Georgia Asian Times December 1-15, 2017

Covering The Multicultural Asian American Community in Georgia

www.gasiantimes.com December 1-15, 2017

Weird but cute: Japan’s capsule toys play big in Internet age

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December 1-15, 2017 Georgia Asian Times

Georgia Asian Times December 1-15, 2017

Publisher: Li Wong Account Manager: Adrian West Contributors: Andrian Putra, May Lee, Mark Ho Photographer: Ben Hioe Tel: 678-971-9388 Advertising: gat@gasiantimes. com Editorial: info@gasiantimes.com URL: www.gasiantimes.com Mailing Address: P.O. Box 4502 Suwanee GA 30024

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GAT Calendar of Events GAT welcome submission of announcement pertaining to community related events.

Please email event, date, venue, and time to gat@gasiantimes.com.

GAT does not guarantee insertion of event announcement and has the right to deny any posting.

U.S.-Japan Business Management Seminar Organized by Japan American Sciety of Georgia Date: Tuesday Dec 5, 2017 Time: 11:00 am - 1:00 pm Venue: Griffin Spalding Chamber of Commerce, 143 Hill Street, Griffin GA 30223 Chinese Business Association of Atlanta and Chinese New Year Gala Date: Sunday Jan 14, 2018 Time: 3:00 pm Venue: Woodruff Arts Center For more info: Richard Li 678.488.0085

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December 1-15, 2017 Georgia Asian Times

METRO ASIAN NEWS

Bee Nguyen, wins Georgia House District 89 seat in runoff Atlanta, Nov 5, 2017 — The Atlanta Mayoral Race runoff is heading towards a recount as Keisha Lance Bottoms (46,464) has a slight edge over Mary Norwood (45,705) on Tuesday special election.

First time candidate Bee Nguyen defeated another Asian American candidate Sachin Varghese by 420 votes for the Georgia House District 89 seat runoff. Nguyen created history by being the first Vietnamese American candidate to hold the Georgia House seat.

Alex Wan, who attempted to become the first Asian American to hold the Atlanta City Council President post, was defeated by Felicia Moore in the runoff. Moore garnered 46,512 votes versus Wan collected 38,816 votes.

Atlanta Mayoral Runoff Keisha Lance Bottoms 46,464 (50%) Mary Norwood 45,705 (50%) Total 92,169 Atlanta City Council President Felicia Moore 46,512 (55%) Alex Wan 38,816 (45%) Total 85,328 Georgia House District 89 Bee Nguyen 4,576 (52%) Sachin Varghese 4,156 (48%) Total 8,732

Lt. Governor Cagle addressed broadband access, opioid epidemic, tax reform, venture capital funding at Gwinnett Chamber luncheon Duluth, December 14, 2017 — Lt. Governor Casey Cagle, a Georgia Gubernatorial candidate in 2018, delivered the annual legislate update at the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce luncheon at Sonesta Gwinnett Place. He addressed topics related to broadband access, opioid addiction epidemic, tax reform and venture capital investment in Georgia.

He shared with the audience a digital map showing the broadband access coverage in Georgia. It shows that broadband coverage are sparse in the northern, southeast, and eastern part of the state.

Lt. Governor Cagle also touched upon several issues for the upcoming legislative session.

He proposed for the state of Georgia to invest $100 million for venture capital funding into tech companies under a program called Invest Georgia. Georgia young startups have been losing out due to lack of venture capital funding that are traditionally based in New York, California, and Massachusetts.

“Every year, we have a house-keeping bill that would align our tax code with what the federal government is doing and so this will be, I assume, a very large debate and conversation throughout the session, and I think it’s one that is long overdue,” said Cagle in his remarks on tax reform effort in the State Capitol.

He also addressed that an omnibus bill will be introduced by Sen. Rene Untermann of Buford to tackle the opioid epidemic in Georgia.

Lt. Gov. Cagle revealed that he has a broadband initiative that he plans to roll out during the session.

“The startups and incubators and all that is going on in Georgia, we truly are the Silicon Valley of the South,” said Cagle.

Georgia Asian Times December 1-15, 2017

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NATION Defying warnings of new conflict, Trump to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital Washington DC/Jerusalem, Dec 6, 2017 - President Donald Trump will announce on Wednesday that the United States recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and will move its embassy there, breaking with longtime U.S. policy and potentially threatening regional stability.

Despite warnings from Western and Arab allies, Trump in a 1 p.m. White House speech will direct the State Department to begin looking for a site for an embassy in Jerusalem as part of what is expected to be a years-long process of relocating diplomatic operations from Tel Aviv.

“I think it’s long overdue. Many presidents have said they want to do something and they didn’t do it,” Trump said at a cabinet meeting ahead of his planned announcement.

Jerusalem’s status has been a stumbling block in decades of on-off Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.

Israel considers the city its eternal and indivisible capital and wants all embassies based there. Palestinians want the capital of an independent Palestinian state to be in the city’s eastern sector, which Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in a move never recognized internationally.

A Palestinian envoy said the decision was a declaration of war in the Middle East. Pope Francis called for Jerusalem’s “status quo” to be respected, saying new tension would further inflame world conflicts. China and Russia expressed concern the plans could aggravate Middle East hostilities.

Washington’s allies in the region have all warned of dangerous repercussions from Trump’s decision.

Turkey said it could go as far as breaking off diplomatic ties with Israel if the U.S. move went ahead. A government spokesman said it would plunge the region into “a fire with no end in sight”.

Palestinians seethed with anger and a sense of betrayal.

“Trump wants to help Israel take over the entire city. Some people may do nothing, but others are ready to fight for Jerusalem,” said Hamad Abu Sbeih, 28, an unemployed resident of the walled Old City in East Jerusalem.

“This decision will ignite a fire in the region. Pressure leads to explosions.”

Trump will sign a national security waiver delaying a physical move since the United States does not have an embassy structure in Jerusalem to move into. A senior administration official said it could take three to four years to build one.

Senior Trump administration officials said Trump’s decision was not intended to tip the scale in Israel’s favor and that agreeing on the final status of Jerusalem would remain a central part of any peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians.

But Trump’s decision, a core pledge of his election campaign last year, will upend decades of American policy that has seen the status of Jerusalem as part of a “two-state solution” for Israelis and Palestinians.

