Archive for January, 2009

Japanese scientists study monkeys & stone tools

A study of monkeys in Japan may have shed some light on how our ancestors learned to use stone tools:

Scientists at the Primate Research Center in Kyoto have watched generations of macaques pass stone-handling techniques from mother to child, said Michael A. Huffman, a primatologist at the center.

In their study, stone-handling included rubbing and clacking stones together, hitting them onto hard surfaces, picking them up, and cuddling, carrying, pushing, rolling and tossing stones.

The scientists found the stone-handling behavior changed with each generation as individual monkeys contributed their own patterns of stone-handling.

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Explosion injures construction worker at Okinawa battle site

A construction crew in Okinawa accidentally set off what is believed to have been a World War 2 era landmine:

Jun Kohagura, 25, was working on an underground water pipe on the subtropical island when the bomb went off, seriously injuring him in the face.

“He was brought to hospital where he remains conscious. But his condition is not good as his injuries are so terrible that a piece of his flesh was found on the ground at the scene,” fire department official Atsushi Kakazu said.

The explosion was strong enough to shatter the glass of a nearby nursing home in the city of Itowan. A 72-year-old man was lightly injured but did not need hospital care, the fire department said.

The incident took place on the southern tip of the island, an area where some of the fiercest fighting took place during the Battle of Okinawa. News reports say the explosion was particularly close to the Himeyuri Peace Museum.

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Immigration Bureau　decides to delay decision on deportation of Noriko Calderon

The Tokyo Immigration Bureau decided today that it would continue to delay its decision on the deportation of Noriko Calderon, a girl born in Japan to Filipino parents who entered the country illegally. Noriko and her parents have once again been given temporary permission to stay in Japan while their case is under consideration. The new deadline is February 13th.

TBS, the only major Japanese network that has been giving significant attention to this case, reported on the latest developments:

The report quotes an unnamed Immigration Bureau official who says that it is possible that Noriko could get special permission to stay in Japan, but it is unlikely that the government would grant special residency visas to her parents. If they want to live together as a family, they would have to go to the Philippines.

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Interview about Kamikaze pilots

John Stewart interviews Maxwell Taylor Kennedy, the author of Danger’s Hour: The Story of the USS Bunker Hill and the Kamikaze Pilot Who Crippled Her:

[via Victory Manual]

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Korea Times reports on “stingy” shopping habits of Japanese tourists

A weak won caused South Korea’s tourism revenue to increase by 61.3 percent last year, with foreign tourists’ per capita spending almost doubling in the same period. This should be somewhat good news in the midst of a global recession, but the Korea Times wants to remind us that Japanese tourists are “stingy” shoppers:

“At stores in Myeong-dong, about 40-50 percent of customers are Japanese. They mostly buy cosmetic items priced at 10,000 won ($7),” said Kim Chang-soo, an employee at Etude House.

“Forever 21,” a popular fast-fashion brand, opened its first Korean store in Myeong-dong last October. Clothes there range from 3,500 won to 69,800 won ($2-$50) in price and accessories cost 2,000-40,000 won ($1-$29). In November, Japanese visitors started coming to the low-priced store in crowds.

“Most of our customers are Japanese, especially in the morning,” Betty, the assistant manager of the shop, said, crediting her shop’s low prices and “freshness” with its popularity. “We sell the latest fashion items at affordable prices, so it’s easy for people to open their purses. The brand does not have branches in Japan and Japanese buyers think it’s new and fresh,” she added.

“Japanese are fastidious in buying clothes. They look around and try on a lot of items but buy only one or two cheap ones. Customers from Singapore and Hong Kong tend to buy much more,” said Park So-young, who works at an outlet near Ewha Womans University.

Grocery stores in Myeong-dong and Namdaemun Market have set up Japanese signs as well. At Dream Mart, a grocery store in central Seoul, pomegranate and omija teas, which cost around 4,000 won ($3) each , are the most popular product among Japanese shoppers.

The Korea Times article highlights the fact that Japanese tourists aren’t buying expensive products, but maybe that’s because their reporter only bothered to interview shopkeepers who sell cheap stuff. Another South Korean newspaper, the Chosun Ilbo actually bothered to check how the tourism boom has effected stores selling high-priced luxury goods:

“It’s very interesting and surprising. I have been working for Cartier for eight years, and it is the first time that sales to Japanese tourists surpassed that of Korean customers,” said Park Ji-hoon, a manager at the Cartier Maison in Cheongdam-dong, a high fashion district, in Seoul, showing the reporter a sales book for December.

“A total of 150 Japanese tourists visited our shop in December, and snapped up rare items like rings and necklaces that cost W20 to 50 million per item (US$1=W1,340). Some say the biggest beneficiary of the high-flying Japanese yen is not the Japanese, but luxury shops in Cheongdam-dong,” said Park.

According to the Korea Economic Daily on Thursday, the boom resulting from the skyrocketing value of Japanese yen against the Korean won has expanded to luxury shops, hair salons and restaurants in Apgujeong-dong and Cheongdam-dong, districts known for luxury shopping. Japanese tourists, who generally shopped for low to mid-priced items in Myeong-dong, are now turning their eyes to Korea’s mecca for luxury items.

It is also being reported that South Korea’s medical tourism industry is also seeing increased revenue from Japanese tourists. It sounds like there are quite a few Japanese tourists who are anything but stingy.

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Related story: London’s luxury stores have also seen an increase in the number of Japanese tourists taking advantage of favorable currency exchange rates.
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MSDF can only protect Japanese ships and ships carrying Japanese-owned cargo

As the navies of other nations take action against Somali pirates, Japanese lawmakers are still debating the limitations that will be placed on any MSDF ships sent to aid in the anti-piracy mission:

The inability to protect non-Japanese ships from pirate threats under the existing rules has been a sore point for the Japanese government as it considers ways to contribute to international efforts at combating pirates in the region.

The maritime policing provision in the Self-Defense Forces Law stipulates that the SDF can be authorized to take necessary measures to protect lives and assets at sea, which is generally taken to mean those of Japanese.

In line with this, the government has so far said the MSDF, when providing maritime policing, can protect only Japanese-registered ships and others operated by Japanese firms as well as ships with Japanese people aboard.

According to the lawmakers, who were briefed at a meeting of the ruling bloc’s antipiracy project team on Tuesday, government officials told them that it is possible for the MSDF to provide protection to non-Japanese ships as long as they are loaded with Japanese cargo because such cargo can be interpreted to be Japanese assets.

Maybe it would be possible for MSDF helicopters to drop boxes of Japanese cargo onto the decks of ships in distress to provide a legal basis for saving those ships from pirates?

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