Japan
Japanese city apologises over advice to pregnant women
A Japanese mayor apologizes for a flyer given to pregnant women, which shared advice from fathers on what irritated them about their wives after becoming mothers, sparking outrage and complaints on social media. The document promoted gender stereotypes and has been retracted.
TOKYO, JAPAN — A Japanese mayor has apologised after a public outcry over a flyer issued to pregnant women advising them on what most irritated husbands after their wives became mothers, an official said Thursday.
The flyer included a section titled “Advice from fathers to you”, which included answers to a survey of new fathers conducted five years ago in the city of Onomichi in western Hiroshima prefecture.
Officials have been sharing the responses with expectant women ever since, apparently thinking it would be helpful to know what new fathers liked and disliked about their wives’ behaviour after giving birth.
Some men said they were annoyed when their wives became “irritated for unknown reasons” or could “not do housekeeping work” because they were too busy taking care of the baby.
Japanese women have long struggled against deeply entrenched gender stereotypes, and there was a furious reaction when the document was shared on social media this week.
That prompted Onomichi Mayor Yuko Hiratani to publish an apology on Tuesday and retracted the flyer, city official Akira Takahashi told AFP on Thursday.
“The document is against the feelings of people who are raising children including pregnant women and mothers with newborn babies, offending many people,” the mayor said in a statement.
“The document included expressions that promote fixed roles based on gender, so we stopped delivering it. We deeply apologise.”
Complaints from the public have continued, however, partly due to local media reports on the issue.
“Why wasn’t it ‘from senior fathers to new fathers’? Why don’t they teach ‘what you should never do to your wife before and after giving birth’?” one person messaged on Twitter, which is being rebranded as X.
By Wednesday evening, the city had “received 156 emails and 51 phone calls, most of which expressed criticism about the document”, Takahashi said.
“We are currently reviewing all relevant documents to make necessary changes so as to address various ideas and thoughts about family issues.”
— AFP
Environment
Japanese scientists find microplastics are present in clouds
In Japan, researchers confirm microplastics in clouds, impacting climate. Airborne microplastics, 7.1 to 94.6 micrometers in size, found in cloud water, potentially affecting rapid cloud formation and climate systems.
WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES — Researchers in Japan have confirmed microplastics are present in clouds, where they are likely affecting the climate in ways that aren’t yet fully understood.
In a study published in Environmental Chemistry Letters, scientists climbed Mount Fuji and Mount Oyama in order to collect water from the mists that shroud their peaks, then applied advanced imaging techniques to the samples to determine their physical and chemical properties.
The team identified nine different types of polymers and one type of rubber in the airborne microplastics — ranging in size from 7.1 to 94.6 micrometers.
Each liter of cloud water contained between 6.7 to 13.9 pieces of the plastics.
What’s more, “hydrophilic” or water-loving polymers were abundant, suggesting the particles play a significant role in rapid cloud formation and thus climate systems.
“If the issue of ‘plastic air pollution’ is not addressed proactively, climate change and ecological risks may become a reality, causing irreversible and serious environmental damage in the future,” lead author Hiroshi Okochi of Waseda University warned in a statement Wednesday.
When microplastics reach the upper atmosphere and are exposed to ultraviolet radiation from sunlight, they degrade, contributing to greenhouse gasses, added Okochi.
Microplastics — defined as plastic particles under 5 millimeters — come from industrial effluent, textiles, synthetic car tires, personal care products and much more.
These tiny fragments have been discovered inside fish in the deepest recesses of the ocean peppering Arctic sea ice and blanketing the snows on the Pyrenees mountains between France and Spain.
But the mechanisms of their transport have remained unclear, with research on airborne microplastic transport in particular limited.
“To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on airborne microplastics in cloud water,” the authors wrote in their paper.
Emerging evidence has linked microplastics to a range of impacts on heart and lung health, as well as cancers, in addition to widespread environmental harm.
— AFP
Diplomacy
Japanese royal couple in Vietnam to mark 50 years of ties
Japan’s Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko visit Vietnam, marking 50 years of diplomatic ties.
HANOI, VIETNAM — Japan’s Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko were welcomed Thursday in Hanoi by lines of flag-waving schoolchildren, as they began a visit marking the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two nations.
The royal couple laid wreaths at the mausoleum of late president Ho Chi Minh, before heading to the former home — a traditional stilt house — of the revolutionary leader and feeding fish in a pond outside.
Akishino — the younger brother of Emperor Naruhito — was last in Vietnam, which Japan once occupied, more than two decades ago.
The two nations have maintained close diplomatic and trade ties, with Japan considered one of Vietnam’s most important economic partners.
Close to half a million Vietnamese people are living in Japan, according to Vietnamese state media, citing Japanese government figures.
The couple’s five-day trip will see them tour the central city of Danang, as well as Quang Nam province, where Japanese business people came to trade in the 16th century.
They will also meet the families of former Japanese soldiers who stayed on after World War II to fight for Vietnamese independence from French colonisers.
Vietnam, then part of Indochina, was a French-administered possession of Japan for five years from 1940.
In June, Emperor Naruhito and his wife Masako visited Indonesia, this year’s chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
ASEAN and Japan this year also mark 50 years of friendship.
— AFP
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