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Shares jump on better-than-expected US orders for durable goods
2008-05-30 00:00:00
{mosgoogle right}TOKYO (AP) -- Japanese shares jumped Thursday as sentiment turned upbeat on better-than-expected U.S. durable goods orders.The benchmark Nikkei 225 index soared 415.03 points, or 3.03 percent, to 14,124.47."Buying spread across the board as investors reacted positively to yesterday's data on orders for durable goods," said Masatoshi Sato, a strategist at Mizuho Investors Securities Co. Ltd.The Commerce Department said Wednesday that U.S. order ...
More About: Goods , Jump , Shares , Orders , Durable

Report: Japan nominates economic professor for Bank of Japan policy board
2008-05-30 00:00:00
{mosgoogle right}TOKYO (AP) -- Japan nominated a professor for the central bank's policy board, Kyodo reported Thursday, amid wrangling between the ruling party and opposition over who should steer monetary policy through embattled times.Nominated for one of two vacated seats at the Bank of Japan was Kazuhito Ikeo, 55, economics professor at Tokyo's prestigious Keio University, Kyodo News reported. The public relations office of Japan's parliamentary lower house could not immediate ...
More About: Report , Board , Policy , Economic

Tokyo dating cafe manager arrested, 31 girls questioned
2008-05-30 00:00:00
{mosgoogle right}The manager of an illegal Tokyo dating cafe was arrested Thursday and 31 girls who were customers were questioned, police said.This is the first time in Tokyo that police have cracked down on a dating cafe, according to investigators. The use of such clubs by underage girls where men and women seek partners has become a major social problem.Ryuji Minoda, 24, manager of Can Cafe in the Higashi-Ikebukuro Itchome district of Toshima-ku, is accused of violat ...
More About: Girls , Arrested , Dating , Manager

Japan balks at supporting international ban on cluster bombs
2008-05-30 00:00:00
{mosgoogle right}Japan declined Thursday to say whether it will support an agreement reached in Dublin to totally ban existing models of cluster munitions."The matter is being discussed. I've not heard of the details," Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura told a news conference Thursday morning."As the prime minister desires, Japan will make an active contribution to forming a consensus," Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura said on Wednesday before the agreement was r ...
More About: International , Cluster , Bombs

Brothel operator busted for letting hooker use hotel room for prostitution
2008-05-30 00:00:00
{mosgoogle right}A brothel owner and three other people have been arrested for allowing a female employee to use a hotel room for prostitution, Tokyo police said.Toshiko Uchida, 70, the brothel owner, and three unnamed suspects stand accused of violating the Anti-Prostitution Law.Uchida and her accomplices allowed a woman working for the brothel to use a Tokyo hotel room in the predawn hours of April 23 while being aware that she would perform prostitution, the Metropoli ...
More About: Hotel , Letting , Busted , Room

Couple cleaning toy car suffer burns following blast when man lights cigare
2008-05-30 00:00:00
{mosgoogle right}KUMAGAYA, Saitama -- A couple who were cleaning a remote-controlled car with inflammable cleanser were left with serious burns following an explosion after the man lit a cigarette in their condominium, police said.Shunsuke Nito, 25, and his wife, Mai, 24, both company employees, suffered burns to their hands, legs and faces in the explosion that took place at their home in a two-story apartment complex in Kumagaya at around 12:40 a.m. on Thursday.The cou ...
More About: Cleaning , Couple , Blast , Lights , Burns

4 busted after bogus big boob scam falls flat
2008-05-30 00:00:00
{mosgoogle right}KAWASAKI -- Four people have been arrested for illegally selling pharmaceutical products that they claimed would boost the size of women's breasts, police said.Kwak Chung-yang, 52, a company president, and three unnamed suspects are accused of violating the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law by selling and stockpiling medical drugs without permission from the government regulator.They advertised on the Internet and in magazines that the nutritional products are ...
More About: Busted , Scam , Falls , Flat , Boob

Suspected bone of murdered woman found in sewage pipe near her home
2008-05-30 00:00:00
{mosgoogle right}A fragment of a human bone believed to belong to a woman that a neighbor has confessed to killing has been found in a sewage pipe near their Tokyo apartment complex, police said.The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) is poised to examine the bone in a bid to confirm whether it belongs to Rurika Tojo, 23, a missing advertisement agency employee.Investigators found the fragment during a search of sewage pipes near her apartment in Koto-ku based on confes ...
More About: Home , Woman , Bone , Pipe

