http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10437 Hitachi system engineer busted for stealing online securities passwords 1:57pm Thursday, March 15 A Hitachi, Ltd. system engineer has been arrested for stealing the passwords and the IDs of online securities firm customers, Tokyo police said Thursday. Norihide Nishino, 31, a resident of Totsuka-ku, Yokohama, is accused of violating the Unauthorized Computer Access Law. He admitted to the allegations during questioning. “I wanted to create a program that allows me to automatically log onto Websites without an ID or password,” he was quoted as telling investigators. “I’ve been interested in securities transactions since I was a university student.” Nishino stole the IDs and passwords of nine customers of the Tokyo-based JET Securities, Inc. on Nov. 14 and 15, and used them to illegally access the online brokerage’s server, Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) investigators said. Nishino developed software that automatically tries to access computers using various IDs once a single valid password is entered. He is suspected of using the program to access the brokerage’s server 170,000 times over the two-day period and obtaining the IDs and passwords of 26 customers. Moreover, the system engineer allegedly viewed the transaction record of five of them as well as their personal information. (Mainichi) ============================= http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10438 Dislodged bolt behind ANA plane’s belly-landing 2:32pm Thursday, March 15 A dislodged bolt was behind Tuesday’s belly-landing of an All Nippon Airways plane at Kochi Airport, government inspectors advised. Inspectors from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s Aircraft and Railway Accident Investigation Committee visited Kochi Airport to inspect the ANA Bombardier DHC8-Q400 that was involved in Tuesday’s accident. A bolt locking the arm that operates the front-landing gear door had fallen off, causing the door to malfunction. The inspectors will reportedly continue investigating the plane. Investigations said that because the bolt had been dislodged, a steel ring that covers it was moved and blocked the front-landing gear’s door from opening. (Mainichi) =============================== http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10420 Rat curry served to 18 people at train station noodle stand 11:21am Wednesday, March 14 A curry that was boiled up with a rat in the pot has been served to 18 people at a noodle stand at JR Shin-Koiwa Station in Tokyo, the operator of the stand said. Nippon Restaurant Enterprise Co. (NRE), the operator of the noodle stand, has apologized for the incident. “We offer our apologies and will return the money to customers who contact us,” a company spokesman said. Nobody who ate at the stand has so far complained about any health problems. Between 6:15 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, curry and rice and curry noodles were served to 18 customers at Ajisai Chaya noodle stand at JR Shin-Koiwa Station in Katsushika-ku, Tokyo, NRE officials said. At around 8:30 a.m., an 8-centimeter-long rat was caught by a ladle when the manager stirred the curry in the pot, prompting him to immediately close the stand. NRE officials said it is highly likely that the rat was mixed into the curry when the sauce was put into the pot. (Mainichi) ================================ http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10416 Number of sexless Japanese couples surges to 34 percent 3:42pm Tuesday, March 13 Some 34 percent of married Japanese couples have sex less than once a month, a government poll has found. The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare polled 3,000 males and females — aged between 16 and 49 years old — about their sexual behavior in November last year. Some 51.9 percent responded to the survey. The poll learned that 34.6 percent of married Japanese couples have sex with their partners less than once a month. The Japan Society of Sexual Science defines married couples who don’t have sex for more than one month as sexless. The sexless rate among couples was 31.9 percent in a 2002 poll. Kunio Kitamura, a member of the panel that carried out the poll and director of the Japan Family Planning Association, said, “The ratio of sexless couples has been increasing in recent polls. I think we have to make a connection between the increasing sexless rate and declining birthrates.” (Mainichi) ================================ http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10409 High school girl busted for poisoning classmate 11:49am Tuesday, March 13 FUKUSHIMA — A high school girl has been arrested for lacing a classmate’s drink with a bleaching agent at their school, causing her to suffer chemical poisoning, police said. The 16-year-old student is accused of inflicting bodily injury and intimidation. She has denied the allegations. Police are poised to send investigation reports to prosecutors, accusing two 16-year-old classmates of involvement in the incident. They admitted to the allegations. “We wanted to punish her,” one of them was quoted as telling investigators. The arrested girl conspired with the two to lace the 16-year-old girl’s drink with a bleaching agent at their school on May 30, 2006, causing her to suffer chemical poisoning for three days, local police said. They also wrote on a note, “You should die. I’ll poison you,” and put it in the victim’s shoe locker at the school on June 15 of that year, according to investigators. The three had got into an argument with the victim over a minor incident. (Mainichi) =============================== http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10403 76-year-old man gets life imprisonment for armed robbery of cash van 4:42pm Monday, March 12 OSAKA — A man under indictment for the armed robbery of a cash delivery van was ordered Monday to spend the rest of his life behind bars. The Osaka District Court convicted Hiroshi Nakamura, 76, of attempted murder, robbery, and violating the Firearms and Swords Control Law. “The defendant ignored the law and endangered the lives of other people as he tried to put his selfish idea into practice,” Presiding Judge Masaki Nishida said as he handed down the ruling. The judge dismissed Nakamura’s not-guilty plea after concluding that the bullet and cartridge left at the scene matched his gun. Nakamura shot a cash van’s guard in the parking lot of the Miyakojima branch of the Sumitomo-Mitsui Banking Corp. in Osaka in October 2001, injuring him in the left leg, and stole 5 million yen from the vehicle, according to the ruling. He was also found guilty of concealing 10 guns and about 1,000 bullets in a safety deposit box he had rented in Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, in 2003. Nakamura was sentenced to life imprisonment for fatally shooting a police officer who had attempted to question him 50 years ago after he planned to rob a bank. He was released on parole in 1976. He was also sentenced to 15 years in prison for shooting the guard of a cash van in Nishi-ku, Nagoya, in 2002 and stealing 50 million yen from the vehicle. (Mainichi) ============================= http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10400 Tokyo Governor Ishihara accused of not declaring 20 million yen donation 2:35pm Monday, March 12 Residents in Tokyo have filed a complaint with prosecutors claiming that Gov. Shintaro Ishihara received 20 million yen from supporters in 2005 but didn’t declare it as a political donation. The accusation was filed against Ishihara and his secretary, who serves as treasurer of his fund management office, accusing them of violating the Political Funds Control Law. The residents claim that Ishihara received 20 million yen in cash from a former House of Representatives member and his associates at a restaurant in the Ginza district of Tokyo in September 2005. The 2005 political fund report for Ishihara’s political office doesn’t mention the donation. Ishihara has admitted that he dined with the former Diet member at the restaurant, but flatly denied receiving the cash. (Mainichi) =============================== http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10372 Associate professor suspended for sexual harassment 3:59pm Friday, March 9 TSU — An associate professor at Mie University has been suspended from duty for one month for sexually harassing a part-time clerk last year, university officials said Friday. The associate professor in his 50s at the university’s post-graduate course on medicine, whose name is being withheld, is the fifth teacher at the institution to be punished over sexual harassment since 2001. He admitted to the allegations. “I’m so sorry for her,” he was quoted as telling university officials during questioning. The associate professor forcibly kissed a part-time clerk and fondled her body in the university administration office in April last year, according to university authorities. The incident surfaced last month after she complained about it to her bosses. (Mainichi)

http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10325 ANA, JAL planes bump wings at airport in China 4:27pm Monday, March 5 The right wing of an ANA jet hit the left wing of a JAL airplane at China’s Tianjin International Airport on Sunday, leading to the cancellation of both flights, government and company officials said. Flights ANA 114 and JAL 788 were set to depart for Central Japan International Airport in Aichi Prefecture. The ANA Boeing 737’s right wing touched the left wing of the JAL Boeing 767 as it was reversing along the runway on Sunday afternoon. Minor cracks appeared on both wings after the contact. The airplanes were set to take off at about 3:20 p.m. (Mainichi) ================================ http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10367 Imperial Household says various issues behind Empress Michiko’s illness 12:33pm Friday, March 9 Imperial Household Agency Grand Steward Shingo Haketa said that a variety of issues involving the Imperial Family is behind the stress that allegedly caused Empress Michiko’s intestinal bleeding. The agency said on Tuesday that Empress Michiko was being treated for bleeding from the walls of her intestines, which appeared to be stress-induced. A doctor for the Imperial Family said that magazine reports about the Imperial Family might be behind her stress. Grand Steward Haketa said on Thursday, “I think that the Emperor and the Empress are worried about a variety of issues involving the Imperial Family, rather than reports in weekly magazines.” Haketa added that he believed that the doctor meant that magazine reports were one of the factors behind Empress Michiko’s stress. But Haketa didn’t specify about the problems facing the Imperial Family. A palace official close to the Imperial Couple said that the issues Haketa mentioned apparently included the health of Emperor Akihito, who has undergone operations for prostate cancer, and those involving the family of Crown Prince Naruhito. (Mainichi) ========================================== http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10362 30 to 40 Fujiya franchise stores to close down after stale cake scandal 6:12pm Thursday, March 8 Some 30 to 40 Fujiya franchise stores will close down following revelations that the confectionery maker used ingredients that had passed their expiry dates to make cakes, company officials said Thursday. Most of the stores that intend to close are located in the Kanto region around Tokyo and the Kansai district that includes Osaka and Kobe. Fujita has some 800 franchise stores nationwide. Many of them were forced to suspend their business because the company had completely stopped producing sweets, and they were urged by the owners of the buildings housing them to move out after they were unable to pay their rent. Some of them have been forced to give up reopening their stores, even though they were previously profitable. The number of stores that will close down may further increase, company officials said. The company is considering financial support for franchise stores that are likely to close. “We’d like franchise stores to do business with us. We’d like to consider assistance for them including compensation for losses they suffer while they suspend their business,” said Fujiya President Yasufumi Sakurai. (Mainichi) ======================================== http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10279 Customs and police show off 3 tons of ivory confiscated from smugglers 4:47pm Thursday, March 1 OSAKA — Local customs and police officials showed the press on Thursday three tons of ivory they had confiscated from smugglers. Osaka Customs and Osaka Prefectural Police released some 608 pieces of ivory measuring 30 to 40 centimeters in length and 17,928 smaller pieces that the smugglers had intended to sell for use as seals. The ivory pieces weigh a total of three tons and are worth about 1 billion yen. The ivory is believed to have been taken from about 130 African elephants, customs officials said. It was the largest amount of ivory to be confiscated from smugglers in a single incident in Japan. The ivory was found in cargo unloaded from a freighter at Osaka Nanko Port in southern Osaka in August last year. Prefectural police arrested two suspects in the case. One of them, 42-year-old Hiroyuki Tada, a company president from Higashi-ku, Sakai, was subsequently indicted on charges of violating the Customs Law, while prosecutors decided not to charge his 28-year-old brother who serves on the firm’s board. Trading in ivory is prohibited under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, popularly known as the Washington Convention. However, ivory is traded on the black market for more than 100,000 yen per kilogram, according to law enforcers. (Mainichi) ====================== http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10273 Police officer admits to shoplifting while on duty 1:15pm Thursday, March 1 OITA — Oita Prefectural Police have begun questioning one of their officers for allegedly shoplifting from a store while on duty. The senior officer in his 50s has reportedly admitted to the allegations. Oita police will shortly send documents on the case to prosecutors, accusing the officer of theft. The officer stole seven items worth more than 10,000 yen in total by putting them in his bag. A guard became suspicious as the man left the store, and stopped him. The officer soon admitted to shoplifting the goods. “I was thirsty and went into the store to buy a drink,” he was quoted as saying. Police didn’t arrest the officer because he has already admitted to the allegations and has since paid for the goods. They officer has been suspended from work while the investigation continues. (Mainichi) ====================================== http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10271 Train derails after crashing into truck at railway crossing in Hokkaido 1:17pm Thursday, March 1 SAPPORO — A train derailed after it crashed into a truck at a railway crossing here on Thursday, leaving more than 40 passengers injured, police and JR Hokkaido officials said. The one-car train, with about 60 passengers aboard, crashed into the 11-ton trailer truck between Mihoro and Hiushinai stations on the JR Sekihoku Line in Mihoro at about 8:20 a.m. as it headed for Kitami. The train’s driver, Eiichi Goda, and 47 passengers were injured. The truck entered the crossing after crashing through the gate. “I noticed that the gate was down and applied the brakes but I failed to stop in time,” police quoted the driver of the truck, 45-year-old Hideyuki Kanayama, as saying. He was later arrested for professional negligence resulting in injury. Many of the passengers were local high school students on their way to graduation ceremonies. (Mainichi) ================================== http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10257 Former senior gangster, eldest son sentenced to death for murdering 4 people 6:01pm Tuesday, February 27 KURUME, Fukuoka — A former senior gangster and his eldest son were sentenced to death on Tuesday over the murder of four people in 2004. The Kurume branch of the Fukuoka District Court convicted Jitsuo Kitamura, 63, and, his eldest son, 26-year-old Takashi, of robbery-murder and other charges. The elder Kitamura’s wife, 47-year-old Mami, and their younger son, 22-year-old Takahiro, had earlier been given death sentences over the cases. Kitamura and Takashi conspired with Mami and Takahiro to plan to kill Sayoko Takami, 58, and steal money from her in 2004, according to the ruling. Takashi and Takahiro sneaked into Takami’s home in Omuta, Fukuoka Prefecture, late at night on Sept. 16, 2004, strangled her 15-year-old son, Joji, and stole jewelry from their home. In the predawn hours of Sept. 18, the four strangled Takami and stole 260,000 yen from her. They also murdered her 18-year-old son, Tatsuyuki, and his 17-year-old friend, Junichi Hara, who had witnessed the crime. Throughout his trial, Kitamura had claimed that he committed all the murders by himself. His defense lawyers had asked the court to avoid the death penalty saying that he regretted his crimes and apologized for them. Takashi had pleaded not guilty to the murder charges, and his defense lawyers also denied his involvement in any of the cases. (Mainichi) ============================ http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10249 Man admits to beating boy who was found murdered in reservoir 2:04pm Tuesday, February 27 CHIBA — A man under arrest for property damage has admitted that he and several accomplices beat up an 18-year-old boy who was found murdered in a reservoir, police said. After the body of welder Yuya Shinozuka was found in a reservoir in Katori, Chiba Prefecture, earlier this month, police arrested scaffolder Atsuo Takagi, 20, and six other people. “We attacked Shinozuka at several deserted places,” police quoted Takagi, from Ibaraki Prefecture, as saying. Police suspect that Takagi and his accomplices abducted Shinozuka on the evening of Feb. 17 or shortly after and drove the victim to several remote destinations, including a local government office compound. They allegedly beat him with steel pipes. They are also suspected of hurling Shinozuka into the reservoir and burning the car in a bid to destroy evidence. “The victim stopped moving after we attacked him,” one of the seven arrested people told police. “We thought he had died and decided to abandon the body in the reservoir.” (Mainichi) ===========================

