2011年8月30日火曜日

110830


Noda seen safe choice to lead quake-hit Japan

Japan's next prime minister Yoshihiko Noda compares himself to a eel-like fish and admits his looks won't get him anywhere in popularity contests, but many say his calm and expertise are exactly what the nation needs at a time of crisis. Noda, until now finance minister in Prime Minister Naoto Kan's cabinet, will take over as Japan's sixth leader in five years as the nation grapples with the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and a meltdown at a nuclear power station. The 54-year-old judo practitioner is considered a safe pair of hands and a stabilising influence after Kan's sometimes erratic and divisive rule. But doubts run deep about whether the advocate of fiscal responsibility and tax increases to contain Japan's bulging debt can overcome a divided parliament and deep rifts in his own party sufficiently to tackle a long list of economic ills. (Reuters)

2011年8月18日木曜日

110818


One dead, three missing after tour boat capsizes in central Japan

A boat carrying 23 passengers capsized on Wednesday in central Japan, leaving one tourist dead and three people missing, local media said. The fire department in the city of Hamamatsu in western Shizuoka prefecture said the sightseeing boat capsized while going down the Tenryu River. The boat was carrying 23 people including the boatmen and a tour guide, according to NHK Television. 
A woman in her 70s was pronounced dead, while a 2-year-old boy, an 82-year-old man and a boatman are missing. Six other people were hospitalized, including one elderly woman who was unconscious. (channel6newsonline.com)

2011年8月14日日曜日

110814


Kyoto rejects ceremonial bonfire wood from Iwate over radiation fears

Japan's former imperial capital of Kyoto apologized Saturday after rejecting wood from the tsunami-ravaged Pacific coast for a traditional bonfire festival over fears of radioactive contamination. For centuries, Kyoto has marked the end of a Buddhist holiday season, during which ancestors' souls are believed to return home, by setting giant bonfires on mountains. In modern times the event has been held every August 16, and Rikuzentakata, a city in Japan's northeast devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, last month offered Kyoto wood from pine trees uprooted by the waves. The double disaster left 2,140 people dead or missing in Rikuzentakata-about 10% of those who perished overall-and left only one of the 70,000 pine trees that once lined its scenic coastline standing. (Japan Today)

2011年8月13日土曜日

110813


Japan and South Korea's Rocky Row

Reports that Japan is considering taking the Dokdo/Takeshima dispute to the ICJ risk further inflaming tensions with South Korea. Neither side seems likely to give in. Questions over their status keep rearing their head. Known as Dokdo in Korea and Takeshima in Japan, this nondescript, rocky group of islets seems to garner far more attention than their tiny size would seem to justify. Yet in South Korea, year after year, every perceived slight by the Japanese 'colonizers' is pored over in the media in near-microscopic detail. Such incidents are usually followed by the Japanese ambassador of the moment being summoned to the South Korean Foreign Ministry for 'clear the air' talks, with the usual rebuke securing blanket coverage in the nightly news. (The Diplomat)

2011年8月12日金曜日

110812


Hillsides of Kyoto to flame up with words

The world's largest bonfires will illuminate the hillsides of Kyoto's surrounding mountains Aug. 16 bringing this year's Bon festival to a close. The Gozan no Okuribi, or ceremonial bonfires, are formed in the shapes of various Japanese characters. The most famous of these is lit on Mount Daimonji and takes the form of the kanji "dai," meaning "large." After that bonfire is set ablaze at around 8 p.m., four other gigantic fires are lit in approximately 10-minute intervals. By 8:30 p.m. all the hillsides will be alight, each lasting for about 30 minutes. (Japan Times)

2011年8月11日木曜日

110811


Japan's victims: surviving day by day

Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture -- It's 4:50 in the morning and golden rays of sunshine are already streaming through the glass block windows at the Shizugawa High School Judo Dojo. The sound of rustling blankets can be heard coming from one corner while sounds of snoring emanate from all around. The sliding metal door opens and closes as early risers tend to their morning business. There is no running water. Six portable toilets are lined up outside the dojo - three for women and three for men. A five-gallon plastic jug with a spout and a plastic bowl serve as a temporary sink. Soap, hand sanitizer, paper towels and a wastebasket sit next to the jug of water. Cleanliness is of the utmost importance to prevent the spread of germs and diseases. (ailovejapan.org)

2011年8月10日水曜日

110810


US grows version of pricey Japanese Kobe beef

Half a world away from the secretive farms that produce Japan's legendary Kobe beef, Jerry Wilson raises the American version of the meat that will become $50 steaks and $13 burgers. The chocolatey brown cattle at Wilson's Meadows Farm don't technically produce Kobe beef - that term is reserved for the Japanese super high-end cut famous for its succulent taste and eye-popping prices. Wilson calls his meat "American Style Kobe Beef." Other ranchers use similar names like "Kobe-style beef" or "wagyu beef," a reference to the breed of cattle. Whatever the name, domestic production of the pricey product has grown from practically nothing a dozen years ago to a flourishing boutique niche, with recent growth fueled in part by a ban on Japanese beef because of reports of foot-and-mouth disease. While American ranchers might not be able to match the mystique of Japanese Kobe and much of the domestic product is cross-bred, they say their product compares to the legendarily luscious stuff. (AP)