Random Japan News: October 31, 2006

News for October 31, 2006:

-The government has announced that high school students who were not taught the required classes for graduation must take extra classes before March if they wish to graduate. One high school principal in Ibaraki prefecture hung himself after it was revealed that his school was not teaching the required classes. It sure beats having to face parents, apologize, and offer an solution to the problem.

-Padres pitcher Chris Young will be blogging about his trip to Japan over at MLB.com. Young will be a part of the MLB all-star squad that will take on Japan’s professional teams in promotional games.

-Author Haruki Murakami has been awarded the Kafka Prize. Will he be in the running for the next Nobel Prize?

-The Chinese ultranationalists who unsuccessfully tried to land on the Japanese-held Senkaku islands have declared victory and will be suing Japan. I guess the new definition of “victory” is “failure.”

-Foreigners are outraged by Japan’s restrictions on mergers between Japanese and foreign companies. Apparently Japanese companies fear hostile merger and acquisition activity by foreign companies.

-Product recalls by major Japanese manufacturing firms are tarnishing Japan’s image as a producer of high quality products. One spokesman has compared the recalls to a good team making “mistakes in fielding during a baseball game.”