving in Hong Kong on Jan. 25.

After the ship, which can carry about 2,700 passengers, arrived at the port of Yokohama on Monday night, a passenger told Kyodo News that he had heard an announcement that quarantine officers would board and conduct medical tests.

The passenger was also told that the planned departure time from Yokohama would be delayed for 24 hours.

According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, doctors and nurses will board and check the health of all the passengers and crew.

Since Saturday, Japan has been barring foreign nationals who have been to Hubei in the two weeks prior to their arrival, as well as holders of Chinese passports issued in Hubei.

A total of eight foreigners were denied entry over the weekend, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said, without elaborating.

The increase in infections has boosted demand for masks in Japan, leading the industry and health ministries to call on domestic manufacturers to increase output, Suga told reporters.

The death toll from the virus in mainland China has reached 361, topping that of the 2002-2003 SARS pandemic, according to the country's health authorities.

==Kyodo

Japanese MP makes waves by linking same-sex marriage to revising constitution

TOKYO - A conservative ally of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has called for discussion on revising Japan's constitution to allow same-sex marriage, annoying colleagues in the ruling party who are against it and also opposition parliamentarians who say enacting a simple law would clear the way.

Japan's laws on LGBT rights are relatively liberal compared with those in many Asian countries, although many LGBT people still conceal their sexuality.

But couples seeking to register same-sex marriages have been rejected by local authorities because there is no law specifically recognizing it.

The constitution, never amended since it was adopted after Japan's defeat in World War 2, says: "Marriage shall be based only on the mutual consent of both sexes and it shall be maintained through mutual cooperation with the equal rights of husband and wife as a basis."

Amending the constitution's pacifist Article 9 to clarify the status of Japan's military is a long-held goal of Abe and his ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Revising the article is highly controversial, although it has already been stretched to allow armed forces for self-defense.

Former Education Minister Hakubun Shimomura last month floated the idea of adding same-sex marriage to a list of other potential constitutional changes.

"It is important to proceed with debate without any taboo, including of the idea that a man can marry a man and a woman can marry a woman," NHK public TV quoted him as saying at a meeting of local LDP members last month.

The LDP has said same-sex marriage was "incompatible" with the constitution and Shimomura's remark caused concern at a meeting of the party's general affairs committee this week, media reported.

"One should not lightly make comments such as revising the constitution to recognize same-sex marriage," the Asahi newspaper quoted former cabinet minister Keiji Furuya as saying.

LGBT activists including Kanako Otsuji of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ) - the country's first openly LGBT lawmaker - say no amendment is needed to allow same-sex marriage because the constitution does not explicitly ban it.

They have submitted a marriage equality bill to parliament in June, but the ruling coalition has declined to debate it.

"I think the goal is to shake up the opposition," Otsuji told Reuters, referring to Shimomura's suggestion. "If they agree with same-sex marriage, they should agree with our bill."

Shimomura's office declined a request for an interview due to his tight schedule.

A survey last year showed nearly 80 percent of Japanese in their 20s to 50s favored legalizing same-sex marriage.

"The constitution did not envision same-sex marriage when it was written... but it was not prohibited," said Gon Matsunaka, head of Pride House Consortium, which promotes LGBT awareness.

"Society and the world have changed and it is the responsibility of the legislature to pass a law in line with that."

Constitutional amendments must be approved by two-thirds of the members of both houses of parliament and a majority in a public referendum. The ruling bloc has a two-thirds majority in the lower house but lacks one in the upper chamber.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Japan economy grows faster than expected on new-era holidays

TOKYO - Japan's economy grew at a faster-than-expected clip in the second quarter, official data showed on Friday, helped by celebrations to usher in a new imperial era.

Gross domestic product (GDP) in the world's third-biggest economy grew 0.4 percent from the previous quarter, the Cabinet Office said, beating analysts' median forecast of 0.1 percent.

The third straight period of expansion will also bolster Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's determination to push through a controversial sales tax hike in October despite warnings it could weigh on growth.

Shoppers are rushing to make purchases before the rate rises from eight percent to 10 percent on October 1 and this boost for consumption also helped push GDP higher, economists said.

An unprecedented 10-day holiday for the enthronement of Emperor Naruhito, which kicked off a new imperial era in Japan, also pepped up the figures, according to analysts.

