Saturday, November 21, 13:15 (JST)
'Runaway sites' latest Net-based exploitation of young girls
First there were the "enjo kosai" Internet sites where underage girls hook up with adult males in exchange for money. Now there's a new type of Web site that unites girls running away from home with men offering a place to stay in return for sexual favors.
Called "iede saito," or runaway sites, and potentially harmful to children, they provide a forum where messages posted by runaway girls asking for a place to stay are answered by men.
Observers say such sites have emerged because the operators and male users want to dodge new laws on "deaikei," or "encounter sites" (where members of the opposite sex can meet), that ban people under 18 from using them, diminishing the chance they will attract underage girls. (Japan Times)
First there were the "enjo kosai" Internet sites where underage girls hook up with adult males in exchange for money. Now there's a new type of Web site that unites girls running away from home with men offering a place to stay in return for sexual favors.
Called "iede saito," or runaway sites, and potentially harmful to children, they provide a forum where messages posted by runaway girls asking for a place to stay are answered by men.
Observers say such sites have emerged because the operators and male users want to dodge new laws on "deaikei," or "encounter sites" (where members of the opposite sex can meet), that ban people under 18 from using them, diminishing the chance they will attract underage girls. (Japan Times) Homeless man from Osaka finds his place on pitch 
A 52-year-old homeless man who spent nine years on Osaka's streets after being fired from his job was in Italy in September as captain of Japan's soccer delegation to the Homeless World Cup. A total of eight men from Tokyo and Osaka who lost their jobs due to corporate restructuring or saw their temporary work dry up were selected to represent Japan in the competition, which ran from Sept. 6 to 13 and brought together teams from 48 countries. (Japan Times)
A 52-year-old homeless man who spent nine years on Osaka's streets after being fired from his job was in Italy in September as captain of Japan's soccer delegation to the Homeless World Cup. A total of eight men from Tokyo and Osaka who lost their jobs due to corporate restructuring or saw their temporary work dry up were selected to represent Japan in the competition, which ran from Sept. 6 to 13 and brought together teams from 48 countries. (Japan Times) Woman linked to Tottori deaths, partner indicted on fraud charges
A 35-year-old woman with links to six men whose suspicious deaths were recently uncovered in Tottori Prefecture and her 46-year- old male roommate were served fresh arrest warrants Friday for fraud after previously being indicted on separate fraud charges.
The six deceased had been acquainted with or had financial troubles with the woman, who was an employee of a bar in the city of Tottori, and police are investigating their deaths with a view to building murder cases. (AP)
New hope for plucky Japanese asteroid mission 
Japanese engineers have devised a plan to combine parts from two partially-failed ion engines to resume the Hayabusa asteroid probe's journey back to Earth. In a press release Thursday, officials said they will use the neutralizer of Thruster A and the ion source of Thruster B to provide enough power to guide the 950-pound spacecraft home next June. (spaceflightnow.com)
Japanese engineers have devised a plan to combine parts from two partially-failed ion engines to resume the Hayabusa asteroid probe's journey back to Earth. In a press release Thursday, officials said they will use the neutralizer of Thruster A and the ion source of Thruster B to provide enough power to guide the 950-pound spacecraft home next June. (spaceflightnow.com) Talks to free Japanese abducted in Yemen stall in final stage
Negotiations to release a Japanese engineer kidnapped by armed tribesmen in Yemen have fallen into difficulty in the final stage, sources close to the talks said Thursday.
The negotiations moved closer to an agreement, with local tribal leaders pledging to the captors that they will ask the Yemeni government to free a jailed relative, as demanded by the tribesmen, in exchange for the Japanese engineer and his driver, the sources said. (AP)
Ichihashi lawyers slam interrogation methods 
Lawyers for Tatsuya Ichihashi urged prosecutors and police Thursday to improve their interrogation methods, arguing that a prosecutor had told the suspect during a grilling that he could be hanged for the 2007 murder of Briton Lindsay Ann Hawker.
