Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on October 2013

THANKS BUT NO THANKS

• The foreign ministers of Japan and Germany vowed “to cooperate to help settle the Syrian crisis and other global issues.” Thanks anyway, guys, but we saw how that script played out 60 years ago.
• A high-ranking official at the trade ministry was sacked for insensitive comments about the 3/11 disaster, such as claiming that reconstruction money is being wasted on “old coots and hags” and that anyone who disagrees with him “might as well die.”
• A bipartisan group of lawmakers is formulating a bill that would legalize casinos in time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
• Scientists at JAXA and other groups announced a plan to “study the intestinal bacteria of astronauts.”

WELL, THAT EXPLAINS IT

• Authorities in Hokkaido are warning that encounters between bears and humans may increase this autumn because “acorns are growing poorly across almost the entire prefecture.”
• The TMG suspended the license of a home for mentally handicapped people over a series of abuses against residents, including “kicking, pushing, shoving food into their mouths [and] locking them inside bathrooms.”
• Officials at Softbank say a “computer programming error” led them to register 63,133 customer accounts as “delinquent” even though the users were making their payments on time.
• The NPA says internet banking scams have reached an all-time high this year—some ¥550 million has been stolen as of the middle of September.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

• A longtime Japanese expat living in Novosibirsk has been chosen as one of the official torchbearers for next year’s Sochi Olympics.
• A 33-year-old Japanese tourist in Phnom Penh was shot in the leg “after she resisted two robbers who tried to snatch a bag she was carrying.”
• Officials in Mie Prefecture and New Taipei City concluded a friendship agreement in an effort to promote tourism exchange.
• Japan dropped from 8th to 12th in world rankings in terms of “information and communication technology development,” according to the International Telecommunication Union.

DISASTER DAYS

• In what they’re describing as “vicious and large-scale” fraud, officials at the agriculture ministry accused six food wholesalers of “lying about the origin and designated use of rice.”
• Meanwhile, delegates from Fukushima held an event in London to promote the safety of food grown in the prefecture.
• A nationwide federation of blind people has launched a magazine to record the “hardships experienced by visually handicapped people in the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake.”
• A new service called Twitter Alerts aims to provide “important and accurate information during emergencies” from police, fire and weather agencies.

BAR NONE

• A Cabinet Office survey found that about 57 percent of Japanese citizens “support the hiring of people with criminal records.”
• A court in Osaka ruled that it’s unconstitutional for the government to deny prisoners the right to vote in public elections.
• According to research firm Teikoku Databank, Japanese business sentiment in September hit its highest level in 83 months.
• Bottom Story of the Week: “Artist Wants to Show the Many Hidden Charms of Train Stations” (via The Japan News)

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