Page 2 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
ASIA / PACIFIC
October 1, 2018
Special throne for Japan’s next emperor arrives in Tokyo
TOKYO (AP) — The special imperial throne to be used for the coronation of
Japan’s new emperor arrived in Tokyo from an ancient imperial palace in Kyoto
more than a year ahead of time. Crown Prince Naruhito will become Japan’s
next emperor on May 1 of next year, the day after his 84-year-old father,
Emperor Akihito, abdicates. The Takamikura throne will be used at a ceremony
in October 2019, when Naruhito formally announces his succession. The
21-foot-high canopied and decorated structure was last used by Akihito in 1990
and has since been stashed away at the Kyoto palace. The huge structure was
taken apart for shipment to Tokyo, where it will be repaired, fine-tuned, and
reassembled. The 58-year-old Naruhito will be the 126th emperor of one of the
world’s oldest monarchies, and he will be Japan’s first emperor born after World
War II. The current structure was built for his great-grandfather Taisho’s
coronation in 1915 and was also used for his grandfather Hirohito, who was
revered as the god of Shinto until the end of World War II, which Japan fought in
his name.
Malaysia urged to ban child marriages
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia’s government has come under
renewed pressure to outlaw child marriages after another case of a child bride
surfaced in a poor rural state, the second in weeks. A 15-year-old teenager
became the second wife of a 44-year-old Muslim man in northeast Kelantan
state, the New Straits Times newspaper reported. It said the union was
approved by the Islamic Shariah court in July after her parents consented due to
poverty. The latest case occurred in the same month that a Kelantan rubber
trader married an 11-year-old girl as his third wife, but only became public
recently. Muslim girls under the minimum legal marriage age of 16 can wed
with the consent of the Shariah court and their parents. Muslim men can marry
up to four wives. The case has sparked renewed outrage among rights groups.
UNICEF in a statement slammed the latest child marriage as “unacceptable”
and urged Malaysia to bring legislative change to ban the practice.
In a first, HK bans pro-independence political party
HONG KONG (AP) — Authorities in Hong Kong have taken an
unprecedented step against separatist voices by banning a political party that
advocates independence for the southern Chinese territory on national security
grounds. John Lee, the territory’s secretary for security, announced that the
Hong Kong National Party was prohibited from operation. Lee’s announcement
did not provide further details, but Hong Kong’s security bureau had previously
said in a letter to the National Party’s leader, 27-year-old Andy Chan, that the
party should be dissolved “in the interests of national security or public safety,
public order, or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.” Chan had no
immediate comment. That letter had cited a national security law that has not
been invoked since 1997. The ban is likely to raise further questions about
Beijing’s growing influence in the former British colony, which was promised
semi-autonomy as part of the 1997 handover. Chinese President Xi Jinping and
other officials have warned separatist activity would not be tolerated. The
perception that Beijing is reneging on its promise of semi-autonomy and eroding
Hong Kong’s free elections and freedom of speech is helping fuel a rising
generation of young activists calling for greater autonomy, if not outright
independence.
Seven die of suspected drug overdoses at music festival
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Seven people died last month of suspected drug
overdoses during a music festival in Vietnam. The Capital Police newspaper
said several other people were also in comas after overdosing at the festival. The
music festival was held in a water park near Hanoi’s city center and attended by
thousands of people. The state-run media outlet said all the victims tested
positive but it didn’t identify which drug or drugs were involved. It said police
had seized suspected drug substances at the scene. Government data say
Vietnam has 220,000 drug addicts with police records and some 1,600 overdose
deaths annually. Methamphetamine and heroin are the most common drugs
used and overdosed, with meth use rising in recent years.
Japan digital currency exchange hacked, $60 million lost
TOKYO (AP) — Hackers have stolen 6.7 billion yen ($60 million) worth of
cryptocurrencies from a Japanese digital currency exchange, according to the
operators. Tech Bureau Corp. said a server for its Zaif exchange was hacked for
two hours in September, and some digital currencies were unlawfully relayed
from what’s called a “hot wallet,” or where virtual coins are stored at such
exchanges. The exchange was taken offline until details of the damage could be
confirmed, and efforts were underway to get it repaired, Tech Bureau said.
