TRAVEL

A popular fortuneteller in Osaka was indicted Wednesday on fraud charges after he was found to have lied about his estimated 3 million yen in monthly income and swindled Osaka City for welfare benefits, which he allegedly received over a decade. Tokihiro Inoue, 63, who has often appeared on TV programs and in magazines as fortuneteller Shinkyo Inoue, has admitted to the allegations, telling investigators that he wanted to save money to prepare for life when he gets older, said local police who arrested him late last month. (AP)

It wasn't pretty but sekiwake Baruto disposed of Wakanosato to retain his share of the lead alongside grand champion Hakuho in his chase for ozeki promotion at the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament on Thursday. The sekiwake giant came flying out of the crouch and almost lost his footing as he tipped off-balance but regrouped to get a hand under his opponent's armpit before toppling the former sekiwake at Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium. (AP)

Teachers and instructors at schools, juku cram schools and yobiko entrance examination preparatory schools have been invited to compete against each other in Osaka Prefecture in giving trial lessons judged by an audience, all with the aim to make everyone better instructors. The competition is titled the T-1 Grand Prix--a reference to a popular annual competition for up-and-coming manzai comedy duos nationwide called the M-1 Grand Prix. The "T" in T-1 stands for "teacher." The organizer of the T-1 Grand Prix said teachers need to compete with each other, and the event is intended to help improve teaching skills. (Yomiuri)

Promotion-chasing sekiwake Baruto dodged a bullet to floor Aminishiki and retain his share of the lead alongside grand champion Hakuho at the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament on Wednesday. Baruto looked set to taste his first "kuroboshi" defeat of the 15-day tournament when he was tipped off balance at the start of an absorbing encounter at Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium. But the Estonian behemoth dug in deep and neutralized Aminshiki's (1- 3) attacks before getting both arms around the komusubi and squashing him to the sandy surface to improve to 4-0. (AP)

Hakuho enjoyed another easy day at the office Tuesday as the lone grand champion tore down veteran maegashira Wakanosato to preserve his unbeaten start to the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament. Hakuho barely broke sweat in the day's final bout at Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium, the Mongolian bruiser quickly wrapping up former sekiwake Wakanosato (0-3) to make it three wins out of three. With former yokozuna Asashoryu having retired last month amid allegations that he attacked a man during an alcohol-fuelled rage outside a Tokyo nightspot, Hakuho is the odds-on favorite to win the spring basho and his 13th Emperor's Cup. (AP)

Mongolian yokozuna Hakuho pounced on Aminishiki to start off in the winner's column at the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament on Sunday - the first meet after the retirement of former yokozuna Asashoryu. Hakuho threw the komusubi off-balance with a series of well-placed shoves before sending him packing from the rear in the day's final bout at Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium. Sekiwake Baruto, meanwhile, also made an encouraging start out of the blocks in his quest for promotion to ozeki with a bulldozing of second-ranked Russian Aran. (Japan Times)

Cows at the Harano stock farm begin to drool at the sight of "ume," the plums used to make the fruity liqueur. As the brown, ripened plums are dropped into their feed, the cows compete with each other to eat them. "They really seem to like the plums, don't they?" said Shoji Harano, who runs the stock farm in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture. For about 10 years, the 55-year-old has been raising his beef cattle on plums added to supplement the regular feed, which includes barley. (Japan Times)

A seven-car shinkansen line inspection train runs about once every 10 days between Tokyo and Hakata in Fukuoka Prefecture, and rail buffs who spot it claim it brings good luck. The train has been nicknamed "Dr. Yellow" because of its color but it is officially called a comprehensive shinkansen test train. The test train that travels the 1,174-km distance between Tokyo and Hakata is popular with rail fans. An urban legend has it happiness comes to those who spot it. Its timetable is not published. Nevertheless, a Web site details the places and times it passes so those interested may figure out when they can see it. A cheering crowd with cameras was on hand when Dr. Yellow pulled into Shin-Osaka Station en route to Hakata in December. All of the coaches' windows are blocked out. Carriages six and seven house large equipment to gauge signals and electricity. A dome in coach five lets inspectors view pantograph connections. (Japan Times)

