According to The Nikkei Asian Review, genetic material for wagyu beef, a Japanese delicacy and key export, was almost smuggled overseas in a recent incident, a close call that has spurred Japan to guard its cattle and their reproductive cells more tightly to keep copycats from breeding them.
Tokyo is alerting customs authorities and airline officials to keep precious wagyu genes from leaving the country, wary of a major blow to its livestock industry.
Last July, a man from Osaka Prefecture carrying more than 100 samples of wagyu zygotes and sperm in specialized containers apparently evaded quarantine inspections and boarded a ferry to Shanghai, according to Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
Upon arrival in China, he was stopped by customs and returned to Japan, where he voluntarily turned himself in at a quarantine station, telling officials he was "asked by an acquaintance" to deliver the materials and "didn't know it was illegal" to do so.
Japanese law on controlling infectious diseases among domestic animals requires that animals, as well as their products such as meat and eggs, undergo quarantine inspections before being taken abroad, with violations punishable by up to three years in prison or a maximum of 1 million yen (US$ 9,000) in fines. Exporting wagyu zygotes and sperm is forbidden regardless of whether they have been inspected.
Prefectural police are investigating the matter, after receiving a criminal complaint last month from the agriculture ministry under the infectious disease law -- apparently the first such complaint concerning an attempt to transport zygotes and the like out of the country.
"If wagyu were to be produced abroad and insufficiently regulated beef entered the market, it would hurt our brand value," said a cattle farmer from Hyogo Prefecture who raises Tajima cows, a breed of black wagyu cattle.
Most wagyu breeding is carried out through artificial insemination, as a cow's pedigree figures heavily into the quality of beef. Zygotes and other genetic resources are sold to cattle farmers under the regulation of municipalities and private business operators, and some municipalities place restrictions on carrying the materials out of the area where they were produced.
If a wagyu zygote were implanted into a different breed of heifer overseas, the resulting calf would bear the same wagyu genes, according to an Osaka Prefecture livestock industry group.
"We wouldn't be able to stop the production" of wagyu-like products if the crossbreeding process continued elsewhere, an association representative said.
The agriculture ministry is launching its first-ever inspection into the state of oversight and sales routes for genetic resources at roughly 1,600 facilities managing them. It is also asking transport providers to keep an eye on travelers carrying storage containers at airports and harbors. Customs authorities under the Ministry of Finance have called on customs houses throughout the country to take thorough precautions at border sites.
Japan's wagyu cattle represent "the fruit of many years of selective breeding by livestock farmers" and are "a vital piece of Japanese intellectual property," said Tamako Matsuhashi, a lecturer at Kindai University specializing in animal husbandry. "We need a seamless system of checks, covering everything from production sites to distribution, to prevent genetic resources from leaking."

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Business-Trends/Pirates-target-prized-wagyu-beef-genes

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/6972674 

Sharon and Gus Keech are making the most of falling property prices, low clearance rates and sparsely attended open house days by taking their time buying a new home closer to Sydney.
The parents of Lachie, 14, and Mia, 11, want to replace their six-bedroom Bayview home, which is about 34 kilometres north of Sydney, for a location about 25 kilometres closer, probably around Mosman.
"We don't plan to compromise too much on the house to improve the amenity - by being closer to Sydney and still having blue [ocean] views," Ms Keech said.
The couple, who run Touchpoint Global, an IT company specialising in airline logistics, believe the cooling Sydney property market has made finding the right property cheaper, less competitive and easier to negotiate the right price.

https://www.afr.com/real-estate/residential/property-downturn-has-upside-for-home-buyers-wanting-more-for-less-20190215-h1baw2
 
If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/9979796

According to The Australian Financial Review, oil major Shell is launching itself into the fast-growing household battery market and will for the first time start selling energy products directly to Australian consumers through the acquisition of Germany's Sonnen.
​The takeover, announced in London recently, represents another significant stride by Shell into the consumer energy market, following on from its acquisition of UK-based household energy and broadband provider First Utility 12 months ago.
It comes just days after Shell's head in Australia, Zoe Yujnovich, confirmed the energy giant's ambitions to extend its New Energies business into the domestic market, including developing a 120-megawatt solar project in Queensland, building on its alliance with Sonnen and potentially entering the retail electricity and gas market longer-term.

https://www.afr.com/technology/shell-enters-home-battery-market-with-sonnen-acquisition-20190215-h1bb9p

