A Puffer’s Paradise: Smoke-friendly Japan

May 31, 2023 | Japan is known for its healthy diet and impressive life expectancy. But it is also a smoker’s paradise. Although the number of smokers has dropped by a third over the last 20 years, more than 17 million Japanese smoke regularly. They are easy to spot in Tokyo’s bars. …


Their relaxed attitude to enjoying a pull is probably conducive to their longevity. Plus, Japan appears not to have been invaded by the Puritans. Not yet, anyway; and hopefully, never.

It is interesting to note that according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), lung cancer develops in around 10 to 20 per cent of all smokers. (MedicineNet) Listening to the health fanatics, however, one would be forgiven for concluding that a much higher percentage of smokers die from lung cancer. But happily, this is not the case.

We are living in dreadful times. People are not supposed to enjoy themselves anymore. These days, it seems that all pleasures are considered to be either unhealthy, sinful or forbidden by religion.

All we hear about is advice on how to stay healthy. Yet, ironically, populations of most countries have never been as unhealthy as they are today. So many people will die young, having led miserable lives either because of poverty or because of depriving themselves a few pleasures in life, in the vain hope that deprivation of these pleasures is conducive to living a longer life. And where and when their lives have been prolonged by just a few years, they can look forward to being shunted off to an old people’s home by their uncaring families, in order to stare at the ceiling and wait for their visa to the ‘Land of Milk and Honey’! I fear that they are in for a big disappointment!

Meantime, the insouciant Japanese cock a snook at the advice of so-called health specialists and continue to smoke as if there was no tomorrow. – © Mark Alexander

Neues Gesetz soll „Verständnis“ für sexuelle Minderheiten stärken

LGBTQ IN JAPAN
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Als letzte große Industrienation verabschiedet Japan ein Gesetz, dass die Rechte sexueller Minderheiten stärken soll. Ein Satz darin sorgt jedoch für Kritik.

In der Innenstadt von Tokio ist das nichts Besonderes: Der Barista im Hipster-Café trägt Pferdeschwanz und diverse Ohrringe. Vor dem Café laufen zwei Männer Hand in Hand, offensichtlich Touristen, was hier, in der Nähe des Tokyo Towers, niemanden weiter interessiert.

In weiten Teilen der japanischen Gesellschaft sieht das aber noch anders aus – was sich an den jahrelangen Diskussionen um ein Gesetz für mehr Toleranz gegenüber sexuellen Minderheiten (LGBTQ) zeigt. Am Freitag hat es Ministerpräsident Fumio Kishida mit seiner Regierungskoalition nun verabschiedet. » | Von Tim Kanning, Tokio | Freitag, 16. Juni 2023

Marriage Equality in Japan

You can support gay marriage in Japan by signing this petition.

Japan PM Evacuated after Apparent Smoke Bomb Blast during Speech – BBC News

Apr 15, 2023 | Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has been evacuated unharmed from a public event after what appeared to be a smoke bomb was thrown at him. A man was detained at the scene in Wakayama, where Mr Kishida had been due to give a speech, local media reported. He was arrested on suspicion of obstruction of business and later identified by the authorities as 24-year-old Ryuji Kimura. His motivation is still unclear. A witness said they saw a person throwing something, followed by smoke, while another said they heard a big bang. No injuries were reported.

Extreme Winter Snowstorm in the US Leaves Buildings Covered in Icicles

Dec 26, 2022 | A deadly blizzard has paralysed Buffalo, New York, trapping motorists in their cars, knocking out electricity to thousands of homes and raising the death toll from a severe winter storm system that has frozen much of the US for days. Buildings around the edges of Lake Eerie have been left looking like ice castles after days of heavy snow and high winds created conditions that local officials said were probably the most severe since 1977. The New York governor, Kathy Hochul, said a deadly blizzard pummelling Buffalo over the holiday would go down in history as one of the worst. 'We are in a war, this is a war with mother nature,' Hochul said US storm: dozens of lives lost as Arctic freeze takes hold ‘Life-threatening hazard’: 28 dead in Arctic storm battering US

Read the article here.

AND IN JAPAN:

Heavy snow in Japan kills at least 17: Many deaths caused by people falling from roofs or being buried underneath thick piles of snow sliding off rooftops »

Japan's Teachers Vulnerable to Overwork Deaths | DW News

Dec 20, 2022 | The Japanese word karoshi means "death from overwork." Too much work kills Japan's overstretched workers with heart attacks, strokes from mental stress, malnourishment. Teachers seem to be particularly vulnerable to karoshi.