The officials said Trump was basically reflecting a fundamental truth: that Jerusalem is the seat of the Israeli government and should be recognized as such.

SENSE OF BETRAYAL Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not comment on the planned U.S. move in an initial speech on Wednesday. But he later wrote on Facebook: “Each day there are very significant manifestations of our historic national identity - but today especially so. And I will have more to add on this later today, on a matter related to Jerusalem.”

The Palestinians have said Trump’s move would mean the “kiss of death” to the two-state solution, envisaging a Palestinian state in territory - the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem - that Israel took in the 1967 war.

“He is declaring war in the Middle East, he is declaring war against 1.5 billion Muslims (and) hundreds of millions of Christians that are not going to accept the holy shrines to be totally under the hegemony of Israel,” Manuel Hassassian, the chief Palestinian representative to Britain, told BBC radio.

“The president believes this is a recognition of reality,” said one official, who briefed reporters on Tuesday about the announcement. “We’re going forward on the basis of a truth that is undeniable. It’s just a fact.”

TENSE DELIBERATIONS The international community does not recognize Israeli sovereignty over the entire city, which is home to sites holy to the Muslim, Jewish and Christian religions alike.

No other country has its embassy in Jerusalem. Two small Latin American states, El Salvador and Costa Rica, previously had embassies in Jerusalem before shifting them to Tel Aviv in 2006, saying they wanted to abide with international norms.

The political benefits for Trump of the move are unclear. It will thrill Republican conservatives and evangelical Christians who comprise a large share of his political base. But it will complicate his desire for a more stable Middle

East and Israel-Palestinian peace. Past presidents have put off such a move.

British Prime Minister Theresa May said she would speak to Trump about the status of Jerusalem which should be determined as part of an Israeli-Palestinian settlement. Germany and France warned its citizens in Israel and the Palestinian territories of the risk of unrest.

Trump has tilted U.S. policy toward Israel since taking office in January, considering it a strong ally in a volatile part of the world. But deliberations over the status of Jerusalem were tense.

Vice President Mike Pence and David Friedman, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, pushed hard for both recognition and embassy relocation whereas Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis opposed the move from Tel Aviv, according to U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

An impatient Trump finally weighed in, telling aides last week he wanted to make good on his campaign promise.

It was not known if Trump had asked Israel for anything in return. When he hosted Netanyahu at the White House in February, Trump said Washington would be working “very, very diligently” on a peace deal and both sides would have to make compromises.

Trump’s senior adviser and son-inlaw, Jared Kushner, has led a relatively quiet effort to revive long-stalled peace efforts, with little in the way of tangible progress thus far.

Both Kushner and chief Middle East negotiator Jason Greenblatt supported Trump’s decision on Jerusalem, according to a senior U.S. official familiar with their work.

A second U.S. official with knowledge of the matter also said both Kushner and Greenblatt backed Trump’s move, saying: “The White House peace team fully supports it.”

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December 1-15, 2017 Georgia Asian Times

NATION

Ex-Trump adviser Flynn charged with lying to FBI in Russia probe Washington DC, Dec 1, 2017 - Former U.S. national security adviser Michael Flynn was charged with lying to the FBI, according to court documents released on Friday, in an escalation of an investigation into alleged ties to Russia that has cast a cloud over President Donald Trump’s administration.

The Office of the Special Counsel said Flynn was charged with making false statements about his contacts with Russia’s ambassador to the United States.

The office, which is investigating accusations of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and potential collusion by Trump’s campaign, said a plea hearing for Flynn had been set for Friday.

Flynn, a retired Army general, was expected to plead guilty. He arrived at a court in downtown Washington on Friday morning. Lawyers for Flynn could not be immediately reached for comment.

Flynn, who was fired from his White House post in February for misleading Vice President Mike Pence about his

conversations with the Russian ambassador, is a central figure in the investigation led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

He is the second former senior aide to Trump to be charged in the probe.

Mueller’s investigation and several congressional probes into the matter have dogged Trump’s administration since the Republican president took office on Jan. 20.

Paul Manafort, who ran Trump’s presidential campaign for several months last year, was charged in October with conspiring to launder money, conspiracy against the United States and failing to register as a foreign agent of Ukraine’s former pro-Russian government.

Manafort, who did not serve in Trump’s administration, and a business associate who was charged with him, pleaded not guilty.

‘BRIGHT NEON SIGN’ The charge against Flynn carries a sentence of up to five years.

A plea deal suggests he has provided information that could help Mueller’s probe. Last month, lawyers for Flynn told Trump’s legal team they could no longer discuss the federal Russia probe, indicating Flynn may be cooperating with the investigation. ”Those in Flynn’s orbit should be terrified by today’s development. This charge is a bright neon sign announcing Flynn is cooperating,” said Steven Miller, a lawyer at the firm of Reed Smith LLP and former prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago.

Court for the District of Columbia, the special counsel’s office said Flynn made false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Jan. 24.

Flynn falsely told FBI officials that in December 2016 he did not ask Russia’s ambassador to the United States to refrain from escalating the situation after Washington had imposed sanctions on Moscow, according to the filing.

The Obama administration, which was still in office at the time, had imposed the sanctions on Moscow for allegedly interfering in the election.

Flynn was also a senior adviser to Trump during the election campaign and in the transition period after the election and before the president took office.

Flynn is also charged in the filing, dated Nov. 30, with lying about asking the ambassador, Sergei Kislyak, to help delay a vote in the U. N. Security Council that was seen as damaging to Israel.

He was known for vitriolic campaign appearances, notably leading Trump supporters’ chants of “Lock Her Up,” in reference to Trump’s Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, and accusations she misused email while she was secretary of state.

Moscow has denied a conclusion

by U.S. intelligence agencies that it meddled in the election campaign to try to sway the vote in Trump’s favor.

Trump has denied any collusion by his campaign. - Reuters

In the filing with the U.S. District

Georgia Asian Times December 1-15, 2017

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EAT OUT

Ari, the new Korean steakhouse not to be missed Metro Atlanta has seen numerous openings of Korean BBQ restaurants since the opening of Breakers BBQ in Duluth a couple of years ago. It has been a bonus for foodie and consumers to experience the variety of choices and offerings of Korean BBQ. The latest offering is by Ari Korean Steakhouse – who branded themselves as a steakhouse instead of Korean BBQ. It is located in Johns Creek and the cusps of Duluth borders.

