Tuesday, February 9, 17:46 (JST)
Japan grapples with greying needs
Just before 5pm on a sunny autumn afternoon, Tetsuhito Aikawa strode into the headquarters of the Democratic Party of Japan, an unprepossessing eight-storey building in Tokyo's Nagatacho district.
Guards stationed on the ground floor saw nothing suspicious about the 24-year-old part-time worker from Yamanashi Prefecture, who was wearing a black suit and tie and making his way to the ruling party's seventh-floor reception desk.
When he emerged from the lift, Aikawa pulled out a 53-centimetre wooden sword and charged up a set of emergency stairs to the unattended office of the Prime Minister, Yukio Hatoyama, where he began smashing a computer server until he was finally overpowered by security.
"I thought I could put a stop to the party's policies," Aikawa was reported to have said, in a reference to a proposed bill that would give permanent foreign residents the right to vote in local elections.
His ambitious plan was the surest indication yet of rising resentment among Japan's right-wing groups about the government's plan. (Sydney Morning Herald)
Toyota recalling Prius in Japan for brakes 
Toyota is recalling nearly 200,000 of its signature Prius green cars in Japan for braking problems, the latest in a string of embarrassing safety problems at the world's largest automaker.
Toyota Motor Corp. president Akio Toyoda will hold a news conference at the automaker's Tokyo office later Tuesday to outline details of the braking problem, including plans for a possible recall in the U.S., a company official told The Associated Press.
The number of Prius gas-electric hybrids being recalled would swell to about 300,000 if there is a recall in the U.S. and other regions. (AP)
Toyota is recalling nearly 200,000 of its signature Prius green cars in Japan for braking problems, the latest in a string of embarrassing safety problems at the world's largest automaker.
Toyota Motor Corp. president Akio Toyoda will hold a news conference at the automaker's Tokyo office later Tuesday to outline details of the braking problem, including plans for a possible recall in the U.S., a company official told The Associated Press.
The number of Prius gas-electric hybrids being recalled would swell to about 300,000 if there is a recall in the U.S. and other regions. (AP) Olympics: Japan targets record medal haul 
Japan, which managed just one Winter Olympic medal in 2006, vowed on Monday to restore their pride with a record-matching performance at the Vancouver Games.
"Our athletes have worked hard for four years, aiming for the highest spot," Japan's chef de mission Seiko Hashimoto said. Japan collected a record 10 medals, including five golds, on home ice and snow in Nagano in 1998. (CTV)
Japan, which managed just one Winter Olympic medal in 2006, vowed on Monday to restore their pride with a record-matching performance at the Vancouver Games.
"Our athletes have worked hard for four years, aiming for the highest spot," Japan's chef de mission Seiko Hashimoto said. Japan collected a record 10 medals, including five golds, on home ice and snow in Nagano in 1998. (CTV) Sea Shepherd in water cannon fire stoush 
Anti-whaling activists hope to prevent Japanese whalers from making a kill for the next three weeks, as they exchange water cannon fire on the high seas.
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's ship Steve Irwin joined its other vessel, the Bob Barker, in Antarctic waters about 7am (AEDT) on Monday in pursuit of the Japanese factory ship, Nisshin Maru.
"As we moved towards them they we had a bit of a water cannon fight and demonstrated ours was a more powerful water cannon," Captain Paul Watson told AAP on Tuesday from the Steve Irwin.
(Sydney Morning Herald)
Anti-whaling activists hope to prevent Japanese whalers from making a kill for the next three weeks, as they exchange water cannon fire on the high seas.
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's ship Steve Irwin joined its other vessel, the Bob Barker, in Antarctic waters about 7am (AEDT) on Monday in pursuit of the Japanese factory ship, Nisshin Maru.
"As we moved towards them they we had a bit of a water cannon fight and demonstrated ours was a more powerful water cannon," Captain Paul Watson told AAP on Tuesday from the Steve Irwin.
(Sydney Morning Herald) Police question victim of alleged assault by Asashoryu
Police questioned a man allegedly assaulted by retired sumo grand champion Asashoryu on Tuesday and could consider whether to hear from the Mongolian himself.
