I think the man has got it right. This is an excerpt from writer Roger Pulvers' special essay for the Japan Times:
"In Japan, it's customary at the end of each year to choose a word that best describes the esprit of that year. My choice for 2012, hands down, is "musekinin."
Musekinin means "irresponsibility"; but the Japanese word is somewhat stronger in tone than the English one, more akin to "a total absence of responsibility," or "a lack of a sense of liability."
In the general election on Dec. 16, the opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) was elected in a landslide on the pledge to pump a mass of new money into the economy in order to jump-start it out of its stalled misery. But this is precisely what the LDP did when it was in power in the 1990s, pouring tens of billions of yen into public-works projects that left Japan with much often-useless concrete infrastructure and the mother of all national debts. Why, one asks, would such a policy work now, when the debt is already galactic in size and most local governments have no appetite for old-fashion pump-priming?
The LDP answer to anything blocking its way is the same as that given to tank-soldier Shiba, as the mentality has not changed in three-quarters of a century: Run 'em down.
No matter that the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, was followed by events at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant leading to three reactor meltdowns, because the LDP government is now poised to okay the restart of most of the country's dozens of idled reactors. And that despite adequate safety checks, which should have been conducted before the plants were built, not having been carried out.
It is ironic, too, that both major parties — the LDP and the then-ruling Democratic Party of Japan — kicked off campaigning in the recent election, which began on Dec. 4, in Fukushima.
The residents of that prefecture have been treated like the unwanted. They have been deprived of information and sufficient compensation. Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco), the owner and operator of the stricken nuclear plant, has simply wished they would go away — which, with time, they will, one way or another.
As with the millions of Asian victims of Japanese aggression prior to the end of World War II in 1945, the policy adopted after the events is to mollify with ambiguous and insincere apologies ... and wait until the last one dies.
The same "run 'em down" attitude is again, basically, not far from being the mindset of the corporate bosses in the nuclear industry — or, if not run 'em down, then "run 'em out" — which is what they did to the people of the radiation-affected districts of Fukushima Prefecture.
In this way, politicians, bureaucrats and the corporate elite are evading responsibility for either the collapse and stagnation of Japan's economy or the contamination of its land, air and water, and what that has meant for people's livelihoods.
They have not apologized in any meaningful way nor have they shown any true sense of responsibility for these two catastrophes of mismanagement and cover-up regarding the real causes of the economy's collapse and the nuclear disaster. Their solution is to return to the status quo ante, dig in their heels, pick up their antiquated weapons — the only tools at their disposal — and carry on fighting.
This is what is meant by musekinin as we approach what may be the point of no return that this country faces in 2013."
(for the full essay, including the reference to Ryotaro Shiba's Manchuria experience of being told "run 'em down", please go to The Japan Times online, 12/12/30)
2012年12月30日日曜日
2012年12月25日火曜日
This scares me. How about you?
Tuesday, Dec. 25, 2012
Fault-linked nuke plants sitting on 800 tons of fuel
Jiji
A combined 800 tons of spent nuclear fuel is being stored at two power stations thought to have active quake faults running underneath them.
Japan Atomic Power Co., operator of the Tsuruga plant in Fukui Prefecture, said Sunday that the storage pool of reactor 2 contains roughly 500 tons of spent fuel and the pool for reactor 1 has about 80 tons.
Beneath both buildings are crush zones that have been judged active faults by the Nuclear Regulation Authority. And another active fault has been found 250 meters away from unit 2.
At the Higashidori plant in Aomori Prefecture, meanwhile, Tohoku Electric Power Co. said Sunday that there are 131 tons of spent fuel inside reactor 1 and another 104 in the building's fuel pool. The building is 200 to 400 meters from two crush zones that have been determined to be active faults.
Ruling out the existence of active faults under the reactors, both Japan Atomic Power and Tohoku Electric said they have no plans to relocate the plants.
But if the crush zones in question actually move, the fuel pools' cooling systems could be damaged, experts warn.
Nuclear fuel generates much less heat once it's spent, but it still must be left to cool in water pools for about five years. The three reactors at the Tsuruga and Higashidori plants were halted last year.
Kansai Electric Power Co.'s Oi power plant has 262 tons of spent fuel in reactors 3 and 4, the only units operating in Japan, and 1,329 tons in the reactor buildings' pools.
The NRA plans to conduct on-site fault checks at the Oi plant, also in Fukui, from Friday.
Fault-linked nuke plants sitting on 800 tons of fuel
Jiji
A combined 800 tons of spent nuclear fuel is being stored at two power stations thought to have active quake faults running underneath them.
Japan Atomic Power Co., operator of the Tsuruga plant in Fukui Prefecture, said Sunday that the storage pool of reactor 2 contains roughly 500 tons of spent fuel and the pool for reactor 1 has about 80 tons.
Beneath both buildings are crush zones that have been judged active faults by the Nuclear Regulation Authority. And another active fault has been found 250 meters away from unit 2.
At the Higashidori plant in Aomori Prefecture, meanwhile, Tohoku Electric Power Co. said Sunday that there are 131 tons of spent fuel inside reactor 1 and another 104 in the building's fuel pool. The building is 200 to 400 meters from two crush zones that have been determined to be active faults.
Ruling out the existence of active faults under the reactors, both Japan Atomic Power and Tohoku Electric said they have no plans to relocate the plants.
But if the crush zones in question actually move, the fuel pools' cooling systems could be damaged, experts warn.
Nuclear fuel generates much less heat once it's spent, but it still must be left to cool in water pools for about five years. The three reactors at the Tsuruga and Higashidori plants were halted last year.
Kansai Electric Power Co.'s Oi power plant has 262 tons of spent fuel in reactors 3 and 4, the only units operating in Japan, and 1,329 tons in the reactor buildings' pools.
The NRA plans to conduct on-site fault checks at the Oi plant, also in Fukui, from Friday.
2012年12月24日月曜日
How to tell you are not welcome
If that many people in laid-back Okinawa will get up and march, it's a big hint that it's time for the guests to go home.
Here's how Japan Times online reports:
Monday, Dec. 24, 2012
3,000 hold anti-Osprey march near U.S. base in Okinawa
Kyodo
NAHA, Okinawa Pref. — A crowd of about 3,000 marched through the streets near a contentious U.S. Marine base in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on Sunday to protest its use of the Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft.
They also protested the long-stalled plan to keep Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa, and a spate of recent incidents involving U.S. servicemen that has rekindled local anger against U.S. troops there.
Residents and supporters were seen demonstrating near the main gate of the base, with some demanding that the controversial MV-22 Osprey and the U.S. military leave Okinawa.
The Marine Corps started conducting Osprey training flights shortly after a dozen of the helicopter-airplane hybrids were deployed there in October.
Tomoyuki Kobashikawa, who came down from Uruma to protest, recalled when a U.S. F-100 super sabre crashed at Miyamori Elementary School in 1959, killing 17 people. The school was near his home.
"An accident will certainly happen if the Ospreys continue to fly for five or 10 years," the 70-year-old said. "Before that happens, the aircraft must be pulled out."
Eijun Maedomari, a 70-year-old resident of Urasoe, expressed concern about the government being led again by the Liberal Democratic Party, which advocated keeping the Futenma base in the prefecture.
Residents have been clamoring for the base to be kicked out of Okinawa, an island prefecture that hosts about 74 percent of all U.S. military facilities in Japan in terms of land almost 40 years since it was returned following the U.S. Occupation.
But the central government continues to support the plan to transfer the base from crowded Ginowan to the less-populated coastal area of Henoko in Nago, also in Okinawa, in line with the base accord it signed with the United States several years ago.
Monday, Dec. 24, 2012
3,000 hold anti-Osprey march near U.S. base in Okinawa
Kyodo
NAHA, Okinawa Pref. — A crowd of about 3,000 marched through the streets near a contentious U.S. Marine base in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on Sunday to protest its use of the Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft.
They also protested the long-stalled plan to keep Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa, and a spate of recent incidents involving U.S. servicemen that has rekindled local anger against U.S. troops there.
Residents and supporters were seen demonstrating near the main gate of the base, with some demanding that the controversial MV-22 Osprey and the U.S. military leave Okinawa.
The Marine Corps started conducting Osprey training flights shortly after a dozen of the helicopter-airplane hybrids were deployed there in October.
Tomoyuki Kobashikawa, who came down from Uruma to protest, recalled when a U.S. F-100 super sabre crashed at Miyamori Elementary School in 1959, killing 17 people. The school was near his home.
"An accident will certainly happen if the Ospreys continue to fly for five or 10 years," the 70-year-old said. "Before that happens, the aircraft must be pulled out."
Eijun Maedomari, a 70-year-old resident of Urasoe, expressed concern about the government being led again by the Liberal Democratic Party, which advocated keeping the Futenma base in the prefecture.
Residents have been clamoring for the base to be kicked out of Okinawa, an island prefecture that hosts about 74 percent of all U.S. military facilities in Japan in terms of land almost 40 years since it was returned following the U.S. Occupation.
But the central government continues to support the plan to transfer the base from crowded Ginowan to the less-populated coastal area of Henoko in Nago, also in Okinawa, in line with the base accord it signed with the United States several years ago.
