Japan News for July 20, 2007

Japan-related news links for today:

N-H-K On The Interweb: N-H-K plans to offer previously aired television programs on the Internet possibly starting in fiscal 2008, making it the first Japanese TV company to do so. [Link]

Warnings Ignored: The nuclear power plant where a radiation leak and transformer fire occurred after the earthquake was told two years ago by the International Atomic Energy Agency that it lacked fire prevention measures, it was learned Wednesday. [Link]

Inspection: Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan (NSC) members inspected a nuclear power plant on Thursday where a fire and a minor radiation leak occurred after it was hit by a powerful earthquake on Monday. [Link]

Teachers Punished: A total of 137 Tokyo metropolitan school teachers who were forced to undergo a training session after they refused to cooperate in singing the national anthem at school ceremonies in 2004 lost their damages suit on Thursday. [Link]

Jail Time: Former investment fund manager Yoshiaki Murakami was sentenced to two years in prison on Thursday and ordered to pay 1.152 billion yen in fines for insider trading. [Link]

Not Lovin’ It: McDonald’s Japan has pulled over 13,500 cartons of milk from its restaurants because they could contain bacteria, the company said Wednesday. [Link]

Plug-in Hybrid: Toyota is set to file papers to allow it to test a new plug-in hybrid version of its Prius on the open road. [Link]

Dorm Fire: Two women died and seven others were sickened in a fire that badly damaged a Tokyo dormitory for foreign residents early Thursday. [Link]

A lot of Wii: Nintendo has sold more than 3 million units of its Wii game console in Japan, three times the sales of Sony’s PlayStation 3. [Link]

No Autographs: A Japanese reporter has apologized for breaking official rules when he asked a player for an autograph in the New York Yankees’ locker room. [Link]

Internet Police: A private hotline has received about 60,000 reports on harmful information on the Internet, such as obscene images, since it was set up in June last year, National Police Agency (NPA) officials said. [Link]

E-Mail Threats: A woman under arrest for sending letters threatening to kill popular singer Tokiko Kato used the name of the victim’s late husband as the sender. [Link]

Schoolgirl Slasher: A man abruptly slashed the left ankle of a junior high school girl with a paper cutter on a street in Nagoya on Thursday and fled on foot. [Link]

Canned Ramen Love: Canned ramen has got consumers doing their noodle, buying it like crazy since it hit the market in April, according to Sunday Mainichi. [Link]

Dead End: A 22-year-old man died after he drove his car into a concrete wall during a police chase on early Thursday in Chiba Prefecture. [Link]