Page 2 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
ASIA / PACIFIC
March 16, 2015
Tiny bird long thought extinct rediscovered in Myanmar
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Scientists say a tiny brown bird long thought to
be extinct has been rediscovered in Myanmar’s grasslands, but its fragmented
habitat is threatened by human encroachment. The Jerdon’s babbler was first
discovered in the 1860s, but had not been reported in 74 years. A team of
scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society, Myanmar’s Nature and
Wildlife Conservation Division, and the National University of Singapore said
they found the sparrow-sized bird last May after playing a recording of its
unique song and getting an answer. In the following 48 hours they found several
other babblers in the same area. “The degradation of these vast grasslands had
led many to consider this subspecies of Jerdon’s Babbler extinct,” Colin Poole,
director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s regional conservation hub in
Singapore, said in a statement. He said the discovery proves that the species —
and its habitat — still exists. The scientists said blood samples will be tested to
see if the babbler should be considered a full species. If the tests come back
positive, they believe the species will be exclusive to Myanmar.
Bangladesh orders diplomat to leave for smuggling gold
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh’s government has ordered a North
Korean diplomat to leave the country after discovering $1.4 million of unauthor-
ized gold in his bag when he arrived at Dhaka’s airport, according to a foreign
ministry official. The ministry summoned North Korean ambassador Ri Song
Hyon and gave him a 72-hour deadline to send the diplomat, Son Young Nam,
back home, the official said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity
of the issue. Local media, citing unidentified sources, reported that Son, the
embassy’s first secretary for commercial and economic affairs, had already left
the country secretly. The 59 pounds of undeclared gold was seized from Son at
Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalam International Airport, police said. No charges were
lodged against Son because of his diplomatic immunity, and he was eventually
handed over to officials from the North Korean Embassy, said Rashidul Islam
Khan, commanding officer of the airport’s armed police battalion.
Higher food prices, typhoon worsen poverty in Philippines
MANILA, The Philippines (AP) — Officials say poverty worsened in the
Philippines in the first half of 2014 due to a rapid rise in food prices and the
lingering effects of a killer typhoon. Socio-economic planning secretary Arsenio
Balisacan said the poverty incidence among Filipinos rose by 1.2 percent to 25.8
percent in the first half of last year from the same period in 2013. He says high
food prices, particularly of the staple rice, and effects of Typhoon Haiyan (also
known as Typhoon Yolanda) that devastated the central Philippines in 2013,
wiped out per capita income gains despite rapid economic growth last year. Rice
prices rose 11.9 percent in the first half of 2014 as supplies tightened due to lean
harvests and lower imports.
Former Sri Lankan defense secretary banned from travel
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — A Sri Lankan court has barred a once-powerful
former defense secretary from leaving the country as police investigate a large
weapons cache aboard a ship that operated under his purview. Police said a
court in the southern town of Galle imposed the travel ban on Gotabhaya
Rajapaksa, a brother of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Police raided the
ship in Galle harbor soon after Mahinda Rajapaksa lost a presidential election
in January and found more than 3,000 automatic and semi-automatic weapons
on board. They said the weapons were for a private security firm guarding the
seas against pirates. Opposition parties have questioned the legality of the
weapons cache. Gotabhaya played a key role in defeating ethnic Tamil rebels in
a civil war during his brother’s presidency.
South Korea renews license of second-oldest nuclear plant
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea has renewed a license of its
second-oldest nuclear power plant until 2022. The Nuclear Safety and Security
Commission said seven of nine commissioners voted to approve to restart the
Wolsong No. 1 reactor located in Gyeongju city, 170 miles south of Seoul. It was
South Korea’s first such decision since the meltdowns at Japan’s Fukushima
Daiichi reactors in 2011 raised safety concerns. The nuclear regulator said it
reviewed the plant’s safety in the event of natural disaster and other legal
standards. South Koreans were sharply divided over the fate of the plant that
had operated for 30 years until its license expired in 2012. Nuclear energy
provides about one-third of the country’s electricity.
China’s famed Shaolin temple plans big project in Australia
BEIJING (AP) — China’s Shaolin Temple, historically known for its martial
arts traditions, but which recently gained a reputation for aggressive commer-
cialization, is planning to build a $297 million complex in Australia that would
include a temple, a hotel, a kung fu academy, and a golf course. The Shoalhaven
City Council in New South Wales state said the developer, Shaolin Temple
Foundation Australia, finalized a land purchase at Comberton Grange for what
will be known as Shaolin Village. Mayor Joanna Gash said the city council and
the state government both approved the concept plan for the project, which is to
include a temple sanctuary with resident monks, a live-in kung fu academy, a
500-bed four-star hotel, and a 27-hole golf course. Planning officials rejected a
residential component, but the developer hopes to restore it, according to media
reports. The temple, built in the late fifth century and located in central China’s
Henan province, has rapidly commercialized itself under abbot Shi Yongxin over
the past decade. Shi has defended it as a means to preserve the temple and its
Buddhist cultures.
