Japan says it will soon require atomic reactors to be shut down after 40 years of use to improve safety following the nuclear crisis set off by last year's tsunami.
Concern about aging reactors has been growing because the three units at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant in northeastern Japan that went into meltdown following the tsunami in March were built starting in 1967. Among other reactors at least 40 years old are those at the Tsuruga and Mihama plants in central Japan, which were built starting in 1970.
Many more of the 54 reactors in Japan will reach the 40-year mark in the near future, though some were built only a few years ago.
The government said Friday that it plans to introduce legislation in the coming months to require reactors to stop running after 40 years. Japanese media reported that the law may include loopholes to allow some old nuclear reactors to keep running if their safety is confirmed with tests. (Japan Times)
Japan plans to scrap nuclear plants after 40 years
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Tiny particles may illuminate reactor cores
Using particles from space to look into the heart of nuclear reactors--this is the goal of researchers at Nagoya University.
The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned that a team of researchers from the university is developing technology to use elementary particles from space to see into the interiors of crippled reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
Their aim is to establish technology that can obtain images similar to X-rays of what is happening inside the Nos. 1 to 3 reactors, whose cores melted down in the wake of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. plans to start operations to move melted-down nuclear fuel out of the reactors within the coming 10 years as a step toward decommissioning them. (Yomiuri)
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Researchers strive to discover whether dogs also like hot springs
Are hot-spring baths as relaxing for dogs as they are for humans? A research team from a professional training college in Okayama City is looking into the matter.
Dogs unaccustomed to bathing in hot springs do exhibit signs of stress, but appear to relax again as they become more familiar with the activity.
Okayama University of Science Specialized Training College, a vocational training school for animal health technicians, conducted the study at Yubara hot spring in the city of Maniwa, Okayama Prefecture, from May 2010 to October 2011 with help from the Maniwa City government and an association of inns and hotels in the former Yubaracho area, now in Maniwa. The group intends to study better ways for dogs to bathe in hot springs. (Yomiuri)
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Women with 80-cm girth could be 'obese'
Women with an abdominal girth of more than 80 centimeters could be categorized as obese under new guidelines being considered, a revision from the current 90-centimeter standard used as a marker for metabolic syndrome, it has been learned.
The Japan Society for the Study of Obesity (JASSO) is considering including women with a body mass index (BMI)--a measure of weight relative to height--of below 25 but a waist circumference of above 80 centimeters as excessively fat.
People with a BMI of less than 25 are not considered overweight under current guidelines.
The government-set conditions for being obese include a BMI of 25 or more, health problems such as a lipid abnormality and high-blood pressure, and having an abdominal girth of 85 centimeters or more for men and 90 centimeters or more for women. (Yomiuri)
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Sales tax hike insufficient / Consumption levy of 17% needed to cover social security costs
The government and ruling parties have described the planned increase in the consumption tax rate as a "first step" because they have deemed the boost to 10 percent will not fully cover the shortfall in social security revenue, making a further hike unavoidable in the future.
In their draft outline of integrated reform of the social security and tax systems, compiled Friday, the rate hike to 10 percent is said to be "the first step to simultaneously achieve the goals of securing stable revenue sources for financing social security and regaining governmental fiscal health."
If the consumption tax rate is raised from the current 5 percent to 10 percent, the central and local governments will rake in a total of about 13.5 trillion yen more in annual revenue. (Yomiuri)
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Free English tests for students / Ministry to pay for proficiency checks at public schools from 2012
n a bid to boost English skills among youngsters, the education ministry will allow students at a certain number of public middle and high schools to take English proficiency tests at government expense starting from the 2012 school year, it has been learned.
Under the envisaged project, the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry will pick eight middle and high schools in each prefecture where students can take the Eiken and other English proficiency tests free of charge, according to ministry sources.
The ministry will designate four of the eight as pilot schools where extensive English instruction will be provided, mainly by native speakers. It will then compare test scores of students between the two groups so it can improve the pedagogy at public schools to boost English skills among students overall, the sources said. (Yomiuri)
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Hide out with Samurai in Japan
SURROUNDED by unspoilt forest, we traverse the footbridge over a steep ravine to the crystal-clear Umenoki Todoro Falls.
There is hardly a person in sight it feels a world away from the bright lights and crowded city streets of Osaka and Tokyo.
This is Gokanosho on the island of Kyushu. Accessible via a windy, one-lane road that climbs into the mountains, it is considered one of the last secluded areas on Kyushu.
The district is famous for being a hidden refuge for a samurai clan in the 12th century. Luckily, we have a local guide who can easily navigate the area.
