September 19, 2012

September 19, 2012

September 19, 2012

This week’s required reading

By

Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on September 2012

INCREDIBLE SHRINKING JAPAN

  • A study by the National Institute of Science and Technology Policy found that “the influence of chemistry academic papers from Japanese universities” has plunged during the past 10 years.
  • Meanwhile, a Cabinet Office white paper on gender equality revealed that women represent 14 percent of research scientists in Japan, while in the US the figure is 34 percent and the UK it’s 38 percent.
  • It was reported that local governments around the country are retrofitting industrial plants idled in the post-Bubble era and giving them new life as large-scale solar power-generating facilities.
  • No more free rides: A Diet committee scrapped a long-standing tradition in which lawmakers enjoyed free transportation on private railways and buses.

THEATER OF BATTLE

  • A 40-year-old former ASDF sergeant is suing the government for failing to properly treat injuries he sustained in 2006 while stationed in Kuwait. Apparently, the man was running in a long-distance “friendship race” hosted by the US military when he was hit by a “motor coach driven by an American woman who belonged to a private military company.”
  • It was reported that the US is hoping to deploy an early-warning missile radar installation on “an undisclosed southern Japanese island.”
  • Meanwhile, the defense ministry wants to procure ¥3 billion to buy four amphibious landing craft for the GDSF… for defensive purposes, of course.
  • Officials at the Tokyo Metropolitan Labor Consultation Center say queries about workplace bullying have shot up by 70 percent in the five years they’ve been keeping records. About two-thirds of the cases involve bosses bullying subordinates.

SUFFER THE CHILDREN

  • Police say a high-school boy from Saitama leapt to his death from the 60-story Sunshine 60 building in Ikebukuro despite the “desperate” efforts by a security guard to stop him. The boy left behind a note in his bag that said, simply, “It’s too bad.”
  • Three people, including an infant, were injured when a car plunged 10 meters onto a walkway after crashing through a metal gate in a parking garage at Tokyo’s Imperial Hotel.
  • The Diet is expected to pass a bill banning animal breeders from selling puppies and kittens under the age of 56 days. Apparently, animals separated from their parents at such a young age tend to become “antisocial.”
  • The education ministry says it’s compiling a comprehensive online database of universities so that prospective students can easily compare schools. The guide will provide information about faculty members and tuition, as well as “the number of foreign teachers, support systems for studying abroad and students’ employment situations after graduation.”

AND NOW FOR SOME GOOD NEWS

  • Thanks to intensive breeding and conservation efforts, the endangered short-tailed albatross is making a comeback on Tokyo’s Torishima Island. Researchers say the current avian population of 3,000—up from 200 in the ’70s—“is large enough for numbers to recover naturally” and that the turnaround is “dreamlike.”
  • Officials at KEPCO say businesses and consumers managed to cut their power consumption by 11 percent this summer compared to 2010. That’s 1 percentage point higher than the utility had been hoping for, and the efforts likely averted a blackout.
  • Among the criteria judged at the second annual high school girls hula championship last month in Fukushima were “teamwork, expressiveness and smiles.”
  • A survey by the Dai-ichi Life Research Institute found that men in their 40s are the least happy demographic group in Japan, and that men in their 80s are the most content.

DEFENSIVE MEASURES

  • The meteorological agency is upgrading its earthquake-detection systems by installing “deep underground seismometers” on land and at sea. It’s hoped that the sensors will provide anywhere from 1-10 seconds’ early warning when a major quake hits.
  • Officials with the National Police Agency are rushing to establish a committee of internet security experts to deal with an unprecedented surge in cyber-attacks.
  • Meanwhile, tech security firm Symantec says it has found ten “vicious” apps targeting Android smartphones. The company is urging the Metropolitan Police Department to classify them as computer viruses.
  • Headline of the Week: “Escaped Flamingo Avoids Capture, Outwits Zealous Zoo Workers” (via The Daily Yomiuri)

STATE OF THE NATION

  • A survey by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare found that 55 percent of part-time workers are “dissatisfied with or feel anxiety over [their] wages and treatment.”
  • Meanwhile, the portion of part-timers in their early 20s who say they want to become full-time employees has shot up 12.6 percentage points since 2007.
  • One benefit of Japan’s declining population is that medical expenses are increasing at a slower rate, according to the ministry.
  • Government officials also found that the number of Japanese suffering from dementia has doubled during the past decade, and now stands at just over 3 million.

THIS JUST IN…

  • A pair of elderly men in Fukushima were discovered to be suffering from internal radiation exposure after eating homegrown shiitake mushrooms, wild bamboo shoots and dried persimmon.
  • Long live the strong yen—the Japan Bank for International Cooperation said it will extend a $2 billion line of credit to Mizuho Bank to “to help Japanese firms with mergers and acquisitions abroad.”
  • The Switzerland-based international unit of Japan Tobacco is suspected of peddling cigarettes in Syria in violation of sanctions against the administration of President Bashar al-Assad.
  • Bottom Story of the Week: “Hospitalized Kabuki Actor Diagnosed with Bruise” (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