In the early days of the coronavirus, but the government has been rolling back the restrictions since february. It currently allows tours to 60 countries including thailand, indonesia, and russia. Multiple sources say the Chinese Embassy in tokyo has told japan it could be added to the list as early as thursday. That would be welcome news for tourism businesses. Before the pandemic, chinese visitors accounted for 30 of inbound travelers. The Japan National Tourism Organization says that about 9. 59 million visited in 2019. Wildfires are tearing through hawaii, forcing thousands of tourists and residents to flee. The disaster has claimed at least 36 lives on the island of maui. The strong winds from a hurricane to the south are fanning the flames. Damage is widespread in the town of lahina. Local media say landmarks including a japanese buddhist temple and a large 100yearold tree caught on fire. More than 2,100 people on maui have evacuated so far. U. S. Coast guard Officials Say 12 were rescued after fleeing into the ocean to escape the smoke. We just had the worst disaster ive ever seen. All lahina is burnt to a crisp and its, uh its like an apocalypse. Holiday makers and residents in the resort area of Hawaii Island were also seen evacuating. U. S. Media say federal agents have shot dead a man they believe made online threats to kill president joe biden. Media reports say fbi agents shot the man wednesday while serving an arrest warrant at his home in the Western State of utah. The circumstances leading to the shooting are not clear. The man had allegedly made social media posts saying that hed heard biden was coming to utah and that he was cleaning the dust off a sniper rifle. Biden visited utah later wednesday to attend an event. Media reports say fbi agents began investigating the man several months ago after he allegedly made online threats against politicians and other public figures. They include Vice President Kamala Harris and several officials pursuing charges against former president donald trump. North Korean Leader kim jongun wants to put his countrys troop on a war footing. Hes reportedly ordered drills that would prepare them for an offensive and he was pictured pointing south of the border. State television says he attended a meeting of a state commission of the working rulers party on wednesday. He signed an order for practice of military exercises using the latest military weapons. Photos show him in a map of what looks like the korean peninsula. He appeared to be pointing at seoul and the military headquarters. Pyongyang last held a meeting in april and the regime claims to have tested a new solid fuel Intercontinental Ballistic Missile three days later. The u. S. And south korean militaries are expected to hold joint drills later this month. Kims latest move is wildly seen as an attempt to keep them in check. U. S. President joe biden has ordered limits on investment in china in three hightech sectors incoming ai. Beijing has criticized the move and hinted at potential retaliation. The u. S. Treasury department announced on wednesday that biden has authorized the regulation of investments into countries of concern, President Biden identified the order as referring to china. The three sectors are semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum information technologies, and artificial intelligence. The program will compliment existing u. S. Controls on exports of advanced semiconductors and other items to china. The program prevents surging investments related to technology and products that oppose the most acute National Security risks. It will also require notification for other sensitive investments. The Biden Administration says its tightening restrictions on some advanced technologies that could for military use but will continue Economic Activities with china in other areas. Meanwhile, beijing has imposed export restrictions on items related to gallium and germanium, rare metals used in materials for semiconductors. U. S. Treasury secretary janet yellen visited klein last month and confirmed that the two countries would continue to engage in dialogue, but Chinas Commerce Ministry suggested that it would retaliate, following the latest restrictions from washington. It said the u. S. Executive order deviates from the principles of a market economy and fair competition and undermines International Economic order. China has condemned remarks by former japanese Prime Minister aso taro over taiwan. He said a readiness to fight will serve as a deterrent in the region. Aso is Vice President of japans main ruling democratic party. He made the remarks on tuesday during a speech in taipei. He said peace in the Taiwan Strait is vital for the stability of japan and the international community. He said his country would be ready to defend that peace. The Chinese Foreign ministry released a statement on wednesday saying a certain japanese politician had visited taiwan, despite beijings strong opposition. It said the visit was meant to interfere in chinas internal affairs and heighten strait tensions. The ministry added china had sent clear signals to japan and strongly condemns this. It says japan will once again go down the wrong path. Japan has inked an investment treaty with angola that aims to promote japanese firms into the country. The move comes as china bolsters ties with the resource rich african nation. Japans minister met with the angolan president to seal the deal. Their agreement safe guards the assets of firms operating in each others country. It also seeks to prohibit unfair technology transfers. Angola is the sixth african nation in which japan has made an investment treaty. Translator its important japan strengthen ties in areas rich in key mineral resources. Angola is a key transportation hub for the region and is politically stable. The country is an important partner. Angola is one of africas major crude oil suppliers. China has been deepening ties with the country through massive loans and assistance to improve infrastructure. Japan hopes the new agreement will help its companies expand investment in angola which has been aiming to promote ties with nations other than china. Japans Weather Agency says as 5 00 p. M. On thursday lan had winds up to 26 kilometers per hour. It was moving west north west at 10 kilometers per hour. The typhoon is expected to come close to the ogasawara islands on saturday while it continues to develop. Up to 180 millimeters of rain is forecast over 24 hours through noon friday. Residents are advised to stay on the alert for increased risks of landslides and flooding. Lan is then expected to head north towards the izu islands bringing rough seas through monday. Its forecasted to