Let the LANGUAGE
No longer be a barrier in your business Professional translation services…Chinese with annual income over 250,000 yuan can tour Japan
4 July 2009 | 7:29 am
Starting in July, Japan will issue tourist visas to Chinese individual tourists who meet specified conditions. Chinese tourists can enjoy "freely touring Japan" as early as July 8. The policy will initially be implemented in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, then following a one-year pilot implementation period it will expand throughout Chinese mainland. (People's Daily)
High school student arrested over classmate's stabbing death
4 July 2009 | 7:21 am
A high school student was arrested Saturday over the death of his classmate in Sakurai, Nara Prefecture, after admitting to stabbing him, police said. The 17-year-old senior was apprehended at the scene on suspicion of attempted murder as he admitted to stabbing Tomoya Hamada, 18, on his abdomen and back at a train station shortly after 8 a.m., they said. Hamada was brought to a nearby hospital, at which he was pronounced dead around 90 minutes later. (AP)
Japan lodges protest against N. Korea over missile launches
4 July 2009 | 7:21 am
The Japanese government lodged a protest against North Korea through diplomatic channels in Beijing over its launching of multiple ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan on Saturday, Japanese officials said. Japan is set to coordinate with countries such as the United States and South Korea in urging other members of the United Nations to steadily implement the measures in the U.N. Security Council's sanctions resolutions against Pyongyang as the country's actions are in violation of them, according to the officials. (AP)
8 firms eye fuel-cell car energy supply network
4 July 2009 | 12:59 am
Eight companies have agreed to launch a joint effort to develop equipment and facilities to supply hydrogen to fuel-cell vehicles, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.
Hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles are regarded as highly eco-friendly because they emit no carbon dioxide. The group aims to commercialize the supply of hydrogen to fuel battery-powered vehicles before 2015. (Yomiuri)
Live broadcast of solar eclipse planned
4 July 2009 | 12:59 am
The first total solar eclipse that can be seen from Japan in 46 years will occur on July 22. It will only be visible from such southern islands as Amami-Oshima, but efforts are under way to broadcast the celestial spectacle to other parts of the nation.
A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and the Earth, blocking almost all of the sun from view. (Yomiuri)
5 years sought for ex-Nova president
4 July 2009 | 12:59 am
Prosecutors on Friday demanded five years' imprisonment for Nozomu Sahashi, the former president of the failed language school chain Nova Corp., for professional embezzlement involving misuse of the reserve funds of an employees' mutual aid organization.
According to the indictment, Sahashi, 57--acting in conspiracy with a 50-year-old Nova executive in charge of finance--had about 320 million yen transferred from the employee organization's funds to a bank account of a Nova affiliate in July 2007, so as to use the money to keep the firm afloat. (Yomiuri)
Japan still a bridge too far on many fronts
3 July 2009 | 1:33 pm
The global economic landscape may see a milestone change this year, for China is widely regarded to replace Japan as the second largest economy in the next few months. But for that to happen China's economy has to grow by 6 to 8 percent, while Japan's has to contract further.
Last year, China's GDP was $4.22 trillion against Japan's $4.84 trillion. And even though China's GDP may overtake Japan's, the two economies have major quantitative and qualitative differences. (China Daily)
Japan may add noise to quiet hybrid cars for safety
3 July 2009 | 1:31 pm
Japan claims disputed islands
3 July 2009 | 1:29 pm
Japan's parliament on Friday passed a law asserting sovereignty over four islands at the centre of a dispute with Russia, adding to tensions as the countries' leaders prepare to meet.
A law calling the four Kuril islands an 'integral part' of Japan was unanimously passed by the opposition-controlled upper house after the lower house also approved it in May when the bill sparked a protest from Moscow. (Straits Times)
NASA, Japan map most of planet
3 July 2009 | 1:19 pm
CNN's goinggreen blog has an entry today on the new digital topographical map created by NASA and Japan. It's the most complete map to date.
