Japan-related news links for today:

Nuclear Plant: Kashiwazaki City Mayor Hiroshi Aida ordered on Wednesday that operations of a nuclear power plant here be temporarily shut down after a fire broke out at the facility following a powerful quake that jolted the area. [Link]

Abe Can Survive: So argues GlobalTalk 21’s Jun Okamura in an editorial entitled ” Why Prime Minister Abe Can Stay on Even if the Coalition Loses (if He Wants to).” [Link]

Warned: Japan has warned leaders of the House of Representatives that serious, long-term damage to Japanese-U.S. relations is likely if the House passes a resolution demanding an official apology from Japan for its wartime policy of forcing women to become sex slaves for Japanese soldiers. [Link]

Early Voting: Ballots cast for the July 29 Upper House election through early voting procedures have increased by 10 percent over the previous election in 2004, a trend that has some ruling coalition members on edge. [Link]

Danger Zone: Experts have put the reason for the series of major quakes in Niigata prefecture down to the existence of a tectonic belt where seismic strains are concentrated. [Link]

Slush Funds: 216 million yen in slush funds has been uncovered at the Miyazaki prefectural government. [Link]

40 Million: Mazda Motor Corp. on Tuesday celebrated 40 million units of cumulative vehicle production in Japan, reaching the milestone in 75 years and nine months after beginning output in October 1931. [Link]

Peverted Cop: A man overpowered a police officer who photographed up the skirt of his daughter at a video game arcade in Yokosuka, according to police. [Link]

Matsuri Chikan: A man from Kagoshima Prefecture has been arrested for molesting a woman at a festival in Kyoto. [Link]

Business Chikan: Prosecutors on Wednesday demanded that a famous business commentator be imprisoned for six months for groping a high school girl on a train. [Link]

Reuters On Love Dolls: “Real love is hard to find for one Japanese man, who has transferred his affection and desires to dozens of plastic sex dolls.” [Link]