Latest news with #YoshihiroMurai
Yomiuri Shimbun
4 days ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Manga ‘Predicts' Disaster in Japan, Deterring Hong Kong Travelers; Governors Decry ‘Baseless Rumors'
The Yomiuri Shimbun A Greater Bay Airlines jet from Hong Kong arrives at Yonago Airport in Sakaiminato, Tottori Prefecture, on May 29 TOTTORI — Rumors circulating in Hong Kong that 'a massive earthquake will strike Japan in July' have prompted many travelers to postpone visits, leading several Japanese airports to see cuts in flights from the city. The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) stresses that the rumor lacks any scientific basis and says there are no signs of an impending disaster during the period in question. Only a scattering of passengers emerged from the international arrivals lobby at Yonago Airport in Sakaiminato, Tottori Prefecture, late May, after disembarking a flight from Hong Kong. 'I wanted to visit Japan before the rumor comes true,' a female passenger said. The rumor has its roots in the 1999 Japanese manga 'Watashi ga Mita Mirai' (The future I saw). In small writing on the front cover among other messages is one saying, 'A major catastrophe will occur in March 2011.' Attention was therefore drawn to the manga after the Great East Japan Earthquake struck that very month. In the manga's complete edition, a passage says, 'The real catastrophe will come in July 2025.' Prominent Hong Kong feng shui masters have highlighted this line, and since early this year it has spread rapidly across social media and video-sharing sites. The Japanese government in January raised the 30-year probability of a Nankai Trough mega-quake from '70%-80%' to 'around 80%.' A new damage-projection report released in March may also have fueled the anxiety. Greater Bay Airlines, a Hong Kong low-cost carrier operating five routes to Japan (Narita, Kansai, Sendai, Tokushima and Yonago), reduced its Sendai service in May from four round trips per week to two and cut Tokushima flights from three to two. At an April 23 press conference, Miyagi Gov. Yoshihiro Murai called the situation grave 'because baseless social-media rumors are hurting tourism.' Tokushima Prefecture's tourism promotion office has been receiving reports from Hong Kong travel agencies of a wave of cancellations over safety concerns. Tottori Prefecture disclosed on May 27 that it is negotiating with Greater Bay Airlines in light of the schedule cuts. The airline explained that 'reservations are stagnating due to the rumors.' 'People are losing the motivation to travel to Japan,' said Tottori Gov. Shinji Hirai. 'The impact is unavoidable.' The JMA states it is impossible to predict the exact time and location of an earthquake. At a May 21 briefing, JMA director general Ryoichi Nomura urged the public 'not to be swayed by disaster information that specifies a date. We strongly advise against acting irrationally out of fear.' Through the publisher, manga author Ryo Tatsuki commented, 'The attention shows heightened disaster preparedness, which I take positively.' 'Prophecies about earthquake timing have no scientific basis. If a quake happens in July, it would be pure coincidence,' said Naoya Sekiya, a professor at the University of Tokyo who is involved in disaster information research. 'Believing rumors is unwise, but it is crucial to prepare on the assumption that an earthquake can strike anywhere at any time.'
Asahi Shimbun
4 days ago
- Politics
- Asahi Shimbun
Shrinking city in Miyagi turns to foreign students for revitalization
The 28 students take turns talking about their goals during the April 10 entrance ceremony at the Osaki City Japanese Language School in Osaki, Miyagi Prefecture. (Ikuko Abe) OSAKI, Miyagi Prefecture—Applause rang out at an elementary school here that shut down in March 2023. The crowd was cheering for the 28 students aged between 18 and 63 from Taiwan, Vietnam and Indonesia who represent hope for the future of this city in the northeastern Tohoku region. The occasion was the April 10 entrance ceremony for the Osaki City Japanese Language School, the second public Japanese language school in the country. The positive reaction to the students was an indication that Osaki residents are losing their prejudicial feelings about non-Japanese residents. The city government decided to establish the school after Yoshihiro Murai won his fifth term as governor of Miyagi Prefecture in 2021, pledging to accelerate efforts to receive talented individuals from overseas to replenish the declining population. The Osaki City Japanese Language School classes, operated with the cooperation of public sector entities, are held at the former city-run Nishi-Furukawa Elementary School, which was closed due to a decrease in the number of students. Using a microphone, the language students introduced themselves in Japanese and talked about their wishes and goals. According to the basic resident registry, Osaki had a population of 128,718 in 2020. Since then, it has decreased by 7,492 over the past five years. The percentage of people 65 and older was 32.1 percent in 2024, higher than the prefectural average of 29.5 percent and the national average of 29.3 percent. The two-story school building was renovated using grants from the prefectural government and other funds. Desks and other equipment were replaced with new ones, while the library has a collection of manga books. There is also a prayer room for religious students. 'The school building where children's voices were once heard has been given a new life,' Toshimitsu Suzuki, 66, the school's principal, said in a congratulatory message during the ceremony. 'All you students revived the school.' The enrollees will spend up to two years learning Japanese while mingling with local residents and experiencing farming. They aim to acquire Japanese language skills equivalent to the second-highest N2 level on the Japanese Language Proficiency Test by the time they graduate. After finishing school, students will be hired by companies in Osaki on referral from the local chamber of commerce and industry and other institutions. 'We want them to energize the community,' an Osaki city official said. FOLLOWING PRECEDENT Osaki is following the example of Higashikawa town in Hokkaido, which established the first public Japanese language school in the country in 2015. Higashikawa has been promoting the community by increasing consumption among foreign students and taking other measures. It had only 50 foreign nationals at the end of 2012 before the school was established, but the non-Japanese population climbed to 541 as of April this year, a more than tenfold increase. The town's overall population has risen from 6,973 to 8,711. Ishinomaki city, also in Miyagi Prefecture, is considering a municipal Japanese language school to revitalize the community. MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING The Osaki city government has stationed an official at Nishi-Furukawa Station near the school to support foreign students who use the JR Rikuuto Line to commute from their dormitory. The deficit-ridden station had been unmanned since 2005 due to decreasing ridership. The students are now expected to help create a bustling atmosphere around the station. 