News - Fri 6 Jun 2008
Fire keeps nuclear carrier from drill
YOKOSUKA, Kanagawa Pref. (Kyodo) The aircraft carrier USS George Washington, which is to be deployed to Japan in August, will not be participating in an upcoming multinational drill off Hawaii so that it can undergo repairs in San Diego following a fire that broke out aboard ship last month, the U.S. Navy said Tuesday. The retiring carrier Kitty Hawk will replace the George Washington in the U.S.-organized RIMPAC drill that will begin near Hawaii on June 29 with the participation of Japan and eight other countries, the navy said. Read the full storyViews: 30
Industry still not sold on cap-and-trade
While Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda on Monday presented his plan to introduce emissions trading on a trial basis as early as autumn, Japanese businesses remain skeptical about whether the cap-and-trade system is the best way to slash greenhouse gas emissions. The Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren), the nation's biggest business lobby, claims emissions trading will increase global carbon dioxide emissions if it is not introduced globally. Read the full storyViews: 13
Rx for sick tourists: Add medical interpreters
When visitors to Japan fall ill, finding a doctor who can communicate with them in their mother tongue can be a difficult task. Medical professionals, interpreters and local government officials addressed the problem at a symposium in Tokyo on May 31. Read the full storyViews: 26
TV Asahi gets stake in parent paper
TV Asahi Corp. said Friday it has bought 380,000 shares in Asahi Shimbun Co. forViews: 14
Travel agents campaigning to boost Japanese going overseas
Travel agents are launching a fresh campaign to increase the number of Japanese travelers overseas to 20 million in 2010 as the number dropped in 2007 for the first time in four years to about 17.29 million. The number of foreign visitors to Japan climbed to an all-time high of 9.15 million last year, up 12.9 percent from the previous year, preliminary Justice Ministry data show. Read the full storyViews: 17
Toyota's new fuel-cell car goes twice the distance
Toyota Motor Corp. said Friday it has developed a new fuel-cell hybrid, a car powered by hydrogen and electricity that can travel more than twice the distance of its predecessor model without filling up. The improved model's maximum cruising range is 830 km, compared with 330 km for Toyota's previous fuel-cell model, Japan's top carmaker said. Read the full storyViews: 16
S. Korean arrested for robbing temple after being extradited to Japan
TOYOKAWA, Aichi -- A South Korean man has been arrested for robbing a temple here and injuring the son of the head priest after Seoul extradited the man back to Japan, police said.Views: 10
Web posts track Kato's mental slide
Tomohiro Kato gave numerous indications of his troubled state of mind in the runup to his killing spree in Tokyo on Sunday, expressing rancor, rage and alienation on a cell phone Web site bulletin board he apparently set up himself, police said Tuesday. One of his entries in April said, "If I'm allowed to follow my desire, I'd slam a truck into pedestrians on a vehicle-free, busy shopping street, although I will not do such a thing," according to the police. Read the full storyViews: 24
Ishihara to attend Olympics opener
Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara said Friday he will attend the opening of the Beijing Olympics this summer. "I will attend in order to learn management techniques, and the chief aim is to have a look at the opening ceremony," Ishihara said at a news conference. Read the full storyViews: 27
Japan considers sending troops to bolster coalition in Afghanistan
TOKYO (AP) -- Japan is considering sending troops to Afghanistan on a non-combat mission, the country's top government spokesman said Thursday.Views: 28
IEA urges Japan to make more use of nuclear power plants
To help combat global warming, the International Energy Agency is urging Japan to increase its utilization ratio at nuclear plants to lessen dependence on oil and coal. The IEA, the foremost monitor of energy policies among its 27 member countries, put forward the recommendation in a report titled "Energy Policies of IEA Countries - Japan 2008 Review." Read the full storyViews: 19
Pawing in enough to be a fat cat
The world's most coveted kitty wears just a bow, doesn't have a mouth to feed and has never been in trouble. Mickey Mouse, make way for Hello Kitty, Japan's iconic character that has wooed the world by storm. Nobody can explain why the simply drawn feline has become a global darling, the epitome of the cul ture of "kawaii" (cute). Read the full storyViews: 23
American finds his voice in the world of 'enka'
The world of "enka" ballads has been set on its ear with the historic debut of Jero, a 26-year-old black American from Pittsburgh whose sole passion since he was a child was to make the big time in the traditional crooning genre. Raised by his Japanese grandmother and half-Japanese mother, Jero said he grew up exposed to the Japanese language, food, culture and enka. Read the full storyViews: 9
Loan shark must pay more damages
The Supreme Court ordered a loan shark Tuesday to compensate his customers for both the principal and the illegally exorbitant interest rates he charged, overruling a high court decision. Susumu Kajiyama, the operator of a gangster-linked moneylender, had previously been ordered to compensate the 11 plaintiffs only for interest, but the presiding judge, Justice Kohei Nasu of the top court's Third Petty Bench, sent the case back to the Takamatsu High Court, ordering it to recalculate the award to include the principal. Read the full storyViews: 28
Upper House puts off vote on Ikeo for BOJ Policy Board
The opposition-controlled House of Councilors postponed voting Friday on whether to approve the government nomination of Kazuhito Ikeo to the Bank of Japan Policy Board, leaving the BOJ interest rate-setting body with a couple of vacancies for a while longer. The Upper House decision came amid strong protests over Keio University professor Ikeo, 55, by Kokumin Shinto (People's New Party), citing his past support of economic reforms, including the postal system privatization championed by former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Read the full storyViews: 24
