Japan discovered a suspected case of foot-and-mouth disease in a cow in its southern prefecture of Miyazaki, just days after it lifted a state of emergency, an official said.
"We cancelled two auctions of cows in the prefecture after a suspected case of foot and mouth was discovered on a farm," a prefecture official told AFP.
The region reported the case to the farm ministry and was awaiting the test result to determine if it is a fresh foot-and-mouth case. (AFP)
Police responded to a record 2,444 Internet crime cases nationwide in the first half of this year, a National Police Agency survey showed Thursday.
The number, up 586 or 31.5 percent from a year earlier, represented a new high since the NPA started gathering statistics for Internet crimes, defined as crimes which use a computer network, on a half-year basis in 2004.
Of the total, the number of fraud cases, such as swindling money from a successful bidder by posting false information in an online auction, climbed 22.8 percent to 867 cases.
(AP)
The star of "The Cove," an Oscar-winning documentary about a Japanese dolphin hunt, is back in Japan to protest the slaughter but had to cancel his trip to the village at the center of the controversy because of threats from an ultranationalist group.
Instead, Ric O'Barry, the former dolphin-trainer for the 1960s "Flipper" TV show, is playing host to a reception Wednesday for some 100 animal-lovers at a Tokyo hotel.
On Thursday, he will take a petition signed by 1.7 million people from 155 nations demanding the end of the dolphin hunt to the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, escorted by police security. (AP)
Police turned over to prosecutors Wednesday their case against a 21-year-old man who walked naked on a street in Yokohama last month and a 22-year-old woman who ordered him to do so, alleging they committed acts of public indecency. The woman and the man had been living together since January. She was angry with him for not paying rent and was quoted as telling him to, "Take off your clothes" and "follow my bicycle." (Japan Times)
An investigation by the Association of Japanese Private Railways has shown that in fiscal 2009, there were 869 cases of violence committed against train station employees and train crew members. This marked a rise of 117 cases from the 2008 fiscal year, and the most number of cases since the association began compiling such records in fiscal 2005.
In response to the recent surge in cases of violence perpetrated against railway workers, the association decided to put up posters to raise awareness and call for a stop to such violence on trains and at train stations.
Violence toward station attendants tended to occur late at night on weekends, and nearly 60 percent of perpetrators were reported to have been drinking alcohol before the incidents. Considering the fact that these cases increased in the month of December -- when end-of-the-year parties take place -- the majority was likely committed by those who had been drinking. (Mainichi)
A Japanese-Argentine couple won the stage dancing division of the Eighth World Tango Championships held Tuesday in Buenos Aires, reports from Argentina said.
The achievement by Japanese dancer Chizuko Kuwamoto and Diego Ortega from Argentina follows the victory in last year's contest by Japanese married couple Hiroshi and Kyoko Yamao in the salon dancing category.
In this year's competition, in which 405 pairs from 18 countries took part, another Japanese dancer, Naoko Tsutsumizaki, and her Argentine partner, Cristian Lopez, came in third in both stage and salon dancing. (AP)
The Kobe municipal government is considering banning people with tattoos from a beach in Suma Ward following the recent arrests of college students for alleged marijuana possession during a music event at the beach, city officials said.
The city office intends to come up with a concrete plan during this year, including establishing the rule by ordinance, but banning tattooed people from a public beach is a rare case in Japan as most tattoo bans are for commercial facilities such as saunas.
The envisaged ban may prompt controversy over its possible violation of the freedom of expression as tattoos are becoming increasingly fashionable with young people, critics say. (AP)
A 58-year-old woman is suspected of keeping her father's body inside a closet in their house in Izumi, Osaka Prefecture, after he died there five years ago, police said Wednesday.
After the body of a man believed to be Asakichi Miyata -- who would be 91 years old if alive -- was found in the house, the woman told the police that her father was dead when she came home one day five years ago and that she put his body inside the closet shortly afterward, they said.
