Japan-based Ogaki Kyoritsu Bank is claiming to be the first in the world set to offer its customers the option of using ATM services without the need for a cash card or passbook, thanks to palm-scanning biometric technology from Fujitsu.
The technology works by mapping and identifying the unique pattern of veins in the user's palm. Although biometric scanners are used in some Japanese banks already, they don't allow users to authenticate via this method alone.
(The Register)
Japanese bank palms off customers with biometric ATMs
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8 dead, 5 seriously injured after minivan rams into pedestrians in Kyoto
A minivan ran through a crowded intersection and struck pedestrians in Kyoto on Thursday, killing eight including the vehicle's driver, and injuring at least five, some critically.
Rescue officials and witnesses said the minivan rearended a taxi about 150 meters from an intersection in Gion, Kyoto's main geisha district, then went through a red traffic light, knocking over pedestrians at around 1:10 p.m. It continued on for another 200 meters, hitting another taxi and a cyclist, before smashing into an electric pole before stopping.
(Japan Today)
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Man kills himself during police search of apartment; 2 bodies discovered in closet
Police said Thursday a 62-year-old man committed suicide on Monday while they were at his apartment conducting a search in connection with a theft. Two bodies were subsequently discovered in the closet of the apartment in Fukushima on Wednesday afternoon, Fuji TV reported.
(Japan Today)
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Lower house approves postal privatization revision
The House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill to review the privatization of Japan's postal services spearheaded in 2005 by then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
The ruling Democratic Party of Japan, the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party and the New Komeito party supported the bill. But three key members of the LDP, which was formerly headed by Koizumi, voted against it in defiance of the party's policy.
(Mainichi)
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Japan keepers stand down penguin hunt
Japanese keepers looking for a penguin on the run in Tokyo have stood down their month-long search but say they hope the bird's impending adulthood will give it away.
Staff at Tokyo Sea Life Park said Thursday they are no longer combing riverbanks every day looking for any sign of the creature, which fled captivity in early March.
(AFP)
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Olympics: Japan goes bananas for 71-year-old horseman
Japanese dressage rider Hiroshi Hoketsu looks and dresses more like a soccer manager in his early 50s than the world's oldest Olympian at 71-years-old. Meet the Benjamin Button of this year's London Olympics.
A national celebrity, Hoketsu greets you with a firm handshake, his sharp wit and fierce determination striking you immediately.
(Reuters)
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Rugby: Japan to host Pacific Nations Cup in June
Reigning champion Japan will host the 2012 Pacific Nations Cup, the International Rugby Board announced Thursday.
A year after the Japan Rugby Football Union was forced to relinquish all but one game of the 2011 competition as a result of the March 11 disaster, the IRB announced that five of this year's matches will take place in Japan, which will host the sport's flagship event--the Rugby World Cup--in 2019.
(Yomiuri)
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A (slightly) more muscular Japan
Japan's Self-Defence Forces (SDF) have long lived a cloistered life. The country that in 1945 developed an allergy to warfare ties itself in knots trying to reassure everybody that the SDF is not a military force, and that its soldiers are actually "special public servants".
So a recent music video showing a khaki-clad AKB48, Japan's doe-eyed pop sensation, clambering in and out of troop carriers, singing things like "Show us your guts", must have seemed a recruiting sergeant's dream. (The Economist)
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WTO says global exports expected to slow further in 2012 due to series of economic shocks
Europe's sovereign debt crisis and the aftershocks of events such as the Japan earthquake and Arab Spring are expected to slow the growth in global exports to just 3.7 percent in 2012, the World Trade Organization said Thursday.
That comes after a slowdown to 5 percent in 2011 and 13.8 percent in 2010, the global trade body said in its annual report.
(Washington Post)
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X Japan Take Home 'Best International Band' Award at Golden Gods
X Japan, one of Japan's hottest rock commodities, took home the prize for 'Best International Band' last night (April 11) at the fourth annual Revolver Golden Gods Awards.
Hand delivered by members of Anthrax, X Japan drummer/leader Yoshiki was on hand to accept the award. "Thank you Revolver, thank you so much for recognizing us," said Yoshiki during his acceptance speech. He continued, "Some people might have heard of us, we're from Japan. We toured North America in 2010, and did our first world tour last year." (loudwire.com)
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Food's biggest scam: The Great Kobe Beef Lie
Think you've tasted the famous Japanese Kobe beef?
