Metropolis Japan

September 27, 2013

Feral teens, dropping birthrates and more.

Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on September 2013

ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT

Two 19-year-olds in Hokkaido were arrested after they tweeted a photo of themselves vandalizing police property, along with the comment, “We are going through puberty so we’ve come to destroy a patrol car.”
Authorities in Iwate say a shady cellphone-rental company routinely accepted fake application documents from customers, including a drivers license that “showed the holder was born in the 17th month of the year.”
It was reported that the TMG spent at least ¥3 million in fiscal 2012 to reimburse members of the municipal assembly for travel expenses—even though the politicians commuted for free using cars provided by the city.
Scientists at Kyoto University and the Kyoto City Zoo have come up with a way of “preserv[ing] animal sperm through freeze-drying.”

Officials at the Meteorological Agency recorded record-high water surface temperatures in five areas around the Japanese archipelago last month.
Meanwhile, global warming is being blamed for a spate of unusual fish catches in the waters off Hokkaido, including sardines and bluefin tuna.
Police in Chiba say skeletal remains found by a local fisherman are likely those of a Niigata man who went missing in 2004, and who was originally believed to have been abducted by North Korean agents.

Officials at the internal affairs ministry say 2012 was the fourth straight year that the population of Japan declined. As of December 31, 126,393,679 people were living in the country.
The number of Japanese aged 65 or over topped 30 million for the first time, while the number aged 14 or under was the lowest ever.
The number of births—1.029 million—was also a new low.
In all, 39 of Japan’s 47 prefectures saw their populations drop.

Health officials in Osaka say their newly established suicide-prevention programs have led to a 16 percent drop in the number of people killing themselves in the prefecture since 2010.
Japanese researchers have developed a gel that repels both water and oil, which they hope will lead to the development of “surface materials that do not need cleaning at all.”
It was reported that South Koreans have been going crazy for ekiben after a railway company introduced the Japan-inspired boxed lunches at Seoul station this summer.

An “error in maintenance records” forced officials at ANA to cancel 12 flights of their A320 Airbus aircraft, affecting 2,400 passengers.
In what’s being described as a “bid to counter China’s influence,” the foreign ministry is mulling whether to establish new embassies in six countries, including the Kingdom of Bhutan and the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
A Cabinet Office survey revealed that 72 percent of adults are concerned about “smartphone use by children.”
Bottom Story of the Week: “Corgi Climbs 900-meter Mountain More Than 1,000 Times Over 9 Years” (via Mainichi Japan)

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