continue moving north while maintaining its strength. It could approach the japanese mainland next week with heavy rains across a wide area. Japanese twoway Major League Baseball star otani shohei has made history once again. The Los Angeles Angels righthander has become the first ever mlb player to get double digit wins and homers for two seasons in a row. The angels faced the San Francisco giants on wednesday. Ohtani was the starter and batted second. He pitched six innings with five strikeouts, one unearned run and allowed only three hits. In the sixth inning teammate mike mustalk s hit a threerun homer that turned a 11 tie into a 41 advantage. It also earned ohtani his tenth victory. He helped ohtani set a longstanding record set by baseball legend babe ruth. He had tied the icons achievement last season with double digit wins and homers for the first time in 104 years. Straw mats known as tatami have been used as flooring in japanese homes since ancient times, but demand has dropped as lifestyles become more westernized. Now one company is taking steps to preserve japans tatami culture for future generations. Nhk worlds nihe yoshimitsu reports. Reporter its all about tatami at this place in Fukushima Prefecture which opened in april. Visitors can watch how tatami is made and relax in a cafe with a tatami area. It was created by he is determined to preserve the culture of tatami despite shrinking demand. Translator i want more people to become familiar with tatami. Reporter kuboki is the eldest son in a family that has run a tatami store for almost three centuries. After graduating from university he worked at a company in tokyo. One day he received a letter from his father asking for translator its not good if tatami mats disappear in japan. I realized i needed to do something about this. Reporter after taking over the business, kuboki transformed an old factory into a space where people can experience tatami. On the opening day many people from across the region visited. This family watched their old tatami being repaired. Translator our tatami mats are over there, those four. Can you see . Translator we dont often get to witness this. Its a special experience. Translator i want people from all over the world to come here. I hope visitors will feel happy and relaxed as they experience the tatami. Reporter kuboki is committed to his mission and hopes his revival of tatami culture will also revive this region. Nihei yoshimitsu, nhk world. Those were the stories for this hour. Im ross mihara in tokyo. We thank you for joining us on nhk newsline. Hi, im shaula vogue. On this edition of biz stream were featuring some of the most interesting businesses weve had on our show. Joining us now is murakami. Good to see you. Good to be back. Lets get started. Made to be worn as a daily necessity this emergency whistle was create by an eyewear manufacturer and a construction hardware supplier is now producing a wide range of emergency survival foods and have even created a cafe to feature them in. Todays on site report introduces Japanese Companies that have stepped out of their areas of expertise to create disaster readiness products. So today were looking at companies that ventured out of their area of pexer tease in order to create products we may need in an emergency. And as you can see i have one of these whistles, and lets see what it sounds like. Pretty good, right . Ive never seen anything like that before. What a great idea. So tell me how is your Disaster Preparedness . So i do have a couple of emergency bags in the house. The problem is i cannot remember when i bought them, and sometimes i dont remember where they are, so im not sure how prepared i am. Yeah, and i think a lot of people are in the same boat as you. Well, lets find out more about the eyewear maker that created the stylish emergency whistles. Hes the president of an eyewear manufacturer that also makes emergency whistle. The whistles are produced under their own brand and everything from design to manufacturing is done inhouse. Theyre made from a plant based plastic often used for making eyeglass frames. Its extremely durable and available in a variety of colors. What really sets them apart is their Stylish Designs that look nothing like a standard whistle. In 2011 fujita proposed making a new type of emergency whistle to suda. The idea came to him after he was distributing emergency whistles to residents. He realized most people didnt want to wear them because they stood out and didnt match their fashion sense. To be ready for a disaster its key people have a whistle on them whenever possible. With absolutely no experience in making emergency whistles, suda was hesitant at first but decided it would be a good way to try expanding his business. We made nothing but eyeglasses, so we had no idea where to start. We didnt even know what kind of sound it should make. First, he bought several different emergency whistles to see what was available on the market. During his testing he found in some were difficult to blow and others barely made a sound. To make sure the whistle could be heard properly suda enlisted the help of audio experts. They helped him design a whistle that produced a sound strongest at 4 kilohertz, which is a frequency easily picked up by human ears. They also made sure the whistle produced frequencies beyond 20 kilohertz so it would stand out to rescue dogs. The whistle pitches can vary depending on the angle which the air enters and exits. We had to make several prototypes often adjusting the width by a tenth of a millimeter at a time. How well can the whistle be heard in a real life situation . Lets compare it to a human voice. At a distance of 20 meters a strong shout is distinguishable but faint. And now the emergency whistle. The whistle can be heard much more clearly. For his first design suda chose to use bright colors to make it stand out when compared with other whistles. However, when he entered it into a Design Contest he was shocked to find that it received poor review. They said to me you must have designed this yourself, right . The concept and quality are great, but the design needs help. He took their criticism to heart and hired a professional to redesign the whistle. In 2017 the updated version was completed and the whistle was ready for market. Since then he has released whistles in a variety of shapes and colors including some in the shape of letters and even animals. The Disaster Preparedness expert says products like this are especially good for children. If children have whistles attached to their backpacks they can call for help in a variety of situations that they might encounter while traveling to or from school. In 2018 some of his whistles