'As the city's hub for multicultural inclusiveness, we have high expectations to meet,' said Suzuki, who responded to a public solicitation by the city government to serve as principal. He started working in April 2024 during preparations to open the school. During an explanatory session hosted by the municipality, Suzuki was surprised when residents expressed concerns that their children would be taking the same school route with the foreign students. Suzuki says he invites residents to classes so that they can mingle with the students and ease such unfounded worries. He feels the students have brought a fresh breeze into the community in the one month since the school opened. 'We will continue to deepen our mutual understanding and build an environment where students can learn at ease,' he said.
Asahi Shimbun
24-04-2025
- Business
- Asahi Shimbun
INTERVIEW: Miyagi governor: 'Multicultural inclusiveness a key to survival for local municipalities'
Miyagi Governor Yoshihiro Murai, who also serves as chairman of the National Governors' Association, responds to a question during an interview with The Asahi Shimbun conducted in Sendai's Aoba Ward on Jan. 10. (Yosuke Fukudome) Faced with a rapidly falling birthrate and aging population, local governments are opening up to foreign workers to fill labor shortages. In an interview with The Asahi Shimbun, Miyagi Governor Yoshihiro Murai said municipalities will have to compete to retain foreign workers who are drawn to larger cities that offer higher pay. The key to survival for rural areas is to realize a multicultural inclusive society, said Murai, who also serves as chairman of the National Governors' Association. Excerpts of the interview follow: * * * Question: According to an Asahi Shimbun survey conducted in October 2024 covering 47 prefectural governments and government-designated cities, about 40 percent have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) regarding the acceptance of overseas workers with foreign municipalities, universities and other organizations. Murai: It is so good because it is a manifestation of their willingness to work with many countries and move forward with accepting (foreign workers). Some foreign organizations that recruit and send workers to Japan collect huge fees from workers. But dispatching organizations can also feel at ease if there is a framework under which Japanese municipalities, foreign municipalities and government-approved organizations work together. The MoU has been very effective. The Miyagi prefectural government hosted a job fair event in Indonesia, with which we have signed an MoU, in September last year. It was attended by 1,200 young people, and at least one Japanese company has already decided to hire five workers. RAPIDLY DECLINING POPULATION Q: The number of MoUs signed by local governments, particularly those outside metropolitan areas, has sharply risen after the COVID-19 pandemic. A: That is because populations are rapidly declining in local regions. There were 19,689 junior high school students who graduated in the 2023 academic year in Miyagi Prefecture, but the figure is expected to be 12,830 in the 2038 academic year. It's a decline of about 35 percent. With most of them moving on to senior high school and the college enrollment rate remaining the same, high school graduates entering the workforce will disappear very quickly. We have no choice but to depend on foreign manpower. Q: Many municipalities have hammered out a range of support measures to attract foreign workers. A: When the technical trainee program is replaced by the new training and employment system (to accept non-skilled workers from overseas) by June 2027, it will be easier for foreign workers to change workplaces. When you fall behind in providing an environment where foreigners want to work and put down roots, they will move to other municipalities, particularly large cities where they can earn higher wages. I'm sure there will be competitions among municipalities. There is a growing number of foreign residents in all municipalities, and they won't survive unless they build an inclusive society. I think that building a multicultural inclusive society that is active, not passive, is important. Q: There is also an idea to give cash directly to foreign workers on the condition that they live in a certain municipality for a certain period of time. A: I don't deny it as a measure. But if it is only worth one or two months' salaries, I think it won't be easy to keep them after the time period is over. If we use money to compete, it comes down to who has more financial resources, and there is no way we can compete with municipalities in urban areas. We need to listen to foreigners to understand what kind of difficulties they are having in their daily lives and establish a comprehensive service. Q: There are voices calling on the central government to provide more financial support and establish a basic law on policies for foreign residents. A: I think we should accept more foreign laborers. It is often said that we must rack our brains to keep human resources from moving out, but we can't force foreigners to stay when young Japanese people are flowing into metropolitan areas in droves. Large cities also take in (foreign workers) because they are also short-handed, and I think we can't resolve the issue of the outflow that troubles local municipalities unless the overall number of foreigners accepted to work in Japan increases. Of course, that doesn't mean we must accept anyone. For example, I want the central government to consider ways to make foreigners who learn welding, landscaping or other skills at vocational training schools across Japan eligible for employment after graduation. HELPING PUT DOWN ROOTS Q: Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's administration has pledged to promote regional revitalization. A: I attended a meeting of the Forum for Consultations between the National and Local Governments held at the prime minister's office in December last year. I asked the prime minister to proceed with measures to help not only women and young people but also foreign human resources to put down roots in local regions. The number of children is rapidly decreasing. Meanwhile, we are also competing against South Korea and Taiwan to secure Asian workers. Local governments are in need of foreigners to live together in their areas. If we are to push forward with 'regional revitalization' only with Japanese people, we will end up battling for limited resources.
