Friday, July 30, 6:45 (JST)
'Hikikomori' bedroom hermits should be regarded as national crisis
There are approximately 230,000 people who almost constantly shut themselves in their rooms except to go to nearby convenience stores, according to a survey conducted by the Cabinet Office. The number increases to about 700,000 if those who only go out to do something hobby-related are included.
Moreover, there are an estimated 1.55 million potential so-called 'hikikomori' who have felt like shutting themselves in their own rooms. Most of them are young people.
As the population of young people declines due to falling birthrates, the statistics have raised questions about the future of Japan.
Hikikomori are defined as those who shut themselves in their homes for at least six months but are not involved in child care or housework even though they are not sick. (Mainichi)
The art of sweating in Japan
Visit Japan - come join the sweating masses!
Imagine 120 million people on a typical hot, humid summer's day. I've heard some tourists say that whenever they come to Japan they bring enough shirts to wear two per day. The second shirt they change into at midday. This is usually said by big burly men with beer bellies, but I can understand the sentiment. Carrying luggage up and down stairs in train stations makes you sweat like a racehorse. Then of course, there's the frothing at the mouth.
While the Japanese perspire, they don't seem to do it to the proud degree that we foreigners do. While I've always attributed our sweating and ensuing body odor to the fact that we are the more hirsute of the species, the Japanese say body odor has more to do with food - you smell like what you eat. (Japan Times)
Mitsui maintains oil tanker was likely attacked 
A Japanese shipping company maintained Thursday that its oil tanker was likely attacked in the Strait of Hormuz a day earlier, dismissing reports it may have been hit by a freak wave.
Mitsui OSK Lines officials reiterated at a Tokyo press conference that crew members saw a flash and heard an explosion in the incident shortly after midnight local time on Wednesday in the waterway between Iran and Oman. The Japan-bound vessel -- crewed by 16 Filipinos and 15 Indians -- was carrying 270,000 tonnes of crude oil but did not suffer a spill.
One of the crew saw a flash on the horizon at the time, while several other sailors heard an explosion, Hibino said, adding that the weather was fine and there were no reports of high waves in the region. (AFP)
A Japanese shipping company maintained Thursday that its oil tanker was likely attacked in the Strait of Hormuz a day earlier, dismissing reports it may have been hit by a freak wave.
Mitsui OSK Lines officials reiterated at a Tokyo press conference that crew members saw a flash and heard an explosion in the incident shortly after midnight local time on Wednesday in the waterway between Iran and Oman. The Japan-bound vessel -- crewed by 16 Filipinos and 15 Indians -- was carrying 270,000 tonnes of crude oil but did not suffer a spill.
One of the crew saw a flash on the horizon at the time, while several other sailors heard an explosion, Hibino said, adding that the weather was fine and there were no reports of high waves in the region. (AFP) Record 44,210 child abuse cases logged in '09
Child abuse cases handled by consultation offices hit a record 44,210 in fiscal 2009, rising for 19 straight years since statistics were first compiled in fiscal 1990, a government survey showed Wednesday.
The figure reflects an increase of 1,546 cases from fiscal 2008, when the previous record was set, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said in a preliminary report.
During the reporting year, which ended in March, there was only one case requiring counselors to visit a household where child abuse was suspected, after the family had rejected the investigation, down from two cases in fiscal 2008 when such measures became possible under the revised child abuse prevention law. (Japan Times)
Japan to review death penalty
Japan's justice minister, a foe of capital punishment, has announced a review of the death penalty after witnessing the first executions since her centre-left government took power in 2009.
The two male convicts hanged on Wednesday were Kazuo Shinozawa, 59, who killed six people by setting fire to a jewellery store, and Hidenori Ogata, 33, convicted of killing a man and a woman and seriously injuring two others.