Japan has been bullish on virtual money and has set up a system requiring
exchanges to be licensed to help protect consumers. The system is also meant to
make Japan a global leader in the technology. Bitcoin has been a legal form of
payment in Japan since April 2017, and a handful of major retailers here
already accept bitcoin payments, but the recurrence of cryptocurrency heists
shows problems persist. Earlier this year, the Tokyo-based exchange Coincheck
reported a 58 billion yen ($547 million) loss of a cryptocurrency called NEM from
suspected criminal hacking. The cryptocurrencies stolen in the Tech Bureau
hack included Bitcoin and Monacoin. Of the stolen money, 2.2 billion yen ($20
million) belonged to the company, and the rest were customers’ assets, according
to Tech Bureau.
HIGH-FLYING HOPES. Atsushi Taguchi, a “drone grapher,” as specialists in drone video are called, who teaches at
Tokyo film school Digital Hollywood, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Tokyo. Taguchi acknowledges
that flying cars will not become a reality for years, but test flights in limited areas, such as an airport, will likely be carried
out sooner. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Will flying cars take off?
Japan’s government hopes so
By Yuri Kageyama
AP Business Writer
OKYO — Electric drones booked
through smartphones pick people up
from office rooftops, shortening travel
time by hours, reducing the need for parking
and clearing smog from the air.
This vision of the future is driving the
Japanese government’s “flying car” project.
Major carrier All Nippon Airways, electronics
company NEC Corp., and more than a dozen
other companies and academic experts hope to
have a road map ready by year’s end.
“This is such a totally new sector Japan has
a good chance for not falling behind,” said
Fumiaki Ebihara, the government official in
charge of the project.
Nobody believes people are going to be
zipping around in flying cars any time soon.
Many hurdles remain, such as battery life, the
need for regulations, and, of course, safety
concerns. But dozens of similar projects are
popping up around the world. The prototypes
so far are less like traditional cars and more
like drones big enough to hold people.
A flying car is defined as an aircraft that’s
electric, or hybrid electric, with driverless
capabilities, that can land and takeoff
vertically.
They are often called EVtol, which stands for
“electric vertical takeoff and landing” aircraft.
The flying car concepts promise to be better
than helicopters, which are expensive to
maintain, noisy to fly, and require trained
pilots, Ebihara and other proponents say.
“You may think of Back to the Future,
T
Gundam, or Doraemon, Ebihara said,
referring to vehicles of flight in a Hollywood
film and in Japanese cartoons featuring
robots. “Up to now, it was just a dream, but
with innovations in motors and batteries, it’s
time for it to become real.”
Google, drone company Ehang, and car
manufacturers Geely in China and Volks-
wagen AG of Germany have invested in flying
car technology.
Nissan Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co. said
they had nothing to say about flying cars, but
Toyota Motor Corp. recently invested $500
million in working with Uber on self-driving
technology for the ride-hailing service. Toyota
group companies have also invested 42.5
million yen ($375,000) in a Japanese startup,
Cartivator, that is working on a flying car.
The hope is to fly up and light the torch at
the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but it’s unclear it
will meet that goal: At a demonstration last
year, the device crashed after it rose to slightly
higher than eye level. A video of a more recent
demonstration suggests it’s now flying more
stably, though it’s being tested indoors,
unmanned and chained so it won’t fly away.
There are plenty of skeptics.
Elon Musk, chief executive of electric car
maker Tesla Inc., says even toy drones are
noisy and blow a lot of air, which means
anything that would be “1,000 times heavier”
isn’t practical.
“If you want a flying car, just put wheels on a
helicopter,” he said in a recent interview with
podcast host and comedian Joe Rogan on
YouTube. “Your neighbors are not going to be
Continued on page 4
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Asian Currency
Exchange Rates
Units per U.S. dollar as of 9/28
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78.32
4071.5
6.868
2.069
7.8258
72.539
14792
42023
113.44
8519.2
4.1049
116.62
122.22
3.3337
53.889
65.431
3.7217
1.3651
1109.4
169.15
30.264
32.287
23536