Daily Japan Headlines: Thursday, Sept 15, 2011
Photo Source: Telegraph.
Japanese city recruiting young women to become geisha
Shimoda, a small seaside city in Shizuoka prefecture, was home to as many as 200 geisha working its tea-houses as recently as 30 years ago.
However, the number of geisha currently based in Shimoda has now declined to just five, prompting the rare intervention of government officials to keep their presence alive.
As part of the plan, three prospective geisha will receive wages from central government employment subsidies for a six-month period, during which they will be trained fully in traditional singing, dancing and instrument playing.
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Japan Worries About China – Later
For the second time since taking office this month, Prime Minister Yoshihoko Noda has warned about China’s military ambitions in the Far East.
“I am concerned about their reinforcement of national defense power, which lacks transparency, and their acceleration of maritime activities,” Noda said during debate in the Diet Wednesday.
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JAPAN can change. When its people recognise a challenge and agree on a solution, they often act quickly and in unison. After the earthquake and tsunami of March 11th, doubts about the safety of Japan’s nuclear industry were rife. Most reactors were shut down and have not been restarted. Since the country depends on nuclear power for 29% of its electricity, the nuclear freeze threatened to cast Japan into darkness.
Japan should end the regional monopolies, separate the generation and transmission of electricity and establish a tough regulator to oversee the terms under which incumbents allow newcomers to connect to the grid. Such reforms have reduced prices and stimulated fresh thinking elsewhere.
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What you might not know about geisha
Geisha – which means artistic performer – have their roots in female entertainers dating as far back in Japan as the seventh century.
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Hawaii Sailor Finds Message in a Bottle From Japan
Petty Officer Jon Moore stumbled upon the clear glass bottle Thursday at the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai. Inside, he found a note from Saki Arikawa, four origami flowers, and a photo of Arikawa’s sixth grade glass in Kagoshima.
The note was dated March 25, 2006. It read, “I wrote this letter because we’ll graduate elementary school so I wanted it to be a graduation memory.”
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Japan Hunts 195 Whales in Northwest Pacific Ocean
Japan says it has caught 195 whales in the Pacific Ocean this season under a research program opposed by activists who call it commercial whaling in disguise.
Japan’s Fisheries Agency said Thursday that the fleet harvested 49 minke, 95 sei and 50 Bryde’s whales and one sperm whale during its three-month Pacific expedition.
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Rebel Bureaucrat Told to Resign From Japan’s Industry Ministry
Koga in May published a book entitled “The Collapse of Japan’s Core.” In the book he criticized slow-decision making by METI officials as one of the reasons behind the the nuclear disaster at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant. He also issued a 16-point plan in May calling for Tokyo Electric to be declared bankrupt after the disaster, something the government has said it won’t allow.
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Japan Banks Won’t Forgive Tepco Loans, Lobby Chief Says
Japanese banks won’t forgive loans made to Tokyo Electric Power Co., the country’s banking lobby chief said, responding to a government official’s comments that creditors should help support the nuclear plant operator.
“We have repeatedly said we wouldn’t accept forgiveness of loans to Tepco if we are asked to do so,” Katsunori Nagayasu, head of the Japanese Bankers Association, said at a news conference in Tokyo
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Fukushima Contamination Covers 2,000 Square Km
About 2,000 square kilometers (772 square miles) of land surrounding Japan’s wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant needs to be decontaminated, the Asahi newspaper reported.
The area is about one-seventh of Fukushima prefecture in northern Japan, where the damaged plant is located
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Games for cellphones makes Gree star of Tokyo Game Show as gaming turns social
Social games played on smartphones are hogging the attention at this year’s Tokyo video-game exhibition, boasting new ways of making money by selling “virtual” goodies, not the usual expensive machines and software packages.
Gree Inc., a social networking service that began just seven years ago in the founder’s living room, was the big star at the annual Tokyo Game Show, with its first booth ever. The show previewed to media Thursday ahead of its opening to the public later this week at Makuhari Messe hall in this Tokyo suburb.
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Japanese driver Takuma Sato says Indy Japan will give fans a boost after earthquake, tsunami
“It’s absolutely necessary to race here especially after what happened on March 11 with the devastating earthquake and tsunami,” Sato said. “Japan needs energy and IndyCar has great energetic excitement.”
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Japan look to wipe slate clean again against All Blacks
Japan plan to put a stake in the ground at the rugby World Cup and banish memories of their 145-17 humiliation at the hands of New Zealand in 1995, the teams’ only previous clash at the global tournament.
The ‘Brave Blossoms’ have already won plaudits for their spirited 47-21 loss to France in their first pool match but face the ultimate credibility test when they take on the All Blacks in Hamilton on Friday.
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