Japan News for June 06, 2007

This morning’s Japan-related news links:

• Twenty-four percent of Japanese voters would choose the ruling Liberal Democratic Party or its candidates under the proportional representation system if the Upper House election were held now, an Asahi Shimbun survey showed. [Link]
• About 90 liters of diesel oil, an extremely expensive commodity in North Korea, was found on the boat of four defectors, raising doubts about the impoverished life they said they had fled. [Link]
• According to Arudou Debito, the immigrant “Newcomer” Permanent Residents will outnumber the “Oldcomer” Zainichi generational foreigners by the end of this year. [Link]
• Sorting out the public pension system debacle and easing doctor shortages headed the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s pledges announced Tuesday for the Upper House election next month. [Link]
• The government and the LDP said Tuesday income tax will not be imposed on lump-sum payments covering the shortfall of payments to pension beneficiaries. [Link]
• The Kanagawa prefectural police and the Maritime Self-Defense Force police unit searched the MSDF’s Maizuru Training Center in Maizuru, Kyoto Prefecture, and Iwakuni Air Base in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Tuesday in connection with the leak of confidential data on the Aegis defense system. [Link]
• Japanese tourists are the best in Europe, according to a recent survey of hoteliers across the continent. [Link]
• Japan’s Crown Prince Naruhito was admitted to a hospital here Tuesday for planned surgery to remove a benign growth in his intestines. [Link]
• A patient’s death after a failed operation in Japan that was televised live to medical personnel has triggered criticism that doctors performed the surgery as if they were on an interactive reality show. [Link]
• In a discovery likely to influence discussions on the treatment of atomic-bombing victims, researchers have discovered that people who entered Hiroshima shortly after the 1945 bombing were exposed to residual radiation equal to the radiation suffered by those who were 1.3 to 1.5 kilometers from the hypocenter at the time of the bombing. [Link]
• More than 10 wild Japanese deer have been found dead on the Tanzawa mountain range in Kanagawa Prefecture since March, according to those involved in a nature conservation campaign. [Link]
• The theater idol group AKB48 is looking to add 18 members, in the form of trainees. The new additions will be given singing and dancing lessons, with the goal of having them participate in AKB48’s stage performances. [Link]
• It was discovered on Tuesday that actress Ryoko Hirosue has filed a defamation suit against Josei Seven publisher Shogakukan, seeking a published apology and approximately 23 million yen in damages. [Link]
• A post officer worker in Ibarakai Prefecture has been arrested for flashing his genitals at a female clerk at a convenience store. [Link]
• A Tokyo host club manager and three other people were arrested on Tuesday for forcing a woman into prostitution after she couldn’t pay her bills at the club. [Link]
• A 43-year-old woman has been arrested for abandoning the body of her mother in their apartment for several months after her death. [Link]
• An increasing number of Japanese men, mainly those who have retired from work are growing mustaches and beards. [Link]
• A Hokkaido Prefectural Government official has been handed a suspended prison term for having sexual relations with a 13-year-old girl. [Link]
• Internet content creator Hertz has launched a new marketing service called “QR Ebi-sen,” which allows companies and individuals to print QR code on shrimp crackers. [Link]
• Toshihide Takase, a gruff farmer from Matsuzaka, Mie Prefecture, has laid claim to being the world’s only successful snail breeder, according to Weekly Playboy. [Link]
• A 24-year-old man was arrested Monday for stealing women’s underwear in Kagoshima, police said Tuesday. He was wearing a schoolgirl’s “sailor” suit and was barefoot at the time of his arrest. [Link]

Afternoon Update:

• Japan’s scandal-hit Social Insurance Agency lost the identities of 930,000 pension insurance policyholders in 1964, but has failed to take any measure to prevent a recurrence, an opposition legislator has revealed. [Link]
• The European Union and Japan agreed on Tuesday to take the lead in forging a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, jointly proposing to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. [Link]
• A man linked to the Red Army Faction who had been living in Pyongyang for the last 20 years was arrested Tuesday night when he arrived at Kansai International Airport on a flight from Beijing. [Link]
• A yakuza and another man, under indictment for using fake securities, have been hit with new arrest warrants for importing a massive number of forged taxi tickets from China. [Link]
• The fate of a Nazi U-boat that was torpedoed en route to Japan with 70 people on board, including two Japanese men, hangs in the balance as officials debate what to do about a growing environmental threat. [Link]
• Local broadcasters affiliated with Tokyo Broadcasting System Inc. voiced strong opposition Tuesday to Internet mall operator Rakuten Inc.’s bid to make TBS an affiliate. [Link]
• Eighty-eight percent of new employees polled are nonsmokers, and 25 percent seek nonsmoking environments when looking for a job, according to a recent survey by a Japanese maker of medical supplies. [Link]
• Japan’s first openly lesbian politician celebrated her same-sex partnership on Sunday, a month before elections for Japan’s upper house. [Link]
• Sales of CDs by pop group ZARD have risen sharply almost across the board since the May 27 death of lead singer Izumi Sakai, according to Oricon Co., which specializes in music rankings. [Link]
• Danny Choo has discovered the secret to keeping advertisement fliers out of your mailbox in Japan. [Link]
• Robots may not be able to feel emotions but Japanese scientists have created one which they say expresses them. [Link]