http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/401655 81-year-old man arrested for paying 14-year-old girl to have sex with him Friday, March 23, 2007 at 16:39 EST SAPPORO — Police said Friday they have arrested an 81-year-old man for paying a 14-year-old girl to have sex with him in in Sapporo. According to police, the man gave 20,000 yen to the girl for sexual favors on Dec 30 last year. The man admits to the allegations. The man said he first met the girl at a supermarket in January of 2006. He said he offered to buy her dinner and in May, started paying her for “sexual favors” once a month, according to police. He had also given her his cash card. The crime came to light when police found the girl who had run away from home in February and questioned her. ======================= http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/401296 Tokyo teacher fired for uploading dead children’s images Tuesday, March 20, 2007 at 07:16 EST TOKYO — The Tokyo metropolitan government’s Education Bureau said Monday it has fired a 33-year-old elementary school teacher in police custody for uploading images of children, who had been killed in car accidents, without permission from their relatives. Toshio Watanabe was given a dishonorable discharge from the city-run Shorin Elementary School in Hamura in Tokyo’s western suburbs, effective Monday, it said. According to the bureau’s findings, Watanabe uploaded images of children, who died in accidents and natural disasters, which he had obtained from the Internet, onto a website he opened in April 2001. He attached to the images “inappropriate comments that inflict emotional distress on the bereaved families,” and kept the images and comments posted even after he moved to the western Tokyo suburban city of Akiruno in April 2006, it said. Arrested on suspicion of sending images of naked boys by e-mail to visitors of his website in violation of the anti-child pornography law, he was later indicted on the charge, and was also served a fresh arrest warrant over the uploading of deceased children’s images in breach of copyright laws. The board also said it has fired a 24-year-old teacher, effective the same day, for having sex with his junior high school pupil from November to January. ============================ http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/401082 Tokyo gets latest ever 1st snow of season Friday, March 16, 2007 at 10:14 EST TOKYO — Central Tokyo observed its latest ever first snowfall of the season on Friday morning, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. The season’s first snow, logged at 7 a.m. in the capital’s Otemachi area, came 73 days later than in the average year and more than a month later than the previous record of Feb 10 in 1960, the agency said. The agency previously said Tokyo experienced its first winter without snowfall since 1876 as the Otemachi observatory point did not record any snowfall from December to February, the period defined as winter in Japan. ================================== http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/401081 FBI searches ANA’s Los Angeles bureau Friday, March 16, 2007 at 10:13 EST LOS ANGELES — The FBI searched a suburban Los Angeles bureau of Japan’s All Nippon Airways Co on Thursday but details of the warrant under which the operation was conducted were not immediately known. The bureau did not respond to phone calls Thursday morning and it was not possible to place orders for flight reservations or ticket issuance with it, according to a travel industry source in Los Angeles. The U.S. Justice Department and the European Commission said in February last year that they have launched a probe of major airlines in many countries, including ANA and Japan Airlines Corp, another major Japanese carrier, in connection with a suspected cartel over airfreight charges. But it is not known if the search has anything to do with the investigation. ANA in Tokyo said, “We have been trying to confirm the aim of the search. It is not related to flight operations or terrorism.” ======================= http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/400765 Japan eyes response to international criticism of Abe’s sex slavery remarks Thursday, March 8, 2007 at 16:50 EST TOKYO — Japan is considering publishing counterarguments and taking other measures in response to international criticism of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s recent remarks on wartime sex slaves, with the top government spokesman accusing foreign media on Thursday of misinterpreting the remarks. “It is our understanding that reports on the prime minister’s remarks were not based on appropriate interpretation,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki said in reference to the furor sparked by Abe’s denial of military involvement in the coercion of foreign women into sexual servitude before and during World War II. “We are considering an appropriate response, including publishing rebuttals of media reports and commentaries overseas that are not based on facts or are based on misinterpretations,” Shiozaki told a news conference when asked to comment on a New York Times editorial dated Tuesday that criticized Abe’s “efforts to contort the truth.” ======================== http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/400762 6 Vietnamese women to sue Toyota subcontractor Thursday, March 8, 2007 at 16:53 EST NAGOYA — Six Vietnamese women who came to Japan to undergo industrial training and an internship under a Japanese government-sponsored skills-transfer program will soon sue a subcontractor of Toyota Motor Corp for more than 30 million yen in damages and unpaid wages, arguing their human rights were infringed upon and that overtime allowances were unpaid, their supporters said Thursday. The women, all in their 20s, plan to also name as defendants in the suit the Japanese recipient body of the Vietnamese trainees, which is a union of Toyota’s third-tier subcontractors, and the Japan International Training Cooperation Organization, a body set up by five Japanese ministries to promote the transfer of Japanese techniques and skills to developing countries, they said. ============================== http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/400754 Police recognize record-high domestic violence cases in 2006 Thursday, March 8, 2007 at 10:48 EST TOKYO — Police recognized 18,236 cases of domestic violence last year, up 8% from 2005 and its highest since the survey began in 2002, the National Police Agency said Thursday. The agency attributed the increase to a growing public attention to the problem since recent legislation has encouraged women, who previously tended not to complain, to report cases to police. Of the victims, 99% were women. By age bracket, 38% were in their 30s, 22% in their 20s and 20% in their 40s. Police, meanwhile, recognized 12,501 cases of stalking in 2006, up 2% from the previous year, and issued a warning under the stalker regulation law to 1,375, up 21%. ===========================

http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/400362 Japan whaling ship to return from Antarctic Thursday, March 1, 2007 at 05:00 EST TOKYO — The Nisshin Maru whaling vessel will end its work ahead of schedule after catching fire in the Antarctic Ocean in mid-February and is expected to arrive at Tokyo port in late March for an inspection to determine the cause of the fire, the Fisheries Agency said Wednesday. The boat was supposed to return home in April after catching a total of 860 minke and fin whales as part of an assignment by the Japanese government to undertake what it calls “research” or “scientific” whaling. The fleet caught 505 minke whales and three fin whales but had planned to catch 850 minke and 10 fin whales. ======================= http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/400012 AL reports cracks found in 8 MD-90 planes Sunday, February 25, 2007 at 06:50 EST TOKYO — Japan Airlines Corp said Saturday it has detected cracks in the same part of pipes in eight MD-90 airplanes including one which made an emergency landing at Kansai International Airport last week in safety checks conducted after the incident. JAL said it will investigate jointly with Boeing Co, suspecting that it was a crack that caused the emergency landing incident. JAL said the cracks were found on welds of pipes in the airplanes’ cargo holds and that eight of a total of 16 MD-90s as well as an MD-81 model it possesses had similar problems. The pipes are used to send hot air to the wings from the engines to prevent the flaps from freezing, JAL said, adding all of the cracks have been fixed. =========================== http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/399740 TV Tokyo aired program with fake fitness info Thursday, February 22, 2007 at 07:40 EST [TV Tokyo execs apologize Wednesday.] TV Tokyo execs apologize Wednesday. TOKYO — TV Tokyo Corp said Wednesday it broadcast a program that made false fitness claims. The announcement followed the revelation that Kansai Telecasting Corp also recently aired programs in which it fabricated diet information. In a one-off program that aired on Jan 6, TV Tokyo showed footage of a blood vessel to demonstrate the improvement in blood flow after a comedian took a yoga lesson. In fact, the footage used was of a blood vessel belonging to one of the show’s staff, it said. TV Tokyo President Sadahiko Sugaya apologized at a press conference, and announced that disciplinary measures would be taken against four senior executives, and would include a 20 percent cut in his salary for one month. ======================================== http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/399619 JAL passenger threatens crew with knife, then flees terminal in Kagoshima Wednesday, February 21, 2007 at 06:35 EST TOKYO — A male passenger on a Japan Airlines flight brandished a knife at a cabin crew member Tuesday evening when he deplaned at Kagoshima Airport and then ran off, triggering a security alert that caused the cancellation of one flight and delays to a few others, airline officials said. Given the possibility that the man might transfer to another flight at the airport, the authorities tightened security. Two JAL planes on a taxiway were pulled back to parking spots and the passengers had to deplane and have their belongings double checked. The man was on flight JL3736, a McDonnell Douglas MD-81 service from Amami-Oshima Airport in Kagoshima Prefecture, with 146 passengers and crew members, the officials said. The cabin crew member chased the man but lost track of him. The incident, which took place just after 6 p.m., caused the cancellation of one JAL flight and delays to four other flights by 30 minutes to one hour. Passengers are not allowed to take knives or edged tools onto airplanes under the Civil Aeronautics Law and can be punished with a fine of up to 500,000 yen. ==================================

http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10525 Aso says Westerners not as good as Japanese in Mideast peace initiative 5:25pm Friday, March 23 NAGASAKI — Foreign Minister Taro Aso caused a stir Wednesday by commenting in a speech on a Middle East peace initiative that “blue eyed, blond” Westerners would be “no good.” Speaking during a lecture in Nagasaki Prefecture, Aso referred to a Japanese peace initiative, saying, “ Japan is doing what the Americans can’t do. You can trust Japanese. It would probably be no good to have blue eyes and blond hair.” The minister added, “Fortunately, we have yellow faces. We have never at all been involved in exploitation there (in the Middle East) or been involved in fights or fired machine guns. Aso’s comments related to projects in the Jordan Valley connected with a Japanese peace initiative. (Mainichi) ==================== http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10519 Police box worker nabbed for bashing man with bat in argument over dogs 3:37pm Thursday, March 22 NARA — A police box worker who bashed a man in the head with a metal bat during an argument about the noise his dogs were making has been arrested, law enforcers said. Susumu Oya, a contract worker at a police box in Osaka Prefecture, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of inflicting injuries on the 57-year-old victim. Police said the 57-year-old man warned Oya about the noise his three dogs were making on a road outside Oya’s home in Kashiba, Nara Prefecture at about 8:15 p.m. on Wednesday, and an argument erupted between them. The man then went home and returned with a metal bat, which he used to hit the police worker. Oya responded by grabbing the bat and hitting the man on the head. The 57-year-old man suffered a head injury requiring about two weeks’ treatment, while Oya suffered a broken finger on his right hand, which he used to defend himself when the man attacked him. Police are waiting for the 57-year-old victim to recover before investigating him on suspicion of assaulting Oya. (Mainichi)

