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Tokyo Shares End Higher As Weaker Yen, China Data Spur Rally

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Tokyo stocks rose Tuesday, as a weaker yen and stronger-than-expected Chinese economic data pushed Fanuc, Mori Seiki, and other China-exposed shares higher, while exporters such as Nissan Motor and Tokyo Electron also posted solid gains. The Nikkei Stock Average added 88.04 points, or 1.1%, to 8466.40 following Monday's 1.4% fall. The Topix index of all the Tokyo Stock Exchange First Section issues gained 6.29 points, or 0.9%, to 731.53, with 31 of 33 subindexes ending in positive territory. TSE 1st section trading volume reached a year-to-date high of 1.76 billion shares. (Wall Street Journal)

Baseball: 'Godzilla' may spare Japan, return to NYC instead

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With or without Hideki Matsui, Oakland Athletics manager Bob Melvin is looking forward to opening Major League Baseball's 2012 season in Japan. The Athletics and Seattle Mariners open the regular season with a two-game series at Tokyo Dome on March 28-29. Many hoped the series would feature a showdown between Matsui and countryman Ichiro Suzuki, but Melvin said the A's likely won't be re-signing Matsui, a 37-year-old free agent. "Matsui was a great fit for us last year and we all loved having him on our team," Melvin said at a press conference on Monday to promote the series. "But this year it doesn't look like a fit for us based on the personnel we have going forward." (thenewstribune.com)

Japan's pop princess to divorce Austrian hubby

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Japanese pop princess Ayumi Hamasaki is to divorce her Austrian actor husband Manuel Schwarz after just a year of marriage, local media reported Tuesday. Hamasaki, 33, and Schwarz, 31, married on January 1 last year, and she had planned to move to the United States to live with her husband, according to news reports. But Hamasaki, better known as "Ayu" by her large fan base in Asia, began to have second thoughts about leaving Japan after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, Kyodo News reported. Hamasaki, who met the actor in Los Angeles in August 2010 while making a promotional video for her song Virgin Road, intends to file for divorce in the United States through her lawyer, Kyodo said. (Channel NewsAsia)

Samsung Galaxy S2 WiMAX announced for Japan

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It feels like Samsung isn't ever going to run out of Galaxy S2 phones to make. The company has announced just announced a new variant of the Galaxy S2, this time it's headed for Japan's KDDI au and it features WiMAX radios. The phone will be similar to the Galaxy S2 HD LTE except for the 4G radios. Other specs include a 1.4GHz dual-core processor, Android 2.3 Gingerbread, a 4.7″ Super AMOLED HD (1280 x 720) Display, 8-megapixel rear camera (1080p HD video capable), 2-megapixel front facing camera, WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0, GPS, microSD card slot, NFC support and 16GB of internal storage. Interesting how this phone doesn't seem to be packing a TV tuner like most Japanese phones these days. (ubergizmo.com)

Japan equity funds see longest run of outflows in 13 yrs

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Japanese equities mutual funds suffered a third straight month of net outflows in December for the first time in nearly 13 years as a poor performance stemming from Europe's debt crisis and the yen's firmness prompted selling by risk-averse retail investors. Equity investment trust funds, a type of mutual fund known as toushin, saw net outflows of 44.4 billion yen ($578.80 million) in December after posting net outflows of 273.7 billion yen, the biggest in three years, a month earlier, the Investment Trusts Association of Japan said. Equity trust funds marked the third consecutive month of net outflows for the first time since the February-April period of 1999. (Reuters)

Yamanashi to farm newly found endangered salmon

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The Yamanashi Prefectural Government plans to raise an endangered deepwater salmon species discovered in 2010 in Lake Saiko at the foot of Mount Fuji - 70 years after it died out in its original habitat 500 km northeast in Akita Prefecture's Lake Tazawa. Yamanashi Prefectural Fisheries Technology Center culturists will gill-net the "kunimasu" species in the 2.1-sq.-km lake, collecting sperm from males and eggs from females for fertilization at a hatchery in February and March - peak mating season - said Kiyoshi Mitsui, the center's director. (Japan Times)

JAL to appoint first ex-pilot president to steer new team, fall TSE relisting

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Japan Airlines Corp. will appoint Senior Managing Executive Officer Yoshiharu Ueki as its new president following a shareholders' meeting in February, a move intended to strengthen its new management team ahead of its relisting later this year. Current President Masaru Onishi will become JAL chairman, while current Chairman Kazuo Inamori will serve as honorary chairman, the carrier said Tuesday. Inamori, however, said he will leave the airline next January in line with his promise at the time he joined JAL in Feburary 2010 to help rehabilitate the company. (Japan Times)

