International

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced Friday he will resign, ending his record-breaking tenure in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership race in the world's third-largest economy. Abe said he is suffering a recurrence of the ulcerative colitis that forced him to cut short a first term in office, and that he no longer felt able to continue as prime minister. ‘Now that I am not able to fulfil the mandate from the people with confidence, I have decided that I should no longer occupy the position of the prime minister,’ he said. While speculation about Abe's political future has grown in recent weeks, after two hospital visits for unspecified health checks, the resignation nonetheless came as a surprise. Even as recently as Friday morning, the government spokesman had appeared to dismiss concerns about Abe's health and suggested he would stay on. But Abe made clear that would not be possible, apologising for once again cutting short his tenure. ‘I would like to sincerely apologise to the people of Japan for leaving my post with one year left in my term of office, and amid the coronavirus woes,’ he said, bowing deeply. - 'A big surprise' - Abe said he would ‘firmly execute my duty to the end’, and until the next prime minister is appointed, possibly through a leadership election involving ruling party lawmakers and members. The resignation shocked the markets, with Tokyo stocks plunging more than two percent towards the end of afternoon trade when reports of Abe's decision first emerged. ‘It was a big surprise’, said Shinichi Nishikawa, a professor of political science at Meiji University in Tokyo. ‘His resignation comes at a time when Japan is facing tough issues, including measures against the coronavirus,’ Nishikawa told AFP.’ Abe had been expected to stay in office until the end of his term as LDP leader in September 2021, and the jockeying for position to succeed him was still in its early stages. Still, some potential successors have already emerged, among them Finance Minister Taro Aso, chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga, former defence minister Shigeru Ishiba and LDP policy chief Fumio Kishida. Kishida is rumoured to be Abe's personal choice, while Aso commands one of the strongest blocs within the ruling party. Most of the potential successors are seen as unlikely to break significantly with Abe's policies. - Bitterly familiar decision - Abe declined to be drawn on who he would like to see take the top job, saying he had ‘no intention’ of influencing the election, and that those often floated as candidates were all ‘highly capable’. Experts said the election process was likely to happen in the coming weeks, with a new parliamentary session possible by October. Abe's decision to step down will be bitterly familiar for the man who was forced to leave office just one year after becoming the country's youngest-ever prime minister. He has since become Japan's longest-serving premier, forever associated with the economic policy that bears his name: Abenomics. He said his legacy would be for others to decide but pointed to his efforts to bring Barack Obama to Hiroshima, making him the first sitting US president to visit the site of the atomic bomb attack, as among his proudest achievements. Among his greatest disappointments, he said, was his inability to bring home Japanese people kidnapped by North Korea decades ago. Tributes poured in from leaders around the world, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi praising Abe's ‘wise leadership’ for strengthening ties and wishing him a speedy recovery, while the Kremlin hailed Abe's ‘invaluable contribution’ to relations. Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted he had ‘achieved great things’. A spokesman for the presidential Blue House in Seoul praised Abe for his ‘many meaningful achievements’. China was more circumspect, with a foreign ministry spokesman saying the resignation was an ‘internal affair’ on which it would not comment. Abe's time in office will end with his government facing slumping approval ratings over its handling of the coronavirus crisis, including a U-turn on stimulus and a widely-mocked policy to issue cloth face masks to every household. Some in Tokyo were quick to criticise Abe after his resignation was announced. ‘He has been in the prime minister's office way too long. I don't want to see his face honestly. Seven years and eight months, too long!’ said Tetsuya Daimon, 54. Abe's departure also means he will not be in charge as the country prepares to host the coronavirus-delayed Tokyo Olympics next year.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe underwent a medical check-up in hospital yesterday, a government source said, amid concern voiced by a top official that the premier could be suffering fatigue from handling the coronavirus pandemic.  Abe, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, returned home after about seven-and-a-half hours in hospital, Kyodo news agency said. The agency quoted a source at Abe’s office as saying “Abe underwent various check-ups since he had the whole day (free) on a weekday”, stressing that nothing was wrong with the prime minister. Health Minister Katsunobu Kato, a close aide, said he understood it was a regular check-up and he was “not at all” worried about Abe’s health.  “All I know is from media reports. And I understand it was reported as a regular check-up,” Kato told reporters. Abe gets a regular check-up twice a year, with his most recent on June 13, Kyodo said, adding that Monday’s visit was a follow-up to the June check-up, citing a hospital source. The hospital visit follows weekend comments by Akira Amari, chairman of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s tax panel, that Abe, 65, could be suffering from fatigue because of his continuous work over the response to the virus.  “I want him to take a break,” Amari told a Fuji TV news programme on Sunday. “He has a strong sense of responsibility and feels it’s wrong to take a break.” Abe, in office since 2012 in his second stint as prime minister, resigned from his first term in 2007 because of struggles with ulcerative colitis, which he now keeps under control with medication that was not previously available.  Japanese media have speculated about Abe’s health this month, including detailed reports on Abe’s walking speed. Weekly magazine Flash said Abe had vomited blood at his office on July 6. Reuters was unable to verify the report. “I see the prime minister every day, and I think he has no (health) problems at all, as he has been carrying out his duties smoothly,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told an Aug 5 news conference in response to questions following the report. Abe has discharged regular duties in recent weeks and was last seen in public on Saturday, at a Tokyo ceremony commemorating Japan’s World War Two defeat. He had his check-up at Tokyo’s Keio University Hospital, the source familiar with the situation told Reuters.  There are no reports that Abe is unable to perform his duties, but should that ever become the case, Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso, who doubles as finance minister, would take over.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, speaking on the 75th anniversary of Japan’s World War Two surrender, pledged never to repeat the tragedy of war and Emperor Naruhito expressed “deep remorse” over the wartime past, which still haunts East Asia. “Never to repeat the tragedy of war. We will continue to remain committed to this resolute pledge,” said Abe, wearing a face mask at an official ceremony for war dead yesterday that was scaled back because of the Covid-19 outbreak. Abe, who did not echo Naruhito’s reference to remorse, sent a ritual offering to Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine for war dead. But he avoided a personal visit that would anger China and South Korea. South Korean President Moon Jae-in said in a speech Seoul was always ready to discuss history disputes with Tokyo. At least four Japanese cabinet ministers paid their respects in person at Yasukuni, which honours 14 Japanese wartime leaders convicted as war criminals by an Allied tribunal, as well as Japan’s war dead. The shrine is seen by Beijing and Seoul as a symbol of Japan’s past military aggression. Shuichi Takatori, a member of Abe’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, told reporters he made the offering on behalf of Abe as party leader, delivering a message that Abe “paid his respects from the heart to the war dead and prayed for the rest and permanent peace of their souls.” Abe has not gone to Yasukuni in person since a December 2013 visit that outraged China and South Korea, but has sent offerings. Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, 39, often floated as a future premier, was among the ministers who visited the shrine on the emotive anniversary. South Korea’s foreign ministry spokesman expressed “deep disappointment and concern” over the ministers’ visit and said Japan’s leaders must show their “deep remorse through action”. Thousands of men and women braved scorching heat amid the Covid-19 pandemic to pay their respects at Yasukuni, where queues quickly became congested, despite markers and signs seeking to maintain social distance. Many people stood in long queues for hours, holding parasols to block the sun in heat over 35 degrees Celsius. “I earnestly hope that the ravages of war will never again be repeated,” Naruhito, 60, said at the official ceremony after bowing together with Empress Masako before an altar in front of a bank of flowers. Both royals also wore face masks. The grandson of Emperor Hirohito in whose name Imperial troops fought the war, Naruhito is Japan’s first monarch born after the war. He ascended the throne last year after his father, Akihito, abdicated. The United States and Japan have become staunch security allies in the decades since the war’s end but its legacy still haunts East Asia. Koreans, who mark the date as National Liberation Day, resent Japan’s 1910-1945 colonisation of the peninsula. China has bitter memories of imperial troops’ invasion and occupation of parts of the country from 1931 to 1945. “We must learn from history, let history be a warning for the future, and show that we are prepared to fight in the event of a war”, said a commentary by the official newspaper of China’s military, the People’s Liberation Army. Japan’s ties with South Korea especially are strained by a dispute over compensation for Koreans forced to work in Japan’s wartime mines and factories. “The door for negotiation is still widely open,” Moon said in a speech in Seoul. Relations are also strained over “comfort women”, as women, many Korean, made to work in Japanese military brothels are euphemistically known. Consensus over the war remains elusive within Japan, where more than 80% of people were born after the conflict’s end. Abe has said future generations should not have to keep apologising for mistakes of the past. One visitor to Yasukuni, Nobuko Watanabe, 51, said she understood why Koreans would resent visits there but added ties could improve. “When people talk to each other one-on-one...we are able to communicate and open our hearts to each other.” Fewer than 600 people, including relatives of war dead, took part in yesterday’s state-sponsored ceremony, down from more than 6,000 last year. Seats were spaced out and a musical performance replaced the singing of the national anthem.