KDDI nets 50% fewer subscribers
The net gain in subscribers to KDDI Corp.'s mobile phone service in May fell nearly 50 percent from the year before, an industry body said Friday. KDDI posted a net gain of 72,400 subscription contracts for its au brand cell phone service in the reporting month, down 47.7 percent from 138,500 contracts in May last year, the Telecommunications Carriers Association said. Read the full storyViews: 27
Killer posted warnings on Internet
The nation was still reeling Monday from the deadly mayhem waged the day before by a 25-year-old man who ran down several people with a truck and then proceeded to fatally stab others in Tokyo's densely crowded Akihabara electronics district, killing seven. It was learned that several posts on a mobile phone Web site foretold the deadly stabbing spree. Read the full storyViews: 14
Qantas to cut Japan, Southeast Asian schedules in face of high fuel costs
The Mainichi Daily News has shut down this feed. Please click here to view our new selection of RSS feedsViews: 16
Protection from a Web of harm
The Liberal Democratic Party, Komeito, the Democratic Party of Japan and the Japan Communist Party have worked out a bill aimed at shielding children from harmful Web sites. The Education Resuscitation Council had called for restricting the use of mobile phones by schoolchildren to direct calls and GPS notification (so that parents can locate them). Under the bill, the government would not involve itself in deciding which Internet information is harmful. It must refrain from making any moves that would restrict the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of expression. Private-sector efforts to educate people on lurking Internet dangers will be vital. Read the full storyViews: 11
Diet session may be extended for FTA
The Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito said Tuesday they will extend the current Diet session by six days if the ruling camp can't get a free-trade agreement between Japan and ASEAN approved before the session's scheduled end on Sunday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said. The economic partnership agreement is now sitting in the House of Councilors after having been passed by the House of Representatives on May 21. If the Diet is in session on June 21, it will automatically be endorsed in line with constitutional provisions that make the Lower House more powerful. Read the full storyViews: 23
Censored records on Emperor Taisho released
The Imperial Household Agency has released censored documents depicting the later life of Emperor Taisho (1879-1926), the grandfather of Emperor Akihito. In addition to eight volumes released in 2002 and 21 in 2003, the agency Wednesday opened up nine of the 85 volumes listing the year-to-year records of the Emperor's activities and of key events. Read the full storyViews: 29
Bill to double insider trading fines enacted as law by Diet
The House of Councilors enacted a bill Friday to double fines for insider trading within the year to combat the growing crime in Japan. According to the bill, which was approved by the House of Representatives in late May, the higher fine will be raised 50 percent for any investor who conducts insider trading within five years of being fined for such a transgression. Read the full storyViews: 11
State won't fight two hibakusha rulings
The government said Tuesday it will not appeal two rulings recognizing plaintiffs as suffering illnesses as a result of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, after losing eight straight similar cases. But because the government plans to continue its fight in other, similar lawsuits nationwide, plaintiffs and their lawyers expressed strong disappointment. Read the full storyViews: 7
Sex-change legal revision enacted
The Diet enacted on Tuesday a revised law designed to make it easier for people with gender identity disorder to change their registered sex. The existing law bars people with the disorder from changing their registered sex if they have children. The revised law will allow people with children to register a sex change after their offspring reach adulthood. Read the full storyViews: 10
Experts ponder whether Kato felt disenfranchised from society
The deadly stabbing rampage Sunday in Tokyo's Akihabara district stunned the nation, but experts said the carnage was just another example of a young man unhappy with his lot in society. Tomohiro Kato, a 25-year-old temporary worker at an auto parts factory in Shizuoka Prefecture, was arrested at the scene for allegedly stabbing seven people to death after running into a crowd of pedestrians with a rented truck. Read the full storyViews: 15
Securitized losses top
The combined losses incurred by Japan's 673 financial institutions on their holdings of securitized products, including those linked to U.S. subprime loans, amounted toViews: 16
Condos in Tokyo too pricey for workers
The average price of a condominium in Tokyo's 23 wards in March wasViews: 22
Bank lending up 1.6% last month
The average daily balance of bank lending rose 1.6 percent in May from a year before toViews: 10
Diet officially declares Ainu indigenous
The Ainu celebrated a historic moment Friday as the Diet unanimously passed a resolution that recognizes them as indigenous people of Japan. The unprecedented resolution was adopted by both chambers, acknowledging the Ainu's hardships from discrimination and poverty. Read the full storyViews: 20
Japan's south draws South Koreans; Taiwanese go north
South Korean tourists tend to visit southern Japan, particularly for golfing, while Taiwanese like to go north for the ice and snow, according to the government white paper on tourism for fiscal 2007. Overall, Japan attracted a record high 8.35 million visitors from abroad in 2007, resetting the record books for a fourth consecutive year. Read the full storyViews: 27
South Korea's 'bulldozer' stalls