Along with the restaurant, there is a full cocktail bar and a modern bakery inside the contemporary designed restaurant.

The menu offers a wide selection of quality beef choices from wagyu (Kobe beef strip loin), dry aged bone in prime ribeye, pork belly, porterhouse steak to short

ribs. It also offer shrimp and chicken.

I ordered from the “Butcher’s Feast” ($148.00) from their dinner menu as they don’t offer lunch menu on Sunday afternoon. Since they are five of us, we ordered the selection that serves prime ribeye, beef brisket, marinated gable, pork belly, and spicy chicken bulgogi.

I have opted out of the enticing $35.00 per person “All You Can Eat” dinner package as we preferred the “quality vs quantity” meat selection.

The quality of meat are fresh, never frozen, and higher grade in quality compared to other BBQ restaurants. The meats are also leaner and tender cuts of meat.

More impressive is the presen-

tation of the meat in a butcher tray. It is presented at the table with the waiter grilling the meat.

“Banchan” (side dishes) served along with the meal are a bit short in quantity. The waiter is less attentive on replenishing the banchan dishes.

A major bonus is the new ventilation system that draws downward from the grill. Your clothing will not smell like BBQ after you walk away from the restaurant.

Another bonus is the full bar that serves cocktails, wine, shoju, and beers. Grilled meats tasted much better along with alcohol.

Upon the end of your package meal, dessert is served fresh from the bakery selection. We were served a slice of chocolate

cake along with a slice of carrot cake made in-house.

Both slices of cakes are delicious and made to perfection.

The cake’s sweetness tasted better after gorging on the meat.

The dining experience at Ari has been surprisingly good. I would recommend to anyone who appreciates good meats along with unique dining experiences.

Ari Korean Steakhouse 9700 Medlock Bridge Road Unit # 112 Johns Creek GA 30097 Tel: 770.802.8800 Website: www.aristeakhouse.com

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December 1-15, 2017 Georgia Asian Times

BUSINESS

Weird but cute: Japan’s capsule toys play big in Internet age

Tokyo, Dec 13, 2017 - A tiny replica of an ancient Egyptian sarcophagus and a plastic cat squatting on sushi: just two of the weird-and-wonderful capsule toys that have become a multi-million-dollar craze in cute-obsessed Japan.

The industry is now worth an estimated 30 billion yen (US$265 million), with the fastidious attention to detail in the toys appealing to the Japanese sense of precision along with a well-documented love of all things “kawaii” or cute.

One store, in Tokyo’s famous Akihabara electronics district, is crammed with around 500 capsule toy vending machines stretching out as far as the eye can see.

“When I see something I want, I keep on turning the crank until I get it,” said Shota Makita, a 23-year-old careworker on the hunt for a fun toy.

“There’s a sense of excitement about not knowing what I’ll get,” said Makita, one of a growing number of adult consumers of capsule toys, known as “gachagacha” or “gachapon” in Japanese after the cranking sound.

Store manager Yo Kono says the customer base has changed in the 16 years the shop has been open.

“At the beginning, visitors were mainly male anime fans… but recently the number of customers is growing with more female visitors and foreign tourists,” Kono said.

‘Cheap and Instagram-worthy’ Capsule toys have been around for more than 40 years but the craze really took off in 2012 when Tokyo-based manufacturer Kitan Club launched its “Koppu no Fuchico” (“Fuchico at the edge of a glass”) product.

This figurine of a woman wearing a typical office worker’s clothes, whose arms or legs were designed to hang over the edge of a glass, became an instant hit with adults.

“We never thought of targeting children. Their numbers are dwindling and adults have more money,” said spokesman Seita Shiki.

Shiki chalks up the Fuchico capsule’s success to the fact it is “cheap and Instagram-worthy.”

Fans have been sharing photos of Fuchico on social media, which helped boost its popularity without the company even needing to advertise, he boasted.

“Fuchico was launched just as social media started to be used widely. It fitted with the times.”

Kitan Club, which makes various kinds of capsule toys, saw its sales grow from 800 million yen to 1.2 billion yen after the launch of the Fuchico series.

The capsule toy became so popular that the company was asked to create a pop-up shop at the cult Paris concept store Colette and to hold an exhibition in Taiwan.

Georgia Asian Times December 1-15, 2017

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BUSINESS

Hotly anticipated bitcoin futures ease off after 22 percent surge NEW YORK/SYDNEY/LONDON, Dec 11, 2017 -- Bitcoin futures eased back from an initial surge of almost 22 percent to trade up 13 percent on Monday, in an eagerly awaited U.S. market debut that backers hope will confer greater legitimacy on the volatile cryptocurrency and lead to its wider use. cryptocurrency exchanges outside the United States, the Chicago-based Cboe Global Markets’ launch marked the first time investors could get exposure to the market via a mainstream regulated exchange.

The debut on Sunday night may have caused an early outage of the Cboe website. The exchange said that due to heavy traffic, the site “may be temporarily unavailable”.

The one-month bitcoin contract opened trade at 6 pm local time $15,460, dipped briefly before rising to a high of $18,700 and then slipping again.

The one-month future was up 13 percent from the open at $17,450, around $1,000 higher than the “spot” bitcoin price - the price at which bitcoin is currently being bought and sold.

The two-month contract was trading at $18,880, while the three-month contract was changing hands at $19,040.

“The premiums have so far been very high, demonstrating that few want to take the short side of the trade,” said Altana Digital Currency Fund manager Alistair Milne, whose fund has $35 million in assets under management.

In just over 12 hours after the launch, 2,780 contracts had been traded, meaning around $48.5 million had been notionally invested. That compares with daily trading volumes of more than $20 billion across all cryptocurrencies, according to trade website Coinmarketcap.

Just 13 trades of the two-month contracts had been traded.

“It will take time for derivative volumes to build up, but eventually if they prove to be a significant percentage of the global trade, they should in theory help stabilize things,” said Milne.

Most fund managers at mainstream asset management firms and other institutional investors say they will not be lured into the market by the launch of the futures.

“There’s no place for bitcoin in a multi-asset portfolio given the very high volatility,” said Robeco Chief Investment Officer Lukas Daalder.

“We’ve looked at it in the past but if you look at the number of times that you need to trade to keep your exposure at the same level, after one week you need to rebalance the portfolio already,” he added.

