Japan navy showcases warships amid spat with China
News On Japan via abcnews.go.com -- Oct 15

Japan's navy marked its 60th anniversary with a major exercise Sunday intended to show off its maritime strength. The display comes amid a tense territorial dispute with China.

About 40 ships - including state-of-the-art destroyers, hovercraft able to launch assaults on rough coastlines and new conventionally powered submarines - took part in Fleet Review 2012, the maritime equivalent of a military parade. About 30 naval aircraft, mostly helicopters, also participated.

Japan's navy was joined by warships from the United States, Singapore and Australia. Representatives from more than 20 countries, including China, also attended the event staged in waters south of Tokyo.

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, who watched aboard the destroyer JS Kurama, said Japan faces "severe" challenges to its security, though he did not specifically mention the dispute with Beijing over islands in the East China Sea.

自衛隊の観艦式が野田総理大臣出席のもとで行われました。今回は尖閣諸島問題を念頭に、中国を意識したものとなりました。

Source: abcnews.go.com



May 20 Saitama cops bust massive child porn DVD operation
Saitama and Okayama prefectural police last week arrested the manager of an online porn DVD operation that specialized in films featuring children. (Tokyo Reporter)
May 19 Japan's child kidnapping problem
Dozens of American children are abducted to Japan every year-not by strangers, but by parents after messy divorces. (thedailybeast.com )
May 18 5-year-old boy's hand gets caught in shopping mall escalator
A 5-year-old boy sustained an injury at a shopping mall in Nagoya on Friday after his hand became trapped in an escalator. (Japan Today )
May 18 Woman stabbed by stalker despite asking police for help
A 24-year-old woman was in a serious condition Friday after being stabbed by a man whom she reported to police for stalking her in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture. (Japan Today )
May 18 70-year-old woman rescued from toilet after 3-day ordeal
A 70-year-old woman has been rescued from a toilet in which she had been waiting for help for three days, Hiroshima police said Friday. (Japan Today )
May 18 Traditional dance performed at Nikko temple
A traditional dance was performed on Friday at an ancient temple in Nikko City, northeast of Tokyo. (NHK )
May 18 China cracks down on over-the-top anti-Japan dramas
China's television regulator has ordered a crackdown on dramas about the country's battles with Japan during and before World War Two and demanded they be more serious, state media said on Friday, following viewer complaints about ludicrous storylines. (Reuters )
May 17 Bear shot dead after entering school in Ishikawa
A bear was shot dead after it wandered into a school in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Thursday. (Japan Today )
May 17 Man kills 3 family members, then himself
Police said Friday they have found four dead bodies in an apartment in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, in what is believed to have been a family murder-suicide. (Japan Today )
May 17 Chinese tourists a bane for Japanese hookers
Shukan Post (May 24) conveys the difficulties experienced by other parts of the adult-entertainment biz in servicing customers from the communist nation. A deri heru (“delivery health”) call-girl tells the tabloid that she is often requested to arrive at major hotels in the Shinjuku and Ikebukuro entertainment areas of Tokyo by Chinese visitors. (Tokyo Reporter)