The Metropolitan Police Department questioned the man on a voluntary basis at the Azabu police station in Tokyo, where Asashoryu's lawyer had informed officers of a settlement reached between both men. (AP)
Dead man found in landing gear of US jet in Japan 
Japanese authorities have found the body of a man in the landing gear of a Delta airliner that arrived in Tokyo from New York and said Monday they were seeking US help in identifying him.
The man, who was of dark complexion and dressed only in blue jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, was carrying no passport or personal belongings.
A mechanic found the body in the landing gear bay of the Boeing 777 after Delta Flight 59 landed at Tokyo's Narita International Airport at about 6:05 pm local time Sunday, a Chiba prefecture police spokesman said. (AFP)
Japanese authorities have found the body of a man in the landing gear of a Delta airliner that arrived in Tokyo from New York and said Monday they were seeking US help in identifying him.
The man, who was of dark complexion and dressed only in blue jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, was carrying no passport or personal belongings.
A mechanic found the body in the landing gear bay of the Boeing 777 after Delta Flight 59 landed at Tokyo's Narita International Airport at about 6:05 pm local time Sunday, a Chiba prefecture police spokesman said. (AFP) Nara fears 1,300th anniversary flop 
The ancient capital of Nara is celebrating the 1,300th anniversary of its founding throughout 2010 with hundreds of events that officials hope will bring in nearly 13 million visitors and raise the city's profile domestically and internationally as a historical and cultural tourism center. But questions are growing about how successful the celebrations will ultimately prove, with concerns over the effect of the weak economy on events and attendances, a lack of foreign language tourism information and a local populace that has been slow to embrace the festivities. (Japan Times)
The ancient capital of Nara is celebrating the 1,300th anniversary of its founding throughout 2010 with hundreds of events that officials hope will bring in nearly 13 million visitors and raise the city's profile domestically and internationally as a historical and cultural tourism center. But questions are growing about how successful the celebrations will ultimately prove, with concerns over the effect of the weak economy on events and attendances, a lack of foreign language tourism information and a local populace that has been slow to embrace the festivities. (Japan Times)| Feb 09 | 100 mil. yen offered in successful bid for uninhabited island (AP) |
| An unidentified organization won a contract to purchase a state-owned uninhabited islet in the Seto Inland Sea off Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture, for 100,010,000 yen (about $1.12 million) in public bidding Tuesday, bidding participants said. The island up for bids was one of two islets collectively called Mitsugo Island, located about 1 kilometer off Kure. It measures about 580 meters around and 7,600 square meters in acreage. The Finance Ministry held the bidding as part of efforts to sell idle state properties, ministry officials said. |
| Feb 09 | Japan Airlines rejects Delta, stays with American (CNBC) |
| Japan Airlines, wooed for months by Delta Air Lines with promises of cash and a broad global network, is spurning the world's biggest carrier and opting to keep its alliance with American Airlines. Japan's flagship carrier says it will strengthen its partnership with American and apply to the U.S. government for antitrust immunity on trans-Pacific flights. |
| Feb 09 | Govt looks to block ban on trade in bluefin tuna (Yomiuri) |
| The government is increasingly concerned about a recommendation issued by the Washington Convention's secretariat Friday that urged the treaty's signatories to adopt a proposal by Monaco to ban trade in bluefin tuna in the Atlantic, according to sources. Japan is the world's largest consumer of bluefin tuna and is set to boost diplomatic efforts to urge signatories to the treaty, formally called the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, to reject the proposal at the March 13-25 meeting in Qatar, the sources said. |
| Feb 09 | Deregulation crucial to JAL resuscitation (Yomiuri) |
| Deregulation of the airline industry will be crucial for getting Japan Airlines back on its feet, but the nation should be prepared to accept the ailing airline could be sold to a local rival, according to a former deputy chief of a task force appointed by the government to draw up a plan to rehabilitate the airline. In a recent interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun, Kazuhiko Toyama, who has played a key role in the attempt to revive JAL, also said the clock is against the carrier as it tries to streamline itself under the state-backed Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corporation of Japan. |
| Feb 08 | Japan's Kirin terminates merger talks with Suntory (AFP) |
 Japanese beer and soft drink giant Kirin said on Monday it had terminated months-long merger talks with its smaller rival Suntory that had aimed to create a top industry player in Asia.
