Random Japan

GOING DIGITAL
A communications ministry survey revealed that, for the first time in 29 years, the number of landline phone subscriptions fell below 40 million.

At the same time, the “penetration rate” of mobile phones in Japan has reached 96.8 percent.
It was reported that the communications ministry has set up 160 temporary call centers in 44 prefectures around the country to help people deal with the changeover from analog to digital terrestrial TV broadcasting, scheduled for July 24.

Meanwhile, sales of flat-panel TVs are skyrocketing ahead of the changeover. Stores are reporting sales 250 percent higher than a year ago.

Other hot items this summer include electric fans, whose sales have jumped 4.5-fold compared to last year.

Stats


¥1,200
Average amount of daily spending money Japanese wives give their husbands, according to a survey by Shinsei Financial Co.

29
Years since the allowance given to salarymen was so low

570,000
Female millionaires in Japan, according to a survey by wealth management consultancy Capgemin

GOING GA-GA

A class action lawsuit filed in the US claims that Lady Gaga failed to donate proceeds of her “relief wristband” to victims of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

The suit also alleges that the singer “charged buyers an excessive $3.99 for shipping within the United States, against the actual cost of only 50 cents.”

Japan and the US have agreed not to use the word “burden” in official documents when referring to US military bases in Okinawa. The term has been ditched in favor of the more neutral-sounding “impact.”

Environment Minister Ryu Matsumoto praised UNESCO’s decision to name the Ogasawara Island chain as a World Heritage site, saying, “It brings us great joy.”

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Volunteers wanted more than ever for disaster areas

2011/07/15
Four months after the Great East Japan Earthquake, volunteers are still desperately needed in the hardest-hit areas for jobs ranging from clearing debris from homes to delivering relief materials and food.

About 483,000 volunteers have helped reconstruction in disaster-hit prefectures in the three and a half months since the March 11 disaster, compared with 1.17 million volunteers who pitched in over the same period after the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake.

The Japan National Council of Social Welfare surveyed the number of volunteers in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures between March 11 and June 26.