Top News in Japan — Friday, August 10, 2007
Posted by Matt Dioguardi on August 10th, 2007
[Announcement: I will be traveling for the next week, and do not know to what extent I will be updating my blog during that time, so there might not be any news for a few days.]
Top news in Japan :
DPJ introduce legislation to protect pension funds and to freeze postal privatization for one year. Yesterday the DPJ introduced lots of new legislation into the Upper House that they felt would appeal to the voters and help distinguish them from the LDP. This included legislation that would strictly prohibit the use of pension funds for other political purposes. Also, legislation was introduced to freeze postal privatization for one year. Once through the upper house, this legislation will travel through the lower house where it is expected that it will be ignored by the ruling parties, who oppose it. The legislation will expire on the 10th, when the current session ends, and will be resubmitted when the Diet meets again at the end of this month.
Japanese story: 民主が年金流用禁止法案 野党３党で「郵政」凍結も
More stories follow …
Koike: Ozawa’s calendar stopped at Gulf War. Defense Minister Yuriko Koike on Wednesday blasted Democratic Party of Japan leader Ichiro Ozawa over his opposition to an extension of the antiterrorism special measures law. During her visit to Washington, Koike told reporters: “Mr. Ozawa is saying the same thing [as was said] at the time of the Gulf War [for which U.N.-led multinational forces were dispatched to launch attacks on Iraq in 1991]. I assume his calendar has stopped [working] since then.” (English Link)
Japanese story: 「カレンダーが止まっている」防衛相が小沢民主代表を批判
Abe is unlikely to visit Yasukuni on August 15. Prime Minister has a full schedule from now until the end of August and is sending out very clear signals that he will not visit the shrine this year.
Japanese story: 首相、靖国参拝見送る方向 “謹慎”で夏休みは返上
Japan considers counter intelligence measures. The government is looking at various ways that state secrets can be better protected and are considering various institutions that would assist this endeavor.
Japanese story: 適格性確認の制度導入 政府、秘密保全で基本方針
126,000 kids missed a lot of school last year. Out of junior high school students102,940 students missed more than 30 days of school last year for reasons other than being sick or facing economic problems. Out of elementary school students the number was 23,060. For junior high school students this works out to be about 1 in 35 students. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology which released the numbers cited the main reason as concerns over problems like ijime (bullying), which give parents the feeling that they should not force their child to go to school.
Japanese story: 不登校が５年ぶりに増加 小中で１２万６０００人
The Osaka amusement park Expoland reopens for first time in three months. Expoland is the park where a roller coaster accident took place last may, taking the life of one person and injuring 21 others. The defective roller coaster has not been reopened and will be scrapped.
Japanese story: エキスポランド１０日から営業再開 コースター事故の遊園地
Japan’s Fast Retailing exits Barneys bidding war. Japan’s Fast Retailing on Thursday dropped out of the bidding war for Barneys New York, clearing the way for Dubai firm Istithmar to buy the upscale US department store for 942.3 million US dollars. … (English link)
Japanese story: ユニクロが買収断念 買収額上積みできず
Abe to reshuffle Cabinet, LDP executive posts on same day. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Thursday he will reshuffle the ruling Liberal Democratic Party leadership and his Cabinet at the same time. He stopped short of specifying when, but it is believed they will be carried out Aug. 27 before calling an extraordinary parliament session to be held through the fall, according to political sources. … (English link)
Japanese story: 自民党役員人事も２７日 首相、内閣改造と同時
Gov’t, ruling camp set 47.3 tril. yen cap for FY 2008 budget. The government and the ruling coalition agreed Wednesday to put a 47.3 trillion yen cap on core policy-related outlays for fiscal 2008, paving the way for an endorsement at a Cabinet meeting Friday, Finance Minister Koji Omi said. … (English link)
Japanese story: ０８年度の概算要求基準了承 一般歳出の上限４７・３兆円
Nagasaki marks 62nd anniversary of atomic bombing. Nagasaki marked the 62nd anniversary Thursday of the U.S. atomic bombing of the city in 1945. A memorial ceremony will begin at 10:40 a.m. at Peace Park, in which Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue is to read out his Peace Declaration and some 4,600 expected participants will observe a minute’s silence at 11:02 a.m., the time the bomb exploded. (English link) A total of 28,000 people visited Nagasaki’s peace park yesterday. Activities remembering the tragic bombing continued all the way into the evening. At night about 700 people lit floating lanterns and placed into to Urakami river.
Japanese story: 川面のともしびに思いはせ 長崎、夜まで追悼行事
Nichirei puts pork in their 100% beef paddies. After the relevant government bureaucrats discovered that Nichirei has been putting pork in their frozen hamburger paddies, then marking them 100% beef, the company has decided to relabel the packages. The company stated that it has been adding pork fat to the mince meat product to enhance its flavor and will continue to do so. This is a gray area and not really fraud, so it is not against the law. However, under the advisement of the relevant bureaucrats, Nichirei will only mark their hamburger paddies as “using beef” not “100% beef”.
Japanese story: 牛肉１００％に豚成分検出 ニチレイのハンバーグ
UN nuclear experts finish inspection of quake-hit Japanese nuclear power plant. An inspection team from the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog wrapped up a four-day assessment of a nuclear power plant that was damaged by an earthquake last month, a plant official said Thursday. (English link) A preliminary report will be given today, and the final report will be given next week.
Japanese story: 来週、事務局長に結果報告 ＩＡＥＡが刈羽原発調査終了