Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Random Japan

Thanks for the tip

 

  • Former DPJ bigwig Ichiro Ozawa, on trial for misappropriating political funds, told prosecutors that keeping ¥400-¥500 million in cash lying around “is not something that contradicts common sense.”
  • During a visit to Thailand, trade minister Yukio Edano advised local officials to “strengthen levees and implement other effective flood countermeasures before the rainy season.”
  • Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba visited Afghanistan and called for the government to boost efforts “to eradicate corruption, promote the rule of law and improve governance.”

Not all smiles and sunshine

  • A 65-year-old Japanese man was fined $2,500 by a court in Hawaii for hitting a Delta Air Lines cabin attendant—twice—on a flight from Tokyo to Honolulu. The man was allowed to attend his son’s wedding in Waikiki, though.
  • Newly installed Justice Minister Toshio Ogawa said, “It isn’t in line with the spirit of the [capital punishment] law for the number of death row inmates to continue increasing without executions.”
  • The government announced that it will rewrite relevant laws to enable JAXA to become involved “in the use of space for security purposes.”
  • Meanwhile, a science ministry official said the space agency will begin studying the feasibility of a mission to Mars.

stats
  • 113 Number of moves it took a computer program called “Bonkras” to defeat Japan Shogi Association chairman Kunio Yonenaga in a recent match in Tokyo
  • 200 Estimated number of companies believed to have received shipments of “radioactive gravel” that had been stored near the Fukushima nuclear plant, according to government investigators
  • 29.1 Percentage of college students who have failed to receive job offers ahead of graduation in March, the second highest figure on record, according to the labor ministry
  • 23 Rank of Japan, out of 32 nations, in terms of “nuclear materials security conditions,” according to a US-based NGO 



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