Daily Japan Headlines: Wednesday, Aug 24, 2011
Nakaya Riki. Photo Source: AFP.
AFP: Japanese claim clean sweep at Judo worlds
Japan claimed a clean sweep of the gold medals on the second day of the World Judo Championships at the Palais Omnisport de Bercy here on Wednesday.
Riki Nakaya, Aiko Sato and Misato Nakamura won their categories to take Japan’s record to five golds from the six categories contested so far this week.
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The Guardian: Japan readies for new PM race as Naoto Kan quits
Kan said on Wednesday thathe would resign as DPJ president if the two outstanding bills were passed, as expected, this Friday. “Then, when a new [party] leader is chosen, I will quit as prime minister,” he told a parliamentary panel.
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Boston Herald: Moody’s downgrades Japan’s debt rating
Moody’s cut Japan’s government bond rating to Aa3 from Aa2. The new rating is three notches below Moody’s top Aaa rating. It said the outlook for the rating is stable.
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The Guardian: Japan’s politics begin to hurt the economy
What cannot be disguised is the unhealthy state of Japan’s economy. As in much of Europe, welfare demands are growing as sources of income are drying up. Big firms refuse to pay high wages and are moving jobs abroad. Lower profits over the last three years have also cut corporate tax receipts.
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BBC: Japan opens $100bn fund to help firms beat yen strength
“We decided to compile the package to show our strong determination that we will act if current yen rises persist, or if the yen rises further,” Japan’s finance minister Yoshihiko Noda said.
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Wall Street Journal: Is Japan Accepting Yen Reality?
When you’ve spent trillions trying to weaken your currency but it’s still trading near its all-time highs, it might just be time to admit defeat and simply learn to live with it.
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Washington Post: Japan says operator of nuclear plant knew massive tsunami was possible
Japan’s nuclear regulator said Wednesday that the operator of a crippled nuclear plant knew it might be hit by a far bigger tsunami than it was designed to withstand.
The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said the operator informed it just four days before Japan’s massive March 11 earthquake and tsunami that waves exceeding 10 meters (33 feet) could hit the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant.
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UPI: Japan to increase renewable energy?
The bill, passed in Japan’s lower house of Parliament Tuesday and expected to be approved by the upper house this week, would introduce a feed-in tariff incentive scheme that guarantees renewable energy generators above-market rates for the power they produce, Business Green reports.
It would also make legally binding the Japanese government’s internationally stated goal of slashing greenhouse gas emissions 25 percent against 1990 levels by 2020.
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Washington Post: Japan protests Chinese patrol boats’ entry in waters near disputed East China Sea islands
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano says two Chinese vessels entered Japanese waters off the islands known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China early Wednesday. He says the boats left the area about 30 minutes later after warnings by Japanese Coast Guard patrol boats and aircraft.
Edano says Japan’s government “strongly” protested to China and reiterated its claim to the islands.
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Daily Mail: In his own writing: John Lennon’s Japanese immigration form goes under the hammer in online auction
Covered with unique answers, it is a small item that would be worthless had it not been filled out by one of the world’s most famous names.
But this immigration form was filled in by John Lennon during 1980, and gives an insight into the musician’s sense of humour.
The item is up for online auction as part of an auction of nearly 350 items by an auctioneer in London.
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