Japanese Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said on Saturday Tokyo planned to send a team of officials from the ministry and other specialists to Mauritius to assess the damage from an oil spill. A Japanese bulk carrier struck a coral reef off Mauritius on July 25, spilling about 1,000 tonnes of fuel oil and triggering a state of "environmental emergency" in what some scientists call the country's worst ecological disaster. Removing the ship will be a delicate operation and is likely to take months. France, which once ruled Mauritius as a colony, has said it will assist with the cleanup. Koizumi also told reporters on Saturday he saw the oil spill as a grave crisis that could lead to a loss of biodiversity. The ship, MV Wakashio, is owned by Japan's Nagashiki Shipping and chartered by Mitsui OSK Lines. 

The Japanese city of Nagasaki yesterday commemorated the 75th anniversary of its destruction by a US atomic bomb, with its mayor and the head of the United Nations warning against a nuclear arms race.  Nagasaki was flattened in an atomic inferno three days after Hiroshima - twin nuclear attacks that rang in the nuclear age and gave Japan the bleak distinction of being the only country to be struck by atomic weapons.  Survivors, their relatives and a handful of foreign dignitaries attended a remembrance ceremony in Nagasaki where they called for world peace. Participants offered a silent prayer at 11:02am, the time the second and last nuclear weapon used in wartime was dropped over the city. “The true horror of nuclear weapons has not yet been adequately conveyed to the world at large” despite decades of effort by survivors telling of their “hellish experience”, Nagasaki mayor Tomihisa Taue said in a speech afterwards.  “If, as with the novel coronavirus - which we did not fear until it began to spread among our immediate surroundings - humanity does not become aware of the threat of nuclear weapons until they are used again, we will find ourselves in an irrevocable predicament.”  UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, in a message read by his undersecretary Izumi Nakamitsu, warned that “the prospect of nuclear weapons being used intentionally, by accident or miscalculation, is dangerously high.”  “The historic progress in nuclear disarmament is in jeopardy... This alarming trend must be reversed,” he said. The number of participants in this year’s ceremony was reduced to roughly one tenth the figure in previous years due to coronavirus fears, with proceedings broadcast live online in Japanese and English.   Prime Minister Shinzo Abe refreshed his pledge that Japan would lead “the international community’s efforts towards the realisation of a nuclear-free world”.   Terumi Tanaka, 88, who was 13 and at his hillside home when the bomb hit Nagasaki, remembers the moment everything went white with a flash of light, and the aftermath.  “I saw many people with terrible burns and wounds evacuating ... people who were already dead in a primary school-turned shelter,” Tanaka told AFP in a recent interview, saying his two aunts died. Atomic bomb survivors “believe that the world must abandon nuclear arms because we never want younger generations to experience the same thing”, he said. The remembrance comes as worries linger over the nuclear threat from North Korea and growing tensions between the US and China over issues including security and trade.  “I’m determined to keep appealing (to the world) that Nagasaki must be the last atomic bomb-hit city,” survivor Shigemi Fukahori, 89, said at the ceremony. “I hope young people will receive this baton of peace and keep running.” The US dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, killing around 140,000 people. The toll includes those who survived the explosion itself but died soon after from radiation exposure.   Three days later, the US dropped a plutonium bomb on the port city of Nagasaki, killing 74,000 people. Japan announced its surrender in World War II on August 15, 1945.  The United States has never acceded to demands in Japan for an apology for the loss of innocent lives in the atomic bombings, which many Western historians believe were necessary to bring a quick end to the war and avoid a land invasion that could have been even more costly. Others see the attacks as unnecessary and even experimental atrocities.  Last year, Pope Francis met with several survivors on visits to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, paying tribute to the “unspeakable horror” suffered by the victims. In 2016, Barack Obama became the first sitting US president to visit Hiroshima. He offered no apology for the attack but embraced survivors and called for a world free of nuclear weapons.

