Page 2 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
ASIA / PACIFIC
June 18, 2018
Samsung commits to using only renewable energy by 2020
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Samsung Electronics, the world’s biggest
smartphone maker, has pledged to convert its operations in the United States,
Europe, and China to using only solar and other renewable energy by 2020. With
its announcement, the tech giant joins Apple and other Silicon Valley companies
in making such a commitment, but it faces bigger challenges due to its vast
factory network, while other companies use outside contractors for
manufacturing. Samsung, also a major producer of computer chips, said its
plans include installing 420,000 square feet of solar panels this year at its
headquarters in Suwon, South Korea. South Korea received six percent of its
energy from renewable sources, relying on coal and nuclear power for the rest.
“Dead” husband returns after police send wrong body
TOKYO (AP) — A Japanese wife has told police that the body she thought was
her missing husband belonged to a stranger after her spouse turned up alive a
year later. Tokyo police acknowledged that the body found in a river in eastern
Tokyo in June 2017 was of another man reported missing at around the same
time. Police apologized for the mix-up and said the remains would be returned to
the correct family. Police initially believed the body was of a man in his early 40s
reported missing by his family three days earlier and handed it over to them
after positive identification by the wife and two relatives. The body was then
cremated by the family. The family notified police that the man came home alive
in May. The body, of another missing man in his late 30s, might have been
misidentified because both men were about the same height and age, Tokyo’s
metropolitan police said. Bodies that are deemed unrelated to crime are usually
returned to the families after visual inspections and without additional tests.
The metropolitan police said they regretted the mistake and promised to take
preventive measures.
U.S. broadcaster loses Myanmar outlet over use of name
BANGKOK (AP) — A U.S. government-affiliated broadcaster is losing its
local partner in Myanmar after refusing demands that it stop using the term
“Rohingya” to describe an embattled Muslim minority. Radio Free Asia (RFA)
spokesman Rohit Mahajan said June 11 was the last day the DVB Media
Group’s network would carry its television broadcasts. He said RFA told
Myanmar authorities that it was unwilling to bow to their pressure to use a term
other than Rohingya. About 700,000 Rohingya have fled to neighboring
Bangladesh since the government launched a violent counterinsurgency
campaign last August in western Myanmar, where most live. Many people in
Myanmar call the Rohingya “Bengali” to reflect their contention that they are
illegal migrants from Bangladesh rather than natives.
Nearly half of Afghan children are not in school
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Nearly half of Afghanistan’s children are not
attending school because of war, poverty, and other factors, a new report shows.
The study, released by the Education Ministry and the U.N. children’s agency,
said that 3.7 million, or 44 percent, of all school-age children are not attending
school. It marks the first time since the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001
that the rate of attendance has declined, following years of steady gains in
education for boys as well as girls, who were banned from attending school under
the Taliban. The survey says girls account for 60 percent of those being denied
an education. The Taliban have seized several districts across the country in
recent years, as the U.S.-backed government has struggled to combat the insur-
gency. A long-running financial crisis, exacerbated by widespread corruption,
has further hindered government efforts to expand access to education. Wide-
spread poverty forces many families to push their daughters into early mar-
riages, often with much older men. The legal age for marriage in Afghanistan is
18, but the law is poorly enforced, particularly in conservative, rural areas.
Educating girls is still frowned upon in much of the conservative Muslim
country and is banned in the steadily expanding areas controlled by the Taliban.
South surveying war-split kin for planned Korean reunions
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea says it is surveying South Koreans
who would be willing to meet their war-separated relatives in North Korea for
temporary reunions planned between the rivals as reconciliatory steps. Seoul’s
Unification Ministry said the surveys — conducted through home visits, phone
calls, and letters — will continue through August 10. South Korea lobbied hard
for the recent summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean
leader Kim Jong Un. Seoul says improved inter-Korean relations are important
because Pyongyang wouldn’t be willing to give up its nuclear weapons unless it
feels its security has been assured.