Miyata, a former banker, is believed to have been receiving a pension, and the daughter may have been living off it, according to city and police officials. (AP)
The government conducted an emergency drill Wednesday on the assumption that three major earthquakes struck a wide area along the Pacific coast simultaneously, a phenomenon experts say has occurred and could recur.
Japan conducts annual antidisaster drills across the nation on Sept. 1 in commemoration of the Great Kanto Earthquake on Sept. 1, 1923, but it is the first time that the government has assumed a scenario of three major simultaneous quakes with epicenters located in a line in ocean trenches. (AP)
Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan and his rival, powerbroker Ichiro Ozawa, kicked off a leadership battle Wednesday that threatens to divide the ruling party only a year after it took power.
Their contest to run the governing centre-left Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) comes as its economic recovery is slowing, Japan's debt mountain is growing and exports are threatened by the yen trading near a 15-year high.
The rivals, who both formally declared their candidacy for the September 14 party election, represent the two different wings of the party which a year ago ousted the conservatives after more than half as century in power. (AFP)
Municipalities in Yamanashi Prefecture adjacent to Mt. Fuji are considering charging visitors who climb the mountain to help cover the costs of such things as first-aid facilities, mountain toilet maintenance and garbage disposal.
More and more people are trekking up Mt. Fuji every year. According to the Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefectural governments, from 2000 to 2006 about 200,000 people climbed Mt. Fuji each year. However, in 2007 the total jumped to 350,000 and in 2008 a whopping 430,000 people trekked up the famous mountain. The central government gives subsidies to private mountain lodges and local governments to build and maintain toilets in national and quasi-national parks, but the Environment Ministry has decided to abolish the system for budgetary reasons.
(Yomiuri)
Heatstroke has killed 158 people since late May, while 46,728 others were treated in hospitals during the same period, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said.
Between Aug. 23 and Sunday, 5,358 people were treated at hospitals for heatstroke, and 13 died, according to a survey taken by the agency.
During the one-week period, those taken to hospitals for emergency treatment declined by about 4,000 from the preceding week. There were also three fewer deaths. (Yomiuri)
The government said Tuesday it will help foreign residents master the Japanese language to improve their quality of life.
"Foreign residents in Japan have difficulties in finding jobs due to their insufficient language capabilities, and more people have faced hardships in their lives," a guideline compiled by a Cabinet Office panel says.
As solutions, the panel proposed improving the quality of Japanese-language teachers and providing vocational training in line with residents' language capabilities. (Japan Times)
A typhoon hit the northern part of the Okinawa Prefecture's main island around 5 p.m. on Tuesday and is moving northwest in the East China Sea, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
Typhoon Kompasu brought strong winds of up to 203 kilometers per hour in Izena village in the prefecture and has caused the cancellation of more than 190 flights to and from Okinawa and its vicinity, affecting about 25,000 people.
The typhoon left four people injured in Okinawa and power blackouts have occurred at around 32,000 households in 15 municipalities in the northern part of the island. (AP)
After the recent revelation that the whereabouts of numerous citizens aged 100 or over are unknown, should statistics on the average life expectancy for Japanese be reassessed?
The media abroad has reported on the missing centenarians with much interest, and some reports have cast doubt on the validity of statistics that famously show Japan's average life expectancy to be among the longest in the world.
On July 26, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry announced that the average life expectancy for Japanese males born in 2009 was 79.59 years. For females born that year, it was 86.44 years. The figures set record highs for both genders for the fourth year in a row. (Yomiuri)
More than 250,000 people--a record high--have climbed Mt. Fuji by the trail on the mountain's Yamanashi Prefecture side this season, according to the Mt. Fuji safety guidance center.
Last year, 247,066 people--the previous record--climbed the nation's highest mountain from the Yamanashi Prefecture side. The figure is likely to reach 260,000 by Tuesday, the last day of the climbing season, which started July 1.
According to the center at the 6th stage of Mt. Fuji, the season's 250,000th climber set out on the Yoshidaguchi trail at about 11:30 p.m. Saturday. (Yomiuri)
Japan is known as the biggest consumer of tuna. Be it raw for sushi or sashimi or fried, broiled or canned, tuna is an important element of the food culture.
