🇯🇵Week of September 28

The director-general of the Statistics Bureau at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications filed a criminal complaint with the Toyama Prefectural Police against Toyama city employees on suspicion of violating the Statistics Act. The complaint alleges the city inflated its population in the national census. The ministry says the suspected over-reporting involved more than 2,000 people.1234

The complaint was filed with the prefectural police headquarters in Toyama Prefecture. The Statistics Bureau chief is the official who lodged it.124

At a hospital in Narita, a large volume of earth and sand flowed into the building during the typhoon; a photo feature records the scene and a witness describing a sound never heard before.1

Repair work is continuing on levees in Chiba, including the breached embankment at Lake Inba, where crews are working at a rapid pace. Typhoon No. 26 is forecast to approach the Kanto region in the latter half of the week, raising the prospect of heavy rain again over the same disaster-hit areas.23

Facilities damaged by the earlier storm have little room for further countermeasures, with one affected site saying there is no way to prepare for another hit.2

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met former Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya in Beijing, the first official talks since Prime Minister Takaichi's remarks concerning a Taiwan contingency. Wang demanded that the 'erroneous remarks' be corrected. Iwaya also met Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Beijing as part of a delegation from the Japan-China Friendship Parliamentary League.12345

Chief Cabinet Secretary Kihara declined to comment on the meeting, saying only that 'multi-layered communication is important' and that the government will 'continue to take appropriate measures.' He avoided directly addressing China's demand to correct the Taiwan remarks.267

The visit is being watched as a possible opening for improving Japan-China relations. Komeito representative Yuichiro Tamaki called it 'meaningful' and 'a first step toward opening a circuit' for bilateral improvement.8

A Japanese hospital has carried out the first transplant of heart muscle sheets made from iPS cells since the product was approved for practical use. The procedure was performed at Osaka Keisatsu Hospital, according to NHK. The sheets are the first regenerative medicine product derived from iPS cells to be used in a patient.123

The patient who received the transplant is a person with heart failure. The patient's wish, as reported, is to take a long walk with their pet dog. The surgery marks the world's first use of a practical iPS-derived regenerative medicine product.413

The transplant was the first surgery of its kind after the iPS heart muscle cell sheets received approval. The procedure was conducted at Osaka Keisatsu Hospital. The event is described as the world's first use of a practical regenerative medicine product.1523

Anthropic, the US artificial intelligence developer, has warned in documents prepared for its stock market listing that advanced AI carries a risk to the survival of humanity. The filing states that mishandling such technology could cause irreversible harm. The warning was reported by Reuters and carried by Japanese outlets.12345

The disclosure was made to investors as part of the company's initial public offering paperwork. Japanese coverage described the language as an explicit mention of a crisis for humanity arising from highly capable AI.145

The IPO documents also set out a governance arrangement under which an organization founded by Anthropic's founders will secure a majority of voting rights, with public interest given priority.67

The listing documents and the survival-risk warning were reported in Japan by Nikkei, Jiji Press, TBS NEWS DIG, Mainichi Shimbun, Nishinippon Shimbun and Yahoo! News, among others.12345687