Tokyo Same-sex Marriage Ruling ‘a Step Forward’, Say Campaigners

THE GUARDIAN: Court rules same-sex marriage ban is constitutional but says lack of legal protection is human rights violation

Marriage equality campaigners outside the Tokyo district court on Wednesday. Photograph: Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty Images
A court in has ruled that Japan’s ban on same-sex marriage is constitutional, but said the lack of legal protection for same-sex couples violated their human rights, a step welcomed by equality campaigners.

Japan is the only G7 nation that does not allow same-sex marriage and its constitution defines marriage as based on “the mutual consent of both sexes”. The conservative ruling party of the prime minister, Fumio Kishida, has shown no interest in legalising gay marriage, although polls show a majority of voters support it.

The ruling on Wednesday by the Tokyo district court said that while the ban was constitutional, the absence of a legal system granting same-sex couples recognition as families was an infringement of their human rights. » | Justin McCurry in Tokyo and agencies | Wednesday, November 30, 2022

North Korea Fires Missile Over Japan in Major Escalation

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The missile flew about 2,800 miles, the longest distance ever traveled by a North Korean missile, officials in Tokyo and Seoul said.


North Korea fired a medium-range missile over Japan for the first time in five years. It landed in the Pacific Ocean 22 minutes after the launch. | Jeon Heon-Kyun/EPA, via Shutterstock
SEOUL — North Korea on Tuesday fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan for the first time in five years, prompting a rare warning by the Japanese government for residents in two northern prefectures to seek shelter.

The launch represented a major escalation by North Korea, which has conducted a flurry of missile tests in recent days as the United States held military drills in the region with South Korea and Japan. By launching a missile over Japan and toward the Pacific, North Korea heightened regional concerns over its growing nuclear capabilities, and raised the stakes in stalled diplomatic talks with Washington. » | Choe Sang-Hun and Motoko Rich | Monday, October 3, 2022

„Wir werden ihnen nicht erlauben, Taiwan zu isolieren“

PELOSI WARNT CHINA
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Nancy Pelosi hat China vorgeworfen, ihren Besuch in Taiwan als Vorwand zu nutzen, um Taipeh einzuschüchtern. Auch der japanische Ministerpräsident Kishida kritisiert Peking.

Während China am Freitag rund um Taiwan weiter militärische Stärke demonstrierte, hat die „Sprecherin“ des amerikanischen Repräsentantenhauses, Nancy Pelosi, der Regierung in Peking vorgeworfen, ihren Besuch auf Taiwan in dieser Woche als Vorwand für die Einschüchterung Taiwans zu gebrauchen. „Die Chinesen machen ihre Schläge“, sagte Pelosi mit Blick auf die Militärmanöver in Tokio vor Journalisten. „Wahrscheinlich nutzen sie unseren Besuch als einen Vorwand.“

Peking hatte auf den Besuch der ranghöchsten amerikanischen Politikerin seit 25 Jahren auf Taiwan mit großer Verärgerung und mehrtägigen Militärmanövern rund um die Insel reagiert, die eine Blockade simulieren. Am Freitag teilte das Außenministerium in Peking mit, dass China Sanktionen gegen Pelosi und ihre Angehörigen verhängt habe. China bestellt japanischen Botschafter ein » | Patrick Welter, Korrespondent für Wirtschaft und Politik in Japan mit Sitz in Tokio | Freitag, 5. August 2022

Shinzo Abe, ancien premier ministre japonais, est mort après avoir été blessé par balle

LE MONDE : L’ex-dirigeant, âgé de 67 ans, participait à un meeting politique dans la région de Nara lorsque des coups de feu ont retenti. « C’est un acte barbare en pleine campagne électorale », a réagi l’actuel premier ministre, Fumio Kishida.

Shinzo Abe, le 25 septembre 2017, lors d’une conférence de presse à Tokyo. SHIZUO KAMBAYASHI / AP
L’ancien premier ministre japonais Shinzo Abe est mort à 67 ans, vendredi 8 juillet, après avoir été blessé par balle lors d’un rassemblement électoral à Nara. « C’est un acte barbare en pleine campagne électorale, qui est la base de la démocratie, et c’est absolument impardonnable », a condamné Fumio Kishida, actuel premier ministre du Japon qui a été le ministre des affaires étrangères de M. Abe de 2012 à 2017.

