Filed a lawsuit in Fukuoka District Court in 2019. They say being unable to marry disregards the principles of freedom and equality guaranteed by the japanese constitution. The government says that documents provision on marriage does not encompass samesex marriage. But the presiding judges ruling says that samesex couples are not given the benefits of legal marriages. Because of that he says the denial of samesex marriages is in a state of unconstitutionality. However, his ruling also one of the plaintiffs said the ruling could provide momentum for new legislation by the state. Translator the judiciary urged the government that it should advance discussions. We hope the government will move forward without delay. Japanese courts have now handed down five rulings on lawsuits filed by samesex couples across the country. Uedas the second judge to describe japans lack of samesex marriage recognition as in a state of unconstitutionality while stopping short of deeming it unconstitutional. Staying in japan, the government says it wants officials to discuss how to prevent the sexual abuse of children in culture, entertainment, sports, and other fields. The move follows allegations of the sexual abuse of teenagers by the late founder of one of japans biggest talent agencies. Former members of johnny and associates along with others are calling for the countrys child abuse prevention law to be revised. They want it to cover abusers with financial or social influence over kids. The childrens policy minister has voiced caution about revising the law. Hes argued such cases differ from abuse by parents or guardians, which the law currently targets. Ogura is set to lead a conference investigating abuse prevention with an inaugural meeting planned as early as next week. Participants include cabinet officials, the ministry industry, the Cultural Affairs agency and others. Theyre expected to discuss creating a system to make it easier for children to voice complaints as well as guidelines to stop abuse from happening. The government plans to compile and implement their proposals as soon as possible. Canadian Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau was in hiroshima for last months g7 summit. We now know that during his stay he took time for a private visit to the citys Peace Memorial museum. Group of seven leaders paid an official visit to the museum on the first day of the summit. A Canadian Embassy in tokyo said that trudeau went back on his last day to take a closer look at the exhibit. Trudeau said visiting the museum was meaningful amid growing Global Security concerns. That was an opportunity not just for the g7 but for outreach and partner countries to recommit themselves not just to a world free of Nuclear Weapons but one free of the conflict and dangers of war. The Museum Details the devastation caused by the atomic bomb when it exploded over here hiroshima in 1945. During their visit g7 leaders signed a book of condolences. Trudeau wrote, canada pays solemn tribute to the many lives lost. The unspeakable grief of the hibakusha, and it immense suffering of the people of hiroshima and nagasaki. He added their stories will remain etched in peoples collective consciousness. The u. S. Secretary of state Antony Blinken visited saudi arabia to meet with the countrys crown prince and foreign minister. The trip is part of an apparent bid to montane u. S. Influence in the middle east as china increases its presence in the region. Blinken held talks with Saudi Crown Prince mohomamed bin salm. They discussed efforts to achieve pea in yemen through a comprehensive political agreement. The conflict in yemen is considered a de facto proxy war between saudi arabia and iran. Later on wednesday blinken traveled to the capital rihad. Blinken also attended the Foreign Ministers meeting of the six nation gulf cooperation council. When saudi arabia and iran decided to restore diplomatic ties this year for the First Time Since 2016, beijing mediated talks between them. Meanwhile u. S. Media outlets report blinken could be on his way to beijing in the coming weeks and a senior washington official says his country could avoid a new cold war with china with more dialogue. He says theres a need for mechanisms to prevent unintentional military clashes. Curt campbell, the National Security coordinator for the indopacific made the comments on wednesday. We are still relatively early in the process of this round of reengagement in terms of dialogue and diplomacy between the United States and china. And its uncertain what trajectory it will take. Washington has expressed concerns over what it calls dangerous encounters in the past few weeks. That includes on may 26th when a chinese fighter jet buzzed a u. S. Reconsns plane over the South China Sea and last saturday when a chinese warship crossed over a u. S. Destroyer in the tijaiwan strait. He says having the kind of systems the u. S. And former soviet union put in place could prevent mishaps or worse. Ties are still frosty between the two countries. China recently rejected a u. S. Request for a bilateral meeting of defense chiefs during the summit in singapore. Last week the u. N. s Maritime Safety agency adopted a resolution condemning north koreas missile launches. Now the government in pyeongyang is pushing back. It denounlced the resolution an demanded the agency reflect the north korean position in an official document. The International Maritime organization adopted a resolution promised by 13 countries including japan, the United States, and south korea. That came after north koreas