Japan News for May 10, 2007

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    This morning’s Japan-related news links:

    • The Nagoya District Court on Wednesday invalidated a company’s sacking of a third-generation Japanese-Brazilian who called his boss an idiot, saying the company had abused its right of dismissal. [Link]
    • Japan’s leading index of the outlook for the economy signaled for a fifth month that the longest expansion in more than 60 years may slow. [Link]
    • China on Wednesday continued its low-key approach to news that the Japanese prime minister made an offering to the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine, in what diplomats said was a sign that Beijing wants to prevent the incident from damaging improving bilateral ties. [Link]
    • Japanese scientists’ experiments on mice showed that mad cow disease in two cattle aged 21 and 23 months old was not contagious, a finding that could change attitudes about food safety. [Link]
    • Japan’s defense minister was mailed a razor blade and a letter criticizing his U.S. policy, police and news reports said Wednesday, in the latest of several threats and attacks against Japanese politicians. [Link]
    • A French chef was sentenced on Wednesday to eight years in a Japanese prison for setting fire to his apartment building to cope with stress. [Link]
    • A Japanese junior high school boy died in March after being hit in the chest by a soccer ball during a game at school, it was learned Wednesday. [Link]
    • The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has, once again, discovered prohibited substances in Vietnamese seafood exported to Japan. [Link]
    • Police on Wednesday arrested a 67-year-old woman for defamation, after she continuously put up signs on a wall, saying that a man who lives on the same floor of the public housing block in Mibu-machi, Tochigi, was a “dangerous person.” [Link]
    • Over 80 percent of Japanese teens between the ages of 16 and 19 think having sex for the first time is important, while more than 50 percent of females in this age group say they often talk with their partners about contraception, a poll on male-female relationships has found. [Link]
    • Seattle’s Sakura Con festival, attended this year by more than 11,000 people, is one of many festivals drawing young Americans by the thousand to cities from Anchorage, Alaska, to Miami to celebrate Japanese otaku culture. [Link]
    • Boingo Wireless says it has added the Tokyo, Japan metropolitan Wi-Fi network to its roaming system. [Link]
    • Japan soccer player Kazuki Ganaha has been banned for six games for taking a garlic intravenous infusion to cure a bout of influenza. [Link]
    • Akira Kurosawa’s acclaimed 1952 film “Ikiru” is being adapted into a television drama special on TV Asahi. Kabuki actor Koshiro Matsumoto IX will play the lead part. [Link]
    • In the hope of inspiring more voters to head to the polls, lingerie maker Triumph International Japan has unveiled a new concept bra called the “Voter Turnout Lift-UP! Bra.” [Link]

      • Afternoon Update:

      • A Japanese man who has been living in North Korea with Japanese Red Army hijackers is proceeding with arrangements for returning to Japan, possibly in June, for the first time in more than 20 years, sources close to him said Wednesday. [Link]
      • A Health Ministry survey has found that one in four Japanese junior high school students suffer from depression, although the number that require medical treatment remains unknown. [Link]
      • Toyota Motor Corp said Wednesday it recorded a group operating profit of 2.24 trillion yen in fiscal 2006, becoming the first Japanese listed firm to top the 2 trillion yen line, buoyed by robust overseas sales of its vehicles and a weaker yen. [Link]
      • A local JR train in Gunma made an emergency stop between stations after it ran over some 30 stones someone had placed on the tracks. [Link]
      • Japanese toilet makers issued a warning to electric bidet users on Wednesday, saying at least 105 units have caught fire or sent up smoke in Japan since 1984. [Link]
      • Softbank Mobile Corp said Wednesday it will do away with fees for subscribers’ domestic calls to their family members who also use its services around the clock. [Link]
      • The Kyoto Municipal Government announced Wednesday that it will submit an ordinance proposal to the municipal assembly to ban smoking on streets in parts of the city. [Link]
      • 22.5% of food left uneaten at Japanese wedding parties, according to a report translated at Mutantfrog Travelogue. [Link]
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