International

The head of Japan's Olympic Committee said Tuesday he would step down in June, as French authorities probe his involvement in payments made before Tokyo was awarded the 2020 Summer Games. ‘On June 27, my term will expire,’ Tsunekazu Takeda said at a meeting of the Japan Olympic Committee (JOC) in Tokyo. ‘Considering the future of the JOC, I think the most appropriate thing is to leave things to a new leader from the next generation so that they can host the Olympics and carve a new era.’ The 71-year-old said he would also be stepping down from the International Olympic Committee. Takeda has come under pressure not to seek an additional term when his current mandate ends in June after it was revealed that French authorities believe they have evidence of corruption in the awarding of the 2020 Games to Tokyo. Current JOC rules require candidates for the top post to be 70 or younger at the time of their candidacy, but there had been rumours the committee was considering a change to allow Takeda to stay on through 2020. In recent months however, the investigation into Takeda has become an unwelcome distraction for organisers of the Games, with less than 500 days until the opening ceremony. A former Olympic showjumper who spearheaded Japan's bid to host the Games for a second time, Takeda initially appeared likely to try to keep his post until the flame was lit in Tokyo. In January, it was revealed that he was facing a judicial process in France over two payments totalling 2.8 million Singapore dollars (US$2.1 million at today's exchange rate). He has been placed ‘mis en examen’, a legal step that has no direct equivalent in the British or US legal systems and roughly translates as being charged. It does not automatically trigger a trial but means that prosecutors believe there is strong or corroborated evidence of wrongdoing.

* Annual wage hikes seen short of last year's 2.26 pct * Cautious Japan firms wary of committing to fixed costs * Work-style reform shifts focus away from pay hike -analyst * Tame wages keep lid on consumption; inflation goal elusive Big Japanese firms are set to offer smaller pay increases this year at annual wage talks on Wednesday as the economy sputters, tempering hopes that domestic consumption will offset external risks to growth. Over the past five years, major firms raised wages above 2 percent each spring as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe kept up the pressure on businesses to boost pay in an effort to beat deflation that has dogged Japan for nearly two decades. But as economic growth slows, firms have become wary about wage hikes because that commits them to higher fixed costs at a time of uncertainty as company profits are levelling off. "I worry the momentum towards wage hikes may weaken as underlying inflation remains weak and there is a strong sense of uncertainty," said Hisashi Yamada, senior economist at Japan Research Institute. "Uncertainty is high on the external outlook such as the U.S.-China trade war and Europe's unstable politics. On top of that, a national sales tax is scheduled to increase in October." A slowdown in the global economy, the Sino-U.S. trade war and trepidation over the final shape of a deal to seal Britain's exit from the European Union have sharply increased strains on businesses worldwide. Faced with the heightened uncertainty about the growth outlook, cautious Japanese firms usually prefer to offer one-off bonuses and other benefits depending on annual profits. They tend to focus more on the annual total sum payment than fixed base salaries, which will determine retirement payment and pension benefits. Results of the "shunto" talks between management and unions - announced by blue chips in industries like cars and electronics - set the tone for wage hikes across the nation, which will affect strength of consumer spending and inflation. A Reuters Corporate Survey last month found a slim majority - 51 percent of firms polled - saw wages rising around 1.5-2 percent this year, versus last year's 2.26 percent average across all Japanese industries. Some analysts expect wage growth to slow further from the 17-year peak of 2.38 seen in 2015 to around 2.15 percent this year, despite hefty cash piles at Japanese corporations. The bulk of wage hikes - about 1.8 percent - comes automatically under Japan's seniority-based employment system. Anything beyond that is a hike in "base pay." This year, bellwether Toyota Motor Corp is set to refrain from announcing a specific base pay hike, ditching its role as trend-setter in a sign of growing pressure on businesses. In the coming fiscal year from April 1, Abe's government will start to implement work-style reform to curb Japan's notoriously long work hours. The reform also includes "equal pay for equal work" aimed at narrowing the pay gap between full-time employees and contract workers or part-timers, and raising the retirement age to cope with the ageing population. The move has shifted focus away from pay hikes with both unions and management, dashing policymakers' hopes of stoking a virtuous cycle of a tight job market boosting wages to stimulate consumption and spur inflation to the BOJ's 2 percent target. Japan's unions tend not to be so aggressive in pressing their demands as those in the West because they attach greater importance to job security and retain a sense of company loyalty. The dwindling union membership has deprived unionists of bargaining powers, with companies hiring more non-unionised part-timers and nonregular employees, who represent nearly 40 percent of workers. "At this year's shunto, both companies and unions don't seem to put greater emphasis on wage hikes than before," said Kiichi Murashima, economist at Citigroup Global Markets Japan. "Instead, they are considering a wider range of issues like pay disparity, labour productivity and work-life balance." 

