Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on March 2014

STRANGE DAYS

• A comedy duo named Nosei-mahi Burazazu—literally, “cerebral palsy brothers”—is making a name for itself by “playing on public perceptions about people with disabilities.”
• A total of 24,000 commuters were delayed last month when a conductor on a Ginza line train walked off the job because of a stomachache.
• Rescue workers from Japan Airlines and the Tokyo Fire Department staged a drill “based on a scenario that a JAL passenger flight has made an emergency landing in Tokyo Bay.”
• Officials at a fisheries cooperative in Miyagi have opened an online shop selling cultured oysters harvested by local fishermen.

MILESTONES

• Katsusuke Meguro, who served as the chamberlain for Emperor Akihito for 48 years, announced his retirement at the age of 71.
• Staff at Inokashira Park Zoo offered a special treat to Hanako—Japan’s oldest elephant—on the occasion of her 67th birthday: sliced bread topped with anko (bean-jam buns).
• A publisher in Seoul has launched a bimonthly journal called Boon, which is described as “the first comprehensive South Korean magazine on Japanese culture.”
• Headline of the Week: “Japanese Woman With Unusual Name Celebrates 100th Birthday” (via Japan Today)

BY THE NUMBERS

• Researchers have determined that the March 11, 2011 earthquake triggered ground liquefaction in 9,678 areas of 13 prefectures.
• Officials at Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co admitted that they withheld auto insurance payments from 120,000 customers who had failed to file a claim.
• An animal welfare center in Fukuoka city was forced to take in 60 housecats after their owner—a male resident in his 30s—suddenly fell ill.
• Authorities at the health ministry say that 325,000 people in Japan are working while undergoing cancer treatment.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

• According to officials at the foreign ministry, a total of 107 Japanese nationals have been killed overseas during the past five years.
• In response to crimes committed against its citizens abroad, the government is considering establishing a system of “sympathy funds” for bereaved family members.
• Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the president of the Marshall Islands agreed to cooperate on fishing and disaster-reduction efforts.
• The Japan Cultural Institute in France held an exhibition detailing exchanges between the two countries related to silkworm farming in the 19th century.

TECH TALK

• Arakawa-ku will become the first municipality in Japan to provide tablet computers to all students in its elementary and junior high schools.
• An IT officer at Fujitsu who was responsible for maintaining ATMs for the Bank of Yokohama was arrested on suspicion of tapping into more than 50 private bank accounts and stealing ¥24 million.
• Officials at something called the Foundation for Promoting Personal Mobility and Ecological Transportation say that 290,000 people around the country are enrolled in car-share programs—a four-fold rise from two years ago.
• Chuo Electric Co. is getting ready to fire up a geothermal energy plant in Kumamoto. It will be first such facility to open in Japan in 15 years.

Compiled from reports by AP, Japan Today, The Japan Times, Jiji, The Tokyo Reporter, The Mainichi, The Japan News, AFP, Reuters and Kyodo