Japan News Briefs

Note: Sorry to say I no longer have time to keep this up, but the stories recorded below over a span of almost a couple years should at least give you a quick glimpse into this most interesting culture. As a good friend once said, "Never a dull moment."

One of my favorite sources of Japan news these days, in addition to the news links at the bottom of this page, is Japan Today.

Thanks for visiting.

cheers,
gary

THE LARGEST FIREWORK IN THE WORLD

•      SAT., SEPT. 11, '99 -- The Japanese have done it again.  The biggest firework in the world was set off on Thursday at the Katagaimachi Fireworks Festival in Ojiya, Niigata Prefecture, sending a shower of flower-like sparks 800 meters (over 2600 feet) in diameter up into the night sky.  About 15,000 spectators cheered as the firework, a so-called "yonshakudama" which measured 1.2 meters (4 feet) in diameter on the ground, lit up the town from a height of 800 meters (a distance of almost 9 football fields).

JAPAN IS CRAZY ABOUT BASEBALL

•      MON., SEPT. 6, '99 -- Who needs the Baseball Hall of Fame when you can build a shrine to worship your own stars? Japanese baseball fans, renowned for their team loyalty and wacky cheering techniques, can now pay tribute to the talents of Yokohama Bay Star's relief pitcher Kazuhiro Sasaki at a shrine built in his honor in Yokohama's bustling main train station. Sasaki led his team to last year's Japanese championship with a record-breaking pitching performance. About 17 million devotees -- nearly 50,000 people every day -- visited the shrine last year, helping the Bay Stars win their first championship in 38 years.  Since arriving in the late 19th century, baseball has become Japan's undisputed #1 sport, attracting big crowds and even bigger commercial backing.  More than 24 million attend professional baseball games annually and millions more watch it on TV, making it the most popular sport in the nation.  During a game, the stadiums buzz with chants, drums, and trumpets, creating a continuous wall of sound that most non-Japanese baseball fans find a bit shocking. 

BIRTH-CONTROL PILLS FINALLY GO ON SALE IN JAPAN

•      FRI., SEPT. 3, '99 -- Low-dosage birth control pills went on sale yesterday for the first time in Japan, after being approved by the Health and Welfare Ministry in June following 9 years of deliberations by the Central Pharmaceutical Affairs Council.  The pills are available by prescription, but are not covered by medical insurance.  A month's supply of pills is likely to cost 3000 yen (~$27) on average.  Abortion has been legal in this country since 1948.     

JAPANESE MAN COMPLETES SOLO TRANSPACIFIC VOYAGE (FOR THE 2ND TIME)

•      FRI., JULY 9, '99 -- Sea adventurer Kenichi Horie passed under the world's longest suspension bridge near the city of Kobe on Thursday morning, shortly before completing a 102-day transpacific voyage in an environmentally friendly yacht built from 528 stainless steel beer kegs and other recycled materials.  Horie, 60, left San Francisco on March 29 to sail solo across the Pacific Ocean.  The trip comes 37 years after he became the first man to sail across the Pacific alone in 1962.

106-YEAR-OLD TWINS TALKING ON A TV PHONE

•      FRI., JULY 2, '99 -- Japan's most famous twin sisters "Kin-san" and "Gin-san", who are 107 years old, both live in Minami Ward, Nagoya City, but since their homes are 5 km apart, they meet only once a month.  A relay agent of a satellite TV station in Nagoya presented them with a video-telephone set, which costs 300,000 yen ($2460), to commemorate their first listing in the Guiness Book of World Records. They were happily excited.  Kin said, "How nice!  We can see each other's face."  Gin said, "Kin's face is on the screen," and Kin commented that it was rather embarrassing.  Gin said it was a wonderful world since she could see Kin's face while sitting at home.  Both of them kept waving their hands at the screen for two minutes before hanging up. The sisters have appeared on numerous televison shows and commercials in Japan since passing the century mark in 1992. Kin-san gave birth to 11 children and has 7 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren.  Gin-san has 5 children, four grandchildren, and 9 great-grandchildren.  "Kin" in Japanese means gold and "gin" means silver. 