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/6429042 

According to The Nikkei Asian Review, Japan Airlines is looking to turn used clothing into jet fuel, with plans to put the alternative energy source to the test as early as 2020.
The airline will join Japan Environment Planning, also known as Jeplan, and the Tokyo-based Green Earth Institute to set up a collaborative council for the project as soon as early 2017. Jeplan already works with 12 retailers, including Aeon and Muji operator Ryohin Keikaku, to collect used clothing at 1,000 or so stores around Japan and recycle the polyester it contains. This next project will take cotton from the clothing and turn it into fuel with help from GEI.
GEI was founded to put biofuel technologies developed by the government-backed Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth to practical use. These technologies include a method of using microorganisms to process sugars contained in cotton into alcohols, which in turn can be made into fuel.
The plan is to build an experimental fuel plant at a Jeplan factory and begin test flights using a blend of conventional and cotton-derived fuel in 2020. Commercial production should be up and running by 2030.
One hundred tons of cotton yields just 10 kiloliters of fuel. Even if all the cotton consumed annually in Japan were used in fuel production, this would give only 70,000kl or so -- less than 1% of Japan's yearly jet fuel usage. But GEI's technology can also be used to process waste from paper mills and other facilities. The company sees clothing as just the beginning of a broad waste-conversion effort.
Making fuel from organic sources such as cotton still releases carbon dioxide, for example at the refining stage. But emissions are estimated to be less than half those from fossil fuel production. Replacing conventional jet fuel with biofuel, even in part, would help shrink emissions associated with air travel as global efforts to combat climate change gather speed.
Japan Airlines is also at work on other efforts to turn urban waste, such as garbage, into fuel. The aim is to create a stable supply of alternative fuels with prices rivalling those of petroleum products.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Technology/JAL-aims-to-give-old-clothes-new-life-as-jet-fuel

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
​https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/-129704055 
​

According to The Australian Financial Review, a national fast-charging network for electric cars should be built in the next five years, Infrastructure Australia has declared as it outlined its top priorities for 2019.
Lack of access to charging stations is a key barrier to the adoption of electric vehicles, with Australia still having less than 800 stations nationally - only 70 of which are considered "fast charging." The fastest charging stations under development in Australia could give cars enough power to travel 400 kilometres in 15 minutes.
It is the first time an electric vehicle charging network has been named as a "high priority initiative" by Infrastructure Australia, the federal statutory body, which on Thursday releases its biggest and most diverse annual list of project recommendations to date, naming 121 projects and proposals worth $58 billion.
Although some states have been developing regional charging networks, such as Queensland's electric super highway, there is no national network.

https://www.afr.com/business/national-electric-car-network-should-be-a-top-priority-says-infrastructure-australia-20190213-h1b74y

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
​https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/-infrastructure-australia
​

According to The Nikkei Asian Review, about 60% of major municipalities lack comprehensive support offices to help foreign residents adjust to life in Japan, a Nikkei survey has found, even as a new visa program is set to bring in more workers from overseas starting in April.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications instructed localities in 2006 to draw up action plans to accommodate the rising number of foreign residents, including setting up sections dedicated to that purpose. More than a decade later, just 41% of the 253 cities and wards surveyed have created such departments, while 57% have not, according to the poll.
The survey results suggest that Japan is inadequately prepared for the up to 345,000 additional foreign workers anticipated over a five-year period under the new visa program. Less than 30% have such simple assistance programs as helping them with garbage disposal and finding apartments.
"We have limited administrative resources in terms of personnel and costs," said an official in Naha, the capital of Okinawa Prefecture. "It will take time to tackle every measure."
The ministry asked municipalities to provide a variety of administrative services for foreign residents, including multilingual support, education and assistance with daily life. The Nikkei survey asked localities about measures on 13 items on the list.
The most widely implemented service was the provision of government information in multiple languages, with more than 90% of surveyed municipalities saying they put such programs in place. About 90% also said they are assisting with Japanese-language education.
But local governments have lagged in providing assistance with daily life matters. Only 26% said they help foreign residents find housing and crack down on discrimination on this front. On garbage disposal, a common source of tension with Japanese locals, 70% said they do not provide guidance on the proper methods. Just 4% said they are considering doing so.
Localities with high percentages of foreign residents are further ahead in their efforts. Forty municipalities where foreigners constitute more than 3% of the population have taken measures on 7.4 of the 13 items on average. This greatly outstrips the 4.5 for 67 places where such residents make up less than 1%.
The percentage of foreign residents grew in nearly every municipality in 2018 compared with 2013. The trend is likely to continue as the native Japanese population also declines.
Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward was the highest at 12.1%, followed by Toshima Ward at 10% and Arakawa Ward at 8.5%. The survey captured 44 municipalities with more than 10,000 foreign residents.
The poll was taken by Nikkei Research among 334 localities, including cities of more than 100,000 residents, between November and December, with a response rate of 90%.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Japan-Immigration/Japanese-cities-lack-support-for-foreign-residents-poll-shows

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
​https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/-65704999
​

According to The Australian Financial Review, farming insights business FluroSat graduated from Cicada Innovations' GrowLab in 2017 and is now scaling into the US.
Its product FluroSense uses the power of deep spectral insight to deliver early, accurate and actionable information on crop health and nutrition, drawing on the data it collects via hand-held devices, drones or earth observation satellites. The technology enables farmers to make better decisions about the management of their crops and to cut their water usage by up to 25 per cent while boosting yields by a quarter and using two-thirds of the usual amount of fertiliser.
FluroSat has its roots in the University of Sydney's "Inventing the Future" course. The project was born out of the founders' desire to find innovative solutions to complex problems of global scale and fascination with earth observation, the company says.

https://www.afr.com/news/special-reports/transforming-innovation-from-the-lab-into-business-20181108-h17oa7