Japan on Thursday marked 75 years since the world's first atomic bomb attack, with the coronavirus pandemic forcing a scaling back of ceremonies to remember the victims. Survivors, relatives and a handful of foreign dignitaries attended this year's main event in Hiroshima to pray for those killed or wounded in the bombing and call for world peace. But the general public was kept away, with the ceremony instead broadcast online. Participants, many of them dressed in black and wearing face masks, offered a silent prayer at exactly 8:15am, the time the first nuclear weapon used in wartime was dropped over the city. Speaking afterwards, Hiroshima mayor Kazumi Matsui warned against the nationalism that led to World War II and urged the world to come together to face global threats, like the coronavirus pandemic. "We must never allow this painful past to repeat itself. Civil society must reject self-centred nationalism and unite against all threats," he said. Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has been criticised by some for his attempts to revise a key pacifist clause of the country's constitution, pledged in his address to "do my best for the realisation of a world without nuclear weapons and peace for all time". And UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who addressed the gathering by video message because of the pandemic, warned that "the only way to totally eliminate nuclear risk is to totally eliminate nuclear weapons". The bomb attack on Hiroshima killed around 140,000 people, many of them instantly, with others perishing in the weeks and months that followed, suffering radiation sickness, devastating burns and other injuries. Three days later, the United States dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, where 74,000 people were killed. 'No one can escape' Many of the traditionally sombre events to mark the anniversary have been cancelled because of the pandemic, a global threat that carries an all-too-familiar fear for some survivors, including 83-year-old Keiko Ogura, who lived through the Hiroshima bombing. With the outbreak of the virus, "I recall the fear I felt right after the bombing... no one can escape", she told journalists last month. She too urged people around the world to recognise the need to fight common challenges as one. "Whether it's the coronavirus or nuclear weapons, the way to overcome it is through solidarity among mankind," she said. The landmark anniversary this year underscores the dwindling number of bomb survivors, known in Japan as "hibakusha", many of whom suffered physically and psychologically after the attack. Those who remain were mostly infants or young children at the time, and their work to keep the memory of the bombings alive and call for a ban on nuclear weapons has taken on increasing urgency as they age. Activists and survivors have created archives of everything from the recorded testimony of hibakusha to their poems and drawings. But many fear interest in the bombings is fading as they recede beyond the horizon of lived experience and into history. 'Unspeakable horror' "Just storing a pile of records... is meaningless," said Kazuhisa Ito, the secretary general of No More Hibakusha Project, an NGO that compiles documents and testimonial accounts from survivors. "What we want is to engage young people with this issue and exchange views with them, globally," he told AFP. The historical assessment of the bombings remains the subject of some controversy. The United States has never apologised for the bombings, which many see as having brought an end to the war. Japan announced its surrender just days later on August 15, 1945, and some historians argue the bombings ultimately saved lives by avoiding a land invasion that might have been significantly more deadly. But in Japan, the attacks are widely regarded as war crimes because they targeted civilians indiscriminately and caused unprecedented destruction. In 2016, Barack Obama became the first sitting US president to visit Hiroshima, where he offered no apology but embraced survivors and called for a world free of nuclear weapons. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were key stops on Pope Francis's first trip to Japan last year, where he denounced the "unspeakable horror" of the attacks.

A Human Rights Watch report has found child athletes in Japan often suffer physical and verbal abuse and sometimes sexual abuse during training after documenting the experiences of over 800 athletes in 50 sports. The 67-page report released on Monday titled "I Was Hit So Many Times I Can't Count" looks at Japan's history of physical punishment in sport and includes first-hand accounts from athletes. The report comes in the week that would have marked the start of the Tokyo Olympics had it not been for the global coronavirus pandemic. The Games have now been delayed a year. "The specific abuses we documented include punching, slapping, kicking or striking with objects (and) excessive or insufficient food and water," Minky Worden, director of global initiatives at Human Rights Watch (HRW), told a news conference. In 2013, the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) promised to take steps to wipe out violence among its sports federations after an internal survey revealed more than 10% of its athletes had been victims of bullying or harassment. It also cut funding to its judo federation for a time after coaches were found to have physically abused female athletes. HRW said not enough had been done since then and demanded organisations such as the Japan Sports Council and the JOC use the upcoming Olympics as a catalyst for change. It noted child abuse in sport is a global problem and that the systems for reporting abuse are opaque, unresponsive, and inadequate. "Human Rights Watch is calling on Japan to take decisive action and to lead in tackling this global crisis," Worden said. The JOC did not respond to Reuters requests for comment. The report was based on interviews with more than 50 current and former athletes, an online survey that drew 757 responses and meetings with eight Japanese sports organisations. Of the 381 survey respondents aged 24 or younger, 19% indicated they had been hit, punched, slapped, kicked, knocked to the ground or beaten with an object while participating in sports. "The coach told me I was not serious enough with the running, so we were all called to the coach and I was hit in the face in front of everyone. I was bleeding, but he did not stop hitting me," the report quoted a professional athlete given the pseudonym of Daiki A. as saying. Eighteen percent reported experiencing verbal abuse, and five reported experiencing sexual assault or harassment while participating in sport as children.

Just one in four people in Japan want to see the coronavirus-delayed Tokyo Games held next year, with most backing either further delay or a cancellation, a new poll shows. Only 23.9 percent of respondents in the three-day nationwide poll published Sunday said they wanted to see the 2020 Games held next year. The survey carried out by Kyodo news agency found 36.4 percent of respondents back a further delay of the Games, while 33.7 think the flagship event should be cancelled altogether. Most of those backing a delay or cancellation said they simply didn't believe the pandemic could be contained in time for the Games, now scheduled to open on July 23, 2021. A separate survey carried out over the weekend by the Asahi Shimbun newspaper found 33 percent of respondents backed holding the Games next year, with 61 percent supporting another postponement or cancellation. Tokyo 2020 was postponed in March as the coronavirus spread across the globe, marking the worst disruption to the Olympics since two editions were cancelled during World War II. The nationwide polls echo a separate survey carried out last month of Tokyo residents, which found just over half of respondents backed either further delay or cancellation. Japanese and Olympic officials have made clear that a further postponement is not on the table. But concerns are rising in Japan about a new wave of infections, with the capital Tokyo registering record numbers of daily new cases in recent days. International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach said last week the Tokyo Olympics could be "a unique milestone for the entire world" noting they "will be the first worldwide gathering after coronavirus." But Bach warned that the unprecedented health situation meant multiple scenarios were being considered in planning the format for Tokyo. He said the scenario of holding the Games without spectators was one that had been examined, although he stressed that he was opposed to the idea. The telephone survey conducted by Kyodo News obtained responses from 1,045 people. The Asahi poll published over the weekend obtained 2,097 responses in a telephone survey on Saturday and Sunday. kh/sah/hg  