The operator of Kansai Airport off Osaka Prefecture aims to promote the airport code KIX as its nickname, instead of the current "Kanku." Kansai International Airport Co., which will open its remodeled international departure hall on Monday, hopes the new "smarter" nickname will help attract more customers to the airport. The airport firm registered "Kanku" as a trademark before the airport opened in 1994, but it never caught on. A mascot named Kankun was also developed for the airport. (Yomiuri)

Kansai International Airport Co. plans to ask the government to help it trim at least 800 billion yen of its interest-bearing debts totaling more than 1 trillion yen, the president of the Osaka-based airport operator said Wednesday. Drastic improvement of the company's financial structure is the "top priority" for enabling Kansai airport to serve as an international hub for Japan, Shinichi Fukushima, 61, said in an interview with Kyodo News. (AP)

In a trend that could undermine smaller bourses in Japan, more companies are concentrating their shares solely on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE). According to TSE records, the number of companies whose shares were listed on the TSE as well as one of Japan's four other stock markets in Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka and Sapporo has slid from 1,042 in 1999 to 773 in 2009. Many companies have pulled out of the smaller bourses to save on the annual commissions paid to those stock exchanges, which range from hundreds of thousand yen to millions of yen, and to reduce paperwork. (Asahi)

A 15-year-old Japanese schoolboy tipping the scales at 145 kilograms is set to make his professional sumo debut and is already being tipped as a future 'yokozuna'. National junior high school champion Ryoya Tatsu stands 1.93 metres tall and is expected to take part in the Osaka grand sumo tournament beginning this weekend. The Japan Sumo Association said Tatsu had passed his first health check and was waiting for the results of internal tests to determine if he could wrestle in Osaka. (ABC News)

Police have sent two more men to prosecutors over the theft of 17 statues of Peko-chan--a mascot of Fujiya confectionery shops--that were later sold to recycling shops. Wakayama-Higashi Police Station sent the two, including Hiroshi Inaba, 43, a former gang member on trial on another theft charge, to prosecutors in connection with the theft of the statues, which were worth a combined 1 million yen. Six people were involved in stealing the iconic statues, which stand outside Fujiya shops, in six prefectures, including Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo, between May 26, 2008, and Feb. 12, 2009. (Yomiuri)

Two young men in business suits, toting large duffel bags packed with changes of clothes and job information materials, were greeted by two other men at a short-term apartment close to central Osaka early last month. All four are juniors at Yamaguchi University's economics department. They belong to the same seminars or clubs and rent the one-room apartment that is about 10 tatami mats in floor space. At the end of last year, they decided to rent the apartment as their base while they searched for jobs that would start in the spring of 2011. They split the rent, which is about 250,000 yen for three months. (Yomiuri)

Ikeda Elementary School in Osaka has been designated an "international safe school" by the World Health Organization for its strenuous efforts to build safety following a violent incident in 2001 that left eight pupils dead. Ikeda Elementary School has become the first Japanese school to receive the title, given to schools which have demonstrated outstanding efforts to make their premises accident- and crime-free in collaboration with communities. (AP)

A forty-two year old man in Japan was arrested by local police on March 4th for speeding and other traffic violations based on evidence from a Youtube video showing him going more than 130km/h over the limit on his motorcycle last year. Police in Wakayama Prefecture, near Osaka, arrested Hiroaki Iwahashi in connection with a Youtube video showing him going at least 188km/h in a 50km/h zone on his 1300cc motorcycle, according to Wakayama Broadcast System. (examiner.com)