failed attempt on wednesday last week to launch what it called a military reconnaissance satellite. The north Korean Maritime Administration pushed back with a statement by state media. It describes the resolution as unfair and illegal and says north korea will never recognize it. The statement repeats north koreas claims that its k exercising the right to selfdefense. On sunday north korea published a commentary suggesting it might conduct another of what it calls satellite launches without giving prior notice. Taiwans president ial election will take place next january as the ruling and largest opposition parties squabble over how to deal with beijing. Taiwans Peoples Party is offering an alternative. He said in an exclusive interview his party will seek a dialogue with china while protecting taiwans selfrule. Ko is a prominent doctor and served as taipei mayor last year. Hes now visiting japan. Hes met with lawmakers discussing the situation in the taiwan strait. Hell run for president as the leader of the taiwans Peoples Party which he formed four years ago. Translator our slogan for the election is keep taiwans selfreliance and peace on both sides of the taiwan strait. It means people in taiwan make decisions on their political arrangements and lifestyle. First of all, we require adequate defense capables, and secondly a dialogue. There is no need for talks if relations are good, but dialogue is necessary when relations are bad. Vice president lai chingte is from the dpp which is seen as proindependent by beijing. He says the 2024 election will be a choice between democracies and autocracies. The candidate is currently the new mayor of new taipei city. Maintains a conciliatory stance with beijing and argues if the dpp remains in power the risk of clash between taiwan and japan will increase. He also says if he wins the presidency hell try to promote more high level talks between the u. S. , japan, and taiwan on security issues. A framework of dialogue involving the u. S. , japan, and taiwan is very important. There needs to be much closer ties between taiwan and japan in particular. If taipei and tokyo share a Common Ground itll be easier to have a common sense with washington. So, patricia, in taiwan two major parties have repeatedly warned the presidency. So thereany room for a third player . Yes, ko could be a threat to both parties. He says theyve been focused solely on their individual positions on unification with china or taiwans independence. He says they take virtually identical stances on all other issues. He criticized the two major parties for what he says are their populist policies and corruption. He says as leaders of the third party he will create a new political culture. He stresses that his taiwan Peoples Party has completely different dna from the two largest parties. Ko was reelected as the taipei mayor in 2018 defeating candidates from both. He says it bodes well for his chances in the president ial election. So how did thailands voters view ko as a president ial candidate. In may they came in first or second with support ranging from mid20s to 30 also. But ko is just a few points behind. In some surveys second place overtaking ko. President lai is popular with young people, but ko has the highest support of young voters in the 20s and 30s. Observers also suggest young people are exhausted from the constant disputes between the parties over the threat of either war or reunification with china. And some are unhappy with the planned extension of the military conscription period. Sources close to the two major parties say they believe many young people are hanging their hopes on third party to solve issues much closer to them. They include soaring commodity prices, wage, and high unemployment. Those issues are resonating for many in taiwan right now more than the relationship with china. Now, the rainy season officially started in the kanto region, rainstorms are on the way. Our meteorologist tells us what they should watch out for in this rainy update. Hello. The rainy season stretching up from western japan has produced downpours. The prefecture saw more than 150 millimeters of rainfall in only 12 hours. The heavy rainfall is shifting towards the shit shikoku region. The unstable weather brought hail into parts of northern japan on wednesday. Heavy rain also fell in hokkaido. A couple of locations recorded 30 millimeters of rain falling in just one hour in the afternoon. Officials were warning about heavy rain along with land slides for the area. As we go into friday, hokkaido will continue to have heavy feign rainfall, so downpours, large hail and even tornados are possible along with severe thunderstorms. Toward the south the rainy season front will continue to produce heavy rainfall especially in the kyushu and shikoku regions for the rest of the day on thursday and expand towards the tokyo regions. And you may see up to 200 millimeters of rainfall in the next 24 hours and the tokei and kanto regions may have up to 150 millimeters of rainfall. These areas are already saturated, so additional rainfall could cause widespread flooding. Urban flooding is also possible along with downpours. The heaviest rainfall may fall right around the friday morning commute, so please plan on extra travel time. Toward the west, the system extending across Southern China will also produce downpours. You may see up to 150 millimeters of rainfall. People in hong kong and taipei should watch out for heavy rain. Thats all for now. Have a nice day. Thats all for this edition of nhk newsline. Im yoshi ogasawara