Japan News for June 05, 2007

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    This morning’s Japan-related news links:

    • Prime Minister Shinzo Abe instructed policymakers of the governing Liberal Democratic Party at a meeting on Monday to prominently feature how to handle issues related to the government’s pension blunders and North Korea in its policy platform for the House of Councillors election in July. [Link]
    • Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki expressed displeasure Monday with the Russian foreign minister’s weekend visit to Russian-held islands claimed by Japan, saying Moscow needed to be more cautious. [Link]
    • Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s support rate further deteriorated to a record low 30 percent, as public criticism increased over shoddy pension records and political money scandals, an Asahi Shimbun weekend survey showed. [Link]
    • Police in Tokyo have stepped up security patrols in the capital’s Katsushika-ku after the ward’s mayor received threatening calls that demanded he buy a tape recording of alleged wrongdoing by officials. [Link]
    • A small amount of a stimulant drug in crystal powder form has been discovered among the personal belongings of the family of four North Koreans who had been taken into police custody in Fukauramachi, Aomori Prefecture, on Saturday, police sources said Monday. [Link]
    • Former Nagano Gov. Yasuo Tanaka said on Monday he would run in the proportional representation section of the upcoming House of Councillors’ election from a political party he now heads. [Link]
    • Norio Wakimura will resign as president of scandal-ridden general contractor Obayashi Corp. to take responsibility for the arrests of employees connected to a bid-rigging case, the company said Monday. [Link]
    • Concentrations of mercury in dead red-crowned cranes in southeastern Hokkaido have been detected recently that are 10 times higher on average and up to 300 times higher at a maximum than levels in avian species in general. [Link]
    • The national government plans to instruct local governments to inspect elevators manufactured by Hitachi Ltd. after a cable in one of them was found partially severed. [Link]
    • Philippine police said Monday they have launched an investigation into the shooting death of a Japanese karaoke bar owner on the southern island of Mindanao last month. [Link]
    • KDDI and Okinawa Cellular have added international data roaming services to voice roaming services in Canada for users of Global Passport, the international roaming service offered by KDDI that enables au mobile handsets used in Japan to be used without modification overseas. [Link]
    • With stocks declining sharply, Russia has banned the export of live crabs, the bulk of which go to Japan, and the European Union is moving to restrict catches of another Japanese favorite, eel. [Link]
    • American veterans have marked the 65th anniversary of the battle of Midway, the turning point of the war against Japan. [Link]
    • A survey has determined what people Japanese are most afraid of when going to the dentist. [Link]
    • Nintendo Co., the world’s third- biggest maker of video-game players, widened its lead in Japan last month after its Wii consoles and DS portable players outsold products from Sony Corp. [Link]
    • More than 10 Kitakyushu city garbage collectors here have failed to use bags designated by the municipal government ordinance to dispose of their own trash, it has emerged. [Link]
    • Thirty-nine Japanese students and their two chaperones, stuck in Vancouver because of a measles scare, have been given a clean bill of health. [Link]
    • A Kobe man who stole a bicycle has been arrested after he was found riding it on an expressway exclusive for cars. [Link]

      • Afternoon Update:

      • Prime Minister Shinzo Abe left for Germany this morning to attend a Japan-European Union summit in Berlin and make his debut at the Group of Eight nations summit in the Baltic resort of Heiligendamm, where issues related to global warming and Africa are expected to top the agenda. [Link]
      • Japan will promote new aid programs to help developing countries take steps that not only cut greenhouse gas emissions but also address development issues such as pollution and poverty. [Link]
      • Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao on Monday refuted a June 3 report by Japan’s Kyodo News Agency claiming that Premier Wen Jiabao would not seek a second term. [Link]
      • A middle-aged Japanese bureaucrat who bared his belly before the nation six months ago in a bid to fight obesity on Monday flaunted a tighter stomach after shedding pounds beyond his target. [Link]
      • For the second time in three days, a Toho Air Service Co. helicopter crashed Monday in the mountains of central Japan. [Link]
      • he South Korean and Japanese navies plan to hold a joint search-and-rescue exercise later this month in the waters between the two neighboring countries. [Link]
      • While the traditional tourist spots of Japan and the cityscape of Tokyo are becoming bigger drawing cards for foreign tourists, Osaka is proving to be a popular destination for visitors of a different kind–students. [Link]
      • A 36-year-old dentist was arrested Monday for touching a woman patient’s breast during dental treatment in Saitama Prefecture. [Link]
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