NOSTRADAMUS FEVER GRIPS JAPAN

•      MON., MAY 31, '99 -- Largely fueled by growing interest in a doomsday prophecy by 16th century French astrologer Nostradamus, sales of anything anybody ever wanted for the end of humanity -- from books on Armageddon to bomb shelters -- have been on the rise.  A survey done in January indicated that about one in five Japanese believe at least partially in the astrologer's predictions.  Widespread media coverage has helped boost sales in certain industries, e.g. the country's few retailers of underground shelters have tripled sales.  Major bookstores have also set up Nostradamus corners.  The country's top foreign movie of the year has been the end-of-the-world thriller "Armageddon," which has taken in about $115 million during its nearly half-year run.

DOING GOOD DEEDS BECOMES NEW FAD FOR TEENAGE GIRLS

•      WED., MAY 26, '99 -- Teenage girls, who some people associate with dyed hair, wearing loose socks, and "dating" older men for money, have a new fad.  Every time a teenage girl does a good deed like picking up garbage, giving up their train seats to senior citizens, or doing their own laundry, they earn a sticker to paste into a pocketbook called a Heaven's Passport.  On the front of these pocketbooks, which are the same size as real passports, they affix their photographs and then write down their wishes for the future.  When they have collected 100 stickers in their passport, the wish they have inscribed on their passport is supposed to come true.  The Osaka-based maker of the Heaven's Passports has already sold 100,000 of them.

80 BEETLES WORTH 8 MILLION YEN STOLEN FROM SHOP

•      FRI., APRIL 30, '99 -- Eighty beetles valued at 8 million yen ($64,000) were stolen from an insect shop in Toshima Ward, Tokyo yesterday.  The haul included 15 pairs of Japanese-born Dorcus hopei, a type of stag beetle popular for its large size and referred to as a "black diamond" because it is so expensive.  The price of a Dorcus hopei increases per millimeter of length.  Some reach 80 millimeters and are traded for several million yen, even if they are reared in captivity.  The owner of the shop, which stocks about 1000 insects, said that in spite of the country's recession, the overall value of stag beetles has not been affected because the insects are now growing bigger due to improvements in breeding techniques.

WORLD'S TALLEST FERRIS WHEEL TO OPEN NEXT MONTH

•      WED., FEB. 24, '99 -- A 115m-high Ferris Wheel is scheduled to open in mid-March in Palette Town, a multipurpose shopping and entertainment complex in Tokyo's Koto Ward, making it the world's highest Ferris wheel.  The 16-minute-long rides will provide views of Tokyo Bay, skyscrapers in downtown Tokyo, aircraft landing and taking off at Haneda airport, and on a clear day, even a view of Mt. Fuji.  The present recordholder as the world's tallest Ferris Wheel is the 10-year-old Cosmo Clock 21 in Yokohama, whose 60 spokes are successively illuminated at night with neon tubes, ticking off the seconds every minute.  And near its center is a huge digital clock that can be clearly seen for miles.  The Cosmo Clock 21 has 60 gondolas which each seat 8 people and, although about to be eclipsed on the basis of height, still holds the world record for rider capacity.  Ferris wheels have traditionally been located in expansive suburban amusement parks, but operators have recently begun to reverse that trend and are installing the rides in urban districts.  Another planned Ferris wheel in Yokohama will even be installed on the roof of a building.

330-YEAR-OLD TOKYO DEPARTMENT STORE CLOSES

•      MON., FEB. 1, '99 -- The Nihonbashi branch of Tokyu department store closed its doors after more than 330 years of retailing history Sunday, but went out with a bang by racking up record sales in its final month.  As of Saturday, monthly sales had reached 15.5 billion yen, 6.5 times the 2.4 billion yen recorded last January.  Founded in 1662 as a small fancy goods shop named Shirakiya, Tokyu now has four other branches in the Tokyo area and 1 in Sapporo.  Of the store's 374 employees, 227 in December received transfers to work at other branches. 

VIDEO-ARCADE DANCE FEVER SWEEPS THE NATION

•      SUN., JAN. 30, '99 -- The latest dance craze sweeping the nation is an electronic arcade game called Dance Dance Revolution.  For 200 yen, players climb onto a lighted platform and dance with a computer-generated partner, trying to match their footwork to arrows on a 74cm screen. The partner does his own, completely different thing.  Music, mostly 70's disco stuff, pumps at the players' feet, while a sensor underneath the platform monitors whether they are stepping up, down, left or right, and keeping time with the rhythm.  Since its debut in November, sales of Dance Dance Revolution have already surpassed the 1000-mark -- the industry standard for a hit.  Part of the reason for the machine's success is the growing popularity of dance in Japan.  Kids practice hip-hop routines on the streets and their parents head off to the studio for ballroom dance or salsa lessons.