On the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp BTC=BTSP exchange, bitcoin prices surged 12.5 percent on the day to $16,570, close to an all-time high of $16,666.66 hit on Friday.

Bitcoin is up more than 1,500 percent so far in 2017, having started the year at less than $1,000, and its gains in the past month have been rapid.

CASH-SETTLED Experts had worried that the risks associated with the currency’s Wild West-like nature could overshadow the futures debut. Bitcoin tumbled 20 percent in 10 hours on Friday.

“Even if there is an institution or institutional-sized trader out there, they are going to want to make sure that the mechanics work first, just for the futures,” said Ophir Gottlieb, chief executive officer of Los Angeles-based Capital Market Laboratories.

“I think the excitement will come when the futures market is established.

That can take a few days,” Gottlieb added.

The futures are cash-settled contracts based on the auction price of bitcoin in U.S. dollars on the Gemini Exchange, which is owned and operated by virtual currency entrepreneurs and brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. Bitcoin was quoted at $16,674 on the Gemini exchange.

While bitcoin’s price rise mystifies many, its origins have been the subject of much speculation.

It was set up in 2008 by someone or some group calling themselves Satoshi Nakamoto, and was the first digital currency to successfully use cryptography to keep transactions secure and hidden, making traditional financial regulation difficult if not impossible.

Central bankers and critics of the cryptocurrency have been ringing the alarm bells over the surge in the price and other risks such as whether the opaque market can be used for money laundering.

“It looks remarkably like a bubble forming to me,” the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s Acting Governor Grant Spencer said on television on Sunday.

“We’ve seen them in the past. Over the centuries we’ve seen bubbles and this appears to be a bit of a classic case.”

Many investors have stood on the sidelines watching its price rocket.

However, it is possible to buy bitcoin without having to spend the full price of one coin. Bitcoin’s smallest unit is a Satoshi, named after the elusive creator of the cryptocurrency.

Somebody who invested $1,000 in bitcoin at the start of 2013 and had never sold any of it would now be sitting on around $1.2 million.

Heightened excitement ahead of the launch of the futures has given an extra

kick to the cryptocurrency’s scorching run this year.

The CME Group is expected to launch its futures contract on Dec. 17.

CONTROVERSIAL MOVE Bitcoin fans appear excited about the prospect of an exchange-listed and regulated product and the ability to bet on its price swings without having to sign up for a digital wallet.

Others, however, caution that risks remain for investors and possibly even the clearing organizations underpinning the trades.

“You are going to open up the market to a whole lot of people who aren’t currently in bitcoin,” said Randy Frederick, vice president of trading and derivatives for Charles Schwab in Austin, Texas.

The launch has so far received a mixed reception from big U.S. banks and brokerages, though.

Several online brokerages, including Charles Schwab Corp and TD Ameritrade Holding Corp , did not allow trading of the new futures immediately.

The Financial Times reported on Friday that JPMorgan Chase & Co, Citigroup Inc would not immediately clear bitcoin trades for clients.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc said on Thursday it was planning to clear such trades for certain clients.

Bitcoin’s manic run-up this year has boosted volatility far in excess of other asset classes. The futures trading may help dampen some of the sharp moves, analysts said.

“Hypothetically, volatility over the long run should drop after institutions get involved,” Gottlieb said. “But there may not be an immediate impact, say in the first month.” - Reuters

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December 1-15, 2017 Georgia Asian Times

LIFESTYLE

Shop early, shop often to avoid Christmas impulse buying, study says AUSTIN, Dec 10 ― Parceling out holiday shopping in small amounts and completing it in a realistic schedule helps people maintain the self-control needed to avoid being swept away in impulse purchases that can wreck budgets, a study to be published in January said.

The study from Texas A&M University researchers looked at how well people complied with maintaining self-control for tasks such as making purchases and found that people should pace themselves if they want to accomplish larger goals.

“Try to conserve your energy.

Don’t try to make it too hard on yourself because it is going to backfire,” said Marco Palma, director of the Human Behavior Laboratory at Texas A&M and co-author of the study called “Self-control: Knowledge or perishable resource?” It will be published in the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization.

Palma recommended making a list and dividing it into subgoals of small purchases. Shopping online and shopping early in the day can help conserve energy, which can also help people exercise self-control.

“Committing to a shopping list will help you stay on budget,” he said in an interview this week.

The worst shopping scenario in terms of self-control is waiting until the last minute to make the bulk of holiday purchases, he said.

The study used biometric data including eye tracking and brain scanning to measure how well people complied with easy and difficult tasks that required self-control.

It found that an initial mod-

erate self-control act enhances subsequent self-control ability by increasing confidence and motivation, but exerting too much self-control drains subsequent self-control ability.

But humans are humans and even when they are nice, they can be a little bit naughty. A person who completes a holiday shopping list as planned may splurge with a little reward for themselves, Palma said. ― Reuters

Georgia Asian Times December 1-15, 2017

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ENTERTAINMENT

South Korea’s Moon tries K-pop and TV stars in China charm offensive SEOUL, Dec 14 — South Korean President Moon Jae-in will unveil an array of TV talent and K-pop celebrities at events, including a state dinner, in China today as he attempts to smooth out a year of difficult diplomacy with a star-laden charm offensive.

Moon plans to sign a memorandum with Chinese President Xi Jinping today in a step towards follow-up negotiations about services and investments under the South Korea-China Free Trade Agreement.

South Korean celebrities, including some of those accompanying Moon, had been shut out of Chinese television and concert halls as relations cooled between the East Asian neighbours as they faced the threat posed by North Korea’s missile and nuclear programmes.

Top South Korean actress Song Hyekyo, star of 2016’s hit drama Descendants of the Sun and the face of many South Korean cosmetics brands, will join Moon and Xi in a state dinner later today. Song will be joined by married South Korean and Chinese actors, Choo Ja-yeon and Xiaoguang Yu.

The thorniest issue was South Korea’s deployment of a controversial US anti-missile system.

Boy band EXO, one of the top-earning artists of major K-pop talent agency SM Entertainment, also joined Moon and Song at a bilateral business event earlier today.

Moon is hoping to use his first visit to China since taking office in May to build support for a diplomatic solution to a crisis that has grown steadily through the year. Pyongyang tested its most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile on November 29, which it said could put all of the United States within range, in defiance of international pressure and UN sanctions.