However, trade frictions between the US and China weighed on exports and corporate spending in some sectors such as machinery, said Yuichiro Nagai, senior economist at Mizuho Securities.

"But investments in software, research and development, and construction were good," he told AFP.

Nagai said a rush by consumers to buy before the sales tax hike will likely become even more pronounced in the July-September quarter, helping Japan log another quarter of growth.

And while the economy would likely contract in October-December due to the higher tax, it should rebound next year and avoid slipping into a recession, Nagai said.

"There is uncertainty over where the trade war will go... With the US presidential election coming next year, however, I believe the main scenario is that they will find a compromise plan" later this year, he said.

'ADDITIONAL MONETARY EASING'

The last time Japan hiked its sales tax, in 2014, the result was a slump in consumption and the wider economy and some economists have warned that now is not the time to raise the rate amid uncertainty over global trade and Brexit.

But Tokyo has vowed to go through with the plan unless there is a crisis on the level of the 2008 financial meltdown and Abe has promised countermeasures to cushion the blow on the economy.

SMBC Nikko Securities chief market economist Yoshimasa Maruyama said the Japanese economy would likely expand further in the July-September period but warned it could slide into a mild recession in October-December as the global economy slows.

"By the time autumn comes, debates for a supplementary budget will start and calls for additional monetary easing will get louder," he said in a report released ahead of the GDP announcement.

But Naoya Oshikubo, senior economist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management, was not so gloomy.

"Going forward, central banks are expected to continue easing, and the Chinese government will likely announce fiscal measures, resulting in a global economic recovery, which should help Japan maintain its momentum," Oshikubo said in a report.

Besides the planned tax hike, the impact from trade frictions between Japan and South Korea could be a headwind, he said.

"But both should be limited in their effects," he said as the affected goods make up only a fraction of Japanese exports.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Japan's Abe offers Saudi crown prince help in reducing oil dependency

OSAKA - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sunday praised Saudi Arabia's efforts to reduce its dependence on oil and promised Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that Japan will help the kingdom with a sweeping reform plan.

"Saudi Arabia's 'Vision 2030' is an unprecedented major reform aimed at shifting away from dependence on oil and at diversifying industry, under your majesty's initiative," Abe told the crown prince at the beginning of a bilateral meeting after a summit of Group of 20 leaders in the city of Osaka.

"Japan will continue its utmost efforts by government and the private sector to help achieve its success," Abe said.

Riyadh announced the reform plan in 2016, with goals ranging from overhauling its state-owned Public Investment Fund to increasing visits of Muslim pilgrims and encouraging more Saudis to play sports.

Despite last October's murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the hands of Saudi agents, big investors are pushing ahead with deals and pouring money back into its stock market as well as Vision 2030 projects that aim to diversify the economy of the world’s top oil exporter and create jobs.

"Saudi wants to do the utmost to continue our old - but new - strong partnership with Japan," the crown prince told Abe through an interpreter. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

G20 fist bump

U.S. President Donald Trump (left to right), Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi pose for photos after holding a trilateral meeting during the G20 leaders’ summit in Osaka, Japan, Friday. The summit in Osaka, the first G20 meeting Japan hosted will focus on global economy, trade and investment, innovation, environment and energy, employment, women’s empowerment, development and health.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Sumo wrestlers steal Trump thunder in Japan visit

TOKYO -- As the leader of the free world, and a man never shy around the spotlight, President Donald Trump is rarely a spectator to the events surrounding him. Leave it to a bunch of sumo wrestlers to steal his thunder.

On Sunday, inside the Ryogoku Kokugikan, a stadium near the Sumida River in Tokyo, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe introduced Trump to Japan’s national sport. It was the last day of an annual grand tournament, and most of the 11,000 fans in attendance sat on mats and cheered the loinclothed wrestlers as they barreled into each other with forces that seemed to defy physics.

Trump’s experience was different. After a day of creature comforts like golf and a double-cheeseburger lunch as part of Abe’s four-day charm offensive, the president settled into a low-backed chair near the raised ring to take in the final few bouts. It was one of several exceptions the Japanese made to sumo’s rigid rules to accommodate their guest.

The president watched intently at times as the fleshy men stomped their feet or threw handfuls of salt around the ring to cleanse the dirt, and he periodically asked Abe or his aides questions about what was happening before him. But he did not always visibly react to decisive moments during the bouts or to some of the more ceremonial parts of the evening.

