Japan News for January 18, 2007

Quick links for this morning:

• The government has decided not to submit proposed legislation aimed at exempting white-collar workers from overtime pay when the new Diet session convenes. “At this juncture, it has not won the public’s understanding,” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters Tuesday night, alluding to the administration’s fears of a backlash.
• It has been revealed that Fujiya Co’s food caused several people to report symptoms of food poisoning in 1995, but the company successfully covered the incident up at the time.
• Richard Lloyd Parry writes that the age-old custom of ritual groom-tossing may disappear due to global warming.
• In late November, a National Police Agency panel formed to discuss bicycle measures made a surprising recommendation: to officially allow cyclists to use sidewalks. [via FG]
• Businesses will be banned from imposing age limits in recruitment under plans being drawn up by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Under the current law, employers are only obliged to “make efforts” not to impose age limits in their recruitment.
• Boing Boing reports that if literally translated into Chinese, “Letters from Iwo JIma” would be called “Toilet Paper from Sulfur Island.”
• Justin reviews R&B artist Crystal Kay’s most recent album.
• Dark Diamond shows us some wacky Japanese condoms!
Afternoon Update:
• A patisserie in downtown Tokyo that had continued to sell a popular treat while its parent company Fujiya became embroiled in a scandal over use of expired ingredients finally gave in to the pressure and has shut up shop for the time being.
• A draft government guideline for employers hiring nurses and caregivers from the Philippines says they should be paid the same as their Japanese colleagues, according to labor ministry officials. The guideline drafted by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry is aimed at preventing the Filipinos from having to work under unfair labor conditions.
• Hisayoshi Kojima, 57, from Kyoto, admitted 17 counts related to the sale and smuggling of several butterfly species he illegally brought into the US, according to US prosecutors. Among the species Kojima admitted smuggling were a pair of Queen Alexandras birdwings, an endangered species that is the largest butterfly in the world.
• Check out this clip of otaku representative Patrick Macia appearing on TBS BS-i’s “The Fantasy Republic of Japan: Searching for the Source of Subculture.”
• Where can you find the shortest schoolgirl skirts in Japan? In Shiga Prefecture, apparently.
• Mutant Frog Travelogue reports that police in Osaka intend to force homeless squatters out of Nagai Park before the upcoming 2007 IAAF World Championships in Athletics.