Stories about Japan from July, 2007
Japan: Women's spending
Mari Kanazawa blogs about a local magazine survey on how single women in their 30s spend their money.
Japan: Responses to the Kyuma A-Bomb Statement
Two weeks ago, then-Defense Minister Kyuma Fumio made a famous statement referring to the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as something that "couldn't be helped". Despite later attempts to qualify this statement, Kyuma was ultimately forced to resign amid public outcry and political opposition. Bloggers also had a lot to say on the topic of the controversial statement.
Japan: Baby Mammoth Discovery
Edo at Pink Tentacle reports that the frozen body of a baby mammoth, preserved in ice about 10,000 years ago, was discovered in northwest Siberia by a local reindeer herder. The body will be shipped to the Jikei University School of Medicine in Japan for analysis.
China: Cruise missile carted into Beijing
July 7 marked seventy years since the Second Sino-Japanese War began with the Marco Polo Bridge Incident. The day ostensibly started well, with a reconciliatory tone as Taiwanese and Chinese scholars just the day before had moved to team up on research into the resistance. Then, assuming this is related,...
Japan: Defending Kyuma
DeOrio at Trans-Pacific Radio has posted a detailed essay defending former Defense Minister Kyuma Fumio's infamous remarks regarding the U.S. A-bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of WW2. DeOrio writes that Kyuma's “departure from the Defense Ministry and replacement by Yuriko Koike can only be a benefit...
Japan: Museums’ political leanings
James from Japan Probe blogs a chart for Japanese museums’ political leanings.
An Insider's View of the Japanese Meat Industry
A recent scandal involving a Japanese company from Hokkaido selling pork disguised as beef has once more eroded people's confidence in the quality and safety of their own food. One blogger provides a sobering warning, from first-hand experience working in a meat processing plant, about the lax enforcement of quality controls within the Japanese meat industry.
Japan: “Beware of foreigners”
Debito blogs a leaflet distributed in Osaka that warns citizens to beware of foreigners.
Japan: Peanuts as business cards
Edo from Pink Tentacle introduced a new business cards design.
Alberto Fujimori: Arrested in Chile, Running in Japan, Dreaming of Peru
Alberto Fujimori, the former president of Peru now under house arrest in Chile, has surprised everyone with the announcement that he will run for the Senate in his motherland, Japan. Despite his future being in the hands of the Chilean Supreme Court, where he facing charges of corruption and human...
Japan: Fingerprinting coming soon
Turner at Keeping Pace In Japan writes about Japan's new fingerprinting system, set to commence in November of this year, which will apply to all foreign nationals entering the country.