Random Japan

YEAH, THAT’LL HAPPEN

The former director of the US government’s Japan Affairs Office demanded that Kyodo News retract an article that quoted him as saying the Japanese are “masters of manipulation and extortion.”

The agriculture ministry said Japan will seek UNESCO World Heritage status for kaiseki cuisine.

The government is considering an across-the-board pay cut of 5-10 percent for nationally elected politicians. The scheme would net ¥290 billion, to be used for disaster relief.

Headline of the Week: “Mosses and Sea Slugs Offer Comfort in Difficult Times” (via The Asahi Shimbun)

Stats

29.8

Percent of Japanese classified as “healthy” during medical checkups in 1984, according to the Japan Society of Ningen Dock

8.4

Percent considered healthy in 2010

6

Number of “massive” tsunamis that have hit Miyagi Prefecture during the past 6,000 years, according to a research team from Hokkaido University

59.4

Percent of student nurses who have been “harassed or abused by patients,” according to a study by the University of Tsukuba

FOREIGN INTRIGUE  

The defense ministry is considering buying municipal land on Yonaguni Island as part of its five-year plan to “beef up the presence of Ground Self-Defense Forces” in Japan’s remote southwest.

The Japan Tourism Agency has joined forces with Keidanren and the National Governors’ Association in an effort to boost the number of foreigners visiting the country.

South Korea has established a new postal address system for every single office building, apartment block and house in the country, abandoning the system that was originally instituted in 1910 during Japan’s colonial occupation.

Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa chatted with kids from three quake-hit prefectures while aboard the International Space Station.

Big Mac Rage  

I’ll Start Drinking Now

Can We Help?

Your Friends The Yakuza  

Where That Money Come From?

It’s A Gift  

Radiation expert says outcome of nuke crisis hard to predict, warns of further dangers





As a radiation metrology and nuclear safety expert at Kyoto University’s Research Reactor Institute, Hiroaki Koide has been critical of how the government and Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) have handled the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant. Below, he shares what he thinks may happen in the coming weeks, months and years.

The nuclear disaster is ongoing. Immediately after the crisis first began to unfold, I thought that we’d see a definitive outcome within a week. However, with radioactive materials yet to be contained, we’ve remained in the unsettling state of not knowing how things are going to turn out.