During his time at the sumo stadium, there were signs of support — a large Trump 2020 sign greeted the president as he approached the arena. And Trump seemed to make an entrance similar to those at any “Make America Great Again” rally — he clapped, fist-pumped and waved, greeting the attendees as if they had assembled on his behalf.

But within seconds, the crowd’s attention turned back to the tournament at hand, the first since Japan’s new emperor, Naruhito, ascended the throne this month. It quickly became clear that this event, rooted in sumo’s ancient traditions, would not be as Trump-focused as the president’s past visits to televised professional wrestling spectacles in the United States.

The sumo ring is a sacred space, where the same set of rules and rituals has applied to its inhabitants for centuries. Women are not allowed. Neither are shoes. And foreign leaders are not usually given their own mini-ceremony during a tournament, called a basho.

Trump arrived in Tokyo as the first American president to come bearing his own trophy for a sumo champion — a four-foot-tall object called the President’s Cup. So when the last match ended, a wooden set of stairs was wheeled up to the sumo mound — another innovation for this day — and Trump approached clad in slippers fashioned to look like real shoes.

The president bowed slightly as he entered the ring, and with the help of a kimono-attired sumo official, he handed the trophy to the champion. Moments earlier, Abe had presented his own Prime Minister’s Cup — a smaller man lifting an even bigger hunk of metal by himself and drawing smiles from the crowd.

Trump then addressed the champion, Asanoyama, a wrestler in the lower ranks of Japan’s top tier of sumo who had sealed his victory the day before. “In honor of your outstanding achievement as sumo grand champion, I hereby award you the United States President’s Cup,” Trump told the wrestler. The president grinned briefly and clapped.

The president later summed up his day, which included dinner with his hosts at a hibachi restaurant. “That was an incredible evening at sumo,” he said. “We brought that beautiful trophy, which you’ll have hopefully for many hundreds of years.”


2019 New York Times News Service

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Trump becomes first foreign leader to meet Japan's new emperor

TOKYO -- Donald Trump on Monday became the first foreign leader to meet with Japan's newly enthroned Emperor Naruhito -- an honor Prime Minister Shinzo Abe hopes will help charm the US president when it comes to thorny trade talks.

The palace visit in the morning, followed by a royal banquet in the evening, was the main event in a feel-good trip that started Saturday and has seen Abe and Trump playing golf, eating out, watching sumo and generally enjoying an all-Japanese weekend.

Dining with Abe and their wives at a typical Tokyo grill restaurant on Sunday, Trump said he "had a great time" and was looking forward to meeting Naruhito, who took the Chrysanthemum Throne only three weeks ago, after his father stepped down in the first abdication in two centuries.

"Tomorrow is really the main event -- a very important event in the history of Japan. It's over 200 years since something like this has happened. So it's a great honur to be representing the United States," Trump said.

After calling on Naruhito in the morning, Trump and his avowed close friend Abe will meet for summit talks and have lunch, before holding a press conference.

On Sunday, they grinned for a selfie and praised each other's golf game. Before the dinner, Abe also accompanied Trump to a sumo tournament where the US president presented a gigantic trophy, brought from the United States, to the champion wrestler.

Abe hopes those good vibes will spread into talks on trade, military ties, the stumbling efforts to rein in North Korea's nuclear weapons program, and a growing superpower rivalry between Washington and Beijing.

Within an hour of touching down in Tokyo, Trump railed against what he sees as a trade imbalance between the world's top and third-largest economies and vowed to make the relationship "a little bit more fair".

But on Sunday, Trump struck a softer note, saying that "much" of that deal would wait until Abe faces upper house elections likely in July -- as rumors swirl that the popular prime minister will combine that vote with a snap general election.

With his trade war against China getting bogged down, Trump won't want to rock the boat for his closest Asian ally.

Top Japanese and American trade negotiators spent more than two hours locked in talks on Saturday night but failed to achieve a breakthrough, although the Japanese side said there was more "understanding" between the two sides.

'SMALL WEAPONS' 

On North Korea, Trump appeared to undercut his own national security advisor, the hawkish John Bolton, by downplaying 2 recent short-range missile tests by Kim which raised tensions in the region.

"North Korea fired off some small weapons, which disturbed some of my people, and others, but not me," Trump tweeted.

"I have confidence that Chairman Kim will keep his promise to me."