Monday, Dec. 24, 2012
3,000 hold anti-Osprey march near U.S. base in Okinawa
Kyodo
NAHA, Okinawa Pref. — A crowd of about 3,000 marched through the streets near a contentious U.S. Marine base in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on Sunday to protest its use of the Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft.
They also protested the long-stalled plan to keep Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa, and a spate of recent incidents involving U.S. servicemen that has rekindled local anger against U.S. troops there.
Residents and supporters were seen demonstrating near the main gate of the base, with some demanding that the controversial MV-22 Osprey and the U.S. military leave Okinawa.
The Marine Corps started conducting Osprey training flights shortly after a dozen of the helicopter-airplane hybrids were deployed there in October.
Tomoyuki Kobashikawa, who came down from Uruma to protest, recalled when a U.S. F-100 super sabre crashed at Miyamori Elementary School in 1959, killing 17 people. The school was near his home.
"An accident will certainly happen if the Ospreys continue to fly for five or 10 years," the 70-year-old said. "Before that happens, the aircraft must be pulled out."
Eijun Maedomari, a 70-year-old resident of Urasoe, expressed concern about the government being led again by the Liberal Democratic Party, which advocated keeping the Futenma base in the prefecture.
Residents have been clamoring for the base to be kicked out of Okinawa, an island prefecture that hosts about 74 percent of all U.S. military facilities in Japan in terms of land almost 40 years since it was returned following the U.S. Occupation.
But the central government continues to support the plan to transfer the base from crowded Ginowan to the less-populated coastal area of Henoko in Nago, also in Okinawa, in line with the base accord it signed with the United States several years ago.
Monday, Dec. 24, 2012
3,000 hold anti-Osprey march near U.S. base in Okinawa
Kyodo
NAHA, Okinawa Pref. — A crowd of about 3,000 marched through the streets near a contentious U.S. Marine base in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on Sunday to protest its use of the Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft.
They also protested the long-stalled plan to keep Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa, and a spate of recent incidents involving U.S. servicemen that has rekindled local anger against U.S. troops there.
Residents and supporters were seen demonstrating near the main gate of the base, with some demanding that the controversial MV-22 Osprey and the U.S. military leave Okinawa.
The Marine Corps started conducting Osprey training flights shortly after a dozen of the helicopter-airplane hybrids were deployed there in October.
Tomoyuki Kobashikawa, who came down from Uruma to protest, recalled when a U.S. F-100 super sabre crashed at Miyamori Elementary School in 1959, killing 17 people. The school was near his home.
"An accident will certainly happen if the Ospreys continue to fly for five or 10 years," the 70-year-old said. "Before that happens, the aircraft must be pulled out."
Eijun Maedomari, a 70-year-old resident of Urasoe, expressed concern about the government being led again by the Liberal Democratic Party, which advocated keeping the Futenma base in the prefecture.
Residents have been clamoring for the base to be kicked out of Okinawa, an island prefecture that hosts about 74 percent of all U.S. military facilities in Japan in terms of land almost 40 years since it was returned following the U.S. Occupation.
But the central government continues to support the plan to transfer the base from crowded Ginowan to the less-populated coastal area of Henoko in Nago, also in Okinawa, in line with the base accord it signed with the United States several years ago.
Monday, Dec. 24, 2012
3,000 hold anti-Osprey march near U.S. base in Okinawa
Kyodo
NAHA, Okinawa Pref. — A crowd of about 3,000 marched through the streets near a contentious U.S. Marine base in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on Sunday to protest its use of the Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft.
They also protested the long-stalled plan to keep Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa, and a spate of recent incidents involving U.S. servicemen that has rekindled local anger against U.S. troops there.
Residents and supporters were seen demonstrating near the main gate of the base, with some demanding that the controversial MV-22 Osprey and the U.S. military leave Okinawa.
The Marine Corps started conducting Osprey training flights shortly after a dozen of the helicopter-airplane hybrids were deployed there in October.
Tomoyuki Kobashikawa, who came down from Uruma to protest, recalled when a U.S. F-100 super sabre crashed at Miyamori Elementary School in 1959, killing 17 people. The school was near his home.
"An accident will certainly happen if the Ospreys continue to fly for five or 10 years," the 70-year-old said. "Before that happens, the aircraft must be pulled out."
Eijun Maedomari, a 70-year-old resident of Urasoe, expressed concern about the government being led again by the Liberal Democratic Party, which advocated keeping the Futenma base in the prefecture.
Residents have been clamoring for the base to be kicked out of Okinawa, an island prefecture that hosts about 74 percent of all U.S. military facilities in Japan in terms of land almost 40 years since it was returned following the U.S. Occupation.
But the central government continues to support the plan to transfer the base from crowded Ginowan to the less-populated coastal area of Henoko in Nago, also in Okinawa, in line with the base accord it signed with the United States several years ago.
Monday, Dec. 24, 2012
3,000 hold anti-Osprey march near U.S. base in Okinawa
Kyodo
NAHA, Okinawa Pref. — A crowd of about 3,000 marched through the streets near a contentious U.S. Marine base in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on Sunday to protest its use of the Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft.
They also protested the long-stalled plan to keep Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa, and a spate of recent incidents involving U.S. servicemen that has rekindled local anger against U.S. troops there.
Residents and supporters were seen demonstrating near the main gate of the base, with some demanding that the controversial MV-22 Osprey and the U.S. military leave Okinawa.
The Marine Corps started conducting Osprey training flights shortly after a dozen of the helicopter-airplane hybrids were deployed there in October.
Tomoyuki Kobashikawa, who came down from Uruma to protest, recalled when a U.S. F-100 super sabre crashed at Miyamori Elementary School in 1959, killing 17 people. The school was near his home.
"An accident will certainly happen if the Ospreys continue to fly for five or 10 years," the 70-year-old said. "Before that happens, the aircraft must be pulled out."
Eijun Maedomari, a 70-year-old resident of Urasoe, expressed concern about the government being led again by the Liberal Democratic Party, which advocated keeping the Futenma base in the prefecture.
Residents have been clamoring for the base to be kicked out of Okinawa, an island prefecture that hosts about 74 percent of all U.S. military facilities in Japan in terms of land almost 40 years since it was returned following the U.S. Occupation.
But the central government continues to support the plan to transfer the base from crowded Ginowan to the less-populated coastal area of Henoko in Nago, also in Okinawa, in line with the base accord it signed with the United States several years ago.
Monday, Dec. 24, 2012
3,000 hold anti-Osprey march near U.S. base in Okinawa
Kyodo
NAHA, Okinawa Pref. — A crowd of about 3,000 marched through the streets near a contentious U.S. Marine base in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on Sunday to protest its use of the Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft.
They also protested the long-stalled plan to keep Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa, and a spate of recent incidents involving U.S. servicemen that has rekindled local anger against U.S. troops there.
Residents and supporters were seen demonstrating near the main gate of the base, with some demanding that the controversial MV-22 Osprey and the U.S. military leave Okinawa.
The Marine Corps started conducting Osprey training flights shortly after a dozen of the helicopter-airplane hybrids were deployed there in October.
Tomoyuki Kobashikawa, who came down from Uruma to protest, recalled when a U.S. F-100 super sabre crashed at Miyamori Elementary School in 1959, killing 17 people. The school was near his home.
"An accident will certainly happen if the Ospreys continue to fly for five or 10 years," the 70-year-old said. "Before that happens, the aircraft must be pulled out."
Eijun Maedomari, a 70-year-old resident of Urasoe, expressed concern about the government being led again by the Liberal Democratic Party, which advocated keeping the Futenma base in the prefecture.
Residents have been clamoring for the base to be kicked out of Okinawa, an island prefecture that hosts about 74 percent of all U.S. military facilities in Japan in terms of land almost 40 years since it was returned following the U.S. Occupation.
But the central government continues to support the plan to transfer the base from crowded Ginowan to the less-populated coastal area of Henoko in Nago, also in Okinawa, in line with the base accord it signed with the United States several years ago.
Monday, Dec. 24, 2012
3,000 hold anti-Osprey march near U.S. base in Okinawa
Kyodo
NAHA, Okinawa Pref. — A crowd of about 3,000 marched through the streets near a contentious U.S. Marine base in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on Sunday to protest its use of the Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft.
They also protested the long-stalled plan to keep Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa, and a spate of recent incidents involving U.S. servicemen that has rekindled local anger against U.S. troops there.
Residents and supporters were seen demonstrating near the main gate of the base, with some demanding that the controversial MV-22 Osprey and the U.S. military leave Okinawa.
The Marine Corps started conducting Osprey training flights shortly after a dozen of the helicopter-airplane hybrids were deployed there in October.
Tomoyuki Kobashikawa, who came down from Uruma to protest, recalled when a U.S. F-100 super sabre crashed at Miyamori Elementary School in 1959, killing 17 people. The school was near his home.
"An accident will certainly happen if the Ospreys continue to fly for five or 10 years," the 70-year-old said. "Before that happens, the aircraft must be pulled out."
Eijun Maedomari, a 70-year-old resident of Urasoe, expressed concern about the government being led again by the Liberal Democratic Party, which advocated keeping the Futenma base in the prefecture.