Full-scale work will begin at the end of this month to redevelop the Umeda Kita Yard, north of JR Osaka Station, where about 2.5 million passengers of railways and subway lines pass through daily. In 2012, the Umeda head store of Hankyu Department Stores Inc. and the Osaka Central Post Office will be rebuilt, drastically changing the area's look. The main structure at the 7-hectare-wide area in the north yard, whose first-stage redevelopment work will begin at the end of this year, is the Knowledge Capital, a state-of-the art technology facility. (Japan Times)

Jewels, watches and other expensive items worth ¥300 million were stolen from the home of the head of a popular Osaka-based confectionary two days after she let a TV crew film her private life there, it was learned Thursday. Shinko Kawamura, 58, is chairwoman of Cowcow Food System Co. of Takatsuki, Osaka Prefecture. The firm runs the Madame Shinco shops in Osaka and Hyogo prefectures, and her residence is in Ibaraki in the same prefecture. (Japan Times)

With all eyes on the shenanigans surrounding Asashoryu in recent weeks, Hakuho's elaborate wedding celebrations in various locations around the country, and a new nationality rule in sumo that essentially limits a stable to one foreign-born rikishi at a time (even if the rikishi does later change his nationality), few have really given any thought as to what might happen down in Osaka starting the end of next week. (Japan Times)

Energy-efficient houses, in particular those equipped with solar panels, are growing in popularity as home buyers seek out environmentally-friendly options. One factor behind the rising demand for eco-friendly houses was apparently the start in November of a system in which electric power companies buy surplus electric power from such households at 48 yen per kilowatt--double the previous price. In June, a 34-year-old company employee in Osaka Prefecture built a two-story house that incorporates light steel bars that he fitted with solar panels capable of creating up to 3.4 kilowatts of electric power. All energy consumed in the house is powered by electricity, most of which is generated by the panels. (Yomiuri)

Japan's pet boom over the last decade has brought considerable benefits to the nation's economy. At the same time, however, it has led to problems involving both unscrupulous breeders and traders. While consumer sales in general have remained stagnant through Japan's protracted economic downturn of the last two decades, the pet-related market has been expanding, according to data from market-research firm Fuji Keizai Co. In fact, according to Shinpei Iwama, a researcher at the company's Osaka branch, the pet industry nationwide topped ¥1 trillion in turnover in 2006 and has now reached ¥1.2 trillion. (Japan Times)

Brazilian striker Marquinhos converted the winning spot kick as Kashima Antlers beat Gamba Osaka 5-3 on penalties to retain the Fuji Xerox Super Cup on Saturday. Marquinhos fired Kashima ahead from the spot in the 20th minute but the season curtain-raiser at National Stadium was left locked at 1-1 after 90 minutes after former Japan winger Akira Kaji leveled in first-half stoppage time. (AP)

The Fair Trade Commission on Wednesday searched the offices of several electric cable manufacturers on suspicion that they have formed a price cartel for wire harnesses sold to automakers in violation of the Antimonopoly Law. The firms investigated on suspicion of unlawful restriction on trading include such major makers as Yazaki Corp. and Furukawa Electric Co., both based in Tokyo, and Osaka-based Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd. (Yomiuri)

Even though shares in Japan Airlines were rendered worthless Saturday following the firm's delisting, an Osaka Prefecture woman snapped up 10,000 shares out of gratitude for an incident that occurred half a century ago. JAL currently is undergoing rehabilitation under the Corporate Rehabilitation Law. "JAL provided me with a large slice of happiness, and I want nothing more than to see the company get back on its feet," Taeko Matsubara said. (Yomiuri)

Burned by stocks, betrayed by bonds and mauled by currencies, Japanese households are being encouraged to take one last financial punt on the only asset with any credibility left: cherry blossoms. Potential savers at Ikeda Bank are being enticed to lay a bet on the precise date in March that the cherry trees in Osaka break into blossom - a moment that marks the start of spring and generally triggers a week of boozy picnics. (Times Online)