With flowers, silent prayers and tearful tributes, Japan Monday marked the eighth anniversary of a crippling earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster that devastated its northeastern coast and left some 18,500 people dead or missing. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, lawmakers and family members who lost their loved ones in the disaster bowed their heads in prayer at a ceremony in Tokyo at 2:46 pm (0546 GMT) -- the exact moment the magnitude-9.0 quake struck. "We can't help but feel sorrow when we think about the suffering of those who lost beloved family members, relatives and friends," Abe said. Eight years on, he said reconstruction was making "steady" progress but vowed to continue government support to tens of thousands still struggling in uncomfortable living conditions. In a constant drizzle, residents in tsunami-hit coastal towns also laid bouquets and bowed their heads as they remembered the moment the waves hit, devastating entire communities in an instant. Japan's ageing Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko did not attend the ceremony this year, but were represented by their second son Prince Akishino and his wife Princess Kiko. In addition to causing widespread death and destruction, the killer tsunami also swamped the emergency power supply at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant. This sent its reactors into meltdown as cooling systems failed, sparking the worst global nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986. According to the National Police Agency, some 18,430 people died or were missing as a result of the earthquake and tsunami. In addition, more than 3,700 people -- most of them from Fukushima -- died from illness or suicide linked to the aftermath of the tragedy, according to government data, while more than 51,000 still remain displaced. Although no-one is officially recorded as having died as a result of radiation from the accident, dozens of reactors across Japan were switched off in the aftermath. The government has lifted evacuation orders for much of the region affected by the meltdown, except for some no-go zones with high radiation levels. Authorities are encouraging evacuees to return, but the population in the Fukushima prefecture has more than halved from some two million in the pre-disaster period. In 97.3 percent of the region "it is possible to lead a normal life", said reconstruction minister Hiromichi Watanabe -- a claim disputed by NGOs such as Greenpeace. Around 12,000 people who fled their homes for fear of radiation have filed dozens of lawsuits against the government and the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the operator of the stricken nuclear plant. Roughly one in two Japanese voters think the reconstruction of the disaster-hit area "is not making progress" despite the rebuilding of infrastructure such as railways and houses for people who lost their homes in the disaster. According to the poll, 72.9 percent of voters think the Japanese government should halt its policy of exporting nuclear technology, compared to 14.7 percent who support the policy. kh/ric/fox

* Would be Ghosn's first meeting with colleagues since arrest * Ghosn removed from automaker chairmanship; remains director * Ghosn denies charges of misconduct  A Tokyo court rejected ousted Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn's request to attend a board meeting this week, broadcaster NHK reported, denying him a seat at the table even as the car maker looks set to bolster an alliance he built over two decades. Ghosn, released last week on a $9 million bail after more than 100 days in detention, had applied to the Tokyo District Court for permission to attend Tuesday's board meeting, as per bail conditions, his lawyer Junichiro Hironaka told reporters. But the Tokyo District Court denied the request on Monday, NHK said, stopping what would have been a dramatic face off between Ghosn and the colleagues he has accused of fomenting a coup. Further details of the denial were not available. Hironaka is expected to hold another briefing for reporters later in the day. Ghosn faces charges of under-reporting his salary at Nissan by about $82 million over nearly a decade - charges he has called "meritless". The report of the court's decision came as French automaker Renault SA, Nissan's top shareholder, confirmed it was in talks with Nissan Motor and Mitsubishi Motors about setting up a new alliance body to improve their collaboration. Ghosn's dramatic arrest in November has caused concerns about the future of the three-way alliance, the world's largest maker of automobiles excluding heavy trucks. "The proposed arrangement will have no impact on the existence of the (alliance agreement) and the cross-shareholding structure, which will both remain in place," Renault said. Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi plan to set up a joint board meeting structure under which Renault's new chairman, Jean-Dominique Senard, is likely to take the chair, people with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. That would replace Dutch-based companies currently linking Nissan and Renault and, separately, Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors, the people said. The heads of the partners will hold a press briefing at Nissan's Yokohama headquarters on Tuesday, Nissan said. Some at Nissan had been unhappy with Ghosn's push for a deeper tie-up, including possibly a full merger. One of the world's best-known auto executives, Ghosn was sacked as chairman of Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi, and resigned as chief executive of Renault after his arrest. However, he remains on the boards of all three, given a shareholder vote is required to remove a board member. If his request to attend the board meeting had been approved, he would have been expected to dial into the meeting via teleconference, given the conditions of his bail, according to a person familiar with Nissan's thinking.