The Japanese government is facing potentially damaging blowback after excluding Tokyo residents from a multibillion dollar campaign aimed at reviving domestic tourism, even as the capital yesterday reported a record number of new Covid-19 cases. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s $16bn “Go To” tourism campaign was intended to promote travel across the country, but officials agreed yesterday to exclude Tokyo because of the resurgence in infections there. Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike reported 293 new cases on Friday, a fresh daily record after the city recorded 286 cases a day earlier. Abe has borne the brunt of the negative reaction to Tokyo’s exclusion from the travel subsidy programme, adding to growing criticisms of his handling of the crisis that analysts said could erode his support. “What makes you think that business trips or commuting won’t spread the coronavirus? Do you think it’s fair to exclude Tokyoites from a campaign that’s using taxpayers money?” said opposition lawmaker Ren Ho yesterday morning in a tweet addressed to Abe. The hashtag #TokyoExcluded was trending on Twitter yesterday, amassing almost 100,000 tweets. Tourism Minister Kazuyoshi Akaba said the decision to exclude Tokyo residents from receiving a 50% government subsidy for domestic trips was “heart-breaking.” The subsidy, which kicks in from July 22, will also not be available for anybody travelling to Tokyo. “The decision was made comprehensively by the government with input from experts,” Akaba told a news conference. Some critics have said the entire tourism campaign, which also includes subsidies for dining in restaurants and shopping expeditions, should be scrapped given the risk of spreading the coronavirus. “Originally, the travel campaign was premised on the pandemic having been contained, but they (the Abe government) tried to push it through anyway. They excluded Tokyo, but cases are increasing nationally,” said Tomoaki Iwai, political science professor at Nihon University.  “Voters feel that the prime minister’s office is not making appropriate policy,” creating a feeling of mistrust, Iwai added. Private credit research firm Teikoku Databank said coronavirus-related bankruptcies reached 350 nationwide as of yesterday, with hotels and eateries accounting for about 30% of them.  Tokyo’s exclusion from the tourism campaign raised concerns about further bankruptcies there, it added. Steven Reed, professor emeritus at Chuo University, said the last minute change in policy to exclude Tokyo “adds to the number of examples of Abe’s incompetence in governing.” Abe’s perceived missteps in his handling of the pandemic have included a much derided decision to distribute two cloth masks to each household and a last minute change to a household cash handout programme.  “He is certainly not leading in any way like he was before,” Reed said, although he acknowledged the impact on Abe’s support was hard to predict given voters routinely cite a lack of a viable alternative. Yasutoshi Nishimura, the economic revival minister who is tasked with leading coronavirus containment efforts, last week said Japan had successfully contained the virus without a harsh economic lockdown. In a Wall Street Journal opinion piece, Nishimura cited contact tracing efforts that helped quash transmission clusters. Japan has reported a total of around 23,000 cases, including nearly 1,000 deaths.  Top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said Tokyo could be still be included in the travel subsidy programme if infection numbers recede, but also cautioned its exclusion from the dining out subsidies and others was “under consideration”. Data out this week underscored the plight of the domestic tourism industry, showing just 4mn international visitors in the first half of the year, a tenth of the government’s full-year target of 40mn.

Tokyo raised its coronavirus alert to the highest “red” level yesterday, alarmed by a recent spike in daily new cases to record highs, with Governor Yuriko Koike describing the situation in the Japanese capital as “rather severe”.  The resurgence of the virus in Tokyo could add to the growing pressure on policymakers to shore up the world’s No.3 economy, which analysts say is set to shrink at its fastest pace in decades this fiscal year due to the pandemic.  “We are in a situation where we should issue warnings to citizens and businesses,” Koike told a press conference, urging residents to refrain from unnecessary travel. The infection rate in Tokyo is at stage “red”, the highest of four levels in the metropolis’ system, Koike said, citing the analysis by health experts who cautioned earlier in the day that infections were going up quite a bit and “exceeding peaks”.  She also pledged to step up testing for the virus by utilising equipment at universities. “My understanding is that we’re in a rather severe situation now,” Koike said. Infections among young people and asymptomatic cases are rising in Tokyo, health experts have noted. Fearing a second wave of infections spreading from the capital, local municipalities, opposition lawmakers and social media users have asked the central government to suspend a major “Go To” travel aid campaign that aims to boost domestic tourism.  Leaders of some rural towns say that driven by the campaign, travel in and out of high-risk regions like Tokyo may lead to widespread community transmissions. There were reports in local media of Tokyo residents being asked to stay away from parents and relatives living in rural towns that have reported fewer coronavirus cases.  The pandemic in Japan will turn into a “man-made” disaster should the travel programme go ahead, Soichiro Miyashita, mayor of the city of Mutsu in Aomori Prefecture, has warned.  But Japan’s economy minister, Yasutoshi Nishimura, said the government will cautiously proceed with the campaign, which includes discounts for shopping and food.  “Obviously we will consider the thoughts of many of our people, while monitoring the situation ahead,” Nishimura, who leads the government’s coronavirus policy, told parliament. The programme, among the government’s top initiatives to stimulate economic activity and set to start this month, has also come under fire over costs as it subcontracts back-office work to a private contractor.  Koike urged the government to reconsider the timing for the campaign at the press conference.  Infections are rising in other parts of Japan too, with Osaka prefecture in the west reporting 61 new cases on Wednesday, broadcaster NHK said, marking the highest number of daily cases there since April 20. In Tokyo, daily virus cases exceeded 200 in four of the past seven days, touching a record of 243 last Friday as testing among nightclub workers in its red-light districts showed rising infections among people in their 20s and 30s.  Koike reiterated that people should avoid restaurants that lack proper infection-control measures. Health experts noted Tokyo hospitals were getting crowded as the number of patients doubled from the previous week. Tokyo’s latest cluster has been traced to a theatre with at least 37 cases in Shinjuku, a busy entertainment area and home to one of Asia’s biggest red-light districts which has been the centre of a recent spike in infections.