Residents have been clamoring for the base to be kicked out of Okinawa, an island prefecture that hosts about 74 percent of all U.S. military facilities in Japan in terms of land almost 40 years since it was returned following the U.S. Occupation.
But the central government continues to support the plan to transfer the base from crowded Ginowan to the less-populated coastal area of Henoko in Nago, also in Okinawa, in line with the base accord it signed with the United States several years ago.
Monday, Dec. 24, 2012
3,000 hold anti-Osprey march near U.S. base in Okinawa
Kyodo
NAHA, Okinawa Pref. — A crowd of about 3,000 marched through the streets near a contentious U.S. Marine base in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on Sunday to protest its use of the Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft.
They also protested the long-stalled plan to keep Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa, and a spate of recent incidents involving U.S. servicemen that has rekindled local anger against U.S. troops there.
Residents and supporters were seen demonstrating near the main gate of the base, with some demanding that the controversial MV-22 Osprey and the U.S. military leave Okinawa.
The Marine Corps started conducting Osprey training flights shortly after a dozen of the helicopter-airplane hybrids were deployed there in October.
Tomoyuki Kobashikawa, who came down from Uruma to protest, recalled when a U.S. F-100 super sabre crashed at Miyamori Elementary School in 1959, killing 17 people. The school was near his home.
"An accident will certainly happen if the Ospreys continue to fly for five or 10 years," the 70-year-old said. "Before that happens, the aircraft must be pulled out."
Eijun Maedomari, a 70-year-old resident of Urasoe, expressed concern about the government being led again by the Liberal Democratic Party, which advocated keeping the Futenma base in the prefecture.
Residents have been clamoring for the base to be kicked out of Okinawa, an island prefecture that hosts about 74 percent of all U.S. military facilities in Japan in terms of land almost 40 years since it was returned following the U.S. Occupation.
But the central government continues to support the plan to transfer the base from crowded Ginowan to the less-populated coastal area of Henoko in Nago, also in Okinawa, in line with the base accord it signed with the United States several years ago.
Monday, Dec. 24, 2012
3,000 hold anti-Osprey march near U.S. base in Okinawa
Kyodo
NAHA, Okinawa Pref. — A crowd of about 3,000 marched through the streets near a contentious U.S. Marine base in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on Sunday to protest its use of the Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft.
They also protested the long-stalled plan to keep Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa, and a spate of recent incidents involving U.S. servicemen that has rekindled local anger against U.S. troops there.
Residents and supporters were seen demonstrating near the main gate of the base, with some demanding that the controversial MV-22 Osprey and the U.S. military leave Okinawa.
The Marine Corps started conducting Osprey training flights shortly after a dozen of the helicopter-airplane hybrids were deployed there in October.
Tomoyuki Kobashikawa, who came down from Uruma to protest, recalled when a U.S. F-100 super sabre crashed at Miyamori Elementary School in 1959, killing 17 people. The school was near his home.
"An accident will certainly happen if the Ospreys continue to fly for five or 10 years," the 70-year-old said. "Before that happens, the aircraft must be pulled out."
Eijun Maedomari, a 70-year-old resident of Urasoe, expressed concern about the government being led again by the Liberal Democratic Party, which advocated keeping the Futenma base in the prefecture.
Residents have been clamoring for the base to be kicked out of Okinawa, an island prefecture that hosts about 74 percent of all U.S. military facilities in Japan in terms of land almost 40 years since it was returned following the U.S. Occupation.
But the central government continues to support the plan to transfer the base from crowded Ginowan to the less-populated coastal area of Henoko in Nago, also in Okinawa, in line with the base accord it signed with the United States several years ago.
Monday, Dec. 24, 2012
3,000 hold anti-Osprey march near U.S. base in Okinawa
Kyodo
NAHA, Okinawa Pref. — A crowd of about 3,000 marched through the streets near a contentious U.S. Marine base in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on Sunday to protest its use of the Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft.
They also protested the long-stalled plan to keep Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa, and a spate of recent incidents involving U.S. servicemen that has rekindled local anger against U.S. troops there.
Residents and supporters were seen demonstrating near the main gate of the base, with some demanding that the controversial MV-22 Osprey and the U.S. military leave Okinawa.
The Marine Corps started conducting Osprey training flights shortly after a dozen of the helicopter-airplane hybrids were deployed there in October.
Tomoyuki Kobashikawa, who came down from Uruma to protest, recalled when a U.S. F-100 super sabre crashed at Miyamori Elementary School in 1959, killing 17 people. The school was near his home.
"An accident will certainly happen if the Ospreys continue to fly for five or 10 years," the 70-year-old said. "Before that happens, the aircraft must be pulled out."
Eijun Maedomari, a 70-year-old resident of Urasoe, expressed concern about the government being led again by the Liberal Democratic Party, which advocated keeping the Futenma base in the prefecture.
Residents have been clamoring for the base to be kicked out of Okinawa, an island prefecture that hosts about 74 percent of all U.S. military facilities in Japan in terms of land almost 40 years since it was returned following the U.S. Occupation.
But the central government continues to support the plan to transfer the base from crowded Ginowan to the less-populated coastal area of Henoko in Nago, also in Okinawa, in line with the base accord it signed with the United States several years ago.
Monday, Dec. 24, 2012
3,000 hold anti-Osprey march near U.S. base in Okinawa
Kyodo
NAHA, Okinawa Pref. — A crowd of about 3,000 marched through the streets near a contentious U.S. Marine base in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on Sunday to protest its use of the Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft.
They also protested the long-stalled plan to keep Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa, and a spate of recent incidents involving U.S. servicemen that has rekindled local anger against U.S. troops there.
Residents and supporters were seen demonstrating near the main gate of the base, with some demanding that the controversial MV-22 Osprey and the U.S. military leave Okinawa.
The Marine Corps started conducting Osprey training flights shortly after a dozen of the helicopter-airplane hybrids were deployed there in October.
Tomoyuki Kobashikawa, who came down from Uruma to protest, recalled when a U.S. F-100 super sabre crashed at Miyamori Elementary School in 1959, killing 17 people. The school was near his home.
"An accident will certainly happen if the Ospreys continue to fly for five or 10 years," the 70-year-old said. "Before that happens, the aircraft must be pulled out."
Eijun Maedomari, a 70-year-old resident of Urasoe, expressed concern about the government being led again by the Liberal Democratic Party, which advocated keeping the Futenma base in the prefecture.
Residents have been clamoring for the base to be kicked out of Okinawa, an island prefecture that hosts about 74 percent of all U.S. military facilities in Japan in terms of land almost 40 years since it was returned following the U.S. Occupation.
But the central government continues to support the plan to transfer the base from crowded Ginowan to the less-populated coastal area of Henoko in Nago, also in Okinawa, in line with the base accord it signed with the United States several years ago.
Monday, Dec. 24, 2012
3,000 hold anti-Osprey march near U.S. base in Okinawa
Kyodo
NAHA, Okinawa Pref. — A crowd of about 3,000 marched through the streets near a contentious U.S. Marine base in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on Sunday to protest its use of the Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft.
They also protested the long-stalled plan to keep Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa, and a spate of recent incidents involving U.S. servicemen that has rekindled local anger against U.S. troops there.
Residents and supporters were seen demonstrating near the main gate of the base, with some demanding that the controversial MV-22 Osprey and the U.S. military leave Okinawa.
The Marine Corps started conducting Osprey training flights shortly after a dozen of the helicopter-airplane hybrids were deployed there in October.
Tomoyuki Kobashikawa, who came down from Uruma to protest, recalled when a U.S. F-100 super sabre crashed at Miyamori Elementary School in 1959, killing 17 people. The school was near his home.
"An accident will certainly happen if the Ospreys continue to fly for five or 10 years," the 70-year-old said. "Before that happens, the aircraft must be pulled out."
Eijun Maedomari, a 70-year-old resident of Urasoe, expressed concern about the government being led again by the Liberal Democratic Party, which advocated keeping the Futenma base in the prefecture.
Residents have been clamoring for the base to be kicked out of Okinawa, an island prefecture that hosts about 74 percent of all U.S. military facilities in Japan in terms of land almost 40 years since it was returned following the U.S. Occupation.
But the central government continues to support the plan to transfer the base from crowded Ginowan to the less-populated coastal area of Henoko in Nago, also in Okinawa, in line with the base accord it signed with the United States several years ago.
Monday, Dec. 24, 2012
3,000 hold anti-Osprey march near U.S. base in Okinawa
Kyodo
NAHA, Okinawa Pref. — A crowd of about 3,000 marched through the streets near a contentious U.S. Marine base in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on Sunday to protest its use of the Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft.
They also protested the long-stalled plan to keep Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa, and a spate of recent incidents involving U.S. servicemen that has rekindled local anger against U.S. troops there.
Residents and supporters were seen demonstrating near the main gate of the base, with some demanding that the controversial MV-22 Osprey and the U.S. military leave Okinawa.
The Marine Corps started conducting Osprey training flights shortly after a dozen of the helicopter-airplane hybrids were deployed there in October.
Tomoyuki Kobashikawa, who came down from Uruma to protest, recalled when a U.S. F-100 super sabre crashed at Miyamori Elementary School in 1959, killing 17 people. The school was near his home.