Philippine police arrest nearly 500 in alleged online fraud
MANILA, The Philippines (AP) — Philippine police say they have arrested
nearly 500 people, including eight Israeli nationals, who they say are involved in
an online financial fraud that victimized people overseas in such countries as
Australia and South Africa. In one of the Philippines’ biggest anti-cybercrime
busts in years, police chief Oscar Albayalde said 474 Filipino employees and the
Israelis were taken into custody following the raid on three buildings in Clark
Freeport, a former U.S. Air Force base north of Manila, where the alleged online
fraud was committed. Police chief superintendent Marni Marcos said the
suspects lured victims into investing in foreign stocks in a fluorishing
London-based company then took their money through an online app after
obtaining their bank account and credit card details.
SOOTHING SOAK. This undated photo provided by Stephanie Crohin shows traditional baths and murals at Kasuga
onsen, or hot spring bath, in Matsuzaka, Mie prefecture, Japan. Japan is proud of its bathing traditions. For many western-
ers, though, the fact that these traditions involve being naked with strangers is awkward at best, even though men and
women bathe separately. (Stephanie Crohin via AP)
Bathe naked with strangers?
Welcome to a Japanese bathhouse
By Linda Lombardi
The Associated Press
OKYO — Japan is proud of its bathing
traditions. For many westerners,
though, the fact that these traditions
involve being naked with strangers is
awkward at best, even though men and women
bathe separately.
On my first trip, I tried to wriggle out of a
friend’s offer to take me to an onsen, or hot
springs resort. I suggested a different town
that had an attraction I wanted to see, and
thought I was off the hook.
I should have done my research better: That
town was famous for its onsen as well.
It turned out for the best, though, because
I’ve become a fan. Nothing is more relaxing
after a tiring day of sightseeing than a long
soak, and you can reassure yourself that you’re
experiencing authentic culture at the same
time.
Two terms are basic when talking about
Japanese baths: onsen and sento. An onsen has
natural hot spring water. A sento, usually
translated as public bath, typically uses
regular water, traditionally heated by burning
wood. Tall chimneys for the smoke are one
visual symbol of the city sento.
The distinction is noted because various
spring waters are supposed to have different
health benefits. Onsen are commonly found at
hotels and resorts outside the city, but there
are about 45 sento in Tokyo, for example, that
do have natural spring water.
For the outsider, though, the facilities will
look much the same and more important, so
are the traditions and etiquette.
Stephanie Crohin is author of a book in
T
Japanese about sento. For the past three
years, she has been the official volunteer
ambassador for the Tokyo Sento Association.
She has visited more than 700 sento across
Japan and her book and Instagram feed reveal
the beauty of their interiors, where
photography is usually prohibited, including
many traditional painted murals and
immaculate tilework.
She reassures first-timers that with
everyone else acting like it’s normal, you will
quickly get comfortable. “For some people it is
a big challenge to be naked in front of others,
but genders are separate, and everybody just
doesn’t look and doesn’t care,” she says. “It is
the ideal place to forget about complexes!”
Although you won’t have much trouble
finding a sento in a city like Tokyo, their
numbers are in fact declining. Last year, she
says, 40 sento closed in Tokyo. Fifty years ago,
there were around 2,700 sento in the city, but
now there are around 560, with 2,500 across
the country.
One reason sento are closing is that many of
their customers are elderly. Now that every
home has its own bath, younger people often
never cultivated the habit. Some sento are
trying new strategies to attract customers,
including presenting exhibits and events such
as concerts and developing English informa-
tion to attract tourists.
Another innovation: “super sento,” more like
day spas with additional facilities and
entertainment. One in Tokyo, Oedo Onsen
Monogatari, is basically a hot bath theme park
with a re-created Edo period townscape.
These may be an easy way in for the first-
timer, but if you want to experience authentic
Continued on page 3
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83.798
4050.9
6.4387
2.079
7.8493
68.017
13930
42345
110.66
8398.5
3.9858
108.85
119.53
3.1749
53.338
63.143
3.7501
1.351
1097.8
159.65
30.011
32.667
22719