Japan Daily Updates

30th September 2023 NHK news at 6 p.m. JST (午後6時のNHKニュース） 1. Record low of 2 Typhoons formed in September Typhoon No. 14 emerged in the Eastern Philipines today, marking the second Typhoon to develop within this month. The number is the lowest on record since the Japan Meteorological Agency began tracking them in 1951. Usually, in the Northeast Pacific Ocean and South China Sea, an average of 5.7 typhoons are formed in August and 5 in September. The Japan Meteorological Agency attributes this anomaly to the absence of the Monsoon Trough off the coast of the Philippines. The Monsoon Trough is a significant counterclockwise wind circulation phenomenon. It is formed when the Monsoon, a seasonal wind from the Indian Ocean, blows to the Southern side of trade winds flowing off the coast of the Philippines. The Monsoon Trough often creates favorable conditions for the gathering of nimbus clouds, which are known to be precursors for Typhoon development. However, during the middle to late ...

28th September 2023 NHK news at 11am JST (午前11時のNHKニュース） 1. 10-year JGB yields soared to decade highs Today bond market witnessed a rise in the benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond yields reaching 0.77% in today's morning, reflecting a growing trend of bond selling in the market. This rate marked a 10-year high not seen since September 2013. Analysts see that while the US interest rates remain high, Japan seems to be following a similar trend. Their analysis suggests that the Japanese central bank may revise its monetary easing strategy in the future, potentially leading to a decline in bond prices. Such forecasts seem to have led to this surge in the selling of Japanese government bonds. 2. Japan's unemployment rate has remained the same since last month at 2.7% According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, last month's number of employees was 67.73 million, marking an increase of 220 thousand compared to the same month the previous year. The numb...

28th September 2023 NHK news at 11am JST ( 午前 11 時の NHK ニュース） 1. Japan Transport Safety Board issues final report on oil leak in Mauritius offshore 3 years ago at Mauritius offshore, a freighter chartered by a Japanese company ran aground while seeking smartphone signals. Japan Transport Safety Board issued the final report on the incident today. In July 2020, a merchant ship chartered by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines was stranded off the coast of Mauritius and caused a leakage of about 1000 tons of fuel oil.  According to the report, stopping at Mauritius was not part of the route of the ship, thus detailed nautical chart was absent. Nevertheless, the ship went ashore by approaching the island too close while seeking crew members' smartphone signals. Moreover, the report revealed that the vessel repeated approaching shores before the accident to catch smartphone signals too, and pointed out that the entire crew members lacked awareness about safe navigation. 2. About 100 youths looted shops...

27th September 2023 NHK news at 11am JST ( 午前 11 時の NHK ニュース）   1. BoJ published minutes of monetary policy meeting Bank of Japan revised its monetary policy at the monetary policy meeting held last July. Opinions of board members included that this revision was to justify continuing its monetary easing. At the meeting in July, Bank of Japan revised its monetary policy and decided that it would accept the maximum increase of 1 percentage point in Japan's 10-year government bond yields considering the market trend.  On the stable 2% inflation target, many board members are seeing that it is not yet ready to forecast achieving the target along with wage increases.  However, one of the members believes it should be able to judge the feasibility of the target by next January to March, thus, opinions on the timeline of this 2% target vary among board members. 2. Court rejected arrest warrant for South Korea's opposition party leader Prosecutors requested an arrest warran...

26th September 2023 NHK news at 11am JST (午前11時のNHKニュース） 1. Okinawa - fire burns down a main building and its annex completely, 2 bodies found Last night around 11.30 pm, residents in Miyakojima island of Okinawa reported a fire. The fire was extinguished in 3 hours, but the main building and its annex were completely burnt. According to the police, residents of the home include a 62-year-old male part-timer, his mother in her 80s, and the man's 2 sons in their 40s. One of the man's sons and woman cannot be reached. Police officers are investigating the identity of 2 dead bodies found in the fire, and the cause of the incident. 2. The Hokuriku Shinkansen bullet train test drive between Kanazawa and Tsuruga stations started today It was the first test drive of the new white and blue W7 Series bullet train for passengers that belongs to the Hokuriku Shinkansen.  As it is the first Shinkansen run through Southern Kaga (Ishikawa prefecture), crowds of locals and fans gathered at t...

25th September 2023 NHK news at 5pm JST (午後5時のNHKニュース） (Retrieved 25th September 2023 6pm JST from https://www.nhk.or.jp/podcasts/listen_news.html ; the podcast expires 5:05 pm on 26th September) 1. Japan's health ministry approved a new drug for Alzheimer's disease The medicine called lecanemab is jointly developed by Japanese and US pharmaceutical companies, namely Esai and Biogen. This drug will be used for individuals with mild cognitive impairment or in the early stage of Alzheimer's disease and it is expected to slow down the progression of the disease by removing the abnormal protein from the patient's brain.  The price will be an average of $26,500 per year in the US, but the cost and insurance coverage are yet to be decided by the Central Social Insurance Medical Council in Japan.  2. A ttack on 24th in Kosovo killed 1 local police officer and 3 gunmen Kosovo's prime minister posted on SNS that Serbian troops of the attack. While Serbian prime minister anno...