South Korean President Lee Myung Bak must wonder whatever happened to his honeymoon. His first 100 days in office were marked by the sharpest plunge in popularity ratings of any democratically elected Korean leader. The fault is not Mr. Lee's alone, but the majority of the blame is his. Only he can stop the downward spiral, however. We will now see if Mr. Lee is truly a "bulldozer." Even before taking office, Mr. Lee's team looked confused. Mixed signals were sent about the fate of the Ministry of Reunification - there were suggestions it would be abolished - and then several Cabinet choices were involved in scandals. He was elected on a pledge to re-energize the South Korean economy and... Read the full storyViews: 18
Softbank planning July 11 debut for iPhone; prices yet to be set
Softbank Corp. said Tuesday it will start selling the new version of Apple Inc.'s iPhone in Japan on July 11. For Apple, the move is expected to establish it as a major player in Japan's mobile phone industry, while for Softbank the deal is expected to boost its brand recognition and help increase market share amid stiffer competition. Read the full storyViews: 16
Facing a shortage of pilots, Skymark cancels 633 flights
Skymark Airlines Inc. said Monday it will cancel 633 flights in the three months to August due to its pilot shortage. The airline said it plans to return to normal operations in September. Read the full storyViews: 27
Testing times for Malaysia
SINGAPORE - The man who once gave lectures to the West and its leaders is back again regaling his captive Malaysian audience with his trademark rhetoric. Those who have crossed swords with former Malaysian Premier Mahathir Mohammad and are familiar with his unconventional combative style can attest that those confrontations, as unpleasant as they may have been, also had the unintended consequence of canonizing the man within his nation. Read the full storyViews: 10
7 killed, 10 injured in Akihabara stabbing spree
Seven people died and 10 others were injured after a man hit pedestrians with a truck and then stabbed people Sunday in broad daylight on a street in Tokyo's busy Akihabara district. Police arrested the man, 25-year-old Tomohiro Kato from Susono, Shizuoka Prefecture, and seized a survival knife he was carrying. He admitted to stabbing all the people with the knife from around 12:30 p.m., the police said. The truck was rented in Shizuoka Prefecture. Read the full storyViews: 11
TSE chief urges cooperation with Korean exchanges
SEOUL (Bloomberg) The main stock markets in Japan and South Korea should strengthen ties to compete better globally, the president of the Tokyo Stock Exchange Inc. said Tuesday. "In enhancing the efficiencies of the two markets, the financial industry will further develop," Atsushi Saito, 67, said at a seminar for executives in Seoul. "The size of the pie shared by us will get bigger." Read the full storyViews: 24
Car driven by drunk youth with 7 passengers aboard crashes into utility pole
SAGAMIHARA, Kanagawa -- A car carrying eight youths crashed into a utility pole here after one of them was driving under the influence of alcohol, police said.Views: 7
Gangster who killed wrong man sent up
SAGA (Kyodo) The Saga District Court sentenced a 61-year-old yakuza to 24 years in prison Tuesday for killing a man at a hospital in Saga Prefecture in November after mistakenly identifying him as a rival gangster. According to prosecutors' closing arguments, Fumio Imada, a yakuza affiliated with the Dojin-kai organized crime syndicate, fatally shot hospital patient Hiroshi Miyamoto, 34, at around 7:40 a.m. Nov. 8 after misidentifying him as a member of rival gang Seido-kai. Read the full storyViews: 28
Emissions trading test run by fall: Fukuda
Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda unveiled his new climate change initiative Monday, including an "experimental" debut of greenhouse gas emissions trading in Japan starting this fall, and also voiced his support for introduction of daylight saving time. During a speech at the Japan National Press Club, Fukuda also said Japan will aim to cut its emissions by 60 percent to 80 percent from the current level by 2050. Read the full storyViews: 18
Cool Biz Fukuda goes past tieless
Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda on Friday got into the spirit of the government's annual Cool Biz energy-saving campaign, which started Sunday, by going without a tie. Cabinet ministers seemed pleased as the 71-year-old prime minister showed up for their meeting wearing a "kariyushi," a lightweight Okinawa-style shirt. Also sporting a kariyushi, Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura told a press conference later, "The prime minister's blackish wear looked quite chic." Read the full storyViews: 7
2050 greenhouse goals will be too late: EPI head
Pitches to cut worldwide greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050 are too leisurely and must be brought forward by decades, Lester Brown, president and founder of the Earth Policy Institute in Washington, said Friday at a symposium in Tokyo. "We are going to have to move much, much faster. I think the game will be over long before 2050," the environment expert said at Sophia University. Read the full storyViews: 9
A shift in priority to 'happiness'
Per capita gross domestic product is a highly valued as yardstick for measuring the degree of "affluence" enjoyed by the citizens of each nation. The figures of various countries are usually converted into U.S. dollars to determine how countries rank internationally. Japan, which ranked 17th among the member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in 1980, moved up to No. 10 in 1985, eighth in 1990 and third in 1995 and 2000. In 2005, though, it fell to 13 and then to 18 in 2006. Read the full storyViews: 6
English guide looks to put Nara in reach
OSAKA - Those who live in Nara and welcome guests from all over the world are aware of how often arriving friends are surprised by what they see in the ancient capital, then disappointed that they hadn't budgeted enough time to explore. Such visitors commonly lament that if they had only known how much Nara has to offer, they would have rearranged their itinerary. Read the full storyViews: 11
Nomura execs take heat, pay cut in wake of insider-trading arrests