Landlord sues gov't after losing tenants following police shooting of resid
2008-05-30 00:00:00
{mosgoogle right}An apartment complex owner, who claims he lost tenants and was forced to pull down the structure after a policeman murdered a female resident, has sued the Tokyo Metropolitan Government that employed the officer.The owner of the apartment complex in Kokubunji, western Tokyo, has recently filed the damages suit with the Hachioji branch of the Tokyo District Court. The amount of compensation he is demanding from the metropolitan government was not immediately disclos ...
More About: Police , Shooting , Tenants

Ex-student admits to teaming up with girlfriend in train groping scam
2008-05-30 00:00:00
{mosgoogle right}OSAKA -- A former university student pleaded guilty to teaming up with his girlfriend to file a false report on a subway groping incident in a bid to extort money from the victim.Fumiyuki Makita, 24, a former Konan University student who was indicted on charges of false accusation, admitted to the facts presented in the indictment during his first hearing of the case at the Osaka District Court on Thursday."They are true," said Makita in admitting to the ...
More About: Student , Girlfriend , Train , Scam , Groping

Japanese Navy Underground Headquarters
2008-05-30 00:00:00
The last struggling moments of the Battle of Okinawa that broke in 1945 during the WWII was encapsulated in the Japanese Navy Underground Headquarters in Tomigusuku, which is situated 20 minutes south of Naha. The Japanese Empire believed that losing Okinawa, just 500 kilometers from Japanese home islands would be disastrous. Overwhelmed by the superiority of American forces and firepower, the Japanese Imperial Army and Navy devised a plan to concentrate forces in the strategically and more d ...

Flasher pushes woman down onto railway tracks after she forced him off trai
2008-05-30 00:00:00
{mosgoogle right}A man who flashed his private parts at a woman on a train in Tokyo abruptly pushed her down onto the tracks after she forced him to get off the train, police said.The woman, a 25-year-old part-time worker living in Hamura, western Tokyo, suffered serious injuries that are expected to take two months to heal. Local police are searching for the man who fled the scene following the incident.At around 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, the man exposed his private parts ...
More About: Forced , Woman , Tracks , TRAI

High court raps gov't over appeal against health benefits for A-bomb victim
2008-05-30 00:00:00
{mosgoogle right}SENDAI -- A high court upheld a ruling that entitled atomic bomb survivors to health care benefits and criticized the government in refusing to recognize them as suffering from A-bomb diseases.The Sendai High Court recognized in its ruling on Wednesday that Akemi Hatano, 69, and Mitsuo Niinuma, 84, are suffering from diseases caused by A-bomb radiation. Both of them survived the A-bombing in Hiroshima in 1945 and currently live in Sendai."We must say tha ...
More About: Health , Bomb , Benefits

Kerama Islands
2008-05-30 00:00:00
The land skirmish of the Battle of Okinawa began on March 26, 1945 and lasted for about 87 days. The Americans first touched the shore of the Kerama Island, 24 kilometers west of Okinawa. Fierce fighting raged on Geruma, Aka, Zamami and Tokashiki Islands before the Kerama group was secured over the next five days. In these preliminary operations, the American 77th Infantry Division suffered 31 dead and 81 wounded, while Japanese dead and captured numbered over 650. Terrified and driven to des ...

Fugitive wanted in Osaka and Kyoto for attempted murder spotted in Shinjuku
2008-05-30 00:00:00
{mosgoogle right}HIRAKATA, Osaka -- A fugitive wanted by both Osaka and Kyoto prefectural police over two attempted murder cases was spotted in the Shinjuku district of downtown Tokyo earlier this week, investigators said.Atsushi Ishizu, 40, a resident of Hirakata, Osaka Prefecture, was spotted near the Hanazono Shrine in Shinjuku-ku at around 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Osaka Prefectural Police said.Osaka Prefectural Police have dispatched 30 investigators to Shinjuku-ku and joi ...
More About: Murder , Wanted , Fugitive