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
​https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/5314758
​

According to The Nikke Asian Review, Australia's two main parties are campaigning on who can best deliver on jobs and infrastructure ahead of a general election that comes as the country's record-long economic expansion shows signs of losing momentum in real estate, a key driver.
The ruling bloc, the conservative Liberal-National Coalition, finds itself behind the liberal opposition Labor Party in the lead-up to the election due by May, a recent poll shows.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who will lead the Coalition to the polls for the first time, promised his government will create 1.25 million jobs over the next five years, in a Jan. 29 speech in the northern state of Queensland. He also unveiled a 240 million Australian dollar ($171 million) transportation infrastructure plan for the state.
"So what is the proof of a strong economy?" asked Morrison. "It's jobs. Always jobs."
Morrison followed up with a stop Wednesday in Melbourne, Australia's second-largest city behind Sydney, where he pledged to combat the area's traffic problems. "Our plan for a stronger economy means we can back the local projects that will help bust congestion around the city and suburbs," he said.
Meanwhile, the Labor Party has struck back with an employment and infrastructure message of its own, while stressing the party's bread-and-butter issues of worker protection and social welfare.
"It's about jobs, jobs, jobs," party leader Bill Shorten said in the city of Gladstone on Jan. 22. "And secure jobs, in Gladstone and across Australia." He promised to boost employment by spending AU$1 billion to build up the nation's hydrogen energy industry.
In addition, Labor is pledging AU$5 billion for rail projects in Sydney and Brisbane to help ease traffic congestion. The party also seeks to advance a proposed high-speed rail line between Brisbane and Melbourne.
Australia's economy grew for 109 consecutive quarters through September. But the commodities boom that drove the expansion in the 2000s has waned, undercutting local economies dependent on mining.
A housing boom later stepped in to prop up the economy, but property prices have recently started to slip, owing in part to slower inflows of Chinese investment. Rising urban populations have contributed to traffic jams, a source of resentment among voters.
In the general election, about half of the 76 Senate seats will be up for grabs, along with all 151 seats in the House of Representatives.
The latest survey conducted by The Australian newspaper and Newspoll shows the Labor Party with 53% support, followed by the Liberal-National Coalition at 47%.
The Coalition has held onto power since 2013, but its time in government has been marked by strife within its Liberal Party core. Liberals twice switched party leaders. Morrison took office last August following the ouster of his predecessor Malcolm Turnbull.
Labor is proposing an economic policy package that is not much different from what the ruling coalition is putting forward. But Morrison is quick to dismiss the opposition's agenda.
"I think I'm pretty blunt about it," Morrison said. "The economy will be weaker under Bill Shorten and Labor."

https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Jobs-and-traffic-jams-take-center-stage-in-Australia-election
  If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/-56098658
​

According to The Asahi Shimbun, FamilyMart Co. will start providing discount meals in March, so that families living nearby can eat in spaces installed in about 2,000 of the chain's convenience stores in Japan.
Children and their parents who live near an outlet participating in the “Famima Kodomo Shokudo” (FamilyMart children’s restaurant) project can get boxed meals, desserts and beverages at prices of 100 yen (90 cents) for elementary school pupils, and 400 yen for junior high school students or older each time they attend one of the program's sessions at a store.
About 10 people can participate in the usual one-hour session, which consists of an orientation, meals, and activities that include letting children operate the cash register, according to a news release by the firm.
Children who are in elementary school or older can join a session without being accompanied by their parents if they have their prior permission.
A pilot program at five FamilyMart outlets in Tokyo, Kanagawa and Saitama prefectures earlier this fiscal year received glowing reviews from participants, who said they enjoyed the sessions as it gave them a chance to have a pleasant chat with their friends.
Based on the positive response from the communities, FamilyMart decided to expand the project nationwide.
Kodomo shokudo facilities have been operated in Japan since several years ago by nonprofit organizations, voluntary groups or individuals and provide children and their parents who are having financially difficulties with meals free of charge or a cost of several hundred yen.
A member of the kodomo shokudo network civil group lauded FamilyMart for its move to assist low-income families.
“It is probably the first time that a company that has outlets nationwide has taken this kind of action at its own initiative,” the official said.
FamilyMart said it also hopes to reinvigorate local communities by turning its store outlets into communication hubs.

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201902050047.html

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
​https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/2000-100 
​

According to The Australian Financial Review, Developer Yuhu Group has acquired a new piece of land adjoining its Jewel luxury mixed-use project on the Gold Coast for $12 million, with plans to expand the project.
The group, which owns and develops another premium Australian tower, One Circular Quay in Sydney, bought the 1264sq m site on Wharf Road late last year.
Yuhu chairman Jimmy Huang said the land would be used to "develop additional amenities to complement the Jewel project".
The company says Jewel is shaping up as a tourist destination for the Gold Coast and Australia and any additional amenities will attract even more tourists.

https://www.afr.com/real-estate/yuhu-buys-more-land-on-the-gold-coast-to-expand-luxury-project-jewel-20190129-h1alqi

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
​https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/8759125 
​