* HK sets tough new social distancing rules, Disneyland to close * Japan tracing 800 audience members after theatre infection * Australian states tighten borders, social distancing rules * Southeast Asian countries eye fresh lockdowns Australian states tightened borders and restricted pub visits on Tuesday, while Disney prepared to close its Hong Kong theme park and Japan stepped up tracing as a jump in novel coronavirus cases across Asia fanned fears of a second wave of infections. Many parts of Asia, the region first hit by the coronavirus that emerged in central China late last year, are finding cause to pause the reopening of their economies, some after winning praise for their initial responses to the outbreak. Australia largely avoided the high numbers of cases and casualties seen in other countries with swift and strict measures, but a spike in community-transmitted cases in Victoria state and a rise in new cases in New South Wales has worried authorities. South Australia cancelled plans to reopen its border to New South Wales on July 20, while Queensland introduced a mandatory two-week quarantine for people who have visited two areas in Sydney's western suburbs. New South Wales, which has seen several dozen cases linked to the outbreak in Victoria, said pubs will be limited to no more than 300 people, responding to an outbreak centred at a large hotel in southwestern Sydney. "Indoor activity, where people aren't seated is a huge health risk. It increases the chance of transmission," state Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters. Australia’s second largest city, Melbourne, is in the second week of a six-week lockdown The number of coronavirus infections around the world hit 13 million on Monday, according to a Reuters tally, climbing by a million in just five days. The pandemic has now killed more than half a million people in six-and-a-half months. The World Health Organization (WHO) warned that the pandemic would worsen if countries failed to adhere to strict precautions. "Let me be blunt, too many countries are headed in the wrong direction, the virus remains public enemy number one," WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual briefing on Monday. In the Northern Hemisphere, countries are racing to get a handle on outbreaks before winter, which could bring a renewed surge. A second wave of infections in Britain this winter could kill up to 120,000 people over nine months in a worst-case scenario, according to health experts. Hong Kong, which suffered remarkably few cases in the first wave of the pandemic, will impose strict social distancing measures from midnight on Tuesday, the most stringent yet in the Asian financial hub. Hong Kong recorded 52 new cases on Monday, including 41 that were locally transmitted, health authorities said. Since late January, Hong Kong has reported 1,522 cases and media reported an eighth death on Monday. "The recent emergence of local cases of unknown infection source indicates the existence of sustained silent transmission in the community," the Hong Kong government said. Walt Disney Co said it is temporarily closing its Hong Kong Disneyland theme park from Wednesday amid the rising cases. India's tech capital of Bengaluru begins a new, week-long lockdown on Tuesday after a surge in cases following the easing of restrictions. From about 1,000 cases on June 19, when the city was believed to have escaped the worst thanks to contact tracing, it has gone up to nearly 20,000. Health experts say the movement of people following the lifting of a nationwide lockdown in June has led to Bangalore falling back. Other cities, including Pune and Aurangabad, have reimposed curbs in recent days. In Tokyo, health officials were trying to locate more than 800 members of an theatre audience after 20 people including cast members of a recent performance tested positive for the coronavirus. Japan, which has not seen an explosive outbreak, is pushing ahead with its easing of restrictions, with plans to reopen a runway at one of its biggest airports, even as infections persist in big cities, rural areas and on U.S. military bases. The Philippines this week recorded the biggest daily rise in coronavirus deaths in Southeast Asia and part of Manila will return to lockdown affecting 250,000 residents. A presidential spokesman said restrictions in other parts of the capital were unlikely to be relaxed. Indonesian President Joko Widodo has resisted pressure to lock down due to concern about the economy, despite the highest death toll from virus in East Asia outside China. Now, the governor of Jakarta is reported to be considering tightening some of the relatively mild social restrictions in place after a spike in cases in the capital. Even Thailand, which has had no locally transmitted cases reported for six weeks, has stepped up security at its borders over concern about a second wave of infections after the arrests of thousands of illegal migrants in the past month.

Japanese emergency services and troops scrambled yesterday to reach thousands of homes cut off by catastrophic flooding and landslides that have killed dozens and caused widespread damage.  Japan’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency said rising floodwater or roads damaged by landslides had blocked access to more than 3,000 households, mostly in the hardest-hit southwestern region of Kumamoto where fresh downpours were forecast.  An AFP reporter in the cut-off village of Kuma saw parts of the road collapsed into the river and scenes of devastation in flood-affected houses. In one home, an elderly man was struggling to clear up the debris and furniture littering the mud-caked floor, his traditional straw tatami mats in one room ruined.  The rain front started in the southwest in the early hours of Saturday and has since cut a swathe of destruction across Japan, dumping record amounts of rain and causing swollen rivers to break their banks.  Japan’s Meteorological Agency (JMA) said “heavy rain will likely continue at least until July 12 in a wide area” of the country, calling for “extreme vigilance” on landslide risks and flooding in low-lying areas.   The JMA issued its second-highest evacuation order to more than 450,000 people. However, such orders are not compulsory and most residents are choosing not to go to shelters, possibly due to coronavirus fears. The death toll has climbed gradually as more victims are discovered in isolated areas.  Government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told reporters that 58 people had been confirmed dead, with a further four feared to have lost their lives. Suga said authorities were investigating whether four other deaths were linked to the floods, adding that 17 people were missing and a dozen injured. After five days blocked by floodwater and landslides, troops finally managed to rescue some 40 residents in the village of Ashikita in Kumamoto region.  Kinuyo Nakamura, 68, burst into tears of relief as she finally made it to an evacuation centre. “Gosh, it was scary. My house, it’s such a mess, I cannot live there anymore,” she said as she came across someone she knew at the shelter. “We have experienced flooding disasters in the past many times. But this one doesn’t compare. Rather than being afraid, I was just focused on escaping,” she told public broadcaster NHK.  Nakamura choked up as she explained that one of her neighbours had fallen victim to the floods. “A truly, truly, fantastic person,” she said, covering her face to hide the tears. “That was the hardest thing.” In many areas, landslides reduced houses to rubble and floodwater rushed into homes in low-lying areas, destroying the contents and rendering them uninhabitable. Japan has deployed at least 80,000 rescue workers to save lives with the aid of another 10,000 troops. The rains also lashed central Japan, with local official Ryoichi Miyamae telling AFP that nearly 4,000 people were cut off, mainly trapped in the cities of Gero and the tourist magnet of Takayama by the overflowing Hida River.  Complicating the rescue efforts, the coronavirus pandemic has claimed nearly 1,000 lives in Japan from more than 20,000 cases.  The need to maintain social distancing has reduced capacity at shelters and many have preferred to take refuge in their vehicles for fear of becoming infected.  One emergency worker said the coronavirus might be dissuading people from volunteering to help with the rescue efforts.  “A special characteristic of this disaster I felt was not people hesitating to evacuate, but people hesitating to offer help,” one doctor said, according to NHK. “In past disasters, by the fourth day, we would normally see relief efforts like people preparing meals. This time, I am yet to see anything like that.”  Regional authorities have asked potential volunteers from outside Kumamoto not to travel to the region, for fear of spreading the virus. Japan is in the middle of its annual rainy season and often sees damaging floods and landslides during this period that lasts several weeks. However, experts say climate change is intensifying the phenomenon because a warmer atmosphere holds more water to dump in the form of rain.