http://www.gaijinpot.com/read_news.php?id=10458 Couple arrested for beating 3-year-old boy unconscious 6:30pm Friday, March 16 RUMOI, Hokkaido — A man and woman who hit her 3-year-old son and hurled him across the room of her apartment, leaving him unconscious with brain injuries, were arrested Friday, police said. Arrested were Maki Suzuki, 26, and Daisuke Tsubone, 29, both residents of Rumoi. When questioned by investigators, Suzuki told police that she had gotten angry at her son. “He wouldn’t stop crying and didn’t listen to what I said. I got angry with him,” she was quoted as telling police. Investigators said that between 8 p.m. on Wednesday and 12 a.m. on Thursday, the suspects threw Suzuki’s 3-year-old son onto the veranda of their home and left him there. They also allegedly picked him up by his ankles, swung him around and hurled him onto a sofa and hit him, leaving him with a brain hemorrhage. The 3-year-old remains unconscious in serious condition. City officials said a welfare advisor visited Suzuki’s home at about 9:40 a.m. on Thursday and instructed her to take her son to a hospital after seeing him lying down. An examination at the hospital revealed that he had a brain injury and a doctor alerted police. Officials said that at first Suzuki had lied to the welfare advisor, saying her son was sleeping with a cold. Suzuki had violently treated her son in the past, and the private nursery that he attended contacted city welfare officials in October 2006, saying he had scars on his body. In January this year, officials asked her to spend time apart from her son in an institution, but she reportedly resisted the suggestion strongly, saying, “I want to raise my child myself.” Sources close to the investigation said Suzuki had gone into hospital with her son at the end of October 2006 after being subjected to domestic violence from her former husband. At the beginning of November the same year she divorced her husband. Due to an internal organ ailment she suffered because of violent treatment by her husband, she became mentally unstable, and when she suffered stress she reportedly began acting violently toward the 3-year-old. (Mainichi) ===========================

TAMAGAWABOAT
http://tamagawaboat.wordpress.com/
http://blog.generasian.ca/
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Racist magazine found at Family Mart in Japan
http://gaijindo.com/blog/2007/02/02/racist-magazine-found-at-family-mart/
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Japanese women are poor “baby making machines”
http://gaijindo.com/blog/2007/01/28/japanese-women-are-poor-baby-making-machines/

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Driving in Japan
http://gaijindo.com/blog/2007/01/25/driving-in-japan/
Driving in Japan can be scary in so many ways. The trickiest part is to find the way. With the same style of buildings and same chain stores everywhere it all looks the same. The solution is a GPS-navigator.
All cars here have one, even the very smallest. So renting a car and driving around is not that hard once you have punched in your destination in the navigator. The machine is all in Japanese so that can be difficult. A good thing is that if know the phone number to your destination (land line only) you just feed that to the navigator and it will show you the way.
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http://www.japanprobe.com/?p=1398
Nationalism: a hot issue in the
Tokyo gubernatorial election?
March 20th, 2007 by JamesJames

Mainichi Shinbun reports that Shiro Asano, DPJ candidate for the
Tokyo gubernatorial race, has decided to make challenging Gov. Ishihara’s nationalist views a part of his election campaign. Ishihara has stated that he believes all public school teachers should have to stand and sing the Japanese national anthem, which some of them associate with
Japan’s imperialistic past. Asano has a different view:

   “When I become governor of
Tokyo, I will abolish the policy of coercing teachers to stand and sing the ‘Kimigayo,’ and punishing those who do not,” Asano told a news conference.

   The debate comes at a sensitive time in
Japan when Abe is pushing for greater patriotism in national schools and a bigger role for the military at home and overseas. The trend has spurred concern in neighboring Asian countries, which see it as a resurgence of
Japan’s militaristic past.

   Asano said Monday his administration would reverse what he called Ishihara’s legacy of discrimination against “weaker members of society” and his “dictatorial style of governing.”

   “Unless somebody stops Ishihara now, I feel that the situation not only in
Tokyo but in Japanese politics as a whole may get entirely out of hand,” warned Asano, a former governor of
Sendai prefecture in northern
Japan.

Asano’s remarks will probably be looked upon with support from many in
Japan’s foreign community, especially the English-speaking netizens who frequently complain about Ishihara’s views of foreigners, referring to the governor by the derogatory term “blinky” (which mocks the fact that he always seems to be blinking when he talks). Ishihara is also under attack from a group of French, Canadians, and Japanese who have filed a suit against the Tokyo Government because of official remarks in which he called French a “failed international language” because it cannot “be used to count numbers.” Is Ishihara’s end near, or will voters express their support for his policies, and possibly overlook his occasional controversial statement, by re-electing him yet again? ============================

http://www.guardian.co.uk/japan/story/0,,2001056,00.html

Japanese minister wants ‘birth-giving machines’, aka women, to have more
babies

Justin McCurry in Tokyo
Monday January 29, 2007
The Guardian

Japan’s health minister did nothing to endear himself to female voters over
the weekend when he described women as “birth-giving machines” and implored
them to “do their best” to halt the country’s declining birthrate.

In a speech to Liberal Democratic party members in western Japan, Hakuo
Yanagisawa said women of child-bearing age should perform a public service
by raising the birthrate, which fell to a record low of 1.26 children per
woman in 2005. Experts say an average fertility rate of 2.1 children is
needed to keep the population stable.

Article continues
“The number of women aged between 15 and 50 is fixed,” Mr Yanagisawa, 71,
said. “Because the number of birth-giving machines and devices is fixed,
all we can do is ask them to do their best per head … although it may not
be so appropriate to call them machines.”

Mr Yanagisawa’s reported admission that the description had been “too
uncivil” failed to silence his critics.

“It was extremely rude towards women,” said Yukio Hatoyama, leader of the
Democratic party. “Having children or not having children is naturally a
matter that women and households are free to decide themselves.”

The minister’s remarks come as the government tries to encourage women to
have bigger families. Many blame the cost of raising children and social
pressure to leave work when they become pregnant for women’s reluctance to
have children.

In response the government supports proposals to increase childcare
facilities in the workplace and encourage firms to introduce flexible
working hours to allow staff more time to raise families.

Recent figures show that Japan’s fertility rate rose slightly in 2005, but
it is thought to have fallen again last year.

Experts have warned that the trend will stifle economic growth and further
strain on the creaking pension system in a country where one in five is
aged 65 or over.

In 2005 the population went into decline for the first time since the
second world war, and the health ministry estimates it will shrink to 89
million by 2055.
=========================
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stories/s1877042.htm
Last Updated 20/03/2007, 18:50:51
        Select text size:
Large size textMedium size textNormal size text

Japan was morally responsible for forcing women to work in wartime
brothels, according to former Japanese prime minister Tomiichi Murayama.

Mr Murayama, who made a landmark apology for Japan’s wartime actions in
1995, also said efforts by politicians to justify World War II were making
Asian neighbours worry Tokyo was returning to its militarist past.

His comments come after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sparked outrage overseas
by saying there was no evidence that Japan’s government or army had
kidnapped the women to work as sex slaves, although he has also said he
stands by the apology acknowledging official involvement in the brothels.

Mr Murayama, who became Japan’s first Socialist prime minister in 40 years
when he was elected in 1994, said the debate over the degree of official
involvement was meaningless.

“There is no point in debating that. There is no mistake that the military
had set up and managed the brothels. In that sense, the government was
responsible,” Mr Murayama, 83, told Reuters news agency.

“That’s why the government has apologised, and because it felt that that
was not enough from a moral standpoint, began work to provide compensation
and set up the fund,” he said, referring to the government-sponsored Asian
Women’s Fund set up in 1995.
=======================
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/332c3534-d58e-11db-a5c6-000b5df10621.html
Japan considers the Eurofighter

By Mariko Sanchanta and David Pilling in Tokyo

Published: March 18 2007 22:01 | Last updated: March 18 2007 22:01

Japan’s defence ministry is considering adopting the Eurofighter as its
next- generation fighter jet, a potentially momentous move for a country
that has until now only purchased fighters from the US, its closest
military ally.

A decision could be made within the next six months, people familiar with
the negotiations said, and the pro­curement deal could run to tens of
billions of dollars as Tokyo is looking to replace 250-300 ageing
aeroplanes. “We are looking at the Eurofighter, along with other fighters,
” said a ­defence ministry spokesman. “We are looking at all available
data, not just American data.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Military analysts say that Japan might be assessing the Eurofighter Typhoon
as a ploy to press the US on price and access to highly sensitive
technology.

Robert Dujarric, a defence expert at Temple University, said Japan would
want the political insurance that went along with US jets. He pointed out
that Singapore and South Korea both considered buying European fighters
before eventually opting for US technology.

The defence ministry needs to replace its fleet of 90 F-4s, which went into
service in 1971, and plan for the eventual retirement of its 200 F-15
fighters.

Industry experts say the Japanese really want to buy state-of-the-art F-22A
Raptor stealth fighters, made by Lockheed Martin. But that ambition has
been thwarted by the US Congress, which has banned the sale of the
radar-evading F-22.

Sugio Takahashi, a re­search fellow at the National Institute for Defense
Studies in Japan, said Lockheed Martin had been lobbying the US to allow
sales to Tokyo. The US company is keen to expand its market because the US
military has ordered fewer than half its expected 500 F-22s, pushing unit
costs up sharply.

Mr Takahashi said transferring Eurofighter technology would be less
sensitive. In the past, Japanese manufacturers such as Mitsubishi Heavy
Industries have built US fighters under licence, but given the advance of
technology since, their ability to build F-22s is uncertain.

Thomas Schieffer, US ambassador to Tokyo, said it was natural that Japan
should consider alternative technology. “Everybody understands the
Europeans have good fighters too, and there’s going to be a debate here
about what they need.”

The ambassador said it was difficult, though not impossible, to buy
technology from countries other than the US, given the need for
interoperability on the battlefield. “You want one set of planes you own
to talk to another set of planes you own,” he said. Mr Schieffer hoped
Japan would end up buying a combination of US technology, including F-22s,
if congressional opposition could be overcome.

Even if the export ban were lifted, F-22s could cost Japan more than $200m
(?105m) each, according to military experts. But Mr Takahashi says there
would also be economic benefits to buying US fighters as they could share
maintenance facilities with jets deployed at US bases in Japan.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
======================

http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/access/649869441.html?dids=649869441:649869441&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Jun+4%2C+2004&author=&pub=The+Record&edition=&startpage=A.3&desc=Parole+denied+for+mom+whose+babies+died+while+she+partied

Parole denied for mom whose babies died while she partied
[Final Edition]

The Record – Kitchener, Ont.
Date:   Jun 4, 2004
Start Page:     A.3
Section:        FRONT
Text Word Count:        530

Abstract (Document Summary)

“I just want everybody in this room and everybody in the world to know that
I am so sorry,” sobbed Rie Fujii, 26. “I wish I’d been a better mother to
Gemini and Domenic.

Fujii told her parole hearing she was immature, selfish and naive when she
left her 15-month-old son, Domenic Brown, and his three- month-old sister,
Gemini, alone in a Calgary apartment for 10 days in May 2001 while she was
with her boyfriend in nearby Cochrane.

Photo: CANADIAN PRESS / Rei Fujii, 23, pictured with her daughter Gemini,
left her babies, aged three months and 15 months, alone for 10 days to
party with a boyfriend.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or
distribution is prohibited without permission.
—————————————————–
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Parole board not buying killer mom’s apologies
[Final Edition]

The Spectator – Hamilton, Ont.
Date:   Jun 4, 2004
Start Page:     A.11
Section:        Canada/World
Text Word Count:        645

Abstract (Document Summary)

“I just want everybody in this room and everybody in the world to know that
I am so sorry,” sobbed Rie Fujii, 26, yesterday. “I wish I’d been a better
mother to Gemini and Domenic.