GOT YOUR JET-SKI DRIVER'S LICENSE?

•      FRI., JAN. 29, '99 -- A Class IV Boat Operator's license examination in English will be given on Mar. 2.  A license is mandatory for anyone operating any sort of boat equipped with an engine, including jet-skis, on lakes, ponds, rivers, or the coastal waters of Japan.  The Tokyo Sail & Power Squadron is holding a series of classes to prepare individuals for registering and taking both the written and driving tests starting Feb. 8.

INDONESIAN SCHOLAR DIES OF STROKE AFTER BEING REFUSED ADMISSION TO HOSPITAL

•      TUES., JAN. 19, '99 -- A 52-year-old visiting Indonesian researcher at the National Museum of Ethnology in Suita, Osaka Prefecture died yesterday of a stroke, just 3 days after being refused admission to 3 different hospitals because of his poor Japanese language skills.  Complaining of breathing difficulties, the man's condition quickly deteriorated after he was refused admission.  Ironically, he was fluent in English, French, German, and Indonesian.  The bizarre case has set off a flurry of heated discussion regarding hospital admission policies for foreigners in Japan.

THE OLDEST COMPANY IN THE WORLD?

•      MON., JAN. 18, '99 -- Kongo Gumi, a company in Osaka, Japan has origins dating back to more than 4 centuries before the current millenium even began, in Year 578.  The construction company, which has 130 employees and an annual revenue of about $100 million, specializes in building Buddhist temples.  Of last year's 30 projects, all but 5 were temples.  A 10-foot, 17th century scroll traces the 39 generations back to the company's start.  As in many distinguished Japanese families, sons-in-law often joined the clan and took the Kongo family name.  Thus, through the years the line has continued through either sons or daughters.  Osaka city officials who trace corporate roots have confirmed that Kongo Gumi is the oldest continuously operating business in Japan, and perhaps in the whole world.

THE LATEST JAPANESE CRAZE -- MINUTE-METERED BUFFETS

•      THURS., DEC. 24, '98 -- All-you-can-eat smorgasbords, called "Vikings" in Japan, have long been popular in this country.  In fact, in Tokyo alone there are at least 176 such restaurants.  However, a new style of Viking has now caught on where patrons are charged by the minute.  At the Totenko Chinese restaurant, it costs 35 yen (about 30 cents) per minute to wolf down spring rolls, fried noodles, fried rice, tofu, and shrimp with chilli sauce.  To ensure an accurate recording of the time a customer spends eating, the restaurant uses a time clock where you punch in and out.  At the Dai-ichi Hotel Tokyo Seafort, an afternoon dessert Viking is offered for 26 cents a minute where, in an atmosphere of high ceilings and soothing New Age music, customers can stock up on apple pie, raspberry mousse, French pastries, fruit punch, and dark chocolate cake.

ENERGY DRINKS EMPOWER JAPAN

•      FRI., NOV. 13, '98 -- Gracing almost every pharmacy, convenience store, and vending machine in Japan, energy drinks are top sellers in this country of the 24-hour work ethic.  Made from vitamins, minerals, root and herb extracts and containing such bizarre ingredients as viper tincture and deer horn extract, these drinks result in sales of in excess of 100 billion yen a year.  Used by over 45% of the Japanese population, they appeal to walks of society, from busy worn-out businessmen to high school students studying for their cram school exams to others just wanting to boost their immune system or regain their physical strength after an illness.  Sold in tiny little brown glass bottles, they range in price from less than 100 yen to almost 4000 yen.

SOUTH KOREA LIFTS BAN ON JAPANESE POP CULTURE

•      WED., OCT. 21, '98 -- South Korea announced it will liberalize the importation of Japanese pop culture, including videos, movies, and cartoons.  The move comes as the two countries try to improve bilateral relations at the grass roots level still strained from Japan's occupation of the Korean peninsula from 1910-1945.  The decision is seen as the first step toward fulfilling Seoul's policy of allowing South Koreans more access to various aspects of Japanese culture, as promised by President Kim Dae Jung during his state visit to Japan earlier this month.

