This week, I had the feeling that everything I tried to read was too difficult… It happens I guess… 😐 Some survey Last week, I wrote about Yanase’s answers to the Diet concerning the Kake Gakuen scandal. He kept saying that he did not report his activities to Abe and that the Prime Minister did not know that arrangements were being made to favour his friend ‘s institution. On Monday, Abe echoed Yanase’s assertion by saying “報告は受けていない” (source). In other words, he confirmed that Yanase did not report (報告・ほうこく) to him concerning the meeting he had with Kake’s people. Abe added: “国家の重大事でない限り、（秘書官から）途中段階で説明を受けることはほとんどない” (source). As long as it is not an important case, it is rare that he receives explanations from his secretary while the work is still in progress. To go on with the repercussions of Yanase’s hearing at the Diet, let’s take a look at the results of a survey of public opinion 世論調査 (よろんちょうさ). Mainichi made public the result of a survey that took place over two days (on the 12th and 13th …

Here are some articles that caught my eye in the news this week! Tokyo Rainbow Pride 2018 Around 7000 persons participated in Tokyo Rainbow Parade 2018 on Sunday (6th): 「愛に平等を」 ７０００人行進. The Tokyo Rainbow Pride took place for the first time in 2012, so it was the seventh edition this year. At first, I didn’t understand the number given by Mainichi, it seemed underestimated. But I guess that only 7000 persons took part in the Parade itself, while the event as a whole drew much more participants. It is at least what suggests the Wikipedia page. The slogans were: 「すべての愛に平等を」 「同性婚法制化」 「誰も排除しない社会を」 The parade was only a part of the whole Tokyo Rainbow Pride that included concerts, discussions and seminars. Members of the Diet also participated, both from the party in power and from the opposition: パレードには与野党の国会議員や自治体の議員も多数参加した. 国会議員・こっかいぎいん: member of the Diet 自治体・じちたい: local government One politician said that in 2000 when he participated for the first time to the parade, which took place, I guess, unofficially, they marched in a “撮影禁止ゾーン”: 「２０００年に初めてパレードに参加した時は撮影禁止ゾーンで歩いたのに、今日はたくさんの仲間と歩けてうれしい。お祭りの盛り上がりに、法整備も追い付かなければ」 法整備・ほうせいび: I think that this …

Order of the Rising Sun On Sunday (29th), the government announced the recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun. Beat Takeshi ビートたけし (Takeshi KITANO) received the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette: たけし“らしく”喜び「これを糧にノーベル賞目指す」（スポニチ）. I stumbled across a lot of unknown words in this article: 叙勲・じょくん: bestowal of an order. The verb 叙勲する means “confer a decoration” and the passive form 叙勲される “be decorated”. 春の叙勲・はるのじょくん: the Spring Conferment of Decorations 旭日章・きょくじつしょう: Order of the Rising Sun 瑞宝章・ずいほうしょう: Order of the Sacred Treasure 旭日小綬章・きょくじつしょうじゅしょう: The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette (This is the one that Kitano received, don’t ask me what it is exactly). (I found a great source for English appellation of Japanese orders.) I am not surprised that he should receive such a high distinction, I am surprised that he didn’t receive it earlier. In France, he was named a Commander of the Order of the Arts and Letters in 2010 and was even rewarded the Legion of Honour in 2016 (named Officier). The article by Mainichi underlines this fact and says …

I must admit that I haven’t read a lot of the news this week… I also wanted to read articles from Asahi website to compare them with Mainichi. It is hard to admit it, but I stuck to Mainichi out of laziness. I am used to using their app and their website, and it created a kind of cosy area and routine that makes up for the discomfort of reading in Japanese. Even if I were told that another newspaper is better, I would not want to change now. I wonder how many other things I keep doing just because I am too lazy to change…? 😳 Opposition asks for Aso’s resignation Both the Moritomo Gakuen scandal and Fukuda’s accusation of sexual harassment took place in the Ministry of Finance. The opposition is asking for Finance Minister Aso to resign: 麻生氏「進退考えぬ」 財務省、次官再聴取へ. The first sentence of this article is tricky (I had to re-read it several times before understanding it): 麻生太郎財務相は１９日（日本時間２０日午前）、訪問先の米ワシントンで、財務省の福田淳一事務次官のセクハラ疑惑などを受けて麻生氏の辞任を求める声が高まっていることについて、記者団に「進退は考えていない」と話した。 When I first read it, I was wondering why anything relative to Fukuda should take …

I have decided to stop using the site NHK to write my post because the links get broken very soon. So this time, all the sources come from mainichi.jp. I focused more on politics this week. Demonstration against Abe On Saturday (14th), 30,000 demonstrators were protesting before the Diet building: 安倍政権退陣迫る 森友・加計問題で３万人. On the video, we can hear them chanting “安倍やめろ”. The demonstration was before the National Diet Building in Nagatacho in Tokyo: “東京・永田町の国会議事堂前”. 永田町・ながたちょう: Nagatacho 国会議事堂・こっかいぎじどう: The National Diet Building The article says that the number of 30,000 demonstrators was provided by the organisers: “主催者発表”, but they don’t give the police’s estimation. 主催者・しゅさいしゃ means “sponsor”, “promoter”. The Kake Gakuen scandal The demonstration is a response to the falsification of the documents relative to the Moritomo Gakuen scandal and the recent developments concerning the Kake Gakuen scandal. “森友学園を巡る財務省の公文書改ざんや、加計学園の獣医学部新設計画について当時の首相秘書官が「首相案件」と発言したとされる文書が見つかった問題“ The underlined part summarises the issue: among the documents found recently, there is a citation from the Executive Secretary to the Prime Minister of the time who said that the opening of the veterinary department inside the Kake Gakuen was …

A lot of things happened this week in Japan, and it is hard to catch up with everything! 🤯 In any case, these are the subjects that caught my attention, with a special part devoted to the labour reform at the end. I have also realised that the articles on NHK News web do not stay on their website for more than a week or so 😱… as a consequence, the links are bound to be broken soon 😲. Animals mistreat: 68 cases reported last year In this article 動物虐待で警察が摘発 過去最多の68件, we learn that the Japanese police 警察庁 is keeping statistics concerning the mistreatment 虐待 towards pets since Heisei 22 year, or 2010. Last year, the number of cases reported 摘発された事件 to the police was 68, the most significant number since they started keeping statistics 統計を取り始めてから. This does not mean that cruelty towards animals is increasing, but the number of reported cases is. Notably, people are reporting cases of uploaded video showing mistreatments to the police: 虐待している動画をインターネット上で見つけた人が警察に通報するケースが増えている. 警察庁・けいさつちょう: the National Police Agency 虐待・ぎゃくたい: cruel-treatment, mistreatment, abuse, cruelty. 摘発する・てきはつする: to expose, to …