Keiko Chiba, the first justice minister to personally watch a government execution, carried out at the Tokyo Detention House, afterwards told media she wanted a ministry study group to review the practice. (Sydney Morning Herald)
Japan hangs 2 death row inmates, 1st execution in 1 year 
Japan hanged two death row inmates in the first execution under the Democratic Party of Japan government launched last September, Justice Minister Keiko Chiba told a press conference Wednesday.
The two are Kazuo Shinozawa, who was accused of murder in 2000 involving six female clerks at a jewelry store in Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, and Hidenori Ogata, who was involved in a double murder case in 2003, according to the Justice Ministry.
Chiba said she herself attended the execution. (AP)
Japan hanged two death row inmates in the first execution under the Democratic Party of Japan government launched last September, Justice Minister Keiko Chiba told a press conference Wednesday.
The two are Kazuo Shinozawa, who was accused of murder in 2000 involving six female clerks at a jewelry store in Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, and Hidenori Ogata, who was involved in a double murder case in 2003, according to the Justice Ministry.
Chiba said she herself attended the execution. (AP) Crown Prince visits war cemetery 
Crown Prince Naruhito offered flowers Tuesday at the national cemetery for people who died in the Battle of Okinawa in the city of Itoman.
On the first day of a three-day visit to Okinawa, the Crown Prince also visited the Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum, where he viewed an exhibition on the war and the prefecture's reversion campaign afterward. (Japan Times)
Crown Prince Naruhito offered flowers Tuesday at the national cemetery for people who died in the Battle of Okinawa in the city of Itoman.
On the first day of a three-day visit to Okinawa, the Crown Prince also visited the Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum, where he viewed an exhibition on the war and the prefecture's reversion campaign afterward. (Japan Times) Japan to take 32 Myanmar refugees
Japan will allow the settlement of 32 ethnic minority Myanmar refugees now living in Thailand, sources said.
The 32 people, consisting of six ethnic Karen families, will be the first refugees allowed in under the "third country" refugee resettlement program.
The sources said the refugees are due to travel to Japan after taking a monthlong Japanese-language and culture-acclimatization program at the Mera refugee camp in northeastern Thailand near the Myanmar border. (Japan Times)
| Jul 29 | Sony leads Japan's electronics makers back to black (AFP) |
Japanese electronics giant Sony on Thursday said it returned to the black in the fiscal first quarter thanks to strong sales in televisions, its PlayStation 3 console and computers.
The maker of Bravia televisions and Cyber-shot cameras also upwardly revised its annual profit forecast by 20 percent to 60 billion yen in the year ending March 2011 despite worries over the yen's strength.
In the April-June quarter Sony reported a profit of 25.7 billion yen (293 million dollars) compared with a 37.1 billion yen loss a year ago.
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| Jul 29 | PayPal Flying Solo to Japan (allthingsd.com) |
| EBay acquired PayPal in 2002, the same year it largely conceded the Japanese auction market to Yahoo Japan, so the online payment service has never really had a chance at handling some of the billions of dollars in online transactions generated by that nation's consumers every year. That's about to change. PayPal now plans to ramp up its efforts in Japan, the first time it will enter a region without the built-in support of its parent's giant auction business. |
| Jul 28 | Softbank building growth on deals with U.S. tech firms Yahoo, Apple, and now Google (Mainichi) |
 With the July 27 announcement of a tie-up between Internet portal Yahoo Japan and search giant Google Inc., under which Yahoo will adopt Google's search engine and linked advertising distribution system, primary Yahoo Japan stock holder Softbank Corp. has racked up another deal in a string of partnerships with United States companies to bring American technology and services to Japan -- and boost the company's own growth in the process.
Avoiding a fixation on ideas developed solely from within the company, the growth strategy built by Softbank and its President Masayoshi Son of seeking cooperation with some of the U.S.'s most powerful and innovative technology firms has already brought the Yahoo portal and Apple Inc.'s wildly popular iPhone and iPad devices to Japan, and the Google deal is another step in this strategy.
