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2012 foreign tourist target: 9 million

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Tourism minister Takeshi Maeda said Tuesday that the government aims to attract more than 9 million foreign visitors in 2012, exceeding the past record of 8.61 million set in 2010. According to the Japan National Tourism Organization, the estimated number of foreign visitors in 2011 dropped 27.8 percent from a year earlier to 6.22 million due to the March 11 disasters and the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant. (Japan Times)

Narita part of U.K. open-skies deal

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Japan and Britain have agreed to add Narita International Airport, the country's largest international gateway, to their open skies agreement as a result of bilateral civil aviation talks, the transport ministry said Tuesday. The addition of Narita will take effect in summer 2013, when the combined number of departures and arrivals at the airport is to be raised to 270,000 a year, the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry said. Signatory countries to such agreements are basically obliged to permit each other's airlines to set the number of flights to the other's airports and open new routes to them without restrictions. (Japan Times)

Hashimoto sets sights on the Diet

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Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto plans to form a new political party that aims to capture 200 seats in the next Lower House election and end the prefectural government system that has existed for nearly a century and a half. The strategy, unveiled Friday, aims to create a new nationwide party called Ishin Seiji Juku, or Political Restoration School, by March. It will seek to draw its ranks from Hashimoto's local Osaka Ishin no kai (One Osaka), as well as from established opposition parties including New Komeito, Your Party and the Liberal Democratic Party. (Japan Times)

Japan-Peru FTA to kick in March 1

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Japan's free-trade accord with Peru will go into effect March 1 now that all of the necessary domestic and diplomatic procedures have been completed, Foreign Minister Koichiro Genba said Tuesday. "I'm hoping that the two countries' economies will become more active" as a result of the agreement, Genba said. Japan and Peru will scrap tariffs on more than 99 percent of the value of goods traded between the two countries within 10 years after the effective date. (Japan Times)

Tokyo wakes up to snow, traffic snarl

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Snow fell in and around Tokyo from Monday night through early Tuesday and stuck for the first time this season, disrupting rail and road traffic and causing people to injure themselves in falls. As of 10 a.m., 53 people had been taken to hospitals by ambulance in Tokyo, the fire department said. East Japan Railway Co. temporarily suspended some services on the Hachiko Line linking Hachioji in western Tokyo with the city of Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, as ice-covered wires failed to transmit electricity to trains at Hachioji Station. Trains on the Togane Line in Chiba Prefecture came to a halt due to pantograph problems, while those on the Keiyo Line that links the Tokyo terminal station with the city of Chiba were suspended due to switch point troubles at a rail yard in Chiba. (Japan Times)

Fallout from Fukushima No. 1 on rise

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The amount of radioactive materials released from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant has risen this month compared with December, Tepco said. The amount so far has come to 70 million becquerels per hour, compared with 60 million becquerels in December, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Monday, adding that the increase is attributable to the displacement of radioactive materials that had settled on facilities and equipment as a result of work conducted near reactors 2 and 3. Tepco has recently probed the inside of the container vessel for the No. 2 reactor with an industrial endoscope and conducted scrap work around reactor 3. (Japan Times)

Blasts in lab at Osaka school spark fire; all safe

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A fire broke out at an Osaka elementary school Tuesday morning after a string of explosions in a science room, prompting 250 students and teachers to evacuate, but no injuries were reported, police and firefighters said. The explosions at 10:45 a.m. gutted almost all of the 30-sq.-meter room at Kiyoe Elementary School in Suminoe Ward before the fire was put out an hour later, the authorities said. They were trying to identify the cause of the blasts, which prompted the dispatch of some 30 fire engines and a helicopter. (Japan Times)

The beginner's guide to Japanese drama

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Often the key that opens the door to otaku culture is anime. Anime is a pervasive medium, and even those outside the fandom of Japanese culture and media can recognize the hallmarks of anime at fan conventions - DragonBall Z or Bleach costumes are ever-present. (We saw a cute InuYasha at last year's Dragon*Con. His brother Sesshomaru was also milling about.) Some fans remain firmly rooted in their love of anime for years. But more and more in America, otakus are discovering a form of Japanese television because of its sheer wackiness and anime-like humor. It's called J-drama (Japanese drama,) and it inspires obsessive dedication. J-dramas are daily or weekly broadcasts that make up a great deal of Japanese television programming. These are comparable to sitcoms and dramas that run in America, but they have their own distinct flavor. J-drama incorporates many different genres, from medical dramas to romantic dramas, and frequently feature Japan's most prominent stars in key roles. (CNN)