COPYCAT POISONING ATTACKS CONTINUE

•      THURS., SEPT. 10, '98 -- In July, 4 people died and 63 others were sickened after eating arsenic-laced curry rice at a summer festival in Wakayama Prefecture. Since then, a spate of other similar poisoning incidents have occurred around the country, including a 58-year-old man who died in Nagano Prefecture after drinking a can of oolong tea purchased from a supermarket that had been spiked with cyanide.  A couple weeks ago, a 15-year-old junior high school girl mailed fake diet drinks laced with cresol, a disinfectant, to 26 students and a teacher at her school in Tokyo.  As a result, one of the students was seriously injured and hospitalized after drinking the bottled liquid.  Last week a 38-year-old taxi driver in Nara Prefecture purchased a bottled drink from a vending machine that contained insecticide. Fortunately, he did not become sick as the drink tasted exceptionally bitter and he spit it out.  In the latest episode, 2 drinks that contained hypochlorous acid, which is used in bleaching products for kitchens and swimming pools, and which had been purchased at separate convenience stores in Osaka, put 2 people in the hospital -- a 25-year-old working woman and a carpenter, both residents of Osaka.  

CENTENARIANS TOP 10,000

•      WED., SEPT. 9, '98 -- The number of people 100 years or older reached 10,158 this year, exceeding the 10,000 level for the first time ever.  Women accounted for 80% of the total.  The oldest person in Japan is a 114-year-old woman in Tokyo and the oldest man is 111 years old and lives in Ibaraki Prefecture.  Japan has the highest average longevity in the world for both men and women.

FILM DIRECTOR KUROSAWA DEAD AT 88

•      MON., SEPT. 7, '98 -- Akira Kurosawa, the "Emperor of Japanese film," who died yesterday at age 88, put Japanese cinema on the world map.  The filmmaker was propelled to international fame in 1951 with the film "Rashomon," which won the Grand Prix at the Venice International Film Festival -- the first international recognition given to a Japanese director -- and a 1952 Oscar for best foreign film. His 1954 film "The Seven Samurai" won widespread acclaim and became the model for the Hollywood western, "The Magnificent Seven."  In 1990, Kurosawa received a lifetime achievement award from the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

FORMER SUMO WRESTLER KONISHIKI ENJOYING HIS ACTIVE RETIREMENT LIFE

•      MON., JUNE 1, '98 -- Since retiring in November, former sumo wrestler Konishiki has not slowed down.  Now known as Sanoyama, he maintains a busy schedule as a junior sumo coach, a TV commentator, and as a pitchman in Japanese television commercials.  He has also published his Japanese-language memoir, "Konishiki Exposed," and has established a children's foundation called Konishiki's Kids to give children in Hawaii an opportunity to further their education.  He is also on a diet with a goal to trim down to 200 kilograms from the 280 kilograms of his active sumo days.  The 34-year-old's 15-year career included 1231 matches.  Konishiki recently had his final retirement ceremony, in which his top-knot got the chop.

ELECTRONIC PICK-UP DEVICE HELPS JAPANESE MAKE LOVE CONNECTION

•      THURS., MAY 21,'98 -- Forget about the Tamagotchi.  The latest craze now is the $22 Lovegety, an electronic device that has automated one of the most difficult human challenges of all -- picking up a date on the street.  The "Love-G," as it is also called, comes in male and female versions and emits a special radio wave that can only be received by a Lovegety of the opposite sex.  So if a man switches on his and passes within 5 meters of a woman with hers switched on, both devices will flash and beep.  In addition to the normal chat mode, the device has a karaoke mode for those looking for a singing partner, and a special "get" mode for those who are seriously on the prowl.  The Lovegety is ideal for the shy types, providing an opportunity or excuse to make that first contact, and symbolizes today's trend toward people relying on machines for everything, even picking up girls.  But no matter how it works, it doesn't guarantee a successful date.  Some things are still beyond automation.

SELF-SERVE GAS PUMPS FINALLY MAKE IT TO JAPAN

•      MON., MAY 11, '98 -- Though self-service gas stations have been part of the U.S. landscape for 2 decades, Japanese drivers could only do so beginning April 1st, as part of Japan's deregulation of the oil industry.  However, because of the high cost of equipment conversion, extensive safety requirements, and thin profit-margin forecasts, only a handful of stations have gone the do-it-yourself route.  Plus, there is little incentive for drivers to make the switch, as self-serve prices are only pennies per liter cheaper than full-service.