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| Jul 28 | Microsoft cries foul over Google tie-up with Yahoo Japan (PC World) |
| Yahoo Japan's decision to replace Microsoft with Google as its main search partner has been met with protest from Microsoft, which called the deal anticompetitive. "This agreement is even more anticompetitive than Google's deal with Yahoo in the United States and Canada that the Department of Justice found to be illegal," Brad Smith, Microsoft's general counsel, said in a statement sent to reporters. "The 2008 deal would have locked up 90 percent of paid search advertising. This deal gives Google virtually 100 percent of all searches in Japan, both paid and unpaid." Microsoft declined to say if it will try to challenge the deal on legal grounds. Smith was referring to an advertising agreement that Google and Yahoo were considering in 2008. They abandoned it after the DOJ said it would try to block the deal on antitrust grounds. |
| Jul 28 | First half saw car output shift into high gear (Japan Times) |
| The nation's automakers on Tuesday reported sharp increases in global production for the first half, and for June in particular with Toyota seeing a 16.2 percent surge, underlining a recovery in demand from a dismal plunge a year earlier. Toyota Motor Corp. said it produced 739,683 vehicles in June as sales grew in Japan and abroad and exports expanded to North America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. |
USD to JPY:
86.895
| Jul 29 | Don't scorn Germany and Japan; learn from them (Los Angeles Times) |
| In the midst of the Great Recession, the United States is suffering through nearly 10% unemployment, rising inequality and poverty, 47 million people without health insurance, declining retirement prospects for the middle class and a general increase in economic insecurity. The global marketplace has become tumultuous, so when we find a bright spot, one would think it deserves a mention. How then should we regard a country that has 5% unemployment, the lowest income inequality, healthcare for all its people and is one of the world's leading exporters? |
| Jul 28 | All ministries face 10% budget cut (Japan Times) |
| Despite dissent within the ranks of his Democratic Party of Japan and Cabinet, Prime Minister Naoto Kan's administration endorsed on Tuesday a 10 percent cut on all ministries' fiscal 2011 budget requests and earmark at least ¥1 trillion to stimulate economic growth. The approved guideline, which ministries will use when they compile their budget requests, caps annual policy-related spending at ¥71 trillion, as previously pledged by Kan. The Cabinet also agreed to hold open debate on which projects deserve a share of the ¥1 trillion. |
| Jul 27 | Kan, ministers agree to 'actively' seek FTAs (AP) |
| Prime Minister Naoto Kan and other ministers on Tuesday affirmed that that they will actively work to seek free trade agreements with other countries, trade minister Masayuki Naoshima said. It was the first gathering of ministers to discuss the issue since Kan succeeded Yukio Hatoyama as premier in June, according to a government official. "The Kan Cabinet would like to actively work (on the trade agreement issue) in the same way as the Hatoyama Cabinet," Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Naoshima told a regular press conference. |
| Jul 27 | 'No pressure,' says BOJ's 1st female branch manager (Yomiuri) |
| Despite her recent appointment as the first female branch manager in the 128-year history of the Bank of Japan, Tokiko Shimizu says she feels no pressure. She's probably telling the truth, for this is not the first, or even the second time she's broken such ground at the central bank. Shimizu was also the first woman to be appointed deputy head of the bank's London office, her former post, and the first to be in charge of foreign exchange intervention. |
| Jul 27 | Stimulus cut of ¥1 trillion tough for Kan (Japan Times) |
| A Cabinet committee endorsed a plan Monday to earmark more than ¥1 trillion for stimulus growth measures in the fiscal 2011 budget, instead of the ¥2 trillion the ruling Democratic Party of Japan has urged the government to allocate for such measures. The draft also urges each ministry and agency to cut back on requests for policy-related spending in the fiscal year starting next April by 10 percent to squeeze out funds for the special allocation. |
NIKKEI 225:
9696.02
| Jul 29 | Tokyo stocks fall on profit-taking as stronger yen weighs (AP) |