But concerns are growing because tuna is disappearing, and this is putting Japan in a difficult diplomatic position.
How much tuna does Japan consume annually, and how does the rest of the world feel? Japan also accounted for some 70 to 80 percent of all bluefin tuna traded internationally. (Japan Times)
If you're a noncitizen and have entered or re-entered Japan in the last couple of years, you've undoubtedly been invited to participate in the wonderful, fun-filled world of biometrics. It's safe to say that many of you felt as though you were being treated like criminals - not to mention the humiliation of being discriminated against, knowing that your Japanese companions could quickly walk through immigration without having to endure the same indignities. Worse still is the fact that the foreign community of Japan worked so long and hard to finally get fingerprinting abolished - only to see it reinstated just a few years later due to pressure from the U.S. government. (Japan Times)
Long a favorite of lovers and honeymooners, a Japanese beach town with fading sparkle has found a new tourism niche in the wired age by drawing young men and their virtual girlfriends.
One recent sweltering summer's day, a tour bus from Tokyo pulled up at a sun-kissed beach at Atami, a Pacific coast resort southwest of the metropolis, and disgorged more than a dozen excited, iPhone-clutching young men.
The determined youngsters, paying scant attention to the bikini-clad girls frolicking on the sand, instead headed straight for a bronze statue that depicts Kanichi and Omiya, a couple from an old love story set in Atami. (inquirer.net)
Perhaps due to the fact that more people are carrying better quality camera phones or perhaps because visiting aliens are becoming more bold in terms of interacting with humanity as possible open alien contact draws nearer, the quality of new UFO footage over the last months has been better than ever.
UFOs are commonly seen in Japan and interest in alien / extraterrestrial subjects widespread. No official disclosure of UFO files has, however, occurred in Japan as of yet. (allnewsweb.com)
A company employee in Nagano Prefecture calculated the value of pi to five trillion digits this month using a self-made personal computer, beating the record set by a French engineer who calculated it to about 2.7 trillion digits late last year.
To calculate the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, to an undetermined number of digits, Shigeru Kondo, a 55- year-old resident of Iida, assembled a computer with 32 terabytes of hard-drive capacity and used an application made by Alexander Yee, a 22-year-old student at a U.S. graduate school.
(AP)
A heat wave continued in Japan on Sunday, with the temperature rising to 35 C or higher at 114 observation points across the archipelago, particularly in western Japan, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
The mercury soared to 37.4 C in Osaka, setting a new record for the longest streak of temperatures rising to 35 C or above at 14 days.
The weather agency forecast the heat would continue this week and called on people to take precautions against heat stroke.
(AP)
The Little League aces from Japan ended the United States' five-year reign as World Series champions.
The team from Tokyo limited Waipahu, Hawaii, to four singles, and got a homer and three RBIs from Konan Tomori to take the Little League World Series title with a 4-1 victory Sunday.
For the first time since 2003, a team from Japan is flying home with the championship banner. (Washington Post)
The demonstrators appeared one day in December, just as children at an elementary school for ethnic Koreans were cleaning up for lunch. The group of about a dozen Japanese men gathered in front of the school gate, using bullhorns to call the students cockroaches and Korean spies. Inside, the panicked students and teachers huddled in their classrooms, singing loudly to drown out the insults, as parents and eventually police officers blocked the protesters' entry.
The December episode was the first in a series of demonstrations at the Kyoto No. 1 Korean Elementary School that shocked conflict-averse Japan, where even political protesters on the radical fringes are expected to avoid embroiling regular citizens, much less children. (New York Times)
A 17-year-old mentally handicapped boy was arrested Saturday on suspicion of stabbing to death his 11-year-old brother with scissors and a knife at their home in Iwakura, Aichi Prefecture, local police said.
