Mon, 07 May 2012 00:13:56 -0600 http://www.japanaddicted.com/ Japan Addicted! en-us http://www.japanaddicted.com/images/logo.jpg http://www.japanaddicted.com/ evil@japanaddicted.com http://www.japanaddicted.com/Article5230.phtml A lost pet parakeet has been returned safely to its owner in the Japanese capital Tokyo after it told the police its home address. The bird's owner, a 64-year-old woman, said she taught the address to her pet after she bought him two years ago. She had lost another parakeet previously and wanted to ensure that did not happen again, police said. The male bird was handed to local authorities on Sunday, and took two days to tell the police its address. The bird had escaped from its owner's home in west Tokyo on Sunday. It was captured at a nearby hotel where it was perching on a guest's shoulder. Mon, 07 May 2012 00:13:56 -0600 http://www.japanaddicted.com/Article5229.phtml If the U.S. election race conjures up images of mud flying through the air for many Japanese, campaigning politicians in the Land of the Rising Sun evoke visions of a more white-gloved affair. Japan's politics are as Machiavellian as anyone else's behind closed doors, but their public campaigns are demure compared to the United States -- and many in Tokyo are aghast at the negative campaign tactics used on the road to the White House. Japan has plenty on its mind these days. The country is wrangling with questions about how to rebuild its tsunami-devastated coast, what to do with its idled nuclear reactors, and whether a tax hike will solve its economic woes, so it's no surprise if people in Tokyo aren't riveted to the lead-up to the U.S. elections. Tue, 24 Apr 2012 14:21:33 -0600 http://www.japanaddicted.com/Article5228.phtml At the start of 2011, there were four non-Japanese CEOs who led listed Japanese companies. Now, with the sudden resignation Wednesday of Craig Naylor – the American appointed as CEO to the Nippon Sheet Glass Group two years ago – there is only one: Carlos Ghosn, the CEO of Nissan. “Craig Naylor’s decision to tender his resignation reflected fundamental disagreements with the Board on company strategy,” said NSG’s Group Chairman Katsuji Fujimoto in a statement. Sun, 22 Apr 2012 12:33:55 -0600 http://www.japanaddicted.com/Article5227.phtml A few years ago, the densely built-up coastal region around this port was called Panel Bay because of its concentration of factories making the sophisticated flat-panel screens that were symbols of Japan’s manufacturing prowess. But now the area has become a grim symbol of its industrial decline. Sun, 15 Apr 2012 22:37:30 -0600 http://www.japanaddicted.com/Article5226.phtml he Aokigahara Forest is a lonely place to die. So dense is the vegetation at the foot of Japan's Mount Fuji, it is all too easy to disappear among the evergreens and never be seen again. Each year the authorities remove as many as 100 bodies found hanging at the country's suicide hotspot - but others can lie undiscovered for years. Tue, 10 Apr 2012 11:48:05 -0600 http://www.japanaddicted.com/Article5225.phtml Japanese business sentiment failed to improve as expected in the first quarter and is expected to remain muted in coming months, a survey by the central bank showed Monday, suggesting that the bank will remain under pressure to deliver more stimulus. The headline index for sentiment among large manufacturers in the closely watched quarterly survey, known as the tankan, was minus 4 in March, unchanged from the reading in December. Readings of less than zero indicate that pessimists outnumber optimists. The reading, which reflects broad growth trends in Japan and is one of the major policy gauges for the central bank, the Bank of Japan, was worse than the median market forecast of minus 1. Further, big manufacturers expect conditions to improve only slightly over the next three months, with the June index predicted by survey participants to be at minus 3, compared with a median forecast among analysts of plus 2. “The tankan result increases the likelihood of additional easing, which I already anticipate, by the Bank of Japan this month, and slightly raises the possibility of additional easing next week rather than on April 27,” said Masamichi Adachi, senior economist at JPMorgan Securities Japan. “The B.O.J. could act to signal it is trying even harder to support the economy,” he added, suggesting that the bank could increase a fund for the purchase of bonds and other assets by ¥5 trillion, or $60 billion. That view is not universal. Others say that as long as the economy is headed for a moderate recovery this year, the situation the Bank of Japan considers most likely, there is no need for extra action to follow the surprisingly aggressive stimulus in February, though the tankan suggests that an upturn may be more moderate than previously thought. Hirohide Yamaguchi, deputy governor of the central bank, told a parliamentary committee that there had been a positive effect from the stimulus in February, when the central bank set an inflation target of 1 percent and increased its asset-buying program by ¥10 trillion. “The February easing has had a certain effect on market and business sentiment,” Mr. Yamaguchi said. “But it’s too early to judge the overall impact of the policy.” Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda kept up the pressure, telling the same committee he believed the Bank of Japan shared a common understanding with the government on the need to beat deflation. “I expect the B.O.J., under the goal it has set for itself, continues to make efforts to achieve it and strongly hope it takes appropriate and bold action,” Mr. Noda said. The central bank has predicted that the economy will emerge from a downturn this year after having been hit in 2011 by an earthquake and tsunami, a nuclear crisis, flooding in Thailand that disrupted supply chains, the yen’s advance to record highs and the euro zone debt crisis. Its surprise action in February helped knock the yen to 11-month lows, a positive for exporters, but the survey showed that many manufacturers were not convinced that the move would be sustained. Big manufacturers expect the dollar to average ¥78.14 in the financial year ending next March, the strongest for the yen since comparable data became available in 1996. The yen, which weakened after the release of the tankan, lost 0.2 percent Monday, falling to ¥82.99 to the dollar. Highlighting caution about the economic outlook, the survey showed that large companies did not plan to increase capital spending in the financial year that started April 1, missing a market forecast for a 1 percent increase. However, there was some resilience in private consumption, with the sentiment index for big nonmanufacturing companies rising to plus 5 from plus 4 in December, matching a median market forecast, although the index for June was flat at plus 5. Bank of Japan policy makers are to meet next Monday and Tuesday, and then April 27, when they will review long-term growth and price forecasts. Many in the market expect the central bank to ease policy again in the coming months to reinforce its commitment to pull the economy out of deflation. Thu, 05 Apr 2012 16:31:49 -0600 http://www.japanaddicted.com/Article5224.phtml After Japan was hit with a devastating earthquake in March 2011, the Pacific nation was rocked by a massive tsunami that destroyed thousands of coastal houses, cars and boats and swept millions of tons of debris out into the ocean. Now, it looks like some of that debris could be approaching North America. Last week, a unmanned boat identified as a Japanese fishing vessel was spotted off the coast of Canada, indicating that after more than a year, some of that debris could still be on its way to American and Canadian shores. Read more: Ghost Ship Spotted Off Coast of Canada Signaling Arrival of Tsunami Wreckage | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building Mon, 02 Apr 2012 18:36:23 -0600 http://www.japanaddicted.com/Article5223.phtml Japan's industrial output unexpectedly fell in February, due to lower overseas demand for cars and electronic goods, official figures have shown. Production last month declined by 1.2% compared with January, said the Trade Ministry. Analysts had expected to see output in February increase by 1.3%. The ministry forecasts a recovery going forward. It predicts growth of 2.6% in March, and 0.7% in April. Commentators also expect output to recover. Yuichi Kodama, economist at Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance in Tokyo, said: "The improving global economy, mending of supply chains damaged by Thai floods and subsidies for energy efficient cars are likely to support Japanese production in the coming months." Falling unemployment Sun, 01 Apr 2012 00:20:07 -0600 http://www.japanaddicted.com/Article5222.phtml West Covina police say two people in ninja costumes robbed a medical marijuana delivery man but it's not clear how much money or marijuana was taken. Police Lt. Alan Henley told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune (http://bit.ly/GSitYa ) the victim had just made a delivery to a patient on South Sunset Avenue and was headed to his