TRAVEL

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. (Yomiuri)

Twenty-two people died and 14 others were injured in Japan on Sunday as a result of water and mountain accidents as well as heat stroke as temperatures continued to soar across the country, according to reports compiled by Kyodo News. Fourteen people died in water-related accidents -- two each in Chiba, Aomori, Gifu and Shizuoka prefectures and one each in Yamaguchi, Hokkaido, Kanagawa, Nara, Wakayama and Kagawa prefectures -- while two people died in the mountains in Saitama Prefecture. (AP)

Lawyers for a woman sentenced to death for killing four people in 1998 by poisoning curry at a festival in Wakayama have asked for a reanalysis of her hair, saying earlier tests that found arsenic in a hair sample were erroneous, sources said Monday. The lawyers for Masumi Hayashi, 48, filed the request with the Wakayama District Court in March, the sources said. (Japan Times)

The star of the documentary "The Cove" about the annual dolphin hunt in Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, says video footage showing a dolphin jumping out of an aquarium tank underlines the cruelty of captivity and that all of the creatures should be set free. The startling footage of the dolphin, a species known as the false killer whale, shows the animal suddenly leaping out of a tank during a July 4 marine show at Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium in the northern part of the island. The footage was shot by an American tourist, who sent it to Ric O'Barry. (Japan Times)

Six movie theaters - in Hachinohe (Aomori Prefecture), Sendai, Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka and Kyoto - on July 3 started showing "The Cove," a documentary film about dolphin hunting in the whaling town of Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture. There have been no reports of big disturbances. Originally, the movie, the winner of this year's Academy Award for Best Documentary, had been scheduled to be shown from June 26. Three movie theaters in Tokyo and Osaka gave up on screening the film after groups who call the movie "anti-Japanese" threatened to stage noisy protests near the theaters. Besides those six movie theaters, 18 others are to show the film. The distributor and the movie houses deserve praises for not bowing to pressure from protesters. (Japan Times)

Japan defender Yuichi Komano is poised to get a medal after his missed penalty kick led to the country's World Cup exit in the last 16. The governor of Komano's native Wakayama prefecture told Japanese media on Friday he wanted to present Komano with the medal for his efforts in South Africa. "We would like to present Komano with a medal for giving people such dreams and emotions," said Yoshinobu Nisaka Wakayama, who watched Japan's penalty shootout defeat by Paraguay at a public viewing area with Komano's mother. (Reuters)

Japan defender Yuichi Komano is poised to get a medal after his missed penalty kick led to the country's World Cup exit in the last 16. The governor of Komano's native Wakayama prefecture told Japanese media on Friday he wanted to present Komano with the medal for his efforts in South Africa. "We would like to present Komano with a medal for giving people such dreams and emotions," said Yoshinobu Nisaka Wakayama, who watched Japan's penalty shootout defeat by Paraguay at a public viewing area with Komano's mother. (Reuters)

Theaters planning to screen controversial dolphin-hunting documentary "The Cove" from Saturday are working closely with police to develop high-alert security measures against threatened disruptions by protesters. The U.S. film, which won the 2009 Oscar for best documentary, contains secretly filmed footage of a dolphin hunt in Taijicho, Wakayama Prefecture. Twenty-four theaters have decided to screen the film, and six will begin on Saturday. (Yomiuri)

Bank of Japan Policy Board member Miyako Suda said Thursday the economic outlook has grown cloudier because of Europe's deepening sovereign-debt crisis. "Uncertainty has risen and I'm paying more attention to downside risks," Suda said in a speech in the city of Wakayama. Globally, "stock and currency markets are increasingly unstable, which could lead to a deterioration in corporate and household sentiment, hurting capital and consumer spending not only in Europe but Japan as well." (Japan Times)

When Wakayama University set up a new masters program in economics last year at its Kishiwada satellite campus, 34-year-old financial planner Kenji Yoshida said he felt like "they created the program just for me." Yoshida has been working at the Yonemoto Accounting Company in Kishiwada, a suburb of Osaka, for 12 years, and ever since he started there he had hoped to become a licensed tax accountant. The position required a special license, however, and Yoshida had managed to pass just two out of five required subject tests required for that license. (Japan Times)

On May 10, in a front-page lead story headlined "Taiji locals test high for mercury," The Japan Times reported the results of tests by the National Institute of Minamata Disease (NIMD) that found "extremely high methyl-mercury (MeHg) concentrations in the hair of some residents of Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, where people have a tradition of eating whale and dolphin." Specifically, the tests of 1,137 Taiji residents last year revealed that average MeHg levels were 11.00 parts per million (ppm) for men and 6.63 ppm for women - compared with an average of 2.47 ppm for men and 1,64 ppm for women at 14 other locations in Japan. (Japan Times)

Residents of Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, appeared relieved Sunday after health specialists found no symptoms of mercury poisoning in their bodies, even though the hair samples of some residents contained high levels of methyl mercury. And the people in the town with a centuries-old tradition of eating whale and dolphin said they won't change their diet. (Japan Times)

The director of "The Cove" said Thursday that a decision by a U.S. military base in Japan to ban the Oscar-winning film on dolphin killings and protests at the local distributor's office won't silence the film's message on saving dolphins. "The Cove" documents the slaughter by fishermen in the western seaside town of Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, where some dolphins are captured and sold to aquariums while others are killed for their meat. The film has set off a flurry of debate, especially after it won the Oscar for best documentary at this year's Academy Awards. (Japan Times)