Before Trump landed in Tokyo, Bolton had told reporters there was "no doubt" that the launches contravened UN Security Council resolutions, the first time a senior US administration official has said this.

The issue is bound to come up as the leaders meet families of people abducted by North Korea during the Cold War era to train Pyongyang's spies, an emotive issue in Japan that Abe has pressed Trump to raise in talks with Kim.

The nationalist Abe himself has frequently offered to meet Kim to solve the "abductee problem", as it is known in Japan. 

On Tuesday, Trump is expected to address troops at a US base in Japan, highlighting the military alliance between the two allies.

His visit there will underline another big US priority -- arms sales to Japan, which is considering revamping its air force with advanced US F-35 warplanes. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

PM Abe vows to tackle growing child abuse in Japan

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Saturday vowed to crack down on the increasing number of child abuse cases in Japan after the death of a 10-year-old girl, allegedly killed by her abusive father, shocked the country.

Mia Kurihara was found dead in the bathroom of her home in Chiba near Tokyo last month after authorities failed to respond to her repeated pleas for help.

Her parents have been arrested on suspicion of assaulting their daughter after her father reportedly abused her regularly and refused to allow her to go to school. 

The tragedy came more than a year after she asked her teacher to help stop her father from "beating and kicking" her. 

She was temporarily protected by child welfare officials but returned to relatives about two months later. She was then brought back to her parents in March last year.

Police have found a video on her father's mobile phone showing him hitting her, local media said, adding that she cried in the footage saying: "Dad, I'm sorry."

The high-profile case has drawn huge media attention, prompting the government to take action amid growing public awareness over child abuse.

Abe told members of his ruling Liberal Democratic Party that his government had ordered child welfare centers across the nation to confirm within a month the safety of all children suspected to have been abused.

Abe also said the government would raise the number of child welfare workers by some 1,000 for the next fiscal year starting in April from the current 3,200.

"It was a painful case which is all too regrettable," Abe said. 

"Protecting children's lives is our adults' responsibility," he added.

Police reported the suspected abuse of a record-high 80,104 minors to child welfare authorities in Japan in 2018, Kyodo News said.

The figure rose by 22.4 percent from a year earlier, it said.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

At least 64 killed in Japan after 'unprecedented' rain, dozens missing

TOKYO -- The death toll from unprecedented rains in Japan rose to at least 64 on Sunday after rivers burst their banks and forced several million people from their homes, media reports said, with more rain set to hit some areas for at least another day.

Torrential rains pounded some parts of western Japan with three times the usual precipitation for a normal July and set off landslides and sent rivers surging over their banks, trapping many people in their houses or on rooftops.

"We've never experienced this kind of rain before," an official at the Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA) told a news conference. "This is a situation of extreme danger."

At least 64 people were killed and 44 missing, national broadcaster NHK said after the death toll had been put at 49 overnight. Among the missing was a 9-year-old boy believed trapped in his house by a landslide that killed at least three others, one of them a man in his 80s.

"All I have is what I'm wearing," a rescued woman clutching a toy poodle told NHK television.

"We had fled to the second floor but then the water rose more, so we went up to the third floor," she said.

Japan's government set up an emergency management centre at the prime minister's office and some 54,000 rescuers from the military, police and fire departments were dispatched across a wide swath of southwestern and western Japan.

"There are still many people missing and others in need of help, we are working against time," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said.

Emergency warnings for severe rain remained in effect for three prefectures, with 11 inches predicted to fall by Monday morning in parts of the smallest main island of Shikoku.

Evacuation orders remained in place for some 2 million people and another 2.3 million were advised to evacuate, although rain had stopped and floodwaters receded in some areas. Landslide warnings were issued in more than a quarter of the nation's prefectures.

'POURING DOWN'

"My husband couldn't make it home from work since the road was flooded, and since it was pouring down rain I didn't have enough courage to walk to an evacuation center with two infants after dark," one woman wrote on Twitter, without giving further details.

The rain began late last week as the remnants of a typhoon fed into a seasonal rainy front, with humid, warm air pouring in from the Pacific making it still more active - a pattern similar to one that set off flooding in southwestern Japan exactly a year ago that killed dozens. The front then remained in one place for an unusually long time, the JMA said.

Roads were closed and train services suspended in parts of western Japan. Shinkansen bullet train services, resumed on a limited schedule after they were suspended on Friday.

