The top or most interesting stories from Japan for the weekend of February 7.
– According to a report in Saturday’s Japan Times, the Japanese public believe if the executed hostages Kenji Goto and Haruna Yukawa hadn’t ignored travel warnings to go to Syria, Japan would not find itself in the headlights of extremists. The pair have been labelled troublemakers, echoing the criticism three released Japanese hostages received in 2004.
A report has emerged this morning indicating Hassam Ko Nakata, a radical cleric from Kyoto, had opened channels between ISIS and the Japanese government before they were closed when the Japanese decided to work with Jordan to free the hostages.
Nakata has been accused of being a recruiter for ISIS in Japan after it was revealed he helped mediate conversation between a local student and the militant group.
Meanwhile, the Japanese Foreign Ministry has cancelled the passport of the freelance photojournalist who hoped to travel to Syria.
– The brutal murder of an 11-year old schoolboy on Thursday in Wakayama Prefecture, south of Osaka, prompted a widespread manhunt that ended on Saturday with the arrest of a 22-year old man. (The Japan Times, The Japan News)
– A robotic snake is to be deployed at Fukushima nuclear plant to check on debris and take radiation levels, with inspectors unable to enter the area themselves due to danger it may present.
The Japanese government is hoping to restart most of the nation’s reactors which were shutdown following the meltdown at Fukushima, with plans for a reactor in Sendai to restart in June.
– Japan’s Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry have met to discuss the ability for humans and artificial intelligence (AI) to coexist, it comes at time when physicist Stephen Hawkings has warned AI could mean the destruction of the human race.
– Inspectors from the United Kingdom have compared Japan’s immigration detention centres to prisons.
– A team of Japanese scientists may have found a way to blood test for depression.