"It is illegitimate to investigate by making up scenarios," one of the lawyers told a news conference, during which they quoted Ichihashi as saying he was told by a prosecutor at the Chiba District Public Prosecutor's Office that the death sentence is a possibility. (Japan Times)
Lawyers for Tatsuya Ichihashi urged prosecutors and police Thursday to improve their interrogation methods, arguing that a prosecutor had told the suspect during a grilling that he could be hanged for the 2007 murder of Briton Lindsay Ann Hawker.
"It is illegitimate to investigate by making up scenarios," one of the lawyers told a news conference, during which they quoted Ichihashi as saying he was told by a prosecutor at the Chiba District Public Prosecutor's Office that the death sentence is a possibility. (Japan Times) Beaujolais nouveau hot in Japan - literally 
Japan's craze for Beaujolais nouveau has beaten the global recession, with tourists taking a dip Thursday in a hot mountain spring coloured red with the fruity wine. The Hakone Kowakien Yunessun spa resort celebrated the annual uncorking of the seasonal drop by having a sommelier pour a few bottles into an open-air hot spring bath as holiday-makers enjoyed soaking themselves. (AFP)
Japan's craze for Beaujolais nouveau has beaten the global recession, with tourists taking a dip Thursday in a hot mountain spring coloured red with the fruity wine. The Hakone Kowakien Yunessun spa resort celebrated the annual uncorking of the seasonal drop by having a sommelier pour a few bottles into an open-air hot spring bath as holiday-makers enjoyed soaking themselves. (AFP)| Nov 21 | Yamato plans Singapore 'takkyubin' (Japan Times) |
| Yamato Holdings Co. said Friday it will commence a service similar to its domestic "takkyubin" parcel delivery operation in Singapore in January in light of the city state's good business prospects. Japan's top parcel transport firm unveiled in August a similar service for Shanghai due to start in January, as it aims to expand its business in other parts of Asia, given the poor growth outlook in the domestic market. |
| Nov 21 | Sony head sees big things for 3-D (Japan Times) |
| Sony Corp. Chairman Howard Stringer forecast 3-D movies, pictures and games will be the electronics maker's next $10 billion business, challenging investors and analysts who say the technology isn't ready to become mainstream. The maker of Bravia televisions and PlayStation 3 game consoles said Thursday 3-D-related products, excluding content, will generate more than 1 trillion yen in the 12 months ending in March 2013. |
| Nov 21 | 6 nonlife insurers' profits grow (Yomiuri) |
| The country's six biggest nonlife insurers announced Thursday large year-on-year increases in their after-tax profits for the April-September period partly due to the smaller-than-usual incidence of natural disasters. |
| Nov 20 | American ups JAL ante to keep Delta at bay (Japan Times) |
 American Airlines Inc. on Thursday upped the ante in a fierce scramble over struggling Japan Airlines Corp., warning of "enormous risks" if JAL switches to the rival SkyTeam alliance. A day after Delta Air Lines Inc. unveiled a lucrative financial package for JAL, American Airlines, a unit of AMR Corp., struck back as it is readying what sources say could be an even sweeter proposal totaling around ¥130 billion with TPG Inc., a major U.S. investment firm.
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| Nov 20 | Fewer disasters boost first-half profits at major nonlife insurers (Japan Times) |
| Six major nonlife insurers said Thursday their group net profits in the April-September period rose from a year earlier as insurance payments slipped below projections on a smaller-than-expected number of natural disasters. They also reported pretax profits for the first half of fiscal 2009 after incurring losses from the global financial crisis for the whole of fiscal 2008, indicating the stabilizing of their financial performances on a stock market recovery. But a fast decline in transportation of goods amid the global recession |
USD to JPY:
88.905
| Nov 21 | BOJ must get serious about deflation (Yomiuri) |
| The Japanese economy, as had been widely expected, is mired in deflation as prices continue to fall. In a monthly economic report released Friday, the government acknowledged the economy is in a mild deflationary phase and warned that deflation could impede the nation's recovery. |
| Nov 21 | Japan's Bonds Gain for 2nd Week on Outlook for Rates, Deflation (Bloomberg) |
| Japan's 20-year government bonds gained for a second week after the central bank held interest rates near zero amid mounting pressure for it to fight deflation. Benchmark 20-year yields were near the lowest level in more than a month after central bank Governor Masaaki Shirakawa and his colleagues kept the benchmark overnight rate at 0.1 percent in a unanimous vote yesterday. |
| Nov 20 | Japan maintains super-low interest rates (AFP) |
 Japan's central bank announced Friday that it was leaving its super-low interest rates unchanged at 0.1 percent, in the face of mounting concerns about deflation in Asia's biggest economy. "Japan's economy is picking up mainly due to various policy measures taken at home and abroad, although the momentum of self-sustaining recovery in domestic private demand remains weak," the Bank of Japan said in a statement.