Automakers including Mazda Motor Corp. and Daihatsu Diesel Manufacturing Co. suspended operations at several plants on Saturday due to a shortage of parts or dangerous conditions. They were set to decide later on Sunday on plans for the coming week.

Electronics maker Panasonic Corp. said one plant in Okayama, western Japan, could not be reached due to road closures, although it had been closed for the weekend anyway. A decision about next week would be made on Monday.

While the Japanese government monitors weather conditions closely and issues warnings from an early stage, the fact that much of the country outside major cities is mountainous and building takes place on virtually every bit of usable land leaves it vulnerable to disasters.

Reforestation policies after World War II that saw many mountains logged and replanted with trees whose roots are less able to retain water have also contributed to the danger. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Dollar struggles after Tillerson's dismissal strikes down recovery

TOKYO - The dollar wallowed against the yen and other major currencies on Wednesday after the sudden dismissal of US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson killed off an earlier bounce in the currency.

US President Donald Trump fired Tillerson on Tuesday after a series of public rifts over policy on North Korea, Russia and Iran, replacing his chief diplomat with loyalist CIA Director Mike Pompeo.

It was deja vu for the currency market and the dollar, which had declined a week ago when the exit of White House economic advisor Gary Cohn undermined investor sentiment towards the greenback.

The dollar was down 0.1 percent at 106.490 yen, having slipped overnight from a 2-week high of 107.300 reached after wariness over a political scandal in Japan waned slightly.

The greenback also lost a bit of traction after the February US inflation data released on Tuesday was in line with expectations, suggesting the Federal Reserve remained on track to raise interest rates at a gradual pace.

Masafumi Yamamoto, chief forex strategist at Mizuho Securities in Tokyo, said comings and goings in the White House were becoming something of an everyday occurrence and that dollar's reaction was likely to become more limited each time.

"For the dollar to rise above 107 yen again, it may need a clarification of the ongoing political scandal in Japan in addition to a hint by the Fed at this month's meeting that it might accelerate the pace of rate hikes," Yamamoto said.

The yen had risen against the dollar at the start of the week as a political scandal engulfed Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his close ally, Finance Minister Taro Aso.

The Japanese currency advanced as the cronyism scandal raised doubts about Abe's ability to continue pursuing his economic policies, dubbed "Abenomics," which included aggressive monetary easing.

The Fed holds a 2-day policy meeting starting on March 20 and the central bank is widely expected to raise interest rates for the first time this year.

The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies was little changed at 89.711 after it tracked a decline in US yields and shed 0.25 percent on Tuesday.

The euro was steady at $1.2394 after rising 0.45 percent overnight.

The pound was up 0.1 percent at $1.3982 and in close reach of a two-week peak of $1.3994 scaled on Tuesday on the back of the dollar's broad decline.

The Australian dollar was steady at $0.7860 after bouncing to a 2-week high of $0.7898 the previous day on robust business indicators.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Trump says to push Japan for freer trade; calls ties better than ever

TOKYO - U.S. President Donald Trump vowed on Monday to push for a free and balanced trade partnership with Japan after decades of "massive trade deficits" but said relations with close ally Tokyo were "better than we have ever had".


"The United States has suffered massive trade deficits at the hands of Japan for many, many years," Trump said at the start of a meeting with Japanese and U.S. business leaders on the second day of a 12-day Asian trip that will focus on both trade and North Korea's nuclear and missile programs.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, at the start of a working lunch with Trump, offered his "heart-felt condolences" for the victims of a gunman who massacred at least 26 worshipers at a church in Texas.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said Trump, who earlier expressed grief for the victims, had no plans at this time to change the schedule for his 12-day Asian trip, which will also take him to Seoul, Beijing and Danang, Vietnam.

Trump praised Japan for buying U.S. military hardware, which he said was the "best military equipment in the world", but added that "many millions of cars are sold by Japan into the United States, whereas virtually no cars go from the United States into Japan".

"We want free and reciprocal trade but right now our trade with Japan is not free and it's not reciprocal and I know it will be and we've started the process," Trump said. "I have no doubt that it will be done in a quick and very friendly manner."

Later, at the start of their formal talks, Trump told Abe the two sides were making "tremendous progress" on both trade and North Korea, the other focus of his trip.

INDO-PACIFIC FRAMEWORK

Trump also said Washington wants to make the United States the most attractive place to hire, invest and grow.

