月: 2024年1月

1. Japan marks the 29th anniversary of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake on Wednesday that devastated the western Japanese city of Kobe and surrounding regions. The 1995 disaster left 6,434 people dead. At a park in Kobe’s Chuo Ward, residents arranged lanterns to form “1.17” to represent the date of the disaster, and “Tomoni,” the Japanese word meaning “together.”
2. The death toll from the New Year’s Day earthquake on the Noto Peninsula in central Japan has risen to 232. As survivors try to return to normal, some are finding it may be harder than they expected. Fishermen in Wajima City in Ishikawa Prefecture are finally seeing the scope of the damage. The quake caused 200 meters of coastline to lift.
3. Japan’s major shipping companies are suspending routes that pass through the Red Sea for all of their vessels. NYK Line, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and Kawasaki Kisen cite safety concerns amid heightened tensions in the region. Houthi rebels in Yemen have been attacking vessels in the Red Sea. The US government announced last week that US and British forces had struck rebel bases in retaliation.

1. Former US President Donald Trump has won the Iowa caucuses. This is the first vote in the nationwide contest to choose the Republican Party’s candidate for this year’s presidential election. In the US presidential election, the Democratic and Republican parties hold caucuses and primaries in states across the country to select their presidential candidates for the November vote.
2. Cold weather is making a difficult situation even worse for survivors of the deadly New Year’s earthquake in central Japan. At least 222 people have been confirmed dead and thousands more still haven’t returned to their homes as temperatures dip below freezing. Snow clouds have covered much of the Noto Peninsula.
3. The US military in Japan will begin to deliver relief supplies to quake-hit areas in central Japan’s Noto Peninsula as early as Wednesday at the request of the Japanese Defense Ministry. Defense Minister Kihara Minoru told reporters on Tuesday that Japan’s Self Defense Forces have now shifted their main tasks from sending relief supplies to focusing on moving evacuees out of affected areas.

1. Monday marks two weeks since a devastating earthquake and tsunami struck central Japan. The disaster has claimed at least 221 lives, with crews searching for 22 people still unaccounted for. As relief efforts continue, officials fear harsh conditions in evacuation centers are posing a major health risk. Officials in Ishikawa Prefecture say almost 500 people in over a dozen communities remain cut off due to blocked roads. As of Sunday, water and power were still unavailable at hundreds of evacuation sites hosting almost 20-thousand people. 13 evacuees are now believed to have died from sudden or chronic illness after staying at a temporary shelter.
2. Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hayashi Yoshimasa has reaffirmed the government’s consistent position regarding Taiwan, saying Japan will continue to deepen relations.
3. US Republican presidential candidates, including Donald Trump, rallied for support just ahead of Monday night’s Iowa caucus, the first of the primaries for the GOP race. Trump is leading the pack, which includes former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. They each held rallies on Sunday to appeal to voters as frigid cold gripped the Midwestern state.

1. Relief efforts continue following the massive New Year’s day earthquake in central Japan. At least 215 people now been confirmed dead and 38 are still unaccounted for. Officials in Ishikawa Prefecture are warning that worsening weather could threaten more lives. Some people have been able to return to hard-hit areas to survey the damage. A district in the town of Anamizu was home to about 40 shops. Many have collapsed or have been severely damaged.
2. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development says the Bank of Japan should start gradually raising interest rates on the assumption that inflation will stabilize at around 2 percent. The OECD’s latest report on Japan’s economy notes that inflation has been above the BOJ’s target of 2 percent since April 2022.
3. The US Securities and Exchange Commission has approved the listing and trading of exchange traded funds holding bitcoin. The SEC announced that it approved applications for a number of ETFs tracking bitcoin on Wednesday. Buyers of such funds can indirectly invest in bitcoin, without opening an account with a cryptocurrency trading platform.

1. China says it exported a record 4.91 million vehicles last year, making it all but certain that the country has overtaken Japan as the world’s largest auto exporter. The strong growth of Chinese exports is due to a 70 percent increase in exports of electric or other types of “new energy” vehicles that are fast becoming popular worldwide.
2. Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei Stock Average topped 35,000-mark on Thursday for the first time in almost 35 years. Export-related shares led the advance as the yen weakened against the dollar. The Nikkei 225 ended the day at 35,049, up 1.8 percent from Wednesday. It is the first time since February 1990 that the index has reached that level.
3. The New York times has picked Yamaguchi City in western Japan as one of the “52 Places to Go in 2024.” The city is the third choice among this year’s favored travel destinations, behind total solar eclipse viewpoints in North America and Paris, France. The newspaper says Yamaguchi is often called the “Kyoto of the West”, and describes it as a compact city that has considerably less “tourism pollution” than the ancient capital.

