Random Japan

FINDINGS Japanese researchers have discovered that people with diabetes are 1.2 times more likely to develop cancer than non-diabetics. The internal affairs ministry says the number of workers aged 60 or over has hit a record high for the sixth straight year. The figure stands at 11.92 million. A museum in Meguro-ku has put on display 10 notebooks containing the schoolboy scribblings of acclaimed writer Osamu Dazai (1909-1948). Meanwhile, a trove of nine unpublished drawings by famed manga-ka Osamu Tezuka was discovered by Space Battleship Yamato illustrator Leiji Matsumoto.

stats 110 Number of volcanoes in Japan, according to the Meteorological Agency 47 Number of these volcanoes likely to erupt in the next 100 years 89.3 Percent of major Japanese companies that believe “the economy is on a recovery track,” according to a newspaper poll

Ultra-detailed Laputa figurine will make your friends fly into jealous nerdrage by Mike After teasing a release of “something” for a month on their website, Bandai unveiled this painstakingly detailed figure of the iconic robot from Hayao Miyazaki’s Castle in the Sky, to the delighted squeals of Ghibli geeks everywhere. In the animated film, the robot is the sole working model of an army of defensive machines that once protected the now-extinct inhabitants of a legendary floating island.

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City employee sold decommissioned public vehicles for personal profit KITAKYUSHU A city employee here sold decommissioned city vehicles for personal profit over at least the last three years, the Mainichi Shimbun has learned. The employee, a man in his 50s, belongs to the city hall management department of the Kitakyushu Municipal Government, and had say over which old vehicles should be decommissioned and turned over to vendors. According to the employee and used-vehicle vendors, the employee would buy back decommissioned vehicles that had been sold to used-vehicle vendors but were still in relatively good condition, then sell them on Internet auction sites, reaping a profit of 50,000 to 60,000 yen per car.