WORLD'S LONGEST SUSPENSION BRIDGE OPENS

•      MON., APRIL 6, '98 -- The 3.9-km Akashi Kaikyo Bridge opened yesterday, earning the distinction of becoming the world's longest suspension bridge.  Its 1991-m center span exceeds both the 1410-m center span of Britain's Humber Bridge, until yesterday the world's longest, and the 1280-m center span of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. The bridge is the second of 3 major bridges which will link the main islands of Honshu and Shikoku.  A journey across the new bridge takes only 3 minutes, compared to 40 minutes to make the same crossing by ferry.  As a result, about 1500 ferry company employees have lost their jobs because of the bridge.  The bridge, which was designed to withstand winds of up to 288 kph and earthquakes of a magnitude of 8.5 on the Richter scale, cost 500 billion yen ($3.73 billion) and took 10 years to build.  The one-way toll for ordinary vehicles costs 2600 yen ($20).

$13.1 MILLION WORTH OF HAMBURGERS SOLD IN ONE DAY

•      MON., MAR. 16, '98 -- McDonald's Co. (Japan) said it enjoyed sales of 1.69 billion yen ($13.1 million) on March 8, a record high for a single day.   Fine weather that Sunday apparently encouraged many families to take outings, boosting sales at the fast-food chain.  The promotion of drive-through service at 733 outlets also contributed to the sales increase, according to McDonald's.

OLYMPIC MARATHON MEDALIST ARIMORI WILL NOT CARRY TORCH

•      MON., MAR. 2, '98 -- Less than 24 hours after naming Japanese marathon ace Yuko Arimori as the final torch relay runner for the Nagano Paralympic Winter Games which start Thursday, the organizing committee has changed its mind in the midst of the mass media coverage of her marital problems.  After only a month of married life, she has separated from her American husband in Boulder, Colorado. Arimori won the women's marathon silver medal at the 1992 Barcelona Games and the bronze 4 years later in Atlanta.

FINANCE SCANDAL TAKES ANOTHER VICTIM

•      FRI., FEB. 20, '98 -- Japanese legislator Shokei Arai was found dead of an apparent suicide in a Tokyo hotel room yesterday, just hours before the House of Representatives was to vote to lift his immunity to prosecution in the widening payoff scandal.  A former Finance Ministry official, Arai was the 4th person to commit suicide in connection with a series of scandals involving securities companies and financial institutions that began last year.  Arai's death isn't expected to hinder the ongoing investigations, but is a grim symbol of the gut-wrenching monumental change of ethical standards taking place in Japanese business these days.

IS JAPAN STILL A "SAFE COUNTRY"?

•      SAT., FEB. 7, '98 -- A 15-year-old boy was arrested Thurs. in Aichi Prefecture for shooting his middle school teacher with a toy air gun, because he didn't like the way the teacher had disciplined one of his friends.  The teacher sustained minor facial injuries.  The incident is the latest in a rash of violent incidents in the past few weeks involving juveniles that have caused many to start questioning whether Japan is beginning to lose its reputation as a so-called "safe country."  Minors over 14 were involved in over 360 cases of murder, robbery, rape, and other serious crimes last year, including extortion and sexual assault.  Other recent acts of juvenile violence include:
       - Feb. 3:  A 28-year-old female teacher at a private high school in Kyoto Prefecture suffered serious injuries to her neck and shoulder after she got out of her car around 9:40pm in a parking lot near her home.  The attacker, who escaped, appeared to have been a young female of school age.
       - Feb. 2:  A 15-year-old schoolboy armed with a "butterfly" folding knife stabbed a Tokyo police officer in the chest because he wanted to steal the officer's gun.  The officer, who was on a bicycle patrol at the time, was wearing a protective vest and escaped with only minor injuries.
       - Jan. 30:  A 16-year-old senior high school boy was arrested after he assaulted one of his female classmates with a knife during class in Ibaraki Prefecture, injuring her slightly.  He told police he became angry because he could not sit at his seat during recess because some girls had gathered there.
       - Jan. 28:  A 13-year-old boy stabbed his female middle school teacher to death with a butterfly knife in Tochigi Prefecture after she scolded him for being late to her English class.
       - Jan. 14:  A 15-year-old boy was arrested in Kawasaki on suspicion of stabbing his 42-year-old mother to death after they quarreled over his future studies.
       - Jan. 13:  A 19-year-old unemployed male, who is believed to be addicted to paint thinner, attacked 5 women in Yokohama with an ice pick, injuring 3 slightly.
       - Jan. 8:  A 19-year-old boy in Osaka Prefecture stabbed a 5-year-old girl to death and seriously injured her 35-year-old mother and a 15-year-old high school student with a kitchen knife.  The jobless youth confessed to inhaling paint thinner the night before the attacks.