car when the pair confronted him and chased him with batons. Henley says the attack took place just before 10 p.m. Friday. Henley says the victim, in his 40s, was scared and dropped a bag containing marijuana and money and the attackers took it. The lieutenant says he knows of no other ninja-style thefts recently. Mon, 26 Mar 2012 16:00:17 -0600 http://www.japanaddicted.com/Article5221.phtml Japanese investigators have searched the offices of scandal-hit pension and money management firm AIJ Investment Advisors. The company was also stripped of its registration, effectively ending its ability to operate as an asset manager. AIJ is being investigated after it failed to account for 185.3bn yen ($2.2bn; £1.4bn) of client funds. The scandal is the latest to hit Japan, and there have been calls for changes in corporate governance. At the end of last year, Japan was shocked by the news that camera maker Olympus had hidden $1.7bn (£1.1bn) in losses for as long as 20 years. As a result, when the size of the problems at AIJ become clear, Japanese authorities said they would start to probe all the other investment firms in the country. AIJ managed group pension funds for more than 100 companies. Commenting after the raids on Friday, Japan's financial services minister Shozaburo Jimi said that AIJ's registration as an asset manager was cancelled. He added that the authorities had also suspended one of AIJ's brokers and sales agents, ITM Securities, for six months. Losses? Kazuhiko Asakawa, AIJ's president, has been asked to appear before a Japanese parliamentary committee on 27 March to explain the situation at the company. Sat, 24 Mar 2012 23:08:10 -0600 http://www.japanaddicted.com/Article5220.phtml Japan's auto sales surged again last month as the government's latest subsidy program sparked demand for fuel-efficient cars. Backlogs from last year's earthquake added momentum. Sales rose to 333,213 vehicles, up 32% from a year earlier, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said Thursday. It was the sixth consecutive increase. The figures exclude sales of minivehicles. The growth was slower than the 41% logged in January. But it was too early to determine whether the subsidies effect has peaked, an association spokesman said. During a previous subsidy program, sales picked up toward the end of its term, he said. Sun, 04 Mar 2012 10:37:09 -0700 http://www.japanaddicted.com/Article5219.phtml Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda says he’s committed to improving ties with China this year, the 40th anniversary of normalization of relations between the two Asian giants. Sun, 04 Mar 2012 10:34:15 -0700 http://www.japanaddicted.com/Article5218.phtml Japan's government has threatened to withhold a Y1tn ($12.9bn) financial rescue of Tokyo Electric Power , owner of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station, unless the struggling utility allows itself to be nationalised. Sat, 18 Feb 2012 17:01:14 -0700 http://www.japanaddicted.com/Article5217.phtml Japan's Emperor Akihito has undergone a successful heart bypass operation at a hospital in Tokyo, the palace says. Sat, 18 Feb 2012 17:00:00 -0700 http://www.japanaddicted.com/Article5216.phtml Former Olympus chairman Tsuyoshi Kikukawa and two other former executives have been arrested as part of the continuing investigations into the camera company. The firm is being probed for an accounting cover-up after it admitted to hiding $1.7bn (£1bn) in losses over two decades. Mr Kikukawa resigned in October after the scandal broke out. Olympus has sued 19 former and current executives over the issue. Former executive vice president Hisashi Mori and former auditor Hideo Yamada are the other two people who were arrested. "This is the first solid increment, taking a system that has governed itself on informal rules, to the one that is based on formal rules and law," Kenneth Cukier of the Economist told the BBC. Sat, 18 Feb 2012 16:58:17 -0700 http://www.japanaddicted.com/Article5215.phtml Japan's economy shrank for the third time in four quarters between October and December, after floods in Thailand damaged production and a strong yen and subdued overseas demand hurt exports. Cabinet Office figures on Monday showed that real GDP fell an annualized 2.3 per cent in the fourth quarter, much worse than consensus forecasts of a 1.3 per cent decline. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, output fell by 0.6 per cent, dragged down by exports -- which fell 3.1 per cent -- following a 1.7 per cent rise in the third quarter. The nation's currency has eased only a little since hitting a postwar high of Y75.35 against the US dollar in October. The trade balance for 2011 showed a deficit of Y2.5 trillion ($32 billion) -- the first annual deficit in 31 years -- as exports to the eurozone and Asia, including China, fell sharply. Looking forward, the picture is brighter, thanks in large part to reconstruction demand in the quake-hit region of Tohoku. Machinery orders in the three months to December increased by 10 per cent from September, suggesting that industrial production in January and February could recover to a level reached before the disasters last March, according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Real GDP growth for the full calendar year is expected at 1.7 per cent, according to Bloomberg. While that is well short of the 2.2 per cent global average, it is more than double the average growth rate Japan has achieved since 1995. "Provided that the US and global economy can continue to grow, a recovery in Japan's exports on top of reconstruction demand could allow the economy to make up for the slack seen late last year," said Takuji Aida, an economist at UBS, before the release of Monday's data. Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan, which concludes a two-day policy meeting on Tuesday, will be under pressure to do more to shake off the country's persistent state of deflation. Opposition party members last month called for the BoJ to emulate the US Federal Reserve's decision to set a firm inflation target of 2 per cent. The BoJ, however, prefers to aim for what it calls "price stability", whereby the year-on-year rate of change in the core consumer price index -- which includes all items, excluding fresh food -- is between zero and 2 per cent, centering around 1 per cent. Nationwide core CPI fell 0.1 per cent, year-on-year, in December, the third straight month of decline. Prices haven't risen at least 1 per cent for any year since 1997. Sat, 18 Feb 2012 16:56:51 -0700 http://www.japanaddicted.com/Article5214.phtml At age 39, Yoshiaki Suda, the new mayor of this town that was destroyed by last March’s tsunami, oversees a community where the votes, money and influence lie among its large population of graying residents. But for Onagawa to have a future, he must rebuild it in such a way as to make it attractive to those of his generation and younger. Sat, 18 Feb 2012 16:56:16 -0700 http://www.japanaddicted.com/Article5213.phtml A student is suing his fraternity after a drunken acquaintance inserted a bottle rocket into himself and ignited it. The fireworks failed to launch, instead exploding inside his anus, thereby sending the startled plaintiff sprawling off a deck. He is also suing the acquaintance, whose injuries remain unclear. original story. Tue, 07 Feb 2012 08:56:07 -0700 http://www.japanaddicted.com/Article5212.phtml The Japanese word "kizuna", meaning bonds or connections between people, has been chosen as Japan's kanji of 2011. The kanji, or Chinese pictorial script, for "kizuna" emerged top of a public poll for the character that best summed up the year. For Japan, 2011 was dominated by the earthquake and tsunami in March. The disasters led to unprecedented numbers of Japanese helping one another. After the tsunami smashed into Japan's north-east coast on 11 March, killing thousands and engulfing entire communities, people's stoicism and their determination to pull together won international praise. In April the then prime minister Naoto Kan thanked the world for its help in a letter entitled "Kizuna - the Bonds of Friendship". And when Japan unexpectedly beat the United States to win the women's football World Cup, "kizuna" forged by the players' teamwork was cited with pride. Half a million people took part in the annual poll for the kanji character, conducted by Japan's Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation. About 60,000 people nominated "kizuna", but the runner-up was much less optimistic: "wazawai" means disaster. For some Japanese, 2011 brought the opposite of "kizuna". A firm that specialised in divorce ceremonies said in July that they had tripled since the tsunami as people reassessed their lives. Fri, 23 Dec 2011 22:17:05 -0700 http://www.japanaddicted.com/Article5211.phtml Japan's consumer prices have fallen for the first time in four months, as weak domestic demand and deflation continue to weigh on growth. Core consumer prices, which exclude fresh food, slipped 0.1% in October, the statistics bureau said. One of the reasons for the fall is last year's cigarette tax rise falling out of the calculations. The strong