A Japanese woman who still enjoys studying maths and playing the board game Othello is the world's oldest living person at the age of 116 years and 66 days, Guinness World Records says. Kana Tanaka was on Saturday presented with a certificate of her title at the nursing home where she now lives in the south-western city of Fukuoka, according to the publisher, which produces an annual book of world records and curiosities. She was surrounded by her family, and the local mayor also attended the event, it said. The title passed to her after another Japanese woman, Chiyo Miyako, died on July 22, 2018 at the age of 117. Tanaka was born on January 2, 1903, the seventh of eight children. She married Hideo Tanaka on January 6, 1922 and had four children, as well as another girl she adopted from her sister. She still gets up at 6am every day, according to Guinness, and stays up until 9pm.

Toyota is teaming up with Japan's space agency on a planned mission to the Moon, with the Japanese auto giant expected to develop a lunar rover, officials and local media said Wednesday. It will be the car manufacturer's first full-fledged entry into space exploration, after the company jointly developed a small robot sent to the International Space Station. ‘We are planning to cooperate with Toyota in an exploration mission to the Moon,’ said a spokesman with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Details will be announced by JAXA and Toyota Tuesday next week when the space agency hosts a symposium in Tokyo, the spokesman told AFP. Toyota also confirmed plans to announce a joint project with JAXA ‘on mobility and a space probe’ but declined to comment further. Jiji Press news agency said the car giant is expected to jointly develop a ‘mobility method’ to be used on the lunar surface for the mission. The mission is part of renewed global interest in the Moon, sometimes called the ‘eighth continent’ of the Earth, and comes 50 years after American astronauts first walked on the lunar surface. Before humans set foot on the lunar surface again, NASA aims to land an unmanned vehicle on the Moon by 2024. So far, only Russia, the United States and China have made the 384,000-kilometre (239,000-mile) journey and landed spacecraft on the Moon. Last month, Israel launched a spacecraft that aims to join them. In 2017, Japan revealed plans to put an astronaut on the Moon around 2030.

* Court rejects appeal, Ghosn could leave prison on Wednesday * Bail granted as Ghosn prepared for additional surveillance * Ghosn awaits trial on deferred pay, breach of trust charges  A Japanese court on Tuesday rejected the latest attempt by prosecutors to keep former Nissan Motor Chairman Carlos Ghosn in prison, ruling that the once-feted executive could be released on $8.9 million bail after more than 100 days in detention. The Tokyo District Court, which had earlier granted Ghosn bail, said late on Tuesday it had rejected an appeal by prosecutors who had sought to keep him in prison pending his trial for financial misconduct. The decision marks a victory for Ghosn's legal team on his third bail request. He is likely to leave the detention centre in Tokyo,where has spent the last three months, as early as Wednesday. The court accepted defence lawyers' assurances that Ghosn would submit to extensive surveillance. The release would allow Ghosn - the architect of Nissan's automaking partnership with France's Renault and one of the global auto industry's most celebrated executives - to meet his lawyers frequently and build a defence ahead of his trial. He faces charges of aggravated breach of trust and under-reporting his compensation to the tune of $82 million at Nissan for nearly a decade. If convicted on all the charges, he faces up to a decade in jail. The ex-chairman of Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi Motors has denied wrongdoing. Nissan has declined to comment on the bail decision, which comes a day after the head of Ghosn's new legal team said he was optimistic the executive would be released with a promise to submit to surveillance. The case has cast a harsh light globally on Japan's criminal justice system, which allows suspects to be detained for long periods and prohibits defence lawyers from being present during interrogations that can last eight hours a day. Public opinion likely played a role in the court's decision to grant bail, along with assurances from Ghosn's lawyers that he was prepared to be under any restraint, said Shin Ushijima, a former prosecutor and lawyer. "The court was partly influenced by the opinion of the entire world," Ushijima said. "People in general thought (the detention period) is too long. This will change Japan's criminal procedures."

