Japan News for March 04, 2007

Today’s Japan-related news links:

• Japan will not give North Korea “even 1 yen” in aid unless the issue of Japanese citizens abducted by the North is resolved, Foreign Minister Taro Aso said Saturday before the two countries hold normalization talks next week. [Link]
• Despite hopes for change as their ranks have grown, discrimination persists for Japan’s working women, reports the Washington Post in an article entitled “Japanese Working Women Still Serve the Tea.” [Link]
• A project between Brazil and Japan to supply Brazilian ethanol made from sugarcane exclusively to the Japanese market could cost $US8 billion, it has been reported. [Link]
• Pop diva Hikaru Utada has divorced her director/photographer husband Kazuaki Kiriya, with the couple blaming their split on spending too much time apart abroad. [Link]
• Under posters of leader Kim Jong-Il — set up a stone’s throw from the imperial palace — North Korean residents in Japan held the rare public protest to denounce how they are treated, as tensions flare between the countries. [Link]
• Yumiko Shaku made her final appearance on N-H-K’s English learning program “Eigo de Shaberenaito” last week. Shaku’s stint on the popular program ended with her being shown a series of clips from her time on the show, which made her collapse into tears. [Link]
• Fukuoka’s Marine World has hosted its first ever wedding, which was marked by four of its dolphins giving a celebratory leap from the water as the newlyweds made their vows. [Link]
• A national hospital in Kyoto failed to punish a doctor fined for child prostitution two years ago until Friday, because bosses feared that if he quit, it would adversely affect its medical service. [Link]
• Tokyo governor Ishihara Shintaro, has voiced his disdain for Clint Eastwood’s WWII film “Letters from Iwo Jima”. “I went to see it thinking it’d be a rival [for “I Go to Die for You”], but [our film] is far better. There was no sense of the American forces’ frustration, and I couldn’t tell where they were fighting on the island”. [Link]
• A genetically engineered mouse kept for export at Narita Airport escaped from its box in January, but was quickly captured, it was learned Friday. It is the first reported case of a genetically modified animal escaping from captivity in Japan. [Link]
• Boston Red Sox right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka gave up only one hit and struck out three in two scoreless innings against Boston College in his first spring training outing on Friday. [Link]
• Four Firefighters in Saitama Prefecture’s Kawaguchi city are in hot water for making an on-duty beer run. [Link]