| Tokyo stocks fell Thursday, a day after the key Nikkei index ended at a two-week high, as a stronger yen prodded investors to lock in profits, although losses were limited amid optimism about Japanese corporate earnings. The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average dropped 57.25 points, or 0.59 percent, from Wednesday to 9,696.02. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange was down 4.24 points, or 0.49 percent, at 861.27. Shares of Panasonic tumbled on dilution worries after reports that the electronics maker has decided to make Sanyo Electric Co. and Panasonic Electric Works Co. its wholly owned units within fiscal 2010 at the earliest. |
| Jul 29 | Japan Inc's latest buying spree (The Economist) |
| Corporate Japan is forging overseas at a faster pace than usual. In recent days, four deals have been announced. Although each is small, and not yet completed, they reveal a lot about the direction that firms are headed in their efforts to globalise and reduce dependence on the anaemic domestic market. In the first half of 2010, Japanese overseas M&A activity has been robust, growing 28% by volume from 2009. Strikingly, the number of Japanese acquisitions in Asia almost doubled compared with the first six months of last year, to reach 73 deals, according to Recof, an M&A consultancy and research firm. |
| Jul 28 | Nikkei rises nearly 2% to above 9,600 on softer yen, strong earnings (AP) |
| Japan's key Nikkei stock index gained nearly 2 percent Wednesday morning to climb above the 9,600 line for the first time in about two weeks, powered by a softer yen and strong earnings reports from Japanese companies. The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average advanced 178.62 points, or 1.88 percent, from Tuesday to end the morning at 9,675.47 after rising to 9,686.98, the highest intraday level since July 15. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange was up 14.01 points, or 1.66 percent, to 860.13. |
| Jul 27 | Tokyo stocks end flat, corporate earnings results eyed (AP) |
| Tokyo stocks ended almost flat Tuesday as the market awaited a series of earnings reports from Japanese companies this week. After drifting in and out of negative territory, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average finished 6.81 points, or 0.07 percent, lower from Monday at 9,496.85. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange was up 0.24 point, or 0.03 percent, to 846.12. The banking sector was the biggest winner, followed by the air transport and textile sectors. Decliners included iron and steel, wholesale, and oil and coal issues. |
| Jul 27 | Japan electronics giants face yen, Europe challenge (Reuters) |
| Most of Japan's big electronics firms are likely to report a strong quarter on robust consumer demand, though the yen's gains and a slowdown in key European export markets may weigh on quarters ahead. Canon Inc (7751.T) is seen doubling quarterly profits on healthy sales of high-end cameras [ID:nTOE66J04U], while cost-cutting and firm demand for consumer products are expected to help Panasonic Corp (6752.T) and Sharp Corp (6753.T) reverse the losses they suffered in the April-June period last year. |
| Jul 29 | Defense report release delayed to avoid friction with South Korea (Yomiuri) |
| The government has postponed the release of a defense report, apparently to avoid friction with South Korea over the disputed Takeshima group of islets and the centennial of the 1910 annexation of Korea by Japan next month. The annual "Defense of Japan" white paper, originally scheduled for release Friday, describes Takeshima, known as Dokdo in South Korea, as "an inherent part of our nation." This description has been protested in the past by South Korea, which also claims the islets. The Cabinet decision to postpone the release of the paper was announced Tuesday. |
| Jul 27 | Ozawa to comply with 4th round of questioning over scandal (AP) |
| Former Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa notified prosecutors through his lawyer Tuesday that he will submit to their questioning on a voluntary basis over alleged misstatements in political funds reporting, sources close to the matter said. The prospective move will mark the fourth round of questioning of the DPJ's former No. 2 over alleged false financial reporting involving his fund management body -- a scandal that has rocked the DPJ-led coalition government. |
| Jul 27 | Tsujimoto formally announces departure from SDP (AP) |
