Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on December 2012

jan

“Absolutely no progress is being made”
—Freelance journalist Tomohiko Suzuki, who worked undercover at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant

feb

“The European debt crisis is not a fire on the other side of the river”
—Hiromasa Yonekura, chairman of Keidanren, on the need for Japan to enact wide-ranging reforms to avoid its own financial catastrophe

mar

“I want to… create French dishes that cannot be made by the French”
—Nagano native Kei Kobayashi, whose Paris restaurant Sola earned a Michelin less than a year after opening last March

apr

“It’s unfortunate. We strongly hope he follows road rules”
—Amiko Tomita, spokeswoman for Toyota, after the company decided to continue using SMAP member Takuya Kimura in its ads, despite a driving suspension for speeding

may

“My prediction is that in 500 years’ time, all track athletes will be running on all fours”
—Kenichi Ito, the Guinness World Record holder for four-legged running

jun

“I receive questions asking ‘Will there be a next time? Please host it again.’ But there is only one set of male organs”
—Mao Sugiyama, a Japanese artist who cooked his own penis and testicles and served them to five diners at ¥20,000 a plate, in a recent tweet

jul

“We cannot give them an order that might lead to their deaths if the situation gets worse”
—TEPCO chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata, on the decision to evacuate workers from the Daiichi nuclear plant following the March 11 earthquake

aug

“I can’t even express the shock I feel in words. I was looking forward to seeing it grow up”
—A 74-year-old Tokyo resident, one of many gathered at Ueno Zoo on July 12 to mourn the death after one week of the first panda born there since 1988

sep

“Wars make people crazy”
—Toshio Tono, 86, who as a medical student in World War II witnessed the vivisection of American POWs at Kyushu Imperial University

oct

“I’m ashamed to be Chinese”
—A shopkeeper in Beijing, identified only by the surname Li, on China’s timid response to the nationalization of the Senkaku Islands by the Japanese government

nov

“The yen has reached the limits of appreciation”
—Jerome Finck, managing director at Rothschild Japan, on the record amount of money being spent by Japanese firms on overseas acquisitions

dec

“Spending time getting to know a girl I had just met had my heart pounding more than I thought it would”
—A client of a new Tokyo-based “rent-a-girlfriend” service, after his first date

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Stat select

• 35
  Estimated times an annual pass-holder in Japan will visit Tokyo Disneyland in a year
• 8-10
  Times a pass-holder in the US will visit a Disneyland theme park a year
• 14
  Straight years Japan’s annual suicide rate has been over 30,000
• 45.3
  Percent of Japanese who believe in UFOs, according to a TV poll
• 119
  Noisy bosozoku “gangsters” in Tokyo, well down from over 5,300 in 1980
• $34,650
  Price of three melons at Tokyo’s ritzy Senbikiya fruit store
• 82.3cm
  Average bust size of a 17-year-old girl in Japan
• 325,000-plus
  Followers of 28-year-old porn star Sola Aoi on Twitter
• 67.9
  Percent of female victims of sex crimes in Japan who never report the attack or speak about it with anyone, according to a government report
• ¥1,010,480,000
  Donations to the TMG from private citizens for use in purchasing the disputed Senkaku Islands
• 17
  Length, in years, of the now closed criminal investigation into AUM Shinrikyo cult
• 13
  Number of cult members sentenced to death

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