NEW MIATA SELLING LIKE HOTCAKES

•      MON., FEB. 2, '98 -- Orders for Mazda's new Roadster, the sporty 2-seater sold overseas as the Miata, have reached 1326, less than 3 weeks after its launch on Jan. 8.  There were 900 orders received in the 1st 10 days.  The new Miata, which offers a 1.8-liter engine and a 6-speed manual transmission, was redesigned for the 1st time since its introduction in Sept. '89 and will go on sale in N. America, Europe and Australia in March.  Mazda, 33.4% owned by Ford Motor Co., has sold about 430,000 Miatas worldwide in the more than 8 years it has been in production.

CBS FINDS SPIRITUAL HOME

•      SUN., FEB. 1, '98 -- U.S. television giant CBS, which paid $375 million to cover the Nagano Winter Olympics, has been granted special permission to build a temporary 3-story broadcast center on the grounds of Nagano's 1400-year-old Zenkoji Temple, one of the country's most popular, which welcomes thousands of visitors a day. The temple provides a perfect base for CBS to show the side of the Olympics outside of the skating rinks and ski slopes -- the culture and heritage of the host country. Negotiations with the temple were helped by the fact that one of the temple's Buddhist priests, Takakazu Fukuhara, speaks fluent English and earned a doctorate at sports-crazy Michigan University.  He is also a big fan of Jim Nantz, CBS' top announcer for college basketball and football, who will serve as the network's chief sports anchor in Nagano.  CBS has an on-site production team of 1600 to bring the magic of the Olympic Games into American homes.

SCREEN LEGEND POITIER ENJOYS 2ND CAREER AS BAHAMIAN AMBASSSOR TO JAPAN

•      FRI., JAN. 30, '98 -- Academy Award winner Sidney Poitier, 70, an avid fan of Japanese culture, recently celebrated 2 years of service as the ambassador to Japan from his native Bahamas.  He is the only black actor to ever win an Oscar for best actor, in his portrayal of a handyman in "Lillies of the Field" in 1963.  He went on to become one of the top moneymaking Hollywood stars in films such as "In the Heat of the Night," "To Sir With Love," and "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner." The Bahamas, an archipelago of 250,000 people and 700 islands stretching southeast off the Florida coast, doesn't have an embassy in Japan, but Poitier does make a few visits here a year to meet with Foreign Ministry officials and other ambassadors.

FOUNDER OF "SUZUKI METHOD" DIES AT AGE 99

•      TUES., JAN. 27, '98 -- Shinichi Suzuki, who developed the "Suzuki Method" for teaching music, especially the violin, to young children, has passed away from heart failure in the city of Matsumoto in Nagano Prefecture.  The music institute he formed in 1946 has branches worldwide with more than 300,000 students.

JAPAN & S. KOREA SQUARE OFF IN FISHING DISPUTE

•      SAT., JAN. 24, '98 -- South Korea angrily scrapped its regulations on its fishing boats operating near Japanese territorial waters in retaliation for Japan's unilateral abolition of a 1965 fishing accord.  These actions came as a result of the failure of bilateral talks to resolve a dispute concerning the size of a neutral fishing zone around a disputed group of islets in the Sea of Japan claimed by both countries.  Japan has recently fined and arrested several South Korean fishing boats, including a trawler that was captured and is still in Japan's custody.  The boat was operating in Japan's newly declared territorial waters, the boundaries of which have yet to be recognized by South Korea.  The dispute threatens to harm bilateral relations, which have been strained ever since Japan's colonization of the Korean peninsula from 1910-1945, and casts a dark shadow over preparations for the 2002 World Cup soccer tournament to be co-hosted by the 2 countries.