Think again.
Of course, there are a small number of you out there who have tried it - I did, in Tokyo, and it is delicious. If you ever go to Japan I heartily recommend you splurge, because while it is expensive, it is unique, and you cannot get it in the United States. Not as steaks, not as burgers, certainly not as the ubiquitous "Kobe sliders" at your trendy neighborhood "bistro."
(Forbes)
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Missile makes Japan twitch new muscle
Japan has been one of the most active players in the North Korean "satellite" crisis. As a country well within the range of Pyongyang's ballistic missiles, Tokyo has good reason to be concerned, but the implications of its assertiveness in the past month are interesting in their own right.
When South Korea said on March 26 that it would intercept Pyongyang's Unha-3 rocket if the satellite's trajectory appears errant, the warning came three days after Japanese Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka's announcement that Tokyo was readying Aegis-class warships and PAC-3 surface-to-air missiles in preparation for North Korea's rocket launch. (Asia Times)
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Japan's ex-PM to plant cherry blossoms in Taiwan
Former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori arrived in Taiwan Thursday to attend a cherry blossom planting event, which will be held this weekend in recognition of the strong ties that exist between the two countries.
The event highlights the long-lasting friendship between Taiwanese and Japanese people, Mori said at a press conference to promote the event.
(focustaiwan.tw)
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Japan Fast Retailing H1 profit rises, lifts outlook
Asia's top apparel retailer, Fast Retailing Co, posted an 11.8 percent rise in its first-half operating profit after seasonal winter weather boosted sales at Japan outlets of its Uniqlo brand, and lifted its full-year profit forecast.
The operator of the Uniqlo basic clothing chain said on Thursday its September-February operating profit totalled 91.75 billion yen ($1.13 billion), following a 2.3 percent rise in same-store sales at Uniqlo outlets in its main Japan market over the period.
(Reuters)
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The search for Sony's soul
Based on profits, Sony Corp. is an outstanding company -- in life insurance sales and hit movies such as the "Men in Black" and "Spider-Man" franchises.
But in the industry where Sony made its name -- consumer electronics -- the company needs a lifeline as it finishes its fiscal year with a record $6.4 billion loss.
(CNN)
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Japan's use of oil may surge by 300,000 barrels a day
Japanese utilities will use 300,000 more barrels of oil a day in 2012 than before last year's nuclear crisis unless it restores some of its atomic reactors, according to the International Energy Agency.
Japan will also need an additional 23 billion cubic meters of liquefied natural gas to meet demand if utilities can't access idled reactors, the IEA said today in a report.
(Bloomberg)
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Fate of child abductions bill in Diet uncertain
The government finally submitted legislation to the Diet last month for joining the Hague Convention on international child abductions but its passage appears far from certain.
Western allies have long pressured Japan to join the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, and are watching closely to see whether Tokyo lives up to an earlier promise to ratify it.
(Japan Times)
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North Korea's rocket launch reported failed
Japan and South Korea say that North Korea's three-stage rocket launch early Friday failed.
Japanese Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka says the rocket appears to have flown about 120 kilometers up into the air before splitting into four pieces and falling into the Yellow Sea.
"We have received information that there was some sort of object launched. It appears to have flown for over a minute and then fallen into the ocean. There has been absolutely no effect on our territory," Tanaka said. (VOA News)
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Japan's Middle East soft power
Heavily dependent on oil from the Middle East, Japan has been keen to encourage stability. But there are limits to what Japan's soft power push can do in the region.
Through a dirty, misty morning haze, Ajloun castle rises up over the north Jordanian town of the same name. In a cold classroom, a pair of Japanese teachers lead a class of five and six year-olds through a song well known to any Japanese child. "Ito maki maki," they sing. "Ito maki maki. Hite hite. Ton ton ton."
(The Diplomat)
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Japan govt vows renewed drive to beat deflation
Japan's government vowed on Friday to do whatever is needed to overcome deflation, signalling a renewed drive for structural reforms and deregulation to boost the economy rather than relying primarily on aggressive monetary easing by the central bank.
Economics Minister Motohisa Furukawa, speaking after the inaugural meeting of a ministerial panel tasked with devising long-term solutions to deflation, told reporters the government will do whatever it takes to pull Japan out of deflation as soon as possible.
(Reuters)
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