'Breakfast at Tiffany's' helped inspire Murakami to write for his daily bre
2008-05-30 00:00:00
{mosgoogle right}Truman Capote remains one of the authors for whom acclaimed Japanese writer Haruki Murakami feels strongly attached.It was reading Capote in English for the first time while still in high school that inspired Murakami to turn his hand toward translation."Reading him was like 'Wow, there's writing as wonderful as this,'" Murakami says in an exclusive interview with the Mainichi."Capote basically gave me the spark I needed," Murakami says. "His ...
More About: Daily , Breakfast , Write , Inspire

Shikina-En Garden
2008-05-30 00:00:00
Located in Maji Naha city, the Shikina-en, the royal family’s largest country retreat garden, was constructed in 1799 as the second residence of the Ryūkyū kings. The “South Garden ” as it is also popularly known, played an important role as a gateway to welcome and entertain “Sapposhi” envoys from China. “South Garden” is named to discern Shikina-en from another beautiful royal villa, Uchaya-udun which was called the “East Garden”Shikina-en garden spans about 39,600 square ...

The Naha City Arts and Crafts Museum
2008-05-30 00:00:00
Naha, located in the southern part of the largest and most populous island, the Okinawa Island, is the capital city of Okinawa Prefecture. In the feudal period, Naha is the commercial and administration center of the Ryūkyū Kingdom, and today it is the political, economical and educational center. Americans invasion during the Battle of Okinawa has more or less fused into the rich heritage Okinawa. During the years of US administration for 27 years, the people were in constant conta ...
More About: Arts , Crafts , City , Museum , Arts and Crafts

Girl who fatally stabbed classmate to have freedom restrictions lifted
2008-05-30 00:00:00
{mosgoogle right}SASEBO, Nagasaki -- Local authorities announced Thursday that they will lift the restrictions of freedom on a teenage girl who stabbed her classmate to death.The Nagasaki prefectural center in Sasebo for the support of children, women and the disabled said it will decide on any further treatment of the girl, who is now 15, after her restrictions are lifted.The girl has been in the custody of a children's self-support facility in Sakura, Tochigi Prefectur ...
More About: Freedom , Girl , Lifted

Sanyo, Volkswagen announce deal to make lithium-ion batteries for hybrid ca
2008-05-29 00:00:00
{mosgoogle right}TOKYO (AP) -- Japanese electronics maker Sanyo and Germany's Volkswagen AG agreed to develop lithium-ion batteries for hybrid vehicles, both sides said Wednesday.The latest agreement follows one in January 2006, when Sanyo Electric Co. and Volkswagen agreed to work together in nickel metal hydride batteries, now used in most gas-electric hybrids like Toyota's Prius.Sanyo already provides nickel metal hydride batteries for Ford Motor Co., which makes the ...
More About: Hybrid , Batteries , Deal , Make

Sony's new clear, tube-shaped speaker delivers natural sound, inspired by f
2008-05-29 00:00:00
{mosgoogle right}TOKYO (AP) -- Sony, the company that brought you the egg-shaped music player and the dog-like robot, has now created the transparent tube speaker.Called Sountina -- a combination of "sound" and "fountain" -- the 1 million yen (US$9,600) acrylic speaker goes on sale June 20 in Japan. Overseas sales are still undecided.Sony Corp. said the 1-meter-long speaker produces high quality, natural-sounding audio that spreads 360 degrees all around from the tube an ...
More About: Speaker , Tube , Natural , Sound , Clear

Nissan to build new plant for commercial vehicles in China
2008-05-29 00:00:00
{mosgoogle right}TOKYO (AP) -- Nissan Motor Co. said Wednesday it would build a new plant in China as part of the Japanese automaker's plan to boost vehicle sales in one of the world's fastest-growing economies.Nissan's joint venture, Dongfeng Motor Co. Ltd., will set up the plant in Henan province, central China, to produce 120,000 light commercial vehicles a year, Japan's No.3 automaker said in a statement.Nissan, Dongfeng Motor and Nissan's Chinese partner, Dongfeng A ...
More About: Commercial , Vehicles , Build

