Transcript

Hello and welcome to today’s news from Japan Daily News on September 27th, 2023. In today’s news, a former police inspector in Chiba Prefecture has been sentenced to 13 years in prison for sexually assaulting three women and committing other crimes, including filming another woman without her consent. The Chiba District Court described the crimes as extremely malicious and the suffering endured by the victims immeasurable.

Moving on to our next story, the mayor of Tsushima City in Nagasaki Prefecture has announced that the city will not accept the first stage of the investigation into the selection of a disposal site for high-level radioactive waste, also known as ‘nuclear waste’. The debate over the disposal site continues, with the mayor expressing the intention to reject the literature survey.

Now, let’s turn our attention to the world of shogi, a traditional Japanese board game. The third game of the ‘Oza Sen’ (King Championship) is underway in Nagoya. The current Oza, Takuya Nagase, and challenger Sota Fujii have each won one game. Nagase is aiming to defend his title, while Fujii has the chance to become the first player in history to hold all eight major titles.

In other news, a former director of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics organizing committee, Tsunayoshi Takahashi, appeared as a witness in the trial of the alleged bribe giver. However, he refused to testify, stating that it could potentially affect his own trial.

Moving on, residents in a residential area of Sapporo have reported sightings of three bears, believed to be a mother and her cubs. This is the third consecutive day of bear sightings in the area, causing concern among local authorities and prompting increased vigilance, such as school staff and parents accompanying children to school.

Shifting our focus to Okinawa, Governor Denny Tamaki has stated that it will be difficult to approve the construction of the relocation site for the U.S. military Futenma base in Henoko, Nago City by the recommended deadline of the 27th. He emphasized the need to analyze opinions from residents and scholars to ensure stable governance of the prefecture.

Lastly, a railway company in Fujisawa City, Kanagawa Prefecture, has established a new learning space with a railway theme for children who are not attending school. The aim is to provide an alternative educational environment and deepen their knowledge and interest in trains. And now for the weather. Today in Tokyo, the weather will be sunny with a high of 26°C and a low of 24°C. And that’s all for today’s news. Thanks for listening to Japan Daily News.