Japan has given the green light to a controversial research process involving implanting animals with human stem cells that could eventually help grow human organs for transplant inside animal hosts. The decision by the education and science ministry Friday to revise its guidelines means Japanese researchers can now apply for permits to carry out studies employing the technique, a ministry official told AFP. The process involves implanting embryonic animals, likely first pigs, with human ‘induced pluripotent stem’ (iPS) cells, which can transform into the building blocks of any part of the body. The idea is for the iPS cells to grow into transplantable human organs inside the animal embryos. Japan had previously required researchers to terminate animal embryos implanted with human cells after 14 days ‘due to ethical concerns over the vague line between human beings and animals,’ the official said. The old regulations also prevented researchers from placing the embryos into animal wombs to allow them to develop. But the ministry has dropped both restrictions ‘as we have concluded that there is technically zero risk of producing a new organism mixing human and animal elements under the research,’ the official added. Researchers will now, for instance, be allowed to create animal embryos with a human pancreas and transplant it into the womb of a pig, which could in theory result in the birth of a baby pig with a human pancreas. In practice, where similar research has been carried elsewhere, the embryos have been terminated before delivery, avoiding the thorny moral issues raised by creating creatures that contain both human and animal cells. Research involving the hybrids sometimes called ‘chimeras’ -- after the monster in Greek mythology with a lion's head, goat's body and dragon's tail -- has been controversial elsewhere too. Ethical questions have been raised about the status of animals containing human cells, and whether human iPS cells implanted into animals could develop into brain matter or reproductive organs. But a shortage of transplantable human organs means researchers around the world are racing to create mixed human-animal embryos.

Voters on the Japanese island of Okinawa have rejected the relocation of a controversial US military base, according to official results from a non-binding referendum yesterday.  With 99% of ballots counted, some 72% had voted against the move with 19% in favour, according to the local government. Opponents of the relocation — some 434,000 — had turned out in sufficient numbers to meet the threshold required for Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki to “respect” the result of the symbolic referendum, it said.  For this to happen, one quarter of the eligible electorate – or around 290,000 people – had to vote for one of the three options: for or against relocation or a third choice of “neither.” In any case, the vote is non-binding on the central government and turnout was just above 50%, raising questions about what effect the referendum will have.  The government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has vowed to press on with moving the base and the relocation is also backed by Washington.  The relocation of the Futenma base to Nago, 50km away, was first agreed in 1996 as the US sought to calm local anger after US servicemen gang raped a local schoolgirl. But the plan has long been stalled in part over local opposition.  The ballot asked residents whether they supported a plan to reclaim land at a remote coastal site for the relocation of Futenma from its current location in a heavily populated part of Okinawa. It was initially planned as a yes-no vote, but a “neither” option was added after several cities with close ties to the central government threatened to boycott the vote. Polls opened early yesterday morning, with about 1.15mn Okinawans eligible to vote.  Speaking after casting her ballot at a local school, voter Yuki Miyagaki said: “They are using a lot of tax money and manpower for this referendum, even though the result will not have any legal power. So we thought that we should take this opportunity and think very carefully about this issue.”  “We usually shout no to the new base construction. This is a good opportunity to tell the government directly with concrete numbers: ‘No’. This is an important vote,” 32-year-old Narumi Haine told AFP. “The referendum has underlined once again Okinawa’s strong opposition to the relocation,” Yoshinobu Yamamoto, professor of politics at the University of Niigata prefecture, told AFP. “The result could be a negotiating card for the governor, but it’s unlikely to have an immediate impact,” he added. “The dispute is far from its resolution.”