"An accident will certainly happen if the Ospreys continue to fly for five or 10 years," the 70-year-old said. "Before that happens, the aircraft must be pulled out."
Eijun Maedomari, a 70-year-old resident of Urasoe, expressed concern about the government being led again by the Liberal Democratic Party, which advocated keeping the Futenma base in the prefecture.
Residents have been clamoring for the base to be kicked out of Okinawa, an island prefecture that hosts about 74 percent of all U.S. military facilities in Japan in terms of land almost 40 years since it was returned following the U.S. Occupation.
But the central government continues to support the plan to transfer the base from crowded Ginowan to the less-populated coastal area of Henoko in Nago, also in Okinawa, in line with the base accord it signed with the United States several years ago.
Monday, Dec. 24, 2012
3,000 hold anti-Osprey march near U.S. base in Okinawa
Kyodo
NAHA, Okinawa Pref. — A crowd of about 3,000 marched through the streets near a contentious U.S. Marine base in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on Sunday to protest its use of the Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft.
They also protested the long-stalled plan to keep Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa, and a spate of recent incidents involving U.S. servicemen that has rekindled local anger against U.S. troops there.
Residents and supporters were seen demonstrating near the main gate of the base, with some demanding that the controversial MV-22 Osprey and the U.S. military leave Okinawa.
The Marine Corps started conducting Osprey training flights shortly after a dozen of the helicopter-airplane hybrids were deployed there in October.
Tomoyuki Kobashikawa, who came down from Uruma to protest, recalled when a U.S. F-100 super sabre crashed at Miyamori Elementary School in 1959, killing 17 people. The school was near his home.
"An accident will certainly happen if the Ospreys continue to fly for five or 10 years," the 70-year-old said. "Before that happens, the aircraft must be pulled out."
Eijun Maedomari, a 70-year-old resident of Urasoe, expressed concern about the government being led again by the Liberal Democratic Party, which advocated keeping the Futenma base in the prefecture.
Residents have been clamoring for the base to be kicked out of Okinawa, an island prefecture that hosts about 74 percent of all U.S. military facilities in Japan in terms of land almost 40 years since it was returned following the U.S. Occupation.
But the central government continues to support the plan to transfer the base from crowded Ginowan to the less-populated coastal area of Henoko in Nago, also in Okinawa, in line with the base accord it signed with the United States several years ago.
Monday, Dec. 24, 2012
3,000 hold anti-Osprey march near U.S. base in Okinawa
Kyodo
NAHA, Okinawa Pref. — A crowd of about 3,000 marched through the streets near a contentious U.S. Marine base in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on Sunday to protest its use of the Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft.
They also protested the long-stalled plan to keep Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa, and a spate of recent incidents involving U.S. servicemen that has rekindled local anger against U.S. troops there.
Residents and supporters were seen demonstrating near the main gate of the base, with some demanding that the controversial MV-22 Osprey and the U.S. military leave Okinawa.
The Marine Corps started conducting Osprey training flights shortly after a dozen of the helicopter-airplane hybrids were deployed there in October.
Tomoyuki Kobashikawa, who came down from Uruma to protest, recalled when a U.S. F-100 super sabre crashed at Miyamori Elementary School in 1959, killing 17 people. The school was near his home.
"An accident will certainly happen if the Ospreys continue to fly for five or 10 years," the 70-year-old said. "Before that happens, the aircraft must be pulled out."
Eijun Maedomari, a 70-year-old resident of Urasoe, expressed concern about the government being led again by the Liberal Democratic Party, which advocated keeping the Futenma base in the prefecture.
Residents have been clamoring for the base to be kicked out of Okinawa, an island prefecture that hosts about 74 percent of all U.S. military facilities in Japan in terms of land almost 40 years since it was returned following the U.S. Occupation.
But the central government continues to support the plan to transfer the base from crowded Ginowan to the less-populated coastal area of Henoko in Nago, also in Okinawa, in line with the base accord it signed with the United States several years ago.
Here's how Japan Times online reports:
Monday, Dec. 24, 2012
3,000 hold anti-Osprey march near U.S. base in Okinawa
Kyodo
NAHA, Okinawa Pref. — A crowd of about 3,000 marched through the streets near a contentious U.S. Marine base in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on Sunday to protest its use of the Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft.
They also protested the long-stalled plan to keep Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa, and a spate of recent incidents involving U.S. servicemen that has rekindled local anger against U.S. troops there.
Residents and supporters were seen demonstrating near the main gate of the base, with some demanding that the controversial MV-22 Osprey and the U.S. military leave Okinawa.
The Marine Corps started conducting Osprey training flights shortly after a dozen of the helicopter-airplane hybrids were deployed there in October.
Tomoyuki Kobashikawa, who came down from Uruma to protest, recalled when a U.S. F-100 super sabre crashed at Miyamori Elementary School in 1959, killing 17 people. The school was near his home.
"An accident will certainly happen if the Ospreys continue to fly for five or 10 years," the 70-year-old said. "Before that happens, the aircraft must be pulled out."
Eijun Maedomari, a 70-year-old resident of Urasoe, expressed concern about the government being led again by the Liberal Democratic Party, which advocated keeping the Futenma base in the prefecture.
Residents have been clamoring for the base to be kicked out of Okinawa, an island prefecture that hosts about 74 percent of all U.S. military facilities in Japan in terms of land almost 40 years since it was returned following the U.S. Occupation.
But the central government continues to support the plan to transfer the base from crowded Ginowan to the less-populated coastal area of Henoko in Nago, also in Okinawa, in line with the base accord it signed with the United States several years ago.
Monday, Dec. 24, 2012
3,000 hold anti-Osprey march near U.S. base in Okinawa
Kyodo
NAHA, Okinawa Pref. — A crowd of about 3,000 marched through the streets near a contentious U.S. Marine base in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on Sunday to protest its use of the Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft.
They also protested the long-stalled plan to keep Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa, and a spate of recent incidents involving U.S. servicemen that has rekindled local anger against U.S. troops there.
Residents and supporters were seen demonstrating near the main gate of the base, with some demanding that the controversial MV-22 Osprey and the U.S. military leave Okinawa.
The Marine Corps started conducting Osprey training flights shortly after a dozen of the helicopter-airplane hybrids were deployed there in October.
Tomoyuki Kobashikawa, who came down from Uruma to protest, recalled when a U.S. F-100 super sabre crashed at Miyamori Elementary School in 1959, killing 17 people. The school was near his home.
"An accident will certainly happen if the Ospreys continue to fly for five or 10 years," the 70-year-old said. "Before that happens, the aircraft must be pulled out."
Eijun Maedomari, a 70-year-old resident of Urasoe, expressed concern about the government being led again by the Liberal Democratic Party, which advocated keeping the Futenma base in the prefecture.
Residents have been clamoring for the base to be kicked out of Okinawa, an island prefecture that hosts about 74 percent of all U.S. military facilities in Japan in terms of land almost 40 years since it was returned following the U.S. Occupation.
But the central government continues to support the plan to transfer the base from crowded Ginowan to the less-populated coastal area of Henoko in Nago, also in Okinawa, in line with the base accord it signed with the United States several years ago.
Monday, Dec. 24, 2012
3,000 hold anti-Osprey march near U.S. base in Okinawa
Kyodo
NAHA, Okinawa Pref. — A crowd of about 3,000 marched through the streets near a contentious U.S. Marine base in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on Sunday to protest its use of the Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft.
They also protested the long-stalled plan to keep Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa, and a spate of recent incidents involving U.S. servicemen that has rekindled local anger against U.S. troops there.
Residents and supporters were seen demonstrating near the main gate of the base, with some demanding that the controversial MV-22 Osprey and the U.S. military leave Okinawa.
The Marine Corps started conducting Osprey training flights shortly after a dozen of the helicopter-airplane hybrids were deployed there in October.
Tomoyuki Kobashikawa, who came down from Uruma to protest, recalled when a U.S. F-100 super sabre crashed at Miyamori Elementary School in 1959, killing 17 people. The school was near his home.
"An accident will certainly happen if the Ospreys continue to fly for five or 10 years," the 70-year-old said. "Before that happens, the aircraft must be pulled out."
Eijun Maedomari, a 70-year-old resident of Urasoe, expressed concern about the government being led again by the Liberal Democratic Party, which advocated keeping the Futenma base in the prefecture.
Residents have been clamoring for the base to be kicked out of Okinawa, an island prefecture that hosts about 74 percent of all U.S. military facilities in Japan in terms of land almost 40 years since it was returned following the U.S. Occupation.
But the central government continues to support the plan to transfer the base from crowded Ginowan to the less-populated coastal area of Henoko in Nago, also in Okinawa, in line with the base accord it signed with the United States several years ago.
Monday, Dec. 24, 2012
3,000 hold anti-Osprey march near U.S. base in Okinawa
Kyodo
NAHA, Okinawa Pref. — A crowd of about 3,000 marched through the streets near a contentious U.S. Marine base in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on Sunday to protest its use of the Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft.
They also protested the long-stalled plan to keep Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa, and a spate of recent incidents involving U.S. servicemen that has rekindled local anger against U.S. troops there.