JAPAN & RUSSIA TO SIGN PEACE TREATY BY YEAR 2000

•      FRI., JAN. 23, '98 -- Japan and Russia have agreed to establish a joint commission to negotiate and conclude a bilateral peace treaty by year 2000.  The 2 countries have still been technically at war after more than 50 years as a result of a territorial dispute over a group of islands off the eastern coast of Japan's northernmost main island, Hokkaido, which were occupied by the former Soviet Union at the end of World War II.

TOKYO SLAMMED BY SNOW -- AGAIN -- FOR 3RD TIME IN A WEEK

•      FRI., JAN. 16, '98 -- A thick blanket of snow covered the Tokyo metropolitan area Thurs., causing many "new adults" to spend the national holiday, Coming-of- Age Day, with cold feet and inconveniencing hundreds of thousands of rail passengers. The holiday is traditionally celebrated by 20-year-olds who legally become adults, and is characterized by young ladies in beautiful kimonos who visit local shrines.  The snowstorm, which had already dropped 16cm of snow by Thurs. afternoon and with more still coming, was Tokyo's 3rd in a week (see related story below) and left the railway system paralyzed, 8 people dead, and hundreds injured in traffic accidents and falls on slippery streets.  There were also widespread flight cancellations, school closures, and power failures in almost 70,000 households.    

TOYOTA TO DOUBLE PRODUCTION OF NEW HYBRID CAR

•      THURS., JAN. 15, '98 -- Toyota has announced that it will double production by April of its new hybrid electric/gasoline car named Prius, as a result of 3500 orders it has received since the new low-emission car was introduced December 10.  It had originally set a monthly sales goal of only 1000 cars a month.  The Prius has drawn strong interest because it discharges only half the carbon dioxide emitted by conventional cars of the same engine size, yet has a fuel economy of 28 kilometers per liter of gasoline -- more than twice that of conventional vehicles.  Also, the level of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon, and nitrogen oxide emissions are only one-tenth that allowed under Japan's stringent pollution standards.

HEAVY SNOW BURIES TOKYO

•      FRI., JAN. 9, '98 -- Yesterday the convergence of 2 strong low-pressure systems near Tokyo dumped nearly 20cm of snowfall on the nation's capital, paralyzing transport in the entire metropolitan area.  The severe snowstorm injured over 300 people and resulted in the cancellation of over 1500 scheduled trains, affecting a total of 2.32 million commuters who were either delayed or stranded.  It was the worst case of delayed operations ever experienced by the East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) since it was privatized from the government-owned Japan National Railways in 1987.  And together with the mass closure of expressway, local bus, and domestic airline services, it is being referred to as the worst disruption in Tokyo's commuter network ever.

NEW DICK TRACY MOBILE PHONES

•      TUES., DEC. 30, '97 -- Forty members of the Nagano Olympics organizing committee will be outfitted with experimental Dick Tracy-style mobile phone wristwatches, courtesy of telecommunications giant NTT.  The miniature phones respond to voice commands, and will automatically make a call when the caller says either a person's name or phone number that have been programmed into the phone in advance.  Working on Japan's low-powered, low-priced Personal Handyphone System (PHS), the phone can also be worn as a pendant necklace.

1 DEAD, OVER 100 INJURED IN SEVERE AIRLINER TURBULENCE

•      TUES., DEC. 30, '97 -- A United Airlines jumbo jet carrying 393 people hit massive air turblence over the northern Pacific late Sunday, leaving one person dead and 102 others injured, some seriously.  The turbulence, which occurred about 2 hours into a flight from Tokyo to Honolulu, sent unrestrained passengers, food carts, and luggage from overhead compartments hurtling around the cabin.  The fatally injured passenger, a 32-year-old woman from Tokyo who hit her head on the ceiling, was on her honeymoon with her husband.

2 JAPANESE COLLEGE STUDENTS MURDERED IN PERU

•      MON., DEC. 29, '97 -- Peruvian authorities on Saturday recovered the bodies of 2 Japanese college students who disappeared in October while rafting down the Amazon River.  Police have arrested 16 Peruvian soldiers, who allegedly killed the students to steal their money and possessions at an army observation post in northeastern Peru, which is responsible for checking boats traveling to Columbia and Brazil.  The students were members of Waseda University's exploration club.