Japan's Emperor Akihito, who will abdicate at the end of April in the first such event in two centuries, marked the 30th anniversary of his enthronement on Sunday with a call for the country to open up and forge sincere ties with the world. The 85-year-old monarch, who became a symbol of peace and reconciliation after the death of his father Hirohito, in whose name Japan fought World War Two, also stressed the desire of his fellow Japanese for peace. "I think that our island country...is being asked now to open up further to the outside in a globalised world, to establish its own position with wisdom and to build relations with other countries with sincerity," Akihito said. He will step down on April 30, to be succeeded the next day by Crown Prince Naruhito, 59. Sunday's ceremony was attended by Empress Michiko, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and other dignitaries. Japan's ties with neighbouring China and the two Koreas have long been plagued by the bitter wartime legacy and Tokyo's 1910-1945 colonisation of the Korean peninsula. Relations with Seoul, in particular, have been chilled by feuds over wartime memories and military squabbling. The emperor, whose father was once considered a living god, is defined by the post-war constitution as a symbol of unity, without political power, but is widely respected. Akihito, who has often spoken of the need to remember the horrors of war, recalled that after his father's death in 1989, Michiko wrote a traditional poem about peace that said, "The country is filled with the words of all the people hoping to build an era of peace together." Akihito added, "But even now, we cherish in our hearts the quiet but resolute words that came to us from throughout the land, saying, 'We will build a peaceful Japan together with the Imperial Household.'" Some experts see Akihito's legacy under threat from Abe's conservative agenda, as the wartime generation dies out. Abe recalled Akihito's visits to battle sites to pray for peace, and overseas trips and visits to disaster-stricken regions. "While engraving in our hearts the path walked by the emperor, in the midst of a turbulent international situation, we are resolved to create a proud future for Japan that is bright and filled with hope," he said. Crown Prince Naruhito has made clear that he intends to follow in his father's footsteps. Sunday's ceremony featured a song the imperial couple composed after a 1975 visit to the southern island of Okinawa, ravaged during the war, and which has a special place in their hearts. Akihito hinted in a 2016 television address that he wanted to step down because of worries about his age. On Sunday, reading his remarks, Akihito appeared to get the pages out of order; Michiko reached over to help him. 

A 5.5-magnitude earthquake jolted Japan's northern island of Hokkaido Thursday but there was no tsunami warning and no immediate reports of injuries or damage, authorities said. The quake struck at 9:22 pm local time (1222 GMT) at a depth of 41 kilometres (25 miles), according to the US Geological Survey. The epicentre was around 55 km (35 miles) southeast of the city of Sapporo, the USGS added. The Japanese meteorological agency confirmed there was no tsunami risk following the jolt. ‘The government is doing its best to grasp the situation, but so far there has been no report of major damage,’ Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters in Tokyo in the immediate aftermath. No abnormality was detected at nuclear plants in the region, Suga said, adding that the government was prepared to mount rescue operations if required. Shinkansen bullet train services were temporarily suspended in Hokkaido but no major blackout was reported. Footage from public broadcaster NHK showed lights flickering on and off in a town close to the epicentre. In September last year, a powerful 6.6-magnitude quake in rocked Hokkaido, triggering landslides, collapsing houses and killing more than 40. Japan sits at the junction of four tectonic plates and experiences a number of relatively violent quakes every year. But rigid building codes and strict enforcement mean even strong tremors often do little damage.

A team of Japanese researchers will carry out an unprecedented trial using a kind of stem cell to try to treat debilitating spinal cord injuries, the specialists said on Monday. The team at Tokyo's Keio University has received government approval for a trial using so-called induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) cells -- which have the potential to develop into any cell in the body -- to treat patients with serious spinal cord injuries. The trial, expected to begin later this year, will initially focus on four patients who suffered their injuries just 14 to 28 days beforehand, the university said. The team will transplant two million iPS cells into the spines of the patients, who will then go through rehabilitation and be monitored for a year. The strict limitations on the number of participants is necessary because the process is an "unprecedented, world first clinical trial", the university added. "It's been 20 years since I started researching cell treatment. Finally we can start a clinical trial," Hideyuki Okano, a professor of physiology, said at a press conference. "We want to do our best to establish safety and provide the treatment to patients," he added. The study will be carried out on patients aged 18 or older who have completely lost their motor and sensory functions. There are more than 100,000 patients in Japan who are paralysed due to spinal cord injuries but there is no effective treatment. The primary purpose of the trial is to confirm the safety of the transplanted cells and the method of the transplant, the researchers said. The research team hopes to test the efficacy and safety of the treatment for chronic injuries as well in the future if they can confirm the safety of the technique through the clinical trial. The announcement comes after researchers in Kyoto said in November they had transplanted iPS cells into the brain of a patient in a bid to cure Parkinson's disease. The man was stable after the operation and he will be monitored for two years. The researchers injected 2.4 million iPS cells into the left side of the patient's brain in an operation that took about three hours. Parkinson's disease is a chronic, degenerative neurological disorder that affects the body's motor system, often causing shaking and other difficulties in movement. iPS cells are created by stimulating mature, already specialised, cells back into a juvenile state -- basically cloning without the need for an embryo. The cells can be transformed into a range of different types of cells, and their use is a key sector of medical research.

