Random Japan

KARMA-RIFIC
A senior citizen trying to steal coins from a donation box at a shrine in Tokushima fell and hit his head while attempting to flee the scene. He later claimed his six stitches were “punishment from God.”

A 35-year-old Japanese man was caught at the airport in Bali with 6kg of hash. Apparently, he recently served time in an Indian prison for a similar offense, and now faces the death penalty under Indonesian law.

The 19-year-old son of an American soldier stationed in Japan was found guilty of seriously injuring a 24-year-old Tokyo woman by stringing a rope across a roadway in 2009, causing her to fall off her scooter “just for laughs.” Three other American kids involved got off without charge.

Three Tokyo teens, meanwhile, were arrested for breaking into a couple of cars using a method they had learned on YouTube.

STATS
16 million
Letters and packages sent by air and sea from Japan to the US annually

453 grams
Maximum weight of airmail packages sent from Japan to the US due to new anti-terrorism measures (see “The Last Word”

9
Percent of people in Hong Kong who have a “positive feeling about the Japanese government,” according to a public opinion poll by Hong Kong University

15,615
Reported cases of abuse of elderly Japanese by family members in fiscal 2009, a record, according to the health ministry

STRANGE DAYS
Believe it or not, 86 incidents were reported of people injuring themselves in Japan over the last 10 years by taking pills before removing the plastic packaging. They musta been smart pills.

A 24-year-old bank employee in Sendai committed suicide by hanging himself, and streamed video of the act online. Some viewers reportedly told him to hurry up and get on with it, while others urged him to reconsider. He didn’t.

Thai authorities said an initial investigation into the shooting death of Reuters cameraman Hiroyuki Muramoto during unrest in Bangkok last April has revealed that Thai security forces may have fired the fatal shots.

In Los Angeles, an 84-year-old Japanese-American woman, who had spent time in an internment camp during World War II, was pushed to her death on some train tracks by a deranged homeless woman.

Governor's Son

Goes To The Big House

Financial Services Minister

He Pay's For Your votes

Wanted Man

Wants Name Removed From Wanted List

Younger foreign residents seek a more multicultural Japan

TOKYO
While the foreign resident population in Japan remains relatively small compared to most developed countries at slightly less than 2% of the populace, as of 2009, its presence is being increasingly felt.

From ethnic Koreans to Japanese Brazilians, the younger generations are actively making their voices heard, calling for greater understanding from the Japanese people while also tackling their own identity issues.

‘‘As a third generation ethnic Korean resident, I personally have had almost no experience of any direct discrimination,’’ said Kim Bung Ang of the Korea NGO Center Tokyo branch. ‘‘People of our parents’ generation were unable to get jobs at Japanese companies, but nowadays rejection due solely to foreign nationality is rare.’‘

Kan seen at critical turning point
Should he bring in Ozawa allies to Cabinet, or reach out to LDP?
By KANAKO TAKAHARA and NATSUKO FUKUE
Staff writers Saturday, Dec. 4, 2010
It was less than three months ago that Prime Minister Naoto Kan was flying high, defeating his political foe Ichiro Ozawa in the Democratic Party of Japan presidential election and enjoying a public support rate of better than 60 percent.
But that support has since plunged to around 20 percent after a number of political blunders, ranging from mishandling the diplomatic crisis with Beijing and the embarrassing online leak of Japan Coast Guard video clips to recent gaffes by key Cabinet ministers.