Moon kicked off his trip to China yesterday and spoke of the need to get bilateral economic exchanges back on track.

“It is the confidence of South Koreans and business leaders that the difficult situation of various inadequacies of cooperation between the two countries, borne out of differences in the two countries’ point of view, will be shaken off — and a new age of bilateral relations will begin,” Moon told a round table of Chinese and South Korean business leaders in Beijing.

Celebrities dropped The presence of such celebrities reflects Seoul’s hope to break the ice after a furious row over its deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system.

China complains that the THAAD system’s powerful radar can see far into its territory and does nothing to ease tensions with North Korea.

The THAAD deployment cost South Korean firms such as K-pop businesses dearly as Beijing retaliated.

Concerts in China by major K-pop artists have been halted since the second half of 2016, South Korean celebrities dropped from advertisements and South Korean dramas all but disappeared from Chinese TV channels this year, Korean entertainment industry officials said.

South Korea and China share the goal of getting North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons and stop testing its increasingly sophisticated long-range missiles, but the two have not seen eyeto-eye on how to achieve this.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson offered on Tuesday to begin talks with Pyongyang any time and without pre-conditions, but a White House official said barely 24 hours later that no negotiations can be held until North Korea improves its behaviour, further muddying the waters.

Moon, whose trip ends on Saturday, will have his third meeting with Xi this year today and has been accompanied by the largest business delegation ever to accompany a South Korean leader abroad.

The THAAD disagreement is estimated to have knocked about 0.4 percentage points off expected economic growth in South Korea this year and resulted in lost revenues of around US$6.5 billion from Chinese tourists in the first nine months of 2017 as the number of visitors fell by half, according to the Bank of Korea and Korea Tourism Organisation.

Anti-South Korean sentiment has also battered firms’ sales of entertainment, cosmetics and cars in China. — Reuters

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December 1-15, 2017 Georgia Asian Times

FASHION

Vivienne Tam scales fashion peaks with China Chic

NEW YORK, Dec 14 — Some of us are fortunate to find a calling in life early on, and for Vivienne Tam it was literally by design.

At age eight, watching her mother make dresses to save money, Tam decided to try her hand at it as well. She has been designing clothing ever since.

The 60-year-old designer, who was born in Guangzhou, China and moved to Hong Kong when she was three, eventually landed in New York City, where she founded her company, East Wind Code, in 1982. More than 10 years later, she renamed the company Vivienne Tam before staging her first show at New York Fashion Week.

Tam, whose signature style blends Western looks with Chinese elements, is also author of the book China Chic.

She shares some of her life lessons here.

Q: How did you learn the value of money when you were growing up?

A: I saw my parents working so hard when I was growing up that I felt like I wanted to do something to change the situation so they didn’t need to work anymore. They worked in factories.

Q: Who inspired you to enter

fashion and launch your own business?

A. My mother. She’s my idol. We didn’t have much money, and I remember her making clothes for herself, like a cheongsam for Chinese New Year, instead of buying them from outside.

I started making clothes for myself, my sister and my brothers. I learned from her how to go to flea markets to buy scrap materials. That’s how I learned to be an individual. And it’s also how I learned that when things are very limited, you can be very creative, and you can make something special.

Q: What was your first job?

A: I was interning at the Hong Kong Trade Development Council in my late teens. They produce fashion trade fairs and shows. It was where I learned to work with international coordinators from London and manufacturers in Hong Kong.

Q: What did you do with your first paycheck?

A: I gave it to my parents. It’s good to give money back to your parents.

Q: What are some important qualities for succeeding for so

many years in the fashion business, which can be rather mercurial and unforgiving?

A: Be humble, have passion and do things from your heart. You have to do something that has soul. And, always remember where you came from. It’s so important.

I came from Hong Kong, I was born in China. I remember when I was growing up and this thing that was called “fashion” was basically everybody looking to the West. But I love Chinese culture. I want to bring that to the world, so I have this sense of mission.

Q: What was a highlight of your career?

A: I used my own money to stage my first fashion show (at New York Fashion Week). I wanted money that was not borrowed, and I worked very hard and saved for over five years. It was about US$100,000 at that time, but I felt so much joy.

Naomi Campbell was in my first show! I felt like I had made it.

Q: What have you learned from failure?

A: The biggest mistake is thinking

that if people charge a lot of money, that means they’re good. That’s not necessarily true. It’s more important that the person is passionate about your work and can help you grow your business.

Q: How do you decide where to donate?

A: I always focus on children and women’s organizations. I like to design T-shirts or items to support causes like breast cancer. The more you give back, the more you receive.

Q: What life lessons do you try to pass down to people you mentor?

Georgia Asian Times December 1-15, 2017

Page 13

SPORTS

Manchester City hailed as Premier League greats LONDON, Dec 14 — Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City are being widely hailed as one of the best sides in Premier League history after they set a stunning new record of 15 straight wins.

In its 25-year history, the Premier League has boasted a series of outstanding sides including Manchester United’s treble-winners, Arsenal’s “Invincibles” and Jose Mourinho’s powerful Chelsea side in his first stint at the club.

But Guardiola’s team — even though they have not won any silverware yet — are smashing record after record as they sprint towards the Premier League title, leaving allcomers a distant speck in their rear-view mirror.

Wednesday’s 4-0 win at Swansea took them clear of Arsenal’s 14 consecutive victories under Arsene Wenger between February and August 2002.

Their 49 points from 17 games is the best-ever start to an English top-flight campaign, bettering the record of Tottenham’s great double-winning side of 1960-61 — when a win was worth just two points.

BBC commentator Jonathan Pearce believes the current City side is at the top of the tree.

“There have been great teams in the modern era but, in terms of fluent football and as an irresistible force, Manchester City are the best the Premier League has ever seen,” he said.

“I’ve never seen a team in all my years play like this.”

When asked whether City are one of the best sides we have ever seen, former England captain and TV pundit Alan Shearer agreed.

“I don’t think there is any doubt about that, and top players in that team, with hunger and desire to put in a performance week in, week out,” he said. “It has to be admired.”

Chastened Swansea manager Paul Clement described the pain of watching his side try to compete with Guardiola’s free-flowing team.

“At times it was horrible to be on the sideline watching that, seeing my side trying but suffering for long periods,” he said.