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| Nov 20 | The rising yen is sinking Japan (Wall Street Journal) |
| The U.S. dollar's decline has created upward pressure on many major Asian currencies, not least the yen, which is up 20% versus the dollar since the September 2008 Lehman shock. The new Democratic Party of Japan-led government argues this trend is a boon, but in fact it's just the opposite: The rising yen is a significant contributing factor to the sinking of the world's second-largest economy. |
| Nov 20 | Japan's foreign aid up in 2008 for 1st time in 3 years (AP) |
| Japan's official development assistance in 2008 rose 24.7 percent from the previous year to $9.58 billion (about 850 billion yen), marking the first increase in three years, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday. The ministry attributed the expansion in the dollar figure to a stronger yen as well as increased contributions to conflict-torn countries such as Afghanistan and Sudan via international aid organizations. |
NIKKEI 225:
9497.68
| Nov 20 | Nikkei index falls to 4-month low (Reuters) |
| Japan's Nikkei stock index fell to a four-month low Friday, pressured by uncertainty over the government's handling of the deflation-plagued economy. The benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average lost 51.79 points, or 0.5 percent, to 9,492.74, the lowest finish since July 17 when the key index closed at 9,395.32. It also marked the fourth consecutive day of decline. During the week, the Nikkei index lost 2.8 percent. |
| Nov 19 | Mitsubishi UFJ offer spells 'harsh world' for rivals (Bloomberg) |
| Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. may beat Japanese banking rivals to market with its planned sale of as much as 1 trillion yen ($11.2 billion) in stock as regulators demand bigger capital cushions. Chief Executive Officer Nobuo Kuroyanagi said he didn't want to "miss the opportunity" to tap equity investors for the second time in less than a year as smaller competitors Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. and Mizuho Financial Group Inc. are barred from selling common stock for at least another month. |
| Nov 19 | Japan Stocks Offer Bargains for Value Hunters, First Eagle Says (Bloomberg) |
| Investors hunting for value can find some of the world's cheapest stocks in Japan, said Abhay Deshpande, who helps manage the First Eagle Global Fund. The fund, which has Jean-Marie Eveillard as an adviser, favors companies including Fanuc Co. and Keyence Corp. because of their global market share, profitability and cash flow, said Deshpande. The fund has also held shares of karaoke machine manufacturer Daiichikosho Co., which trades at 6.8 times estimated profit. Companies on the Topix index are valued at an average 35 times earnings. |
| Nov 18 | Nikkei falls to 6-week low on equity finance worries, JAL (AP) |
| Tokyo stocks fell Wednesday, with the key Nikkei index logging a six- week closing low, as jitters about a series of corporate equity financing plans and economic policy uncertainties continued to haunt investors. The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average fell 53.13 points, or 0.55 percent, from Tuesday to 9,676.80, its lowest close since Oct. 5 when it finished at 9,674.49. |
| Nov 18 | Big firms to see first collective profit in two years (Japan Times) |
| Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's first section are expected to swing back into the black in terms of collective net earnings for the first time in two years, according to a tally by Nikko Cordial Securities Inc. The recovery is attributable to the government's stimulus measures, corporate restructuring and increased exports as well as the waning global financial crisis, analysts said. |
| Nov 21 | Ozawa looming as 'shadow shogun' (Japan Times) |
| The Democratic Party of Japan's oldest lawmaker recently had a few bitter words for his old friend, DPJ Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa. Speaking in Fukuoka earlier this month, Kozo Watabe criticized what he considered the monopolization of party authority in Ozawa's hands. |
| Nov 21 | Deliberations on 6 bills launched amid boycott (Yomiuri) |
