Toru Hashimoto's huge victory in the Osaka mayoral election was undoubtedly a political earthquake. The question now is how sweeping and powerful will be the tsunami that follows. My worry is that Tokyo, and particularly the political and bureaucratic establishment, does not comprehend the tectonic forces working underground.
The election was the start, not the end, of the action. Hashimoto challenged, and defeated the combined forces of Japan's political establishment. He has now issued another challenge: He wants to be the prime mover and maker of a new political and economic center of power based in Osaka. (Japan Times)
Political earthquake in Osaka
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World's oldest dog dies at age 26
The world's oldest living dog, as recognized by Guinness World Records, has died at its home in Sakura, Tochigi Prefecture, at the age of 26 years and 9 months, equivalent to more than 125 years in human age, its owner said Tuesday.
Pusuke, a male crossbreed, had been showing a good appetite and kept up with its daily morning and evening strolls until Monday morning, when it suddenly refused to eat and appeared to have difficulty breathing, owner Yumiko Shinohara said. The pooch died peacefully in the afternoon, about five minutes after Shinohara returned home from running errands.
(Japan Times)
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Noda steps up reform efforts
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda instructed members of a reform panel to map out a draft of social security and tax reforms, including a consumption tax hike, showing his desire to come up with a specific tax rate and timing of the hike.
Noda's leadership, however, is expected to be put to the test in the face of growing caution within the Democratic Party of Japan and concerns over tense situations including a possible split in the party.
Noda spoke on Monday to related Cabinet ministers and senior DPJ members at the first meeting of the Headquarters of the Government and Ruling Parties for Social Security Reform, which he leads. In his speech, Noda said relevant discussions should be expanded within the government and ruling parties to work out a draft by year-end. The draft, to be submitted for discussion across party lines, would expand on the plan compiled in June to raise the consumption tax to 10 percent by the mid-2010s. (Yomiuri)
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Georgia woman missing in Japan
Authorities in Japan are searching for a Georgia mother of two who disappeared from a U.S. Air Force base more than a month ago.
Facebook Kelli Cribbs Abad and her children. Abad has been missing in Japan since Oct. 26, 2011.
Special Kelli Cribbs Abad, who is from the southeast Georgia town of Brooklet, has been living in Okinawa with her husband for three years. Shown here is a poster reporting her disappearance.
Kelli Cribbs Abad, who is from the southeast Georgia town of Brooklet, was last seen Oct. 26 leaving a gate at Kadena Air Base near Okinawa, where the 27-year-old woman's husband is based.
Abad's Toyota sport utility vehicle was found three days later in a coastal area about 10 miles from the base.
Channel 2 Action News reported that Japanese and U.S. military authorities searched caves and cliffs near where Abad's SUV was discovered, but found no traces of the woman.
Her passport was found at her home, and her cell phone and purse were not taken. (ajc.com)
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Nintendo: 3DS gets boost from Mario, at least in Japan
Sales of Nintendo Co Ltd's 3DS games device will hit 3 million units in the Japanese market within days, but consumers in the U.S. and Europe seem to be delaying their holiday season shopping due to poor economic conditions, the company said.
Nintendo slashed the price of the 3DS by about 40 percent in August and announced a flood of new software, including titles in the much loved Mario series, in a bid to prop up sales of the gadget, which had slumped soon after its February launch.
As a result, the Kyoto-based firm expects to sell 4 million of the machines in Japan within the first year, compared with a worldwide target of 16 million units by March 2012. (Reuters)
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Baseball: Japan's dirty laundry hung out
In Japan's good old days (ie last year), badmouthing the boss was something done behind the scenes, or not done at all.
In the past few weeks, mudslinging has gone public, with some of Japan's biggest names smearing the reputations of even tycoons and prime ministers.
It's not only gaijin (foreigners) such as ousted Olympus president Michael Woodford who are spilling the beans about the sumo wrestling behind the scenes in corporate Japan.
Hidetoshi Kiyotake, ousted general manager of the Yomiuri Giants, the most famous sports team in Japan, has been lambasting his former boss, Tsuneo Watanabe, a media tycoon described by foreign writers as a "shogun" or "a cross between
Rupert Murdoch and Richard Nixon".