| Kiyomi Tsujimoto, former senior vice minister of land, infrastructure, transport and tourism, said Tuesday that she has submitted a letter announcing her departure from the Social Democratic Party. Tsujimoto, 50, a four-time member of the House of Representatives, told a press conference in Osaka that she will work as an independent parliamentarian from now, while declining to comment on whether she will join the ruling Democratic Party of Japan. "The political situation could become even more fluid so it's hard to say (whether I'll join the DPJ) now," said the high-profile lawmaker, who was once considered a future SDP leader. |
| Jul 27 | Kan holds talks with key ministers on U.S. base relocation (AP) |
| Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Tuesday met with key ministers on the issue of relocating a U.S. military base within Okinawa Prefecture, the first such meeting since he took office in June. The discussion with ministers including Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa comes as sources say the government will delay finalizing details of the relocation plan in consideration of strong protests in Okinawa against keeping the base. |
| Jul 27 | Japan-U.S. ties key to East Asia diplomacy (Yomiuri) |
| Next year, the United States and Russia are likely to join the East Asia Summit, a forum aimed at promoting cooperation in the region. Amid China's economic and military emergence, we welcome the increased U.S. presence from the viewpoint of maintaining peace and prosperity in East Asia. This engagement also meshes with Japan's national interests. The government should deepen its cooperation with the United States to address economic, diplomatic and security issues in the region. |
| Jul 29 | Spain likely to extradite 2007 Ginza robbery suspect: sources (AP) |
| The Spanish government will likely agree to transfer the custody of a Montenegrin member of the "Pink Panther" ring of thieves to Japan over a 2007 robbery case at a jewelry shop in Tokyo's Ginza district, government sources said Wednesday. Rifat Hadziahmetovic, 42, had been put on Interpol's wanted list by the Tokyo police for allegedly stealing jewels, including a diamond tiara worth 200 million yen, from the upscale Ginza shop in 2007. Spain has held his custody for an alleged involvement in a separate robbery case, according to the Metropolitan Police Department. |
| Jul 29 | 'The Cove' surprises with box office success (Yomiuri) |
| Attendance figures have been consistently strong for "The Cove," a critical portrayal of the dolphin fishing industry of Taijicho, Wakayama Prefecture, since it began screening at cinemas in Japan more than three weeks ago. Although police officers were sent to some movie theaters on the film's opening day in anticipation of possible violence by protesters, the hubbub quickly subsided. The popularity of "The Cove," which won the Best Documentary prize at this year's Academy Awards, has led to additional theaters showing the film and others extending its run. |
| Jul 29 | Southern All Stars frontman Kuwata sidelined by cancer (Japan Times) |
 Keisuke Kuwata, singer-songwriter of the popular rock band Southern All Stars, has early stage esophageal cancer and will undergo surgery as early as next month, his management firm, Amuse Inc., said Wednesday. Kuwata, 54, will cancel a planned concert tour that was to run from Oct. 28 to Dec. 31 and postpone the release of a new solo album that had been set to go on sale Oct. 20, the company said.
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| Jul 28 | Japanese arrested in Nepal for possessing hashish (AP) |
| Nepalese police have arrested a 27-year-old Japanese national at Kathmandu's international airport on suspicion of possessing 1.2 kilograms of hashish, an official said Wednesday. Hirokazu Tamura, from Fukuoka Prefecture, was arrested on July 11 while trying to catch a flight to Bangkok, said Deputy Superintendent of Police Dibash Raj Udash of the government's Narcotic Drug Control Law Enforcement Unit. |
| Jul 28 | Man arrested for attempted murder after setting son alight (Mainichi) |
 A man has been arrested for pouring oil on his 14-year-old son's back and setting him alight in May, leaving the victim with severe burns, police said.
Minoru Kuraoka, 42, an unemployed man of Neyagawa, Osaka Prefecture, was taken into custody on July 28 on suspicion of attempted murder.
He denied the allegations against him during questioning. "I poured oil on his back, but I never set fire to him. I don't know why his back is burned," he was quoted as telling investigators.