12 hurt in expressway truck pileup

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Twelve people were injured in a highway collision involving six large trucks and a bus early Tuesday in Toyokawa, Aichi Prefecture, police said. The seven vehicles were involved in chain-reaction collisions at around 2:15 a.m. Tuesday in the outbound lane of the Tomei Expressway connecting Tokyo and Nagoya. The cause of the accident has not been determined, the police added. Two of the 12 injured were seriously hurt, the police said. (Japan Times)

Man beaten to death on Osaka street

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A Nepalese man died Monday after being assaulted on a street in Osaka early Monday by two men and two women, police said Tuesday. Bishnu Prasad Dhamala, 42, died at a hospital after being attacked Abeno Ward. The police said they arrested Hiroki Shiraishi, 21, a tattoo artist, and his acquaintance, Miyoko Shiraishi, 22, at the scene after receiving a report about the assault. The police are looking into the whereabouts of the other two assailants. (Japan Times)

Sumo: Hakuho handed first defeat in New Year Basho

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One false move and it was all over for Mongolian yokozuna Hakuho in a shock defeat to countryman Kakuryu at the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament on Tuesday. Estonian ozeki Baruto emerged as the improbable sole leader after Hakuho suffered his first loss, improving his record to a perfect 10-0 with a dismantling of Toyonoshima at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan. Hakuho was brought crashing back down to earth in the day's final after Kakuryu got his hand on the yokozuna's mawashi and spun him like a top before heaving his opponent over for his first "kinboshi," win against a yokozuna. (Japan Times)

Academic to replace JICA's Ogata

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University of Tokyo Vice President Akihiko Tanaka will head the Japan International Cooperation Agency from this spring, replacing Sadako Ogata, Foreign Minister Koichiro Genba said Tuesday. Tanaka, 57, a well-known professor of international politics at the university, will take up the top post at JICA on April 1, Genba told reporters after a Cabinet meeting. Ogata had requested replacement, as she has expressed concern about her advancing years, the minister said. (Japan Times)

Ruling puts brake on severe punishments

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A Supreme Court ruling Monday that found severe discipline over the issue of the "Kimigayo" national anthem "unconstitutional" is expected to put a brake on authorities trying to impose excessive punishment over teachers' refusal to sing the anthem. The Tokyo metropolitan government began meting out punishment to public school teachers and staffers who refused to comply with orders to stand up and sing the "Kimigayo," apparently out of concern that such an act would disrupt school events and make it difficult for teachers to maintain discipline. The metropolitan government had seen recurrences of people refusing to rise and sing the anthem even after such actions became compulsory in 2003. (Yomiuri)

Japan's holistic approach to recycling

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In the town of Yashiro, 27km outside of Osaka, washing machines, air conditioning units, television sets and refrigerators hum along conveyor belts with the precision that defines the Japanese term kaizen (continuous improvement). These appliances, however, are not on their way to delivery trucks and trains that will take them to retailers. Instead, each unit has reached the end of its life cycle and is about to be disassembled, shredded and even pulverised.

The PETEC (Panasonic Eco Technology Centre) complex is a clean, ultra modern and relatively quiet facility. It is also a leading example of resource recovery. Since 2001, over 1.4bn appliances have been recycled, producing enough materials to manufacture 95 jumbo jets, the equivalent of 81 of the Great Buddha statue at Nara and 158,000 cars from reclaimed aluminium, copper and steel. Machines capture noxious gases that comprise cooling refrigerants. New developments will improve the capture of rare earth metals from high end electronics. Resins including polypropylene and polystyrene are recovered thanks to technology that can quickly sort and separate various types of plastics.

Meanwhile, visitors can watch the entire process from walkways that soar above the shop floors. They can even view the death of old washing machines, thanks to hidden cameras that provide live coverage of them being plunked into a massive shredder that tears them to bits in a few seconds. (Yomiuri)

Three injured as Japan whalers 'use hooks'

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Three anti-whaling demonstrators have been injured after Japanese crew members threw grappling hooks and bamboo poles at them in a high seas clash, activist group Sea Shepherd said Wednesday. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which annually shadows and harasses the Japanese whaling fleet, said two activists were struck in the shoulder with iron hooks and one was hit twice in the face with a long bamboo pole. The Yushin Maru No. 2 is tailing the Steve Irwin anti-whaling ship in the Southern Ocean and the incident happened about 300 nautical miles north of Mawson Peninsula in Antarctica, according to Sea Shepherd. (ninemsn.com.au)

