Random Japan

FAMOUS FIRSTS

• Japanese researchers have succeeded in using gene therapy to restore the memory of mice suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
• Scientists led by a professor at Toyama College have found that the internal organs of firefly squids “contain a substance that helps reduce liver fat.”
• Researchers in Mie have discovered a new mineral—called Vanadoallanite-(La), if you must know—that contains rare-earth materials.
• An orchestra from quake-hit Sendai completed its first foreign tour since 3/11. The group visited Russia to show “appreciation for Russian relief activities.”

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NATIONAL

Japan tried to buy isles before Soviet collapse: Ozawa

JIJI

Japan tried to buy the four disputed islands off Hokkaido from the former Soviet Union as proposed by an aide to then-President Mikhail Gorbachev, opposition leader Ichiro Ozawa said Saturday.

On an Internet program, Ozawa said that when he was secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party, then in power at the time, he was approached by an aide to the Soviet leader with an offer to return the islands to Japan for money.

Ozawa, now leader of Seikatsu no To (People’s Life Party), said that he got the Finance Ministry to disburse “some trillion yen” and later visited Moscow.