The suspect initially admitted to the allegation to the police, saying he stabbed his younger brother after having a fight, but later said he does not remember, the police said. Their grandfather found the younger brother collapsed in a pool of blood in the living room of the house at around 9:30 a.m., with the 17-year-old boy sitting nearby wearing blood-stained clothes. (AP)
Japan
Mont Fuji Japon
Japan is known equally as a hard working, hi-tech company obsessed with miniaturising everything and as a land of ancient temples, martial arts and origami. Whichever definition appeals to you more, you will find plenty to satisfy you, from the bustling neon capital of Tokyo to the ancient temples and shrines of Kyoto. All set against spectacular natural scenery such as Mount Fiji and bubbling volcanic hot springs. On top of all this, the Japanese people are famous for being friendly and gracious hosts, especially to hotel ists who can expect a warm welcome to one of the most interesting countries in the Far-east.
Currency: Japanese Yen. (¥)
Time Zone: GMT + 9
Language: Japanese
Telephone Services: Country code +81, International access code 001
Emergency Numbers: Tokyo English Life Line 3403 7106, Japan Helpline 0120 461 997
Climate
In general Japan benefits from a temperate climate with cool sunny winters and very hot summers. The most pleasant time to visit is the milder Autumn and Spring seasons. Rain can fall throughout the year but is not generally too heavy. Typhoons can occur during September or October but generally don't last for longer than a day. Okinawa has a sub-tropical climate and Hoikkaido boasts a climate similar to that of Washington with Siberian blasts blowing in during the winter providing great skiing spots. Winter can get very cold with temperatures as low as 2 degrees C and in the North temperatures can drop to below freezing.
BASIC DO'S AND DON'T'S ( adapted from Japan Made Easy, by De Mente as featured in the Travel Japan Bookstore)
DON'T:
Eat food while walking down the street.
Blow your nose in public. Sniffling is okay.
Wear shoes or slippers on tatami mats!
Give someone 4 of anything( or any number that is
"even").The Japanese word for "4" is similar to the word for death.
Smile in formal pictures.
Stick your chopsticks upright in a bowl of rice.
Wear shorts to temples or shrines.
Point your feet at anyone when sitting on the
floor. Its insulting.
Be direct.
Laugh with your mouth wide open.
Do:
Slurp while eating noodles.
Give a slight bow when meeting someone who is your peer.
Give a lower bow if they are your elder or boss.
Say "susimasen" after everything you say. It is the
all-in-one politeness word, meaning "excuse me",
"thank you," "hello" etc.
Give your business card, with a slight bow, immediately
when meeting a business colleage.
Give your seat up for children on trains.
Wear skirts or long pants, especially when visiting
temples or shrines.
Give a gift when visiting a Japanese home.
Listen to what is NOT said.
Wash before you get into the tub, and save the bath water
for others.
For more basic tips, go to:
Good Manners.
GIFT GIVING:
Unless you are not meeting with anyone in Japan, be prepared to give gifts. Gifts from your home area are especially appreciated. If there is a number to the items, like candy, try to avoid even numbers, especially "4." If you are meeting with a group, bring a consumable gift so everyone can enjoy it equally and no one is left out. Tee shirts with sayings in English are very popular in Japan. Pencils or pens with company or school name would be admired and plentiful to have enough for an entire group.
GREETINGS:
While some Japanese have become somewhat accustomed to shaking hands, it is still awkward for most. It is best to bow slightly when greeting someone. The lower the bow the more respect. If you are meeting someone for work-related business purposes, it's important to have a business card, preferably with a Japanese translation on one side. After bowing, with respect, extend an immaculate business card from a business card holder, preferably in a breast pocket or purse. When receiving a business card, admire it for a moment and keep it out to refer to. Don't fold it, write on it, or stuff it in a pocket. See this site for further information:
Bowing.
Visitors bowing before entering a temple.
SHRINES: Just a reminder: when visiting these beautiful shrines, please remember they are sacred--be respectful and wear long pants or a conservative skirt (no sleeveless tops or shorts).