The 2020 Olympics can ‘usher in a new Tokyo’ and, along with this year's Rugby World Cup, leave behind a legacy similar to that of the 1964 Summer Games, the city's Governor Yuriko Koike said on Monday. ‘These two major events will serve as a springboard to transform our city,’ said Koike. ‘This year, 2019, will be key in making those Games a success and ushering in a new Tokyo. ‘But the metric for success will not be limited to just the competition itself; we want to lead Japan beyond 2020, change the way Tokyo thinks and transform our society.’ The last time Tokyo hosted the Olympics in 1964, the Games provided the city with the opportunity for a rebranding, shaking off a war-ravaged reputation and showing a modern face to the world. A building boom transformed Tokyo prior to those Games, the high-speed Shinkansen train began to run, and a growing middle class snapped up refrigerators and other appliances, including televisions to watch the Games. This time, the legacy may be more of an intangible nature. ‘The previous Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games in 1964 left a legacy of urban infrastructure, like the Tokyo Metropolitan Expressway and the Shinkansen bullet train network,’ said Koike, a former defence and environment minister. ‘I intend for the Tokyo 2020 Games to leave a more intangible legacy. I also intend for the 2020 Games to leave a cultural legacy and for the Games themselves to be a celebration of culture.’ Koike is focusing on making Tokyo more diverse and has also pushed for a swathe of environmental programs in order to rebrand the city as a leader in the fight against climate change. She also sees the Paralympics as a chance to make Tokyo, notoriously difficult to navigate for citizens and visitors with disabilities, more accessible. ‘I believe that the Paralympics, in particular, will be a key event that determines the success of the Tokyo 2020 Games,’ said Koike. ‘This will be the first time that a city has hosted it's second summer Paralympics and as the city with that honour, Tokyo aims to lead the country in strengthening barrier-free standards in lodging facilities.’ One of the recent regulations implemented by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government is the 'Open Stay Tokyo' project, which looks to increase the width of doors and corridors within hotels to accommodate wheelchair uses. The Tokyo Olympics open on July 24 next year.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe nominated US President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize last autumn after being requested to do so by Washington, a Japanese newspaper reported Sunday. Washington sounded out Tokyo over the possibility of nominating Trump for the prize after his landmark summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un in June last year, an unnamed Japanese government source told the Asahi Shimbun. The report came after Trump's claim on Friday that Abe had nominated him for the prize. Trump said Abe had sent him a copy of a five-page nomination letter delivered to the Nobel Peace Prize committee in which the Japanese leader praised his efforts in defusing tensions with Pyongyang. ‘He said 'I have nominated you respectfully on behalf of Japan. I am asking them to give you the Nobel Peace Prize.' I said thank you,’ Trump told reporters at the White House. ‘Many other people feel that way, too. I'll probably never get it. That's okay.’ Japanese officials did not respond to AFP's requests for comment on Trump's claim or the newspaper report.

Environmental campaigners have filed an unprecedented lawsuit in a bid to halt the so-called “drive hunting” of dolphins in Japan, arguing the practice is cruel and illegal. In drive hunting, fishermen force dolphins into a cove by beating on boats to disorient them. The panicked animals often get tangled in nets, suffocate and drown.  Activists say some dolphins smash into rocks and die of injuries, while others are killed by fishermen who thrust a long metal rod repeatedly into the body just behind the blowhole to damage the spinal cord. In the suit filed last week, the plaintiffs are demanding the governor of western Wakayama prefecture revoke a three-year drive hunting permit in the port town of Taiji.   The practice was filmed in the 2009 Oscar-winning documentary The Cove, which sparked controversy when it thrust the annual hunt into the global spotlight.  Many in Japan felt it unfairly targeted the town’s fishing community, but others were horrified by the disturbing footage.  The lawsuit is the first-ever legal challenge to the hunt in Taiji, according to a lawyer involved in the filing. It argues that the hunting method violates Japan’s animal welfare act, which stipulates animals shall not be abused or killed unnecessarily and that — when they must be killed —  their pain must be minimised. “Many Japanese see dolphins as fish and mistakenly believe the animal welfare act does not apply to them,” said Ren Yabuki, head of an environmental NGO, who brought the action along with a Taiji resident who asked for anonymity. “I’ve seen many times that half-killed dolphins are taken away on small boats, thrashing about in pain,” Yabuki said, adding it can take dozens of minutes for the animals to die.   The suit challenges the way the hunt is carried out, rather then all kinds of dolphin hunting. It also claims fishermen are catching more dolphins than allowed by legal caps.  No immediate comment was available from Wakayama officials on the lawsuit. Dolphins are traditionally caught for meat in Japan, and defenders of the hunt say it is an important part of local culture and point out that dolphins are not endangered.  Nowadays, an increasing number of dolphins are being trapped and sold live for aquariums rather than killed, as demand rises from China or elsewhere, Yabuki said.  Japan has strongly defended its hunting of dolphins and whales, a rare piece of provocative diplomacy for the country, which has generally pursued an uncontroversial foreign policy since its World War II defeat.  It sparked outrage in December when it decided to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission, saying it would return to commercial whaling as part of its cultural heritage.