The map was built from 1.3 million images taken by NASA's Terra satellite. CNN says the images were taken by a Japanese imaging instrument called the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer, or ASTER. (baltimoresun.com)
Reputations on line as Japan pulls out stops to win rail contracts
3 July 2009 | 1:19 pm
A global boom in infrastructure projects worth more than £200 billion has prompted Japan to launch its most expansive charm offensive in the international game of railway diplomacy. From Washington to Ho Chi Minh City, via Delhi and Dubai, Japan has embarked on an unprecedented frenzy of salesmanship. (timesonline.co.uk)
Japanese love hotels boom in the recession
3 July 2009 | 6:14 am
In Japan, where the global financial meltdown has especially taken its toll, not all industries are languishing. In fact, one of the most notably resilient industries seems to be 'love hotels' (the kind where one may pay by the hour, rather than by the night), according to CNN. One such establishment, the Bonita Hotel in Isawa, currently enjoys a 257 percent occupancy rate. And the industry as a whole is estimated to take in $40 billion per year. (huffingtonpost.com)
If Paul Krugman were Japanese
2 July 2009 | 11:38 pm
Narika Hama, a professor of economics at Doshisha University in Kyoto, is a sort of Japanese version of Paul Krugman -- if Paul Krugman were a woman with a purple rinse, pink jacket, funky blue jeans, black patent leather pumps, and a vague British accent. Hama, who lived in the United Kingdom as a child in the 1960s, is something of an intellectual celebrity in Japan. (NewsWeek)
Japan's 1st case of Tamiflu-resistant H1N1 influenza detected
2 July 2009 | 11:38 pm
The health ministry said Thursday it has detected a genetic mutation of the new H1N1 strain of influenza A that develops resistance to Tamiflu, marking the first case of the new influenza in Japan that did not respond to the anti-flu drug. The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said the Tamiflu-resistant virus was detected in a woman in her 40s infected with the new influenza in Osaka Prefecture. (AP)
Japanese scientists to breed 'super tuna'
2 July 2009 | 11:38 pm
Japanese scientists will have bred a new "super-tuna" within a decade that will be stronger, more resistant to disease and taste better than the bluefin presently in the oceans. Stocks of tuna have declined by as much as 90 per cent in some waters and the World Wildlife Fund has warned that the Atlantic bluefin will have been wiped out within three years unless radical measures are taken to protect stocks. (telegraph.co.uk)
Young adults turn to home sharing
2 July 2009 | 11:22 pm
Rather than forking out money to rent their own apartments, young people struggling during the economic downturn are increasingly moving in with friends or acquaintances as they try to make ends meet. Many of these young adults used to place priority on having a good time, but are now unemployed or working in low-paying jobs. They appear to be moving toward cheaper, shared accommodation, and with it, finding emotional support in these bleak times. (Yomiuri)
Knife law tough shuck for oysters
2 July 2009 | 11:22 pm
Be careful next time you're about to shuck a fresh oyster at a restaurant - you may be using a knife considered illegal under the Firearm and Sword Control Law. Possessing certain types of oyster knives will be punishable from Sunday, after the moratorium expires on a revision to the law that was implemented in January. (Japan Times)
Struggling Japanese PM turns to comedian for help
2 July 2009 | 7:15 am
Taro Aso, the increasingly desperate Japanese prime minister, is appealing to a former stand-up comedian to join his cabinet and save the administration just weeks ahead of the general election. Hideo Higashikokubaru, recently elected governor of Miyazaki Prefecture, initially rebuffed an indirect approach from Mr Aso by saying he would only accept a portfolio if he was listed as the Liberal Democratic Party's candidate for prime minister in the election, which has to be held before Sept 10. (telegraph.co.uk)
Japan students rush for English-language education
2 July 2009 | 7:00 am
At 28,000 dollars a year, a popular English language cram school course in Japan doesn't come cheap, but its students hope the rewards will more than make up for the hefty tuition fee.
The class is called "Route H" -- short for "Route to Harvard".
Hundreds of schools like it have opened across Japan in recent years to prep a new generation of students who have their educational sights set far beyond Japan's shores, at the top universities of the West. (AFP)
Japan may deploy troops near disputed islands
2 July 2009 | 6:57 am
Japan's defence ministry is considering deploying troops on an island in the East China Sea near a group of islets that is claimed by Tokyo, Beijing and Taipei, according to a ministry spokesman.
"We are studying (the deployment) so that it could be included in the planned year-end revision of the basic defence programme," the official said, confirming a news report on the plan to send an army unit to Yonaguni island. (AFP)