yen as well as Europe's debt crisis are hurting the growth outlook for the world's third-largest economy. Yen strength In March, Japan was hit by a devastating earthquake and tsunami that caused much damage in the north-east of the country. The government this week passed an emergency budget of $155bn (£100bn) to try to boost domestic demand, however the effects won't be felt for a few months. Fri, 25 Nov 2011 13:13:30 -0700 http://www.japanaddicted.com/Article5210.phtml In a contentious move that could make or break his government, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said Friday that Japan would join talks toward an ambitious pan-Pacific free trade pact. The accord would potentially open up new markets for Japanese exporters but enrage the nation’s powerful farmers, who say their livelihoods would be wiped out. Sat, 12 Nov 2011 19:46:13 -0700 http://www.japanaddicted.com/Article5209.phtml Japan's industrial output and household spending fell in September, raising fresh concerns about the health of its economic recovery. Official data shows that factory output dipped 4% from August, while household spending fell by 1.9% year-on-year. The drop comes amid concerns that a slowdown in key markets such as the US and Europe, coupled with a rising yen, may hurt Japan's recovery. Japan was hit by an earthquake and tsunami earlier this year. "After having rebounded following the March disaster, factory output is likely to stall until the year-end as overseas demand weakens," said Yuichi Kodama, of Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance. Further slowdown? Fri, 28 Oct 2011 04:54:14 -0600 http://www.japanaddicted.com/Article5208.phtml As the daughter of the Japanese Red Army's founder and a Palestinian freedom fighter, May Shigenobu grew up on the run. She kept her identity secret and spent long periods without her mother throughout her childhood, but it was a happy one. She now lives in Japan where she works as a journalist for a broadcaster in the Middle East. "At first, when I was very young we would move house every month or so, especially when I was living with members of the Japanese Red Army. Their Asian features stood out in Middle Eastern society and someone could leak information, intentionally or unintentionally, about us being in the neighbourhood. I did see my mother, but not as much as a normal family. I was with her for about a total of four or five years, but it was all quality time so it was ok. I had a brother and a sister, though we weren't related by blood - they were children of my mother's comrades - we felt like family. Thu, 27 Oct 2011 07:51:57 -0600 http://www.japanaddicted.com/Article5207.phtml In Japanese legend they are known as The Kamikaze -- the divine winds -- a reference to two mighty typhoons placed providentially seven years apart which, in the 13th century, destroyed two separate Mongol invasion fleets so large they were not eclipsed until the D-Day landings of World War II. Marine archaeologists now say they have uncovered the remains of a ship from the second fleet in 1281 -- believed to have comprised 4,400 vessels -- a meter below the seabed, in 25 meters of water off the coast of Nagasaki, Japan. Scientists are hoping they will be able to recreate the complete Yuan Dynasty vessel from Kublai Khan's lost fleet using a 12-meter-long section of keel. The Mongols ruled China from 1271 to 1368. According to Yoshifumi Ikeda, a professor of archaeology at Okinawa's University of the Ryukyus, and head of the research team, the section could go a long way to helping researchers identify all the characteristics of the 20-meter warship. "This discovery was of major importance for our research," Ikeda told a news conference. "We are planning to expand search efforts and find further information that can help us restore the whole ship." Discovered using ultrasound equipment, the research team says it is the first wreck from the period to have an intact hull, the planks of which are still attached to the keel with nails. Scientists say its good state of preservation -- they were even able to establish that the planks were originally painted a whitish-gray -- is due to the fact it has been covered by sand. "I believe we will be able to understand more about shipbuilding skills at the time as well as the actual situation of exchanges in East Asia," Ikeda told reporters in Nagasaki. More than 4,000 artifacts, including ceramic shards, bricks used for ballast, cannonballs and stone anchors have been found in the vicinity of the wreck, linking it to the Yuan Dynasty invasion fleet. Ikeda