L’ancien dirigeant est mort à l’hôpital où il avait été transporté à la mi-journée (heure de Tokyo). « Il était en état d’arrêt cardio-respiratoire à son arrivée. [Les médecins ont] tenté de le réanimer. Cependant, il est malheureusement mort à 17 h 03 » (10 h 03 à Paris), a déclaré Hidetada Fukushima, professeur de médecine d’urgence à l’hôpital de l’université médicale de Nara, situé à Kashihara, une ville voisine.

Peu avant l’annonce de sa mort, l’actuel premier ministre avait décrit M. Abe dans « un état très grave ». Un peu plus tôt, des médias locaux croyaient savoir qu’il ne présentait aucun signe de vie. » | Le Monde avec AFP | vendredi 8 juillet 2022

Shinzo Abe, Japan’s former prime minister, dies after being shot : Longest-serving PM, known for his ‘Abenomics’ policy, shot while making campaign speech in Nara »

Das Attentat auf Shinzo Abe ist eine Zäsur in der japanischen Geschichte – und es könnte weitreichende Folgen haben: Ein Land ist geschockt. Der Architekt von Japans Wirtschafts- und Aussenpolitik wurde erschossen. »

Live Updates: Shinzo Abe, 67, Dies After Being Shot During Speech: The former prime minister of Japan was assassinated on Friday in the city of Nara. He served in the office longer than anyone before stepping down in 2020. »

Live Updates: Shinzo Abe Is Hospitalized in Critical Condition After Being Shot

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The former prime minister of Japan was unconscious after being wounded while giving a speech near Kyoto, authorities said.

TOKYO — Shinzo Abe, the former prime minister of Japan, was in critical condition after being shot on Friday morning while giving a speech in western Japan, according to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

Footage on social media showed Mr. Abe, 67, collapsed and bleeding on the ground in the city of Nara near Kyoto. The Japanese Fire and Disaster Management Agency said that Mr. Abe had sustained a gunshot wound to his right neck and left chest.

The police said they had arrested a suspect, Tetsuya Yamagami, on a charge of attempted murder. The suspect had used “gunlike equipment,” which was retrieved at the scene, a police spokesman said.

Images shared on social media showed a man being tackled after the shooting near Yamatosaidaiji Station. The man was a Nara resident, according to NHK, the public broadcaster. A detailed motive for the shooting was not immediately made public. A suspect is arrested on a charge of attempted murder after Shinzo Abe is wounded. » | Mokoto Rich | Friday, July 8, 2022

L’ancien premier ministre japonais Shinzo Abe dans « un état très grave » après avoir été blessé par balle : L’ex-dirigeant participait à un meeting politique dans la région de Nara lorsque des coups de feu ont retenti. « C’est un acte barbare en pleine campagne électorale », a réagi l’actuel premier ministre, Fumio Kishida. »

Anschlag auf Shinzo Abe – Schütze soll früherer Soldat sein: Japans früherer Premier ist auf offener Bühne angeschossen und lebensgefährlich verletzt worden. Der mutmaßliche Täter soll gesagt haben, er sei "unzufrieden" mit Abe. »

‘Peeing Is Very Easy’: Japanese Billionaire Returns to Earth after Documenting Life on ISS

THE GUARDIAN: Yusaku Maezawa spent 12 days at the space station, marking Russia’s return to space tourism after a decade-long pause

Yusaku Maezawa emerges from the Soyuz capsule in Kazakhstan with the help of a Russian space agency team after touching down from the space tourism trip. Photograph: AP
A Japanese billionaire has returned to Earth after 12 days spent on the International Space Station, where he made videos about performing mundane tasks in space including brushing his teeth and going to the toilet.

Online fashion tycoon Yusaku Maezawa and his assistant Yozo Hirano parachuted on to Kazakhstan’s steppe at around the expected landing time of 03.13 GMT on Monday, along with Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin, Russia’s space agency said.

“The flight of the ‘tourist’ spacecraft Soyuz MS-20 has been completed,” Roscosmos said in a statement on its website. » | Agence France-Presse | Monday, December 20, 2021

Japans LGBT-Szene erreicht einen Meilenstein – Tokio will gleichgeschlechtliche Partnerschaften anerkennen

NEUE ZÜRCHER ZEITUNG: Auf lokaler Ebene in Japan schwindet der Widerstand gegen die gleichgeschlechtliche Ehe. Wird Japan das zweite Land Asiens, das die Ehe für alle beschliesst?

