Daily Japan Headlines: Thursday, Jul 21, 2011

Written By: guyjin on July 21, 2011 No Comment

20110721
Ichihashi Tatsuya, sentenced to life for murder of Lindsay Hawker. Photo Source: Westport News.

Westport News: Man gets life for killing British teacher in Japan

The judge said Ichihashi showed no respect for her life and committed a heinous crime but at age 32, still has a slight chance of being rehabilitated. He could have been sentenced to death by hanging. Hawker’s father, who had said the family wanted the maximum punishment, said after the verdict they were pleased to finally get justice.

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Wall Street Journal: Japan Halts Sale of Fukushima Beef

The Japanese government Tuesday halted sales of all beef cattle from Fukushima prefecture, the scene of one of the world’s worst nuclear accidents, in a bid to cap an escalating crisis in which meat contaminated with radioactive cesium has been shipped to stores and restaurants throughout the country.

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San Francisco Chronicle: Japan’s ‘Major Problem’ With Radioactive Cattle Gets Even Bigger

As of yesterday there were 1,256 potentially contaminated cows from 637 two days earlier, said Kazutoshi Nobuto, a spokesman for the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
“This is a major, major problem,” Goshi Hosono, Japan’s food safety minister, said yesterday at a press conference in the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan. Hosono is also in charge of the response to the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

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BBC: Fukushima crisis: Nuclear only part of Japan’s problems

The crisis at Japan’s Fukushima power plant has sparked a national review of energy policy and turned public opinion largely against nuclear power, but Shinji Fujino of the International Energy Agency argues this is just a small part of the serious electricity supply challenge the country now faces.

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Bloomberg: Japan Exports Decline Less Than Expected

“The report showed a recovery in the manufacturing industry, which means supply constraints are definitely easing,” said Kohei Okazaki, an economist at Nomura Securities Co. in Tokyo. “The strengthening yen may not have an immediate effect on the export recovery, but in the longer term it may jeopardize Japanese companies’ competitiveness.”

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Reuters: Japan plans additional $165 billion for reconstruction

Japan’s government plans additional spending of 13 trillion yen ($165 billion) for reconstruction projects after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, on top of a combined 6 trillion yen already set aside in two extra budgets, a government source said on Thursday.

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San Francisco Chronicle: Japan quake shakes high-rise dwellers’ confidence

From their spacious 24th-floor apartment here, Masako Tsubuku and her husband had a breathtaking view of Mount Fuji.
They couldn’t wait to leave.
Their high-rise building, as it was designed to do, withstood Japan’s devastating earthquake on March 11, swaying and shuddering to absorb the worst shocks. But Tsubuku said she was petrified as the tower waved like a reed in the wind. And the elevators were knocked out of service until the next day, effectively stranding the couple and their two cats.

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BBC Video: Russians buy used cars from Japan again

The trade in used Japanese cars sold to Russians on the neighbouring island of Sakhalin is booming again.
That’s good news for the workers in Japan’s northern port of Otaru.

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NY Times: Two Asian Airlines to Form Low-Cost Carrier in Japan

The Japanese airline A.N.A. and AirAsia, a fast-growing carrier based in Malaysia, said Thursday that they would team up to form a low-cost carrier that would link Japan with destinations in northeast Asia starting in August of next year.

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ABC News: Matsui Hits 500th Pro Homer as A’s Top Tigers 8-5

He has hit 168 major-league homers after hitting 332 for the Yomiuri Giants.
“I’m happy to get it over with, and it is even better that it helped us win a game,” Matsui said through an interpreter. “It isn’t like I’ve been aiming for this, because I don’t really combine numbers from Japan and here. To me, they are two separate leagues.”

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Next Up for Nadeshiko: 1 Million Yen Kirin Bonus

The surprises keep coming for Nadeshiko Japan. Beverage company Kirin Holdings Co., a sponsor of the Japan national soccer federation, has awarded each member of the 21-strong squad that won the women’s World Cup for Japan a ¥1 million cash bonus, about $12,684, this week.

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