Japan will deploy more troops to search for survivors of devastating floods and landslides that have killed at least 52 people in the southwest of the country, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged yesterday.  Even as rescue operations continued, with 80,000 personnel already involved and more expected to join, authorities warned that more torrential rain was expected. Japan’s Meteorological Agency issued its second-highest emergency warning for heavy rain and landslides over vast swathes of the country’s southwest and said “risks are rising” nationwide. The heavy rain has caused rivers to burst their banks and sweep away bridges, while landslides have destroyed roads and buried houses, complicating access for rescuers battling to save lives.  At least 52 deaths have been confirmed in the rains that began Saturday across the worst-hit island of Kyushu, local officials said. But with around a dozen people still missing, there were fears the toll would rise further. Government spokesman Yoshihide Suga warned that rain was forecast to continue over the next two days.  “Even a small amount of rainfall could cause a disaster. I would like people to be on full alert against landslides and floods,” he said.  In the hardest-hit region of Kumamoto, on the southwest tip of Japan, disaster management official Yutaro Hamasaki said: “We are racing against time.” “We have not set any deadline or time to end the operation, but we really need to speed up our search as time is running out. We won’t give up til the end,” Hamasaki told AFP. Abe said he would double the number of troops deployed in rescue and relief operations to 20,000, as rescuers try to reach people trapped in homes and schools. In one school in Omuta city, dozens of children and their teachers spent a desperate night on the upper floor after the ground level flooded. “Shoe cupboards on the group floor were swept away and shoes were floating around,” an 11-year-old girl told a local newspaper after rescuers arrived.  “Some children were sobbing because they were worried about not being able to get home and were afraid of the heavy rain.”  Locals including Kentaro Oishi, who owns a rafting business in the hot springs resort of Hitoyoshi, were drafted in to help.  “I have 20 years of rafting experience, but I never dreamed” of rowing the boat through the city, he told AFP. “To tell you the truth, I was so scared at first when I saw the water levels rising so rapidly in the river.”  Fourteen of the dead were wheelchair-bound residents of a nursing home unable to escape to higher ground as the waters rose.  A rescue worker who searched the facility told NHK: “The ground floor was filled with water and we couldn’t get into it. Some people managed to evacuate to the first floor. I’ve never experienced anything like this in my life.”  Further complicating evacuation efforts was the fear of spreading the coronavirus.  Japan has been relatively lightly affected by the pandemic, with just under 20,000 cases and fewer than 1,000 deaths. But the need to maintain social distancing has reduced capacity at shelters, despite authorities issuing non-mandatory evacuation orders for 1.27mn people across Kyushu. In Yatsushiro city, authorities converted a local gymnasium into a shelter, with cardboard walls separating families to limit the spread of the virus.  According to local media, some people were sleeping in their cars rather than risk possible infection at a shelter. The disaster has also compounded problems for businesses already hard hit by the pandemic. “The damage was beyond our imagination. It’s literally a bolt from the blue,” said Yuji Hashimoto, who runs a tourism bureau in Yatsushiro. “Our hot spring resort was struggling to weather the impact of coronavirus. We don’t know what will happen to us next,” he told AFP. Japan is in the middle of its annual rainy season, which frequently unleashes deadly floods and landslides.  Climate change has intensified the risks of heavy rains, because a warmer atmosphere holds more water. In 2018, more than 200 people died in devastating floods in the same region of Japan.

Driving rain hampered the efforts of tens of thousands of rescue workers in southwestern Japan yesterday as they searched for survivors from deadly floods and landslides, with more torrential downpours forecast.   Around 50 people were feared dead after heavy rain lashed areas of western Japan beginning early Saturday, causing rivers to burst their banks and flood low-lying regions.  Bad weather was preventing some rescue efforts, local officials said, with at least 13 people still unaccounted for. “Because of the heavy rain, we were forced to cancel some emergency flights of helicopters over the disaster zone,” Tsubasa Miyamoto, an official from the Kumamoto region, told AFP.  Although the rain has eased from its peak, the floods washed away roads and bridges, leaving many in isolated communities cut off.  A local firefighter in the western region of Kagoshima told AFP they had deployed boats to rescue 11 people, but conditions were making it hard to reach others stranded.  “Calls came from people telling us that they wanted to flee their home but they could not do it on their own,” he said. “Some roads are submerged and you cannot drive through them.”  In one of the hardest-hit areas, residents wrote out the words “rice, water, SOS” on the ground, while others waved towels and called for rescue and relief goods. At a nursing home for the elderly, 14 people were feared dead when water from a nearby river inundated the ground floor, leaving those in wheelchairs unable to reach higher ground.  Emergency services, aided by locals in rafts, managed to rescue around 50 staff and residents from the facility, bringing them to safety by boat.  Heavy rain is expected to continue through today and the Japan Meteorological Agency issued a non-compulsory evacuation order for around half a million people in southwestern Japan. Up to 250mm of rain is expected in the 24-hour period through Tuesday morning in the southern part of Kyushu Island, which includes areas already hit hard by the flooding, the agency said.  “It’s such a mess,” resident Hirotoshi Nishi told public broadcaster NHK as he swept debris from his mud-strewn front room. “Many pieces of wood came into my house. I don’t know what to do.” Hirokazu Kosaki, a 75-year-old bus driver in the town of Ashikita, told Jiji press: “It was nothing but water as far as I could see.” Evacuation efforts are also being hampered by fears of spreading the coronavirus that has claimed almost 1,000 victims in Japan, with close to 20,000 cases. Partitions have been set up at evacuation centres to keep distance between families and evacuees are made to wash their hands frequently, sanitise and wear face masks. For some local business owners already battered by coronavirus, the natural disaster has compounded their problems. Yuji Hashimoto, who runs a tourism bureau in the hot-spring resort in Yatsushiro, one of the flood-hit cities in Kumamoto, told AFP that the “beautiful tourism spot dramatically changed overnight.”  “The damage was beyond our imagination. It’s literally a bolt from the blue... The disaster is a double-whammy as our hot spring resort was struggling to weather the impact of coronavirus. We don’t know what will happen to us next,” he said.  Government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told reporters that 19 people had been confirmed dead from the floods while a further six were in a state of “cardio-respiratory arrest” – a term often used in Japan before a doctor officially certifies death.  Suga said officials were investigating another 24 deaths to confirm a direct link to the floods. He said more than 40,000 personnel from police and fire departments, the coast guard and Self-Defense troops were conducting search and rescue operations throughout the night. Around 800 people had been rescued, Suga said, adding that 4,600 households were still without power and 7,000 without water. Japan is currently in the middle of its annual rainy season which frequently delivers deadly floods and landslides. Climate change is also playing a role because a warmer atmosphere holds more water, increasing the risk and intensity of flooding from extreme rainfall. In 2018, more than 200 people died in devastating floods in the same region of Japan.