“They’re not the games that will decide our season but it was hard to watch at times because they were so dominant. For me, one of the best sides I’ve ever come across. So many good athletes, so many intelligent footballers and it’s really hard to pin them down.”

Guardiola, who managed a Barcelona side widely regarded as one of the finest club sides in history, is aware of his team’s place in the English game.

“In history there were amazing things like Liverpool in the 80s and Manchester United with Sir Alex Ferguson or Chelsea with Jose Mourinho,” he said. “There were some amazing teams.

“But we are the first ones to win 15 in a row. If we win the title it will just be a record and this record will be broken, but of course it will not be easy.”

Real seek record world crown to cap trophy-laden 2017 ABU DHABI, Dec 14 — Real Madrid can cap their most successful year ever with victory in the Club World Cup final against Brazilian side Gremio on Saturday, which would see them become the first team to successfully defend the trophy and end 2017 with five titles.

Defeat, however, would be the latest of a series of setbacks in a haphazard last few months for Zinedine Zidane’s side, who are fourth in La Liga, trailing leaders Barcelona by eight points in the standings.

At times, they have looked a shadow of the team that swept to Champions League and Liga glory last season and crushed Manchester United and Barca to win the European and Spanish Super Cups.

No South American side has managed to beat their European counterparts in the Club World Cup since Gremio’s compatriots Corinthians stunned Chelsea with victory in 2012, although an upset is not entirely out of the question in Abu Dhabi.

Real only narrowly avoided a catastrophic defeat to Abu Dhabi side Al Jazira, who took a remarkable 1-0 lead at halftime in a chaotic, action-packed semi-final which the double European champions eventually won 2-1.

The Spanish side dominated the game but, not for the first time this season, showed remarkable profligacy in front of goal until Cristiano Ronaldo equalized in the second half and Gareth Bale hit a late winner 30 seconds after coming off the bench.

Real are sure to face an even sterner test from Gremio, although the Brazilians also had to battle their way through their semi-final, overcoming Mexicans Pachuca 1-0 after extra-time.

Gremio’s coach Renato Portaluppi won the Intercontinental Cup (the forerunner to the Club World Cup) with the club as a player and underlined his reputation for courting controversy by recently proclaiming he was a better player than Real’s Ronaldo.

The Portuguese, who was recently named the world player of the year for a joint-record fifth time, became the top scorer in the history of Club World Cup by netting for the sixth time in three separate tournament appearances.

The previous record of five was jointly held by Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi and Cesar Delgado.

Real were given an almighty scare in last year’s final, falling behind Japanese side Kashima Antlers before eventually winning 4-2 in extra-time with the help of a Ronaldo hat-trick and Zidane said he expected another difficult final.

“I don’t know the Brazilian league well but I watched their semi-final and they are a good team and we will have to lift our standard of play against them,” Zidane said after the nervy win yesterday.

“It will be a complicated game because there’s no such thing as an easy game, as we proved against Al Jazira.”

— Reuters

Page 14

December 1-15, 2017 Georgia Asian Times

SPORTS

Concerned Formula One drivers put on united front

Rooney strike lifts Everton to 1-0 win at Newcastle LONDON, Dec 14 ― Wayne Rooney’s first-half goal lifted Everton to a 1-0 Premier League win over Newcastle United yesterday and continued their revival under manager Sam Allardyce.

Rooney struck in the 27th minute, turning in a rebound from close range to secure Everton’s first away league victory in 17 games.

Newcastle pressed hard for an equaliser in the second half and Mohamed Diame went close but Ashley Williams could have doubled Everton’s lead, only to be denied by a fine save from Karl Darlow.

Everton consolidated their position in the top half of the table while Newcastle, who had midfielder Jonjo Shelvey sent off in stoppage time, stayed close to the relegation zone following their seventh defeat in eight games. ― Reuters

LONDON, Dec 13 — Formula One drivers, including Britain’s four times world champion Lewis Hamilton, have shown rare unanimity by all signing up for their union amid concern for the sport’s future direction.

Former F1 racer Wurz said a main concern was the risk of key values being diminished.

Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA) chairman Alex Wurz told the BBC today that the Monaco-based organisation now had 100 per cent membership “for maybe the first time in history”.

The Austrian said the drivers wanted “to prevent any politics or power fights from ultimately compromising ontrack performance. The drivers believe unity is fundamental for the sport’s success”.

Hamilton, who clinched his fourth title with Mercedes this year, has not been a member in recent seasons while others who had been outside the body had included Ferrari’s 2007 champion Kimi Raikkonen.

Rule changes this year have made the cars faster and harder to drive, a move welcomed by those on the starting grid, while Liberty have brought in experts to address other issues such as improving the show and noise levels.

Wurz said Formula One, whose ownership changed in January with USbased Liberty Media taking over, was entering “a period of evolution, change and perhaps even a degree of turmoil.

“We can’t be naive about the situation F1 is in, with its complicated governing rules and agreements between various key stakeholders,” said Wurz.

Main concern

“They (the drivers) recognise they must be united and represented to face that challenge.”

“Business decisions and political power fights have damaged the sport enough at exactly such vulnerable times over the last decade.”

The contracts between teams and commercial rights holder mostly expire at the end of 2020, as does agreement on what kind of engine the sport should use.

French racer Romain Grosjean told Reuters in May after being appointed a director of the GPDA that nearly half the grid at that time were not members.

Ferrari, Formula One’s oldest and most successful team who also get special payments and enjoy a right of veto, have threatened to leave if they deem changes go against their interests.

“Missing quite a few of the paddock.

Some just don’t give a damn... and I think it’s the wrong point of view,” the Haas driver said at the time.

Georgia Asian Times December 1-15, 2017

Page 15

HEALTH

New study looks at high-intensity exercise for delaying Parkinson’s progression Led by Northwestern Medicine and University of Denver scientists, the study is the first time scientists have tested the effects of high-intensity exercise on patients with Parkinson’s disease, after it had previously been thought high-intensity exercise was too physically stressful for individuals with the disease.

For the new phase 2 trial, the researchers looked at 128 participants age 40 to 80 years old who were at an early stage of Parkinson’s disease and not taking any medication, to ensure that the results of the study were related only to exercise.