Nomura Holdings Inc. Chief Executive Officer Kenichi Watanabe said Friday that he will take a pay cut after a committee said management was partly to blame for an insider trading incident at the nation's largest securities firm. Watanabe, 55, will take a 30 percent pay reduction for three months, he said at a briefing in Tokyo. Inadequate personnel management contributed to the insider trading, which led to a former Nomura employee being charged by Tokyo prosecutors, a special committee appointed by the firm said separately in a report. Read the full storyViews: 17
Nissan to sell diesel X-Trail SUV in Japan
Nissan Motor Co. said Monday it will introduce the X-Trail sport utility vehicle with a new diesel engine in Japan in September. This will enable the X-Trail to meet new emission regulatory standards, which will take effect in October 2009. Read the full storyViews: 8
Baggage checker nabbed for threatening to blow up Narita Airport
NARITA -- A baggage checker at Narita Airport has been arrested for sending e-mails to the airport operator threatening to blow up the facility, police said.Views: 13
Boy stabs teenage girlfriend, turns knife on himself
NARASHINO, Chiba -- A teenage boy stabbed his girlfriend before turning the knife on himself at a condominium complex here, police said.Views: 18
Ruling bloc loses majority in Okinawa
NAHA, Okinawa Pref. (Kyodo) The ruling camp in the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly lost its majority in Sunday's prefectural assembly election, spelling potential trouble for the future relocation of a U.S. Marine Corps installation there. The ruling force, which supports Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima, is led by the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito. Read the full storyViews: 11
Ruling camp loses majority in Okinawa Pref. assembly election
NAHA (Kyodo) The ruling camp in the Okinawa prefectural assembly led by the Liberal Democratic Party and the New Komeito party, which supports Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima, lost its majority in Sunday's prefectural assembly election. Of 48 assembly seats up for grabs, the assembly's ruling bloc garnered 22 seats compared with the 27 it held previously. The opposition camp, including the Democratic Party of Japan, secured 26 seats, up from 20. One seat was vacant before the election due to the recent departure of one assembly member who ran in last year's House of Councilors election. Read the full storyViews: 14
Toyota to produce hybrids in Australia
NAGOYA (Kyodo) Toyota Motor Corp. plans to start producing gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles in Australia as early as 2010, company sources said Monday. Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe and visiting Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd were set to make a formal announcement of the plan at a joint news conference Tuesday. Read the full storyViews: 24
Fukuda slams officials treated by cabbies
More than 500 bureaucrats at 13 ministries and agencies accepted favors from taxi drivers in the form of cash, coupons and merchandise during rides home late at night at taxpayer expense, Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura revealed Friday. The finding follows the Finance Ministry's announcement Thursday that 383 of its bureaucrats had admitted receiving such favors. Read the full storyViews: 17
With Europe waiting, Ireland votes on treaty
MAYNOOTH, Ireland - On Thursday, Irish voters will vote on the European Union's Lisbon Treaty, the instrument designed to improve the efficiency and legitimacy of the now 27-member bloc. Ireland is the only country to put the treaty to a referendum - all the other member states have chosen to ratify the treaty by parliamentary means - and everything indicates that the result will be close. Read the full storyViews: 14
China's Taipei envoy pick said potential Tokyo foil
Max Hirsch, Taipei - China's new top official for managing relations with Taiwan, experts say, is uniquely positioned to hamper the island's burgeoning ties with Japan, which was possibly a consideration when China made the appointment. Wang Yi, China's ambassador to Japan from 2004 until last year, became director of the Taiwan Affairs Office under the State Council on June 3. Read the full storyViews: 24
Machinery orders show 5.5% rebound
Machine orders rose in April after falling for two consecutive months as companies replaced aging equipment, but economic and fiscal policy chief Hiroko Ota said demand is still weak. Orders, which signal capital spending in the next three to six months, rose 5.5 percent after falling 8.3 percent in March and 12.3 percent in February, the Cabinet Office said Tuesday. The median estimate in a survey of 26 economists was for a 3 percent increase. Read the full storyViews: 14
British Museum showcases the art of three postwar photographers
LONDON - The British Museum in London is expanding the content of its already extensive Japanese Galleries with the showcase of three photo books by leading Japanese photographers from the postwar period - Shomei Tomatsu, Eiko Hosoe and Takashi Homma. The photo books went on temporary display last week and are being used primarily to explore key issues of life in modern Japan. Read the full storyViews: 8
Iceland whaler defends fin meat export to Japan
LONDON (Kyodo) A whaler behind the controversial export of fin whale meat from Iceland to Japan defended the trade Thursday and expressed hope that it will be the start of business between the two nations. Kristjan Loftsson, chief executive officer of Icelandic whaling company Hvalur, confirmed 80 tons of fin whale meat had been exported to Japan from Iceland along with 5 tons of minke whale meat from Norway. Read the full storyViews: 29
Public service reform bill gains full passage
Legislation to reform the public service system, beset by bureaucratic sectionalism and other problems, cleared the opposition-controlled House of Councilors on Friday for enactment. Under the legislation, the Cabinet would handle management of personnel affairs of senior ministry and agency officials. The chief Cabinet secretary will head a personnel bureau to be set up at the Cabinet Secretariat and make a list of candidates for such posts. Read the full storyViews: 17