SOY SAUCE SAVED. Michihiro Kono, president of Yagisawa Shoten Co., holds his company’s soy sauce bottle,
named the “Miracle,” at his company’s new headquarters in Rikuzentakata, Iwate prefecture, northeastern Japan. The tradi-
tional soy sauce maker, destroyed by a giant tsunami four years ago, has made a comeback, defying tsunami-scale odds.
The secret lies in the little white bottle that holds the special ingredients that were passed down for decades. (AP Photo/
Eugene Hoshiko)
Soy sauce makes ‘miracle’
comeback in tsunami-wrecked Japan
By Yuri Kageyama
AP Business Writer
IKUZENTAKATA, Japan — When
the tsunami warning sounded, work-
ers at a two-centuries-old soy sauce
maker in northeastern Japan ran up a nearby
hill to a shrine for safety, and watched in
disbelief as towering waters swallowed their
factory.
They all believed the business, started in
1807, and its precious fungal cultures that give
soy sauce its unique taste, were lost forever.
Everyone except for Michihiro Kono, the
ninth-generation son of the founding family.
Four years later, Yagisawa Shoten Co. has
been saved through Kono’s conviction, crowd-
funding, and the unexpected survival of its
vital ingredient.
“If you don’t give up, no matter how painful
it gets, there will always be a way,” said 41-
year-old Kono.
The March 11, 2011 tsunami killed nearly
19,000 people and set off meltdowns at a
nuclear plant in the prefecture of Fukushima.
In Rikuzentakata, Iwate prefecture, where
Yagisawa is based, nearly 1,800 people were
killed as sweeping waters reached as high as
55 feet. Four years later, some 4,000 people
still live in temporary housing in Rikuzenta-
kata, mostly makeshift garage-like buildings.
Taking over as president from his father
shortly after the disaster, Kono kept the com-
pany going even when it didn’t have a single
product to sell. The tsunami wiped out not only
the factory, but also the entire inventory. The
damage was estimated at 220 million yen ($2
million).
As word of historic Yagisawa’s plight
R
spread, it got a lifeline from crowd-funding site
Music Securities Inc. in Tokyo, which raised
150 million yen ($1.5 million) from sympa-
thizers across the nation. Each supporter gave
10,000 yen ($100), half of it as investment and
half as a straight donation. The company also
received some government aid.
“We are a company in the boondocks and so
we didn’t know that much about crowd-
funding. We did not have a very good image (of
crowd-funding). We thought of takeovers like
vulture funds,” said Kono. “But it turned out to
be a great system for a company like us.”
From the start, Kono kept paying the
salaries of his 38 workers, more than half of
them women, and initially asked them to do
volunteer work, distributing emergency food
and clothing to tsunami victims. He believed a
person without work would lose the mental
energy to keep going.
Kiyoko Araki, 55, who lost her sister to the
tsunami and still lives in temporary housing,
recalled how grateful she was she could keep
busy. These days, she is happily packing boxes
with bottles of soy sauce for shipment.
A pungent scent wafts from the nearby
six-ton vats filled with the dark sauce. What’s
wonderful about making soy sauce is that it
takes so long to make each product, each
process requiring handcraft-quality care,
Araki said.
“And soy sauce is seasoning every home
needs,” she said proudly.
Six other Yagisawa employees lost a family
member to the tsunami. One employee died
while doing his work as a volunteer fireman.
By May 2011, Yagisawa was selling soy
sauce again, but products that were made by
Continued on page 4
Willamette University’s Seventh Annual Cherry Blossom Festival
Sakura Matsuri
Join us for a day of food, fun & culture!
Free performances w Featuring Takohachi
Saturday, April 4, noon to 5:00pm
Willamette University, Putnam University Center
900 State Street, Salem, Oregon 97301
For more information, e-mail <kfukunag@willamette.edu>
or visit <www.willamette.edu/org/jssl/sakura_matsuri>.
Sponsored by Willamette University and the Center for Asian Studies
Organized by Willamette University’s Japan Studies Student Leaders
Asian Currency
Exchange Rates
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77.805
4038.4
6.2588
2.0682
7.7657
62.966
13205
27669
121.4
8125.5
3.6855
100.46
101.77
2.6351
44.29
62.234
3.7503
1.3927
1128.7
133.05
31.621
32.925
21390