Random Japan

WIMPS “R” US

It was reported that hammocks are becoming trendy among Tokyoites, in part because lying in one “feels similar to being in the mother’s womb.”

The number of “citizens’ farms” rented out by local governments has increased threefold during the past 15 years.

Declaring that “the Democratic Party of Japan is in bad shape,” 63-year-old former PM Yukio Hatoyama put off retirement from the House of Representatives.

The environment ministry said it is launching a “no-holds-barred campaign” to eradicate the Java mongoose in Okinawa. The creature has been deemed an invasive alien species that threatens local wildlife.

STATS

82

Number of bear attacks in Japan between April and September of this year

52

Number of bear attacks all of last year

132,720

Foreign students in Japan, a record high, according to the Japan Student Services Organization

¥210,000

Price of a bottle of Jose Cuervo tequila that Asahi Breweries will offer to mark the brand’s 250th anniversary

SLOW NEWS WEEK

The Asahi Shimbun apologized to Kyodo News for plagiarizing one of the wire service’s stories. Somewhat improbably, the article in question had to do with “a Kyoto University professor and other researchers confirm[ing] that a painting believed to depict Manichaean cosmology exists in Japan.”

Ninety-one-year-old diplomat and author Eikichi Hayashiya became the first Japanese person to receive an honorary doctorate from Salamanca University in Spain.

A 22-year-old Yamanashi man who stole the identity of more than a dozen Mixi users said he did it because he enjoyed “chatting with women.”

Takashimaya announced that it is planning to open a shopping center in Ho Chi Minh City in 2012.

There’s Dope  

In The Office

Tsukiji To Tourists

Please Don’t Come

I Don’t Think

Those Belong To You  

Leaked video raises secrecy-law questions



By NATSUKO FUKUE, ALEX MARTIN and MIZUHO AOKI

Staff writers  

It was Wednesday when a coast guard officer dropped a bombshell on his skipper and sparked a national sensation.

The 43-year-old chief navigator of the patrol ship Uranami, stationed in Kobe, reportedly admitted he posted video clips on the Internet showing a Chinese trawler ramming Japanese patrol craft off the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, shaking the Cabinet to the core.

Soup of the day



By Chris Betros  

As soon as you walk into the offices of Campbell Japan Inc, you face an array of colorful soup cans, packets of Pepperidge Farm cookies, Tim Tams and V8 vegetable juice. But soup is what the company is famous for worldwide.

Excluding miso soup, Japan’s soup market is worth about $700 million annually, of which canned soup accounts for only 5% of the total. Of the canned soup segment, Campbell’s has the lion’s share at about 80% with corn potage its biggest seller.

Overseeing the Japan operations is Soji Numano. Fluent in English, Numano has been with Campbell’s since 1988, heading the Tokyo office since 2000. Before joining Campbell’s, he worked in the marketing department of rival Heinz for 13 years.