THE BIG FREEZE
The first snowfall of the season was recorded on October 3 in Asahikawa, Hokkaido. It had been 113 years since snow fell so early in the year in Japan.
The Chinese government denied a request by Fuji Heavy Industries to enter into a joint venture with a midsize domestic automaker in Dalian.
Owners of Korean restaurants are up in arms over new safety guidelines that require them to cook meat “at more than 60 degrees Celsius for at least two minutes.” The regulations are in response to an E. Coli outbreak from a raw-beef dish that killed four people and sickened dozens this spring.
Headline of the Week: “Problematic Wild Goats on Kyushu Islands Put to Good Use Through Eco-weeding Project” (via The Mainichi Daily News)
Stats
400,00
Number of new bricks laid on the Marunouchi side of the refurbished Tokyo station591.4
Weight in kg of the winning entry at the annual giant pumpkin contest in Takikawa, Hokkaido¥18.9 million
Price of an 18-karat gold osechi riyori box offered by Takashimaya to mark the department store’s 180th anniversary
YOU CAN’T MAKE THIS STUFF UP
The co-pilot of an ANA jet flying from Okinawa to Tokyo caused the plane to roll 131 degrees-in other words, nearly upside down-after he “mistook the rudder trim knob for the cockpit door lock switch.” Two flight attendants were injured.
Someone left a bag containing ¥10 million in a bathroom in the city hall of Sakado, Saitama Prefecture, along with a note saying that the money was for “the people of Tohoku.” That’s $130,000, folks.
The Metropolitan Police Department says that the number of citations it has issued to people riding “fixies”-fixed-wheel racing bicycles with no brakes-has increased from 2 in 2009 to 661 in 2010.
It was reported that former PM Naoto Kan has visited 55 of the 88 temples that make up the traditional Shikoku Pilgrimage route.
The Underground
The Mongol’s
Who Are They Kidding?
Hashimoto signals double Osaka polls
Governor likely to run for mayor after resigning
By ERIC JOHNSTON
Staff writerOSAKA – Osaka Gov. Toru Hashimoto was set to submit his resignation to the prefectural assembly after midnight Friday, paving the way for mayoral and gubernatorial elections to be held on Nov. 27.
Hashimoto initially planned to make the move following a prefectural assembly session during the day, but it dragged into late at night as the going got rough over some Hashimoto-proposed policy matters. His determination to quit was unchanged.
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