Japan News for March 12, 2007

  • Profiles of the Day
    • More at Japan Probe Friends...

    This morning’s Japan-related news links:

    • Prime Minister John Howard of Australia has arrived in Japan for a visit that some here worry will put him in the middle of the regional competition between Japan and the United States on one side and China on the other. [Link]
    • According to China Daily, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sunday expressed unfeigned apology to “comfort women” who were forced by Japan’s then military government into sex slavery during World War II. [Link]
    • The region around the Kuril Islands, which are located north of Japan and held by Russia, was shaken by a magnitude-6.1 earthquake, the U.S. Geological Survey said. [Link]
    • More from the recently discovered journal by one of Emperor Hirohito’s chamberlains: Hirohito was a reluctant warlord who distrusted his generals and admired the British royal family. [Link]
    • After an unusually warm December rattled the nerves of anyone eagerly anticipating Washington DC’s grand rite of spring, the National Park Service predicted the cherry blossoms will bloom in time for the two-week National Cherry Blossom Festival (April 1-7). [Link]

      • Afternoon Update:

      • The kin of Japanese abducted to North Korea and their supporters on Sunday adopted an action plan featuring a request to the government and legislators to work out a law that would allow Japan to name North Korea a state sponsor of terrorism, as currently done by the United States. [Link]
      • he abrupt end to normalization talks between Japan and nuclear-armed
        North Korea is not expected to hamper Washington’s own negotiations to establish diplomatic ties with the Stalinist state, a US State Department official said Friday. [Link via DPRK Studies]
      • Police established a task force Monday to crack down on election violations ahead of unified local polls in April, including the closely watched Tokyo gubernatorial election. [Link]
      • Trans-Pacific Radio has posted an interesting selection from a transcript of the March 9, 2007 press conference at Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where the issue of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s stance on the 1993 ‘Kono Statement’ regarding the issue of ‘comfort women’ was raised by a reporter. [Link]
      • A man died after jumping in front of an oncoming train at Hachioji Station on the JR Chuo Line in western Tokyo during this morning’s rush hour. The incident delayed 27 trains on the line by up to 21 minutes, inconveniencing roughly 16,000 people, East Japan Railway Co. officials said. [Link]
      • Former porn actress Iijima Ai (34) has confirmed the rumors about her retiring from showbiz due to her declining health. She denied another rumor that she would be moving to New York, saying she planned to continue living in central Tokyo. [Link]
      • USA Today takes a look at former MLB managers and how they are changing the face of Japanese professional baseball in a new article entitled “Americans rise in Japan.” [Link]
      • Accusations have been made that the Seibu Lions professional baseball team paid money to the father of a Waseda University baseball player, and the university is conducting an investigation into the claim. [Link]
      • Palm Pictures has acquired North American rights to the political and sexual satire “The Glamorous Life of Sachiko Hanai,” centering on a Japanese call girl who gets caught up in international intrigue. [Link]
      • Got a USB-powered humping dog? Digital World Toyko has instructions on how to mod your dog and add some memory! [Link]
    Related Posts with Thumbnails