As a first-time visitor to Japan, I expected lots of hustle and bustle and there is no doubt that the country is heavily populated. But when you reach this national park, you get the sense that this is the real Japan. The area is remote and rugged, and the locals are especially friendly, with Gokanosho home to several quaint villages. (The Age)
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Japan defence minister 'faces sack' over gaffes
Japan's defence minister faces the sack, reports said Saturday, after a series of gaffes including describing the rape of a 12-year-old girl by three US servicemen as a "sexual orgy incident".
Yasuo Ichikawa, who has only been in office for four months, was censured by parliament's opposition-controlled upper house in December, as was consumer affairs minister Kenji Yamaoka, who backed an alleged pyramid sales firm.
Both men are expected to be removed in a cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, Jiji Press news agency and other media reported.
Noda, who took office in early September, is considering dismissing them in a bid to gain cooperation from the opposition to pass a budget and a package of tax and social reform bills through parliament, they said. (AFP)
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Chinese held for firebomb attack at Japan embassy in Seoul
A Chinese man who reportedly said his grandmother was one of many thousands forced into prostitution for the Japanese army during World War Two was arrested on Sunday for a firebomb attack at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, police said.
The 37-year-old man, identified by his family name Liu, hurled four petrol bombs at the embassy building in central Seoul on Sunday morning, scorching an outer part of the wall, a Seoul police officer said.
There were no reports of injuries.
Police were questioning Liu, a resident of the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, who entered the country on a tourist visa via Japan late last month, to determine the reasons behind the attack, the officer said. (Reuters)
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Activists detained on Japan whaling vessel: Sea Shepherd
Three Australian environmental activists were detained on board a Japanese whaling ship on Sunday after boarding in protest at Japan's annual whale cull in the Antarctic, anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd said.
The three activists from Forest Rescue, an Australian group specializing in direct action to prevent logging, boarded the ship early on Sunday with assistance from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Sea Shepherd said in a statement.
U.S.-based Sea Shepherd is tailing Japan's whaling fleet as it heads towards the Southern Ocean to try to prevent the cull.
The statement described the activists as "prisoners now detained on a Japanese whaler." (Reuters)
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Support rate for Cabinet sinks to 35.7%
Public support for Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's Cabinet has plunged to 35.7 percent from 44.6 percent last month, with more than half - 50.5 percent - expressing disapproval for the first time since Noda took office in September, a Kyodo News poll said Sunday.
The Saturday-Sunday poll also said 52.9 percent oppose the Noda administration's controversial two-stage plan to double the consumption tax, but that 45.6 percent back it.
Nearly three quarters of the respondents, or 74.4 percent, said Noda's explanations about the plan, which would hike the sales tax from 5 percent to 8 percent in April 2014 and to 10 percent in October 2015, were "insufficient." (Japan Times)
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Sumo: Kisenosato, Hakuho roll; Kotoshogiku falls at New Year basho
Newly promoted ozeki Kisenosato tossed aside Goeido to get off to a high-octane start, Kotoshogiku took a first-day spill and yokozuna Hakuho was his usual dominant self on the opening day of the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament on Sunday.
Kisenosato kept his eyes transfixed on Goeido as he blasted him with a torrent of shoves before sending his opponent fleeing over the edge at Ryogoku Kokugikan.
But Kotoshogiku, promoted to sumo's No. 2 rank after the autumn basho last year, never got rolling against Takekaze who slapped the ozeki down immediately after the face-off. (Japan Times)
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Baseball: Ichiro welcomes Iwakuma to Seattle
Ichiro Suzuki welcomed Hisashi Iwakuma to the Seattle Mariners with open arms Sunday, saying the right-hander's addition to the team was a "pleasant surprise."
"Playing behind him in right (field) at the WBC, I thought he was the easiest pitcher to play defense for," Ichiro said after working out for two hours as the 38-year-old Seattle veteran tries to rebound from his worst season in the majors.
"I never thought I'd be playing on the same team with him so this has been a pleasant surprise."
Ichiro and Iwakuma, whose one-year contract with the Mariners was announced Friday, played together on Japan's World Baseball Classic-winning team in 2009. (Japan Times)
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Basketball: Sunflowers capture fourth-straight Empress' Cup
The JX Sunflowers once again proved that they are the queens of the floor, giving their opponent Denso Iris a tough lesson.
The Sunflowers overwhelmed Denso in every phase of the game as they grabbed their fourth-straight Empress' Cup with a 78-52 win in the 78th All-Japan Championship final at Yoyogi National Gymnasium No. 2 on Sunday afternoon.
