Tag: Japan

Offshore wind projects hasten Asia’s renewable shift from solar – Nikkei Asian Review

Nikkei

JAKARTA — China is starting to build its largest offshore wind-power facility in the latest move in an accelerating shift in Asia away from solar to wind and other renewable energy sources. Work began in late October on the facility off Nanpeng Isle in China’s southern Guangdong Province. The project has a planned capacity of 400,000 kilowatts, and its developer, China General Nuclear Power Corporation, expects it to generate about 1.46 billion kilowatt hours of power annually when it goes on stream in 2020 Wood Mackenzie, an energy consultancy, sees wind-generated capacity in the region growing by a factor of 20 over the next decade, powered by Beijing’s plans for a 15-fold expansion. Guangdong plans to build 23 offshore wind farms by 2030, according to China’s official Xinhua News Agency. Meanwhile, Asia’s solar-powered electricity capacity is set to fall this year for the first time since 2001, as countries such as China cut subsidies.

Referee tech raising concerns ahead of Rugby World Cup in Japan – Nikkei Asian Review

JAKARTA — In the 34th minute of the July 15 France vs. Croatia soccer World Cup final, with the game finely balanced at 1-1, referee Nestor Pitana jogged to the touchline in Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium. With the roar of nearly 80,000 spectators ringing in his ears, the Argentine was en route to becoming the first official to use soccer’s new Video Assistant Referee system in the culminating match of the world’s biggest sporting event. Pitana spent almost a full minute — including turning back to the VAR monitor for second look — reviewing the incident, an alleged Croatian handball, before awarding France a penalty kick.

Ireland battles with EU rivals for Asia Brexit bonus – Nikkei Asian Review

DUBLIN — Ahead of the U.K. exit from the European Union in March 2019, several Asian financial institutions have already set up hubs in other cities within the bloc to ensure continued access to the continent. Ireland is among the countries hoping to benefit from Asian unease prompted by the Brexit vote, with Dublin regularly touted alongside Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Luxembourg and Paris as possible destinations for banks trying to reposition due to Brexit. So far, Nomura International and Daiwa Securities have set up hubs in Frankfurt, base of the European Central Bank, to serve their European businesses while still keeping their London presence; Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group has chosen Amsterdam for its new European base; and Bank of China has opened a new subsidiary in Dublin.

How can Asia clock out? – Nikkei Asian Review

JAKARTA — There is, it seems, a link between hard work and untimely death in Asia. Perhaps the most luridly tragic side effect of Asia’s push for growth is karoshi, a Japanese term describing death from overwork, often by suicides but also linked to exhaustion and stress. Japan saw compensation claims for karoshi and illnesses related to overwork rise to a record high of 2,310 cases in 2015. A government white paper published this October warned that almost a quarter of the workforce could be vulnerable to karoshi, with the benchmark set at employees who work more than 80 hours of overtime each month.

The suicide of Matsuri Takahashi, an employee of advertising agency Dentsu, in December 2015 seems to have sparked a more determined push for reform. The 24-year-old jumped to her death from a company dormitory after putting in more than 100 hours of overtime the previous month. On Nov. 7, Tokyo Labor Bureau officials raided Dentsu offices on suspicion of violating labor laws. The following day, Yasuhisa Shiozaki, minister of health, labor and welfare, said the ministry “will thoroughly investigate, eyeing the possibility of sending the case to prosecutors.”

US, Russia get terror on the agenda, but maritime rows dominate talks – Nikkei Asian Review

KUALA LUMPUR — Obama held a separate press conference at a plush hotel away from the summit venue, where he repeated his view that the war in Syria — the seedbed for IS — was the fault of the Assad government, against which the U.S. has funded opposition militia groups. “It is not conceivable that Mr. Assad can regain legitimacy in a country in which a large majority of that country despises Assad, and will not stop fighting so long as he’s in power,” Obama said, at around the same time a terror threat forced the diversion to Canada of a Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul to New York, while Belgian capital Brussels, the European Union headquarters, remained in lockdown due to “a serious and imminent threat,” according to Prime Minister Charles Michel.

A taste for eel – The Edge Review

PELABUHAN RATU – Europe’s eels, previously an alternative for Japanese foodies, are also listed as endangered, partly as not enough is known about how that species of eel survives in the ocean before making its way to fresh water. A recent research paper into the sector published by Bogor Agricultural University in Indonesia noted the decline in numbers of Japanese and European eel. “As a consequence,” the researchers noted, “tropical eels become important eel nowadays in the market.” The upshot for Indonesia, according to Toni Ruchimat, who is Director of Fisheries Resources at Indonesia’s Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, is that the vast archipelago could quickly double its current eel exports.

Myanmar, Japan see promise, problems in economic zone – Nikkei Asian Review

THILAWA, Myanmar — The Thilawa Special Economic Zone might be just a 45-minute drive from downtown Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city and commercial hub, but the Japanese presence is unmissable. Outside the site offices — an island of prefabricated shelters surrounded by acres of upturned earth — a row of six flags dries in the breeze after a short downpour. The yellow, green and red of Myanmar alternates with Japan’s unmistakable red sun on a white background.

Looking ahead to Brazil – The Edge Review

YANGON – While no Asian country is likely to match South Korea’s run to the semi-finals on home soil in 2002, Japan and South Korea have a good chance at repeating their 2010 achievements by qualifying for the knockout rounds in the 2014 World Cup. For Iran and Australia, Asia’s other contenders, escaping the initial pool stages looks less likely, with the Australians drawn in an inescapable-looking cliff-face group.

Myanmar asks investors to go easy – The Irrawaddy

YANGON – Mitsubishi might be among the Japanese brandnames lining up to invest in Myanmar, with deals done for revamping Mandalay’s airport and building a power plant at the proposed Dawei Special Economic Zone in Myanmar’s far south, but that didn’t hinder a senior company representative from telling it like it is to some Nay Pyi Taw government representatives. “There are too many laws, frankly speaking. We have to study so much to enter into the country,” said regional Asia and Oceania CEO Toru Moriyama, speaking at a business seminar in Yangon hosted by Nikkei, the Japanese media conglomerate. While Myanmar has passed several new codes aimed at attracting investors and pepping-up economic reforms, such as the 2012 Foreign Investment Law, some moth-eaten laws remain in place, such as the 1914 Companies Law and, even older, the 1872 Evidence Act.