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Kayaker paddling from Washington to Japan

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By week's end, Ryota Yamada hopes to slip his sea kayak gently into the Columbia River at Clover Island, embarking on the first leg of adventure to Japan. The retired scientist who did nanotechnological research intends to paddle downriver from Kennewick to the Pacific, then via the Inland Passage north to Alaska, and eventually across the Bering Strait to the Asian continent. (Seattle Times)

U.S., China, Japan lead world in economic growth

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The U.S., Japanese and Chinese economies have regained their momentum and are leading the world in growth, according to the latest report Tuesday from a global monitoring group. Meanwhile, Europe's economy is stagnant, while so-called developing nations show continued signs of growth, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said in its index of leading indicators. (CNN)

Japan PM Noda to call rivals' bluff on tax

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Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda is ready to call everyone's bluff in a drawn out political game over tax. Unlike his long line of ousted predecessors, he might even succeed. If he does, Noda will be the first of the six leaders in the past five years to break the political paralysis that has for so long blocked any serious attempts to cut into the growing mountain of debt and social costs that threaten to drag down the world's third largest economy. (Reuters)

New system estimates scale of quakes in minutes

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A system has been developed that can estimate the scale of crustal movement within minutes following a big earthquake, much faster than the system now widely used that takes more than five hours, according to government officials and academics. The Geospatial Information Authority of Japan and Tohoku University began testing the new system using GPS on Friday with the aim of starting full operations in fiscal 2013. (Japan Times)

Disasters impact land prices

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For the fourth consecutive year, Japan's land prices have fallen. Prices decreased an average 2.6 percent in 2011, but the decline was smaller than the 3.0 percent in 2010 as the economy bounced back from the 3/11 disasters. Commercial land prices slipped 3.1 percent in 2011, less than the 3.8 percent drop in 2010, and residential land prices fell 2.3 percent, less than the 2.7 percent decline in 2010. (Japan Times)

Hatoyama files protest with Iranian Embassy

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Former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said Tuesday he has lodged a protest with the Iranian Embassy in Tokyo over an Iranian state-run television report that he criticized the International Atomic Energy Agency. Hatoyama told the embassy Monday that the report on his remarks in his meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Teheran on Sunday was "untrue" and urged it to check the background of the report with the Iranian government and provide an explanation, according to Hatoyama's office. (Yomiuri)

Police to look into tightening stalker laws

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The National Police Agency (NPA) plans to look at tightening stalker laws. NPA Commissioner General Yutaka Katagiri said a series of cases involving delays and destroyed evidence have caused a loss of public trust. In an attempt to reduce the "growing sense of crisis," Katagiri confirmed he would be looking into whether or not current laws need to be tightened, Fuji TV reported Tuesday. (Japan Today)

Japan high court rejects appeal by Hawker murderer

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A court rejected Wednesday an appeal by the Japanese man who raped and killed young British teacher Lindsay Ann Hawker in 2007. The Tokyo High Court dismissed the motion from Tatsuya Ichihashi, who was sentenced to life for a crime that shocked both Japan and Britain after the grim discovery of Hawker's body in a sand-filled bathtub in his apartment. (AFP)

9-year-old girl dies after being hit by truck in Tokyo's Shinagawa

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Police said Wednesday that a 9-year-old girl died after being hit by a truck at a T-junction in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward. Police said the accident occurred at about 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday. (Japan Today)

Japan machinery orders show surprise rise as capex recovers

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Japan's core machinery orders unexpectedly rose in February in a sign that capital expenditure is likely to steadily increase as the country rebuilds its earthquake-battered northeast coast. Core machinery orders, which help gauge the strength of capital spending, rose 4.8 percent in February from the previous month, beating the median forecast for a 0.8 percent decline. (Reuters)

Nikkei ends at 2-month low on renewed eurozone debt fears

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Tokyo stocks dropped for a seventh consecutive trading day Wednesday, with the benchmark Nikkei index ending at a two-month low below the 9,500 line on renewed fears about the eurozone debt crisis and its resulting impact on the global economy. The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average ended down 79.28 points, or 0.83 percent, from Tuesday at 9,458.74, its lowest closing level since Feb. 17. (Mainichi)