Tokio will den Weg ebnen für gleichgeschlechtliche Ehen. Bald könnte das ganze Land folgen. Auf dem Bild: Pride-Parade in Tokio 2019. | Alessandro Di Ciommo / Imago
Tokios konservative Bürgermeisterin Yuriko Koike gehört bei der Förderung von Lesben- und Schwulenrechten zu Japans Avantgarde. Anfang dieser Woche kündigte sie an, in der 14-Millionen-Einwohner-Metropole umzusetzen, was es auf Landesebene noch nicht gibt: eine Gleichstellung gleichgeschlechtlicher Partnerschaften.

«Um das Verständnis für sexuelle Vielfalt zu fördern und die Probleme der Betroffenen zu verringern, werden wir die Grundprinzipien für die Einführung eines Systems gleichgeschlechtlicher Partnerschaften im bis März 2022 laufenden Haushaltsjahr vorlegen», versprach Koike.

Damit wäre zwar nur eine gleiche Behandlung bei administrativen Akten wie Sozialleistungen oder im öffentlichen Wohnungsbau gewährleistet und keine volle legale Anerkennung homosexueller Ehen. Aber für die Organisatoren der japanischen Bewegung von Lesben, Schwulen, bisexuellen und transsexuellen Menschen (LGBT) ist Koikes Ankündigung ein wichtiger Meilenstein auf dem Weg, Japan zum zweiten Land Asiens zu machen, das die Ehe für alle ermöglicht. » | Martin Kölling, Tokio | Donnerstag, 9. Dezember 2021

La ville de Tokyo va reconnaître les unions homosexuelles : La gouverneure de la capitale japonaise a annoncé que des certificats pour les personnes de même sexe pourraient être prêts d’ici à début 2023. Le Japon est le dernier pays du G7 à ne pas autoriser le mariage pour tous. »

Japan’s Prince Akishino Lambasts Media for Saying ‘Terrible Things’ about His Daughter

THE GUARDIAN: The heir to the Chrysanthemum throne lashes out at criticism of Mako’s marriage to a commoner

Princess Mako and her husband Kei Komuro. ‘Lots of things are fabricated’ by the media, her father says. Photograph: Reuters
Prince Akishino, the first in line to the Japanese throne, has lambasted the country’s media for their treatment of his eldest daughter, Mako, accusing them of saying “terrible things” about her in the run-up to her marriage.

Mako married Kei Komuro, a non-royal whom she met at university, on 26 October, almost four years after their engagement was called off following revelations about a minor financial dispute involving his mother. But they made only a brief public appearance before moving to New York, where Komuro works for a law firm.

Critical coverage of their engagement has left Mako, who relinquished her royal status when she married Komuro, suffering from a form of post-traumatic stress disorder. » | Justin McCurry in Tokyo | Tuesday, November 30, 2021

Japan's Princess Mako Marries Commoner, Gives Up Royal Title

Oct 26, 2021 • Japan's Princess Mako has married her non-royal college sweetheart Kei Komuro, formally giving up her royal status. The couple held a low-key wedding, after years of criticism and media scrutiny over their relationship. The pair will now be moving to the US where Komuro works as a lawyer. Al Jazeera’s Priyanka Gupta reports.

Japan hat die gesündesten Schulkinder der Welt – woran liegt das?

NEUE ZÜRCHER ZEITUNG: Schülerinnen und Schüler lernen in Japan nicht nur Lesen, Schreiben und Rechnen, auf dem Stundenplan steht auch die Gesundheitserziehung. Eine wichtige Rolle nimmt das Mittagessen in der Schule ein.

Japanisches Schulessen soll frisch, gesund und ausgewogen sein. | Toshiyuki Aizawa / Bloomberg
Mittagessen in der Tsutsujigaoka-Primarschule in Yokohama gleicht einer Choreografie in Weiss. Kaum erklingt der Gong zur Pause, treten kleine Trupps in weissen Kitteln und Hauben aus den Schulzimmern und trotten zur Schulküche. Zu zweit greifen die Schüler Körbe mit Reis, dem Mittagessen, den Getränken und dem Geschirr und tragen sie in ihre Schulzimmer. » | Martin Kölling, Tokio | Dienstag, 19. Oktober 2021

A Princess Is Set to Be Wed. But It’s No Fairy Tale.

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Princess Mako of Japan will forgo the trappings of royal nuptials when she marries her college boyfriend, a commoner, after a long and arduous engagement.

Princess Mako of Japan is set to marry her fiancé, a commoner named Kei Komuro, on Oct. 26. | Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters
TOKYO — Anyone who dreams of being a princess should probably have a chat with Princess Mako of Japan.