South China Morning Post
28-01-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Japan's growing Muslim population still needs burial plots
As the number of Muslims living in Japan continues to increase, so does the demand for burial grounds in a nation where more than 99 per cent of citizens cremate. Muslim migrants and converts face opposition from the local community, especially in constructing cemeteries where they can conduct an Islamic burial. While some local governments are considering establishing new burial cemeteries to accommodate foreign workers, the idea has not gone over well with some Japanese community leaders who have raised objections over what they say are sanitary concerns. Muslims who are considering staying indefinitely in the country say the limited number of burial plots makes them anxious about their future. Greek protesters, in the country and abroad, demand justice for 2023 rail crash victims In December, Miyagi governor Yoshihiro Murai said he was considering building a new cemetery in the prefecture after a plea from a Muslim resident who told him that living in Japan 'is very difficult' for his family because of the lack of graves. The prefecture in the Tohoku region in northeastern Japan exchanged memorandums (written messages) with the Indonesian government in 2023 regarding securing workers to support local industries. Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world. The Quran, the holy book of Islam, says that Muslims must be buried. Cremation is strictly forbidden. 'I feel that the government should be more concerned about the lack of attention to multiculturalism, even though it claims to be a multicultural society,' said Murai, pointing out that there are no burial cemeteries in the Tohoku region. 'Even if I am criticised, we have to do something about this,' he added. At 99.97 per cent, Japan has one of the highest cremation rates in the world. Photo: Shutterstock Elsewhere, a construction project for a large burial cemetery promoted by the Beppu Muslim Association, a religious corporation in Hiji, Oita Prefecture, in southwestern Japan, has been put off indefinitely due to opposition from the town's mayor. The plan initially seemed to be going well. In 2023, local residents approved the plan to sell land owned by the municipal government on condition it complied with ordinances for burial sites. The town did not object. The apparent smooth progress of the plan was in contrast with the opposition aroused in 2018 by a plan to buy a different plot. That had triggered rumours about alleged harm, including the impact on groundwater quality. For the current plan, the conditions included an agreement with the residents association where the planned site is located, promising no additional burials for 20 years in plots where burials have taken place and that the groundwater would be tested once a year. However, the situation took a bleak turn when Tetsuya Abe, who opposed the plan over concerns about public health, won his inaugural mayoral election bid in August 2024. The association's representative, Tahir Khan, was informed that Abe had no intention of selling the plot to be used as a cemetery after residents expressed concerns about the possible contamination of drinking water. United States and Colombia clash over deported migrant flights, imposed tariffs According to an estimate by Hirofumi Tanada – professor emeritus at Waseda University, an expert on Muslim affairs in Japan – the country's Muslim population was around 350,000 as of the beginning of 2024 – over three times the 110,000 Muslims in 2010. Fifty-four thousand of those are Japanese converts to the religion. In 1980, Japan had a total of four mosques in the entire country. The number is about 150 as of June 2024. Still, there are only about 10 major locations with burial sites in Japan with religious affiliations, including Christian sites. The law regarding burial sites does not prohibit ground interment (putting a dead body in its final resting place); local governments can establish them if they set requirements. But according to a national survey conducted in 2023, more than 99.9 per cent of cemeteries still only perform cremations. Muslims stand under the dome of Tokyo Mosque, an elegant, marble mosque built in an Ottoman style. Photo: Reuters Amid the domestic labour shortage, the government touts its efforts to accept more migrant workers and move toward the reality of an inclusive society. Abe, the Hiji mayor, says the issue of providing burial plots should not be left to municipalities, suggesting that the central government step in and establish guidelines. In 2021, the Beppu Muslim Association petitioned the central government to establish a public cemetery where people can choose their burial method according to their faith, but 'there has been no change,' according to the association. Khan, a university professor in Oita who came to Japan in 2001 and became a Japanese citizen, has a child born in Japan. 'We cannot give up on graves for the next generation's sake,' he said.