James Bond getaway car gets new lease on life

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For a former James Bond car, it's a chance to live twice. Japanese engineers put a new spin on an old classic car for a recent auto show, remodeling a Toyota 2000GT with solar panels and high-tech gadgets to make it 100 percent electric and solar-powered. Heralded as Japan's first sports car when it came out in 1967, the vehicle was used in the James Bond movie "You Only Live Twice," released that same year, as a getaway car for the intrepid Bond, played by Sean Connery. But the new eco-friendly version comes with a catch -- it takes nearly two weeks for the vehicle to power up completely. (Reuters)

Japan official wary of Iran sanctions impact

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Japan's finance minister expressed concern Wednesday about the effectiveness of U.S. sanctions on Iran and their potential impact on Japanese banks. Jun Azumi's comments came as a delegation U.S. government officials began talks with Japanese counterparts about the sanctions targeting Iran's oil industry in a bid to thwart what Western governments say is an effort to develop nuclear weapons. Japan has given mixed signals on the sanctions. Azumi declared last week that Japan would move quickly to reduce its oil imports from Iran after meeting with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, but other officials including the prime minister have said economic implications need to be considered. (AP)

Japan to let nuke plants to run after 40-year cap

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Japan is backtracking on plans formed only this month to shut down nuclear reactors after 40 years, saying it could allow some plants to run for up to 60 years. Top Cabinet spokesman Osamu Fujimura said Wednesday that the government plans to stick to the 40-year cap in principle, but is considering allowing operators to apply for 20-year extensions. Each reactor could get only one extension, and it would have to meet strict safety requirements to qualify, he said. Concern about aging reactors has grown because three of those at the tsunami-hit Fukushima Dai-ichi plant were built starting in the late 1960s. Many more of Japan's 54 reactors will reach the 40-year mark in coming years. (AP)

Tsunami Science

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Jin Sato is the mayor of a town that no longer exists.

Minamisanriku, a quiet fishing port north of Sendai in northeastern Japan, disappeared last March 11. Sato nearly did too. The disaster started at 2:46 p.m., about 80 miles east in the Pacific, along a fault buried deep under the seafloor. A 280-mile-long block of Earth's crust suddenly lurched to the east, parts of it by nearly 80 feet. Sato had just wrapped up a meeting at the town hall. "We were talking about the town's tsunami defenses," he says. Another earthquake had jolted the region two days earlier-a precursor, scientists now realize, to the March 11 temblor, which has turned out to be the largest in Japan's history.

When the ground finally stopped heaving, after five excruciating minutes, Minamisanriku was still mostly intact. But the sea had just begun to heave. Sato and a few dozen others ran next door to the town's three-story disaster-readiness center. Miki Endo, a 24-year-old woman working on the second floor, started broadcasting a warning over the town's loudspeakers: "Please head to higher ground!" Sato and most of his group headed up to the roof. From there they watched the tsunami pour over the town's 18-foot-high seawall. They listened to it crush or sweep away everything in its path. Wood-frame houses snapped; steel girders groaned. Then dark gray water surged over the top of their building. Endo's broadcasts abruptly stopped. (National Geographic)

Tokyo stocks close at two-week high

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Tokyo stocks have risen 0.99 per cent on Wednesday to close at their highest level in two weeks on higher risk appetite as the yen's rise against the euro took a breather. The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange, which rose 1.05 per cent on Tuesday, added another 84.18 points or 0.99 per cent to 8,550.58, the highest finish since trading resumed on January 4 after a New Year break. The Topix index of all first-section issues gained 0.47 per cent, or 3.45 points, at 734.98. (skynews.com.au)

Disgraced Olympus president to resign in April

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The president of Japan's scandal-hit Olympus, who has been sued by his own company and disgraced over a cover-up of US$1.7 billion in losses, said Wednesday he would resign -- but only in April. Shuichi Takayama bowed in apology at a news conference in Tokyo and said he would step down after an extraordinary general meeting (EGM). The firm had earlier said he would be leaving, but had not given specific details. In a case that has rocked global confidence in Japanese corporate governance, Olympus has admitted that it used over-priced acquisitions and consultancy fees to hide losses it had made on earlier investments. In one element of the scheme, Olympus paid US$687 million to a little-known financial adviser based in the Cayman Islands when it bought British medical instruments company Gyrus for US$2 billion in 2008. (Wall Street Journal)
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