On Friday, the agency that manages the affairs of Japan’s royal family announced that the princess, the 29-year-old niece of Emperor Naruhito, would marry her fiancé, a commoner named Kei Komuro, on Oct. 26.

It’s a long time coming. The couple, who first met in college, have been engaged since 2017 — but getting to the chapel has meant running a bruising gauntlet of media scrutiny and savage public commentary on Mr. Komuro’s fitness to be the spouse of an imperial daughter.

The pressure on the couple has been so intense that the princess has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, Japan’s public broadcaster, NHK, reported.

No Horse, No Carriage

If you’re expecting pomp and circumstance, prepare to be disappointed. There will be no royal wedding. Instead, Princess Mako intends to renounce her royal heritage and settle into a normal life in New York, where Mr. Komuro, 29, works in a law office after studying at Fordham. » | Ben Dooley | Friday, October 1, 2021

Who Is Japan's Designated Prime Minister Fumio Kishida? | DW News

Sep 30, 2021 • Japan's ruling party lawmakers voted on Wednesday to elect a new leader, with Fumio Kishida announced as the winner. Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) members were voting to replace Yoshihide Suga, who announced he was stepping down from the leadership position after drawing intense criticism over his handling of the pandemic during the Olympic Games. The new leader will almost certainly become the next prime minister of the country. Kishida should be approved by the parliament within days, and will then contest elections as the leader of the LDP. The LDP is expected to retain its majority in the powerful lower house of the parliament during general elections in November. The election was being closely watched, with race looking particularly tight between the two lead candidates.

A softly-spoken former foreign minister who hails from the Hiroshima family of politicians, Kishida had long targeted the top job. This was his second time running for the position of leadership, after having lost out to Suga last year. He was the first candidate to step into the race and ran on a platform of pandemic stimulus, touting himself as a listener who carried a suggestion box to events to note down proposals from citizens. Though Kishida faced stiff competition from his rival in the first round of voting, he delivered a convincing victory in the runoff elections. He won 257 votes, while his rival won 170. The outcome of the runoff vote was somewhat expected since he has greater support from party members. He is also likely to broadly continue the policies of Suga government. Though any major shift in policies is unlikely, Kishida has called for a "politics of generosity." He has said he wants to move from the neo-liberal economic policies that has dominated Japan. Kishida faces tough tasks in the short term, which includes reviving a pandemic-battered economy as well as confronting security risks in the region from China and North Korea.

Japan Urges Europe to Speak Out against China’s Military Expansion

THE GUARDIAN: Exclusive: in the first piece in a new Guardian series on China and tensions in the Indo-Pacific, Japan’s defence minister says the international community must bolster deterrence efforts against Beijing’s military

Japan's defence minister, Nobuo Kishi, said China was ‘attempting to use its power to unilaterally change the status quo in the East and South China Seas’. Photograph: Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters
Japan has urged European countries to speak out against China’s aggression, warning that the international community must bolster deterrence efforts against Beijing’s military and territorial expansion amid a growing risk of a hot conflict.

In an interview with the Guardian, Japan’s defence minister, Nobuo Kishi, said China had become increasingly powerful politically, economically and militarily and was “attempting to use its power to unilaterally change the status quo in the East and South China Seas”, which are crucial to global shipping and include waters and islands claimed by several other nations.

Tokyo had “strong concerns in regards to the safety and security of not only our own country and the region but for the global community”, Kishi warned. “China is strengthening its military power both in terms of quantity and quality, and rapidly improving its operational capability,” he said.

Kishi’s comments are a strong signal of the rising international concern over China’s military ambitions in disputed regions like the South and East China Sea, the Indian border, and in particular Taiwan. His remarks were echoed by senior figures on the island, with Taiwan’s former head of navy and deputy defence minister also warning that more deterrence was needed.

With China ratcheting up military activity in the region, experts and global military figures have also warned that small confrontations or maritime accidents could quickly escalate into a full-blown conflict. » | Helen Davidson in Taipei | Monday, September 20, 2021

North Korea Threatens Japan with 'Real Ballistic Missile'

BBC: North Korea has branded Japan's PM Shinzo Abe an "imbecile" and "political dwarf", and accused him of mislabelling its latest weapons test.

Mr Abe condemned the North for "repeated launches of ballistic missiles" after two projectiles were fired on Thursday.

But the North insisted it was testing a "super-large multiple-rocket launcher".

On Saturday, state media said Japan "may see what a real ballistic missile is in the not distant future".

North Korea is banned from firing ballistic missiles under UN Security Council resolutions. » | Saturday, November 30, 2019