Princess Yuriko, Oldest Member of Japan’s Imperial Family, Dies at 101

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Her death reduces Japan’s rapidly dwindling imperial family to 16 people, and only 4 men, as the country faces questions about the future under a male-only succession law.

Princess Yuriko of Japan, the wife of Emperor Hirohito’s brother and the oldest member of the Japanese imperial family, died on Friday in Tokyo. She was 101.

Her death, in a hospital, was announced by the Imperial Household Agency. The announcement did not cite a cause of death, but the Japanese news media said she died of pneumonia.

Born into an aristocratic family on June 4, 1923, Yuriko was 18 when she married Prince Mikasa, the younger brother of Hirohito and the great-uncle of the current emperor, Naruhito. The wedding took place on Oct. 22, 1941, weeks before Japan bombed Pearl Harbor.

She recounted living in a shelter with her husband and their baby daughter after their home was burned down when the United States firebombed Tokyo in 1945, in the final months of the war. » | The Associated Press | Friday, November 15, 2024

Top Japanese Gymnast Withdraws From Paris 2024 for Smoking and Drinking Alcohol

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Shoko Miyata, the team’s captain, withdrew from the Games after an investigation by the country’s gymnastics board found she had violated its code of conduct.

Japan’s Olympic gymnastics team will head into the Paris Games this week without its captain, Shoko Miyata, after she withdrew from the team following an investigation that found she had violated the squad’s code of conduct by smoking and drinking alcohol.

In a news conference last week, officials with the Japan Gymnastics Association, which conducted the investigation, announced Miyata’s withdrawal from the Olympics, saying that “both parties discussed the matter” and that Miyata had decided not to compete.

The Japan Gymnastics Association’s code of conduct forbids drinking or smoking while in official team programs, regardless of age. The legal age for drinking and smoking in Japan is 20; Miyata is 19. » | Ali Watkins | Tuesday, July 23, 2024

Related article here.

Japanese Gymnast Set to Miss Olympics for Smoking

Shoko Miyata won a first national championship in April | GETTY IMAGES
BBC: Japanese gymnast Shoko Miyata has been sent home and will not compete at the Olympic Games after breaking a team smoking ban.

The 19-year-old left Japan's training camp in Monaco on Thursday as officials investigated the alleged incident.

The teenager - captain of her country's women's artistic gymnastics team - returned to Japan that night after the investigation concluded she had violated the Japan Gymnastics Association's rules.

Smoking is in violation of the association's code of conduct.

"With her confirmation and after discussions on all sides, it has been decided that she will withdraw from the Olympics," Japan Gymnastics Association secretary general Kenji Nishimura told reporters in Tokyo. » | BBC | Thursday, July 18, 2024

Heartfelt Goodbye from Emperor and Empress of Japan 🇯🇵 ❤️

HM King Charles III and Queen Camilla say goodbye to the Emperor and Empress of Japan.

King Hosts Japanese Royals at Glittering State Banquet

Jun 25, 2024 | King Charles and Queen Camilla hosted Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako at a lavish State Banquet at Buckingham Palace, marking the start of their three-day UK visit.

The royals donned their finest attire, with Queen Camilla in a Fiona Clare dress and Burmese ruby tiara. King Charles and Naruhito wore formal suits, while Masako looked elegant in cream with the Chrysanthemum tiara.

Report by Matthew Covell.

King and Queen Host State Visit for Emperor and Empress of Japan at Buckingham Palace

Jun 25, 2024 | The Queen has worn the new Royal Family Order of King Charles III to the state banquet, the first time it has been seen in public for the new reign.

The Royal Family Order, which is awarded to female members of the family and worn on formal occasions, contains a miniature picture of the monarch, surrounded by diamonds suspended on a silk bow.

The King’s Charles’ Family Order was created in 2024 by portrait miniaturist Elizabeth Meek, and based on a photograph by Hugo Burnand. The King wears his uniform of Admiral of the Fleet, the sash of the Royal Victorian Order, the Garter Star and Thistle Star, and the Garter Collar and Neck Orders of the Order of the Bath and the Royal Victorian Order.


King makes rare public reference to George, Charlotte and Louis in State Banquet speech »

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