Fujii told her parole hearing she was immature, selfish and naive when she
left her 15-month-old son, Domenic Brown, and his three- month-old sister,
Gemini, alone in a Calgary apartment for 10 days in May 2001 while she was
with her boyfriend in nearby Cochrane.

Police divers scoured the murky Bow River for days after Fujii told
investigators Gemini’s body was wrapped in plastic bags and thrown into the
water. Her body has never been recovered.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or
distribution is prohibited without permission.
——————————
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/access/649028041.html?dids=649028041:649028041&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Jun+4%2C+2004&author=Bob+Weber&pub=Toronto+Star&edition=&startpage=A.21&desc=Mother%27s+parole+plea+refused

Mother’s parole plea refused
Woman who left babies alone to die must stay in jail She tells hearing she
was immature, selfish and nave
[ONT Edition]

Toronto Star – Toronto, Ont.
Author:         Bob Weber
Date:   Jun 4, 2004
Start Page:     A.21
Section:        News
Text Word Count:        641

Abstract (Document Summary)

[Rie Fujii] told her parole hearing she had been immature, selfish and
naive when she left her 15-month-old son, Domenic Brown, and his 3-
month-old sister, Gemini, alone in a Calgary apartment for 10 days in May,
2001, while she was with her boyfriend in nearby Cochrane.

Domenic’s decomposing body was discovered June 5, 2001, when the landlord
came to collect rent. Police divers scoured the murky Bow River for days
after Fujii told investigators Gemini’s body had been wrapped in plastic
bags and thrown into the water. Her body has never been recovered.

Fujii financially supported the father of her children. But when the two
broke up and Fujii found a new boyfriend, she decided it was time for some
fun. “I left my kids by themselves a few times. I thought maybe I can do
that again. I was just thinking about myself.”
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or
distribution is prohibited without permission.
======================================
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2001/08/15/fujii_new010815.html

Calgary mom charged with murder
Last Updated: Wednesday, August 15, 2001 | 1:29 PM ET
CBC News
A Japanese woman whose son was found dead in Calgary has been charged with
two counts of second-degree murder.

Rie Fujii, 23, was already scheduled to be in court to answer a charge of
failing to properly dispose of the body of her son, Domenic Brown.

    * FROM: AUG. 8, 2001 Mother to plead guilty after son found dead:
lawyer

    Rie Fujii
    Rie Fujii

But late yesterday a spokesperson for the Alberta Justice Department
confirmed that Fujii would face new charges in the deaths of 15-month-old
Domenic and her three-month-old daughter Gemini Brown.

Domenic’s decomposing body was found in Fujii’s Calgary apartment in June
after neighbours reported a baby had been crying for days.

Police also believe Gemini’s body was wrapped in plastic and thrown into
the Bow River.

Fujii’s lawyer, Robert Batting, told CBC News that his client is being held
at a remand centre for observation, and that he suspects a psychiatric
assessment will conclude that his client is fit to stand trial.

    * FROM: JULY 9, 2001 Fujii sent for more testing

He said she’s doing “as well as a person can who’s under this kind of
pressure.”

Fujii is also charged with remaining in Canada illegally. She has been in
Canada for the past four years on a student visa and faces deportation to
Japan.

Fujii will be back in court on August 31, when a judge will set a date for
a preliminary hearing.
====================
http://cbc.ca/cgi-bin/templates/view.cgi?category=&story=/news/2001/07/09/fujiica010709

  Fujii sent for more testing
Last Updated Jul 9 2001 2:26 PM EDT

CALGARY – Rie Fujii, the mother of the toddler who was found dead in an
abandoned apartment, has been sent for an additional month of psychiatric
testing.

Fujii appeared in provincial court Monday morning. She’s charged with
failing to bury her 15-month-old son.

Dominic Brown was found dead in the abandoned southeast apartment last
month, and his infant sister, Gemini, is still missing.

Fujii, 23, is from Japan and has been living in Calgary for several years.
Her parents traveled from Japan to be with her and were in court.

Robert Batting, Fujii’s lawyer, spoke on their behalf: “They wish me to
express to the media how they’re sorry to all the Canadians who have been
affected by this matter. They’ve also been overwhelmed by people who have
made contributions, to people who made donations to the memorial.”

Batting says Fujii is being treated for depression.

She’ll be back in court on Aug 8. Batting says he doesn’t expect she’ll
enter a plea at that time.
===================================

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,21226564-5005961,00.html
Aussie journo defends princess book
By Erin McWhirter
February 14, 2007 07:35pm

AUSTRALIAN journalist Ben Hills is refusing to apologise after finding
himself at the centre of an international diplomatic incident with Japan
over a book he wrote about Crown Princess Masako.

On Monday, diplomats from the Japanese Embassy in Canberra delivered a
letter to Hills and his publisher Random House Australia, protesting
“defamatory” references in his latest book, Princess Masako: Prisoner of
the Chrysanthemum Throne.

“The minister counsellor … solemnly sat down and read us the most bizarre
and extraordinary letter … I have ever seen in my life,” Mr Hills said to
ABC Radio today.

“(They said) the book contains disrespectful descriptions, distortion of
facts and judgmental assertions … pertaining to the birth of Her Imperial
Highness Princess Aiko and the physical conditions of Her Imperial Highness
the Crown Princess Masako.

“It (the letter) goes on and on and is really quite odd.”

In the book Mr Hills claims Princess Masako suffers depression and alleges
she underwent in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) to conceive her now
five-year-old daughter, Princess Aiko.

Mr Hills says the IVF claim was widely reported in the international press
but ignored by Japanese media.

As well as the letters, the Japanese Foreign Ministry also called
journalists to a press conference in Japan yesterday, where they denounced
Mr Hills for the book.

The book was released in Australia four months ago, closely followed by a
launch in the US.

A Japanese-language edition is due to be published by Kodansha Ltd in early
March, and is expected to be a top seller.

Mr Hills said the press conference would only foster curiosity around the
world.

“It’s going to have the very opposite effect of what they intended … it’s
drawn … attention to the book,” he said.

“My publisher in Japan must be absolutely rubbing his hands with joy at the
idea of increased sales.”

While the Japanese Government is demanding an apology and correction, Mr
Hills continues to stand his ground on their “bizarre” challenges.

“They (the letters) didn’t specify anything in particular they were
complaining about,” Mr Hills told Kyodo International News.

“They were just a complete, widespread rave. It was most unprofessional.”

Masako Owada, a multilingual graduate of Harvard and Oxford universities,
was considered the brightest of her generation, giving up a promising
diplomatic career to marry Crown Prince Naruhito in 1993.

Mr Hills’ book paints the picture of a frail woman, struggling to live life
behind the palace walls.

He claims Princess Masako has been “bullied unmercifully” by the Imperial
Household Agency since the day of her nuptials.

Mr Hills spent a year researching the book and conducted 60 interviews
including with sources close to the imperial court.

The palace turned down his requests for an interview.

He says he won’t be apologising and plans to go ahead with the book’s
publication in Japan.

“It’s the Emperor Household Agency that should be apologising to Princess
Masako for destroying her health,” he said to ABC Radio.

“It’s absolutely appalling what they have done.”
=========================
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/connectasia/stories/s1847663.htm
An Australian biography on Japan’s Crown Princess Masako has been labelled
by the Japanese foreign ministry as ‘disrespectful’ and containing
‘groundless claims’. The ministry has sent a protest to author Ben Hills
and his publisher, Random House, seeking an apology. But Ben Hills says he
has not been told what exactly has upset the ministry.
Presenter – Sen Lam, Speaker – Ben Hills, author ‘Princess Masako -
Prisoner of the Chrysanthemum Throne’
listen windows media  listen windows media >
HILLS: We had a delegation from the embassy in Canberra on Monday and they
handed us a couple of letters in which they attacked the book in the most
bizarre terms. I’ll read you: “disrespectful descriptions, distortions of
facts and judgemental assertions with audacious conjectures and coarse
logic”. It goes on and on and on. Unfortunately they don’t say exactly what
it is they’re complaining about, and so even if we were inclined to do an
apology we’re not able to.

LAM: So they have not specified which part of the book caused the upset?

HILLS: When we spoke to the ambassador’s representative, the only thing he
looked rather embarrassed, and the only thing he would come up with was the
fact that Princess Masako had an IVF child, the young princess, which is
quite bizarre. I mean it’s not defamatory to say that someone’s had an IVF
child, and so just what’s behind all of this… well I think it’s because
the book’s going to be published in Japanese in Japan, and the government
is trying to keep it secret.

LAM: Indeed it’s been four months since the book’s been released in
Australia and the protests are only being made now, so you think that’s why
the fact that it’s going to be published in Japan in Japanese?

HILLS: Absolutely they’re trying to bully the publisher into dropping its
plans to publish it next month. I mean must say this is quite unprecedented
and I feel very strongly that what we’ve got here is a foreign government
attempting to suppress and censor a publication in Australia. And I pointed
out to the ambassador’s representative that we don’t take too kindly to
that, we have a long and proud tradition of press freedom in this country
and we don’t like governments trying to interfere in that.

LAM: Well it’s coincidental that I read the book over the summer and you
were very critical of the Japanese Royal Household, especially the
bureaucrats. Do you think that might be the offending part?

HILLS: I’m sure that’s what’s behind it. I mean the Japanese bureaucrats,
the Imperial Household Agency or Kunaicho have mercilessly bullied Princess
Masako. I mean they never liked her, she’s a bright educated outgoing
woman, a Harvard graduate, speaks six languages, exactly the kind of person
they didn’t want in this antique monastery that they call the Royal Family.
I mean if anyone deserves an apology out of this, it’s poor old Princess
Masako. I mean the Kunaicho should get down on their knees and apologise to
her for the nervous breakdown that they’ve given her.

LAM: She does come across as a very sad figure behind the palace walls. You
said, you use the words mercilessly bullied, could it not be the fact that
the Princess has trouble fitting in into this centuries old tradition and
centuries old household?

HILLS: I’m sure she does and I’m equally sure that they haven’t done
anything to try and help her to accommodate her. I mean they’ve got a
modern woman with a mind of her own behind the palace walls for the first
time and they just don’t know how to deal with it. And indeed it’s not just
me, if you cast your mind back a couple of years the Crown Prince himself,
Prince Naruhito in an absolutely unprecedented attack on the Imperial
Household Agency, he himself said that they had denied her personality and
were contributing to her illness.

LAM: Did you seek his input for the book?

HILLS: Yes I did, I emailed, I telephoned, I wrote letters to the Imperial
Household Agency as a matter of courtesy so that I could give the royal
couple the opportunity to answer some questions for themselves. But of
course my request for an interview, as all requests for interviews are, was
just completely denied and ignored.
===============================

http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/398818
English school condemned for limiting teachers to blond hair, blue eyes

Monday, February 12, 2007 at 07:16 EST

KOFU — An English-language school in Kofu, Yamanashi Prefecture, had
publicly posted a recruitment poster limiting instructors to those with
“blond hair, blue or green eyes,” leading activists to file complaints,
people involved said Sunday.

The poster for recruiting instructors the school sends to kindergartens was
posted at the Yamanashi International Center for six months until November,
when the center removed it after receiving the complaints and apologizing
for its “lack of consideration.”

“Linking appearance and qualifications of English educators is
questionable. It encourages discrimination on appearance and race,”
according to the complaints filed with the center by the activists,
including American-born Japanese citizen Debito Arudou.

Arudou, associate professor at Hokkaido Information University, who is
working on human rights for foreign residents in Japan, also filed written
requests with the school, kindergartens and the Kofu Regional Legal Affairs
to promote human rights.

According to people related to the school, several kindergartens in Kofu
have asked it to send English instructors so their children can get
accustomed to “foreigners,” attaching such conditions as “blond hair” and
“blue eyes.”

The school “was aware that it was an old discriminatory idea, but couldn’t
resist customers’ needs,” one related person said, noting that the school
now regrets it.

(c) 2007 Kyodo News. All rights reserved. No reproduction or republication
without written permission.
———————————–
http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/398980
Australian journalist refuses to apologize over Princess Masako book

Thursday, February 15, 2007 at 07:53 EST

TOKYO — An Australian journalist refused Wednesday to bow to the Japanese
government’s demand that he apologize for “groundless claims” he allegedly
made in a book he wrote about Crown Princess Masako.