1. A survey has found that caregivers at facilities for the elderly and people with disabilities are working under extreme stress following the massive earthquake that struck the Noto Peninsula on New Year’s Day.
2. The operator of a nuclear power plant in quake-hit Ishikawa Prefecture says tsunami waves measuring up to about 3 meters high reached the site following a magnitude 7.6 earthquake in central Japan on New Year’s Day.
3. Japanese leading ‘enka’ ballad singer Yashiro Aki has died at the age of 73. Yashiro was born in Yatsushiro City in the southwestern prefecture of Kumamoto, and made her debut in 1971.

1. Japan’s Defense Minister Kihara Minoru says a total of 6,300 Self-Defense Force personnel are now involved in efforts to hep areas affected by the powerful earthquake tat struck central Japan on New Year’s Day. Kihara told reporters on Tuesday that the number of personnel was increased by 200 from the previous day.
2. Taiwan’s ruling party presidential candidate says his election win would prompt China to review its Taiwan policy, even though Beijing currently does not see is party as a dialogue partner. Lai Ching-te of the Democratic Progressive Party is running in Saturday’s presidential election against Hou Yu-ih of the largest opposition Kuomintang party and Ko Wen-je of the second-largest opposition Taiwan People’s Party.
3. Schools in Japan’s Ishikawa Prefecture that were relatively unaffected by the powerful earthquake on New Year’s Day have reopened for their new terms.

1. NHK has learned from informed sources that data storage devices related to Japanese Lower House member Ikeda Yoshitaka were destroyed before Tokyo prosecutors searched his office and other places last month. He was arrested on Sunday on suspicion of violating the political funds control law.
2. Three candidates in Taiwan’s presidential election appealed for support during large rallies on the last Sunday before the January 13 vote. Key points of contention include ties with China.
3. Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina secured a fifth term in office in a controversial general election on Sunday. The voting took place in a tense atmosphere with the military and police heavily guarding each polling station.

1. Three full days have passed since a major earthquake struck the Noto Peninsula on the Sea of Japan coast, and rescue operations continue. The survival rate is said to drop significantly after 72 hours. The Ishikawa prefectural government says it has confirmed at least 92 deaths. 242 people were still unaccounted for as of Thursday night.
2. US Defense Department Press Secretary Pat Ryder has said “Our hearts are with the Japanese government” after Monday’s powerful earthquake in the Noto Peninsula. Ryder said on Thursday, “We remain in close communication with the Government of Japan and we do stand ready to aid in any way that would be most helpful to Japan.
3. The impact of some big news events, including earthquake on New Year’s Day, are on the minds of the chiefs of Japanese securities firms as we enter 2024. They gave their thoughts on what might be ahead for the economy. President and CEO of Daiwa Securities Group, Nakata Seiji, says the latest earthquake reminded the world that Japan is prone to earthquakes. He adds that the collision of a JAL jet with a Japan Coast Guard aircraft on Tuesday also raised concern about safety amid growing demand for tourism, especially inbound travel.

1. Qatar-based satellite TV network Al Jazeera says 14 people have been killed in Israel’s overnight bombardment targeting areas near an evacuation zone in southern Gaza. Al Jazeera says that many of the victims of the Israeli strike outside the city of Khan Younis on Wednesday and Thursday were children.
2. Russia and Ukraine have conducted their largest exchange of prisoners of war since Russia’s invasion began in 2022. Ukraine’s military said on Wednesday that 230 people, including soldiers and six civilians, returned home. The Russian defense ministry said 248 military personnel returned to the country.
3. Officials in Ishikawa Prefecture in central Japan say that 84 people have been confirmed dead after the magnitude 7.6 earthquake that struck on New Year’s Day. The cities of Wajima and Suzu accounted for the majority of the confirmed total. As of Thursday, 48 deaths had been reported in Wajima, and 23 in Suzu. A total of 305 people are reportedly injured in the prefecture.