Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on May 2010

Illustration by Enrique Balducci

Hey, wait a minute…

• A survey by the BBC and the Yomiuri Shimbun revealed that Germany and Japan are, for the second year in a row, the two most “favorably viewed” nations in the world. Something tells us that a similar poll taken 65 years ago would have yielded significantly different results.
• It’s believed that whale meat confiscated by South Korean police from a Japanese restaurant in Seoul may have been smuggled into the country from one of Japan’s “research” whaling expeditions.
• A travel website called ToCoo has begun offering stays at ryokan and other accommodations for free. Hotels and inns are scrambling to participate in the program in the hopes of getting repeat customers.
• A tie-up between Mister Donut and Mos Burger means that customers will be able to enjoy cheeseburgers and donuts on the same plate. OK, maybe “enjoy” isn’t the best word…

Way to confirm the stereotype, hun

• Japanese astronaut Naoko Yamazaki donned a pink kimono and served handmade sushi rolls to her colleagues aboard the International Space Station.
• Yamazaki also performed an “experiment” at the behest of her 7-year-old daughter, who was curious “why colored bubble bath makes colorless soap bubbles in water.”
• It was reported that the Lawson conbini chain has sold 15 million Premium Roll Cakes since introducing the items six months ago. The sweets cost ¥150 and are popular because of their “balance of fresh, sweet milk flavor and soft sponge cake.”
• Among the instances of abuse uncovered at a nursing home in Tochigi Prefecture was an incident in which “a female worker in her 20s took a photograph of a resident in his 80s, when he was on all fours and was wearing diapers with no shirt on.” The worker later joked about the pic with her colleagues.
• In another incident, “a male worker in his 30s and two female workers in their 20s reportedly drew color circles on the face of a female resident in her 80s.”

The crime files

• A 30-year-old hikikomori in Aichi Prefecture knifed two of his family members to death and injured three others after his father cancelled the household internet subscription.
• Police suspect that a man who wrote threatening letters to the president of Lawson convenience stores is responsible for inserting “cutter blades” in food products at three Lawson shops in Tokyo.
• Police in Fukuoka suspect foul play in the disappearance of a 22-year-old Nepalese woman who had been attending a Japanese language school for the past two years.
• One student suffered a broken ankle and another head injuries when a second-floor balcony gave way at a high school in Takahagi, Ibaraki Prefecture.
• Bottom Story of the Week: “Courageous Canine Hopes for Third Time Lucky as he Prepares for Latest Police Dog Test” (via The Mainichi Daily News)
• Runner-up: “Deburring Machines Clear Waste, Make Money” (via The Daily Yomiuri)

Welcome to the 21st century

• Both the DPJ and the LDP have submitted proposals to ease the restrictions on how politicians can use the internet during election campaigns. Current laws say that pols can’t use Twitter.
• One rule that may remain in place is the prohibition on politicians sending emails, out of fears that they may be “sent by people pretending to be candidates.”
• It was reported that the DPJ is mulling whether to cease Japan’s participation in the International Space Station, which costs the country about ¥40 billion a year.
• The National Consumer Affairs Center says that it received 153 grievances about “ineffective hair-growth enhancing products” in fiscal 2009, a 250 percent increase from 2005.
• A transport ministry panel is calling for Haneda Airport to attract more business by handling flights around the clock.

On second thought…

• After obtaining permission from the finance ministry to raise the price of a pack of its cigarettes by ¥20, Philip Morris decided to nix the increase, fearing it would cause a drop in sales.
• An appeals court in the US overturned a judgment against Nintendo, which had ruled the game maker’s console controls violated the patent of a Texas-based company called Anascape.
• It was reported that the average amount of loans taken out by law school students who have passed the national bar exam is ¥3.2 million.
• A letter that was once carried by legendary samurai Ryoma Sakamoto urging the overthrow of the pre-Meiji shogunate turned up at an archive center in Kochi after going missing for 80 years.
• The Honjo Shoku-niku Center in Saitama became the first meat-processing facility in Japan to be certified halal.

By the numbers

• The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications reported that Japan’s population declined by a record 183,000 during the past year.
• It was just the third year-on-year decrease since such studies began in 1950. The other declines occurred in 2005 (-19,000) and 2008 (-79,000).
• In total, 127,510,000 people now live in Japan, of which 65,380,000 are women and 62,130,000 are men.
• Tokyo’s population of 12,868,000 accounts for a full 10.1 percent of the country’s total. The next most populous prefectures are Kanagawa (8,943,000) and Osaka (8,801,000).
• A total of 47,000 foreigners bailed out of Japan during the past year—the first time in 15 years that the population of gaijin has gone down.

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