| The House of Representatives began committee deliberations on six government-sponsored bills Friday, including one to inspect cargo being shipped to and from North Korea, but the opposition Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito boycotted the discussions. |
| Nov 20 | Ozawa faces fresh donations scandal (Japan Times) |
| Ichiro Ozawa, secretary general of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, faced fresh allegations of illegal donations Thursday after a source connected with an engineering firm told prosecutors that unreported contributions had been made to one of his aides when the contractor sought to get in on an Iwate Prefecture dam project. |
| Nov 20 | DPJ rams debt relief bill through committee (Japan Times) |
| A bill aimed at encouraging lenders to freeze debt repayments for small and midsize companies was set to clear the Lower House late Thursday night after the ruling bloc rammed it through a Diet committee in the first such power play since the Hatoyama administration assumed office two months ago. The government-sponsored bill was passed by the Lower House Financial Affairs Committee despite a boycott by the Liberal Democratic Party, the main opposition force, and its former ruling coalition partner, New Komeito. |
| Nov 20 | Slowly, secret U.S. nuke deals come to light (Japan Times) |
| Decades since Washington and Tokyo reportedly crafted secret agreements to allow U.S. nuclear weapons in Japanese territory, declassified documents from the U.S. detailing its nuclear presence in Okinawa and elsewhere in Japan during the postwar period are slowly coming to light. The move is creating headaches for both countries as they grapple over military bases in Okinawa and the future structure of the alliance. |
| Nov 21 | Prefecture serves up nuts to the nation (Yomiuri) |
| The next time you shell out for a packet of peanuts, cast an eye over the small print on the bag and it is highly likely the words "Made in Chiba Prefecture" will figure somewhere. Chiba Prefecture produces more than 70 percent of the nation's peanuts, with Yachimata, in the north of the prefecture, topping the list. |
| Nov 20 | Maria Ozawa, other acclaimed AV actresses on auction as stagnation sticks (Tokyo Reporter) |
| Buried in the back of Weekly Playboy (Nov. 23) is a report claiming that the lingering recession is resulting in popular adult video (AV) actresses increasingly being auctioned off at top-class sex establishments with none other than starlet Maria Ozawa appearing on the block. A conventional deri heru (out-call) sex service, the tabloid explains, has an image of being inexpensive, but one staffed with AV ladies is quite the opposite, commanding fees between 30,000 and 50,000 yen a pop for run-of-the-mill actresses and three or four times those figures for top-name talents. |
| Nov 20 | Man on probation following lay judge trial unaccounted for (AP) |
| A 21-year-old man who is on probation after receiving a suspended prison term for arson has gone missing, probably the first case in which a former defendant in a lay judge trial has disappeared after going on probation, legal sources said Thursday. Under the newly introduced lay judge trial, several defendants were sentenced to suspended terms and have been put on probation, as citizen judges together with professional ones expect them to rehabilitate in society. |
| Nov 20 | Coin-operated parking zones for motorbikes to open (Yomiuri) |
| Coin-operated parking zones for motorcycles will open for the first time in the nation along Omotesando in Tokyo on Nov. 30. Under the 2006 revision to the Road Traffic Law, punishments for parking offenses have become stricter, with the result that greater attention has been paid to the maintenance of parking lots for passenger cars. But to date, almost no parking zones have been provided for motorcycles. |
| Nov 19 | Scant welcome for refugees in Japan (BBC) |
 In a cramped apartment in Tokyo, volunteers are teaching Burmese asylum seekers how to make clothes combining Japanese fashion with their own traditional embroidery.
They hope the project will give women like Lu [not her real name] a way to make ends meet.
It has been three years since Lu fled Burma, leaving her husband and children behind. She claimed asylum on arrival in Tokyo and was sent straight to an immigration detention centre where she spent almost a year.