A Japanese cultivator of bonsai trees appealed yesterday for the thieves who made off with his expensive potted plants to take good care of them. Seiji Iimura, a fifth-generation bonsai cultivator who runs a garden in Kawaguchi, north of Tokyo, said the seven tiny trees stolen from his garden were his “family treasure”. “It’s something I would never sell even if I got 10mn yen ($90,000),” he said. “Of course I hate the thief who stole them, but I want to tell him or her: please pour water on them and please take care of them,” Iimura said. “I would feel sad if they die.” Iimura reported to police last month that seven bonsai trees, worth more than 7mn yen in total – including a 400-year-old gnarled juniper – had been stolen from his garden. His wife Fuyumi wrote in a recent Facebook entry that the couple had raised the bonsai trees “like our children”. “I am filled with sadness and heartache,” she wrote. Iimura keeps some 3,000 miniature trees on display at the 5,000sq m (6,000sq yard) garden so that visitors can appreciate bonsai art. Since the theft he has installed security cameras. “You know, bonsai is nature in miniature. Looking at a bonsai tree is like walking into a deep mountain while staying at home,” Iimura said. Bonsai is an Asian art form of sculpting small trees. Bonsai trees often appear as if shaped by wind or the weight of snow. Sculpting them requires a delicate technique of chiselling branches to twist and pull them into shape, all the while battling to keep the tree alive. Exported Japanese bonsai trees have become a hit overseas. In 2018, Japan exported about 12bn yen worth of trees, bonsai and potted flowers, up from 4.5bn yen about a decade ago, according to data published by the agriculture ministry.

The Japanese government has ordered a veteran freelance journalist to surrender his passport to prevent him from going on a reporting trip to Yemen. The decision came amid debate in Japan about whether journalists should be prevented from going to war zones after the capture and release of a Japanese reporter in Syria last year. Kosuke Tsuneoka, 49, told local media that immigration officers stopped him at Tokyo's Haneda airport on February 2, citing an order for him to surrender his passport. Foreign Minister Taro Kono said Tuesday the government issued the order to ‘a male Japanese national’ at Haneda airport. When asked whether the action violated Tsuneoka's right to travel, Kono said the journalist had the right to legal recourse. ‘I wish to express my utmost respect to journalists who are reporting in dangerous places,’ Kono said, while declining to disclose other details. The rare step came amid mixed views in Japan over people taking risks with their safety after shock killings and kidnappings of journalists and other Japanese nationals in Middle East. Tsuneoka was not available for immediate comment but has discussed his ordeal with Japanese media. He said he planned to cover humanitarian and relief programmes in Yemen, where rebels have been mired in a war with government forces backed since 2015 by a Saudi-led coalition. Tsuneoka attempted to visit the war-torn nation in January, but was stopped in Oman and deported, according to Japanese media. The latest decision came after the release in October of another freelance journalist, Jumpei Yasuda, who was held in Syria for more than three years. In 2015, Tokyo also confiscated the passport of photographer Yuichi Sugimoto, who planned to travel to Syria. That decision followed the execution of two Japanese citizens -- war correspondent Kenji Goto and his acquaintance Haruna Yukawa -- by Islamist extremists in Syria. Sugimoto later received a new passport, which specifically barred him from travel to Syria and Iraq.

