Japan News for July 21, 2007
Japan-related news links for today:
Not Good: None of the 10 companies operating nuclear power reactors in Japan have manuals to cope with earthquake-related fires, the Mainichi has learned, just days after an earthquake triggered a fire at a nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture. [Link]
Weak Yen: The yen fell on speculation profit growth will support stock prices, prompting investors to borrow in Japan and buy equities elsewhere. [Link]
Spiteful: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe began his election campaign in Shikoku on Friday, but he avoided a visit to Kochi Prefecture in apparent retaliation against critical remarks made by a Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) member in the prefecture. [Link]
Gang War: Seven teens were arrested and papers were sent to prosecutors on 35 others on suspicion of assembling weapons such as steel pipes for a gang fight in Kawachi-Nagano, Osaka Prefecture. [Link]
Canadian Museum Problems: The Canadian War Museum in Ottawa is under fire from the National Association of Japanese Canadians, which has pressed it to change the way it depicts their community’s suffering – and their volunteering, despite that suffering, for active combat. [Link]
Random Stabbing: An 11-year-old girl was seriously injured Friday after being stabbed in the back near her school by a man who apparently picked his victim at random. [Link]
Price War: KDDI Corp. said Thursday it plans to cut its basic monthly mobile-phone fees by 50 percent starting in September if users sign a two-year-contract ・a decision that could trigger an industry price war. [Link]
Hit By A Parked Car: Two high school bicycle racers have died after crashing into an illegally parked car in Chiba during a training session. [Link]
Pot Farmer: An unemployed man who grew marijuana on farm land he rents from the municipal government has been arrested in Nagano. [Link]
Manzoku Publisher: A suburban Tokyo politician — and former Mainichi reporter — has become the center of a huge brouhaha with some colleagues waging a campaign for his dismissal because he used to publish guides to the sex industry. [Link]
So? In an extremely rare move, a number of U.S. forces’ armored cars suddenly entered the parking lot of a shop selling Okinawa specialty goods on Wednesday evening and stopped there for five minutes before leaving the scene. [Link]