Watanabe, 85, has mounted a public counter-attack, launching a million-dollar defamation suit against Kiyotake, and saying a few choice words of his own about former prime ministers including Junichiro Koizumi and Yukio Hatoyama. (Asia Times)
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Japan town embraces volunteer who stayed after tsunami
The slender woman in a puffy black ski hat and camouflage pants hurried among the crowd at the opening ceremony for a new vegetable market here, carrying a rolled-up events schedule like an architect with a set of building plans.
Her cellphone never stopped ringing. Between smoking breaks, never finishing an entire cigarette, she dragged tables and ran to consult village elders, playing coordinator.
Chizuru Nakagawa isn't a resident of Ogatsu. Rather, she's the volunteer stranger who came and stayed.
"She's more involved than most real residents," merchant Yorio Takahashi said at the opening ceremony, marking the first commerce in Ogatsu since a tsunami wrecked buildings and swept 300 people to their deaths. "She knows what needs to be done."
(Los Angeles Times)
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Japan forex reserves hit new record high
Japan said Wednesday its foreign exchange reserves hit a record high $1.3 trillion in November after authorities intervened in currency markets to stem the yen's rise.
The level was $94.88 billion higher than in October, the finance ministry said, and surpassed a previous record of $1.22 trillion set in August.
The reserves are composed mainly of foreign-currency denominated securities and bank deposits along with gold and other assets, according to ministry data. (AFP)
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Driver who caused supercar crash in Japan admits he was speeding
The 60-year-old self-employed man from Chikushino in southern Fukuoka, who has not been named, told police he was driving over the 80km per hour speed limit when he lost control of his red Ferrari.
The driver intended to change lanes while speeding along a wet stretch of the Chugoku Expressway in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi, before skidding and hitting a guardrail.
The manoeuvre triggered a 14-car pile up, including a string of Ferraris, Mercedes and a Lamborghini, causing minor injuries to 10 people.
According to the Mainichi newspaper, the man told prefectural highway police and other sources: "I was driving at a faster speed than the legal limit. I had attempted to change lanes while driving in the passing lane, but the rear wheels of my car skidded, prompting my car to hit the guardrail." (telegraph.co.uk)
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Spring Airlines to launch carrier in Japan
hanghai-based Spring Airlines, the most successful Chinese low-cost carrier, is preparing to launch a carrier in Japan to gain a deeper foothold in the Japanese market.
Spring spokesman Zhang Wu'an said the carrier has registered a company in Japan; however, since foreign investors can hold no more than a one-third stake in a Japanese airline, it is looking for a Japanese partner. Zhang said Spring is negotiating with potential investors in the new entity (ATW Daily News, July 12).
According to Zhang, Spring also plans to explore other international markets. To that end, it will open new routes to Thailand and South Korea next year. (atwonline.com)
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Japan FM feels 'deep emotion' about Pearl Harbor
Japan's foreign minister says he feels "deep emotion" about the 70th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Koichiro Gemba said Wednesday that even though the U.S. and Japan fought in World War II, their alliance now is vital for the peace and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region.
Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941 - Dec. 8 Japan time - brought the U.S. into the war.
The anniversary typically gets little attention in Japan as authorities don't want to highlight the country's past military aggression. (AP)
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Survivors remember Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor 70 years ago
Four survivors of the surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor were honored aboard the USS Yorktown in Charleston Harbor on Wednesday, the 70th anniversary of the battle that brought the United States into World War Two.
The sneak attack in Hawaii in 1941 killed nearly 2,400 American service members and wounded more than 1,100.
Don Ralph, 89, said was an Army private first class and an X-ray technician at Hickam Field near Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, when the attack began early in the morning.
A self-described "hillbilly from Kentucky," Ralph lives in Manning, South Carolina. He said he has never seen another day like the attack, and "thank God, I hope I never do." (Reuters)
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Olympus promises to go after erring executives
Olympus Corp. vowed Wednesday to go after erring executives involved in an elaborate scheme to hide $1.5 billion of investment losses.
The Japanese camera and medical equipment maker said it will investigate some 70 people including former and current board members, auditors and other officials for their possible involvement in the deception that has become one of Japan's biggest corporate scandals.