Instead, Ben Hills, an award-winning investigative reporter, went on the
attack, saying the Japanese government’s reaction to the book, which was
released in Australia last November, has been “bizarre, unprofessional and
bewildering.”

“I regard this as an attempt by the Japanese government to suppress and
censor my book and I think it is absolutely outrageous,” he said.

On Monday, diplomats from the Japanese Embassy in Canberra delivered
letters to Hills and local publisher Random House Australia, protesting
about the contents of his book “Princess Masako, Prisoner of the
Chrysanthemum Throne.”

A Japanese-language edition of the book is due to be published by Kodansha
Ltd in early March.

The letters said the book was defamatory and contained “disrespectful
descriptions, distortion of facts and judgmental assertions…pertaining to
the birth of Her Imperial Highness Princess Aiko and the physical
conditions of Her Imperial Highness the Crown Princess Masako.”

The Japanese government is demanding an apology and corrections. But Hills
said he was yet to be given details about which parts of his book were
wrong or inaccurate.

“They (the letters) really didn’t specify anything in particular they were
complaining about,” he said. “They were just a complete, widespread rave.
It was most unprofessional.”

After questioning the diplomats, Hills said he was told one of the
defamatory aspects of his book was his claim that Princess Masako’s
daughter, Princess Aiko, was conceived by in vitro fertilization.

The claim was widely reported in the international press but ignored by the
local media, Hills said.

“The Japanese public has been kept in the dark for all these years about
what has been going on behind the moat and I have written this book that is
highly critical of the Imperial Household agency,” he said. “The
bureaucrats are just scrambling to protect themselves from criticism.”

Hills said he would not be apologizing and plans to go ahead with the
book’s publication in Japan.

“There is nothing to apologize for. In fact, there is only one person in
this saga that deserves an apology and that’s Princess Masako. I think the
Kunaicho (Imperial Household Agency) should apologize to her for bullying
her into a state of nervous breakdown.”

(c) 2007 Kyodo News. All rights reserved. No reproduction or republication
without written permission.
————————————-
http://www.japantoday.com/jp/kuchikomi/451
Unfaithful wives ripe for the right man
Send to a friendPrint

“Before I married,” says Miki, “I never dreamed I would be an unfaithful
wife.”

Yes, but marriage takes its toll, and seven years of its constraints,
cross-purposes and frustrations made a new woman of her. Five years ago, an
affair with her boss showed her the way; since then she’s had 40 men. Nor,
at age 35, is she ready to quit.

Get the picture, men? Of course, not every married woman is a bundle of
suppressed emotion ripe for the tapping, but what Spa! (Feb 6) would have
you believe is that, in general, married women are easier and more
rewarding sexual conquests than single women. You too, it glibly assures,
can be a successful seducer of “hitotsuma” — other men’s wives.

Determined to banish all doubts, the magazine polls 100 unfaithful wives in
their 20s and 30s, discovering in the process that no fewer than 24% of the
pollees had never cheated on their boyfriends before marriage, though now
they cheat on their husbands. And their standards have softened. Before,
they knew what they wanted in a lover and would settle for nothing less.
Now, 18% say they set “no pre-conditions” regarding sex partners.

If that’s not invitation enough, Spa! proceeds to ask the women why they
seek sexual satisfaction outside the marriage bed. Numerous reasons arise:
Married life has become boring and conventional (24%), the husband ignores
the wife and no longer talks to her (20%), the husband fails to satisfy the
wife sexually (13%), and so on — but the most common single response
(31%) is, “I don’t know myself why I do it.”

So there you are. Desire is a realm in which reason is an unwelcome and
infrequent guest; and marriage, if Spa! is to be believed, stokes rather
than satisfies a woman’s desires. These are the circumstances which allow
“Mr Natsu,” a 32-year-old salaryman by day and “Internet pickup artist”
by night, to flourish. In 10 years, he claims to have dated 70 married
women encountered online; he currently squires two, each on alternate
weeks.

He shows Spa! their photos. “Beautiful!” the magazine exclaims — “and
yet,” it adds, “Mr Natsu’s appearance is utterly unremarkable. How does
he do it?”

For him, it all boils down to what we have already gathered from Spa!’s
polldata: “Married women are less particular than single women.” Nor do
they demand expensive treatment. A typical date with Natsu is dinner at an
ordinary restaurant, then on to a love hotel. It doesn’t sound like much,
and yet the clear and present danger is not that the women will get bored
but, on the contrary, that they will get carried away to the point of
forgetting the necessity of prudence.

“I’ve had angry husbands burst in on me at home,” he says. The scenes
that followed must have been interesting. Pity he doesn’t tell us how they
played out.

Another seasoned seducer of married women is 42-year-old adult video
director Koichi Takahashi. What is the attraction of a married woman? “In
a word,” says Takahashi, “experience.” He elaborates: “The personal
growth that results from getting older and raising children manifests
itself in considerateness toward other people, and this is apparent in
their bed play.”

He insists he has no strategy and that, not being much of a talker, his
main asset is his capacity to listen.

“Wives, especially those over 35,” he says, “are starved for
conversation. I mean, really, if a couple has been together for a few
years, what do they have left to talk about? And so they talk — about
their kids, about their husbands. Then, when they’re all talked out, it’s
time to help them forget their husbands.”

February 8, 2007
—————————————-
http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/399286
Deputy director of Tokyo University arrested for groping

Friday, February 16, 2007 at 13:32 EST

TOKYO — A deputy director of Tokyo University was arrested for groping on
a train earlier this week, police said Friday. Keiji Takehara, 53,
allegedly touched the thighs of a 24-year-old woman who sat next to him on
the JR Keihin Tohoku line from Hamamatsucho to Akihabara, police said.

The woman grabbed Takehara and dragged him off the train at Akihabara where
station staff held onto him until police arrived. “I’m sorry for causing so
much trouble,” Takehara was quoted as saying. Takehara, who was released on
bail, joined Tokyo University in 2004 as a career advisor after he left
Recruit where he was a board member.
================================
http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/399178
Number of child abuse cases rises 34% in 2006

Thursday, February 15, 2007 at 14:17 EST

TOKYO — The number of suspected child abuse cases rose 34% in 2006 from
the previous year to 297 and that of victims in those cases rose 38% to
316, both record highs, the National Police Agency said Thursday.

The number of people police identified as abusers also hit a record high,
of 329, up 36% from the previous year, according to the count that covered
cases of the abuse of children under the age of 18. Mothers formed the
largest portion of perpetrators, accounting for 29%, followed by the
victims’ fathers, adopted fathers and men who live with the victims’
mother. Of the victims, 59 died of abuse, compared to 16 in the previous
year.
====================

============================
http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20070216p2a00m0na019000c.html
PR blunder for Tokyo University as police arrest PR boss for groping

A top University of Tokyo official was arrested for groping a woman on a
train in Tokyo earlier this month, police said.

Keiji Takehara, 53,a top administrative official in charge of public
relations and job placement for students, has admitted to the allegations.
Police have sent the case to prosecutors and released him.

Takehara, from Tokyo, allegedly stroked the thigh of a woman sitting next
to him on a JR Keihin-Tohoku Line train between Hamamatsucho and Akihabara
stations on Feb. 10, as he was going to the university.

The woman grabbed his arm and handed him over to officers at Akihabara
Station.

“I dozed off on the train and found my hand on the woman’s leg when I woke
up,” Takehara told police. “I’m sorry.”

Takehara was previously an executive at a major publisher that produces a
magazine for job hunters. He began working for the University of Tokyo in
2004.

A spokesperson of the university said only that school officials were
investigating the details of the case. (Mainichi)
Click here for the original Japanese storyClick here for the original
Japanese story
February 16, 2007

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21382585-2703,00.html

Fisherman on rescue mission killed after whale rams boat

    *
    * March 15, 2007

TOKYO: A Japanese fisherman drowned on Tuesday after a whale he was trying
to rescue capsized his small fishing boat, officials said yesterday.
The body of Noriyuki Yamamoto, 58, was recovered by divers, and he was
pronounced dead at a hospital in Uwajima, said Ehime state official Satoshi
Nishikawa.

Fishermen and local officials were trying to coax the 15m-long sperm whale
out of Uwajima Bay on Tuesday afternoon and into the open sea after it
strayed into the bay off the island of Shikoku, 800km southwest of Tokyo.

But the panicked creature suddenly turned on them and struck the vessel, Mr
Nishikawa said. It hit the two-tonne boat carrying Mr Yamamoto and two
other fishermen, who were also tossed into the sea but were rescued.

Sperm whales are the largest predators in the world but in recent years
have become prey to Japanese whalers who hunt, in breach of the
international moratorium, under the guise of scientific research. Some of
the whale meat harvested ends up on school lunch and restaurant menus.

Last month, more than half the members of the International Whaling
Commission, including Australia, boycotted a conference in Tokyo to discuss
the resumption of commercial whaling.

Agencies
================

http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Japan-plane-lands-without-nose-gear/2007/03/13/1173722442061.html

Airline grounds fleet after Japan mishap

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March 13, 2007 – 2:09PM
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All Nippon Airways grounded its entire fleet of Bombardier planes after the
front landing gear on one failed to descend, forcing the aircraft to make
an emergency landing with 60 people on board.

No one was injured when the Bombardier DHC-8 turboprop landed on its rear
wheels and then carefully touched its nose to the runway.

Sparks shot from the bottom of the white and blue fuselage as the plane
skidded to a halt, but the pilot kept it on the tarmac.

The mishap was the latest in a string of problems with ANA’s fleet of
Canadian-made Bombardier aircraft, which forced Japan’s second-largest
airline to issue a formal apology last year.

ANA said it was grounding its fleet of 13 Bombardiers for inspection and
wouldn’t resume service until their safety had been confirmed.

The plane, carrying 56 passengers and four crew members, circled for nearly
two hours over Kochi airport in western Japan as it tried to extend its
front wheels and negotiate an emergency landing.

Rescue trucks sprayed the plane with fire retardant chemicals after it
landed, and relieved passengers disembarked.

The cause of the failure is not yet known, ANA spokesman Daisuke Kato said.
The Transportation Ministry planned to launch an investigation, ministry
spokesman Tetsu Shimizu said.

In February 2006, another Bombardier plane operated by ANA experienced
landing gear problems.

That pilot aborted an initial landing attempt after all three sets of
wheels failed to deploy. The landing gear was later deployed manually, and
none of the 25 passengers and crew was injured.

Later that month, two ANA-operated Bombardier airliners made emergency
landings at Osaka airport shortly after taking off. One had problems with
its heating system, while a warning lamp in the other signalled something
was wrong with one of its doors. No one was injured.

In 2004, the right wheel of a Bombardier broke off while landing at Kochi
airport, also with no injuries.

ANA’s president apologised for the problems with Bombardier aircraft at the
airline’s annual shareholder meeting in June 2006. At the time, it had 11
Bombardiers in its fleet and had placed orders for 14 more.

Executive Vice President Shin Nagase has apologised again for “causing
great concern.”

Bombardier is in discussions with the airline about its safety concerns,
said Masaki Okahata, a spokesman for Sojitsu Corp, a trading company that
acts as the manufacturer’s representative in Japan.

“There has been trouble, but no accidents,” Okahata said.

“Instead of laying blame, the airlines are talking with the manufacturer
about the matter.”

Nationwide, there have been 77 reported incidents of irregularities with
Bombardier planes since 2003, he said. The problems range from faulty
lighting to bigger issues such as failed landing gear.

Bombardier officials at the company’s headquarters in Montreal were not
immediately available for comment.

The plane had made an earlier approach to the runway but pulled up.

Katsumi Nakamura, ANA operating officer, said the pilot tried
“touch-and-go,” a practice of briefly touching down and hoping the shock
releases the front wheels. Several attempts were unsuccessful, he said.

Soichi Kaji, an aviation expert, was quoted by NHK as saying: “It was
almost a perfect emergency landing.”

“Apparently the pilot was very calm and did just as he was trained,” Kaji
said, adding that good emergency preparations at the airport and fair
weather helped the situation.

The plane had left Osaka airport earlier in the morning.

The worst single airplane disaster in history occurred in Japan in 1985,
when a Japan Airlines Boeing jumbo jet crashed into a remote mountain,
killing 520 of the 524 people aboard.