SAMURAI ACTOR TOSHIRO MIFUNE DEAD AT 77

•      THURS., DEC. 25, '97 -- Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune, one of the nation's best-known movie stars, passed away yesterday at the age of 77.  Appearing in about 140 films, he won international acclaim through leading roles in 16 films directed by Akira Kurosawa, including the classics "Rashomon" and "Seven Samurai," the latter which made him the nation's best-known actor abroad at the time and which spawned the U.S. film, "The Magnificent Seven."  He also appeared in Hollywood movies, including co-starring with Charles Bronson and Alain Delon in the 1972 film, "Red Sun."  With his vivid and manly portrayals of powerful warlords, Mifune was widely recognized as the best actor for samurai roles, such as in the 1980 U.S. TV mini-series, "Shogun."  For more info, visit: http://www.Sprout.ORG/toshiro/.

FAMED DIRECTOR JUZO ITAMI COMMITS SUICIDE

•      MON., DEC. 22, '97 -- Internationally renowned Japanese film director Juzo Itami died on Saturday evening after leaping from the roof of an 8-story Tokyo condominium, which housed his offices near the Roppongi entertainment district. Itami produced a number of successful films, including "Tampopo," "A Taxing Woman,'' and "The Gentle Art of Japanese Extortion," helping to revitalize the nation's film industry.  In May '92, Itami was attacked by 5 gangsters in front of his Tokyo home, suffering severe stab wounds to his face, who were angered by his portrayal of mobsters in one of his films.  A weekly magazine reportedly was planning to carry a story in its latest isssue, alleging that Itami was having an extramarital affair with a company employee in her 20's.  Itami was the eldest son of the famed director Mansaku Itami and the brother-in-law of Nobel Prize-winner, Kenzaburo Oe.

DOUBLE-DECKER, 1634-SEAT BULLET TRAIN DEBUTS

•      SUN., DEC. 21, '97 -- A new double-decker, 16-car Shinkansen bullet train made its debut Saturday morning on the Tohoku Shinkansen Line to ease congestion caused by the increasing number of office workers and students commuting on the line.  Nicknamed "New Max," East Japan Railway Co.'s new bullet train has 1634 seats, more than any other high-speed train in the world. The nose of the front car resembles a duck's bill, a design feature intended to reduce noise.

WORLD'S LONGEST UNDERSEA CAR TUNNEL OPENS

•      THURS., DEC. 18, '97 -- The Tokyo Bay Aqualine, a 15.1-kilometer bridge and tunnel expressway spanning Tokyo Bay and which is the world's longest undersea tunnel for motor vehicles, opens to traffic today.  The toll road, which took 8 years to complete at a cost of 1.5 trillion yen, shaves 80 kilometers off the trip around the bay.  It was constructed using the world's largest tunnel-boring machines with diameters of 14.1 meters.

HUNDREDS OF CHILDREN SUFFER EPILEPTIC SEIZURES AFTER WATCHING POPULAR TV CARTOON

•      WED., DEC. 17, '97 -- More than 700 people, mostly children, around the country suffered fits and were rushed to hospitals on Tuesday night after watching the "Pocket Monsters" cartoon on television.  The children suffered from seizure-like symptoms, such as convulsions and vomiting of blood, about 20 minutes into the 30-minute cartoon, which is popular among kindergarten and primary school students.  The cause of the mass outbreak is unclear, but appears to be a scene in which a bright red explosion with flickering lights filled the screen as a soldier wandered into digital space.

BULLET TRAIN SETS NEW WORLD SPEED RECORD

•      SAT., DEC. 13, '97 -- History was made on Friday when a manned magnetically levitated train hit a speed of 531 kph (330 mph) on a 18.4-kilometer test track in Yamanashi Prefecture west of Tokyo, breaking the previous world record.  The past manned record was 515.3 kph (320 mph), posted in 1990 by the French TGV between Paris and Lyon.

FUJI BEATS KODAK IN WTO FILM DISPUTE

•      SUN., DEC. 7, '97 -- In a severe blow to U.S. film giant Eastman Kodak Co., a World Trade Organization panel on Friday ruled in favor of Fuji Photo Film Co. in a dispute over access to Japan's photographic film market.  The WTO said it found no evidence to support a complaint filed with the U.S. government by Kodak, which accused the Japanese government of rigging the domestic film market to enable Fuji to maintain dominance.

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