Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on February 2010

HOLY SMOKES!

• White ash and steam could be seen spewing from the sea when an underwater volcano known as Fukutokuoka no Ba erupted just north of Iwo Jima.
• In Hiroshima, the municipal government announced plans to re-examine the effects of the radioactive “black rain” that fell on the city after the atomic bombing in 1945.
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  Illustration by Kohji Shiiki

  Over 240 babies took part in a traditional “crying sumo” tournament at a temple in Nagasaki. The little gaffers faced off two at a time, and the first one to bawl was declared the winner.
• A 25-year-old unemployed man in Kanagawa Prefecture is in hot water—both with the cops and on the home front—after falsely claiming that he’d been mugged and robbed of over ¥400,000. He didn’t want his wife to find out that he had no money or job.
• Believe it or not, police sent nearly 40 cop cars and 140 officers to track down the culprits in the alleged robbery mentioned above, perhaps because the bogus victim said the muggers were “two foreign-looking men.”
• Eleven-year-old elementary school student Rina Fujisawa recently passed a qualifying exam to become the youngest-ever professional Go player.

HELL’S KITCHEN

• It was revealed that Kanae Kijima, a 35-year-old woman arrested for murder and marriage scams, used her cooking abilities to lure potential victims, often referring them to her online cooking blog, “Kanae’s Kitchen.”
• Land Minister Seiji Maehara revealed in a public service message on suicide prevention that his father took his own life when Maehara was in junior high school. “It took me 33 years before I could talk about his death,” he said.
• A Waseda University professor found documents revealing that US forces ordered the censorship of mail sent to 21 people involved with World War II real-life house of horrors Unit 731.
• In Nara, a hospital director and a doctor were arrested for professional negligence over a 2006 liver operation that resulted in the death of the 51-year-old patient.
• A private detective hired by a man to seduce his wife as part of a “couple-busting” scheme was awaiting sentencing after falling in love with the woman, then strangling her to death when she dumped him upon discovering his shady ways.
• A high school in Sendai waited four days before letting police know that a Chinese student had stabbed another student at one of its dormitories. The stabber, who was charged with attempted murder, claimed he wasn’t really trying to kill the guy, telling cops, “I didn’t go as far as to think it would be OK if he died.”

DO I MAKE YOU HORNY, BABY?

• Over 36 percent of married couples surveyed by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare and the Japan Family Planning Association revealed they were in “sexless” marriages (stretches with no nooky for a month or longer).
• Nearly 25 percent of men cited work fatigue as their reason for losing interest in sex and 21 percent of women said they were no longer into it after having kids, but others said things like “it’s troublesome” and “there are things more fun than sex.” Name one.
• After plunking four batters in her debut with the US minor-league Yuma Scorpions, 18-year-old knuckleballer Eri Yoshida settled down and worked a scoreless inning in relief in her next outing. You go, girl!
• A chunk of human bone dating back about 20,000 years was discovered in a cave on the southern island of Ishigakijima.

BUSINESS… AS USUAL

• Japanese cosmetics maker Shiseido announced plans to open a factory in Vietnam in April.
• A 15-member consortium of Japanese businessmen made a trip to Africa to promote their rockets and satellites.
• Carmaker Mitsubishi is in talks with French company Peugeot Citroen to link up on a small eco-friendly vehicle that could be on the streets by 2011.
• A court awarded ¥47 million in damages to family members of five men falsely convicted in the Yokohama Incident, in which Japan’s secret police rounded up suspected communists during World War II.
• A group of shop owners in Osaka’s Nipponbashi electronics district got together to commission a remote-controlled robot that resembles a local landmark tower to help promote the area.
• Government minister Seiji Maehara announced that starting in June, road tolls on parts of 37 highways would be lifted. He went on to say that this would not include the busiest highways in urban areas.
• Seven people were hurt when a large crane-carrying truck rammed a city bus in Tokyo’s Adachi-ku, the crane smashing through the rear window of the bus.

OLYMPIC INSPIRATION

• Mao-mania was sweeping Vancouver during the Winter Olympics, with one vendor selling the Mao Dog, a hot dog featuring gold and red tofu maple leaves that was created to inspire figure skater Mao Asada to a gold medal.
• Not to be outdone, a Vancouver sushi shop was peddling a roll featuring salmon, shrimp, crab, mushrooms and asparagus, said to be designed by Asada herself. “She didn’t like avocado,” explained the shop’s manager, Hitomi Ishikura.
• American speed skater Shani Davis revealed on the eve of the Games that he is a big fan of all things Japanese. Davis has a Japanese girlfriend and his skate guards are adorned with the character Pikachu.
• Japanese astronaut Naoko Yamazaki, christened “Mom Astronaut” by the Japanese media, credits her hubby Taichi with much of her success after he put his engineering career on hold to stay at home and look after their young daughter.

Compiled from reports by Japan Today, International Herald Tribune/The Asahi Shimbun, The Daily Yomiuri, The Japan Times, The Mainichi Daily News, AP, AFP, Reuters and Kyodo.