Post-Kyoto regime should impose binding commitments on all: Rudd
KYOTO - On his first visit to Japan since taking office last year, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd called Monday for an ambitious post-Kyoto Protocol in which both developed and developing countries adopt binding commitments. "Japan was ambitious in developing the Kyoto Protocol. We all need to be ambitious for the post-2012 climate regime, and want to see an effective future global framework that reflects actions by all key countries, in binding international commitments which are consistent with our global agreement on common but differentiated responsibilities," Rudd said at Kyoto University. Read the full storyViews: 27
Justice minister wants law revised following kids' citizenship ruling
Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama said the Nationality Law should be revised following a top court decision that ruled that foreign women and Japanese men need not be married for their children to obtain Japanese citizenship.Views: 14
Japanese astronaut Hoshide enters space station's new Kibo lab
JOHNSON SPACE CENTER, Texas -- Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide entered the experiment room of the Kibo, Japan's first manned space module, at the International Space Station early Thursday, calling the lab a "new step."Views: 28
Jasdaq sets up team to speed OSE merger
Jasdaq Securities Exchange Inc. said Tuesday it approved a new management team at a general shareholders' meeting, paving the way for the planned integration of trading systems with the Osaka Securities Exchange. The integration is expected to eventually lead to the merger of the operator of the Jasdaq market for emerging companies and the OSE's Hercules market for startup companies as early as this summer. Japan's bourses for emerging companies will thus become the Jasdaq-OSE integrated market and the Tokyo Stock Exchange's Mothers market. Read the full storyViews: 24
Astronaut aboard space lab Kibo chats with Fukuda, students
Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide communicated Sunday from space in Japan's Kibo research laboratory with Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and a group of students. "Space is more comfortable to live in and fun than expected. I hope you will be able to come here some day," Hoshide, 39, spoke via satellite with those gathered at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo. Read the full storyViews: 15
TV mogul Mino smashes world record for 'most live hours in a week'
Japan's well-known TV host Monta Mino broke the Guinness World Record for the "Most hours on live TV in one week," it was announced on Thursday.Views: 25
Tokyo plans 'action for action' policy over Pyongyang's abductions
Japan's stance will be to swap "action for action" with North Korea in formal bilateral talks starting Wednesday on the unresolved abductions of Japanese nationals by Pyongyang's agents, Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura said Tuesday. "If our counterpart makes a significant step forward and takes concrete action, then we, too, will take a big step in response. If it is a small step, ours will also be small," he said. "The other side has first to carry out what it should do, and we will evaluate that to see what kind of action is deemed appropriate on our side." Read the full storyViews: 27
Expansion may be at end, data show
Japan's longest postwar expansion may be over, as record crude oil and raw material costs discourage companies from hiring and spending, according to a government report Monday. The government downgraded its evaluation of the coincident index, a measure of current economic activity, after the gauge fell to 101.7 in April from a revised 102.4 the previous month. Read the full storyViews: 7
Forex reserves dip below $1 trillion
Japan's foreign-exchange reserves came to $996.98 billion at the end of May, falling below the $1 trillion level for the first time in four months on declines in U.S. Treasury bond prices, the Finance Ministry said Friday. The country's foreign reserves, the second-largest in the world after China, sank $6.86 billion from late April for the second straight monthly slip. Read the full storyViews: 10
Battery dioxide imports face antidumping levies in June
Japan will levy antidumping duties on electrolytic manganese dioxide imported from Australia, China, South Africa and Spain on June 14 as a provisional measure to safeguard domestic makers from cheap products, the Finance Ministry said Friday. The provisional tariffs of between 14.0 percent and 46.5 percent will be imposed for up to four months as additional duties on such imports, mostly used in batteries, after the Cabinet endorses an ordinance on the levies Tuesday, the ministry said. Read the full storyViews: 14
Ota: Tobacco tax hike option for covering social security
Japan should consider hiking the tobacco tax to cover the ballooning social security costs that are accompanying the rapid aging of society, economic and fiscal policy minister Hiroko Ota said Friday. "Tobacco tax is of course one of the candidates" for a rate increase, Ota said. Read the full storyViews: 24
Japan, U.S. reaffirm cooperation
Japan and the United States on Monday reaffirmed close cooperation on such issues as pressing for North Korean denuclearization and achieving success at the Group of Eight summit in July, the Foreign Ministry said. In a senior working-level strategic dialogue in Tokyo, Deputy Foreign Minister Kenichiro Sasae and Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns also agreed to continue joint efforts on the Middle East peace process, the ministry said. Read the full storyViews: 17
Washington and Baghdad: the treaty that isn't
In the Sherlock Holmes story "Silver Blaze," the world's most famous private detective refers to "the curious incident of the dog in the night." "But the dog did nothing in the night," replies his interlocutor. "That was the curious incident," says Holmes. The dogs aren't barking over the U.S.-Iraq treaty, either, and that is equally curious. To begin with, the Iraqi dogs aren't barking. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki clearly doesn't like the deal that the Bush administration is forcing on him, but will accept it because his government wouldn't survive a week without U.S. military support. The Shiite religious authorities will not issue a fatwa against it, because their first priority is... Read the full storyViews: 12