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| Nov 20 | Sumo: No change at the top as Asa, Hakuho breeze to victory in Kyushu (AP) |
| Asashoryu floored Kotoshogiku to stay on course for his 25th Emperor's Cup at the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament on Friday. The Mongolian firebrand (6-0) retained his share of the lead with fellow yokozuna Hakuho and maegashira Yoshikaze, but Chiyotaikai's umpteenth bid to save his ozeki rank took a fresh hit with a fourth consecutive loss. |
| Nov 20 | Baseball: Tough times for Japanese baseball (canoe.ca) |
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| Nov 20 | Volleyball: Japanese men tame Egypt in Grand Champions Cup (AP) |
| Japan beat Egypt in four sets to make it two wins out of two on the second day of the men's World Grand Champions Cup on Thursday. Buoyed by Wednesday's opening win over European champion Poland, the home team prevailed 25-15, 22-25, 25-21, 25-17 to the delight of over 5,000 fans at Osaka Municipal Central Gymnasium. |
| Nov 20 | Baseball: War of words continues between Johjima, Nomura (Japan Times) |
| New Hanshin Tigers catcher Kenji Johjima's return to Japanese baseball was lauded by many in the NPB community. Just not by Katsuya Nomura, perhaps Japan's best ever at the position. Recently asked about Johjima's return, the outspoken Nomura was ready to stoke the flames in the odd war of words that has existed between the two for some time. |
| Nov 19 | Sumo: Asashoryu, Hakuho still on top at Kyushu sumo (AP) |
| Mongolian grand champion Asashoryu rocked Kisenosato in a lopsided affair to maintain his spotless record at the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament on Thursday. Sumo's bad boy improved to 5-0 for a share of the lead with yokozuna Hakuho and rank-and-filer Yoshikaze. Putting the komusubi on his heels with a wallop to the head at the face-off, Asashoryu knocked his opponent upright with another whack before swatting him forward by the head at Fukuoka Kokusai Center. Kisenosato slipped to 2-3. |
| Nov 21 | Heian tomb yields tweezers (Japan Times) |
 A makeup kit containing a pair of 17-cm iron scissors and iron tweezers 8.5 cm long has been discovered in the tomb of a woman who lived at the end of the Heian Period (794-1192), archaeologists said recently. Also found inside the tomb, in Nishiwaki, Hyogo Prefecture, were a clay pot 6 cm in diameter and a 5.7-cm porcelain pot as well as a 9-cm bronze mirror made in China, according to officials of the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Archaeology in Harimacho.
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| Nov 21 | Diet library to store 50,000 digitized 78s (Yomiuri) |
| The National Diet Library is to receive about 50,000 audio files of recordings originally issued on old 78 rpm records. The Historical Records Archive Promotion Conference (HiRAC) will later this month provide the library with the files, which it has created by digitizing recordings on standard-playing (SP) records it has collected and preserved. |
| Nov 18 | School closures on rise again as new flu spreads (AP) |
| School closures mostly prompted by the spread of the new H1N1 strain of influenza A have begun increasing again, with 17,210 educational institutions reporting partial or full closures in the week up to Saturday, health ministry said Wednesday. The figure marked an upturn from the previous week when partial or full closures fell to 15,149. |
| Nov 18 | Starting pay for new graduates rises in 2009 (AP) |
| Average starting pay for new employees who have just graduated from universities or high schools rose this year despite the recession, according to data released Wednesday by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. "The economic downturn only had a limited impact on starting salaries because many companies set the terms of employment before the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (in September last year)," a ministry official said. |
| Nov 18 | OECD urges Japan new gov't to review child allowance program (AP) |
| The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on Wednesday called on the Japanese government to review the "purpose and scope" of its key pledge of providing monthly allowances to families with children starting in fiscal 2010. The OECD recommended that Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's government, formed two months ago, channel more taxpayers' money into preschool education and childcare instead. |
| Nov 21 | Jellyfish choking Pacific fishing (Yomiuri) |
 Nomura's jellyfish, which usually infest the Sea of Japan, are starting to be seen in great numbers along the nation's Pacific coast. According to the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry, the jellyfish have caused great damage to the fishing industry this year, on a scale comparable to that seen four years ago, the most destructive year on record.