Residents and supporters were seen demonstrating near the main gate of the base, with some demanding that the controversial MV-22 Osprey and the U.S. military leave Okinawa.
The Marine Corps started conducting Osprey training flights shortly after a dozen of the helicopter-airplane hybrids were deployed there in October.
Tomoyuki Kobashikawa, who came down from Uruma to protest, recalled when a U.S. F-100 super sabre crashed at Miyamori Elementary School in 1959, killing 17 people. The school was near his home.
"An accident will certainly happen if the Ospreys continue to fly for five or 10 years," the 70-year-old said. "Before that happens, the aircraft must be pulled out."
Eijun Maedomari, a 70-year-old resident of Urasoe, expressed concern about the government being led again by the Liberal Democratic Party, which advocated keeping the Futenma base in the prefecture.
Residents have been clamoring for the base to be kicked out of Okinawa, an island prefecture that hosts about 74 percent of all U.S. military facilities in Japan in terms of land almost 40 years since it was returned following the U.S. Occupation.
But the central government continues to support the plan to transfer the base from crowded Ginowan to the less-populated coastal area of Henoko in Nago, also in Okinawa, in line with the base accord it signed with the United States several years ago.
Monday, Dec. 24, 2012
3,000 hold anti-Osprey march near U.S. base in Okinawa
Kyodo
NAHA, Okinawa Pref. — A crowd of about 3,000 marched through the streets near a contentious U.S. Marine base in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on Sunday to protest its use of the Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft.
They also protested the long-stalled plan to keep Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa, and a spate of recent incidents involving U.S. servicemen that has rekindled local anger against U.S. troops there.
Residents and supporters were seen demonstrating near the main gate of the base, with some demanding that the controversial MV-22 Osprey and the U.S. military leave Okinawa.
The Marine Corps started conducting Osprey training flights shortly after a dozen of the helicopter-airplane hybrids were deployed there in October.
Tomoyuki Kobashikawa, who came down from Uruma to protest, recalled when a U.S. F-100 super sabre crashed at Miyamori Elementary School in 1959, killing 17 people. The school was near his home.
"An accident will certainly happen if the Ospreys continue to fly for five or 10 years," the 70-year-old said. "Before that happens, the aircraft must be pulled out."
Eijun Maedomari, a 70-year-old resident of Urasoe, expressed concern about the government being led again by the Liberal Democratic Party, which advocated keeping the Futenma base in the prefecture.
Residents have been clamoring for the base to be kicked out of Okinawa, an island prefecture that hosts about 74 percent of all U.S. military facilities in Japan in terms of land almost 40 years since it was returned following the U.S. Occupation.
But the central government continues to support the plan to transfer the base from crowded Ginowan to the less-populated coastal area of Henoko in Nago, also in Okinawa, in line with the base accord it signed with the United States several years ago.
Monday, Dec. 24, 2012
3,000 hold anti-Osprey march near U.S. base in Okinawa
Kyodo
NAHA, Okinawa Pref. — A crowd of about 3,000 marched through the streets near a contentious U.S. Marine base in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on Sunday to protest its use of the Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft.
They also protested the long-stalled plan to keep Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa, and a spate of recent incidents involving U.S. servicemen that has rekindled local anger against U.S. troops there.
Residents and supporters were seen demonstrating near the main gate of the base, with some demanding that the controversial MV-22 Osprey and the U.S. military leave Okinawa.
The Marine Corps started conducting Osprey training flights shortly after a dozen of the helicopter-airplane hybrids were deployed there in October.
Tomoyuki Kobashikawa, who came down from Uruma to protest, recalled when a U.S. F-100 super sabre crashed at Miyamori Elementary School in 1959, killing 17 people. The school was near his home.
"An accident will certainly happen if the Ospreys continue to fly for five or 10 years," the 70-year-old said. "Before that happens, the aircraft must be pulled out."
Eijun Maedomari, a 70-year-old resident of Urasoe, expressed concern about the government being led again by the Liberal Democratic Party, which advocated keeping the Futenma base in the prefecture.
Residents have been clamoring for the base to be kicked out of Okinawa, an island prefecture that hosts about 74 percent of all U.S. military facilities in Japan in terms of land almost 40 years since it was returned following the U.S. Occupation.
But the central government continues to support the plan to transfer the base from crowded Ginowan to the less-populated coastal area of Henoko in Nago, also in Okinawa, in line with the base accord it signed with the United States several years ago.
Monday, Dec. 24, 2012
3,000 hold anti-Osprey march near U.S. base in Okinawa
Kyodo
NAHA, Okinawa Pref. — A crowd of about 3,000 marched through the streets near a contentious U.S. Marine base in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on Sunday to protest its use of the Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft.
They also protested the long-stalled plan to keep Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa, and a spate of recent incidents involving U.S. servicemen that has rekindled local anger against U.S. troops there.
Residents and supporters were seen demonstrating near the main gate of the base, with some demanding that the controversial MV-22 Osprey and the U.S. military leave Okinawa.
The Marine Corps started conducting Osprey training flights shortly after a dozen of the helicopter-airplane hybrids were deployed there in October.
Tomoyuki Kobashikawa, who came down from Uruma to protest, recalled when a U.S. F-100 super sabre crashed at Miyamori Elementary School in 1959, killing 17 people. The school was near his home.
"An accident will certainly happen if the Ospreys continue to fly for five or 10 years," the 70-year-old said. "Before that happens, the aircraft must be pulled out."
Eijun Maedomari, a 70-year-old resident of Urasoe, expressed concern about the government being led again by the Liberal Democratic Party, which advocated keeping the Futenma base in the prefecture.
Residents have been clamoring for the base to be kicked out of Okinawa, an island prefecture that hosts about 74 percent of all U.S. military facilities in Japan in terms of land almost 40 years since it was returned following the U.S. Occupation.
But the central government continues to support the plan to transfer the base from crowded Ginowan to the less-populated coastal area of Henoko in Nago, also in Okinawa, in line with the base accord it signed with the United States several years ago.
Monday, Dec. 24, 2012
3,000 hold anti-Osprey march near U.S. base in Okinawa
Kyodo
NAHA, Okinawa Pref. — A crowd of about 3,000 marched through the streets near a contentious U.S. Marine base in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on Sunday to protest its use of the Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft.
They also protested the long-stalled plan to keep Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa, and a spate of recent incidents involving U.S. servicemen that has rekindled local anger against U.S. troops there.
Residents and supporters were seen demonstrating near the main gate of the base, with some demanding that the controversial MV-22 Osprey and the U.S. military leave Okinawa.
The Marine Corps started conducting Osprey training flights shortly after a dozen of the helicopter-airplane hybrids were deployed there in October.
Tomoyuki Kobashikawa, who came down from Uruma to protest, recalled when a U.S. F-100 super sabre crashed at Miyamori Elementary School in 1959, killing 17 people. The school was near his home.
"An accident will certainly happen if the Ospreys continue to fly for five or 10 years," the 70-year-old said. "Before that happens, the aircraft must be pulled out."
Eijun Maedomari, a 70-year-old resident of Urasoe, expressed concern about the government being led again by the Liberal Democratic Party, which advocated keeping the Futenma base in the prefecture.
Residents have been clamoring for the base to be kicked out of Okinawa, an island prefecture that hosts about 74 percent of all U.S. military facilities in Japan in terms of land almost 40 years since it was returned following the U.S. Occupation.
But the central government continues to support the plan to transfer the base from crowded Ginowan to the less-populated coastal area of Henoko in Nago, also in Okinawa, in line with the base accord it signed with the United States several years ago.
Monday, Dec. 24, 2012
3,000 hold anti-Osprey march near U.S. base in Okinawa
Kyodo
NAHA, Okinawa Pref. — A crowd of about 3,000 marched through the streets near a contentious U.S. Marine base in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on Sunday to protest its use of the Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft.
They also protested the long-stalled plan to keep Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa, and a spate of recent incidents involving U.S. servicemen that has rekindled local anger against U.S. troops there.
Residents and supporters were seen demonstrating near the main gate of the base, with some demanding that the controversial MV-22 Osprey and the U.S. military leave Okinawa.
The Marine Corps started conducting Osprey training flights shortly after a dozen of the helicopter-airplane hybrids were deployed there in October.
Tomoyuki Kobashikawa, who came down from Uruma to protest, recalled when a U.S. F-100 super sabre crashed at Miyamori Elementary School in 1959, killing 17 people. The school was near his home.
"An accident will certainly happen if the Ospreys continue to fly for five or 10 years," the 70-year-old said. "Before that happens, the aircraft must be pulled out."
Eijun Maedomari, a 70-year-old resident of Urasoe, expressed concern about the government being led again by the Liberal Democratic Party, which advocated keeping the Futenma base in the prefecture.
Residents have been clamoring for the base to be kicked out of Okinawa, an island prefecture that hosts about 74 percent of all U.S. military facilities in Japan in terms of land almost 40 years since it was returned following the U.S. Occupation.
But the central government continues to support the plan to transfer the base from crowded Ginowan to the less-populated coastal area of Henoko in Nago, also in Okinawa, in line with the base accord it signed with the United States several years ago.