Several hundred people gathered in Sydney yesterday as part of weekend-long protests in Australia’s large cities in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and increased focus of the mistreatment of indigenous peoples.  A month since the first Black Lives Matter rallies in Australia, the crowds were smaller amid health warnings about the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, with infections on the rise in the state of Victoria, home to the country’s second-largest city, Melbourne. Masks and hand sanitiser were given out and organisers pleaded with people to maintain social distance at the Sydney protest. An ancient Aboriginal smoking ceremony took place as families of those who have lost relatives while in police custody circled. On Saturday, protests took place in Brisbane, Darwin and Perth, also attracting smaller crowds. The heightened global awareness over the treatment of minorities as a result of the Black Lives Matter movement has come as the country conducts an inquiry into Rio Tinto’s distraction of two ancient and sacred Aboriginal caves in Western Australia. According to latest government data, the indigenous population represents just over 3% of Australia’s total population of about 25mn.

About 34 people are either confirmed or feared dead — including 14 at a nursing home — after torrential rain in Japan triggered massive floods and mudslides, authorities said yesterday.   Rescuers were searching for 14 others still missing after floods hit the Kumamoto region on the southwestern island of Kyushu, destroying houses, sweeping away vehicles and causing bridges to collapse.  The regional government confirmed 18 people had died, while another 16 were declared in a state of “cardio-respiratory arrest” - a term often used in Japan before a doctor officially certifies death.  Fourteen of those feared dead were at a nursing home inundated when local rivers broke their banks. Emergency services rescued 50 people from the facility. “Tables and sofas were floating around and you could not move,” an official, who helped lead rescue efforts at the home where his wheelchair-bound elderly mother was among the victims, told private TV network JNN.   Japan almost always suffers from flooding during its rainy season but rescue and evacuation efforts this year have been further complicated by the coronavirus outbreak. Authorities at emergency shelters made evacuees wash their hands, wear masks and maintain social distance to avoid the virus adding to the problems. “We will do our utmost to prevent the spread of the infection and make the lives of those who had to flee their home as comfortable as possible,” Disaster Management Minister Ryota Takeda told reporters after visiting a gymnasium in Hitoyoshi city where 600 residents are sheltering.  At a cabinet-level meeting in Tokyo on the disaster, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged financial support, while warning residents in Kumamoto to brace for more rain. “As we speak, more than 40,000 personnel from police, fire, coast guard and Self-Defence troops are conducting search and rescue operations which will continue through the night,” Abe said. “Saving lives is our priority.”  Heavy rain is expected in the region through Monday, Abe added.   “We must remain vigilant,” he said, warning residents to monitor news for further risks associated with flooding and landslides. Communities along the Kuma River, which passes through Hitoyoshi, have been hit hard by the floodwaters. Although the rain had eased in Kumamoto by Sunday morning, collapsed bridges and blocked roads due to flooding and mudslides have left many isolated in the region.  A large “SOS” sign was created on the grounds of what used to be an elementary school in Yatsushiro city, where about 10 people waved white towels at rescue and media helicopters. Rescue workers and troops from the Self-Defense Forces used boats and helicopters to reach those stranded. Television footage showed choppers winching people to safety from homes surrounded by muddy water. Although Japan has been relatively spared by the coronavirus compared to other major economies - with fewer than 20,000 cases and 1,000 deaths - local business owners said the flooding was an additional blow.  The manager of a tour bus company in Hitoyoshi feared that the rain had destroyed all 23 of his buses. “We were just saying that in this time of the coronavirus, we just have to hang in there and we were trying to cheer ourselves up to stay motivated,” he told public broadcaster NHK. “Then came this natural disaster. I just don’t know what to say,” he said, fighting back tears.  A young man trying to clean a mud-covered restaurant in Hitoyoshi told JNN: “After corona, we have this. This is too harsh.”

About 34 people are either confirmed or feared dead -- including 14 at a nursing home -- after torrential rain in Japan triggered massive floods and mudslides, authorities said on Sunday. Rescuers were searching for 14 others still missing after floods hit the Kumamoto region on the southwestern island of Kyushu, destroying houses, sweeping away vehicles and causing bridges to collapse. The regional government confirmed 18 people had died, while another 16 were declared in a state of "cardio-respiratory arrest" -- a term often used in Japan before a doctor officially certifies death. Fourteen of those feared dead were at a nursing home inundated when local rivers broke their banks. Emergency services rescued 50 people from the facility. "Tables and sofas were floating around and you could not move," an official, who helped lead rescue efforts at the home where his wheelchair-bound elderly mother was among the victims, told private TV network JNN. Japan almost always suffers from flooding during its rainy season but rescue and evacuation efforts this year have been further complicated by the coronavirus outbreak. Authorities at emergency shelters made evacuees wash their hands, wear masks and maintain social distance to avoid the virus adding to the problems. "We will do our utmost to prevent the spread of the infection and make the lives of those who had to flee their home as comfortable as possible," Disaster Management Minister Ryota Takeda told reporters after visiting a gymnasium in Hitoyoshi city where 600 residents are sheltering. At a cabinet-level meeting in Tokyo on the disaster, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged financial support, while warning residents in Kumamoto to brace for more rain. "As we speak, more than 40,000 personnel from police, fire, coast guard and Self-Defence troops are conducting search and rescue operations which will continue through the night," Abe said. "Saving lives is our priority." Heavy rain is expected in the region through Monday, Abe added. "We must remain vigilant," he said, warning residents to monitor news for further risks associated with flooding and landslides. Communities along the Kuma River, which passes through Hitoyoshi, have been hit hard by the floodwaters. Although the rain had eased in Kumamoto by Sunday morning, collapsed bridges and blocked roads due to flooding and mudslides have left many isolated in the region. A large "SOS" sign was created on the grounds of what used to be an elementary school in Yatsushiro city, where about 10 people waved white towels at rescue and media helicopters. Rescue workers and troops from the Self-Defense Forces used boats and helicopters to reach those stranded. Television footage showed choppers winching people to safety from homes surrounded by muddy water. Although Japan has been relatively spared by the coronavirus compared to other major economies -- with fewer than 20,000 cases and 1,000 deaths -- local business owners said the flooding was an additional blow. The manager of a tour bus company in Hitoyoshi feared that the rain had destroyed all 23 of his buses. "We were just saying that in this time of the coronavirus, we just have to hang in there and we were trying to cheer ourselves up to stay motivated," he told public broadcaster NHK. "Then came this natural disaster. I just don't know what to say," he said, fighting back tears. A young man trying to clean a mud-covered restaurant in Hitoyoshi told JNN: "After corona, we have this. This is too harsh."

