Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on April 2010

CHILL OUT, DUDE!

• A British environmentalist with the International Tropical Timber Organization in Yokohama is facing up to 20 years in jail after a drunken outburst on an American Airlines flight from LA to Tokyo. The ornery and inebriated man fought with crewmembers and threatened to “kick the pilot’s ass” after being refused more booze on the flight, which was diverted to Anchorage after the incident.
• Shiro Kameda, the father of boxing punks Koki and Daiki, was banned for life from the sport by the Japan Boxing Commission after his tirade against officials when Koki lost a recent WBC title fight to Thai boxer Pongsaklek Wonjongkam.
• It was reported that incidents of groping on JR Saikyo Line trains have dropped some 60 percent since surveillance cameras were installed on the trains last year.
• Japan Post is getting rid of some 18,000 cameras that were being used to monitor post offices throughout Japan because being spied on by their bosses was apparently damaging employees’ morale. Maybe some other JR lines will be in the market for those used cameras.
• Sharp’s new solar cell technology and KEPCO’s hydropower plant technology earned their respective organizations prestigious Milestone awards from a US-based electrical engineering group.
• A lucky bettor won nearly ¥25 million by picking the top three finishers in a horse race at Oi Racecourse, a Japanese record for sports gambling payouts (legal sports gambling, at least).

Let the bullying begin…

• Three-year-old Prince Hisahito was accompanied by his folks, Prince Akishino and Princess Kiko, at the entrance ceremony for his kindergarten at Ochanomizu University.
• The parents of murder victim Lindsay Hawker, whose body was found on the veranda of Tatsuya Ichihashi’s apartment in Chiba in 2007, recently revealed in a British documentary on the case that they had to “beg” police to go to suspect Ichihashi’s place. They also called the investigation “pathetic.”
• Dragan Stojkovic, a Serb who played in the J.League and now coaches Nagoya Grampus, ripped the effort of World Cup-bound Japan after they fell 3-0 to his native country: “It’s a shame… playing without any fighting spirit.”
• Meanwhile, Japan soccer coach Takeshi Okada has urged his players to use oxygen masks to get used to playing at 1,000-meter-plus altitudes at the World Cup in South Africa. Sorry, Takeshi, but it will take more than masks to beat teams like Holland.
• A 39-year-old restaurant owner from Mie was arrested for killing a protected deer with a crossbow in Nara Park in March.

BEEF WARS

• Yoshinoya, Sukiya and Matsuya, purveyors of fine shredded-beef-on-rice bowls, have launched a price war to attract customers, slashing the prices of their meals to the ¥250-¥270 range.
• The battle for the canned coffee market also seems to be heating up, with competitors such as UCC, Kirin and Asahi pushing their sugar-free brands.
• A group of nearly 1,000 people that Japan Railways refused to hire 23 years ago, allegedly over their union ties, accepted a deal offered by the government that will pay each of them about ¥22 million.
• Researchers in Japan have finally succeeded in getting eels bred in captivity to produce eggs and raise their young. Up until now, wild eels were required.
• Osaka drug-maker Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corp and one of its subsidiaries were told to halt operations for at least a month after it was discovered they faked test data on one of their blood products.

Illustration by Rodrigo RODRIGUEZ

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION!

• Guinness World Records honored world champion figure skater Mao Asada after the Japanese teenager landed three triple axels during her silver-medal routine at the Vancouver Olympics.
• A website called SEXUS is auctioning off the underwear of porn stars online. The biggest-ticket item so far was a pair of used panties worn by AV star Sana that fetched ¥265,000.
• Japan’s industry ministry has proposed a government fund to promote local anime, videogames and music overseas.
• The Fukui Railway has appointed the white dog from the Softbank ads, popularly known as “Otosan-ken,” as its honorary stationmaster at Kitago station in Echizen.

HOW DO YOU SAY ‘RALLY MONKEY’ IN JAPANESE?

• It was reported that the Los Angeles Angels’ Hideki Matsui is teaching his new teammates one Japanese word each day, with recent lessons ranging from aka (the team’s color) to, of course, tenshi.
• A survey has revealed that the New York Yankees’ 2010 payroll of ¥18.5 billion ($260 million) is nearly enough to sign every single player on the active rosters of all 12 professional baseball teams in Japan.
• Kevin Smith, the 16-year-old son of Phillies pitcher Jose Contreras, enrolled at Fukuoka’s Yanagawa High School in hopes of playing in the prestigious Koshien baseball tournament.
• Can you say “publicity stunt?” Pitcher Eri Yoshida, an 18-year-old knuckleballer, signed a contract with US minor league team the Chico Outlaws. She’ll become the first Japanese woman to play pro baseball against men in America.
• JTB is offering quickie four-day “bullet tours” to South Africa during the World Cup. Airfare only, no match tickets or accommodations, runs about ¥400,000.
• Canadian figure skater Joannie Rochette, whose bronze-medal performance at the Vancouver Olympics just days after her mom died of a heart attack inspired viewers around the world, thrilled Japanese audiences when she skated in the “Stars on Ice” shows in Tokyo and Osaka.

MAYBE NEXT TIME

• A senior health ministry official was suspended for three months before quitting his post over a scandal in which he took ¥1 million from a junior bureaucrat after telling the guy he would block his transfer to a smaller regional office.
• From the SCIWP (So-Cute-I-Wanna-Puke) file: Hello Kitty “oban” coins worth ¥1,000 have become all the rage in the Asakusa area.
• Fuji TV and British production company FremantleMedia, who gave the world Susan Boyle and Britain’s Got Talent, have announced a partnership.
• Yoshiharu Masai, 62, a descendant of a sailor on the first ship from Japan to cross the Pacific Ocean 150 years ago, was chosen as a crewmember of the Kaiwo Maru as it headed from Tokyo to San Francisco to retrace the historic voyage.

Compiled from reports by the Daily Mirror, BBC, Japan Today, The Japan Times, International Herald Tribune/The Asahi Shimbun, The Mainichi Daily News, The Tokyo Reporter, The Daily Yomiuri, Reuters, AP and Kyodo