Japan had a $69-billion trade surplus with the United States last year, according to the U.S. Treasury Department. The United States was Japan's second biggest trade partner after China, while Japan was the United States' fourth largest goods export market in 2016.

Japanese officials have countered U.S. trade complaints by noting Tokyo accounts for a much smaller slice of the U.S. deficit than in the past, while China's imbalance is bigger.

In a second round of economic talks in Washington last month, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso, who doubles as deputy premier, failed to bridge differences on thorny trade issues.

The two sides remain at odds over how to frame future trade talks, with Tokyo pushing back against U.S. calls to discuss a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA).

Trump also said that an Indo-Pacific trade framework would produce more in trade that the Trans-Pacific Partnership pact pushed by his predecessor but which he announced Washington would abandon soon after he took office.

"TPP was not the right answer," he said, adding he knew not everyone in his audience agreed. "We will have much bigger trade with the way we are doing it right now and it will be a much less complex situation."

The 11 remaining nations in the TPP, to which Japan's Abe is firmly committed, are edging closer to sealing a comprehensive free trade pact without the United States.

EMPEROR, ABDUCTEES, NORTH KOREA

The United States has also complained about Japan's safeguard mechanism on U.S. frozen beef imports, which imposes higher tariffs if quarterly imports rise more than 17 percent from the previous year. Sources have told Reuters that Tokyo will propose changes to the system to reduce U.S. pressure.

Trump met Emperor Akihito, exchanging a handshake and nodding, before his lunch and talks with Abe.

He met relatives of Japanese citizens kidnapped decades ago by North Korean agents to help train spies.

Speaking to reporters while the relatives stood behind holding photos of their loved ones, Trump called the kidnappings a tremendous disgrace and said he would work with Abe to try to bring them back to Japan "where they want to be".

Abe has made the abductions a keystone of his career. The families hope their talks with Trump - the third U.S. president whom they have met - will somehow contribute to a breakthrough in the emotive issue, although experts say progress is unlikely.

North Korea's recent actions, including several missiles that flew over Japan and Pyongyang's sixth and largest nuclear test, have raised the stakes in the most critical international challenge of Trump's presidency.

The U.S. leader has rattled some allies with his vow to "totally destroy" North Korea if it threatens the United States and with his dismissal of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as a "rocket man" on a suicide mission.

Abe, however, has staunchly backed Trump's stance that "all options are on the table", including military action, and repeatedly said that now was the time for added pressure, not dialogue "for the sake of dialogue".

(Reporting by Steve Holland, additional reporting by Kaori Kaneko, writing by Linda Sieg; Editing by Michael Perry)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Yen at 3-month low on Abe win, euro struggles with Spain

SYDNEY - Japan's yen hit 3-month lows on Monday as an election win for the government gave a green light for super-easy monetary policy, while the euro eased as Spain's constitutional crisis aggravated concerns about political unity in the bloc.

The US dollar was the major beneficiary as President Donald Trump and Republicans took a small step toward tax cuts, boosting Wall Street stocks and lifting bond yields.

Nikkei futures also pointed to opening gains of around 1 percent for Japanese shares after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe looked to have easily won in national elections.

Investors assumed the victory would allow the Bank of Japan to continue with massive monetary easing that depresses bond yields and the yen, even as the US Federal Reserve seems determined to hike rates again in December.

"This should extend the lifespan of “Abenomics,” including the BOJ's mega stimulus," wrote analysts at the Blackrock Investment Institute.

"We see the outcome as a mild positive for Japanese equities, and as a mild negative for the yen and Japanese government bonds."

The dollar rose 0.38 percent in early trade to reach 113.93 yen, the highest since mid-July when it got as far as 114.49 before running out of puff. A break there would open the way to the March peaks around 115.51.

The yen even slipped on the euro, which was having its own troubles as the Spanish government urged Catalans to accept its decision to dismiss their secessionist leadership and to take control of the restive region.

The nation's biggest political crisis in decades enters a decisive week as Madrid tries to impose its control, although investors have so far assumed the political strife would not spread elsewhere in the European Union.

The euro eased just 0.1 percent early Monday to $1.1771 and has strong chart support around $1.1729.

It faces another hurdle on Thursday when the European Central Bank meets amid much talk it will cut back the amount of assets it buys every month, but also extend the programme.

