Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on November 2012

OFFICIAL BUSINESS

• Among the 1,700 people invited by the Emperor to a party at the Akasaka Imperial Garden were “celebrities and notable figures in cultural, academic, sports and other fields.” Our invitation must’ve been lost in the mail.
• It was reported that just 2 of 21 prefectures hosting nuclear power plants have evacuation plans for residents who live within 30 kilometers of the facilities.
• Officials at the health ministry say that September was the third consecutive month in which the number of people on welfare reached a record high.
• At the same time, lawmakers announced that they would seek to slash welfare benefits in fiscal 2013. Their plan includes “requiring [recipients] to take generic drugs instead of original drugs that are more expensive.”

FIGHTING WORDS

• Education minister Makiko Tanaka called Shintaro Ishihara an “out-of-control senior” after the 80-year-old Tokyo governor quit his post to form a new political party.
• The Board of Audit says Mitsubishi Electric has been overcharging the defense ministry for labor costs related to government projects for the past 42 years.
• Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. accused a South Korean steel company of spending “several billion yen” to obtain confidential information about their proprietary technology.
• In a nationwide survey, more than 20 percent of junior and senior high school students said horror author Yusuke Yamada was their favorite writer. Soseki Natsume, Ryunosuke Akutagawa and other “classic authors” all polled below 3 percent.

WHATEVER FLOATS YOUR BOAT

• An estimated 25,000 spectators thronged the streets of Ginza to watch international teams perform in the 17th World Police Band Concert.
• A 28-year-old bar owner on her way home from work in Chiba was accosted by a man who “grabbed her hair from behind and started cutting strands off with a knife.”
• Officials at Harley-Davidson headquarters in Milwaukee put on display a 2004 Night Train that was swept more than 65,000km across the Pacific Ocean in the aftermath of last year’s tsunami.
• Call it the “alpine tax”: Officials in Nagano are considering imposing a levy on mountain climbers amid a boom in mountaineering.

BREAKTHROUGHS

• NEC has developed a method of scaring birds away from airports in an effort to prevent them from striking airplanes. The system uses radar, cameras and “a portable device that emits a large noise.”
• A consortium of public and private groups is testing a new type of power cable that’s “capable of transmitting electricity with almost no electrical resistance.” Current cables lose about 5 percent of their power before it reaches homes and businesses.
• Researchers at Keio University have developed a system that makes it easier for drivers to reverse their cars “by allowing [them] to virtually see through the vehicle’s back seat.”
• Construction company Shimizu has designed a building that can “withstand a 20-meter tsunami and an earthquake of up to magnitude-7 on the Japanese scale.”

AND NOW FOR SOME GOOD NEWS

• The Japan Tourism Agency says the number of visitors from overseas “is rising back close to levels before the March 2011 disasters.”
• Officials in Bunkyo-ku have set up a website for restaurant-goers “that lists establishments offering dishes with 100 grams or more of vegetables.”
• A new breed of animal-themed cafés in Tokyo offers customers the chance to sidle up to “hawks, owls, turtles, snakes and other exotic creatures,” including goats.
• Bottom Story of the Week: “Nobel Winners Praise Each Other” (via Jiji)

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