Hot air over global warming
HONG KONG - Fresh reports every day tell of glaciers melting, thinning polar ice triggering prospects of a scramble for the riches under the Arctic ice cap, worries about rising water levels inundating low-lying countries, and soaring oil prices. Amid this background, ministers of the Group of Eight industrialized nations and leading developing countries such as Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico and South Africa, their leading scientists, and bureaucrats met in Kobe last weekend to do something about the most pressing environmental issues the world faces. Read the full storyViews: 10
Charity fraud connected to China, Myanmar disasters
FUKUSHIMA (Kyodo) Police have issued a public warning after leaflets were found in newspapers delivered in Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture, that they believe fraudulently solicited donations for survivors of last month's killer quake in China and cyclone in Myanmar. No financial damage connected to the alleged fraud has been reported so far and police have frozen the designated bank account for the donations. Read the full storyViews: 23
School apologizes for teacher's comment that 9/11 was inside job
FUJISAWA, Kanagawa -- A junior high school has apologized for a teacher's comment in classes that the Sept.Views: 16
Nine firms raided over cartel
Fair Trade Commission investigators raided on Tuesday the Hokkaido offices of Hitachi Ltd., Toshiba Corp., Mitsubishi Electric Corp. and six other electrical machinery makers over an alleged bid-rigging cartel, sources said. The six other firms are Fuji Electric Systems Co., Meidensha Corp., Shinko Electric Co., Toyo Denki Seizo K.K., Yasukawa Electric Corp. and Nissin Electric Co., they said. Read the full storyViews: 10
NGOs slam Fukuda's CO2 proposal as lacking substance
Environmentalists and nongovernment organizations were quick to denounce Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's new climate change initiative Monday, calling it "insufficient" and "lacking essence" for not proposing a solid midterm greenhouse gas reduction target. "The government can't pledge (a midterm goal) because it has been unsuccessful in cutting the nation's greenhouse gas emissions so far," said Mitsutoshi Hayakawa, managing director for NGO Citizens' Alliance for Saving the Atmosphere and the Earth. "This proposal is an impediment heading in to the Group of Eight summit." Read the full storyViews: 17
Doubtful Auditor delays Ebara report
Ebara Corp., a maker of hydraulic pumps, said Friday one of its auditors claimed an investigation of a managing executive's use of funds was insufficient and refused to approve its financial statements. The auditor said he had "doubts" about the documents, the Tokyo-based company said in a release to the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The firm on Dec. 17 said its investigation concluded the executive madeViews: 19
Bankruptcies decreased 1.5% in May
Corporate failures decreased 1.52 percent in May from a year earlier to 1,290, marking the first decline in five months, a private credit research agency said Monday. But the number was also the second-highest in the past 12 months and bankruptcies have been on an uptrend, Tokyo Shoko Research said. Read the full storyViews: 16
Citigroup to pull out of consumer finance
Citigroup Inc., the biggest U.S. bank by assets, said Friday it will withdraw from the consumer finance business in Japan to transfer capital to more profitable areas. Citigroup will close all of its remaining 32 branches and 540 automated loan machines as it halts marketing of consumer finance operations in Japan, the New York-based company said in an e-mailed statement. Read the full storyViews: 24
Foreigners prep for speech contest
Chosen from among 100 applicants from 29 countries, 12 finalists will compete for the top prize in an annual Japanese speech contest for foreigners in Kawagoe, Saitama Prefecture, on June 14. Selections were based on tape-recorded speeches in Japanese and submitted manuscripts. The contest will start at 1 p.m. at Kawagoe Municipal Public Hall in Kawagoe City. Read the full storyViews: 24
Lawmakers accompany relief supplies to quake-hit Chengdu
CHENGDU, China (Kyodo) A group of Japanese ruling bloc lawmakers on Sunday accompanied relief supplies to Chengdu, capital of quake-hit Sichuan Province. Fifteen lawmakers led by Toshihiro Nikai, chairman of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's General Council, delivered supplies to provincial officials that included 300 tents as well as food and stationery weighing about 31 tons given by companies and other donors. Read the full storyViews: 26
Rudd to push Asia-Pacific community on Japan trip
CANBERRA (Kyodo) Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will use his first trip to Japan since assuming the post to discuss his recent proposal for the formation of an Asia-Pacific community, he said Friday. He also said at a news conference he will raise the idea of a regional institution with Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda when they meet in Japan next week. Read the full storyViews: 23
Reintroducing the Ainu
Both chambers of the Diet unanimously passed a resolution last week urging the government to recognize the Ainu as an indigenous people. It says the fact that many Ainu people suffered discrimination and poverty during Japan's modernization should be taken seriously. Noting that the Ainu have their own language, religion and culture, it urges the government to heed expert opinions in promoting policy measures that benefit the people. The resolution thus clearly recognizes that the Ainu suffered under Japan's past assimilation policy. In 1869 Japan gave Hokkaido its current name, unilaterally declared the island part of Japan, and established Kaitakushi (the Development Commission) to... Read the full storyViews: 16
Nissan building new India factory