Japan’s prime minister vowed yesterday to “break the shell of mutual distrust” with North Korea by meeting leader Kim Jong-un face-to-face and restoring diplomatic relations between the two historic foes. In a major policy speech to mark the opening of parliament, Shinzo Abe also vowed to push Sino-Japan ties “to a new stage” and pledged a record budget to improve crumbling infrastructure in the world’s third-biggest economy.  “I will act resolutely, never failing to seize every opportunity to break the shell of mutual distrust, and I myself will directly face Chairman Kim Jong-un ... to resolve North Korea’s nuclear and missile issues, as well as the abductions issue,” Abe said.  Abe gave no time frame for a potential meeting with the North Korean leader but the comments came as Kim has ordered preparation for a second summit with US President Donald Trump, likely towards the end of next month.  “I will aim at diplomatic normalisation by settling the unfortunate past,” Abe said, using a Japanese diplomatic euphemism referring to harm caused by Japan during its brutal colonisation of the Korean peninsula before and during World War II.  The conciliatory message contrasted sharply from a year ago, when Abe used the same parliamentary address to set out a hardline approach, pledging to “compel North Korea to change its policies” and describing Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programmes as an “unprecedentedly grave and urgent threat”.  Abe has long sought to resolve an emotional row related to North Korean agents’ abduction of Japanese nationals during the Cold War era to train Pyongyang’s spies. Pyongyang released what it said were the five survivors in 2002, and said eight others it admitted kidnapping had all died.  North Korean authorities have given no public indication of any willingness to meet Abe, while Pyongyang’s state media regularly excoriate Japan over its past history and Abe for ramping up defence spending.  A commentary by the official KCNA news agency earlier this month called Japan a “heinous criminal state against humanity” and an “immoral and impudent country”. On China, Abe said ties had “completely returned to a normal path” after he visited President Xi Jinping in Beijing last year. Xi is expected to make his first official visit to Japan in 2019.  “I will strongly pursue diplomacy with neighbours for a new era ... in order to make northeast Asia truly a land of stable peace and prosperity,” he said.  Bilateral ties were harmed in 2012 when Tokyo “nationalised” disputed islands in the East China Sea also claimed by Beijing. Until recently, neither nation had made much effort to repair relations.  But Japan’s business community has long urged Abe to improve ties with China, Tokyo’s largest trade partner as well as the biggest source of foreign tourists, who are collectively becoming a key driver of the country’s chronically fragile economy.  Tokyo believes a successful Xi visit is key to a productive G20, which Japan hosts this year, and hopes the Chinese leader will attend the 2020 Olympic Games.

Nine Japanese companies, including drugmakers and a newspaper, have received blackmail letters containing white powder suspected to be cyanide, police and local media said Sunday. The letters were sent under the names of executed members of the Aum Shinrikyo -- the Japanese doomsday cult behind the deadly 1995 sarin gas attack in Tokyo -- and demanded 35 million won ($31,000) in bitcoins, a police spokesman told AFP. "Major pharmaceutical and other companies... received envelopes with threatening letters and a powdery substance" suspected to be cyanide, he said, without identifying the companies. "I will make fake medicine containing potassium cyanide and distribute it," the letter said, according to the spokesman, and warned "a tragedy will happen" if the money was not transferred by February 22. Local media said the names on the letters -- which were received on Friday -- included Shoko Asahara, the charismatic leader of the sect who was executed with 12 of his one-time followers in July last year. The white powdery substance was later confirmed to be cyanide, the Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported, adding that an similar envelope was also sent to the Tokyo headquarters of the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper. Similar threatening letters were sent to some pharmaceutical companies in Osaka in January last year, Jiji Press reported.

Visitors pouring into Japan's Haneda airport for the Tokyo Olympics next year may find themselves ferried to and from planes on driverless buses, currently being tested at the major hub. Six Japanese firms, including national carrier ANA, jointly started a 10-day experiment with a self-driving prototype minibus last week. On Tuesday, officials allowed a sneak peak at the automated transportation, which is being tested with a safety driver in the front seat. The ‘driver’ sat with his white-gloved hands hovering above the wheel, ready to take control if need be, but otherwise allowing the bus to wend the route on its own. ‘Our hope is to be able to offer users autonomous buses by the Tokyo 2020 Olympics,’ said ANA project chief Tadakatsu Yamaguchi. The vehicle holds a maximum of 10 people and cruises along a route connecting two terminals at a speed of up to 30 kilometres (19 miles) per hour using GPS and magnetic markers on the road. Project officials did not immediately detail the cost of the system or how many people they expect to eventually transport with the buses. Japan is hoping the 2020 Games will be a chance to showcase cutting edge tech projects in the country, but autonomous transport is also an important sector for a nation suffering labour shortages and a shrinking, ageing population. ‘The decline in the population puts us at risk of no longer being able to carry out operations and that is why we are now pushing to introduce new autonomous mobility technologies so we can guarantee good operations with less staff,’ said Yamaguchi.