in tokyo. Thanks for watching, and do stay with us for more. This is newsline biz. Im gene otani. Japanese employees are readjusting to working without face masks one month after the government downgraded covid19 to the same category as influenza. More than half of the staff at one tokyo Trading House are without masks. Now that the firm leads the decision on whether to wear one up to the individual. It deals with Chemical Products and scrapped its inhouse coronavirus rules on may 8th. Translator when i talked to customers, i feel its easier to communicate if we can see each others facial expressions. Translator it is important not to make other people feel uncomfortable. Our employees are accustomed to antiinfection steps, so i think they can use their own discretion in applying them. The company has recommended work from home and provided a range of starting hours at the office as part of its antiinfection efforts during the pandemic. Sanyo trading says those options are Still Available for employees. Japans hot spring resort is making a comeback as a popular Tourist Destination due to relaxed coronavirus restrictions and government subsidies. Officials at the town west of tokyo say 17. 4 million tourists visited last year. Thats up almost 20 purse from 2021 and 80 f prepandemic levels. The number of visitors from october to december have rebounded fully from the seasonal average prior to the covid19 crack down. Japans government has funded to help draw in visitors. Translator well carry out pr activities abroad to attract in bound touristsch we hope more people visit from around the world. Travelers from the United States accounted for the most among overseas tourists followed by those from hong kong, south korea, and singapore. Japans economy grew more than initially estimated in the first three months of this year mainly due to strong corporate spending. The latest data confirmed the countrys Gross Domestic Product expanded for a second straight quarter. The Cabinet Office revised up gdp growth for the january to march period to annualized rate of 2. 7 . Preliminary readings show the economy expanded 1. 6 . A recovery in Capital Investment was mainly responsible for the upward revision. The new data shows it rose 1. 4 . Thats up from the preliminary reading of 0. 9 . Meanwhile personal consumption which accounts for more than half of gdp increased more than 0. 5 . That was slightly less than the initial estimate but still showed steady growth as people dined out and traveled more. Toshiba executives are urging shareholders to accept a buy out offer from the Investment Fund that would take the japanese conglomerate private. Toshiba made the announcement after a Board Meeting thursday. Board members accepted the offer by Industrial Partners in march with the aim of shouting out activist shareholders overseas, but until now they hadnt offered any advice to shareholders. Thats because they initially felt the bid was low. It works out 620 yen per share, thats about 123. Board members consulted a special committee of outside directors before reaching a decision. It suggests it has little prospect of achieving its financial forecast, and they said theres no chance that they said based on these considerations the price is fair. Ininvestment plant plans to move forward with its bid as early as next month. Tokyo railway is launching its train that features a luxury suite and cafe that features snacks and craft beer from the city of nikko. The runs between the district and the mountains north of the capital. The facility in the unesco heritage site, the train is a new version of the original that they introduced 33 years ago. The cockpit suite can accommodate up to seven people but passengers can choose from Economy Class suites and exclusive rooms. Original treats and beer from the area are available at the cafe. Its to allow passengers to feel the atmosphere of nikko as soon as they step aboard. Translator the express will connect popular places like asukusa in tokyo. Theyll offer up to four round trips a day starting on july 15th. 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 ajajapans tatami culture for future generations. 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 of a family that has had 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 his help on the future of the family business. 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 the 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 prepared. Translator our tatami mats are over there. Those four. Can you see . 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. Nhk world. Farmers on a Southern Japanese island are getting to work on the years first Passion Fruit harvest. The season will peak in the coming summer months. The native south american fruit is an important crop in kagoshima prefecture. Farmers produce more than 60 of japans output. He uses laundry pegs to keep the fruit from falling to the ground and bruising when it ripens. Translator Passion Fruit is sweet but it also has a refreshingly tart quality. I hope people enjoy these. Lets have a look at the markets. And from the newsline biz team in tokyo, im gene otani. Thanks very much for being with us. As people try to find their way out. Nick International Aid agencies say palestinians in occupied territories are facing a deepening humanitarian crisis. This, as they live under the continuous risk of israeli attacks. So why is their situation worsening, and what is the International Response . This is inside story. Hello there, and welcome to the program. I am nick clark