"Kirin Holdings Company Limited, which has been in merger negotiations with Suntory Holdings Limited, today announced that the negotiations have been terminated," Kirin said, citing disagreement on whether to list the company.
A combined group would have been be the largest in the Japanese beer and soft drink markets with sales of more than 400 billion dollars -- ahead of Belgium-based Anheuser-Busch InBev and Coca-Cola Co. of the United States.
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USD to JPY:
89.545
| Feb 09 | Japan's debt woes are overstated (FT.com) |
| Is Japan, mired in debt and deflation, the next Greece? Even its financial services minister has suggested that Japan Post, the giant bank his ministry oversees, should diversify out of Japanese government bonds. Instead, he suggested it could buy corporate bonds and - of all things - US Treasuries. Those incendiary comments came just as Standard & Poor's, alarmed at escalating debt levels and sluggish growth, warned that it might lower Japan's credit rating. But talk of a massive JGB bubble - let alone default - is farfetched. Certainly, Japan is not in the rudest of fiscal health. |
| Feb 08 | Japanese bank lending declines most in four years (BusinessWeek) |
| Japanese bank lending fell by the most in more than four years in January as some companies deferred capital investments and others turned to bond markets to raise funds. Lending, excluding loans by credit associations, dropped 1.7 percent last month from a year earlier, the largest decline since September 2005, the Bank of Japan said today. The drop, amid a five-year low in demand for loans, compares with a 1.2 percent contraction in December. |
| Feb 08 | 2009 current account surplus down 18%, 2nd straight yearly fall (AP) |
| Japan's current account surplus shrank 18.9 percent in 2009 from the previous year to 13.28 trillion yen for the second straight year of contraction as surplus in the income account declined on lower interest rates around the world, the Finance Ministry said Monday. The surplus in the income account, which covers such items as returns from Japanese investments in overseas securities, contracted 22.2 percent in the 12 months through December to 12.32 trillion yen, the ministry said in a preliminary report. |
| Feb 06 | Forex reserves rose in January (Japan Times) |
| Foreign-exchange reserves at the end of January rose $ 3.67 billion from a month earlier to $ 1.053 trillion, up for the first time in two months to hit the third-highest level on record, the government said Friday. The Finance Ministry said the reserves increased due to gains in the value of its holdings in U.S. Treasury bonds as stock markets weakened globally and led to a flow of funds into the bond market, although euro-denominated assets declined as the European currency fell against the dollar. |
| Feb 05 | Japan's key economic index up for 9th straight month in December (AP) |
| Japan's key economic gauge rose 1.6 points in December from the previous month for the ninth straight month of growth on improvement in labor and industrial production-related readings, the government said Friday. The composite index of coincident economic indicators stood at 97.6 against the 2005 base of 100, the Cabinet Office said in a preliminary report. |
NIKKEI 225:
9932.9
| Feb 09 | Tokyo stocks slip on Europe woes and yen, but dip-buying trims losses (AP) |
| Tokyo stocks edged down Tuesday to a new two-month closing low on continued jitters about sovereign debt problems in Europe and the persistent strength of the yen, although losses were limited by support from dip-buying including of recall-mired Toyota Motor. After brief swings into positive territory, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average ended down 18.92 points, or 0.19 percent, from Monday at 9,932.90, its lowest closing level since Dec. 10 and extending its losing streak to four days. |
| Feb 08 | Nikkei closes below 10,000 line for 1st time since Dec. 10 (AP) |
| Tokyo stocks fell sharply Monday, with the key Nikkei index closing below the 10,000 line for the first time since Dec. 10, as exporters were badly hit by a stronger yen relative to the U.S. dollar and euro. The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average fell 105.27 points, or 1.05 percent, from Friday to 9,951.82. The last time the Nikkei ended below the 10,000 threshold was Dec. 10 when it fell to 9,862.82. |
| Feb 05 | Japan stock outperformance likely to peter out (moneycontrol.com) |