BOMBAY (Bloomberg) Nissan Motor Co. and its parent, Renault SA, have begun building a factory in India to challenge Suzuki Motor Corp.'s dominance in the country. The $1.1 billion factory will begin production in 2010 and have a capacity to make 400,000 cars annually for local and export markets, the automakers said in a statement Friday in Madras in south India, where the plant is being built. Read the full storyViews: 23
Medics wrap up Myanmar mission
BANGKOK (Kyodo) Japan's medical team has completed its emergency humanitarian mission in Labutta, southwestern Myanmar, one of the areas hardest hit by the violent cyclone in early May, according to the Japan International Cooperation Agency. The team will hand over its makeshift facilities and medical equipment to local authorities and experts, including two doctors, the agency said. Read the full storyViews: 20
The case for the 'sectoral approach'
As hosts of this weekend's Group of Eight energy minister's meeting in Aomori Prefecture, delegates from Japan will be actively promoting the "sectoral approach" to curbing global warming. While details of the plan have yet to be firmed up, some believe the process gives developing countries a chance to cut emissions without hampering their own economic growth as it contains equitable reduction targets and includes major gas-emitting countries. Read the full storyViews: 25
Oil shock spurs G8 energy chiefs' alarm, agreement to act
AOMORI - Group of Eight energy ministers have agreed on establishing a new international framework aimed at facilitating energy-saving measures to temper climate change and soaring fuel costs, at a time when crude oil is closing in on $140 a barrel. Japan, which hosted a one-day meeting of the ministers Sunday, and the other G8 members decided to set up the International Partnership for Energy Efficiency Cooperation and invited China, India, South Korea and other countries to participate in the initiative. Read the full storyViews: 19
Larger R&D budgets a high priority for energy security
AOMORI - Energy security, closely connected to global warming issues, has become a hot topic in recent years, but one important aspect of it is relatively unknown: the combined amount of public spending by developed countries on energy technology development has dropped to about half its peak in 1980. On Sunday, the Group of Eight economies, as well as China, India and South Korea, recognized the crucial role of innovative energy technology research, development and demonstration. Read the full storyViews: 12
G8 nations agree to create international energy-saving framework
AOMORI - Energy ministers from the Group of Eight nations on Sunday agreed on the establishment of a new international framework aimed at facilitating energy-saving measures to temper climate change and soaring fuel costs, at a time when crude oil is closing in on $140 a barrel. Japan, which hosted the one-day meeting, and the other G8 members - Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and the United States - decided to set up the International Partnership for Energy Efficiency Cooperation and invited China, India, South Korea and other countries to participate in the initiative. Read the full storyViews: 12
G8 wants to buck trend and raise energy technology R&D spending
AOMORI (Kyodo) Energy security, closely connected to global warming issues, has become a hot topic in recent years, but one important aspect of it is relatively unknown: The combined amount of public spending by developed countries on energy technology development has dropped to about half its peak in 1980. On Sunday, the Group of Eight economies, as well as China, India and South Korea, acknowledged the crucial role of innovative energy technology research, development and demonstration. Read the full storyViews: 20
No more pieties on hunger
Another summit has produced yet more pledges to cut world hunger. But if the outcome of the Food Security Summit looks familiar, the consequences must not be. Food prices are rising and the number of people worldwide who lack enough to eat is growing. This is no time for rhetoric and empty promises: Money may be the immediate balm, but a sustainable solution depends on real reform of global agriculture policies markets. To date, there is little reason for hope. World food prices have risen 60 percent over the last 18 months, triggering riots in more than 30 countries. Read the full storyViews: 5
Defector from North Korea to sue Chongryon
A woman who fled North Korea and now lives in Osaka Prefecture plans to sue Chongryon forViews: 14
University student nabbed for persuading acquaintance to commit burglary
A university student has been arrested for persuading another student to rob valuables from a jewelry shop in Tokyo, investigators said.Views: 28
Trucker swaps 10,000-yen notes in wife's purse with fake ones so he can go for a drink
A trucker who counterfeited 10,000-yen notes and secretly swapped real notes in his wife's purse with the fake bills because he wanted money to go out for a drink has been arrested, police said.Views: 26
Team off to assess SDF Afghan role
A team of government officials has left for Afghanistan to explore the possibility of sending the Self-Defense Forces there on an assistance mission, sources said Monday. The team, comprising officials of the Foreign Ministry and the Defense Ministry as well as SDF officers, is expected to visit Kabul as well as provincial cities where airlifting of supplies, road repairs and other forms of infrastructure development may be conducted by the SDF, according to the government sources. Read the full storyViews: 28
Coast guard patrol craft, Taiwan fishing boat collide off Senkakus
A Taiwanese fishing boat sank Tuesday after colliding with a Japan Coast Guard vessel during an early morning chase about 10 km south of disputed islets north of Okinawa, coast guard officials said. The Lianhe Hao's three crew members and 13 passengers were immediately rescued by the 966-ton patrol ship Koshiki, coast guard officials said. Read the full storyViews: 18
NHK reporter faces punishment for plagiarizing article
A reporter with NHK faces punishment for plagiarizing an article carried in a local newspaper, the public broadcaster said.Views: 7
Council floats plan for annual 2% growth