Monday, Dec. 24, 2012
3,000 hold anti-Osprey march near U.S. base in Okinawa
Kyodo
NAHA, Okinawa Pref. — A crowd of about 3,000 marched through the streets near a contentious U.S. Marine base in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on Sunday to protest its use of the Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft.
They also protested the long-stalled plan to keep Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa, and a spate of recent incidents involving U.S. servicemen that has rekindled local anger against U.S. troops there.
Residents and supporters were seen demonstrating near the main gate of the base, with some demanding that the controversial MV-22 Osprey and the U.S. military leave Okinawa.
The Marine Corps started conducting Osprey training flights shortly after a dozen of the helicopter-airplane hybrids were deployed there in October.
Tomoyuki Kobashikawa, who came down from Uruma to protest, recalled when a U.S. F-100 super sabre crashed at Miyamori Elementary School in 1959, killing 17 people. The school was near his home.
"An accident will certainly happen if the Ospreys continue to fly for five or 10 years," the 70-year-old said. "Before that happens, the aircraft must be pulled out."
Eijun Maedomari, a 70-year-old resident of Urasoe, expressed concern about the government being led again by the Liberal Democratic Party, which advocated keeping the Futenma base in the prefecture.
Residents have been clamoring for the base to be kicked out of Okinawa, an island prefecture that hosts about 74 percent of all U.S. military facilities in Japan in terms of land almost 40 years since it was returned following the U.S. Occupation.
But the central government continues to support the plan to transfer the base from crowded Ginowan to the less-populated coastal area of Henoko in Nago, also in Okinawa, in line with the base accord it signed with the United States several years ago.
Monday, Dec. 24, 2012
3,000 hold anti-Osprey march near U.S. base in Okinawa
Kyodo
NAHA, Okinawa Pref. — A crowd of about 3,000 marched through the streets near a contentious U.S. Marine base in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on Sunday to protest its use of the Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft.
They also protested the long-stalled plan to keep Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa, and a spate of recent incidents involving U.S. servicemen that has rekindled local anger against U.S. troops there.
Residents and supporters were seen demonstrating near the main gate of the base, with some demanding that the controversial MV-22 Osprey and the U.S. military leave Okinawa.
The Marine Corps started conducting Osprey training flights shortly after a dozen of the helicopter-airplane hybrids were deployed there in October.
Tomoyuki Kobashikawa, who came down from Uruma to protest, recalled when a U.S. F-100 super sabre crashed at Miyamori Elementary School in 1959, killing 17 people. The school was near his home.
"An accident will certainly happen if the Ospreys continue to fly for five or 10 years," the 70-year-old said. "Before that happens, the aircraft must be pulled out."
Eijun Maedomari, a 70-year-old resident of Urasoe, expressed concern about the government being led again by the Liberal Democratic Party, which advocated keeping the Futenma base in the prefecture.
Residents have been clamoring for the base to be kicked out of Okinawa, an island prefecture that hosts about 74 percent of all U.S. military facilities in Japan in terms of land almost 40 years since it was returned following the U.S. Occupation.
But the central government continues to support the plan to transfer the base from crowded Ginowan to the less-populated coastal area of Henoko in Nago, also in Okinawa, in line with the base accord it signed with the United States several years ago.
Monday, Dec. 24, 2012
3,000 hold anti-Osprey march near U.S. base in Okinawa
Kyodo
NAHA, Okinawa Pref. — A crowd of about 3,000 marched through the streets near a contentious U.S. Marine base in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on Sunday to protest its use of the Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft.
They also protested the long-stalled plan to keep Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa, and a spate of recent incidents involving U.S. servicemen that has rekindled local anger against U.S. troops there.
Residents and supporters were seen demonstrating near the main gate of the base, with some demanding that the controversial MV-22 Osprey and the U.S. military leave Okinawa.
The Marine Corps started conducting Osprey training flights shortly after a dozen of the helicopter-airplane hybrids were deployed there in October.
Tomoyuki Kobashikawa, who came down from Uruma to protest, recalled when a U.S. F-100 super sabre crashed at Miyamori Elementary School in 1959, killing 17 people. The school was near his home.
"An accident will certainly happen if the Ospreys continue to fly for five or 10 years," the 70-year-old said. "Before that happens, the aircraft must be pulled out."
Eijun Maedomari, a 70-year-old resident of Urasoe, expressed concern about the government being led again by the Liberal Democratic Party, which advocated keeping the Futenma base in the prefecture.
Residents have been clamoring for the base to be kicked out of Okinawa, an island prefecture that hosts about 74 percent of all U.S. military facilities in Japan in terms of land almost 40 years since it was returned following the U.S. Occupation.
But the central government continues to support the plan to transfer the base from crowded Ginowan to the less-populated coastal area of Henoko in Nago, also in Okinawa, in line with the base accord it signed with the United States several years ago.
Monday, Dec. 24, 2012
3,000 hold anti-Osprey march near U.S. base in Okinawa
Kyodo
NAHA, Okinawa Pref. — A crowd of about 3,000 marched through the streets near a contentious U.S. Marine base in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on Sunday to protest its use of the Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft.
They also protested the long-stalled plan to keep Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa, and a spate of recent incidents involving U.S. servicemen that has rekindled local anger against U.S. troops there.
Residents and supporters were seen demonstrating near the main gate of the base, with some demanding that the controversial MV-22 Osprey and the U.S. military leave Okinawa.
The Marine Corps started conducting Osprey training flights shortly after a dozen of the helicopter-airplane hybrids were deployed there in October.
Tomoyuki Kobashikawa, who came down from Uruma to protest, recalled when a U.S. F-100 super sabre crashed at Miyamori Elementary School in 1959, killing 17 people. The school was near his home.
"An accident will certainly happen if the Ospreys continue to fly for five or 10 years," the 70-year-old said. "Before that happens, the aircraft must be pulled out."
Eijun Maedomari, a 70-year-old resident of Urasoe, expressed concern about the government being led again by the Liberal Democratic Party, which advocated keeping the Futenma base in the prefecture.
Residents have been clamoring for the base to be kicked out of Okinawa, an island prefecture that hosts about 74 percent of all U.S. military facilities in Japan in terms of land almost 40 years since it was returned following the U.S. Occupation.
But the central government continues to support the plan to transfer the base from crowded Ginowan to the less-populated coastal area of Henoko in Nago, also in Okinawa, in line with the base accord it signed with the United States several years ago.
Monday, Dec. 24, 2012
3,000 hold anti-Osprey march near U.S. base in Okinawa
Kyodo
NAHA, Okinawa Pref. — A crowd of about 3,000 marched through the streets near a contentious U.S. Marine base in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on Sunday to protest its use of the Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft.
They also protested the long-stalled plan to keep Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa, and a spate of recent incidents involving U.S. servicemen that has rekindled local anger against U.S. troops there.
Residents and supporters were seen demonstrating near the main gate of the base, with some demanding that the controversial MV-22 Osprey and the U.S. military leave Okinawa.
The Marine Corps started conducting Osprey training flights shortly after a dozen of the helicopter-airplane hybrids were deployed there in October.
Tomoyuki Kobashikawa, who came down from Uruma to protest, recalled when a U.S. F-100 super sabre crashed at Miyamori Elementary School in 1959, killing 17 people. The school was near his home.
"An accident will certainly happen if the Ospreys continue to fly for five or 10 years," the 70-year-old said. "Before that happens, the aircraft must be pulled out."
Eijun Maedomari, a 70-year-old resident of Urasoe, expressed concern about the government being led again by the Liberal Democratic Party, which advocated keeping the Futenma base in the prefecture.
Residents have been clamoring for the base to be kicked out of Okinawa, an island prefecture that hosts about 74 percent of all U.S. military facilities in Japan in terms of land almost 40 years since it was returned following the U.S. Occupation.
But the central government continues to support the plan to transfer the base from crowded Ginowan to the less-populated coastal area of Henoko in Nago, also in Okinawa, in line with the base accord it signed with the United States several years ago.
Monday, Dec. 24, 2012
3,000 hold anti-Osprey march near U.S. base in Okinawa
Kyodo
NAHA, Okinawa Pref. — A crowd of about 3,000 marched through the streets near a contentious U.S. Marine base in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on Sunday to protest its use of the Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft.
They also protested the long-stalled plan to keep Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa, and a spate of recent incidents involving U.S. servicemen that has rekindled local anger against U.S. troops there.
Residents and supporters were seen demonstrating near the main gate of the base, with some demanding that the controversial MV-22 Osprey and the U.S. military leave Okinawa.
The Marine Corps started conducting Osprey training flights shortly after a dozen of the helicopter-airplane hybrids were deployed there in October.
Tomoyuki Kobashikawa, who came down from Uruma to protest, recalled when a U.S. F-100 super sabre crashed at Miyamori Elementary School in 1959, killing 17 people. The school was near his home.
"An accident will certainly happen if the Ospreys continue to fly for five or 10 years," the 70-year-old said. "Before that happens, the aircraft must be pulled out."
Eijun Maedomari, a 70-year-old resident of Urasoe, expressed concern about the government being led again by the Liberal Democratic Party, which advocated keeping the Futenma base in the prefecture.
Residents have been clamoring for the base to be kicked out of Okinawa, an island prefecture that hosts about 74 percent of all U.S. military facilities in Japan in terms of land almost 40 years since it was returned following the U.S. Occupation.
