Japan News for March 14, 2007

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    This morning’s Japan-related news links:

    • Japan on Tuesday signed a security pact with Australia, its first such deal after its alliance with the United States, but the Pacific nations denied they were trying to encircle China. [Link]
    • Grand champion Asashoryu put two nightmare bouts behind him with a thrashing of rank-and-filer Futeno at the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament on Tuesday. After losing his first two matches at the 15-day meet, Asashoryu pounced on Futeno in the day’s final bout at Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium, grinding the winless No. 4 maegashira over the straw bales in no-nonsense fashion for his first win. [Link]
    • The Tokyo High Court rejected an appeal Tuesday by a group of Chinese seeking compensation for injuries caused by leaks from chemical weapons abandoned by retreating Japanese forces at the end of World War II. [Link]
    • Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s approval rating is now below 40%! But that’s a mere 0.4% decrease from February polls. [Link]
    • The outbreak of mumps at the University of Virginia can be traced to a strain of the virus that came into the United States from Japan in June 2006, health officials suspect. [Link via FG]
    • Some 34 percent of married Japanese couples have sex less than once a month, a government poll has found. [Link]

      • Afternoon Update:

      • The Tokyo District Court sentenced a pleasure boat operator to 13 years in prison Tuesday for smuggling a large amount of amphetamine stimulant drugs from North Korea in 2002 in conspiracy with accomplices. [Link]
      • A JR East-affiliated restaurant operator said Tuesday that curry tainted by a dead mouse has been used in some of the food products sold at a noodle stand inside JR Shinkoiwa Station in Tokyo. [Link]
      • Four South Korean fishing boats were seized by Japan’s coast guard early Tuesday after they were caught fishing in the Japanese waters, South Korea’s maritime ministry said. [Link]
      • The Kyoto city assembly enacted an ordinance Tuesday to preserve the scenery of the ancient Japanese capital by strictly limiting building heights and totally banning rooftop advertisements. [Link]
      • Pop singer Koda Kumi (24) was Japan’s best-selling artist again last year. She was in Tokyo yesterday to receive the 21st Nihon Golden Disk Award, given to the artist with the most sales during the year. Koda amassed 2006 sales of 3.5 million albums, 2.41 million singles, 140,000 music videos, and 12 million downloads, giving her a total in the region of ¥20 billion. [Link]
      • Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso is pushing to visit South Korea later this month to hold talks with his South Korean counterpart, Japan’s media reported Wednesday. [Link]
      • Prosecutors have decided not to indict singer Shigeru Matsuzaki for causing a car accident, injuring a motorcyclist, while driving with an invalid international driver’s license. Matsuzaki, 57, crashed his car into a motorcycle in Tokyo, slightly injuring the rider, while driving with an invalid international driver’s license in November last year, prosecutors said. [Link]
      • A 54-year-old construction worker was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of stealing some 4,400 pieces of women’s underwear. [Link]
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