Latest news with #Japanesegovernment
Yomiuri Shimbun
7 days ago
- General
- Yomiuri Shimbun
As Sudan Enters Its Third Year of Civil War, the Japanese Government Is Teaming up with Agencies to Support Women Refugees Who Are Victims of Sex Crimes.
The Yomiuri Shimbun Rei Doi, right, talks to a refugee woman using kitchen utensils brought through a project funded by the Japanese government in Port Sudan, Sudan, on May 5. PORT SUDAN, Sudan — The government is striving to support women facing hardship in Sudan as the northeast African country enters the third year of a civil war. The meticulous measures include setting up facilities that serve as a safe haven to victims of sex violence and other offenses. The civil war began in April 2023 and the state military forces are still battling hard against the opposing paramilitary group, Rapid Support Forces. The war has been described as the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, producing more than 11 million refugees. The nature of gender-based violence is getting more serious as well, with 6.7 million cases of such crime reported by December 2023. The Japanese government has invested a minimum of about ¥663 million in the enterprise on support for mainly women affected by the civil war and has extended aid through international organs and local nongovernmental organizations. A project by U.N. Women supported by Japan bore fruit in December last year with the completion of Safe Space, a shelter and meeting place in the state of Gedaref in eastern Sudan where only women can get together and safely have discussions with each other. The women refugees include victims of sex crimes who are traumatized by the violence but are unable to talk about their horrific experiences to anyone. The project aims to offer such women opportunities to encourage each other and gain some momentum to get back on their feet. As refugees generally do not interact with residents and tend to be isolated, Safe Space helps them integrate into the local community. The Japanese government is also working on raising awareness in women on how to avoid falling victim to gender-based violence. The government is also providing them with vocational training on making things such as soap and bread so that they can improve their standard of living. 'Sudanese women are ready to help others even though they have troubles themselves,' said Rei Doi of U.N. Women, who oversees support activities at Safe Space. 'This country is promising because there are personnel resources as well as rich agricultural resources. I'd like to offer as many opportunities as possible to women who are willing to do something.'
Belfast Telegraph
10-05-2025
- General
- Belfast Telegraph
From IT to the high seas: Irish volunteer among crew of anti-whaling ship preparing for next mission
The 24-year-old IT expert from Cork volunteers to combat whaling. He is currently on board the MV John Paul DeJoria, a former Scottish fisheries patrol ship now owned by the Captain Paul Watson Foundation, which takes direct action against the slaughter of whales. The ship is docked in Dublin for the next month and the public is invited along for tours to see what it takes to prepare for a mission and speak to crew members about their work. Mr Kennedy speaks passionately about his involvement, which last year took him to the Faroe Islands to disrupt the annual 'grind', the traditional driving ashore of pods of whales to be killed for food and oil that is now carried out largely for amusement. 'I recorded 248 pilot whales killed in one session,' Mr Kennedy said. 'It's not fishing boats and harpoons any more. It's motorboats and jet-skis. The whales have no chance.' 'The meat is meant to be eaten but we saw a lot left behind. Some of the carcasses were barely touched. It took me a while to unpack all of that.' The 'grind' is just one of the charity's concerns. Iceland, which once had a traditional domestic need for whale meat, is home to a large commercial whaling company that mainly supplies the Japanese market. Its owner, multi-millionaire investor Kristjan Loftsson, announced recently that he would not be whaling this season because inflation had dampened Japanese demand, but he also talked of being back when consumer sentiment lifted. 'We don't always believe what he says,' Captain Locky MacLean, who is in charge of the John Paul DeJoria, said. 'So we're keeping an eye on things. It's only a few days' sailing to Iceland from Dublin so we can react fast.' The big worry, however, is Japan. Since the country withdrew from the International Whaling Commission in 2018, it is no longer bound by the members' moratorium on whaling and it is ramping up its activities. 'There's a company part-owned by the Japanese government that has built a $50m factory ship that can hold fin and blue whales,' Capt MacLean said. 'The sides have roller door openings that the whales are slid through and then they roll shut like garage doors. 'There's nothing to get hold of and we can't get to the whales. Before, we'd throw stink bombs on deck to make the meat commercially unsaleable but we are going to have to think of other ways.' The foundation has been tracking the Japanese all around the Antarctic and North Pacific on what it says are stock-taking assessments. 'They're looking for rarity and banking on extinction. The more rare the species, the greater the delicacy and the higher price they can charge,' Capt MacLean said. It was on a trip to intercept a Japanese whaling ship in the north Atlantic after a stay in Ireland last summer that Captain Paul Watson, the head of the foundation, was arrested. Stopping to refuel in Greenland, an Interpol notice initiated by Japan years earlier was activated by Denmark and he ended up imprisoned for five months while extradition proceedings began. He was released suddenly three days before Christmas when Denmark dropped proceedings and is now in France awaiting final confirmation that he is off the Interpol list. For Capt MacLean, the campaign has been a 25-year vocation. Others, such as Mr Kennedy and the rest of the multinational volunteer crew in Dublin, can only give a few weeks here and there, but all contributions are welcomed. 'I'm not a sailor – I only ever kayaked and canoed before – but I've learned so much being part of this,' Mr Kennedy said. 'I admire Paul Watson and the foundation for the directness of what they do. 'A lot of groups drum up awareness but this one goes directly to where the whales need them. I'll be in Faroe again this summer and I hope I can keep doing this as long as I can be of help.'