But the central government continues to support the plan to transfer the base from crowded Ginowan to the less-populated coastal area of Henoko in Nago, also in Okinawa, in line with the base accord it signed with the United States several years ago.
Monday, Dec. 24, 2012
3,000 hold anti-Osprey march near U.S. base in Okinawa
Kyodo
NAHA, Okinawa Pref. — A crowd of about 3,000 marched through the streets near a contentious U.S. Marine base in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on Sunday to protest its use of the Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft.
They also protested the long-stalled plan to keep Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa, and a spate of recent incidents involving U.S. servicemen that has rekindled local anger against U.S. troops there.
Residents and supporters were seen demonstrating near the main gate of the base, with some demanding that the controversial MV-22 Osprey and the U.S. military leave Okinawa.
The Marine Corps started conducting Osprey training flights shortly after a dozen of the helicopter-airplane hybrids were deployed there in October.
Tomoyuki Kobashikawa, who came down from Uruma to protest, recalled when a U.S. F-100 super sabre crashed at Miyamori Elementary School in 1959, killing 17 people. The school was near his home.
"An accident will certainly happen if the Ospreys continue to fly for five or 10 years," the 70-year-old said. "Before that happens, the aircraft must be pulled out."
Eijun Maedomari, a 70-year-old resident of Urasoe, expressed concern about the government being led again by the Liberal Democratic Party, which advocated keeping the Futenma base in the prefecture.
Residents have been clamoring for the base to be kicked out of Okinawa, an island prefecture that hosts about 74 percent of all U.S. military facilities in Japan in terms of land almost 40 years since it was returned following the U.S. Occupation.
But the central government continues to support the plan to transfer the base from crowded Ginowan to the less-populated coastal area of Henoko in Nago, also in Okinawa, in line with the base accord it signed with the United States several years ago.
2012年12月19日水曜日
Our Elections are not the same as Yours (2)
Why do you need to know how the voting works? In order not to put too much weight on the particular person who happens to occupy the Prime Minister's office, that's why.
Mr. Abe has debts to his peers in office and to the groups who worked to give him a party majority in the lower house. He has to work within the parameters of (a) rule by the elected legislators in both houses, (b) his coalition partners' policies, and (c) public opinion. Add to this pressures exerted by foreign governments.
Therefore, it is not wise for newspapers (I'm thinking of the NY Times on Monday) to announce that because Mr. Abe is Prime Minister, Japan will do thus and so.
Japan has had some wonderful historical experiences with wise and powerful leaders (for instance, the Gentlemen of Japan in the Meiji Era and the shogun from Odawara Hojo Houn before that) and some truly awful ones with the foolish and strong. So, the brilliant leaders test their mettle against heavy checks and balances, and the borderline ones are held on the rails by those same checks and balances.
It works for us.
Mr. Abe has debts to his peers in office and to the groups who worked to give him a party majority in the lower house. He has to work within the parameters of (a) rule by the elected legislators in both houses, (b) his coalition partners' policies, and (c) public opinion. Add to this pressures exerted by foreign governments.
Therefore, it is not wise for newspapers (I'm thinking of the NY Times on Monday) to announce that because Mr. Abe is Prime Minister, Japan will do thus and so.
Japan has had some wonderful historical experiences with wise and powerful leaders (for instance, the Gentlemen of Japan in the Meiji Era and the shogun from Odawara Hojo Houn before that) and some truly awful ones with the foolish and strong. So, the brilliant leaders test their mettle against heavy checks and balances, and the borderline ones are held on the rails by those same checks and balances.
It works for us.
2012年12月18日火曜日
Our Elections are not like Yours
Sunday was election day in Japan. Voters all over Japan chose their representatives to the lower house. In Tokyo, we also chose the prefectural governor and a high court judge. However, it's the election of representatives that is the big news, because it means a change in the majority party--the one that will have the biggest say in Japan's governance.
Before people rush in to say what a landslide victory it was for Mr. Abe, our new Prime Minister, I hope they will take a look at some numbers.
Our elections are not like yours. We do not ever vote for a Prime Minister. We only vote for local representatives. Mr. Abe was elected from the fourth district of Yamaguchi Prefecture. Yamaguchi is so small, it only has four electoral districts. Mr. Abe garnered a little more than 100,000 votes. (118,696 according to the evening newspapers)
So, why is Mr. Abe Prime Minister?
When Mr. Abe's party (Liberal Democratic Party aka LDP) held an in-house election for party president, he was chosen by the LDP members of Japan's lower house. That means he won another two hundred or so votes from his peers. The president of the majority party becomes Prime Minister, and after Sunday's election, the LDP is the majority party. So Mr. Abe will be Prime Minister.
Imagine: To become Prime Minister of a major country like Japan, you only have to be "liked" by 100,000 people, and be "liked" again by only half plus one of your own party members in congress.
Before people rush in to say what a landslide victory it was for Mr. Abe, our new Prime Minister, I hope they will take a look at some numbers.
Our elections are not like yours. We do not ever vote for a Prime Minister. We only vote for local representatives. Mr. Abe was elected from the fourth district of Yamaguchi Prefecture. Yamaguchi is so small, it only has four electoral districts. Mr. Abe garnered a little more than 100,000 votes. (118,696 according to the evening newspapers)
So, why is Mr. Abe Prime Minister?
When Mr. Abe's party (Liberal Democratic Party aka LDP) held an in-house election for party president, he was chosen by the LDP members of Japan's lower house. That means he won another two hundred or so votes from his peers. The president of the majority party becomes Prime Minister, and after Sunday's election, the LDP is the majority party. So Mr. Abe will be Prime Minister.
Imagine: To become Prime Minister of a major country like Japan, you only have to be "liked" by 100,000 people, and be "liked" again by only half plus one of your own party members in congress.
2012年12月9日日曜日
Overheard from Engineers at Dinner
"About those ceiling panels that fell in the tunnel? The concrete ones that weighted a ton and a half? The ones whose only purpose was to create air ducts?"
"What about them?"
"Well, they are just for air ducts. So did they have to be concrete? Couldn't they be styrofoam instead?"
Well... Why not?
"What about them?"
"Well, they are just for air ducts. So did they have to be concrete? Couldn't they be styrofoam instead?"
Well... Why not?
2012年12月4日火曜日
Bolts: Guilty Again
When there is a mechanical disaster, so many times it is a failed bolt at fault. This time, too, the collapse of the roof of the Chuo Expressway's Sasago Tunnel is blamed on aging bolts.
Here is the report from The Japan Times online edition:
Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2012
Fatal tunnel collapse blamed on aging bolts
Kyodo
KOFU, Yamanashi Pref. — Sunday's expressway tunnel collapse in Yamanashi Prefecture that killed at least nine people may have been caused by aging ceiling bolts that failed, Central Nippon Expressway Co. said Monday.
Facing reporters Monday in Nagoya, where the highway operator is headquartered, Ryoichi Yoshikawa, CNEC executive in charge of maintenance, said failed bolts were found at the site where tons of concrete ceiling panels fell onto vehicles traveling through the Sasago Tunnel.
"Superannuated (bolts) may be" the cause of the tunnel collapse, Yoshikawa said, suggesting the bolts were never replaced. "There is no record that shows repair work was carried out in the past."
The two rows of fallen panels were attached to either wall and suspended from the tunnel's roof by metal rods running down its center. CNEC revealed that the tunnel hadn't undergone any major repairs since it opened in 1977. The company stressed that a routine inspection in September showed no irregularities, but admitted they did not conduct hammer tests on the ceiling section that collapsed Sunday.
Yoshikawa also admitted that hammer tests, used to detect, by sound, irregularities in assembly components not visible or physically reachable, should have been carried out.
"That is something we need to reflect on. I offer a profound apology. We will deal with the victims in a sincere manner," he said.
According to the transport ministry, there are 48 other tunnels similar in design to the Sasago Tunnel, in which the ceiling sections hang under the roof, suspended by metal rods anchored by bolts. The rods are embedded in a vertical panel that extends down from the center of the roof to meet the ceiling panels and runs through the tunnel, providing ventilation shafts on either side of the panel over the roadway.
The ministry has ordered five expressway operators and its regional bureaus to check the safety of those tunnels.
In the accident, about 180 concrete ceiling slabs — each measuring 5 meters by 1.2 meters and 8 cm thick — collapsed along a 110-meter section of the road about 1.7 km from the Tokyo end of the tunnel, the police and highway operator said. Each slab weighs 1.2 tons.
The company began conducting emergency checks Monday on the Enasan Tunnel in Nagano and Gifu Prefectures, and the Tsuburano and Fujikawa tunnels in Kanagawa.
The Sugo Tunnel in Tokyo, the Kyotanabe Tunnel in Kyoto, the Nagao Higashi and Nagaodai tunnels in Osaka, the Shiwa, Takedayama and Aki tunnels in Hiroshima, and the Kanmon Tunnel in Yamaguchi and Fukuoka are also expected to undergo checks.
Police early Monday had confirmed that nine people died in three vehicles trapped inside the 4.7-km Sasago Tunnel.
