Sep. 4, 8am The Latest NEWS

0:00Friday, September 4, this is the the Asahi Shimbun Asia and Japan Watch news briefing. Rate of workers taking paternity leave exceeds 50% for first time. More than half of eligible male workers took paternity leave during the latest period, topping the one half mark for the first time and exceeding the government target of 50% in fiscal 2025. The results of the basic survey of gender equality and employment management for fiscal 2025, which the labor ministry released on July 31, show the figure at 50.9%, up 10.4% points year on year. Businesses are required, starting in spring 2022, to ask their male workers who have had a child whether they wish to take paternity leave. Labor ministry officials said that more male workers are taking child care leave partly because more businesses and other workplaces are becoming supportive of paternity leave. In addition, the increase also comes as younger workers are telling their workplace

1:01officials more actively about their desire to take child care leave. The survey was taken of 6,300 workplaces, with effective responses obtained from 3,291. The survey studied what portion of male workers whose spouse gave birth during a one-year period from October 1, 2023, entered into paternity leave no later than October 1, 2025. The male workers who returned to work from child care leave in fiscal 2024, the most, at 30.3%, took the leave for durations of at least one month and less than three months. The corresponding ratio was 28.0% in the fiscal 2023 survey of two years earlier, even though the figures cannot be compared directly because the survey methods were different. The latest survey of fiscal 2025 found, in the meantime, that the ratio of eligible female workers who took maternity leave was 88.3%, up 1.7%age points year on year. Of the female workers who returned to work from maternity leave in fiscal 2024, the most, at 31.4%, took the leave for durations of at least 12 months and less than 18 months.

2:09Hikone Castle wins Japan's UNESCO bid after 30 years. The council for cultural affairs on September 3 selected Hikone Castle and Shiga prefecture as Japan's nominee for UNESCO World Heritage Status, advancing a bid that has remained on the country's tentative list for more than three decades. Hikone Castle is the last of the original 12 candidate sites to be formally nominated after making Japan's tentative world heritage list in 1992. The mate obstacle had long been distinguishing it from Himeji Castle and Hiyoko Prefecture, which is already a world heritage site. Shiga Prefecture and the city of Hikone have argued that the castle symbolizes the Dimeo governance system of the Edo period, 1603-1867, where feudal lords govern domains with the support of senior retainers. A UNESCO advisory body said in a 2024 preliminary evaluation that Hikone Castle could meet the criteria for inscription, but the castle alone might not be a sufficient representation of that system. It suggested Japan consider a nomination incorporating other castles.

3:10The council for cultural affairs subsequently called for further comparative analysis with other castles and a fuller explanation of the governance system before selecting Hikone Castle as this year's nominee. Construction of the castle began in 1604 on the orders of Tokugawa Ieyasu, 1542-1616, and was completed around 1622, becoming the stronghold of the two family. Today, the site still boasts its keep, which is a national treasure, along with turrets and stone walls. The remains of the palace were feudal lords conducted political affairs as well as residences used by senior retainers can also be found on the grounds. Japan's most recent entries on the World Heritage List are the ancient capitals of Asuka and Fujiwara and Nara Prefecture. They were added in July, bringing the country's total to 27 sites. Japan faces days of heavy rain as Typhoon number 24 fuel-stalled front. The effects of a typhoon approaching southern Japan have heightened the risk of prolonged heavy

4:10rain drenching much of the country from the night of September 3, the Japan Meteorological Agency warned. The JMA is urging people from the northeastern Tohoku region to the southern prefecture of Okinawa to remain on alert for landslides, flooding in low-lying areas and overflowing rivers. Ryuji Nagayama, director of the JMA's Weather Consultation Office, said the Agency cannot rule out the possibility that it may issue the highest level 5 heavy rain emergency warning. The widespread threat is being caused by warm, humid air from Typhoon number 24, which was moving slowly northward over the sea south of Japan on September 2, and a high-pressure system flowing into a stationary front. After nearing Okinawa prefecture and the Yamami Islands through September 4, the Typhoon is projected to turn southeastward over water south of Kyushu and move slowly from September 5. The JMA does not expect the Typhoon itself to intensify significantly. This is a classic pattern in which heavy rainfall is triggered by moisture-laden air from a typhoon flowing into a weather front, an Agency official said.

