April 4, 2014

Skyrocketing bike accidents in two prefectures, falling crime rates in another and more

By Metropolis • April 2, 2014

Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on April 2014

IT’S ALL RELATIVE

Administrators at Keio University displayed a collection of 14 letters that Albert Einstein sent to a Japanese doctor following a visit to the country in 1922.
One of the notes urges the Japanese people to “protect everyday objects, their control of their personal desires, and their pure and peaceful hearts.”
A labor ministry survey found that 37 percent of men in their 20s who earn ¥4 million a year have girlfriends, while just 17 percent of those who earn under ¥1 million do.
The Philippine government has declared Yoko Ono’s childhood home in Chiyoda-ku—which now serves as the Philippine ambassador’s official residence—a national historical landmark…the first and only to be located outside of the Philippines.

Archaeologists in Fukui say they’ve discovered the world’s oldest avian eggshell fossils.
Staff at Tama Zoo welcomed the 20 millionth passenger on their “lion buses,” which offer a close-up view of the park’s big cats. The service debuted in 1964.
JR East has introduced a train on the Yamagata shinkansen route that offers Japan’s first-ever onboard footbath facilities.
For the first time since 1987, the government has designated a new national park: the Kerama Islands in Okinawa, which are renowned for their coral reefs and biodiversity.

Officials at the health ministry say 1,546 people in Japan were diagnosed with AIDS last year—the second highest total ever.
Authorities at the environment ministry say that if a major earthquake were to strike the Nankai Trough, it would generate 11 times more debris than the March 2011 quake and tsunami.
Meanwhile, researchers at Tohoku University have found that people in disaster-hit areas of Miyagi are three times more likely to suffer from depression as folks in other parts of the country.
The Fire and Disaster Management Agency is teaming up with Yahoo on a smartphone app that will convey real-time emergency information, including “reports of ballistic missile attacks.”

Hats off to Kanagawa native Yuki Nagata, who won the prestigious Les Masters de la Boulangerie baking competition in France.
A newspaper investigation has found that Osaka and Kagawa are the two most dangerous prefectures to ride a bicycle.
Authorities at the NPA say they dealt with a record-high number of cases involving victims of child pornography last year.
The officials say many of the victims “were coerced into taking photos or videos of themselves naked.”

It was reported that residents of the resort town of Yufu in Oita are objecting to the construction of a new solar power plant because they’re worried it will “wreck the area’s scenery.”
A ban on off-base drinking is being credited with a drastic fall in the number of crimes committed by US military personnel in Okinawa.
Officials say the number of crimes reported last year was the lowest since 1972, when Okinawa reverted to Japanese control.
Bottom Story of the Week: “Photos Depict History of Saw-Tooth Roofs” (via The Japan News)