said there were no immediate plans to salvage the hull and the first step was to conserve the find by covering the sites with nets. The Kamikaze -- perhaps better known as the nickname given to the Japanese suicide pilots of the Pacific War -- were a nation-defining event for Japan and set the limits of Mongol expansion in the east. Historians say the first Chinese attempt to invade Japan in 1274 ended in disaster. Having initially engaged a numerically superior Japanese samurai force at the Battle of Bun'ei in First Battle of Hakata Bay, the Chinese retreated to their fleet of 300 ships and some 500 smaller craft after just one day of battle on land. A typhoon destroyed a third of the fleet that night and the remnants limped back to port in Korea which was then a vassal state of China. Seven years later, Kublai Khan amassed an impressive armada of 4,400 ships carrying 40,000 Korean, Mongol and Chinese troops in a bid to finally subjugate Japan. The Japanese, convinced of a second invasion, had spent the intervening years building strategic seawalls which made it difficult for the Chinese to land. Unable to gain a beachhead after initially taking the island of Iki and Tsushima, the fleet was decimated by a two-day typhoon that hit the Tsushima Straits. It is believed about 80% of the fleet was destroyed and the Khan's troops either drowned at sea or slaughtered on the beaches by samurai. According to a contemporary account cited in the book "Khubilai Khan's lost fleet: In Search of a Legendary Armada," by maritime archaeologist James P. Delgado, the losses were so great that "a person could walk across from one point of land to another on a mass of wreckage". Wed, 26 Oct 2011 00:09:39 -0600 http://www.japanaddicted.com/Article5206.phtml A nuclear plant in Ibaraki Prefecture run by Japan Atomic Power Co. managed to avoid a total power loss during the March 11 earthquake and tsunami thanks to a sea wall it was in the process of building higher, sources said. A government panel probing the meltdown at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant is analyzing measures taken by the manager of the Tokai No. 2 atomic plant on the assumption that the absence of the sea wall extension measure would have led to a similar disaster, a source close to the panel said. Japan Atomic Power concluded in 2002 that to prepare the plant in Tokai, Ibaraki Prefecture, for potential tsunami, waves as high as 4.86 meters should be expected based on the evaluation technology used by the Japan Society of Civil Engineers, it said. But the Ibaraki Prefectural Government requested that the utility re-evaluate the estimate after its own tsunami projection, made public in October 2007, showed waves in nearby areas could reach 7 meters, the company said. Japan Atomic Power then changed its wave level assumption to 5.7 meters and started work to extend the Tokai plant's 4.9-meter sea wall to 6.1 meters in July 2009 to protect the seawater pumps that cool the emergency diesel generator. The work had almost been finished by September 2010, but other work to fully cover the cable holes in the wall was scheduled to be done around May this year, the company said. The tsunami that hit the Tokai plant on March 11 were 5.3 to 5.4 meters in height, exceeding the company's earlier estimate but coming in around 30 to 40 cm lower than its revised projection. After the tsunami hit, the Tokai plant lost external power just like Fukushima No. 1 did, because the sea wall was overrun, knocking out one of its three seawater pumps. But its reactors succeeded in achieving cold shutdown because the plant's emergency diesel generator was being cooled by the two seawater pumps that survived intact. Tokyo Electric Power Co. projected in 2002 that the maximum height of any tsunami that hit Fukushima No. 1 would be 5.7 meters. It then failed to take any reinforcement measures despite further in-house research in 2006 and later. Although Tepco calculated in 2008 that tsunami higher than 10 meters could hit the nuclear plant — a height close to the actual waves seen on March 11 — it only reported its calculation to the Nuclear Industrial Safety Agency on March 7, 2011. The 5.7-meter sea wall at Fukushima No. 1 was totally overwhelmed. The government panel investigating the Fukushima No. 1 crisis is also probing measures taken at Fukushima No. 2 and the Onagawa nuclear power plant in Miyagi Prefecture run by Tohoku Electric Power Co., the source close to the panel said. The panel is scheduled to compile an interim report on its findings in December. Tue, 25 Oct 2011 08:34:01 -0600