Japan pledges 6 billion dollars in ODA over next 3 years
News On Japan via Yomiuri -- Jun 22

Japan will provide a total of 6 billion dollars in official development assistance over three years from fiscal 2013, Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba said at the U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development, dubbed Rio+20.

Through the aid, the nation will help developing countries establish measures to minimize damage from natural disasters and introduce renewable energy.

Gemba said in a speech that Japan wishes to share its disaster prevention technologies and know-how with developing countries to create communities resistant to disasters. Such knowledge was acquired from the experience of the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, he added.

Source: Yomiuri



May 22 X Japan waxes lyrical at Madame Tussauds debut
This Monday, members of the seminal metal band X Japan were in Odaiba rubbing shoulders with the likes of Brad Pitt, Lady Gaga and AKB48′s Yuko Oshima. The catch? They were all made out of wax. (Japan Times )
May 22 Transport ministry to unify rules for baby strollers on buses, trains
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has announced that it intends to draw up a set of unified rules for the use of baby strollers on buses and trains. (Japan Today )
May 21 Japan Crown Prince to visit Spain
Japanese Crown Prince Naruhito will visit Spain for seven days from June 10, the government said Tuesday. (Jiji Press )
May 21 Tokyo broker for Thai hostesses busted for wrongful employment
Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Monday announced the arrest of a broker of Thai females for violating immigration laws by employing the women as masseuses. (Tokyo Reporter )
May 21 Claim filed against Yamaguchi-gumi top bosses for arson death in Nagoya
The parents of a nightclub worker killed in an arson fire three years ago filed a suit in the Nagoya District Court on Monday seeking damages against top members of the Yamaguchi-gumi organized crime group. (Tokyo Reporter )
May 21 Senior Kyodo News official dismissed over improper act
Kyodo News said Monday that it has dismissed Satoshi Kondo, 51, deputy chief of its general administration bureau and former personnel affairs division chief, for meeting individually with a female student searching for a job and doing an inappropriate act. (Jiji Press )
May 20 Saitama cops bust massive child porn DVD operation
Saitama and Okayama prefectural police last week arrested the manager of an online porn DVD operation that specialized in films featuring children. (Tokyo Reporter)
May 19 Japan's child kidnapping problem
Dozens of American children are abducted to Japan every year-not by strangers, but by parents after messy divorces. (thedailybeast.com )
May 18 5-year-old boy's hand gets caught in shopping mall escalator
A 5-year-old boy sustained an injury at a shopping mall in Nagoya on Friday after his hand became trapped in an escalator. (Japan Today )
May 18 Woman stabbed by stalker despite asking police for help
A 24-year-old woman was in a serious condition Friday after being stabbed by a man whom she reported to police for stalking her in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture. (Japan Today )