5:11According to the JMA, many parts of Japan could experience downpours heavy enough for warnings to be issued between September 3 to 7. In particular, warning level rain is highly likely in the Haka Riku region from the afternoon to the evening on September 3 and in the Kinky region from the night of September 3 through the afternoon of September 4. The weather front, after shifting southward, is expected to stall over eastern and western Japan from the night of September 3. A similar atmospheric pressure pattern will likely linger, raising concerns that overall cumulative rainfall could become extremely large. Maximum rainfall over the 24-hour period through 6 pm on September 3 could reach 150 millimeters in the Toka region and 120 millimeters in the Haka Riku and Shikoku regions, the southern part of the Kyushu region and the Yamami Islands. For the 24 hours through 6 pm on September 4, up to 300 millimeters is forecast in Shikoku, 200 millimeters in Kyushu and the Yamami Islands, and 150 millimeters in Toka and Kinky. For the following 24-hour period, up to 200 millimeters is forecast in Kinky, Shikoku and

6:15southern Kyushu, 150 millimeters in Toka and the Yamami Islands, and 120 millimeters in the Kanto-Koshen region. Japan's National Nights are becoming Japan's new normal. Japan's summer nights are becoming dramatically hotter with a sharp increase in tropical nights observed across the country and heat stroke alerts rising far faster than experts anticipated. The Japan Meteorological Agency defines a tropical night as one where the temperature remains above 25 degrees between 6 pm and 6 am the following day. An Asahi Shimbun Analysis of JMA data found that Tokyo recorded 70 such nights in 2025, up from 43 in 1990. Osaka logged 87 tropical nights in 2025, up from 56 in 1990, while Nagoya's total more than doubled from 37 to 78. Even Sendai recorded 31 tropical nights in 2025, up from just 3 in 1990, emphasizing the spread of tropical nights across northeastern Japan. The JMA attributes the trend to climate change and, in urban areas, the heat island effect.

7:20Asphalt and concrete absorb heat during the day and release it after sunset, slowing overnight cooling. Heat stroke warnings grow. Heat stroke alerts have climbed sharply since Japan introduced the system in 2021. Warnings are issued when the wet bulb globe temperature, WBGT, is forecast to reach 33 or higher. Experts initially expected Tokyo to log about seven alert days a year, a figure that matched 2021. But alerts began rising sharply in 2023 and reached 40 days in 2025. As of September 2, Tokyo has already recorded 36 alert days this year. The trend extends well beyond the capital. Wakayama and Nagasaki prefectures each recorded more than 60 alert days in 2025. Overnight cooling tips. To cope with increasingly hot nights, architectural environmental engineering professor Kazuyo Tsuzuki at Kansai University recommends leaving air conditioners operating at a low setting overnight. Experts show that even highly insulated homes warmed by about three degrees within an hour

8:22after the air conditioning was switched off. Humidity also rose from 50% to 80% within two hours. Recommended thermostat settings vary by body type, but a general guideline is 27 to 28 degrees for women and 25 to 26 degrees for men, Tsuzuki said. Akaheto requests smaller, simpler funeral to ease burden on nation. The Imperial household agency, acting on the wishes of Emperor Emeritus Akaheto, plans to substantially scale back the funeral services to be held upon his passing, sources said. Akaheto, who turns 93 in December, had conveyed his desire to minimize the impact on the daily lives of the public because large-scale ceremonies were conducted over an extended period when his father, Emperor Hirohedo, died in 1989. The agency is considering holding the Sojo to no-gui imperial ceremony, equivalent to a public farewell service, inside the Imperial Palace rather than an outdoor venue, the sources said. The ceremony itself would be simplified, and the number of attendees would be reduced.

9:27Emperor Naruhedo and Crown Prince Fumihido, Akaheto's sons, have agreed to their father's wishes, the sources said. Akaheto has fully withdrawn from public activities since he advocated in 2019. With no serious health issues, he lives a quiet life with Empress Emerida Michko, according to senior Imperial household agency officials. When Hirohedo, posthumously known as Emperor Shoa, died, both the Sojo to no-gui and the state-sponsored Taisono-ray funeral ceremony were held at Tokyo Shinjuku-joon National Garden. About 10,000 mourners attended from Japan and abroad. A mood of self-restraint took hold throughout society, significantly affecting daily life. The Imperial household agency plans to cut the number of attendees for Akaheto's funeral ceremonies by several thousand compared with Hirohedo's, agency sources said. The special legislation enacted in 2017 to enable Akaheto to abdicate stipulates that the funeral for an Emperor Emerida shall follow the precedent of an Emperor. It effectively envisages ceremonies equivalent to those for a reigning Emperor.

10:29However, even prior to his abdication, Akaheto had indicated a desire to simplify his funeral proceedings. In 2013, the Imperial household agency announced components of its funeral policy for Akaheto, such as making his Imperial mausoleum smaller than that of Hirohedo and opting for cremation rather than a traditional burial. Akaheto hinted it is wish to abdicate in a video message released in 2016. In the message, he also expressed concerns that an Emperor's funeral ceremonies and events extend over a long period under Imperial tradition. Because these various, funeral, events and the various events associated with the new era proceed simultaneously, people involved in them, particularly the family members left behind, cannot help but be placed under extremely difficult circumstances, Akaheto said. Thank you for listening, for full and more articles, visit osahi.com slash ajw slash. See you next time and stay safe. Asashimbu News's Genbakara, Persona Rikii's Kanda Daisuke.

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