The jet was en route from Tokyo to Osaka when it lost control of its tail
rudder.

© 2007 AP DIGITAL
================
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21389025-2,00.html

Japanese too busy to have sex

March 16, 2007 12:00am
Article from: The Australian

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Richard Lloyd Parry

Tokyo

THE secret of Japan’s exceptionally low birthrate is out — more than a
third of married couples do not have sex.
“The situation is dismal,” said Kunio Kitamura, director of the country’s
Family Planning Association, after a government survey suggested that 34.6
per cent of couples had not made love for more than four weeks.

“My research shows that if you don’t have sex for a month, you probably
won’t for a year. This is very bad news for the country’s birthrate, and
something the Government needs to look into urgently.”

The survey of 1400 people, for Japan’s Ministry of Health and Welfare,
indicated that 39.7 per cent of all Japanese couples aged 16 to 49 had not
had sex for more than a month, a 5 per cent increase on the results of the
same survey two years ago.

Doctors and anthropologists say that there are a number of reasons why the
Japanese are giving up sex. One is the lifestyle of many urban Japanese
men, who leave home early, return home late and tired after a long commute,
and tend to spend weekends and other free time socialising with work
colleagues or catching up on their sleep. Women, too, are more likely to
work and have less time to themselves.

Some couples do not expect to maintain a regular sex life after the arrival
of a child and small, thin-walled apartments offer few opportunities for
privacy.

Poor communication is also cited as a factor, especially among older
people, who are constrained from discussing sex, even with their spouses.

The Japan Sexual Science Association defines a sexless marriage as one in
which there has been no sexual contact between husband and wife for more
than a month, and in which this situation is expected to continue.

Japan also came last in a table of 29 countries compiled by University of
Chicago researchers into which had the greatest sexual satisfaction.
(Austrians were first.)

It also came last in a survey by Durex, the condom manufacturer, which
found the Japanese have sex 45 times a year, compared with an average of
103.

In the past 10 years, Japanese politicians and bureaucrats have become
preoccupied increasingly by the country’s declining birthrate. The
fertility rate, the number of children that the average woman will bear in
a lifetime, fell to a record low of 1.25 last year, well below the
“replacement rate” of 2.1.

At the same time, Japanese are living longer. A situation looms in which a
decreasing number of working taxpayers have to support a growing population
of pensioners, leading to budgetary collapse.

Various reasons have been advanced to explain the declining fertility rate,
but it may be mainly due to the most basic reason of all — that the
Japanese are giving up on sex.

The Times
====================
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1599482,00.html
Less Sex Behind Fewer Japan Births
Thursday, Mar. 15, 2007 By AP/HIROKO TABUCHI
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The secret behind Japan’s plunging birth rate? A record 39.7 percent of
Japanese citizens ages 16-49 have not had sex for over a month — up 5
percentage points from two years ago — according to a survey published
this week by the Japan Family Planning Association.

Among married couples, the rate was only slightly lower, at 34.6 percent.

“This is very bad news for the country’s birth rate, and something the
government needs to look into urgently,” said Dr. Kunio Kitamura, the
family planning association’s director.

The survey comes amid concerns over Japan’s faltering birthrate, which fell
in 2005 to a record low of 1.26 births in an average woman’s lifetime. The
decline has stoked fears of impeding tax revenue shortfalls and labor
shortages. “The situation is dismal,” Kitamura said. “My research shows
that if you don’t have sex for a month, you probably won’t for a year.”

Kitamura partly blamed stress from busy working lives. A decline in
physical communication skills in an increasingly Web-based society was also
a factor, he said.

The association said it handed out survey forms to 2,713 randomly selected
people, and received responses from 636 men and 773 women in November 2006.
It gave no margin of error. In a similar poll taken two years ago, 35
percent reported having no sex for a month.

Japan came last in a 29-country study of sexual satisfaction published by
the University of Chicago last year, with a mere 25.7 percent of lovers
expressing satisfaction in bed.

The country was also in last place among 41 nations in a 2005 poll by
condom manufacturer Durex, with people having sex just 45 times a year
compared to a global average of 103.
—————————
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/03/16/europe/EU-GEN-Netherlands-Japan-Sex-Slaves.php

Dutch government seeks explanation from Japan on coercion of ‘comfort
women’
The Associated Press
Published: March 16, 2007
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THE HAGUE, Netherlands: Tokyo’s assertion that it found no evidence that
the military or government forced women to work in military brothels during
World War II came as an “unpleasant surprise,” the Dutch foreign minister
said Friday.

Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen spoke to Japan’s ambassador to the
Netherlands, Kyoji Komachi, by phone Friday evening to seek an explanation
for the reported government statement, spokesman Herman van Gelderen told
The Associated Press.

The call followed a statement posted on the Web site of a Japanese
opposition lawmaker in which the government said it “has not come across
anything recorded in the materials it has found that directly shows
so-called ‘coercion’ on the part of the military or constituted
authorities.”

The Japanese Cabinet Office confirmed its contents.

“This was a very unpleasant surprise if the report is true,” Verhagen told
the ambassador, according to Van Gelderen.
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The ambassador told Verhagen he was aware of reports of the government
statement but did not have any more details. He promised to find out more
and report back, most likely early next week, Van Gelderen said.

Historians say as many as 200,000 women, most of them Asians, worked in
Japanese military brothels across the region in the 1930s and ’40s.
Japanese defense documents uncovered in 1992 showed the military had a
direct role in running the brothels, which the government had previously
denied.

Many Dutch women who lived in the Dutch East Indies, the former colony now
known as Indonesia, also were forced into the brothels, said Van Gelderen.

“Some are still alive and for them it is very painful … because old
wounds can still be painful, especially when things like this are said,” he
added.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sparked criticism in Asia and the United
States earlier this month by saying there was no evidence the women were
forced into prostitution — despite testimony from victims who recounted
being kidnapped and forced into sexual slavery.

Lawmakers from Japan’s ruling conservative party say the women were
professional prostitutes who were paid for their services, and maintain
that military authorities were not directly responsible for the
establishment or running of wartime brothels.

Abe, however, has declared that he stands by the 1993 apology by then-Chief
Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono to the victims after documents were uncovered
showing military involvement in the brothels.
=======================
http://www.nisnews.nl/public/170307_2.htm
THE HAGUE, 17/03/07 – Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen on Friday called the
Japanese ambassador to account on his government’s position that there is
no evidence that Asian women were forced to be sex slaves during the Second
World War.

The Japanese government stated that it has found no evidence whatsoever
that directly shows women were coerced into military brothels. Prime
Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said after Friday’s weekly cabinet meeting
that he was unpleasantly surprised by this statement. The Netherlands has
summoned the ambassador to give a “clear political signal” to Japan,
according to Balkenende.

Japan acknowledged the existence of so-called comfort girls in a
declaration in 1993. Last month the Dutch asked Japan for clarification
after the country withdrew this declaration. But as this withdrawal was
reversed the next day the Netherlands took no further action then.

The fresh denial causes Balkenende “concern”. He said the Netherlands wants
to know “what is the status of the reports”. The premier could imagine that
there was irritation in other countries as well and said that “possibly”
these countries could discuss joint steps later on.
———————-

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/no-quibbling-over-comfort-women-howard-to-tell-abe/2007/03/12/1173548101023.html

No quibbling over comfort women, Howard to tell Abe

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March 12, 2007 – 7:34PM
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Prime Minister John Howard will raise the issue of “comfort women” with his
Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe tomorrow, saying there can be no
“quibbling” over whether thousands of women were forced to act as sex
slaves during World War II.

Mr Abe outraged surviving victims last month by saying there was no
evidence Japan’s government or army had coerced the women, mainly Asians,
into prostitution for Japanese soldiers.

Adelaide woman Jan Ruff O’Herne, 84, who was one of the women interned in a
brothel as a prostitute, has urged Mr Howard to bring the matter up with Mr
Abe.

Ms O’Herne told a US House of Representatives hearing last month that she
was raped “day and night” for three months by soldiers when she was just
19.

Mr Howard said there was no doubt that the women had been coerced.

“My concern about any quibbling in relation to this matter is known to the
Japanese government and I’m sure in one way or another it will be mentioned
tomorrow,” he told reporters.

Last night, Mr Howard refused to say whether he would raise the matter
after Mr Abe sought to contain the fallout from his remarks by reaffirming
a 1993 government apology.

Mr Howard said Mr Abe’s statement yesterday had been strong but there was
no room for dispute over whether the women were forced into sex.

“It was an appalling episode in a tragic period in the history of the world
and Australian women suffered as a consequence, although the nationals of
other countries suffered in much greater number,” he said.

“There can be no quibbling about what happened and there can be no
quibbling in my view about the level of coercion that was involved.

“Any suggestion that there was not coercion is completely repudiated by me
and it’s been completely repudiated by other allied countries.”

Ms O’Herne said the signing of a security pact with Japan was a good time
for Mr Howard to raise the ordeal of the comfort women.

“Justice has never been done by the Japanese government and this could all
be part of that security relationship,” she told ABC radio.

“It’s a very good time (to raise it) and wouldn’t we admire Mr Howard if he
did that.”

AAP
==============
http://www.thestar.com/News/article/187793
Japanese PM’s denial of war crimes blasted
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Ottawa urged to condemn remarks as outrage grows
Mar 03, 2007 04:30 AM
Carl Freire
Associated Press

TOKYO?밃nyone who doubts the Japanese army forced Asian women into
sexual slavery in World War II should “face the truth,” South Korea’s
foreign minister said yesterday as outrage grew over comments by Japan’s
prime minister that there was no evidence of the enslavement.

Women’s rights activists in the Philippines and a group of politicians in
South Korea denounced the remarks by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on
Thursday that there was no proof so-called “comfort women” were forced into
prostitution during the war.

Chinese-Canadian politicians and community leaders also called on Ottawa to
publicly condemn the comments.

But one of the harshest reactions came from 81-year-old Hilaria Bustamante
of Manila, who said she was kept as a sex slave in a Japanese garrison for
a year in 1942 as a 16-year-old.

“What (Abe) said has angered me,” she said. “They think we are just like
toilet paper that they can throw away after being used.”

Historians say some 200,000 women ??mostly from Korea and China
??served in Japanese military brothels throughout Asia in the 1930s
and 1940s. Witnesses, victims and even some former Japanese soldiers say
many of the women were kidnapped or otherwise forced into brothels, where
they could be raped by scores of soldiers a day.

Abe on Thursday said there is no proof the women were forced into
prostitution: “The fact is, there is no evidence to prove there was
coercion.”

His statement contradicted evidence in Japanese documents unearthed in 1992
that historians said showed military authorities had a direct role in
working with contractors to forcibly procure women for the brothels, known
as “comfort stations.”

The remark also cast doubt on a 1993 Japanese government apology to the sex
slaves.

“We should speak out and issue a condemnation,” NDP MP Olivia Chow
(Trinity-Spadina) said in Ottawa yesterday.

Conservative MP Inky Mark (Dauphin-Swan River-Marquette) said he was
shocked when he read Abe’s words and said he wants Prime Minister Stephen
Harper to condemn the comments.

“It’s along the same lines of denying the Holocaust. It was a war crime
against humanity.”

There’s a double standard when it comes to recognizing war crimes in the
West, said Joseph Wong, the founding president of the Chinese Canadian
National Council.

“We have heard how quick Western politicians are to condemn Holocaust
deniers, which is good, because that has to be done,” he said.

“But on the other hand, Western politicians are so silent when they
encounter these denials from Japanese right-wing politicians who say the
rape of Nanking was justified and these comfort women, these sexual slaves,
were willing victims.”

Before a speech yesterday in Washington, South Korean Foreign Minister Song
Min-soon said Abe’s comments were “not helpful.”

“We had better face the truth,” Song said in the South Korean government’s
first reaction to the remarks.

Victims and their supporters have pushed unsuccessfully for a
parliament-approved apology from Japan and official government
compensation. Japan set up a private fund for compensation in 1995, but has
refused to provide government money.

In China, Su Zhiliang, director of the Chinese Comfort Women Research
Centre at Shanghai’s Normal University, said she was surprised by Abe’s
remarks.

“Suddenly to have Abe deny the fact that women were coerced into sexual
slavery is both very regrettable and very enraging,” said Su, who compiled
100 case studies with testimonials from Chinese comfort women.