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| Jul 27 | Baseball: Knuckle Princess (Globe & Mail) |
 Some have looked at Eri Yoshida in cleats and cap and held their nose in contempt.
What in the world is she doing out there on the mound? She stands 5 foot 1 and weighs less than Barry Bonds's head. She's 18, can't speak more than a few words of English, can't throw over the top and her best pitch comes in at the speed of slow-motion.
Little wonder baseball purists, even some in the independent Golden League, have dismissed the Japanese side-armed Knuckle Princess as nothing more than a novelty act, a gimmick to invite people into the park so they can gawk at the first woman to pitch professionally in three countries (Japan, the United States, and now Canada).
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| Jul 27 | Sumo association sticks with Murayama as acting chairman (Yomiuri) |
| Japan Sumo Association Acting Chairman Hiroyoshi Murayama will stay on in the post because his scheduled replacement has come under fire over his role in a ticketing scandal, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned. Murayama was appointed acting chairman this month in the aftermath of a gang-related gambling scandal that implicated dozens of sumo wrestlers and stablemasters. The association planned to replace Murayama with stablemaster Dewanoumi, a JSA director, after the Nagoya tournament ended Sunday. |
| Jul 26 | Hakuho wins scandal-tainted Nagoya sumo (MSNBC) |
 Hakuho won his 15th career title at the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament on Saturday in an event overshadowed by a gambling scandal that has hit Japan's ancient sport.
The Mongolian defeated compatriot Harumafuji to improve to 14-0 but wrapped up the Emperor's Cup when Homasho fell to a third defeat to Tokusegawa in a previous bout.
Dozens of sumo's top wrestlers and coaches allegedly wagered as much as $50,000 dollars on professional baseball games, with gangsters reportedly acting as go-betweens.
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| Jul 25 | Sumo: Hakuho wins Nagoya basho, breaks Taiho's win streak (AP) |
| Mongolian grand champion Hakuho clinched his 15th career title in anticlimactic fashion at the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament on Saturday, but still got an extra bonus of extending his miraculous winning streak to 46 bouts to place him alone in third on sumo's all-time list. Hakuho claimed his third consecutive title without having to lift a finger as Japanese-born nearest challenger Homasho fell to a third defeat to Mongolian Tokusegawa before the lone yokozuna could step into the raised ring for a pulverization of countryman Harumafuji at Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium. "I did what I could do," said Hakuho. "It is too bad that I won't be able to get anything. It's unfortunate," said Hakuho said, referring to the fact that the Emperor's Cup and other awards will not be presented in a "yusho" ceremony due to a gambling scandal rocking the sport. |
| Jul 24 | The sumo and the Yakuza (Globe & Mail) |
 Perhaps no other sport is pursued as religiously as sumo wrestling. Before a match, referees (who double as Shinto priests) purify the seaweed, salt and sake. Wrestlers wash their faces, mouths and armpits before entering the dohyo (ring), on whose sacred sand neither shoes nor women may tread. Before a match starts, the two contestants raise their hands to show they are not hiding weapons in the folds of their loincloth-like belt.
The elders of the Japan Sumo Association, the retired wrestlers who govern the sport, see themselves less as administrators than as guardians of a holy tradition. They promote wrestlers to the highest ranks not just on brute merit but according to how much hinkaku (dignity) they are judged to possess.
That dignity is vanishing. Allegations of match-fixing, dope-smoking, orgies and ties to gangsters among the sport's top stars have enraged the Japanese public. Indeed, sumo circles are now facing growing public infamy, causing many Japanese to wonder whether their country is capable of purifying itself.
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| Jul 29 | Does Japan still need 23-yr-old exchange program? (AP) |
 Every year for the past two decades, legions of young Americans have descended upon Japan to teach English. This government-sponsored charm offensive was launched to counter anti-Japan sentiment in the United States and has since grown into one of the country's most successful displays of soft power.
