Archive for November, 2010

China Still Blocking Rare Earth Exports to Japan

The AFP reports that China’s embargo of rare earth metal exports is still in place. Japanese companies are still having serious trouble obtaining rare earth metals from China, despite claims by the Chinese government that such trouble should not exist:

Tokyo has accused China of restricting shipments of rare earths — elements used in high-tech products from iPods to cars — since a September maritime incident in disputed waters sparked a bitter diplomatic row.

China, which controls 95 per cent of the global market, has denied any embargo, but a Japanese trade ministry survey in October found that all 31 companies handling rare earths in Japan had reported disruption to shipments.

Japanese deputy cabinet secretary Noriyuki Shikata warned Thursday that “Chinese companies could suffer as a result — we are exporting some of those parts or materials (made with rare earths) to China”.

“It’s in the interests of the Chinese side” to resume shipments, he said.

Japan is in talks with “many candidate countries” over alternative rare earth supplies, Shikata said, including India, Vietnam, Mongolia and Botswana, while private-sector deals are already in place with Australian firms.

Related clip: The New York Times talks about rare earth metals

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Japanese Cat vs. Inadequately Small Boxes

The World-famous Maru tries to slip into mega small boxes:

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Video: Japanese Coast Guard Rescues Chinese Sailors

Some footage of the Japanese coast guard rescuing a few survivors from a ship that had sunk near Iriomote island:

Japan’s Coast Guard said on Friday it joined the rescue effort at the request of Taiwanese authorities after the Panama-registered cargo ship Nasco Diamond lost contact early on Wednesday on open seas, about 210 miles south of Japan’s southern island of Iriomote.

The survivors, all in their twenties, told Japanese authorities the ship capsized after sea water gushed into a storage area for unknown reasons, a coast guard official said.

The Coast Guard and their Taiwanese counterparts rescued five crew members, but two later died.

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Japanese Man Helps Bring Water to Afghanistan

A news video from earlier this year about Dr. Tetsu Nakamura, a Japanese man who has worked to provide aid for poor villagers in Afghanistan:

Violence forced other Japanese to flee the country, but Nakamura stayed behind to keep working. His organization, Peshawar-kai, has concentrated on building irrigation systems to help Afghan villagers turn parched land into fertile farmland.

Rather than relying on poured concrete, Nakamura decided to use simpler construction methods to channel the water. By using low-tech mesh and stones, he can involve Afghan villagers in the construction process and also be sure that future maintenance of the irrigation system will not be beyond their technical capabilities.

The available of water have transformed the countryside:

Unfortunately, according to a recent article in the Japan Times, the irrigation systems were damaged by flooding this summer and the NGO is in need of assistance:

“We need water before medicine,” said Tetsu Nakamura, 64, an Afghan-based physician representing Peshawar-kai, during a recent trip back to Japan. “Medicine cannot cure hunger and thirst.”

Since 2003, the group has been building irrigation channels in areas about 30 km from Jalalabad, an eastern Afghan town affected by desertification due to droughts.

The group also built two water intake facilities at an irrigation channel in another area from 2008 to earlier this year, as they are essential for a stable supply of water regardless of the season.

For inquiries, call Peshawar-kai at (092) 731-2372.

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Tsuyoshi Kusanagi Praised for Role in “Japanese Americans” Miniseries

SMAP’s Tsuyoshi Kusanagi played one of the leading roles in the “Japanese Americans” miniseries that aired on TBS last week, and it seems that his acting was well-accepted by the media. Both the Wall Street Journal and Yomiuri have praised him in English language articles, noting that how he has climbed back to the top since his drunk public nudity scandal:

Shot on location in Washington State — a fairly unsubtle choice of location given the success of Japanese baseball star Ichiro Suzuki in that part of the world — the story is told in flashback by later generations of the (by now wealthy and successful) Hiramatsu family. Tsuyoshi Kusanagi of evergreen boy-band SMAP plays the lead role, confirming his return from the wilderness after being arrested in 2009 for stripping naked in a public park.

The Yomiuri even thought his English was praise-worthy:

Still, overall, 99-nen no Ai provided viewers with a rare week of compelling drama and Kusanagi really was outstanding. He even recited his few English lines quite succinctly. Combine that with his proficiency in Korean, and perhaps we should hand him the SMAP foreign language ability crown, too. (For Kimura, we have birthday cake. He turns 38 on Nov. 13.)

It’s nice to see how well Kusanagi has bounced back from his April 2009 drunken, late-night nude-romp-in-the-park debacle. With his career definitely back on track, he has earned a nomination for a 2010 Tellie, the Televiews year-end awards for TV Excellence.

While I enjoyed the miniseries, it would be hard for me to agree with the article’s assessment of Kusanagi’s English. Kusanagi’s character was supposed to be born and raised in the United States, but his delivery and pronunciation of English lines was so stilted and unnatural that just listening to him speak made me cringe.

Here’s an example, so you can judge for yourselves:

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Security Guard Arrested for Carrying Knives

A private security guard who was supposed to be guarding the APEC summit was arrested after showing up to work with two knives in his bag:

…he told investigators the knives were for self-protection.

The police raided locations related to Sekizawa, including his home, and seized another knife, they said.

The knives he was carrying when he showed up for work were reportedly about 8 cm long (3.15 inches).

From the looks of the video, several of the knives seized from his home probably have blades long enough to be deemed illegal under Japan’s strict knife-control laws.

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