Noda calls on parties to act / Seeks end to 'indecisive politics,' realization of tax hike

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Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda expressed his determination on Tuesday to end "indecisive" politics, vowing to achieve his key policy goal of raising the consumption tax rate in his policy speech to the Diet. During his speech in the lower house, Noda emphasized the significance of the reform, saying, "The first step to restoring hope for society as a whole depends on the success of this comprehensive reform" of the social security and tax systems. Noda said on the opening day of the 150-day ordinary Diet session that he would aim to break away from "the politics of indecision," and called for cooperation of the opposition parties to realize a "politics of decision." The government and ruling parties aim at passing bills to raise the consumption tax rate, the main pillar of integrated reform of the social security and tax systems, during the current Diet session. (Yomiuri)

Elpida merger talks in final stage / Combined firm could have 2nd-largest share of DRAM chip market

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Elpida Memory Inc., the world's third-largest dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) manufacturer, has entered the final stage of negotiations on a merger with U.S. firm Micron Technology Inc. and Taiwan's Nanya Technology Corp, sources said. By merging with the world's fourth- and fifth-largest DRAM makers, Elpida is apparently aiming at regaining lost ground in the global semiconductor memory market, of which South Korean firms control over 60 percent. Elpida is expected to ask the Innovation Network Corporation of Japan for investment as it needs a huge amount of funding for production facilities to enhance the performance of its semiconductors. The amount offered by the fund, which is jointly operated by the government and the private sector, could be as much as 100 billion yen. (Yomiuri)

Japan's in for a hard landing

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Here in Japan, people are dour as the Bank of Japan cut its growth outlook for fiscal 2012 to +2.0 pct from its October estimate of +2.2 pct. It cited heightened concern about the eurozone crisis crimping the global economy, and the strong yen. Shortly after that, the government said it's likely to fail in its goal of balancing the budget by 2020 even if it proceeds with the wildly unpopular plan of doubling the national sales tax. Societe Generale's chief Japan economist quipped, "To balance the budget, the [sales tax] rate needs to rise further. We've passed the point where we can soft-land the fiscal situation. The question is how hard the landing is going to be." Pretty hard by the looks of it. (SeekingAlpha)

Japan posts first annual trade deficit since 1980

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Japan reported its first annual trade deficit since 1980 as it imported expensive energy to offset shortfalls caused by the devastating tsunami and manufacturers shifted production overseas to avoid the damage inflicted by the strong yen. The 2.49 trillion yen ($32 billion) deficit for 2011 reflected a 2.7 percent decline in the value of Japan's exports to 65.55 trillion yen ($843 billion). In December, the trade balance was a deficit of 205.1 billion yen, according to the Ministry of Finance figures released Wednesday. The yen's surge to record levels against the dollar and euro has made Japanese exports more expensive and also erodes the value of foreign earned income when brought home. Recently, Nissan Motor Co. and Panasonic Corp. have shifted some of their output to factories overseas. At the same time, Japan is facing intense competition from South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore, where labor and production costs are cheaper. (AP)

Tennis: Clinical Murray overpowers weary Nishikori to book semi-final spot

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Andy Murray reached his third successive Australian Open semi-final after easing past the challenge of Kei Nishikori. The world No 4 was rarely troubled by the Japanese, winning 6-3 6-3 6-1 in two hours and 12 minutes, as he maintained his smooth progress through the draw in Melbourne. Impressive: Andy Murray breezed into his third successive Australian Open semi-final Murray will have better days on serve - he got just 44% of first serves into play - but, that aside, there was little room for improvement as he moved into a last-four clash with either Novak Djokovic or David Ferrer. (Daily Mail)

Japanese stocks advance as yen eases, Apple posts record profit

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Japanese stocks advanced, sending the Topix Index up for a seventh day, as the yen weakened and technology companies rose after Apple Inc. reported record sales and profit. Sony Corp., Japan's biggest exporter of consumer electronics, gained 4.8 percent. Toshiba Corp., a supplier of chips for Apple's iPad, rose 1.8 percent. Toyota Motor Corp. climbed 3 percent after a report that Nippon Steel Corp. agreed to cut material prices for Japan's biggest carmaker. The Topix, the country's broadest equity gauge, climbed 1.3 percent to 767.40 at the 3 p.m. close in Tokyo, its longest winning streak since July 6. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 1.1 percent to 8,883.69, its highest since Oct. 31. (BusinessWeek)

Fukushima's exclusion zone a ghost town

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As we travel down the road toward the 20-kilometer (12-mile) exclusion zone, the entryway is blocked by half a dozen police officers and a large sign flashing red lights. The sign reads: "Keep out. Don't enter."

