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Last Week in Japanese News 02/05/2023-02/11/2023 [1]

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Date: 2023-02-10  

Hello, this is RWPOINTWOMAN and this is Last Week in Japanese News. Here is where I translate Japanese articles from the Easy section of the Easy Japanese news reader app, which is meant for Japanese language learners. It is my primary method of learning Japanese now.

My grasp of written and spoken Japanese is not exactly perfect, but I manage.

February 6, 2023:

Large numbers of people enjoy Sapporo Snow Festival in Hokkaido. (NHK)

Sapporo Snow Festival, a winter Hokkaido event began on February 4 in Sapporo. It was held online last year and the year before last because of the pandemic. It is being held at 2 venues this year. At the Odori Park venue, there are 5 10 m tall statues made of snow. The designs include Hokkaido's newly built baseball stadium and the numerous racehorses born in Hokkaido. The statues, including the one shaped like a dinosaur, were lit up at night. Projection mapping was used to project a variety of images onto the statues, including the ones sculpted to resemble buildings. A man who came all the way from South Korea said, "I could finally come to the Snow Festival. The snow looks beautiful lit up at night." The Sapporo Snow Festival runs until February 11.

Aeon thinking of raising pay by average of 7% for part-time workers, etc. (NHK)

Aeon is thinking of raising pay for about 400,000 employees working in places like its supermarkets, convenience stores, and drug stores including part-time workers. The average is 7%. It has talked with the labor unions and is thinking of increasing pay starting early next month. The reason is that they want to prevent rising prices from causing hardship. Recently, they have had a labor shortage. This is to attract good workers by raising pay. They are also think of raising the pay of company employees.* Aeon has a large number of employees including part-time ones. It is expected that an increasing number of companies will increase pay.

Plan made to change law to stop recognizing kirakira neemu. (NHK)

Recently, kirakira neemu ​​​​​​—given names with readings not normal for the characters used—have become more common. Because the reading is not recorded in the family register, it is difficult to enter it into a computer. On February 2, the Ministry of Justice thought of a plan to change the law. The plan makes giving the katakana reading of names a requirement. And then it was made a requirement that, "The reading of the kanji in the name must be one that is generally recognized." For example, the name 高* with the reading hikushi, which differs in meaning from 高, is not recognized. The name 太郎 with the reading Maikeru is also not recognized. The Ministry of Justice says it will inform the public which readings are not recognized before the law is changed.

Denny's to raise prices of 90% of menu. Varieties of meat by a maximum of ¥150. (Asahi)

Denny's, a family restaurant which is managed by Seven & I Food Systems, is raising the prices of 71 items including hamburgers and omurice, which is roughly 90% of its menu, effective March 7. The magnitude of the increases is ¥10 to ¥60 for kinds of hamburger, ¥10 to ¥50 for kinds of pasta, and ¥150 for kinds of meat such as steak, the largest. Stewed hamburger with a demi-glace will go from ¥940 to ¥990 tax excluded. The prices of items like drink varieties and take out will also increase. This is continuing a trend that started last September and the principal causes include increased costs of raw ingredients and energy.

Masanori Takumi's SAKURA awarded a Grammy. (NHK)

The Grammy awards, which are the most famous music awards in America, have been announced. Masanori Takumi's SAKURA album was awarded a Grammy for the Best Global Music Album. Takumi is from the city of Osaka and is both a songwriter and music arranger. Takumi attended the awards ceremony in a black jacket embroidered with cherry blossoms, the namesake of the album. Takumi said, "I created songs that fused American music with Japanese instruments. I was glad that I made it so people in any country could listen to them. I wanted more people to take an interest in Japanese culture and named the album an all-Japanese word." Keita Ogawa, who is from Nagasaki Prefecture, also won an award joined by his band, Snarky Puppy.

February 7, 2023:

Nakamura becomes youngest Women's Go title winner at 13. (NHK)

Sumire Nakamura, a 13-year-old professional go player, challenged Asami Ueno in order to win the Women's Kisei title last month. On February 6, Nakamura beat Ueno and became the first player aged 13 years and 11 months to win the Women's title. Rina Fujisawa won the Women's title at 15 years and 9 months of age in 2014, but Nakamura is now the youngest Women's title winner on record. Nakamura has been playing go since she was 3 and became the youngest professional go player in 2019 at 10. Nakamura said, "When you are persistent, you get results. I want to be able to battle it with professionals from around the world," gladly.

Yamato Transport to raise express home delivery rate 10%, potentially have "2024 problem" with aggravation of driver shortage. (Asahi)

According to Yamato Transport, prices will be raised effective April 3 and examples include a situation in which the rate for shipping a package 3 sides of which are 100 cm or less is shipped from Kanto to Kansai increases by ¥150 from ¥1,500 to ¥1,650. This is in the context of not only steeply rising fuel costs, but being in a harrowing situation in existing pay creates a driver shortage for the logistics industry. Because costs are expected to keep rising, Yamato Transport referenced the possibility of making a bold start on further price increases. Yamato Transport: "We decided to review our fares, etc. every fiscal year because we have to make them reflect the influence of changes in our external environment." Due to the imminent strengthening of overtime controls, a "2024 problem," the further aggravation of the driver shortage, has arisen for the logistics industry and Sagawa Express has also announced a price increase of 8% effective April 1.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to withdraw "Japan's first" jetliner development project. (Asahi)

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has solidified its plans to withdraw from development work on a jet passenger plane. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries began real development work on the jet passenger plane, the MRJ, in 2008. It was expected that it would be the first small jet plane developed by Japan and the plan was to begin production in 2013, but this was repeatedly postponed. Also, it was altered to be a space jet bearing the Mitsubishi name in 2019, but in autumn of 2020, development was curtailed for reasons such a precipitous drop in demand for air travel. Sites in the United States that provide test flights are also continuing to downsize in ways that include closing down sites last spring. According to people connected with this, it is believed that Mitsubishi Heavy Industry will announce that it has given up on development on February 7.