| Foreign investors have been snapping up Japanese shares at the fastest pace in two years, bargain-hunting blue-chips after the market lagged the rest of Asia in 2009, but the buying is unlikely to continue at this rate. Fund managers are bringing their portfolios closer to neutral on Japan after having been heavily underweight in 2009, pulling funds out of other Asian markets in the past few months. But once the initial rush is over, shares such as tech stocks are still seen in demand as investors target individual growth stories. |
| Feb 05 | Nikkei tumbles to 2-month closing low on stronger yen, flight from risk (AP) |
| The key Nikkei stock index fell almost 3 percent Friday to its lowest close this year and barely hung above the 10,000 line, hurt by a sharply stronger yen while investors fled from risky assets amid disappointing U.S. jobs data and escalating debt jitters in Europe. The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average closed at 10,057.09, down 298.89 points or 2.89 percent, to its lowest since Dec. 10. |
| Feb 04 | Businessman given prison sentence, fine, record penalties (AP) |
| The Tokyo District Court on Thursday sentenced a businessman to two and a half years in prison for engaging in insider stock trading in connection with the 2006 takeover by former temp staffing agency Goodwill Group Inc., now known as Radia Holdings Inc., of another staffing agency. Isamu Nakao, 69, former chairman of a Goodwill Group subsidiary, was also given a fine of 5 million yen. In addition, the three-judge panel ordered Nakao to pay 1.53 billion yen in penalties over the illicit stock trading. |
| Feb 09 | Kan survives G7 debut at Road to Nowhere (Japan Times) |
| Finance Minister Naoto Kan's first real exposure to the international arena was not in the dazzling lights of New York, London or Paris. It was in Iqaluit, a tiny town in the Canadian tundra, the name of which means "place of many fish" in Inuktitut. Kan attended a two-day meeting of the Group of Seven developed nations through Saturday, not to talk about angling but to discuss how best to return the global economy to a self-sustained recovery path. |
| Feb 09 | Prime minister, brother top list of lower house asset holders (Yomiuri) |
| Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and his younger brother Kunio ranked first and second, respectively, in terms of personal assets possessed by 480 House of Representatives members, according to a calculation by The Yomiuri Shimbun based on a lower house report of its members' assets released Monday. The prime minister's assets amounted to about 1.64 billion yen, followed by about 816 million yen held by his brother, who was a former internal affairs and communications minister and member of the Liberal Democratic Party. |
| Feb 08 | No easy option with Japan’s Ozawa Ichiro (East Asia Forum) |
| Ozawa Ichiro has escaped indictment by the Tokyo Public Prosecutors Office again. Once again, his former secretaries were not quite so lucky, with three, including sitting Diet member Ishikawa Tomohiro, being indicted for political funds violations. Michael Cucek rightly points to the gross misconduct of the PPO in its Ahab-like pursuit of Ozawa - and perhaps the more egregious campaign by the media to paint Ozawa as the conniving, monstrous puppet master of the Hatoyama government. |
| Feb 08 | Giving up on Japan's Prime Minister Hatoyama (East Asia Forum) |
| Prime Minister Hatoyama's approach to his jobs has been adolescent. He has viewed both leadership of the DPJ and the prime ministership as showcases for his creativity rather than crushing burdens. The serious business of being the duly selected leader of a people has been reduced to the level of a school art project, with its creator completely unconcerned about the marketability of his final product. |
| Feb 06 | Will Japan emerge from its shell? - part II (yale.edu) |
| The dramatic end to Japan's half-century of conservative rule in a late August election led almost immediately to a public spat with the United States. An inward-looking Japan that had reflexively followed the American lead suddenly was no longer an obedient ally. At a time when the US was trying to woo a recalcitrant China to become a "strategic partner", Japan's insistence on reopening an agreement over US military bases seemed to upset the regional balance. But there are recent signs of a concerted effort on both sides to put underlying strategic interests back in the forefront, propelled in part by the recent eruption of frictions between China and the US. |
| Feb 09 | Hokkaido inmates making trash cages (Japan Times) |
 Inmates at Abashiri Prison in Hokkaido are producing garbage cages that are winning strong popularity from resident associations and other groups because they save space and deter crows. At Abashiri Prison, 50 trash cages are made every month. They are priced in the ¥30,000 range, one-fifth to one-sixth cheaper than conventional trash bins.