This is Japan's exclusion zone. No one lives here, a place where 78,000 people once lived. Nearly a year after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant disaster, the exclusion zone remains off-limits due to high levels of radioactive contamination.

My goal today is to see the town of Tomioka, a farming and factory community which sits in the southern section of the exclusion zone. It's a town that was once home to 52,000 people.

It's hard to imagine that many people once lived here, as we drive into the center of town. That's what strikes you first about the exclusion zone -- what you can't see, the people. Even though I know the residents have been evacuated, it is still eerie to be in a town where it seems the people have simply evaporated. Bicycles near a bus stop lie tipped over, as if owners forgot to retrieve them. Cars sit in a shopping center, seemingly waiting to have groceries loaded into them. A 7-Eleven convenient store sits in disarray, the items shaken from the shelves from the March 11 earthquake. These communities are complete ghost towns, frozen in time. (CNN)


Japan to recommend Mt. Fuji, Kamakura for cultural World Heritage

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The Japanese government decided Wednesday to recommend that Mt. Fuji and the ancient capital Kamakura be added to the list of cultural World Heritage sites, aiming to see them registered by the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 2013. The government will file its recommendations with the Paris-based UNESCO World Heritage Center by Feb. 1. The UNESCO World Heritage Committee will decide whether to formally register the sites in the middle of 2013. Mt. Fuji as a cultural World Heritage candidate covers a 70,000-hectare area in Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefectures, including five major lakes, the Shiraito Falls and the Miho-no-Matsubara pine grove. (Mainichi)

47 prefectures in 100 days to woo back tourists

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While tourism in Japan has been sluggish since the March 11 calamity, a British couple recently completed a 100-day tour of all 47 prefectures to help bring foreign travelers back to the country. Their journey blogs have been accessed more than 50,000 times in the last four months. Jamie Lafferty, a 28-year-old writer, and Katy Morrison, a 29-year-old photographer, made the journey as part of the Travel Volunteer Project initiated by a travel agency in central Japan. Magellan Resorts & Trust Inc. in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, launched the initiative to show the world through foreigners' eyes that Japan remains a safe and attractive destination. (Japan Times)

Shibuya style with an Akihabara twist?

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Shibuya-kei was one of the defining features of the music and fashion scenes of the 1990s, and it helped spawn the idea of "Cool Japan." The genre's sound was eclectic and openly embraced Western musical influences such as '60s lounge music, bossa nova, French pop and British guitar-pop, then coupled that mix with dance-music tenets and sampling technology. Flag-bearers for the movement include Pizzicato Five, Fantastic Plastic Machine and Flipper's Guitar. Shibuya-kei also represented a rare conjunction of commercial and artistic success, with independent artists having a real impact on mainstream music. In fact, some of these acts arguably set the scene for a flirtation between major Japanese labels and indie musicians that saw new-wave revivalists like Polysics sign to Sony and U.K.- U.S.-rock-influenced groups like Supercar and Number Girl define the subsequent decade in Japanese alternative music. (Japan Times)

CO2 emissions traded to help Tohoku region

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Firms that emit greenhouse gases but also want to help revitalize business in the Tohoku region following the Great East Japan Earthquake are being drawn to participate in a carbon dioxide offset trading scheme. Named J-VER (Japan Verified Emission Reduction), the scheme is a type of carbon-offset program. Under the scheme, entities practicing silviculture through thinning, planting and other means can enter a certification process to claim credits, depending on how much carbon dioxide their forests absorb. Including prefectural governments, the entities can then sell their credits to other bodies wanting to act on global warming. (Yomiuri)

Toyota global sales forecast rises on green demand

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Toyota raised its global sales target for this year to 8.58 million vehicles, up 21 percent from the previous year, as incentives for ecological cars lift demand in Japan. Toyota Motor Corp., which struggled from production interruptions last year caused by Japan's tsunami and flooding in Thailand, raised its forecast for Japan sales Wednesday to 1.63 million vehicles from an earlier 1.53 million. The latest forecast marks a 36 jump from the previous year. Toyota has been aiming for a comeback and had said in December that it plans to sell 8.48 million vehicles in 2012. The Japanese automaker behind the Lexus luxury car and the Camry sedan sold 7.95 million vehicles in 2011, down 6 percent from 2010. (AP)
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