"As we have argued for some time now, the length of time the QE programme runs for matters more than monthly size," said analysts at RBC Capital Markets.

"So while we look for a reduction by at least 30 billion euros in net terms ... we also expect that the ECB will keep the program open ended."

Asian share markets could get a tailwind from Wall Street's record finish on Friday when the passage of a US Senate budget resolution bolstered hopes that President Trump's tax-cut plan may move forward.

The Dow ended with gains of 0.71 percent, while the S&P 500 rose 0.51 percent and the Nasdaq 0.36 percent.

In commodity markets, oil prices started firmer on Monday following a sharp decline in Iraqi crude exports due to tensions in the Kurdistan region.

Brent crude rose 25 cents to $58.00 a barrel, while US crude futures added 32 cents to $52.16.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Germany's Merkel and Japan's Abe urge free trade with jabs at US

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe spoke up for free trade at a major technology fair on Sunday with jabs clearly pointed at an increasingly protectionist United States.

Both called for a free trade deal to be reached quickly between Japan and the European Union, in comments made after G20 finance ministers and central bankers dropped a long-standing mention of open trade in their final communique after a two-day meeting in Germany.

Neither leader named the US government as they opened the CeBIT technology fair in Hanover, but both used the opportunity to distance themselves from protectionist tendencies coming from the Trump administration.

"In times when we have to argue with many about free trade, open borders and democratic values, it's a good sign that Japan and Germany no longer argue about this but rather are seeking to shape the future in a way that benefits people," Merkel said.

As G20 president, Germany feels especially committed to these principles, she added.

After meeting President Donald Trump in Washington on Friday for the first time, Merkel said she hoped the United States and the European Union could resume discussions on a trade agreement. Trump said he did not believe in isolationism but that trade policy should be fairer.

Merkel stressed that Germany was strongly in favor of free trade and open markets.

"We certainly don't want any barriers but at a time of an 'Internet of things' we want to link our societies with one another and let them deal fairly with one another, and that is what free trade is all about," she said.

Speaking at the same event, Abe said: "Japan, having gone through reaping in abundance the benefits of free trade and investment, wants to be the champion upholding open systems alongside Germany."

He added: "Of course to do so it will be necessary to have rules that are fair and can stand up to democratic appraisal."

He also said the European Union and Japan should soon reach an economic deal. Merkel welcomed his comments, saying: "It's very, very good that Japan says we want a free trade agreement, we want it soon because that could be the right statement and Germany would love to be a driving force behind this."

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told Bild am Sonntag newspaper he was pleased that he would be meeting Abe on Tuesday and said the bloc wanted to conclude a free trade deal with Japan this year.

(Reporting by Reuters Television and Andreas Rinke; Writing by Michelle Martin; Editing by Tom Heneghan)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Abe, Obama agree to closely monitor movements of China carrier

HONOLULU - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Barack Obama agreed Tuesday to closely monitor the movements of China's first and sole aircraft carrier, which has sailed into the western Pacific for the first time, Japanese officials said.

In their last meeting before Obama leaves office next month, the two leaders affirmed that movements by the Chinese carrier Liaoning "warrant close attention from mid-term and long-term perspectives," the officials said.

Late last week, the Liaoning advanced into the western Pacific after passing the so-called "first island chain," a sea defense line China unilaterally draws running from southern Japan to Taiwan, the Philippines and the southern South China Sea.

Military experts suspect China will launch its first domestically made aircraft carrier next year.

In light of Beijing's rising maritime activity, Abe and Obama agreed in the meeting in Honolulu that it is important for Tokyo and Washington to expand alliance networks with Australia, India and other countries so as to make the Indo-Pacific free and open and ensure stability and prosperity in the region, according to the officials.

Referring to the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement, Abe told Obama that he will "tenaciously" urge the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump to promote the 12-nation trade deal, they said.

Abe said Japan will continue to advocate free trade. Obama was quoted as saying he will step up efforts to promote understanding on the TPP in the United States.

While Japan has ratified the pact, championed by Obama as a main pillar of his policy of a U.S. strategic rebalance to Asia, Trump has pledged to withdraw the United States from it once he takes office on Jan. 20.

On North Korea, Abe and Obama affirmed the need to strictly implement the latest U.N. Security Council sanctions resolution in response to Pyongyang's fifth and largest nuclear test in September, according to the officials.