VISITING IN THE JAPANESE HOME:
The Japanese will expect that you will be from another culture, but keeping these tips in mind will help the visit go more smoothly. The host family will want to "spoil" you, basically. They will want to have thought of your every need. If they realize you need something not already provided by them, they will be disappointed. Its best to graciously make do with what is provided and be thankful. If anything inconveniences your host, be apologetic. Before entering the house, you will leave your shoes where the others have left them outside the door. Then you will wear slippers provided or just your socks. Before entering a room with tatami mats on the floor(likely to be the main, multi-purpose room), its important to remove your slippers so as not to damage the mats.
For more information, see:
Customs in the Home.
A room at a Ryokan, a Japanese inn. Notice the tatami mats on the floor.
Golden Pavillion
Things to see and do
Unlike most cities, Tokyo is not a city littered with interesting or ancient architecture. Having been almost completely rebuilt after the heavy damage sustained during the Second World War the skyline is dominated by modern hi-rise skyscrapers. While in the suburbs some tradition clings on by its fingertips, certainly central Tokyo can be described as nothing short of a modern metropolis. Most visitors spend a lot of there time in the Ginza shopping district which contains boutiques, shops and galleries of all kinds. Its fashionable status does make Ginza somewhat expensive so unless you want to blow your whole trip's budget in one day it is best to take it easy here. Some of Japans finest museums and galleries are located around the Ueno-Koen park including the Tokyo National Museum and the National Science Museum.
After experiencing the new Japan in Tokyo there is no better place to discover a taste of old Japan than Kyoto. The city boasts literally hundreds of temples, shrines and gardens and was even the nations capital for over a thousand years. Although even here, modern buildings have started to encroach on the tiled roves and pebbled gardens of the temples there is still plenty left to see. There are a number of suberb temples including the Kinkaku-ji temple and the Sanjunsangen temple which houses 1001 statues of Kannon the Buddhist goddess of mercy. Also worth a look is the Imperial Palace in central Kyoto and the Himeji-jo Castle located just outside the city itself.
Those with a penchant for modern history often visit Nagasaki, the city decimated by the second nuclear bomb dropped on Japan during Worl War Two. The city has now been rebuilt as a prosperous example of Japanese urban life but its grisly past is recorded in the A-bomb museum situated at Urakami, the centre of the explosion. Also of interest in the city is the Fukusai-ji Zen Temple, Glover Garden and the Hypocentre Park which has a monument to mark the exact centre of the blast which decimated Nagaski.
Travel
When travelling in the mainland of Japan, it is dubious if the distances warrant air travel, however when travelling throughout the Islands it does become a viable possibility. Several airlines offer domestic flights throughout Japan and its islands including Japan Airlines, All Nippon Airlines and Japan Air Systems. Tickets can be bought from hotel operators, or at the airports from both airline counters and automatic ticketing machines in the larger airports.
Japan Railways Group is the rail operator throughout Japan. The service is one of the best in the world with some of the most hi-tech trains in existence. Many travellers will be familiar with the famous "bullet trains" which reach speeds in excess of 300km/h, which serve the busiest lines on the Japanese network with some routes offering as many as six trains per hour. Other lines run limited express, express or local services, generally each type of train ryokanries a different supplement with a further supplement being charged for travel in the first class "green" ryokans, seats on which must usually be reserved in advance. Tickets can be bought from stations, most commonly from automated vending machines. For some short distance, local trains, this is the only way to obtain a ticket.
A "Japan Rail Pass" is available, which is usually purchased through Japan Airlines or a hotel operator which is only available to foreign hotel ists. This pass allows unlimited travel on Japan Rail trains, buses and ferries. Passes start from £150 for a 7 day pass and are without a doubt one of the most economical ways to get around in Japan.
Bus travel is highly developed in Japan, but in most cities has been superseded by the underground metro system for local travel, similarly the rail network has mostly replaced the inter-city bus network. Services do still exist in appreciable numbers but the fare system are confusing and almost always highly automated so for most travellers it is wisest to just stick to the train.