In Manila, Rechilda Extremadura, executive director of Lila Pilipina, an
organization of activists and former Filipino wartime sex slaves, said 120
are still alive among 174 documented Filipino comfort women.

http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/400980
Curry tainted by dead mouse sold at Tokyo noodle stand

Wednesday, March 14, 2007 at 06:52 EST

TOKYO — A JR East-affiliated restaurant operator said Tuesday that curry
tainted by a dead mouse has been used in some of the food products sold at
a noodle stand inside JR Shinkoiwa Station in Tokyo.

Nippon Restaurant Enterprise Co said 18 meals sold at the noodle stand,
including “curry soba” (buckwheat noodle) and “curry rice,” for about two
hours since its opening at 6:30 a.m., were made with the tainted curry.

(c) 2007 Kyodo News. All rights reserved. No reproduction or republication
without written permission.
———————————–
http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/400999
Hiroshima construction worker arrested for stealing 4,400 items of women’s
underwear

Wednesday, March 14, 2007 at 09:02 EST

HIROSHIMA — A 54-year-old construction worker was arrested Tuesday on
suspicion of stealing some 4,400 pieces of women’s underwear, police said.
Hiroshima Prefectural Police arrested Shigeo Kodama after they raided his
home in Hiroshima’s Minami Ward and confiscated some 4,400 women’s
stockings and panties.

Kodama faces immediate specific charges over the February theft of six
pieces of women’s underwear from two homes in Minami Ward. Kodama told
police he had kept all the stolen underwear at his home. Police believe
Kodama’s lingerie collection dates back to around 2001, based on reports
from women in the area who said their underwear had been stolen. Kodama was
quoted as telling the investigators, “I’m very good at climbing to high
places,” citing his experience working on high-rises.

(c) 2007 Kyodo News. All rights reserved. No reproduction or republication
without written permission.
—————————
http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/400853
Metal thefts soaring amid surging prices on China building boom

Monday, March 12, 2007 at 07:43 EST

TOKYO — Metal product thefts reached at least 1,756 cases in January and
February, costing more than 400 million yen and increasing faster than last
year when such cases rose notably, according to a recent Kyodo News survey.
The uptrend in thefts of metal products, such as electrical wires and even
stainless steel slides in parks, comes amid sharply rising prices,
especially for those metal products used in construction. That is due to
strong demand in China, where a building boom continues ahead of the 2008
summer Olympics in Beijing.

Also to blame for the trend, according to police, is the ease of stealing
the products as compared to other types of theft, because metal products
are often found outside. Stolen products also included bells, aluminum
fences, drain covers, and stainless steel plates attached to tombs for
burning incense sticks. According to the National Police Agency, theft
cases of metal products reached 5,701 last year, costing victims a total of
about 2 billion yen.

(c) 2007 Kyodo News. All rights reserved. No reproduction or republication
without written permission.
================
http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/401126
Vietnamese trainees seek probe of unpaid wages by Japanese firm

Saturday, March 17, 2007 at 07:33 EST

MITO — Six Vietnamese women who worked at a sewing factory in Ibaraki
Prefecture told a news conference Friday they have asked a local labor
standards office to investigate what they say are unpaid wages totaling
around 4.6 million yen withheld from their salaries.

The Mito labor standards inspection office has started investigating the
case, suspecting a violation of the Basic Labor Law, following the request
by the six who came to Japan for training and internships under a program
sponsored by the Japanese government. The president of the company that
operated the factory was paying 60,000 yen to 65,000 yen net to each of the
trainees every month, depending on their experience, the union said. The
employer withheld 30,000 yen per month from each worker, saying it was
“savings.”

(c) 2007 Kyodo News. All rights reserved. No reproduction or republication
without written permission.
==============================
http://www.japantoday.com/jp/comment/1075
Why I am banned in Japan
Send to a friendPrint

Ben Hills
March 16, 2007

The effective banning of my book, “Princess Masako: Prisoner of the
Chrysanthemum Throne,” is just the latest example of Japan’s “censorship
by stealth.” While seeking to be considered a modern nation, the
unelected, unaccountable Japanese bureaucracy has merely confirmed that it
is “a stunted parody of democracy.” This phrase is one of the “many
errors” in my book to which they objected.

You only have to look at Japan’s high school history texts, one of which
dismisses the rape, torture and murder of 300,000 Chinese as “the
so-called Rape of Nanking,” to see this. Ten years ago, Iris Chang’s
acclaimed book about that subject provoked an almost identical furor as the
“Princess Masako” book is doing now. “The Rape of Nanking” was an
international bestseller, and a Japanese publisher agreed to translate and
publish it here. Then Japan’s ambassador to Washington called a press
conference to denounce the book for its “many errors” — errors that,
curiously enough, scholars in no other country could find. Nevertheless,
the publisher caved in to the bullying, and to this day the book has never
been published in Japan.

The Japanese people are not fooled by this smokescreen of “errors.” They
understand that the country’s largest publisher, Kodansha, which had
agreed to publish my book but then caved in under pressure, is part of the
Establishment and would never go against the wishes of the bureaucracy.
This is the type of censorship which nowadays you see only in countries
like North Korea or Myanmar.

So what was there in my book to provoke this reaction? It is true that in
the original edition there were a small number of very minor errors which
have been corrected in subsequent editions. For example, I was unaware of
Emperor Akihito’s deep interest in Japan’s disgraceful mistreatment of
people suffering from Hansen’s Disease, to which almost half of the
Imperial Household’s protest letter is devoted. Setting this straight
involved changing two words in a book of 80,000 — a figure that will give
you an idea of how desperately my critics are clutching at straws.

We have repeatedly asked the bureaucrats for the list of “more than 100
errors” that they claim to have found. There has been no response, other
than to state that the Empress Michiko is not a “stick-thin, grey-haired
wraith.” Now, while this may not be a flattering description, no one who
has seen a picture of the empress would describe her as a fat blonde.

I have now had the benefit of a bilingual scholar examining the changes
Kodansha made to my book in consultation with the Imperial Household
Agency. These changes reveal the real objections that the Japanese
establishment has to the text.

First, all references to Princess Masako’s giving birth to an IVF baby
have been removed — in spite of the fact that, since the London Times
broke the story four years ago, this has been reported in nearly every
country in the world except Japan. Second, the real nature of Princess
Masako’s illness — deep depression, rather than the “adjustment disorder
” that the Imperial Household Agency pretends she suffers from — has
been censored.

149 alterations and omissions have been made

These are just the start of the 149 alterations and omissions that have
been made to the book. All references to Yasukuni Shrine have been
censored; all references to Japan’s outdated pharmaceutical industry have
been censored; a reference to raunchy nightlife in Sapporo’s Susukino
district has been censored; a direct quote from Professor Kenneth Ruoff’s
award-winning biography of Akihito, in which he details the emperor’s
attempts to apologize for Japan’s role in World War II, has been censored;
a reference to “chikan” has been censored; all references to the yakuza
have been censored; a quote from a William Styron novel about depression
has been censored; a quote in a London Times article about frigid relations
between the emperor and Naruhito and Masako has been censored. And on and
on and on. These are the “errors” in my book — not “errors” at all,
obviously, but opinions and facts which the bureaucrats do not want the
Japanese people to know about.

When I became aware of the wholesale changes that were being made to my
book, I protested loudly about the bowdlerization to Kodansha. But I was in
a difficult position. The overseas rights to the book are held by Random
House, which had negotiated a contract with the Japanese publisher. I was
told that I could be personally liable if I refused permission to publish,
so I did the next best thing: I insisted that Kodansha insert a prominent
disclaimer in the preface, in which they took responsibility for all
changes to the original.

With the benefit of hindsight — and a better understanding of just how
and why my book was censored — I am now pleased that Kodansha decided not
to publish. Their version of my book was something I’d have been ashamed
to see my name on the cover of. We are in negotiations with another
Japanese publisher, and we are still hoping that something much closer to
my original version will eventually be released.

I should say that I don’t feel it’s important whether Japanese people
like or dislike the book. I have had reactions ranging from death threats
to praise for its honesty. Rather, what’s important is that they be
allowed to read it and make their own judgment. That is all I ask.

As always happens in censorship cases, the bureaucrats — by drawing
attention to the book and ensuring vastly increased sales — have
succeeded only in shooting themselves in the foot. Since the uproar, we’ve
been approached by publishers in half a dozen countries, including Korea
and Taiwan, who are rushing the book into print. Last week the top three
sellers on Amazon.co.jp’s list of foreign-language books were: 1. “
Princess Masako;” 2. the new “Harry Potter;” 3. the Sports Illustrated
swimsuit edition.

One would think that Japan’s ambassador to Australia, Hideaki Ueda, would
have better served the interests of the Japanese people if he had been
dealing with serious matters over the past few weeks, rather than wasting
everyone’s time trying to get a book banned. Japanese whaling in the
Southern Ocean has been in the headlines once again, and “comfort women”
— sex slaves of the Japanese Army in World War II, including one who was
Australian — are still demanding recognition and compensation after 60
years. If anyone deserves to make an apology, it is the Japanese government
that should be getting down on its knees and begging forgiveness from these
women, rather than arrogantly refusing to even acknowledge that they exist.

Ben Hills is one of Australia’s best-known investigative journalists and
authors and a former winner of the Walkley Award. He was Japan
correspondent for the Fairfax newspapers from 1993 to 1996.
============================
http://moora.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?class=international%20news&subclass=general&story_id=566922&category=General&m=&y=

Friday, 16 March 2007   View all news  |  Have your say  |  Send to a friend
|  Print
Japan sex slave debate won’t die down
By Chisa Fujioka And Linda Sieg

A diplomatic furore over Japan’s wartime brothels is unlikely to fade after
Tokyo said a 14-year-old study had found no evidence the government or
military officials had kidnapped women to act as prostitutes.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s latest statement – which also reiterated that
Japan stood by a 1993 apology – came as the US ambassador to Japan said he
believed that the women were forced to act as sex slaves for Japanese
soldiers during World War II.

“I take the word of the women that testified,” US envoy Thomas Schieffer
told a group of journalists. Three former sex slaves testified to US
Congress last month.

“I think that they were coerced to engage in prostitution … that means
they were raped by Japanese military at that point in time,” he added. “I
think that happened and I think it was a regrettable, terrible thing that
it happened.

“I think the events speak for themselves.”

Abe sparked outrage overseas when he said early this month there was no
evidence that Japan’s government or army had forcibly brought the women,
mostly Asian and many of them Korean, to serve Japanese soldiers in the
brothels.

He has since sought to dampen the furore, which threatened to cloud summits
with Chinese and US leaders, by repeating that the 1993 apology stood and
expressing sympathy for the suffering of the “comfort women”, as they are
euphemistically known in Japan.

Abe is to visit Washington in late April after a summit with Chinese
Premier Wen Jiabao in Tokyo earlier the same month.

Schieffer welcomed Abe’s backing for the apology and advised Japan to stick
to that stance.

“I think there is a sensitivity in the United States on this particular
issue, and I think the Japanese needed to be aware of that and I think they
are,” he said.

US Congressman Michael Honda has introduced a resolution seeking an
unambiguous apology for the suffering of the sex slaves at the hands of the
Japanese army, although the resolution is unlikely to be voted on until
after Abe’s US visit.

“I think the prime minister is going to have a very good visit in the
United States and I would hope this sort of thing would not detract from
it,” Schieffer said.

Abe’s original remarks have already sparked an irate reaction from South
Korea and a more restrained reaction from China, and this statement could
spark fresh anger abroad.

Echoing remarks by officials after the 1993 study was completed, Abe’s
statement said there had been no direct reference in documents found during
the research that either government or military officials had forcibly
hauled the women to the brothels.

Abe last week rejected a demand by a group of ruling party lawmakers for
the government to conduct a new probe on the topic, but said the government
would co-operate with a study by the party.

The head of the group – which denies victims’ accounts of being forced by
Japanese soldiers to work in the brothels – said that they would forge
ahead with the research.

Abe, 52, hails from the most conservative wing of his Liberal Democratic
Party, and with his ratings sagging, analysts had said his original remarks
were an attempt to woo his conservative base ahead of a July upper house
election.