A key economic policy panel said Tuesday that despite the shrinking and aging population, Japan can achieve annual economic growth of 2 percent or higher in each of the next 10 years through job creation and other measures. A new economic growth strategy, approved by the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy, an advisory panel to Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, also touched on the need to attract foreign direct investment and promote an environment-friendly orientation. Read the full storyViews: 9
Rice back in favor as bread, pasta get pricey
A growing number of Japanese are taking a second look at rice and are considering eating more amid soaring food prices and consumer anxiety about food safety. In contrast to bread and pasta, rice prices have been slumping for years and consumption has been sluggish. Read the full storyViews: 27
GSDF private fires rifle without authorization
A Ground Self-Defense Force private fired three shots Thursday night without authorization at a GSDF base in Kyoto Prefecture while on duty, and although there were no injuries, the incident prompted Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba to pledge Friday to tighten discipline in the ranks. The 24-year-old leading private fired one shot at the ground and the other two into the air from a Type-89 rifle while he was guarding an ammunition depot along with several others around 7:30 p.m. at the GSDF's Fukuchiyama base, according to the GSDF. Read the full storyViews: 12
Baby step toward devolution
A government panel on devolution has submitted its first set of recommendations to Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda. The primary aim of the recommendations is to enable local governments to flexibly meet the needs of local residents by breaking with national conformity. The panel is scheduled to submit further recommendations and the government plans to submit devolution promotion bills to the Diet in the fall of 2009. Mr. Fukuda must display leadership to make the devolution plan benefit local governments and citizens. The panel called for transferring 359 administrative powers and responsibilities from prefectural governments to municipalities. But only 28 would go to towns and villages;... Read the full storyViews: 14
Hikes OK'd for home appliance recycling rates
A government panel endorsed on Tuesday proposed hikes in mandatory recycling rates for air conditioners, refrigerators and washing machines. The increases will pave the way for the first revision to recycling rates under the 2001 consumer electronics recycling law, government officials said. Read the full storyViews: 8
Denial despite paper confirming '60 secret U.S. pact on Korea crisis
A declassified document in a U.S. presidential library has confirmed there was a secret 1960 bilateral agreement allowing the United States to use its bases in Japan without prior consultation with Tokyo in the event war breaks out again on the Korean Peninsula, according to a researcher. Tokyo, however, maintains no such pact exists and prior consultations are necessary. Read the full storyViews: 5
Akihabara's denizens try to make sense of tragedy
A day after the senseless attack that took seven lives on their streets, members of the Akihabara community in Tokyo contemplated the damage done to their neighborhood's reputation, as well. A 29-year-old clerk at a duty-free shop, who only gave his surname, Kawai, saw the stabbings and the road covered in the victims' blood. Read the full storyViews: 26
Black watermelon fetches record
A black jumbo watermelon auctioned in Toma, Hokkaido, fetched a recordViews: 13
Bill to ax new health-care burden on seniors clears Upper House
A bill to scrap a new health insurance program that has been criticized for placing a heavy financial burden on the elderly cleared the opposition-controlled House of Councilors on Friday but is not expected to advance any further. The Liberal Democratic Party-New Komeito ruling coalition is expected to kill the bill in the more powerful House of Representatives. Read the full storyViews: 27
Wraps off auctioned Buddha statue
A 12th-century wooden Buddha statue that fetched a record price for Buddhist artworks at an auction in New York went on public display Tuesday at the Tokyo National Museum in Taito Ward. The work, the Dainichi Nyorai Buddha, is believed to be a late 12th-century statue by famed Japanese sculptor Unkei. Many thought it would end up in foreign hands when a Japanese collector put it up for action at Christie's in March, but the Japanese Buddhist organization Shinnyo-En bought it for $12.8 million. Read the full storyViews: 5
2 U.S. Marines given prison terms for taxi robbery in Okinawa
Two U.S. Marines were sentenced to prison terms Thursday for beating a taxi driver and fleeing without paying their fare in the city of Okinawa in January. The Naha District Court sentenced a 20-year-old corporal, Joseph Riddle, to four years and six months in prison, and a 19-year-old private first class, whose name was withheld because he is a minor, to an indeterminate sentence of between three and four years.Views: 25
Food summit to end with call for studies, dialogue on biofuels
The three-day U.N. food summit in Rome will end Thursday with a declaration stressing the importance of ''in-depth studies'' and ''international dialogue'' on biofuels. The summit, sponsored by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, was held to address the challenges posed by bioenergy and climate change as well as soaring food prices that are having an adverse impact on food security, particularly in developing countries, according to a draft of the declaration proposed to participants by the chairman.Views: 30
Policeman robbed of ID, badge by 4 men in Fukuoka Pref.
A plain clothes policeman was robbed of his identification and police badge on Thursday by a group of four men at a parking lot in Chikushino, Fukuoka Prefecture, police said. Around 3:15 a.m., a 47-year-old assistant inspector and a 31-year-old sergeant in plain clothes were attacked by the group as they were investigating illegal sales of paint thinner and the men stole the assistant inspector's ID and badge, the police said.Views: 27