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| Feb 09 | Where is the love? More than 1/3 of Japanese couples now 'sexless' (Mainichi) |
| One in three married Japanese couples is apparently "sexless," a startling proportion said to be swelling by the year. However, it's not just the marriage bed that's gone cold. Many young couples, too, are foregoing quality time between the sheets even before tying the knot. And while sex may be the most private part of our private lives, it's time to ask where the love has gone. |
| Feb 09 | Cops search ex-hostess' house over 2nd murder (Yomiuri) |
| Police searched the apartment of a former bar hostess under arrest for murder-robbery Monday, suspecting she also killed and robbed a truck driver who was found drowned off Tottori Prefecture in April, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned. The Tottori prefectural police believe Miyuki Ueta, 36, killed the truck driver to avoid paying money she owed him. In both cases, the men died in similar circumstances. |
| Feb 08 | Street vendor puts on the dog for popular Japanese figure skater (Vancouver Sun) |
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| Feb 08 | 70 dogs killed in kennel fire near Nara (examiner.com) |
| Seventy dogs were killed in a fire at a dog breeding kennel near Nara, Japan in the evening of February 7th. The incident started a little before 6:30 pm in Katsuragi City, Nara Prefecture, south of Kyoto and east of Osaka. According to Mainichi Broadcasting System, a neighbor notice flames coming from the "Wanwan House" dog breeding center and called emergency services. Seven fire trucks came, and the blaze was put out in approximately 45 minutes. |
| Feb 08 | Golf: Imada 15th, Ishikawa 32nd at Northern Trust Open (AP) |
| Ryuji Imada finished tied for 15th and Ryo Ishikawa shared 32nd, his career-best result on the U.S. PGA Tour, at the Northern Trust Open on Sunday. Imada closed with a bogey-free 3-under-par 68 for a 7-under 277 total. Ishikawa finished a further three strokes behind after a 72 at Riviera Country Club. Imada bounced back from his opening 73 to shoot 68s in the next three rounds, making birdies on the first, 12th and 17th holes on the final day. |
| Feb 08 | Soccer: Japan football president Motoaki Inukai concerned about scoring drought (Canadian Press) |
| Japan Football Association President Motoaki Inukai has expressed concern over Japan's recent lack of scoring and says the team will need much improvement before the World Cup. Japan was held to a scoreless draw with China on Saturday in the East Asian Championship. A friendly with Venezuela on Tuesday ended with the same score. Japanese fans booed the team as they left the field after Saturday's match with China. Neither China nor Venezuela qualified for the World Cup. |
| Feb 07 | Sumo: Goeido stuns Hakuho en route to victory at one-day tourney (AP) |
| Second-ranked maegashira Goeido stunned Mongolian yokozuna Hakuho en route to winning a one-day sumo meet in Tokyo on Sunday. Goeido bumped out Hakuho in the semifinals of the knockout tournament before going on to trip up Bulgarian ozeki Kotooshu in the final to capture the winning prize of 2.5 million yen. |
| Feb 07 | Golf: Ishikawa just outside top 10 at Northern Trust Open (AP) |
| Japanese teenager Ryo Ishikawa easily made the cut and remained on course for his best finish on the U.S. PGA Tour at the Northern Trust Open on Saturday. The 18-year-old JGTO money title winner was in a tie for 12th at 6 under for the tournament through 17 holes in his third round when play was suspended again because of darkness. Ishikawa completed the final five holes of the rain-hit second round earlier in the day on the par-71 Riviera Country Club course. |
| Feb 07 | Baseball: Female knuckleballer Yoshida plugging away despite the odds (Japan Times) |
| I have never met Eri Yoshida, so I do not have her meishi (name card) but wonder if it reads, "Eri Yoshida, Female Knuckleballer." That is the way she is identified in just about every news article about her appearing in the media. Or maybe it says, "Knuckle Princess," since in Japanese media reports she is the "Knuckle Hime." While her Jan. 29 debut in the Arizona Winter League was less than spectacular, I have to say I am pulling for the 18-year-old to go as far as she can in trying to make it a career in professional baseball. |
