Japan's sticky, hot, windy summer gives women the blues
News On Japan via Japan Times -- Jul 16
Ever wondered why there are so many female Japanese tourists in Hawaii at this time of year? Never mind the statistics and official answer to that, I'll give it to you straight in one short word: utsu (depression).
The joshi (女子, women) of this country get seriously depressed in the summer and as a remedy, a trip to Hawaii is at the top of the list. Second on the list, maybe fura (フラ, hula). Or more likely, yoga. All three mean much the same thing, really: relaxation, preferably under palm trees. It's what we're all dreaming about.
And who can blame us? Japanese summers have never really been nice to the joshi populace of this country. It was okay during the Edo Period (1603-1868), when everyone wore the same, strange hair wound up in chunks and arranged around their heads, but that was the century before last, and joshi have evolved.
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May 18
| China cracks down on over-the-top anti-Japan dramas |
|  China's television regulator has ordered a crackdown on dramas about the country's battles with Japan during and before World War Two and demanded they be more serious, state media said on Friday, following viewer complaints about ludicrous storylines. (Reuters  ) |
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May 17
| Man kills 3 family members, then himself |
|  Police said Friday they have found four dead bodies in an apartment in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, in what is believed to have been a family murder-suicide. (Japan Today ) |
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May 17
| Chinese tourists a bane for Japanese hookers |
|  Shukan Post (May 24) conveys the difficulties experienced by other parts of the adult-entertainment biz in servicing customers from the communist nation.
A deri heru (“delivery health”) call-girl tells the tabloid that she is often requested to arrive at major hotels in the Shinjuku and Ikebukuro entertainment areas of Tokyo by Chinese visitors. (Tokyo Reporter) |
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May 17
| 6 dead in freighter fire at Wakkanai |
|  Six sailors were found dead after a fire on a foreign freighter docked at a port in Hokkaido, northern Japan.
The sailors are presumed to be Russians. (NHK ) |
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May 17
| Employee of real estate company stabbed in Tokyo |
|  Police on Friday said that a real estate company employee was stabbed by an unknown assailant in the lobby of an office building near JR Akihabara station. The man is currently in a serious condition in hospital. (Japan Today ) |
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 
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 
A 70-year-old woman has been rescued from a toilet in which she had been waiting for help for three days, Hiroshima police said Friday. (Japan Today 
A traditional dance was performed on Friday at an ancient temple in Nikko City, northeast of Tokyo. (NHK 
A bear was shot dead after it wandered into a school in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Thursday. (Japan Today