Two police officers arrested a 16-year-old boy on Tuesday for allegedly stealing 862 yen in coins at a home in Wakayama Prefecture after they hid in a closet there every evening for six days, police said. The officers lay in wait for the thief after the 83-year-old resident of the home in Kinokawa told the police that his wallet had been stolen from his home twice in March, and caught the boy red-handed. They had been hiding in the closet of the man's bedroom from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. since last Thursday in accordance with the estimated time of the previous thefts. (AP)

Signs of the full-blown spring season were observed in Japan when cherry blossoms bloomed Wednesday in the western city of Kochi, coming out the earliest in any location other than Okinawa and nearby southern islands, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. The "someiyoshino" cherry blossoms in Kochi came out six days earlier than the previous year and tied the record for the earliest blooming on Japan's main islands, which was registered three times in the past -- in Kagoshima Prefecture in 1955 and 1973 and in Wakayama Prefecture in 1959. (AP)

Local people in Taijicho, Wakayama Prefecture, voiced their disappointment over "The Cove" winning the Oscar for best documentary at the Academy Awards on Sunday night, saying the film about the town's dolphin hunting is inaccurate and intolerant of cultural differences. Yoji Kita, head of the Taijicho Municipal Board of Education, said: "The award shows that Westerners lack tolerance--I doubt they have good sense. I think [their lack of understanding] stems from the differences in our religious cultures." (Yomiuri)

"The Cove," a U.S. film about a controversial dolphin hunt at a Japanese town, won the best documentary feature at the 82nd Annual Academy Awards ceremony Sunday in Los Angeles. Directed by Louie Psihoyos, one of the world's most prominent still photographers, the film depicts, partly through the use of hidden cameras and microphones, the capture of dolphins by local fishermen in the whaling town of Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture. (AP)

Police have sent two more men to prosecutors over the theft of 17 statues of Peko-chan--a mascot of Fujiya confectionery shops--that were later sold to recycling shops. Wakayama-Higashi Police Station sent the two, including Hiroshi Inaba, 43, a former gang member on trial on another theft charge, to prosecutors in connection with the theft of the statues, which were worth a combined 1 million yen. Six people were involved in stealing the iconic statues, which stand outside Fujiya shops, in six prefectures, including Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo, between May 26, 2008, and Feb. 12, 2009. (Yomiuri)

A forty-two year old man in Japan was arrested by local police on March 4th for speeding and other traffic violations based on evidence from a Youtube video showing him going more than 130km/h over the limit on his motorcycle last year. Police in Wakayama Prefecture, near Osaka, arrested Hiroaki Iwahashi in connection with a Youtube video showing him going at least 188km/h in a 50km/h zone on his 1300cc motorcycle, according to Wakayama Broadcast System. (examiner.com)

Fishermen in Taijicho, Wakayama Prefecture, are concerned about an Academy Award-nominated documentary about traditional dolphin hunting, which they claim is inaccurate. The U.S. film, "The Cove," was produced by an environmental preservation organization set up in 2005 by Louie Psihoyos, the film's director. It was shot from October 2005 to September 2008. The film features scenes shot secretly, owing to the town government's opposition. In one scene, the sea turns red with blood as fishermen harpoon dolphins. Viewers of the film have severely criticized the hunting since the film was released in other countries last year. (Yomiuri)

An elementary school in Wakayama has recently had an open English-language lesson using iPod Touch, with students watching video images of a native speaker on the small display of the digital handset. The city plans to distribute 850 of the gadgets to local schools by mid-March, as part of projects backed by the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry. (Japan Times)

Levels of mercury in hair samples of residents of Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, which is known for customarily eating small whales caught by coastal whaling, are about 10 times the average in Japan, possibly due to consumption of whale meat with high concentration of mercury, one of researchers who conducted the survey said Thursday. The researchers also discovered high levels of mercury in products made from local marine mammals and fishes, such as pilot whales, dolphins, tunas and skipjack, distributed in and around the community. (AP)

"The Cove," a U.S. documentary about dolphin hunting in Wakayama Prefecture, has been named best documentary at the Critics' Choice Awards in Los Angeles. The film, directed by Louis Psihoyos, won the Best Documentary Feature award Friday, beating four other nominees, including "Michael Jackson's This Is It," according to the Broadcast Film Critics Association, the largest film critics' organization in the United States and Canada. (Japan Times)

Amid the booming popularity of visiting shrines and other ancient sanctuaries that the Japanese love to call "power spots," from Ise and Izumo shrines to Mount Fuji, perhaps a visit to the pilgrimage routes of Kumano Kodo seems a bit challenging. Nestled among the steep mountain ranges of the Kii Peninsula -- one of the world's only two pilgrimage routes designated as World Heritage sites, along with Spain's Santiago de Compostela -- Kumano Kodo is a 307.6-kilometer network of routes straddling Wakayama, Mie and Nara prefectures in western Japan. (Mainichi)

Visits to the northern, southern, eastern and western tips of Honshu with the aim of receiving certificates proving the completion of such trips are quietly becoming more popular.
The four tips are:
-- East: Todogasaki cape in Miyako, Iwate Prefecture.
-- West: Bishanohana cape in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture.
-- South: Shionomisaki cape in Kushimotocho, Wakayama Prefecture.
-- North: Omazaki cape in Omamachi, Aomori Prefecture. (Yomiuri)