Participants worked out three times weekly for six months at high intensity, which is 80 to 85 percent of maximum heart rate, or moderate intensity, 60 to 65 percent of maximum heart rate, or didn’t work out at all to act as a control group.

After six months, participants were rated by clinicians on a Parkinson’s disease scale ranging from 0 to 108.

The higher the number, the more severe the symptoms.

The team found that the participants included in the study had a score of about 20 before exercise, with those who had been in the high intensity group still showing a score of 20 after the six months.

However, the group who did moderate exercise got worse by 1.5 points,

All work and no play leads to burnout says new study

and the group that did not exercise at all worsened by three points, enough to be clinically important to patients as it makes a difference in their quality of life.

Carried out by Ariane Wepfer and colleagues from the University of Zurich in Switzerland, the study looked at 1,916 employees from a broad range of sectors in German-speaking countries.

Commenting on the findings, co-lead author Daniel Corcos said, “If you have Parkinson’s disease and you want to delay the progression of your symptoms, you should exercise three times a week with your heart rate between 80 to 85 percent maximum. It is that simple.”

Most of the participants were married (70.3 percent), 55.8 percent were men, and the average age of the group was 42.3 years. Half worked 40 hours or more per week (50.1 percent).

“The earlier in the disease you intervene, the more likely it is you can prevent the progression of the disease,” Corcos added, “We delayed worsening of symptoms for six months; whether we can prevent progression any longer than six months will require further study.”

Corcos also added that the study used a higher number of participants than others, with participants also exercising for a relatively long period of time, as most exercise studies last 12 weeks.

“We gave them a proper workout,” Corcos added, “This is not mild stretching. This is high intensity. It’s part of the idea that exercise is medicine.”

The findings can be found published online in the journal JAMA Neurology.

The participants were asked to take part in an online study which looked at how well they were able to manage the boundaries between their work and non-work lives, for example, how often they took work home, how often they worked on weekends, and how often they thought about work during their time off.

Participants were also asked to report on whether they made time to relax after work, for example to socialize with friends or do sports and other hobbies, and how careful they were to make sure that their work did not interfere with their private lives.

To measure well-being, the researchers took into account how physically and emotionally exhausted the participants felt, as well as how well they felt they balanced work and non-work.

The results showed that those who did not organize a clear separation between work and free time were less likely to take part in activities that could help them relax and recover from

the demands of their work.

This therefore led to them feeling more exhausted, a reduced worklife balance, and a reduced sense of well-being in different key aspects of their lives.

“Employees who integrated work into their non-work life reported being more exhausted because they recovered less,” commented Wepfer, “This lack of recovery activities furthermore explains why people who integrate their work into the rest of their lives have a lower sense of well-being.”

Wepfer also noted that companies should aim to do more to help employees balance their work so it does not affect their personal life or well-being.

“Organizational policy and culture should be adjusted to help employees manage their work-non-work boundaries in a way that does not impair their well-being,” she said, “After all, impaired well-being goes hand in hand with reduced productivity and reduced creativity.”

The findings can be found published online in the Journal of Business and Psychology.

Page 16

December 1-15, 2017 Georgia Asian Times

Misc Asia

Nanjing, Yu Zhengsheng, who heads a high-profile but largely ceremonial advisory body to China’s parliament, said China and Japan were neighbours with deep historic ties.

China marks Nanjing Massacre anniversary but Xi low key BEIJING, Dec 13 — China marked the 80th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre today with a call to work with Japan for peace, but President Xi Jinping kept a low profile and left the main public remarks to another senior official.

China and Japan have long sparred over their painful history. China consistently reminds its people of the 1937 massacre in which it says Japanese troops killed 300,000 people in what was then its capital.

A postwar Allied tribunal put the death toll in the eastern city of Nanjing at 142,000, but some conservative Japanese politi-

cians and scholars deny a massacre took place at all.

Ties between China and Japan, the world’s second- and third-largest economies, have been plagued by a long-running territorial dispute over a cluster of East China Sea islets and suspicion in China about efforts by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to amend Japan’s pacifist constitution.

However the two countries have sought to get relations back on track, and Abe and Xi met last month on the sidelines of a regional summit in Vietnam.

Speaking at a memorial in

China would deepen relations with all its neighbours, including Japan, on the basis of amity, sincerity and friendship, Yu said, in comments carried live on state television.

“China and Japan must act on the basis of both their people’s basic interests, correctly grasp the broad direction of peaceful and friendly cooperation, take history as a mirror, face the future and pass on friendship down the generations,” Yu said.

A sombre Xi, wearing a white flower in his lapel to symbolise mourning, stood in the audience but did not speak.

Doves to signify peace flew overhead after Yu finished speaking.

Xi later met massacre survivors, the official Xinhua news agency said, telling them, “Lessons learned from the past can

guide one in the future”.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who arrived in Beijing for a four-day visit, offered condolences to the victims in a speech to businessmen, in what his office called the first such public mention of the massacre by a South Korean leader.

In Tokyo, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga spoke of the importance of looking to the future.

“The leaders of Japan and China have agreed in past meetings to further improve relations and it is important, while cherishing this trend, to together show a future-oriented stance,” Suga told a regular news conference: It was the second time Xi has attended the event since China marked its first national memorial day for the massacre in 2014.

At that time, he called on China and Japan to set aside hatred and not allow the minority who led Japan to war to affect relations now. — Reuters

Georgia Asian Times December 1-15, 2017

Page 17

Misc Asia

India draws flak for banning ‘indecent’ condom ads on daytime TV NEW DELHI, Dec 13 — India’s decision to ban condom ads on daytime television drew widespread ridiculetoday as a retrograde step that threatened progress on sexual and reproductive health.

India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Monday ordered television channels not to air condom adverts between 6 a.m and 10 p.m. as they could be “indecent” and “inappropriate” for children.

The ban in the world’s second most populous nation has triggered widespread criticism from health experts and campaigners who are working to boost family planning and curb the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

“If advertisements are a way to create the demand for safe sex and family planning, then we need to ensure that it is not stifled by restrictions,” Poonam Muttreja, executive director of the Population Foundation of India, said in a statement.

“The advisory by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry is poised to undo decades of progress on sexual and reproductive health.”

Muttreja instead called for a sensitive approach, suggesting adverts - like films - be given certifications based on their content and allocated suitable time slots for broadcast.