Brought to you by REUTERS

© REUTERS 2007
———————————-
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stories/s1874207.htm
Last Updated 17/03/2007, 09:31:34
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The Japanese government says it doesn’t believe there’s proof Japan’s
imperial military forced women into sexual slavery during the Second World
War.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s cabinet issued the new statement on the matter
in parliament, responding to a question by an opposition member.

The statement says the government hasn’t found evidence showing forced
recruitment by Japanese military authorities or bureaucrats.

It says the cabinet won’t change a landmark 1993 apology that the Japanese
government issued to former sex slaves.

Historians say up to 200,000 young women, mostly from Korea but also from
China, Indonesia, the Philippines and Taiwan, were forced to serve as sex
slaves in Japanese army brothels.

< back
————————————-
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/pm-stands-firm-on-japan-sex-slave-war-history/2007/03/12/1173548107149.html

PM stands firm on Japan sex slave war history

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Misha Schubert, Tokyo, and Penelope Debelle, Adelaide
March 13, 2007
Page 1 of 2 | Single page
Other related coverage

    * Japanese PM dashes sex slaves’ hope of apology
    * Japan PM denies WWII sex slavery
    * Howard, Abe downplay concerns over pact
    * Sex slave move to stir anger
    * Japan PM may order new sex slaves study

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PRIME Minister John Howard has set himself on a collision course with his
Japanese counterpart, Shinzo Abe, by declaring there should be no
“quibbling” over the degree of coercion used to force thousands of women to
act as sex slaves for the Japanese military during World War II.

On the eve of their talks in Tokyo today, Mr Howard has made it clear he
will not tolerate an attempt by Japan to rewrite history. Heis expected to
raise the issue with Mr Abe this afternoon.

Mr Abe enraged surviving so-called “comfort women” two weeks ago when
??after the US Congress called on Japan to accept historical
responsibility for the sex slave practice ??he suggested there was no
evidence to prove that the Japanese Government or army had coerced women to
work in brothels.

He refused to issue an official apology to the women.

“There is no evidence to back up that there was coercion as defined
initially,” Mr Abe told reporters, referring to claims that the Imperial
Army had abducted women for use as sex slaves.

“It was not as though military police broke into people’s homes and took
them away like kidnappers.”

Mr Abe tried to quell the controversy last Sunday by reiterating his
support for the 1993 Kono statement of apology.

Mr Howard yesterday welcomed the reaffirmation of the 1993 statement, but
rejected any attempt to parse definitions.

“There can be no quibbling about what happened ??Any suggestion there was
not coercion is completely repudiated by me and it has been completely
repudiated by other Allied countries,” he said.

Adelaide woman Jan Ruff O’Herne, 84, who was seized from a prisoner of war
camp in Java and forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese, has urged Mr
Howard to pursue the matter with Mr Abe.

Mrs O’Herne said she was relying on Japan’s culture of honour to force it
to acknowledge its wartime history.

She testified last month at a US House of Representatives hearing in
Washington that, at the age of 19, she was raped “day and night” for three
months by Japanese soldiers.

Mrs O’Herne said that on a recent visit to Japan she addressed high school
children about her experiences. “I was glad that I was there to be able to
tell them the truth,” she said. “I think the younger generation in Japan
wants Japan to take responsibility and own up to their wartime history.”

Mr Howard described the trauma suffered by Mrs O’Herne and up to 200,000
other comfort women as “an appalling episode in a tragic period in the
history of the world”.

Page 2 of 2
Other related coverage

    * Japanese PM dashes sex slaves’ hope of apology
    * Japan PM denies WWII sex slavery
    * Howard, Abe downplay concerns over pact
    * Sex slave move to stir anger
    * Japan PM may order new sex slaves study

AdvertisementAdvertisement

PRIME Minister John Howard has set himself on a collision course with his
Japanese counterpart, Shinzo Abe, by declaring there should be no
“quibbling” over the degree of coercion used to force thousands of women to
act as sex slaves for the Japanese military during World War II.

On the eve of their talks in Tokyo today, Mr Howard has made it clear he
will not tolerate an attempt by Japan to rewrite history. Heis expected to
raise the issue with Mr Abe this afternoon.

Mr Abe enraged surviving so-called “comfort women” two weeks ago when
??after the US Congress called on Japan to accept historical
responsibility for the sex slave practice ??he suggested there was no
evidence to prove that the Japanese Government or army had coerced women to
work in brothels.

He refused to issue an official apology to the women.

“There is no evidence to back up that there was coercion as defined
initially,” Mr Abe told reporters, referring to claims that the Imperial
Army had abducted women for use as sex slaves.

“It was not as though military police broke into people’s homes and took
them away like kidnappers.”

Mr Abe tried to quell the controversy last Sunday by reiterating his
support for the 1993 Kono statement of apology.

Mr Howard yesterday welcomed the reaffirmation of the 1993 statement, but
rejected any attempt to parse definitions.

“There can be no quibbling about what happened ??Any suggestion there was
not coercion is completely repudiated by me and it has been completely
repudiated by other Allied countries,” he said.

Adelaide woman Jan Ruff O’Herne, 84, who was seized from a prisoner of war
camp in Java and forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese, has urged Mr
Howard to pursue the matter with Mr Abe.

Mrs O’Herne said she was relying on Japan’s culture of honour to force it
to acknowledge its wartime history.

She testified last month at a US House of Representatives hearing in
Washington that, at the age of 19, she was raped “day and night” for three
months by Japanese soldiers.

Mrs O’Herne said that on a recent visit to Japan she addressed high school
children about her experiences. “I was glad that I was there to be able to
tell them the truth,” she said. “I think the younger generation in Japan
wants Japan to take responsibility and own up to their wartime history.”

Mr Howard described the trauma suffered by Mrs O’Herne and up to 200,000
other comfort women as “an appalling episode in a tragic period in the
history of the world”.

Yet Mr Howard, who has consistently rejected calls for an official apology
by the Australian Government after inquiries into the “stolen generations”
of indigenous people, sidestepped a question about the value of symbolic
apologies.

“I think the problem with this is an apology has been given and then some
doubt was raised as to whether there was a retreat from that apology,” he
said.

Mr Howard’s controversial comments came as Mr Abe last night said he felt a
“shared destiny” with Australia as he prepared to sign the first security
agreement that Japan has struck with any nation other than the US since
World War II.

The declaration will affirm a desire for closer security ties between Japan
and Australia, opening the door to greater intelligence sharing, joint
military training, peacekeeping co-operation and shared efforts to foil
regional people smugglers.

Mr Abe last night tried to reassure China and South Korea that it was not
the intention of Australia or Japan to “encircle” China.

And in a nod to the role that his grandfather, Nobusuke Kishi, played in
signing the 1957 Commerce Agreement that opened the trade door between
Australia and Japan, Mr Abe told the ABC: “I feel something like a shared
destiny here and ??we will be able to build a comprehensive security
relationship.”
======================

http://www.guardian.co.uk/japan/story/0,,2001056,00.html

Japanese minister wants ‘birth-giving machines’, aka women, to have more
babies

Justin McCurry in Tokyo
Monday January 29, 2007
The Guardian

Japan’s health minister did nothing to endear himself to female voters over
the weekend when he described women as “birth-giving machines” and implored
them to “do their best” to halt the country’s declining birthrate.

In a speech to Liberal Democratic party members in western Japan, Hakuo
Yanagisawa said women of child-bearing age should perform a public service
by raising the birthrate, which fell to a record low of 1.26 children per
woman in 2005. Experts say an average fertility rate of 2.1 children is
needed to keep the population stable.

Article continues
“The number of women aged between 15 and 50 is fixed,” Mr Yanagisawa, 71,
said. “Because the number of birth-giving machines and devices is fixed,
all we can do is ask them to do their best per head … although it may not
be so appropriate to call them machines.”

Mr Yanagisawa’s reported admission that the description had been “too
uncivil” failed to silence his critics.

“It was extremely rude towards women,” said Yukio Hatoyama, leader of the
Democratic party. “Having children or not having children is naturally a
matter that women and households are free to decide themselves.”

The minister’s remarks come as the government tries to encourage women to
have bigger families. Many blame the cost of raising children and social
pressure to leave work when they become pregnant for women’s reluctance to
have children.

In response the government supports proposals to increase childcare
facilities in the workplace and encourage firms to introduce flexible
working hours to allow staff more time to raise families.

Recent figures show that Japan’s fertility rate rose slightly in 2005, but
it is thought to have fallen again last year.

Experts have warned that the trend will stifle economic growth and further
strain on the creaking pension system in a country where one in five is
aged 65 or over.

In 2005 the population went into decline for the first time since the
second world war, and the health ministry estimates it will shrink to 89
million by 2055.
=========================
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stories/s1877042.htm
Last Updated 20/03/2007, 18:50:51
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Japan was morally responsible for forcing women to work in wartime
brothels, according to former Japanese prime minister Tomiichi Murayama.

Mr Murayama, who made a landmark apology for Japan’s wartime actions in
1995, also said efforts by politicians to justify World War II were making
Asian neighbours worry Tokyo was returning to its militarist past.

His comments come after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sparked outrage overseas
by saying there was no evidence that Japan’s government or army had
kidnapped the women to work as sex slaves, although he has also said he
stands by the apology acknowledging official involvement in the brothels.

Mr Murayama, who became Japan’s first Socialist prime minister in 40 years
when he was elected in 1994, said the debate over the degree of official
involvement was meaningless.

“There is no point in debating that. There is no mistake that the military
had set up and managed the brothels. In that sense, the government was
responsible,” Mr Murayama, 83, told Reuters news agency.

“That’s why the government has apologised, and because it felt that that
was not enough from a moral standpoint, began work to provide compensation
and set up the fund,” he said, referring to the government-sponsored Asian
Women’s Fund set up in 1995.
=======================
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/332c3534-d58e-11db-a5c6-000b5df10621.html
Japan considers the Eurofighter

By Mariko Sanchanta and David Pilling in Tokyo

Published: March 18 2007 22:01 | Last updated: March 18 2007 22:01

Japan’s defence ministry is considering adopting the Eurofighter as its
next- generation fighter jet, a potentially momentous move for a country
that has until now only purchased fighters from the US, its closest
military ally.

A decision could be made within the next six months, people familiar with
the negotiations said, and the pro­curement deal could run to tens of
billions of dollars as Tokyo is looking to replace 250-300 ageing
aeroplanes. “We are looking at the Eurofighter, along with other fighters,
” said a ­defence ministry spokesman. “We are looking at all available
data, not just American data.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Military analysts say that Japan might be assessing the Eurofighter Typhoon
as a ploy to press the US on price and access to highly sensitive
technology.

Robert Dujarric, a defence expert at Temple University, said Japan would
want the political insurance that went along with US jets. He pointed out
that Singapore and South Korea both considered buying European fighters
before eventually opting for US technology.

The defence ministry needs to replace its fleet of 90 F-4s, which went into
service in 1971, and plan for the eventual retirement of its 200 F-15
fighters.

Industry experts say the Japanese really want to buy state-of-the-art F-22A
Raptor stealth fighters, made by Lockheed Martin. But that ambition has
been thwarted by the US Congress, which has banned the sale of the
radar-evading F-22.

Sugio Takahashi, a re­search fellow at the National Institute for Defense
Studies in Japan, said Lockheed Martin had been lobbying the US to allow
sales to Tokyo. The US company is keen to expand its market because the US
military has ordered fewer than half its expected 500 F-22s, pushing unit
costs up sharply.

Mr Takahashi said transferring Eurofighter technology would be less
sensitive. In the past, Japanese manufacturers such as Mitsubishi Heavy
Industries have built US fighters under licence, but given the advance of
technology since, their ability to build F-22s is uncertain.

Thomas Schieffer, US ambassador to Tokyo, said it was natural that Japan
should consider alternative technology. “Everybody understands the
Europeans have good fighters too, and there’s going to be a debate here
about what they need.”

The ambassador said it was difficult, though not impossible, to buy
technology from countries other than the US, given the need for
interoperability on the battlefield. “You want one set of planes you own
to talk to another set of planes you own,” he said. Mr Schieffer hoped
Japan would end up buying a combination of US technology, including F-22s,
if congressional opposition could be overcome.

Even if the export ban were lifted, F-22s could cost Japan more than $200m
(?105m) each, according to military experts. But Mr Takahashi says there
would also be economic benefits to buying US fighters as they could share
maintenance facilities with jets deployed at US bases in Japan.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
======================

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