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| Nov 20 | Japanese researchers discover way to detect digestive system cancer with blood test (examiner.com) |
| Japanese researchers have discovered a way to detect cancer throughout the digestive system with a simple blood test. Looking at abnormalities in the genes of patients, the researchers believe they can detect the presence of gastrointestinal cancer with ninety percent accuracy, they announced to the Japanese media on Nov. 19th. |
| Nov 20 | Japan embarks on annual whale hunt--can Sea Shepherd be far behind? (Los Angeles Times) |
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| Nov 19 | Smoke emerges from nuclear reactor, but no radiation leak reported (AP) |
| Smoke briefly emerged from a quake-stalled nuclear power reactor in Niigata Prefecture on Thursday morning, but no one was injured and there was no radiation leak, local government officials said. The incident took place in a turbine room at the No. 3 reactor of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant around 10 a.m., according to the officials of the Niigata prefectural government. |
| Nov 19 | Japanese self-defense force sunglasses will slow a bullet (geek.com) |
| Those tiny, moist gobs of goo, goggling about inside of your skull, are two of the most important sensory organs you have, and although they - at first glance - appear to be alarmingly puncturable and squishable, your body luckily does a pretty good job of keeping your eyeballs safe. Tear ducts flush irritants out of them; eyelids keep them safe from debris; the hard, calcified ridges of your orbital bone keeps your eyes safe from squishing. |
| Nov 20 | Stringer sees gaming, TVs rejuvenating Sony (Japan Times) |
| Sony said Thursday it aims to be profitable in gaming and flat-panel TVs by the fiscal year ending in March 2011 as it slashes costs to turn around money-losing businesses. The maker of the PlayStation game console is headed for its second straight year of losses in the fiscal year ending next March, battered by the global slowdown and sliding prices of gadgets. |
| Nov 20 | Good to Go? Sony enters new arena with its next-generation PSP handheld (Yomiuri) |
 When Sony announced the next-generation PSP 'the PSP Go' anticipation rode high. When more details were released at last year's E3 convention in Los Angeles, anticipation plummeted. And now that it's out, Sony is finding it might have an uphill battle getting accepted by retailers and gamers alike. But, it seems, this might just be the price of innovation. The shock first came when gamers and retailers discovered that the UMD minidisc format that Sony had pinned its hopes on since first releasing the PlayStation Portable in 2005 seemed to have been abandoned in favor of a download-only format.
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| Nov 19 | 'Go global', Japanese mobile makers told (FT.com) |
| Japan's mobile handset makers may have only two years left to expand abroad or risk being left behind in the technology race, one of the industry's most respected figures warned yesterday. Takeshi Natsuno - the strategist behind NTT DoCoMo's "i-mode" data service and a professor at Keio University - said the end of network operator subsidies on new handsets meant that Japanese manufacturers would soon lose their technical lead. The comments are a wake-up call to an industry that is still the world's most technologically advanced, but where handset sales have all but halved since the state subsidies ended in 2007. |
| Nov 19 | Gov't likely to extend 'eco-point' program by 9 months (AP) |
| The government is likely to extend the "eco-point" economic stimulus program by around nine months from its initially scheduled expiration on March 31, lawmakers said Wednesday. The possible extension was discussed by a government panel convened the same day for the first time to work out an additional package of stimulus measures. The program was launched in May to encourage purchases of certain energy-efficient air conditioners, refrigerators and television sets capable of receiving terrestrial digital broadcasting. |
| Nov 18 | Sharp reportedly to offer Google-based phone in Japan (MarketWatch) |
| Sharp Corp. will offer mobile phones in Japan that run on Google Inc.'s Android operating system as early as the first half of next year, according to a company executive cited in a report Wednesday. DoCoMo currently offers a Google-based phone made by Taiwan's HTC Corp. |