Monday’s Quick Links

A few interesting links about Japan for today:

-The adoption of phone number portability, something that has been around for decades in the rest of the developed world, will be a “headache” for Japanese mobile phone companies. Holy crap, there might actually be some competition over rates!

-South Korean slugger Lee Seung Yeop has signed on for another year with the Yomiuri Giants. Maybe he didn’t get any attractive offers from major league clubs?

-The Japanese have a cure for cancer?

-A boatload of ultranationalistic Chinese from Hong Kong are on their way to the disputed Senkaku Islands. Japan has vowed to turn them away. On the Japanese ultranationalist front, Japunit takes a look at the Japan Time’s latest series on Japanese right-wingers.

-An Iranian family that has lived in Japan for 16 years is set to be deported for overstaying their visas. The shock of the deportation ruling has put their 18 year old daughter, who cannot only speak Japanese, into a state of neurosis. They are pleading to stay in Japan, and the daughter has stated that being sent to Iran is “the same as dying”. I guess she should be preparing for death, since Japanese courts are rarely kind to foreigners who overstay their visas.

-Google has finally become one of Japan’s top 10 internet sites. I still don’t know many Japanese who prefer it over Yahoo.

-Look out, Youtube! Viacom Japan is planning to challenge you for the Japanese video sharing market! And by “challenge”, I mean provide a bunch of corporate-approved videos that users cn organize into their own “channels”. Lame.

-The Japanese intend to take part in the searching and cargo inspection of North Korean merchant vessels. Oh wait, nevermind, they aren’t actually going to search the ships- they’ll be acting as spotters for the American forces.