Today’s Japan-related news links:

Can He Make It? Takeru Kobayashi, the defending champion of New York’s annual Independence Day hot dog-eating contest, intends to return to the competition this year despite rumors he may not be able to do so because of jaw pain [Link]

Ex-PM Dies: Former Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa, known as a liberalist opposed to revising the pacifist Constitution, died of old age at his Tokyo home on Thursday afternoon. [Link]

Fujimori Enters Election: Disgraced Peruvian ex-President Alberto Fujimori will run in the July election for Japan’s parliament despite being under house arrest in Chile, the head of a Japanese party said Thursday. [Link]

Arrests: Former Public Security Intelligence Agency chief Shigetake Ogata and two other suspects were arrested Thursday over the fictitious purchase of a pro-Pyongyang group’s headquarters and its land in Tokyo. [Link]

Nationalist Groups Threaten Politicians: Asian-American lobbying groups, particularly the Chinese, are threatening to withhold support for American congressmen if they don’t back the resolution slamming Japan over the use of comfort women. [Link]

Unionized: Employees of a scandal-hit meat processing company, under fire for mixing pork with minced beef, formed a labor union on Wednesday after the company decided to dismiss them. [Link]

Poisonous Hotel Toothpaste: Three Japanese importers have begun recalling millions of Chinese toothpaste products in Japan after finding a chemical used in antifreeze, officials said Wednesday. [Link]

Kurdish Saitama: The police have arrested eight Turkish Kurds staying illegally in Saitama Prefecture, and seized materials from some of their homes that show connections with the armed separatist group the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) based in Turkey. [Link]

Blame Paxil: A growing number of depression patients have committed suicide as a suspected result of side-effects from the anti-depressant agent Paxil over the past few years, Japan’s Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said. [Link]

Pink Panther: The Metropolitan Police Department suspects that a jewelry theft on June 14 in Ginza, Tokyo, was committed by a pair of members belonging to the Europe-based crime ring known as the Pink Panther. [Link]

North Korean Threat: North Korea’s envoy for the country’s relations with Japan on Wednesday expressed pessimism toward improving ties under the government of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, saying “there is no outlook” for better relations between the two nations. [Link]

Sumo Death: Professional sumo wrestler Tokitaizan died from heart failure after he collapsed during practice in Aichi Prefecture. [Link]

Tourist Gold Mine? UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee on Thursday decided to register the remains of a silver mine in western Japan on the World Heritage List. [Link]

Trash Crisis: Desperate Japanese electronics makers warn that a crisis is brewing over their legal obligation to recycle conventional cathode-ray-tube (CRT) TVs, parts of which contain hazardous materials. [Link]

Brainy Remote: Forget the TV remote: There is a new technology that lets you control electronic devices simply by reading brain activity. [Link]

Bicycle Blunder: A botched police stakeout of a stolen bicycle in Ibaraki Prefecture led to it being stolen two more times with the bicycle and culprits still missing. [Link]

Texas Kobe Beef: A rancher in Texas has grown the largest group of purebred Akaushi cattle outside of Japan. [Link]