The leaders also underscored the importance of closely coordinating trilateral security policy with South Korea, they said.

On Okinawa, Abe expressed regret over the crash landing of a U.S. Marines Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft off Nago on Dec. 13, and requested that the United States provide more information and increase efforts to ensure the safety involving the aircraft.

The United States will closely communicate with Japan over the matter, Obama was quoted as saying.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Abe's Pearl Harbor pilgrimage underlines US-Japan ties

HONOLULU - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe travels Tuesday to Hawaii's Pearl Harbor, the site of a sneak attack by his country that provoked America into joining World War II, to reinforce what the leader calls "the power of reconciliation."

Abe will be hosted by US President Barack Obama, who quits office next month. That means Abe will soon lead Japan into uncharted waters, after incoming US president Donald Trump clouded the guiding stars of US-Japanese ties.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal that Obama was pushing for and that Abe made the heart of his economic strategy has been torn up by the president-elect.

And, at least on the campaign trail, Trump has even called into question the US security guarantees that shielded Japan through the Cold War and later the rise of China.

In eight years, Obama -- America's Hawaiian-born first "Pacific president" -- never made the headway he wanted in his vaunted "rebalance to Asia" diplomatic strategy.

But he and Abe chose a telling spot to celebrate US-Japanese partnership, 75 years after the "day of infamy," December 7, 1941.

The Japanese sneak attack on an unsuspecting US fleet moored at Pearl Harbor turned the Pacific into a cauldron of conflict.

The attack had been prepared in secret by Japan for months, but was over within two hours.

Japanese warplanes came out of nowhere to sink much of the US fleet and leave 2,400 sailors and Marines dead.

A reluctant America was drawn into the war already raging in Europe and its colonies, a war that ended after US atom bombs razed the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Post-war cooperation, however, has healed many wounds.

In May, Obama visited Hiroshima to pay his respects, and on Tuesday Abe will become the first Japanese premier to visit the wreck of the USS Arizona.

The leaders will head by boat to a white-walled memorial positioned over the sunken vessel, still lying in the clear blue waters of the harbor where 1,177 of its crew died.

Only five of the Arizona's crewmen are still alive and, while the memorial remains a tourist draw, in Hawaii the divisions of war have given way to a shared present.

"Hawaii has a very multi-ethnic population with a very large Japanese population," Stanley Chang, a 34-year-old Democratic member of the Hawaii state senate told AFP.

"I don't think there is any feeling of antipathy towards the Japanese, 75 years after the attack."

Today, Obama's home state has a reputation as one of the most multi-ethnic and multi-cultural in the union.

'REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR'

Today, December is peak tourist season in balmy Hawaii, and the American First Family is partway through its annual Christmas break on the islands.

But the scene was grim in 1941 when Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto maneuvered six aircraft carriers to within 240 miles (386 kilometers) of Oahu and unleashed two waves of dive bombers.

The US Pacific fleet, formerly Japan's main rival in the region, lost 21 warships and 328 planes.

Hundreds of sailors drowned when the USS Oklahoma, still lashed to the quay, pitched onto its side and trapped them.

Before the attack, the US isolationist campaign's cry of "America first!" -- now revived as Trump's slogan -- found a ready ear among voters wary of embroilment in Europe.

But after Pearl Harbor, US Congress declared war on Japan. Three days later Japan's European ally Nazi Germany declared war on the United States in turn.

The "America first!" slogan was quickly replaced on posters, in political speeches and in song by recruiters's refrain: "Remember Pearl Harbor."

Three-quarters of a century later, Abe wants to imbue the wartime rallying cry with a new resonance.

"'Remember Pearl Harbor' is a phrase that was once used to fuel animosity toward Japan among the people of America.

"The peoples of Japan and the United States were put in position to hate each other," he said.

"I hope the image of President Obama and I together visiting Pearl Harbor will serve to make the term 'Remember Pearl Harbor' symbolize the power of reconciliation."

The same force of reconciliation was on show in May, when Obama surveyed preserved ruins in Hiroshima and revived his Nobel-winning call for a world without nuclear weapons.

Trump, who takes office on January 20, was forced to backtrack during his campaign after he appeared to suggest Japan break a taboo and develop its own nuclear weapons.

Last week he again caused consternation when he blithely threatened to revive a Cold War-style arms race.

source: news.abs-cbn.com