Taxis are plentiful but they can be veery expensive, especially at night but if you are travelling in a group and can share the cost they could be a good transport option.
hostel, guesthouses in Japan are sub-divided between Western and Japanese style hostel, guesthouses. While the Western style hostel, guesthouses are much the same as those found in Western Europe the Japanese style ones are a unique experience. On arrival guests are given kimonos and rooms are decked out in traditional Japanese style complete with paper sliding doors and Japanese bathtubs. These Japanese style hostel, guesthouses are known as "ryokan and the Japan Ryokan Association can be contacted for more information. For general information on all kinds of hostel, guesthouses the Japan hostel, guesthouse Association can provide further information.
There are over 400 youth hostels in Japan which are regulated by Japan Youth Hostels Inc. In general guests must be a member of the International Youth Hostel Association although guest passes can be obtained from Japan Youth Hostels Inc's headquarters in Tokyo or from some hotel operators.
Health
The provision of healthcare in Japan is excellent, easily on par with the standards of the US or western Europe. The International Association for Medical Assistance to Travellers will provide English speaking doctors where appropriate and all western medications are widely available. Treatment costs can be extremely high in Japan so it is essential that you have adequate insurance cover when planning a visit to Japan.
There are no special precautions or vaccination recommended before visiting Japan, food and drink is considered safe and normal everyday precautions should be observed when buying food from street traders.
A valid passport and a return ticket is required by all visitors to Japan. Visas are not required by US or EU nationals for a stay of up to three months. Further visas and visas for other nationalities are issued at the local Japanese Embassy or Consulate and their exact validity and price varies widely with nationality.
Addresses
Visa and immigration related enquiries should be directed to the nearest Japanese Embassy of Consulate;
Embassy of Japan
101 Piccadilly
London
W1V 9FN
Tel: (020) 7 465 6500
Fax: (020) 7 491 9348
If you require UK representation while in Japan you should contact the British Embassy;
British Embassy
No 1 Ichiban-cho
Chiyoda-ku
Tokyo 102-8381
Tel: + [81] (3) 5211 1100
Fax: + [81] (3) 5275 0346
embassy@tokyo.mail.fco.gov.uk
The star of "The Cove," an Oscar-winning documentary about a Japanese dolphin hunt, is back in Japan to protest the slaughter but had to cancel his trip to the village at the center of the controversy because of threats from an ultranationalist group.
Instead, Ric O'Barry, the former dolphin-trainer for the 1960s "Flipper" TV show, is playing host to a reception Wednesday for some 100 animal-lovers at a Tokyo hotel.
On Thursday, he will take a petition signed by 1.7 million people from 155 nations demanding the end of the dolphin hunt to the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, escorted by police security. (AP)
A Japanese-Argentine couple won the stage dancing division of the Eighth World Tango Championships held Tuesday in Buenos Aires, reports from Argentina said.
The achievement by Japanese dancer Chizuko Kuwamoto and Diego Ortega from Argentina follows the victory in last year's contest by Japanese married couple Hiroshi and Kyoko Yamao in the salon dancing category.
In this year's competition, in which 405 pairs from 18 countries took part, another Japanese dancer, Naoko Tsutsumizaki, and her Argentine partner, Cristian Lopez, came in third in both stage and salon dancing. (AP)
The government conducted an emergency drill Wednesday on the assumption that three major earthquakes struck a wide area along the Pacific coast simultaneously, a phenomenon experts say has occurred and could recur.
Japan conducts annual antidisaster drills across the nation on Sept. 1 in commemoration of the Great Kanto Earthquake on Sept. 1, 1923, but it is the first time that the government has assumed a scenario of three major simultaneous quakes with epicenters located in a line in ocean trenches. (AP)
Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan and his rival, powerbroker Ichiro Ozawa, kicked off a leadership battle Wednesday that threatens to divide the ruling party only a year after it took power.
Their contest to run the governing centre-left Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) comes as its economic recovery is slowing, Japan's debt mountain is growing and exports are threatened by the yen trading near a 15-year high.
