Japan News for July 15, 2007

Japan-related news links for today:

They Both Suck: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his main rival Ichiro Ozawa have fallen so far out of touch with voters that they are now even more unpopular than the parties they lead, according to a survey by The Asahi Shimbun and a University of Tokyo team. [Link]

Typhoon Damage: A strong typhoon lashed southern Japan with high winds and heavy rain on Saturday, injuring dozens and prompting calls for thousands of homes to be evacuated. [Link]

Yen For Oil: Iran has asked Japanese refiners to switch to the yen to pay for all crude oil purchases, after Iran’s central bank said it is reducing holdings of the U.S. dollar. [Link]

Comfort Women Apology: The U.S. House of Representatives will probably pass a nonbinding resolution calling on Japan to formally apologize for forcing young women into sexual slavery during the war, around the time of the July 29 Upper House election, says the resolution’s chief architect, Rep. Mike Honda. [Link]

Fallout: In Nagasaki and Hiroshima, ex-Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma’s June 30 comments that the 1945 atomic bombings “could not be helped” because they brought an end to World War II have not only angered survivors but stung Liberal Democratic Party-backed candidates running for the July 29 Upper House election. [Link]

No Online Campaigning: Now the campaign for the upper house election in Japan has started, tough rules on how politicians can canvas for votes have come into force. [Link]

Ichiro Stays: Japanese baseball star Ichiro Suzuki signed a five-year contract extension worth a reported 100 million dollars with the Seattle Mariners on Friday. [Link]

Organ Market: Denying involvement in the illegal organ trade, a Japanese man revealed in a recent interview that he paid around 10 million yen to a Japanese agent to undergo a kidney transplant in the Philippines. [Link]

Lawyer Training: “Don’t hesitate,” “Make eye contact,” and “Don’t read from a script,” were some of the pieces of advice given to lawyers at a training session held in Tokyo to help them brush up their skills in preparation for the new lay-judge system to be implemented in 2009. [Link]

Onsen Hazards: A nationwide survey of onsen facilities conducted after a fatal explosion at a Tokyo spa in June found that many operators are unaware of the danger of natural gas in hot-spring water. [Link]

Newsworthy In China: An antique collector in northern China’s Hebei Province says he’s recently gained a piece of special collection of high value, a Japanese girl’s application paper for becoming a prostitute, submitted in 1921. [Link]

iPhone Fantasies: While many Japanese consumers have expressed interest in the Apple iPhone, a survey has shown that most are looking for features that the iPhone simply does not have. [Link]

DS Kanji Prep: Rocket Company, who released Kanken DS for the Nintendo DS will be releasing Kanken DS 2 in late September. [Link]

Rub-A-Dub-Dub: Three women completed the 60-kilometer crossing from Sado to Honshu in tub boats Saturday, following in the footsteps of a mythical figure who traversed the straits to see her lover on the mainland. [Link]