(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Last Week in Japanese News 03/26/2023-04/01/2023 [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-04-02 Hello, this is RWPOINTWOMAN and this is Last Week in Japanese News. Here is where I translate Japanese articles about Japan from the Easy section of the Easy Japanese news reader app into English. On with the show! March 27, 2023: Japan, Russia settle on same quota as last year for salmon, trout during negotiations. (Asahi) Japan and Russia have settled on 2,050 tons as their quota for salmon and trout in the waters between them off the coast of Hokkaido in their negotiations, same as last year. Because there are many fish that spawn in Russian rivers in the Japan exclusive economic zone where drift net fishing is done for salmon and trout, Japan and Russia negotiate operating conditions every year. Last year, negotiations were delayed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but the usual meeting was held this year. While relations between Japan and Russia worsened, the negotiations focused on fishing and they settled on a quota of 2,050 tons for this year—same as last year—and for Russia to be paid a fishery cooperation fee between ¥200-¥300 million depending on the catch. It looks as if the ban on fishing for salmon and trout off the coast of Hokkaido will be lifted on April 10 per usual because of this. March 28, 2023: Japan's 1st quantum computer begins use. (NHK) On March 27, RIKEN's quantum computer, the 1st to be made in Japan, became available for entities such as universities and businesses to use. This is the fastest computer to date and will greatly change society. Quantum particles are small particles such as photons and electrons. Exploiting quantum physics increases the processing speed. It is said that quantum computers will lead to new medicines, better economic forecasts, and solutions to various problems. RIKEN says, "It is necessary to use advanced technology to build a quantum computer. Research will continue to ensure that Japan is not left behind by other countries." 40% of theme parks increase fees due to things like electricity rates. (Asahi) About 40% of theme parks including amusement parks and aquaria have increased their fees due to things like increased electric utility expenses and feed costs over the past year. Teikoku Databank has just completed a study of the trends in ticket prices of 190 major theme parks such as amusement parks, aquaria, and zoos and about 40%—which is equivalent to 70 of them—have raised theirs in the past year. 62 of them raised their entrance fees and the remaining 8 kept their entrance fees the same and raised the price of things like bus rides for guests instead. The reason given by 70% was increased energy bills and 50% also gave increased costs of things like feed and raw ingredients. As a result of this, the entrance fees have risen an average of 5% over the past year. March 29, 2023: New elementary textbooks' words on LGBTQ community, bullying investigated. (NHK) The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) has finished its investigation of textbooks to be used starting in April of next year. 149 were for elementary school. All of them contained QR codes for studying online. With a tablet, things like English pronunciation and vocabulary can be studied. These are also the 1st textbooks to describe the novel coronavirus. It was written that after the illness appeared in China, it spread throughout the world. The number of textbooks describing various lifestyle such as LGBTQ has increased. "The lifestyle that suits you" was emphasized and schools increasingly embraced the idea of students being free to decide whether to wear things like skirts and pants as part of their uniform. Bullying was described in 48 textbooks. "Unintentional bullying is still bullying if it hurts someone's feelings." March 30, 2023: New plan made to, "make fleeing too late a thing of the past," when Mt. Fuji erupts. (NHK) Shizuoka Prefecture, Yamanashi Prefecture, Kanagawa Prefecture, etc. have announced new protocols for fleeing too safety in the event that Mt. Fuji erupts. Those who would need to flee reside in 3 prefectures. In the event of eruption warning signs such as earthquakes, the Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA) will raise the Volcanic Alert Level. If the level is raised, people are to flee to places like the homes of relatives and hotels. There is concern that the roads will be clogged and there will be delays in heavily populated areas of everyone gets in their cars. Due to this, everyone except the elderly, etc. is to walk. People climbing Mt. Fuji are to descend when a special advisory is issued even if it is merely Level 1, the lowest level. Detailed evacuation plans have been made for by 3 prefectures for places such as their cities and towns. And they want to inform the public and make delays evacuations a thing of the past. March 31, 2023: UK joins TPP for 1st time, increases number of members. (NHK) 11 countries around the Pacific have formulated rules concerning trade and formed a group called the TPP. The UK applied for membership and an online meeting was held March 31. And then the UK was newly approved to join. The UK is the country to join the TPP since the original 11 nations founded it in 2018. With the entrance of the UK, the total value of things like the goods produced and services rendered by member countries is now $15 trillion and Japan's money is now ¥1.98 quadrillion. That is roughly 15% of the world total. UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak stated, "Entering the TPP will defend things like important UK industries like agriculture and medicine and its organizations. Things like animal welfare and food safety will remain unchanged." April 1, 2023: Mizuho FG and LINE to abandon plans for online banking with smartphones. (Asahi) Mizuho Financial Group and smartphone app giant LINE have revealed that they are abandoning their plan to open an online bank that would have required a smartphone. Mizuho and LINE announced that they had abandoned an online banking service that they had been developing together since 2018 that was intended to be mostly accessed through a smartphone app. It has been disclosed that they initially aimed to open it in 2020 but it was postponed due to a delay in development of a system to ensure things like safety and user-friendliness and eventually scrapped. In addition to the context of progress of digitalization and increasing spread of and fierce competition in online banking, there is time required to develop such a system and the great expense involved. Both companies commented that, "Hopefully we will offer smooth service but we have concluded that we cannot predict when that is." That's all for now. 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