were honored with the prestigious good design award and were praised for their design quality and functionality. Depending on the model, the whistles cost between 25 to 50. While that may seem expensive for a whistle, the company has sold nearly 32,000 over the last five years. The product line now accounts for approximately 40 of the companys total sales. Since we started from scratch it gave us the freedom to try out different ideas. And if something didnt work, we could quickly and easily change things up. I think having that flexibility is what helped us to succeed. You know, ive actually been to their factory, and it was really cool to see these products come to life. And i think when you think of a whistle it may not be the first thing you think about when you think about disaster readiness, but you can see that having something onhand and easy to reach can make all the difference in the world. Yeah, i think thats a very good point. I didnt really think about it until now, but, you know, a country like japan extremely prone to earthquakes. If you get stuck, youre trapped in your building, you cant move, whats the point of having food and water if you cant move . So it just makes a lot of sense to have Something Like this whistle around you so you can actually ask for help. Right. And like this whistle necklace, i mean there are a lot of dual purpose goods and services popping up here in japan that are designed based on the idea of being useful both in daily life and in times of emergency. And you can see behind me phase free. This is what theyre calling it phase Free Products you can use in daily life and times of emergency. And theres a pen holder on the screen here. And if you take a look at this actually theres a device attached to it, you take it off, you spin it around, and you can charge the battery within this pen holder so you can charge your smart phone. So this is also something you would have on hand and easy to reach. You know, thats a great point as i mentioned earlier. I tend to forget where my emergency backpacks are, but these are the daily items that you see in your day to day activities. And therefore you kind of know where you are. And we have this saying. Out of sight, out of mind. And thats exactly why these phase i guess the allpurpose products are extremely useful. Well, the next company we visited has applied this phase free concept to food products. By focusing on flavor it hopes people will see as a goto option not just in times of trouble but whenever their stomachs start to rumble. Sugita has developed a range of nonperishable food products. He works for a Construction Company that up until recently had nothing to do with Food Production. When his companys Sendai Branch was damaged during the great east japan earthquake he visited to help repairs. It was then he realized how much obtaining healthy meals were able to obtain. I saw they were giving out rice based dishes like curry, but people can quickly tire of that. Thats when he came up with the idea of creating a range of nonperishable food products. He started with japanese dishes that would not only be lowcalory and easily digestible but could also provide hydration. The first dish he chose was a family favorite made with meat and potatoes. With no Food Production experience, sugita turned to a local food manufacturer for help. For example, to prevent the potatoes from losing their shape during cooking they heated them in advance to add firmness. Since it may not be possible to use a stove or microwave in the event of a disaster, he also focused on making foods that would taste good when eaten at room temperature. Since fat and oils solidify at room temperature, they limited oils as much as possible. And for the meat they chose lean shoulder loin. After packaging the food goes through a sterilization process. Usually high temperatures are applied over a short period of time. However, sugita chose to use lower temperatures over a longer period of time to ensure the foods flavor isnt lost or compromised. Sugita is really strict when it comes to flavor. It takes us a minimum of three months of taste testing before we can settle on a final recipe for a product. The main concept was to create meals that taste just like home cooking. It took a lot of trial and error to get the flavors right, but i think we got what we wanted and are happy with the final product. The packaging contains a layer of aluminum which prevents oxygen from getting inside and causing deterioration. While nonperishable foods packaged in standard retail pouches last about two years, these products have a shelf life of five years. The companys product lineup now offers 76 different items with prices ranging between 2 to 8. In september of 2021, the Company Opened a cafe in ginza, one of tokyos best named shopping districts. All are nonperishable foods poured from pouch to plate. Even the potatoes are packed with flavor. Everything is delicious. By getting people more accustomed to and satisfied with nonperishable foods, we hope to increase demand and continue to develop all sorts of new products. You know from what i saw the food looked really good, and they even opened a cafe, right . Thats really impressive. But after a disaster some people need to rely on these products for a really long time, so something that tastes good comes into play with wellbeing. Exactly. A lot of emergency foods are dry foods, probably ones that i have in my emergency bags as well and it doesnt really taste all that great. And also i feel that there are many preservatives that are used in these products. So im very surprised to see how tasteful these new products are and also how healthful they are. And whats amazing this doesnt use any artificial preservatives, which is quite amazing. My fellow biztomy member raja pradhan said it tasted great and his children enjoyed it which is a big part of it. We look at two companies that stepped out of their comfort zones to make these emergency readiness goods. Did you have any final thoughts on the show . We did talk about emergency readiness but the importance these products are dual products. And these are products borne out of companies which were not in traditional industries, which would make these products. So thats how innovations, you know, come about, and its encouraging these types of products are coming to market. Definitely. Thanks for joining us today. Thanks for having me. Thats it for today. Unrest in ethiopia is amhara region. What is driving the conflict, how is the government addressing the grievances . This is inside story. Adrian welcome to the program. Conflict has returned to ethiopia, this time in amhara
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