The rivals, who both formally declared their candidacy for the September 14 party election, represent the two different wings of the party which a year ago ousted the conservatives after more than half as century in power. (AFP)
More than 250,000 people--a record high--have climbed Mt. Fuji by the trail on the mountain's Yamanashi Prefecture side this season, according to the Mt. Fuji safety guidance center.
Last year, 247,066 people--the previous record--climbed the nation's highest mountain from the Yamanashi Prefecture side. The figure is likely to reach 260,000 by Tuesday, the last day of the climbing season, which started July 1.
According to the center at the 6th stage of Mt. Fuji, the season's 250,000th climber set out on the Yoshidaguchi trail at about 11:30 p.m. Saturday. (Yomiuri)
Japan is known as the biggest consumer of tuna. Be it raw for sushi or sashimi or fried, broiled or canned, tuna is an important element of the food culture.
But concerns are growing because tuna is disappearing, and this is putting Japan in a difficult diplomatic position.
How much tuna does Japan consume annually, and how does the rest of the world feel? Japan also accounted for some 70 to 80 percent of all bluefin tuna traded internationally. (Japan Times)
If you're a noncitizen and have entered or re-entered Japan in the last couple of years, you've undoubtedly been invited to participate in the wonderful, fun-filled world of biometrics. It's safe to say that many of you felt as though you were being treated like criminals - not to mention the humiliation of being discriminated against, knowing that your Japanese companions could quickly walk through immigration without having to endure the same indignities. Worse still is the fact that the foreign community of Japan worked so long and hard to finally get fingerprinting abolished - only to see it reinstated just a few years later due to pressure from the U.S. government. (Japan Times)
Long a favorite of lovers and honeymooners, a Japanese beach town with fading sparkle has found a new tourism niche in the wired age by drawing young men and their virtual girlfriends.
One recent sweltering summer's day, a tour bus from Tokyo pulled up at a sun-kissed beach at Atami, a Pacific coast resort southwest of the metropolis, and disgorged more than a dozen excited, iPhone-clutching young men.
The determined youngsters, paying scant attention to the bikini-clad girls frolicking on the sand, instead headed straight for a bronze statue that depicts Kanichi and Omiya, a couple from an old love story set in Atami. (inquirer.net)
Perhaps due to the fact that more people are carrying better quality camera phones or perhaps because visiting aliens are becoming more bold in terms of interacting with humanity as possible open alien contact draws nearer, the quality of new UFO footage over the last months has been better than ever.
UFOs are commonly seen in Japan and interest in alien / extraterrestrial subjects widespread. No official disclosure of UFO files has, however, occurred in Japan as of yet. (allnewsweb.com)
The Little League aces from Japan ended the United States' five-year reign as World Series champions.
The team from Tokyo limited Waipahu, Hawaii, to four singles, and got a homer and three RBIs from Konan Tomori to take the Little League World Series title with a 4-1 victory Sunday.
For the first time since 2003, a team from Japan is flying home with the championship banner. (Washington Post)
The demonstrators appeared one day in December, just as children at an elementary school for ethnic Koreans were cleaning up for lunch. The group of about a dozen Japanese men gathered in front of the school gate, using bullhorns to call the students cockroaches and Korean spies. Inside, the panicked students and teachers huddled in their classrooms, singing loudly to drown out the insults, as parents and eventually police officers blocked the protesters' entry.
The December episode was the first in a series of demonstrations at the Kyoto No. 1 Korean Elementary School that shocked conflict-averse Japan, where even political protesters on the radical fringes are expected to avoid embroiling regular citizens, much less children. (New York Times)
A 17-year-old mentally handicapped boy was arrested Saturday on suspicion of stabbing to death his 11-year-old brother with scissors and a knife at their home in Iwakura, Aichi Prefecture, local police said.
The suspect initially admitted to the allegation to the police, saying he stabbed his younger brother after having a fight, but later said he does not remember, the police said. Their grandfather found the younger brother collapsed in a pool of blood in the living room of the house at around 9:30 a.m., with the 17-year-old boy sitting nearby wearing blood-stained clothes. (AP)