RNAi drug developer Alnylam signs deal with Takeda potentially worth more t
2008-05-29 00:00:00
{mosgoogle right}BOSTON (AP) -- A developer of an emerging class of drugs designed to shut off genes that trigger disease has reached its second potential $1 billion deal with a large pharmaceutical company in less than a year.Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. on Tuesday announced a drug-licensing partnership with Japan's Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., an agreement similar to a non-exclusive deal it reached last summer with Switzerland-based Roche.There is growing interest i ...
More About: Developer , Signs , Deal , Worth , Drug

Japan striker Ganaha gets apology after injection ban overturned
2008-05-29 00:00:00
{mosgoogle right}TOKYO (AP) -- The J-League chairman apologized to Kazuki Ganaha on Wednesday after the Japan international striker won his appeal against a ban for taking a vitamin injection."We must accept the ruling," J-League chairman Kenji Onitake said at a press conference in Tokyo. "We caused him a lot of hardship for a year and there are things we need to reflect upon."On Tuesday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned a six-match suspension imposed by the ...
More About: Apology , Injection , Striker

Matsuzaka injured while warming up between innings
2008-05-29 00:00:00
{mosgoogle right}SEATTLE (AP) -- Boston's Daisuke Matsuzaka left his start against Seattle before the bottom of the fifth inning with an apparent injury to his lower back on Tuesday.The 11th Red Sox pitcher to win his first eight decisions in a season allowed three runs -- two earned -- on four hits in four innings. Then, after two seemingly routine warmup pitches before the bottom of the fifth, he appeared to briefly grab his lower back.Catcher Jason Varitek went to the ...
More About: Injured

Japan, Paraguay play to 0-0 draw in Kirin Cup friendly
2008-05-29 00:00:00
{mosgoogle right}SAITAMA (AP) -- Japan and Paraguay played to a scoreless draw Tuesday in the final match of the Kirin Cup exhibition tournament.Japan, which beat Ivory Coast 1-0 on Saturday, finished first in the three-nation tournament despite failing to score in the final game.Shunsuke Nakamura of Scottish side Celtic played the full 90 minutes and created several good scoring chances in the first half but Japan was unable to capitalize.Paraguay controlled ...
More About: Play , Friendly , Draw

Ganaha wins appeal at CAS, overturns suspension
2008-05-29 00:00:00
{mosgoogle right}LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) -- Japanese soccer player Kazuki Ganaha won his appeal Tuesday against a ban for taking a vitamin injection.The Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned a six-match suspension imposed by the Japan Professional Football League in May 2007.A CAS panel of three arbitrators ruled that an infusion of saline and vitamin B1 given to Ganaha by the doctor at his club Kawasaki Frontale "was a legitimate treatment ... within the meaning ...
More About: Wins , Suspension , Appeal

Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier given farewell in Yokosuka ceremony
2008-05-29 00:00:00
{mosgoogle right}YOKOSUKA, Kanagawa -- A ceremony to mark the departure of the U.S. aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk from its home port at Yokosuka Naval Base was held Wednesday, with about 600 people seeing the ship off.The aircraft carrier, which departed at about 9 a.m., is heading to Hawaii to be replaced by the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier George Washington. The Kitty Hawk is due to be decommissioned in January next year.Among those at the farewell ceremony on Wednes ...
More About: Aircraft , Ceremony

Fukuda pledges to double official development assistance to Africa
2008-05-29 00:00:00
{mosgoogle right}YOKOHAMA -- Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda pledged Wednesday to double Japan's official development assistance (ODA) to Africa .Fukuda made the pledge in a speech he made during the opening ceremony of the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV) that kicked off in Yokohama on Wednesday.Tokyo will double its ODA to African countries over the next five years through to 2012. As part of the aid package, Japan will extend 4 billio ...
More About: Double , Official

Scandal-hit restaurant operator Senba Kitcho goes out of business
2008-05-29 00:00:00
{mosgoogle right}OSAKA -- Scandal -hit restaurant operator Senba Kitcho, which recently filed for rehabilitation, announced the discontinuation of its business on Wednesday.The company announced it was going out of business in a news conference in Osaka, with 71-year-old proprietress and company president Sachiko Yuki offering a tearful apology."I'm very sorry," Yuki said, "Today, with a heartbroken feeling, we discontinue business."In October last year a food ...
More About: Business , Restaurant , Operator