At least 16 people are dead after torrential rain in Japan triggered massive floods and mudslides, local media said Sunday, as rescue workers sift through debris in search of a dozen missing. The floods in Kumamoto region on the southwestern island of Kyushu have destroyed houses, swept away vehicles and caused bridges to collapse, leaving many towns submerged and communities cut off. More than 200,000 people have been ordered to evacuate as authorities urge those in emergency shelters to wash their hands and maintain a social distance to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. "We will do our utmost to prevent the spread of the infection and make lives of those who had to flee their home as comfortable as possible," Disaster Management Minister Ryota Takeda told reporters after visiting a gymnasium in Hitoyoshi city where 600 residents are sheltering. In addition to the 16 dead, national broadcaster NHK said another 20 were in a state of "cardio-respiratory arrest", a term often used in Japan before a doctor officially certifies death. They include 14 residents of a nursing home which was flooded after a nearby river broke its banks on Saturday. Officials at the regional government and municipal offices, which have been directly affected by the disaster, could not immediately confirm the reported deaths. Communities along the Kuma River, which passes through Hitoyoshi, have been hit hard by the floodwaters. Although the rain had eased in Kumamoto by Sunday morning, collapsed bridges and blocked roads due to flooding and mudslides have left many isolated in the region. Rescue workers and troops from the Self-Defense Forces used boats and helicopters to reach them. More rain was expected Sunday evening. A large "SOS" sign was created on the grounds of what used to be an elementary school in Yatsushiro city, where about 10 people waved white towels at rescue and media helicopters.

Fourteen people were feared dead at a nursing home in western Japan yesterday as record rainfall triggered massive floods and landslides, forcing authorities to issue evacuation advisories for more than 200,000 residents. The victims were found “in cardio-respiratory arrest” at the facility for elderly people that was flooded after a nearby river broke its banks, governor Ikuo Kabashima from the western region of Kumamoto told reporters. Authorities in Japan often use that term before a doctor officially certifies death. “The Self-Defence Forces have launched rescue operations,” Kabashima said, adding that three others at the home were suffering from hypothermia. Some 60-70 people were in the home as water rushed in to the second floor yesterday morning, public broadcaster NHK said. Local officials separately said another person was also found in cardio-respiratory arrest in landslides in Kumamoto. They had previously said two were feared dead. Elsewhere in Kumamoto, one person was seriously injured and nine others were missing while about 100 people were stranded as roads were cut off by floods and landslides, NHK reported. The nation’s weather agency downgraded rain warnings by one notch from the highest emergency level in Kumamoto and nearby Kagoshima, but Prime Minister Shinzo Abe urged local people to be “on maximum alert”. Abe ordered 10,000 troops on stand-by for immediate deployment to join rescue and recovery operations, pledging the central government would “do its best to take emergency measures, prioritising people’s lives”. Television footage showed vehicles swamped at car parks near a flooding river, while several bridges were washed away. “I can’t evacuate as a road turned into a river. It’s so scary,” a female resident told NHK. Haruka Yamada, a 32-year-old local resident, told Kyodo News: “I saw large trees and parts of houses being washed away and heard them crashing into something. The air is filled with the smell of leaking gas and sewage.” Aerial footage showed a resident being lifted with a rope from a roof to a military helicopter as an entire town was awash with muddy water. A massive landslide destroyed several houses with rescuers searching for missing people through half-buried windows.  “We have issued evacuation orders after record heavy rain,” said Toshiaki Mizukami, another official for Kumamoto prefecture. “We strongly urge people to take action to protect their lives as it’s still raining quite heavily,” he said. Kyodo said more than 203,000 residents in Kumamoto and Kagoshima were advised to evacuate their homes. Some train services have been suspended in the region, while more than 8,000 households lost power. Japan is currently in its rainy season, which often causes floods and landslides and prompts local authorities to issue evacuation orders.

Fourteen people were feared dead at a nursing home in western Japan Saturday as record rainfall triggered massive floods and landslides, forcing authorities to issue evacuation advisories for more than 200,000 residents. The victims were found "in cardio-respiratory arrest" at the facility for elderly people that was flooded after a nearby river broke its banks, governor Ikuo Kabashima from the western region of Kumamoto told reporters. Authorities in Japan often use that term before a doctor officially certifies death. "The Self-Defence Forces have launched rescue operations," Kabashima said, adding that three others at the home were suffering from hypothermia. Some 60 to 70 people were in the home as water rushed in to the second floor Saturday morning, public broadcaster NHK said. Local officials separately said another person was also found in cardio-respiratory arrest in landslides in Kumamoto. They had previously said two were feared dead. Elsewhere in Kumamoto, one person was seriously injured and nine others were missing while about 100 people were stranded as roads were cut off by floods and landslides, NHK reported. The nation's weather agency downgraded rain warnings by one notch from the highest emergency level in Kumamoto and nearby Kagoshima, but Prime Minister Shinzo Abe urged local people to be "on maximum alert". Abe ordered 10,000 troops on stand-by for immediate deployment to join rescue and recovery operations, pledging the central government would "do its best to take emergency measures, prioritising people's lives". Television footage showed vehicles swamped at car parks near a flooding river, while several bridges were washed away. "I can't evacuate as a road turned into a river. It's so scary," a female resident told NHK. Haruka Yamada, a 32-year-old local resident, told Kyodo News: "I saw large trees and parts of houses being washed away and heard them crashing into something. The air is filled with the smell of leaking gas and sewage." Aerial footage showed a resident being lifted with a rope from a roof to a military helicopter as an entire town was awash with muddy water. A massive landslide destroyed several houses with rescuers searching for missing people through half-buried windows. "We have issued evacuation orders after record heavy rain," said Toshiaki Mizukami, another official for Kumamoto prefecture. "We strongly urge people to take action to protect their lives as it's still raining quite heavily," he told AFP. Kyodo said more than 203,000 residents in Kumamoto and Kagoshima were advised to evacuate their homes. Some train services have been suspended in the region, while more than 8,000 households lost power. Japan is currently in its rainy season, which often causes floods and landslides and prompts local authorities to issue evacuation orders.