India has more than 1.3 billion people, and is set to overtake China as the most populated country in the world by 2024, says the United Nations.

A study published in the Lancet Global Health journal on Tuesday found half of India’s more than 48 million pregnancies in 2015 were unintended, and a third resulted in abortions.

Although less than 6 percent of Indian men use condoms, health experts say condoms are one of the most effective contraceptives - helping families to space children, as well as protecting against sexually transmitted diseases like HIV/AIDS. “The ban is regressive,” said Koninika Roy from the Humsafar Trust, a charity that works on HIV/ AIDS and with the LGBT community.

“People are having sex at a much younger age and these ads could be telling them about safe sex. Condom ads are not about titillation, they are not about sex but about safe sex.”

News of the ban sent social media users on microblogging site Twitter into a frenzy, with many deploying humour to voice their disapproval.

“No condom ad on TV from 6am to 10pm because kids watch TV at that time,” tweeted comic and writer Atul Khatri from the handle @one_by_two.

“If your kid watches so much TV maybe you needed that condom in the 1st place.” — Reuters

‘Blade runner’ legs give maimed Thai dog new lease on life PHUKET, Dec 13 — Just over a year after he was maimed for gnawing on someone’s shoes, Cola is romping across a beach on new sleek paws: curved “blade runner” prosthetics modelled on those used by Paralympian sprinters.

The former street pup nearly lost his life last year after a Bangkok man hacked off his front legs with a sword in revenge for chewing up his boots.

A quick trip to the vet saved Cola but left him with two amputated, kangaroo-like stumps for front paws.

Today, his tongue is lolling about and his tail is wagging wildly as he bounds across the sand on carbon-fibre blades, similar to those made famous by Paralympian runner Oscar Pistorius.

The lightweight legs were tailor made for the high-energy hound, who loves to run and was encumbered by previous, heavier prosthetics. “(These legs) give him a lot more balance, a lot more spread,” said Cola’s owner John Dalley, who founded the Thailand-based ‘Soi Dog’ foundation that helps strays.

He and his late wife rescued Cola after the attack and brought the dog down to the beaches of Phuket.

“It’s actually quite amazing how adaptable dogs are and how forgiving they are,” he added as Cola — who shows no fear of humans despite his trauma — curled up around his feet.

While other dogs have been fitted with a variety of prosthetics, Cola is believed to be the first to receive the pricey ‘suspended’ blades.

The blades curl up in an ‘C’ shape, while the amputated limbs rest in a silicon socket.

Cola’s prosthetics were developed by orthopaedist Bendt Soderberg, who works at a hospital in Phuket, and are still being fine-tuned to fit the mutt.

“What we wanted to achieve was... something that was not so heavy, that could be a bit flexible in the feet so that when he jumps and bounces they would not be completely stiff,” said Teddy Fagerstrom, director of the orthopaedic lab.

His team, who until now has only worked with humans, is also hoping Cola will raise awareness among Thais about the benefits of higher-tech prosthetics.

The winsome dog, grinning and panting as he laps up attention, is a fitting poster-child for taking the use of artificial limbs in stride. “(Cola) is not embarrassed being an amputee. He just acts as he always does,” said Fagerstrom.

“I think he will show that having a good pair of legs will make it possible for you to continue to run and have fun.”

Page 18

December 1-15, 2017 Georgia Asian Times

TRAVEL

Zagreb voted Europe’s capital of Christmas 2018 PARIS, Dec 12 ― When it comes to the most magical place for Christmas ― outside the North Pole, that is ― Zagreb, Croatia is tops in Europe, according to the 2018 edition of European Best Destinations’ Best Christmas Markets poll.

In an online poll that received votes from as far as India, Kenya, Brazil, Canada and Mexico, the Croatian capital took the top spot for its 40-day Advent in Zagreb outdoor festival.

This year, more than 200,516 votes from 131 countries were cast throughout a 10-day period ending Dec. 11: 72 per cent of votes came from within Europe, 28 per cent were cast outside Europe.

It’s the third year in a row that Zagreb has taken the top spot in European Best Destinations’ annual Christmas market ranking, cementing its reputation as the capital of Christmas.

Under the theme “Life is a circus” this holiday season, parts of the Zagreb market hosts both fairytale Christmas characters alongside clowns, fire-eaters, stilt walkers and fortune tellers.

Rounding out the top five spots are Colmar, France (the top choice among French voters and Brazilians); Vienna (the top choice for India); Budapest and Strasbourg.

Zagreb was the top Christmas market for voters from the US, Canada, Australia, Russia, Denmark, and Kenya.

European Best Destinations is based in Brussels and works to promote tourism throughout Europe.

Here are this year’s top 10 Christmas markets, according to their online poll: 1. Zagreb, Croatia 2. Colmar, France 3. Vienna, Austria 4. Budapest, Hungary 5. Strasbourg, France 6. Montbeliard, France 7. Aachen, Germany 8. Basel, Switzerland 9. Metz, France 10. Tallin, Estonia

Tokyo airport to be ‘scattered’ with robots for 2020 Olympics TOKYO, Dec 13 — Visitors to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics can expect to arrive at an airport “scattered” with robots to help them, an official said yesterday as he unveiled seven new machines to perform tasks from helping with luggage to language assistance.

Among the seven robots on show was a fluffy cat mascot that can carry out simultaneous interpretation in four different languages.

Visitors speak into a furry microphone, and translations appear instantly on a smart screen.

Travellers may also be approached by a small white humanoid robot, Cinnamon, asking if they need its help.

The sleek white robot can converse with visitors through its AI system and give directions.

Another robot on display can carry luggage through the airport alongside the traveller.

Yutaka Kuratomi, a representative from the Japan Airport Terminal, hopes that by 2020, the terminals will

be “scattered with robots”, and it will be “normal” to see visitors communicating with machines.

They are also aimed especially at foreign visitors, who already have high expectations that Japan will show off its world-beating technology in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics.

“We want foreign tourists to think that the Japanese people are cool when they come here,” Kuratomi told AFP. The launch of the robots also comes as Japan grapples with a labour shortage against the backdrop of an ageing population.

With Tokyo hosting the 2020 Olympics, Haneda Airport is bracing for a sharp increase in visitors from abroad and hopes robots can compensate for a lack of staff.

The robots will be on a trial for a month at Haneda from January 9.