| Feb 07 | Sophia University slashes workers' bonuses to create student scholarships (Mainichi) |
| Sophia University slashed 30 million yen from its budget for staff bonuses at the end of last year, and will use the money to fund scholarships from fiscal 2010, the university has announced. The University's Office of Public Relations said the bonus cut, which reportedly received the approval of the teachers union, affected about 810 workers, and includes Sophia University, Sophia Junior College and Sophia School of Social Welfare. Each worker had their winter bonus cut by about 37,000 yen on average. |
| Feb 07 | Flu-based encephalitis jumps in kids aged 5-9 (Yomiuri) |
| Children aged 5 to 9 came down with a disproportionately larger number of flu-related encephalitis cases between July and December when the new type of H1N1 influenza spread nationwide, compared with cases caused by seasonal flu. Last year, 25.5 children per 1 million in that age bracket caught the flu. In 2008, the figure was 1.9, according to the National Institute of Infectious Diseases. |
| Feb 06 | School waits 4 days before reporting student stabbing to police (Mainichi) |
| A high school here waited four days before reporting a stabbing incident at one of its dormitories to police, it has been learned. The attack occurred in a dormitory of Sendai Ikuei High School in Tagajo, Miyagi Prefecture, at about 1:30 a.m. on Jan. 30. Police arrested an 18-year-old Chinese student for the attempted murder of a 20-year-old third-year student on Thursday. He has denied acting with murderous intent, however. |
| Feb 06 | The ABCs of living in Japan (Japan Times) |
| "A is for apple." Every Japanese person learns this when they learn the E nglish alphabet. But couldn't it be, just for once, "A is for antelope?" Or how about "A is for anarchy," "adult" or "aspirin?" Wouldn't that be more helpful? We could also use our own alphabet to teach Japanese culture and language to foreigners. Something like, The ABCs of Living in Japan: A is for Amaterasu, the sun goddess and Japan's best-known deity. A is also for amanogawa (the Milky Way), Aomori Prefecture and All Nippon Airways. |
| Feb 05 | Australia the top choice for Japanese school excursions (ftnnews.com) |
| Australia is the number one destination for Japanese school excursions and study tours, according to a report by the Japan Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. In the 2007-08 Japanese financial year, 43,669 Japanese students visited Australia, of whom 34,802 arrived for school excursions and 8,867 came for language study tours. After Australia, the next most popular destinations for students are the United States (including Guam and Hawaii) and Korea. |
| Feb 09 | Japan pedometer gives incentive to skip the taxi (Reuters) |
| Looking for extra motivation to walk away the pounds? A Japanese company is selling a pedometer that calculates how much money you save on taxi fares by walking as well as the calories you burn. The metre on Happinet Toy's "Taxi Walker" starts at 710 yen (5.07 pounds) -- the same as the initial fare for most Tokyo taxis and which covers the first 2 kms (1.2 miles). Once the user has walked more than 2 km, the pedometer tacks on 90 yen for each additional 280 metres covered. |
| Feb 09 | U.S. study disputes increase in Antarctic minke whale population (AP) |
| The population of Antarctic minke whales has not increased even after other larger whales in food competition were hunted, according to a recent study by U.S. researchers, countering arguments Japan cites as a reason for conducting what it calls research whaling. With larger species of whales including blue whales being intensely hunted in the late 20th century, Japan's Fisheries Agency and researchers have hypothesized that Antarctic minke whales may have increased as a result of lesser competition for krill that they feed on. |
| Feb 09 | Nonsmokers' soy intake pays off (Japan Times) |
| Male nonsmokers who consume large quantities of soybean products like tofu and "natto" fermented beans face a remarkably lower risk of lung cancer than those who eat less, indicating the benefits of soy isoflavones, which are a kind of steroid, according to researchers. Soy isoflavones are known to play a role in preventing breast cancer in women because they function like the female sex hormone estrogen. |