But faced with stagnant growth and a massive public debt, lawmakers are aggressively looking for ways to rein in spending. One of their targets is the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program, or JET.
Versions of the JET program can be found in other countries. French Embassies around the world help to recruit young people to teach their languages in France for a year.
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| Jul 29 | Refugee studies forum created (Japan Times) |
| With the number of asylum seekers on the rise, experts on refugee issues have recently launched an interdisciplinary academic organization to promote research in their field while steering public interest. Unlike the United Kingdom and the United States, where refugee studies is an established discipline, Japanese researchers did not have an organized platform to share their research and information. |
| Jul 27 | Indebted high schooler held over store robbery (Yomiuri) |
| A third-year high school student from Odawara has been arrested on suspicion from robbing a convenience store at knifepoint, apparently because he needed money to pay off his debts. According to the police, the 17-year-old student brandished a knife at the 28-year-old owner of the store in the Kozu district at about 8:20 p.m. Sunday and fled after taking about 36,000 yen. The student was caught by the store owner and staffers when he returned several minutes later to retrieve a bag he had left near the store, according to the police. |
| Jul 27 | 65% of universities are setting academic bar lower for freshmen (Japan Times) |
| The number of universities offering high school-level supplementary lessons and other special measures to cope with academic deficiencies among freshmen is on the rise, reaching 65 percent of surveyed schools in fiscal 2008, data compiled by the education ministry showed Monday. The survey indicates that universities have been accelerating efforts to deal with a decline in the level of academic ability among students following the government's adoption in the late 1970s of a more relaxed education policy, which led to reductions in teaching hours, critics said. |
| Jul 27 | Talks drag on, teachers fired in Berlitz case (Japan Times) |
| After 20 months of legal wrangling, neither side has managed to snag a win in Berlitz Japan's ¥110 million lawsuit against five teachers and their union, Begunto. On the recommendation of the case's lead judge, the company and union have been in court-mediated reconciliation talks since December. The agreement to enter the talks came after a year of court hearings into the suit. The current focus of negotiations is the amount of notice union members should give the company ahead of industrial action. Initially, Berlitz Japan offered to drop their lawsuit if teachers gave a week's notice before striking. Begunto proposed five minutes. Since teachers typically only learn the next day's schedule the night before, the judge instructed the company to come up with a better offer. |
| Jul 29 | Endangered three-toed woodpeckers found in Hokkaido national park (Mainichi) |
 An endangered species of woodpecker has been spotted in Daisetsuzan National Park in Hokkaido, researchers have announced.
Not since they were last spotted in 1988, have three-toed woodpeckers been seen in the area and they are considered a threatened species. However, a joint research team from a private bird research group -- headed by Tatsuya Mochizuki-- and a biology laboratory at Iwate University's Faculty of Agriculture recently found that the birds have several habitats in the largest national park in Japan. The research team will soon submit an article on the discovery to a U.S. journal.
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| Jul 29 | States agree new funding, schedule for nuclear fusion plan (AFP) |
 The European Union and six states backing a multi-billion-dollar nuclear fusion project said Wednesday they had reached a deal on the financing and timetable for the experimental reactor.
An explosion in costs had cast a cloud over the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), which aims to make the nuclear fusion process that fuels the sun a practical energy source on Earth.
ITER, based at Cadarache in southern France, was set up by the EU, which has a 45 percent share, China, India, South Korea, Japan, Russia and the US to research a clean and limitless alternative to dwindling fossil fuel reserves.