Philippine Minister of Justices declares: "2 people will be forcibly repatriated tomorrow morning." (Asahi)

Minister of Justice Lemulla declared, "We will transfer 2 of them tomorrow morning," referring to 2 of the 4 people people being held in custody in the Philippines whom Japan wants to have repatriated to itself. Of the results of the nighttime meeting between the government agencies concerned, they stated, "We have decided to forcibly repatriate Kiyoto Imamura and Toshiya Fujita," among other things. Meanwhile, the trial being held for Yuuki Watanabe and Tomonobu Kojima is still ongoing and it has been decided that the judge will announce a decision on whether to dismiss the case.

Man flees Afghanistan, finds job in Japan. (NHK)

In 2021, the Taliban took over the government of Afghanistan, and Afghanis who had studied abroad in Japan became refugees. When NHK investigated, it found that 33 Afghanis who attended college in Japan had fled to it. 7 Afghani Miyazaki University alumni and their families and living in Miyazaki Prefecture. One of them, a man, decided to work for agricultural corporation in April. The man had taught at a university in Afghanistan because of his expertise on plants and agricultural chemicals. The man said, "In my home country, things like freedom and rights are gone and hope has vanished. I am happy that I could work in Japan." For now, the universities are assisting these refugees, but they are worried about these people becoming unable to stay in Japan if they cannot find work. A person with Miyazaki University stated, "We want to inform the public about the situation in Afghanistan and get to wonder how they can help."

Experiment done to test speech-to-text technology for Deaflympics. (NHK)

The Deaflympics, a world sports tournament for the deaf, will be held in Tokyo in 2025. A group that includes printing companies has developed assistive technology that displays spoken words as text on a screen. This was tested in an experiment conducted at a karate tournament for the deaf. Screens and tablets were placed in the lobby. It transforms the spoken word into text so that the deaf can understand it. A man who used it said, "I was glad that I could carry out a conversation with people who did not know sign language. If I could see their faces while talking, I could also read their emotions. I want this in places such as those where there are no sign language interpreters." The Tokyo Metropolitan Area wants to grant permission to use at the Deaflympics.

Warning issued to watch out for trouble with damage, soiling, etc. of rental properties during moving season. (Asahi)

The National Consumer Affairs Center of Japan issued a warning regarding trouble with "restoration"—returning a rental property to its original state when it is damaged, dirtied, etc. during moving. The renter has an obligation to return a property to its original state when damage done to the rental whether intentionally, accidentally, or for some other reason in the form of things like stains and structural damage ends the rental agreement. Every year, about 14,000 consumer affairs consultations are done and this increases during moving season, which runs from February through April. The renter is under no obligation to return a property to its original state if it is damaged through ordinary use or aging, but it can be said to be difficult to determine whether it is such if a long time has passed since the rental agreement went into effect. The National Consumer Affairs Center of Japan advises carefully checking the contents of the rental agreement before entering it and documenting the condition of the residence when moving in.

February 8, 2023:

End-of-winter ice floes enjoyed at Monbetsu City, Hokkaido. (NHK)

Every winter, ice floes flow from the north to the waters off of Monbetsu City, Hokkaido. They can usually be seen around the end of January, but this year, it could be seen on February 5 for the first time. On February 5, a tour boat with around 130 passengers and crew went out to enjoy it. The large ice was about 5 m long and 10-20 cm thick. As the boat made its way through the sea, it drilled into the ice. The passengers beheld the beautiful scenery and took pictures of it. A man from South Korea said, "This is my first time seeing it. It was impressive and truly wonderful."

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation to raise starting salaries for graduates by ¥50,000, first time in 16 years. (Asahi)

Megabank Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation has solidified plans to raise the starting salary for new college graduates just starting at the bank by ¥50,000 this spring. This is the first time in 16 years that they have raised starting salaries. According to people connected with this, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation will raise the starting salaries of about 400 employees by a flat ¥50,000, making that of a recent university graduate ¥255,000 and that of someone who recently graduated from graduate school ¥280,000. Aside from high commodities prices, their aim is to provide support for things like digitalization and keep talented people. Besides financial major MUFJ Bank introducing a merit-based pay structure for some of its new college graduate hires last year, Mizuho Financial Group is also raising its starting salaries in the spring of 2024.

February 9, 2023:

"It is fine not to wear a mask to events like graduation ceremonies": Experts weigh in at meeting. (NHK)

On February 8, experts from the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare met regarding mask recommendations for school events like graduation and school entrance ceremonies. The experts say that masks reduce the danger of novel coronavirus infection, they under the feeling wanting to go mask less at functions like graduation ceremonies. And they think it would be fine to go without a mask at events if the virus is not spreading much. Taking precautions without a mask means social distancing, avoiding talking to people in close quarters, and adequate ventilation, they say. They also say it is important to take into consideration other people's feelings on whether to wear a mask.

"We want to enroll a lot more women into university departments of science, technology and engineering." (NHK)

At science, technology, and engineering departs at universities, things like machines, electricity, and manufacturing techniques are studied. According to the Japanese government, about 15% of students in such departments were women. That is the lowest of all departments. At the Tokyo Institute of Technology, which has many technology departments, there is a quota for women taking and passing the entrance exam. This has resulted in more women passing the exam. The entrance exams begin April 2024. At first, it was 58 people, but it will be 143 next year. The President of the Tokyo Institute of Technology said, "The current gender is terrible. I worry that if this is the boys' treehouse, then new discoveries might not be made and new technology will not be developed. I believed a big change was in order."

That's all for now. I am not feeling well.

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