| Feb 09 | Women with B or AB-type blood less likely to succumb to anemia (Mainichi) |
| Women with B or AB-type blood are less likely to succumb to anemia than women with type A or type O blood, a study by the University of Tokyo and Riken research institute has found. Researchers analyzed gene data from about 15,000 people, and identified 46 types of genes that relate to differences in the body's make-up and affect physical exam results, such as uric acid, which is linked to gout, and gamma-GTP, which is associated with liver functionality. |
| Feb 09 | Moon, sun 'could help trigger powerful earthquakes' (Yomiuri) |
| The gravitational pull of the moon and sun may serve as the last straw in triggering earthquakes, researchers have found. Though the effects of the two heavenly bodies--known as the lunar and solar tidal forces, respectively--have only about 0.1 percent of the accumulated-strain energy that triggers a powerful earthquake, such a force could act as the last push for a major tremor when seismic strain strong enough to cause a quake has accumulated, according to the researchers, including Sachiko Tanaka, a research fellow at the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention. |
| Feb 09 | Panasonic to launch 3D plasma TV in Japan April 23 (Reuters) |
| Japan's Panasonic Corp said on Tuesday it plans to launch 3D televisions on April 23 in Japan. The company said last month it would launch 3D TVs in the United States in the spring. Top consumer electronics makers including Panasonic and Sony Corp are launching 3D TVs this year as they seek to offer differentiating products that will be shielded from the sharp price falls plaguing the conventional flat TV market. |
| Feb 08 | Yahoo Japan's 16 Doraemon apps are an iPuzzle (Canadian Press) |
 Anyone who checked the Japanese iTunes store a few days ago might have been somewhat 'puzzled' to find that the top 16 free apps were all from Yahoo Japan. Not only that, but there was something very unusual about the icons for those 16 applications. Of course if you're familiar with Japanese cartoons at all, you should have some idea of what Yahoo Japan is doing here. The icons, when rearranged, will create everyone's favorite robot cat Doraemon. A big thanks to Jesslee for posting the screencaps on his tumblelog.
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| Feb 06 | Japanese augmented reality mirror lets you try on makeup virtually (dvice.com) |
Now I'm no expert in the ways of makeup, but I can see how it could be an expensive and frustrating exercise to try something new only to discover it looks terrible once you've gotten home. If only there was a way to try it out before you buy!
Well, the Digital Cosmetic Mirror at the Takashimaya department store in Tokyo lets you do just that. It's got a camera on the front that scans your face. It then gives you personal recommendations and lets you put makeup on this virtual version of you.
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| Feb 06 | Prius problems put spotlight on car electronics (Japan Times) |
 Your most expensive piece of electronics probably is not your flat-panel TV or computer. More likely, it's your car, which can pack 50 microprocessors to control everything from the fuel mix to the rearview mirrors. The recalls and other technical problems besetting Toyota in the last few weeks highlight the risks of relying on electronics instead of the mechanical rods and cables that controlled vehicles for most of the 20th century.
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| Feb 05 | Japanese games take voyeurism to new levels (tgdaily.com) |
 When it comes to video game voyeurism and risque gameplay, the Japanese sure know how to roll.
Kotaku brings us news of two new Japanese games on the market, featuring an abundance of anime ass parading about in underwear and little thongs for that extra added gaming value.
And if you're a randy Japanese teenager, you're in luck, because the role playing, lingerie-fest of a game, Ar Tonelico III, has a rating of CERO C -meaning it's available to be ogled by anyone aged 15 and above. The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) had a heck of a time reviewing another Japanese title, Dead or Alive: Paradise.
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