It was the second "four-peat" for the Sunflowers, who previously achieved the feat between 2001 and 2004 (then as the Japan Energy Sunflowers). Nichibo Hirano holds the record with five consecutive championships from 1965. (Japan Times)
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Olympus likely to retain TSE listing
Olympus Corp. likely will be allowed to remain on the Tokyo Stock Exchange--at least for the time being--but the scandal-mired optical equipment maker could be fined and forced to reform its management to stay listed, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.
The TSE could make a final decision this month on Olympus, which came under a cloud last year after revelations that it had been hiding huge losses for decades. The company also released false financial statements.
A TSE self-regulatory body that supervises the market and screens companies' worthiness to be listed has almost completed its investigation into Olympus. It has interviewed Olympus executives and other people involved in the case.
The watchdog could hold an extraordinary directors meeting sometime this month, at which it will officially decide on whether Olympus should remain listed on the TSE. (Yomiuri)
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Sony quits organic-screen TV business
Sony Corp. has discontinued production of TV sets with organic electroluminescence (EL) display panels, widely seen as the mainstream panel to be used in next-generation flat-screen TVs, it was learned Saturday.
Though Sony will continue selling organic EL monitors for its corporate clients, it will concentrate its home-use TV production business on liquid-crystal display models.
The move comes as South Korean makers are aiming to strengthen sales of their large-screen organic EL TV sets, and underlines the difficulties domestic manufacturers are facing in the TV production market.
Sony released the world's first organic EL TV model in 2007. With some organic panels as thin as 3 millimeters, the TVs were said to be a symbol of Sony's revival as an advanced-technology developer. (Yomiuri)
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2 towns at risk of disappearing / Okuma, Futaba face uncertain future due to nearby crippled N-plant
How will the government help the estimated 25,000 people who lived in areas where residency likely will be prohibited for an extended period due to the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant?
In particular, Okuma and Futaba towns in Fukushima Prefecture will face extreme hardship because most of their residential areas fall in those areas. The crippled nuclear plant is located in the two towns.
It will be extremely difficult for the municipal governments to restore the towns to their conditions before the disaster. The central government will need to consider providing assistance to the evacuees so they can lead self-reliant lives.
The Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry detected many spots in the two towns where annual levels of exposure to radiation would be 100 millisieverts or higher. This is at least five times higher than the level deemed safe for human habitation. (Yomiuri)
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Japan plans to scrap nuclear plants after 40 years
Japan says it will soon require atomic reactors to be shut down after 40 years of use to improve safety following the nuclear crisis set off by last year's tsunami.
Concern about aging reactors has been growing because the three units at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant in northeastern Japan that went into meltdown following the tsunami in March were built starting in 1967. Among other reactors at least 40 years old are those at the Tsuruga and Mihama plants in central Japan, which were built starting in 1970.
Many more of the 54 reactors in Japan will reach the 40-year mark in the near future, though some were built only a few years ago.
The government said Friday that it plans to introduce legislation in the coming months to require reactors to stop running after 40 years. Japanese media reported that the law may include loopholes to allow some old nuclear reactors to keep running if their safety is confirmed with tests. (AP)
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Coming-of-Age Day ceremonies held across Japan
New adults attended ceremonies and festive events across Japan on Monday to mark Coming-of-Age Day. Festivities were toned down out of respect for the victims of last year's March 11 disaster.
In some prefectures, ceremonies were held on Sunday. In the hard-hit Tohoku area, ceremonies were tinged with sadness as young people remembered their friends who who perished in the disaster. In Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, one group of young adults held a party and brought photos of six of their classmates who died in the tsunami.
Many other new adults are living in other parts of Japan and were not able to return for the day.
At Meiji Shrine in Tokyo, which usually attracts hundreds of young adults, there were far fewer kimono-clad adults and their families than in previous years. Many of the young adults joined thousands in a line to offer prayers for the New Year.
(Japan Today)
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X Japan member to compose theme song for Golden Globe Awards
Japanese artist Yoshiki is writing the theme song for one of the most anticipated and watched awards show for film and television. Barely a week before the glittering 2012 Golden Globe Awards, it has been announced that the famous drummer of the Japanese rock band X Japan and known as a songwriter and record producer is doing the composition which will be used for the opening of the show.
Hollywood Foreign Press Association president Dr. Aida Takia-O'Reilly refers to Yoshiki as a global musical artist and says the international organization is "delighted" for having the Japanese artist to compose the theme song for the prestigious awards committed to ingenious achievements. (Tokyo Times)
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