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| Jul 29 | Safer method to develop iPS cells found (Yomiuri) |
| A Kyoto University team has developed a method to efficiently generate induced pluripotent stem cells that is less likely to lead to tumor development than the conventional method. iPS cells are able to transform into the cells of any organ. The new research, representing a step forward in putting iPS cells into practical use in regenerative medicine, was reported in the online version of the Proceedings of the National Academy of the United States of America on Tuesday. |
| Jul 28 | Researchers find wine, sake turns iron compound superconductive (AP) |
| Researchers at the National Institute for Materials Science have found that an iron compound become superconductive, where electrical resistance disappears in a substance, if they are dipped in wine, sake or beer, the institute said Tuesday. "It is still not known what it is in sake that is the cause (of the phenomenon) but it will provide a clue to the development of new superconductive materials," said Yoshihiko Takano, leader of the Nano Frontier Materials Group at the institute. |
| Jul 27 | Japan lifts foot-and-mouth state of emergency (AFP) |
 Japan lifted a state of emergency Tuesday in a southern region known for its prized and pampered cattle, after a three-month foot-and-mouth outbreak forced the slaughter of almost 300,000 farm animals.
The highly contagious virus, which rarely affects humans but sickens cloven-hoofed animals, had forced the suspension of meat sales from Miyazaki prefecture.
"Wagyu" cattle -- from both Miyazaki on Kyushu island and Kobe on Honshu island -- are famed for being pampered, fed beer and massaged daily, sometimes with sake, and some are even played classical music for relaxation.
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| Jul 29 | Which Japanese company will win the 3D TV war? (BBC) |
| 3D television has been touted as the future of the moving image, but so far the technology has been slow to take off. Some of the biggest names in Japan's technology industry report earnings later today and the likes of Panasonic and Sony are betting on 3D to drive sales of new TVs, DVD players and camcorders. Investors will be watching closely as the battle for dominance of the new technology heats up. |
| Jul 29 | Overheating iPods: Japan Orders Apple To Act (sky.com) |
 Apple has been ordered to explain to Japan's industry ministry what it plans to do about cases of its iPod Nano music player overheating and catching fire.
There have been at least 27 incidents of the device overheating while charging.
Six of these started fires that needed to be put out by firefighters, an official from Japan's Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry said.
Four people have burned themsleves touching the device but Apple has failed to act, the official said.
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| Jul 29 | A year left on analog TV (Japan Times) |
| Less than a year remains before the total switch to terrestrial digital TV broadcasts in Japan. Analog TV broadcasts are scheduled to end July 24, 2011. While preparations for the transition are being pushed, many problems must be solved to ensure a smooth transition. The National Association of Commercial Broadcasters in Japan says that by the end of this year, 98.5 percent of the nation's households should be able to receive digital TV broadcast waves. The price of popular 32-inch digital TVs has dropped to around ¥50,000. Government "eco-point" subsidies have helped boost digital TV sales. As of March, the accumulated shipment of digital TVs reached 73.74 million units, and 83.8 percent Japan's households owned such TVs, the communications ministry reports. |
| Jul 28 | Freebies to Ease Japan iPhone 3G Load? (Wall Street Journal) |
 Similar to U.S. iPhone network provider AT&T, Softbank Corp., the wireless carrier for Apple Inc.'s iPhone in Japan, often faces criticism that its cellular network can't keep up with the data-heavy smartphones. Softbank's solution? Starting in May, the company offered free broadband connections and free 3G femtocell mini base stations, which look similar to wireless routers, to Softbank subscribers. Femtocells are small cellular base stations (in this case 3G) that use a high-speed Internet connection to route calls to the wireless cellular network.
Softbank says the only additional cost to the user is possibly a small increase in electricity costs from the plugged-in femtocell.
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| Jul 28 | Asia still getting the fastest Internet (cedmagazine.com) |
| Of the 100 cities in the world with the fastest average Internet connection speed, 61 are in Asia, and only 12 in the U.S. The U.S. ranks eighth when it comes to average maximum speed - 16 Mbps - less than half the average maximum of first-place South Korea. The data is from the first quarter of 2010, and was compiled by Akamai Technologies. The city with the fastest Internet is Masan in South Korea. It is followed by dozens of cities in Japan, another handful in South Korea, and a few cities scattered across Romania, Germany, and Norway. |