President Shuichi Takayama bowed deeply in apology at a Tokyo hotel, a day after a third-party panel released the findings of an investigation that showed top executives who were "rotten to the core" had orchestrated the accounting cover-up spanning three decades. (AP)
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Nurse jailed for tearing off toenails
The Kyoto District Court on Wednesday sentenced a 38-year-old assistant nurse to three years in prison for tearing off the big toenails of four patients at a hospital in Kyoto in August.
Akemi Sato "repeated the vicious, relentless act for the selfish purpose of relieving work stress while she was in a position of taking care of patients," presiding Judge Akiyoshi Sasano said.
The prosecution had sought a six-year prison term for Sato, noting she could repeat the offense. The same court gave her a 44-month prison term in 2006 for removing the nails of six patients at another Kyoto hospital in 2004.
(Japan Times)
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Alcohol-free beverages rapidly carving out niche
Sales of alcohol-free beverages that taste like beer and wine remain on an upward trajectory as an increasing number of people are abstaining from drinking for health reasons or forgoing purchases of alcoholic drinks amid weakening consumer sentiment since the March 11 disasters.
Beverage makers have introduced a number of new products, while also seeking to expand into overseas markets.
Sales of beerlike drinks with no alcoholic content began taking off in 2009, with their sales expected to total an equivalent of some 29 million cases in 2011, marking a nearly 12-fold jump from 2008, according to Suntory Liquors Ltd. One case holds 24 250-ml bottles. (Japan Times)
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Baseball: Wedge mulling where to bat Ichiro
Seattle Mariners manager Eric Wedge says he's still figuring out where to bat longtime leadoff man Ichiro Suzuki.
The 38-year-old Ichiro is coming off a season in which he hit .272 with a .310 on-base percentage, by far the lowest marks in his 11-year career with the Mariners.
Ichiro has hit exclusively in the leadoff spot for several years. Wedge says he's met with the All-Star outfielder twice in the offseason.
"I'm going to put out the best nine in the right order, in the order that I see fit to score as many runs as we can," Wedge said Tuesday at the winter meetings. (Japan Times)
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Celebrating New Year's in the traditional way
As people in Japan prepare to celebrate New Year's Day, among the most notable tasks of the season are housecleaning, which echos the timeworn ritual of susuharai ("cleaning soot from the timbers under the roof") and placing shimenawa (sacred straw rope traditionally hung at the entrance to Shinto shrines) or kadomatsu (pine and/or bamboo decorative arrangements) at the entrance of the home.
But what are the origins of these practices, and how did they become symbolic of the start of the New Year's celebrations?
These customs were born from the belief that a house prepared through cleansing and purification, and placing freshly created ornaments at its main entrance, provides a welcoming environment for deities to visit the home and bless it during the New Year's season.
(Japan Times)
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Hosono: No Kyoto extension
Environment Minister Goshi Hosono told environmentalists Tuesday that Japan won't reverse its refusal to accept fresh binding targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions under the Kyoto Protocol, officials of nongovernmental organizations said.
Hosono reportedly said during a closed, informal meeting with the environmentalists from Japan and other countries that he is aware of the importance of the climate framework but reiterated that Japan will not accept a new commitment period. (Japan Times)
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Noda's first Beijing trip off
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's planned trip to Beijing from Dec. 12 to 13 has been canceled at the request of China, Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said Wednesday.
China sited domestic political reasons for the cancellation, he said, adding that the two countries are working to reschedule the trip to take place before the end of the year. It will be the first time Noda visits Beijing since he became prime minister in September. (Japan Times)
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Ozawa raises most cash for second straight year
Democratic Party of Japan power broker Ichiro Ozawa raked in ¥328.63 million in political funds in 2010, easily outdistancing the country's other lawmakers as the top recipient of donations for the second straight year, funds reports showed Wednesday.
Kaoru Yosano, an independent House of Representatives member who served as economic and fiscal policy minister under former Prime Minister Naoto Kan, was No. 2 at ¥254.16 million, followed by Makoto Koga, former secretary general of the largest opposition party, the Liberal Democratic Party, at ¥243.01 million. (Japan Times)
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