Daily Japan Headlines: Monday, Oct 3, 2011
Photo Source: Wall Street Journal.
Wall Street Journal: Kabuki Star, 69, is Gaga’s New ‘Monster’
The National Theater said Mr. Kikugoro, 69, designated a national living treasure and the seventh generation of his family of Kabuki actors, was inspired by Lady Gaga’s quick and steadfast support of Japan in the wake of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Lady Gaga was among the first overseas celebrities to rally in support of Japan, selling wrist bands from her website to raise relief funds. In June, the flamboyant megastar headlined an MTV aid concert, then spent a week running around Tokyo in an emphatic display of love for her Japanese “little monsters,” as she calls her fans.
The National Theater said Mr. Kikugoro consulted different magazines with photographs of Lady Gaga in her multitude of wild costumes before settling on the final selection.
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ABC Australia: Japan nuclear companies stacked public meetings
An independent investigation in Japan has revealed a long history of nuclear power companies conspiring with governments to manipulate public opinion in favour of nuclear energy.
One nuclear company even stacked public meetings with its own employees who posed as ordinary citizens to speak in support of nuclear power plants.
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Wall Street Journal: Japan Panel Says Tepco Needs Restarts
Ensuring the financial stability of Tokyo Electric Power Co. will be difficult without restarting halted nuclear reactors, raising electricity prices and gaining deeper concessions from creditors, a panel advising the government on restructuring the troubled utility said Monday.
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Washington Post: Renewable energy sees its chance in Japan’s electricity market
Two years ago, Japan’s second-largest city launched a small-scale environmental experiment, encouraging residents to install solar panels on their roofs and buy pricey equipment to track how much energy they use.
Yokohama officials’ goal was simple: to save power and cut the city’s carbon emissions.
But since the nuclear disaster that transformed the way Japan thinks about both energy and the companies that supply it, Yokohama’s “smart city project” has taken on potentially larger significance.
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Washington Times: Japan’s tsunami survivors struggle to find community, hope
“Immediately after the tsunami, we were all fighting to stay alive, and it brought us closer to together,” she says. “But ever since we all moved into temporary houses, people stay to themselves. We have lost our ties.”
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LA Times: Key political risks to watch in Japan
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s government is set to submit to parliament in October a third extra budget focusing on disaster rebuilding, part of Japan’s effort to recover from the March earthquake and tsunami, and the ongoing nuclear crisis it caused.
The government is also looking at tax hikes from April to fund reconstruction, but opposition parties are likely to resist.
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LA Times: Japan PM support falls in first month to 55 pct-poll
Public support for Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s government was at 54.6 percent, a Kyodo news agency survey showed on Sunday, down 8.2 percentage points in the first month after he took office.
Noda, Japan’s sixth premier in five years, enjoyed strong support right after he took over from his unpopular predecessor, but the 54-year-old premier had to sack his trade minister just a week after taking office due to gaffes.
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Wall Street Journal: Naoto Kan, the Pilgrim
Former Prime Minister Naoto Kan is on a soul-searching journey, again.
About one month after he stepped down from the highest elected office in the land, Mr. Kan laced up his shoes, pulled on a white billowy shirt, fastened on a straw hat and, walking stick in hand, started his latest pilgrimage of temples on Shikoku island.
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NPR: Japanese Business Confidence Improves
In the Bank of Japan’s quarterly “tankan” survey of business sentiment released Monday, the main index for big manufacturers climbed back into positive territory as a recovery from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami took hold. The latest reading stood at 2, up from minus 9 three months ago.
The figure represents the percentage of companies saying business conditions are good minus those saying conditions are unfavorable, with 100 representing the best mood and minus 100 the worst.
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ABC News: Japanese Build Their Own Noah’s Ark
It looks like one giant tennis ball, but a Japanese company says its yellow capsule could be the key to survival if the country gets hit by another powerful earthquake and tsunami.
Dubbing its survival shelter Noah, Cosmo Power describes it as a modern, miniature version of Noah’s Ark. The pod is large enough to hold four adults, floats in water and is made of enhanced fiberglass, which the company says is strong enough to withstand tsunamis, earthquakes, even hurricanes. Breathing holes on top and a small lookout window add to the comfort.
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Guardian: Japan: land of the rising tourist numbers?
Despite the apparent lack of non-Japanese visitors in the country, Kylie Clark of the Japan National Tourist Board says numbers have been climbing again – in July, 561,700 people visited (for comparison, more than 879,000 came in July 2010). “During April and May, airfares to Japan from the UK had become very high,” says Clark, “often over £1,000 for a direct London-Tokyo flight. These prices have now come down. The containment of the problem at the Fukushima plant, more affordable flights, great deals on hotels and Tokyo now being back to its fabulous, well-functioning self are factors encouraging people to once again visit Japan.”
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PC World: Toshiba to Sell 5TB Home Media Server in Japan
Toshiba announced a new home media server with five terabytes of storage on Monday: It has enough capacity to store 15 days of digital TV broadcasts from six channels.
The company pitched its new Regza Server as the core of a bevy of recently announced products that play back video, including a 55-inch 3D TV that doesn’t require glasses, two new ultra-thin tablets, and an ultrabook laptop, as well as its smartphones. Toshiba combined its TV and computing divisions earlier this year in a nod to the eroding boundaries between the two
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ABC Australia: MotoGP champ reveals Japan water radiation fears
Reigning world Moto GP champion Jorge Lorenzo has revealed he is showering in bottled water while in Japan because of concerns about radiation from the Fukushima nuclear plant.
Other riders – including Australia’s Casey Stoner – have also been taking similar precautions.
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ABC News: Nishioka Retains WBC Super Bantamweight Title
Japan’s Toshiaki Nishioka successfully defended his WBC super bantamweight title, unanimously outpointing Rafael Marquez on Saturday night at the MGM Grand.
Nishioka improved to 39-4-3 in his sixth title defense, receiving winning scores of 117-111, 116-112 and 115-113 from the judges. Marquez dropped to 40-7.
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Sydney Morning Herald: Japan’s hula girls reopen resort near Fukushima
Japanese hula girls, who helped revive a former coal mining town as a Hawaii-themed spa, have returned to the resort as it reopened nearly seven months after it was damaged by the March 11 earthquake.
They danced to 21 songs, often in tears, in a “Polynesian Show” as some 700 guests cheered at the Spa Resort Hawaiians, 180 kilometres north of Tokyo, as it reopened for business on Saturday, according to local media.
The resort has attracted an annual 1.5 million visitors in recent years, including many from China and South Korea.
But it is expected to struggle for survival due to fears over radiation from the tsunami-crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant 50 kilometres away.
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