Irish Independent
10-05-2025
- General
- Irish Independent
From IT to the high seas: Irish volunteer among crew of anti-whaling ship docked in Dublin to prepare next mission
The 24-year-old IT expert from Cork volunteers to combat whaling. He is currently on board the MV John Paul DeJoria, a former Scottish fisheries patrol ship now owned by the Captain Paul Watson Foundation, which takes direct action against the slaughter of whales. The ship is docked in Dublin for the next month and the public is invited along for tours to see what it takes to prepare for a mission and speak to crew members about their work. Mr Kennedy speaks passionately about his involvement, which last year took him to the Faroe Islands to disrupt the annual 'grind', the traditional driving ashore of pods of whales to be killed for food and oil that is now carried out largely for amusement. 'I recorded 248 pilot whales killed in one session,' Mr Kennedy said. 'It's not fishing boats and harpoons any more. It's motorboats and jet-skis. The whales have no chance.' 'The meat is meant to be eaten but we saw a lot left behind. Some of the carcasses were barely touched. It took me a while to unpack all of that.' The 'grind' is just one of the charity's concerns. Iceland, which once had a traditional domestic need for whale meat, is home to a large commercial whaling company that mainly supplies the Japanese market. Its owner, multi-millionaire investor Kristjan Loftsson, announced recently that he would not be whaling this season because inflation had dampened Japanese demand, but he also talked of being back when consumer sentiment lifted. 'We don't always believe what he says,' Captain Locky MacLean, who is in charge of the John Paul DeJoria, said. 'So we're keeping an eye on things. It's only a few days' sailing to Iceland from Dublin so we can react fast.' The big worry, however, is Japan. Since the country withdrew from the International Whaling Commission in 2018, it is no longer bound by the members' moratorium on whaling and it is ramping up its activities. 'There's a company part-owned by the Japanese government that has built a $50m factory ship that can hold fin and blue whales,' Capt MacLean said. 'The sides have roller door openings that the whales are slid through and then they roll shut like garage doors. 'There's nothing to get hold of and we can't get to the whales. Before, we'd throw stink bombs on deck to make the meat commercially unsaleable but we are going to have to think of other ways.' The foundation has been tracking the Japanese all around the Antarctic and North Pacific on what it says are stock-taking assessments. 'They're looking for rarity and banking on extinction. The more rare the species, the greater the delicacy and the higher price they can charge,' Capt MacLean said. It was on a trip to intercept a Japanese whaling ship in the north Atlantic after a stay in Ireland last summer that Captain Paul Watson, the head of the foundation, was arrested. Stopping to refuel in Greenland, an Interpol notice initiated by Japan years earlier was activated by Denmark and he ended up imprisoned for five months while extradition proceedings began. He was released suddenly three days before Christmas when Denmark dropped proceedings and is now in France awaiting final confirmation that he is off the Interpol list. For Capt MacLean, the campaign has been a 25-year vocation. Others, such as Mr Kennedy and the rest of the multinational volunteer crew in Dublin, can only give a few weeks here and there, but all contributions are welcomed. 'I'm not a sailor – I only ever kayaked and canoed before – but I've learned so much being part of this,' Mr Kennedy said. 'I admire Paul Watson and the foundation for the directness of what they do. 'A lot of groups drum up awareness but this one goes directly to where the whales need them. I'll be in Faroe again this summer and I hope I can keep doing this as long as I can be of help.'
08-05-2025
- General
Japan's Princess Aiko Visits Osaka Expo
News from Japan Society May 8, 2025 22:16 (JST) Tokyo, May 8 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Princess Aiko, the only child of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, visited the World Exposition in the western city of Osaka on Thursday. The princess looked around the Expo site from the Grand Ring, an elevated pedestrian walkway that is the largest wooden structure in the world. After being told that materials used for the Grand Ring were produced in Namie, a town in Fukushima Prefecture hit hard by a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011, she said, "This is very good for reconstruction." Princess Aiko also visited the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement Pavilion run by the Japanese Red Cross Society, which she works for. She watched a video explaining about Red Cross staff's activity in areas affected by natural disasters and conflicts. At the Japan Pavilion, run by the Japanese government, Princess Aiko said that she was struck by the huge potential of algae and microorganisms. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] Jiji Press
The Mainichi
08-05-2025
- Business
- The Mainichi
NTT to turn NTT Data into wholly owned unit in overseas push
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan's top telecommunications provider Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. plans to make its publicly listed subsidiary NTT Data Group Corp. a wholly owned unit to boost the competitiveness of its overseas businesses, which are mainly run by the unit, sources close to the matter said Thursday. NTT, which already holds around 58 percent of NTT Data Group shares, will purchase the rest of the unit's stock in a tender offer, the sources said, adding the total investment for the reorganization will top 2 trillion yen ($14 billion). The unit will then be delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The purchase is aimed at speeding up decision-making by ending the situation where the parent company and subsidiary are both publicly listed with separate shareholder accountabilities, they said. NTT said Thursday it will vote on the plan at a board meeting later in the day. NTT Data Group runs businesses related to information technology services and data centers, which are in high demand amid the expanded use of generative artificial intelligence technology. The move is the latest by NTT, whose top shareholder is the Japanese government with around one-third of its shares, to reorganize its operations in response to changing market conditions, with demand for landlines decreasing but that for IT services expanding. Turning NTT Data Group into a wholly owned unit would be the largest investment by NTT since it spent around 4 trillion yen to purchase all shares of mobile phone carrier NTT Docomo Inc. in 2020. The predecessor of NTT Data Group spun off from NTT in 1988. It was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 1995 and assumed its current company name in 2023. It booked revenues of 4.37 trillion yen and a net profit of 133.87 billion yen in the business year that ended in March 2024.