Japanese journalist weighs in on the princess problem

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Should Japan's royal women be able to stay in the imperial family even if they marry outsiders? One of Japan's most well-known, and controversial, female journalists says "no." At a government hearing on Tuesday, Yoshiko Sakurai, a journalist known for her nationalistic comments about World War II, opposed a proposal to reverse the country's current Imperial House Law, which boots princesses from the royal family if they marry commoners. (Wall Street Journal)

Golf: Japan Tour gets underway in Nagoya

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The Japan Golf Tour begins its 2012 schedule this week when the traditional opening event of the season, the Token Homemate Cup, is played at the Token Tado Country Club in Nagoya. The Japan Golf Tour did actually jointly sanction an event with the One Asia Tour three weeks ago but it was essentially an experiement as the money won by Nick Cullen did not count towards the Japan Golf Tour money list. Nor did the event provide Cullen with access to the Japan Tour so to all effects and purposes it was a litmus test only. (iseekgolf.com)

Sony CEO to lay out revival strategy as losses pile up

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Kazuo Hirai's brief honeymoon as Sony Corp's new chief has ended abruptly as the struggling electronics giant doubled its annual loss forecast, sending its shares tumbling. On Thursday he will try to convince investors he has a strategy to fix Sony and its ailing TV unit, and turn around a brand that has been trampled on by consumer gadget leaders Apple Inc and South Korea's Samsung Electronics. (Reuters)

Gov't on full alert ahead of N Korea rocket launch

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The Japanese government on Thursday went on full alert, ahead of North Korea's planned rocket launch by creating an intelligence taskforce and putting the nation's military on standby. Poor but nuclear-armed North Korea has announced a plan to launch what it says is a satellite between April 12 and 16, to mark the centenary of the birth of late founding president Kim Il-Sung. (Japan Today)

TEPCO to sell additional 800 properties to raise funds for compensation

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Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) said Wednesday it plans to sell an additional 800 buildings to raise more funds for compensation to victims of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear crisis. As part of a "Special Emergency Business Plan," TEPCO says it plans to raise 247.2 billion yen from the sale of real estate properties within three years, the Sankei Shimbun reported. In fiscal 2011, TEPCO sold 100 properties for 38 billion yen. (Japan Today)

Woodford book chronicles story of coverup

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Last summer, Tsuyoshi Kikukawa, the CEO of Olympus Corp., instructed the firm's executives to keep then-President Michael C. Woodford from finding out about a magazine article that exposed the company's dubious transactions, a newly published book by Woodford reveals. (Japan Times)

Ikea opens outlet No. 6 in Fukuoka

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Swedish furniture giant Ikea opened a store Wednesday near the city of Fukuoka, its sixth retail outlet in Japan and the first in Kyushu, according to operator Ikea Japan K.K. About 1,300 people were lined up before it opened in the morning. The first customer, who had been waiting outside the store since 10 a.m. Tuesday, was presented with a gift certificate worth ¥100,000, Ikea said. (Japan Times)

Golf: Ishikawa sets sights on money title

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Even after a winless 2011, Ryo Ishikawa is expected to be the center of attention again on the JGTO Tour because of his ability and popularity as the season begins Thursday with the Token Homemate Cup in Mie Prefecture. The 20-year-old Ishikawa has at least two goals for 2012: to win his second career money title in Japan and finish in the top 125 on the PGA money list to earn a U.S. tour card for 2013. (Japan Times)

Japan govt: economy picking up, exports better

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Japan's government stuck to its assessment that the economy is slowly recovering on Thursday but raised its view on exports, saying overseas shipments are showing signs of stabilising on a moderate pickup in the United States and some return in Asian demand. It said in a monthly report that the pace of decline in consumer prices has eased but Japan remains in mild deflation, a slight change from the previous report when it just said the economy was in mild deflation. (Reuters)
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