Japan News for July 02, 2007
Japan-related news links for today:
You’re Not Fired: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Sunday he will not sack Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma who apologized for recent comments that were taken as justifying the atomic bombing of Japan in World War II. [Link]
US Wants SDF In Afghanistan: James Shinn, who this month will take over as a high-ranking U.S. official on defense in the Asia-Pacific region, has sounded out senior Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Taku Yamasaki about Japan dispatching the Self-Defense Forces to Afghanistan [Link]
Oldest Woman: A certificate by Britain’s Guinness World Records recognizing 114-year-old Yone Minagawa as the world’s oldest person arrived by mail on Saturday at the town office of Fukuchi, Fukuoka Prefecture, where she lives, city officials said. [Link]
Campaigning Begins: Lawmakers headed for their constituencies early Saturday to begin campaigning for the July 29 House of Councillors election following a plenary session that lasted until the early hours of Saturday morning on the de facto final day of this year’s regular Diet session. [Link]
Many Candidates: As of Saturday, 359 people were preparing to run in the July 29 House of Councillors election, outnumbering the 320 who ran in the previous election in 2004, according to a Yomiuri Shimbun survey. [Link]
Complaining: North Korea voiced deep concerns Sunday over Japan’s participation in six-nation talks aimed at ending the North’s nuclear weapons program after Tokyo moved to seize the headquarters of Pyongyang’s de facto embassy in Japan. [Link]
Funeral: Around 1,500 people bid a final farewell Sunday at a funeral service for former Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa, who died last week at the age of 87. [Link]
File Sharing: Personal information on possibly more than 10,000 students was leaked onto the Internet from a high school teacher’s computer in Ichinomiya, Aichi Prefecture, via file-sharing software. [Link]
Less Hospitals: The number of emergency hospitals in 33 of Japan’s 47 prefectures has decreased in the last three years, due mainly to staff shortages. [Link]
Adulterated Diesel: A gang boss and about nine of his subordinates were arrested Saturday in Tokyo on suspicion of violating the Local Tax Law for evading more than 40 million yen in taxes by hiding profits made from the illicit sales of adulterated diesel. [Link]
Premium: A senior treasurer of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon), which planned to sell its headquarters building and the land it sits on to an investment consulting company headed by a former chief of the Public Security Intelligence Agency, told prosecutors that the mediator of the deal asked Chongryon to pay a 700 million yen “premium” when it bought back the building and land from the firm. [Link]
Trans-Siberian Shinkansen? The Japanese government plans to offer Shinkansen bullet train technology in assisting Russia’s planned improvement to its national railway networks, including the Trans-Siberian Railway. [Link]