In a vehicle that was believed carrying six people, police and firefighters found the bodies of three men and two women, all in their 20s and from Tokyo. A 28-year-old female banker from Kanagawa Prefecture who was in the vehicle survived.
They also confirmed the deaths of a man in his 70s, a woman in her 60s and another in her 70s, all in the same vehicle, as well as the death of a trucker, identified as Tatsuya Nakagawa, 50.
The Sasago Tunnel was opened to traffic in 1977.
Discussions on repairing the nation's aging tunnels, most built during the high economic-growth era of the 1970s, have moved at a snail's pace.
Here is the report from The Japan Times online edition:
Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2012
Fatal tunnel collapse blamed on aging bolts
Kyodo
KOFU, Yamanashi Pref. — Sunday's expressway tunnel collapse in Yamanashi Prefecture that killed at least nine people may have been caused by aging ceiling bolts that failed, Central Nippon Expressway Co. said Monday.
Facing reporters Monday in Nagoya, where the highway operator is headquartered, Ryoichi Yoshikawa, CNEC executive in charge of maintenance, said failed bolts were found at the site where tons of concrete ceiling panels fell onto vehicles traveling through the Sasago Tunnel.
"Superannuated (bolts) may be" the cause of the tunnel collapse, Yoshikawa said, suggesting the bolts were never replaced. "There is no record that shows repair work was carried out in the past."
The two rows of fallen panels were attached to either wall and suspended from the tunnel's roof by metal rods running down its center. CNEC revealed that the tunnel hadn't undergone any major repairs since it opened in 1977. The company stressed that a routine inspection in September showed no irregularities, but admitted they did not conduct hammer tests on the ceiling section that collapsed Sunday.
Yoshikawa also admitted that hammer tests, used to detect, by sound, irregularities in assembly components not visible or physically reachable, should have been carried out.
"That is something we need to reflect on. I offer a profound apology. We will deal with the victims in a sincere manner," he said.
According to the transport ministry, there are 48 other tunnels similar in design to the Sasago Tunnel, in which the ceiling sections hang under the roof, suspended by metal rods anchored by bolts. The rods are embedded in a vertical panel that extends down from the center of the roof to meet the ceiling panels and runs through the tunnel, providing ventilation shafts on either side of the panel over the roadway.
The ministry has ordered five expressway operators and its regional bureaus to check the safety of those tunnels.
In the accident, about 180 concrete ceiling slabs — each measuring 5 meters by 1.2 meters and 8 cm thick — collapsed along a 110-meter section of the road about 1.7 km from the Tokyo end of the tunnel, the police and highway operator said. Each slab weighs 1.2 tons.
The company began conducting emergency checks Monday on the Enasan Tunnel in Nagano and Gifu Prefectures, and the Tsuburano and Fujikawa tunnels in Kanagawa.
The Sugo Tunnel in Tokyo, the Kyotanabe Tunnel in Kyoto, the Nagao Higashi and Nagaodai tunnels in Osaka, the Shiwa, Takedayama and Aki tunnels in Hiroshima, and the Kanmon Tunnel in Yamaguchi and Fukuoka are also expected to undergo checks.
Police early Monday had confirmed that nine people died in three vehicles trapped inside the 4.7-km Sasago Tunnel.
In a vehicle that was believed carrying six people, police and firefighters found the bodies of three men and two women, all in their 20s and from Tokyo. A 28-year-old female banker from Kanagawa Prefecture who was in the vehicle survived.
They also confirmed the deaths of a man in his 70s, a woman in her 60s and another in her 70s, all in the same vehicle, as well as the death of a trucker, identified as Tatsuya Nakagawa, 50.
The Sasago Tunnel was opened to traffic in 1977.
Discussions on repairing the nation's aging tunnels, most built during the high economic-growth era of the 1970s, have moved at a snail's pace.
2012年11月28日水曜日
The light at the end of the tunnel is...
sunshine!
Here is more good news about solar power, boosting the economy, and meeting electrical energy needs:
Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012
Former airport to be huge solar plant
Kyodo
KAGOSHIMA — The municipal government of Makurazaki, Kagoshima Prefecture, said Tuesday it will build a huge solar power plant after demolishing a local airport in March.
The 12.9-hectare plant is planned to begin generating power in March 2014 with 53,000 solar cell panels. It will be run by a company that will be formed by Orix Corp. and Kyudenko Corp., city officials said.
Annual energy production will total 9.8 million kwh, equivalent to the consumption of 2,740 households, and the energy will be sold to Kyushu Electric Power Co., it said. The joint firm will pay ¥85 million a year to the city government for the lease of the land.
Makurazaki Airport opened in 1991 as Japan's first commuter airport, but after passenger and cargo flights were suspended in 2003, it has been used primarily as a base for rescue helicopters.
"Although the airport has put strains on local finances, the mega solar plant construction will bring about new development to spur the local economy," Mayor Tadashi Kamisono told a news conference.
Here is more good news about solar power, boosting the economy, and meeting electrical energy needs:
Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012
Former airport to be huge solar plant
Kyodo
KAGOSHIMA — The municipal government of Makurazaki, Kagoshima Prefecture, said Tuesday it will build a huge solar power plant after demolishing a local airport in March.
The 12.9-hectare plant is planned to begin generating power in March 2014 with 53,000 solar cell panels. It will be run by a company that will be formed by Orix Corp. and Kyudenko Corp., city officials said.
Annual energy production will total 9.8 million kwh, equivalent to the consumption of 2,740 households, and the energy will be sold to Kyushu Electric Power Co., it said. The joint firm will pay ¥85 million a year to the city government for the lease of the land.
Makurazaki Airport opened in 1991 as Japan's first commuter airport, but after passenger and cargo flights were suspended in 2003, it has been used primarily as a base for rescue helicopters.
"Although the airport has put strains on local finances, the mega solar plant construction will bring about new development to spur the local economy," Mayor Tadashi Kamisono told a news conference.
2012年10月26日金曜日
Loose Cannon Alert
Shortly before another earthquake rattled the coast devastated by last year's monster quake, Tokyo's governor--the man who single-handedly created the Senkaku Island/China/Korea/Taipei problem--called a press conference: he was quitting his job as governor of Tokyo. He had a new calling to answer. He felt called upon to establish his own political party, to allow him to perform on the national stage.
If you like Japanese history, you are surely aware of the Meiji Era, when statesmen of great ability rallied their talents to re-create Japan. This is not the Meiji Era. It is the age of politicians creating their own fan clubs and calling them political parties.
It was as if yesterday's earthquake were shaking up Japan and reminding us, hey! You need to rethink your priorities! Does anyone really think yet setting up another mini-political party is a serious priority?
Meanwhile, Mr. Ishihara's resignation has been accepted and the vacated job can be expected to go to the deputy governor, Mr. Naoki INOSE. In Mr. Inose's previous career as a non-fiction writer, he established a reputation as an idea man. Let's see how he does in his new incarnation as Tokyo governor.
If you like Japanese history, you are surely aware of the Meiji Era, when statesmen of great ability rallied their talents to re-create Japan. This is not the Meiji Era. It is the age of politicians creating their own fan clubs and calling them political parties.
It was as if yesterday's earthquake were shaking up Japan and reminding us, hey! You need to rethink your priorities! Does anyone really think yet setting up another mini-political party is a serious priority?
Meanwhile, Mr. Ishihara's resignation has been accepted and the vacated job can be expected to go to the deputy governor, Mr. Naoki INOSE. In Mr. Inose's previous career as a non-fiction writer, he established a reputation as an idea man. Let's see how he does in his new incarnation as Tokyo governor.
2012年10月21日日曜日
Welcome to the 21st Century
This was such a stupid idea to begin with, aren't you glad it's cancelled? As if wars in the 21st century were really carried out by hordes of uniformed men splashing through the waves to capture a big, lonely rock. By cancelling, the US will have more money to throw at other military adventures, and Japan might possibly consider spending a little more on cleaning up after last year's earthquake.
Just sayin...
Sunday, Oct. 21, 2012
Japan, U.S. abandon drill to 'retake' isle
Jiji
Japan and the U.S. have decided to cancel a joint drill in which their forces would "recapture" a remote island in Okinawa Prefecture, according to informed sources.
Tokyo and Washington were considering holding the drill on uninhabited Irisuna Island as part of joint military exercises slated for November.
The drill, however, would worsen the backlash from Beijing, which has reacted harshly to Japan's nationalization of the Senkaku Islands, which are also claimed by China and Taiwan.
A government source said the decision to skip the Irisuna recapturing drill "reflects the opinion of the prime minister's office."
Another reason was opposition from residents on Okinawa Island, about 60 km away, where sentiment against U.S. bases has flared up following allegations that a Japanese woman was raped by U.S. sailors Tuesday.
In light of these factors, the Defense Ministry found it difficult to proceed with the exercise, although it is considering substitute drills, the sources said.
Just sayin...
Sunday, Oct. 21, 2012
Japan, U.S. abandon drill to 'retake' isle
Jiji
Japan and the U.S. have decided to cancel a joint drill in which their forces would "recapture" a remote island in Okinawa Prefecture, according to informed sources.
Tokyo and Washington were considering holding the drill on uninhabited Irisuna Island as part of joint military exercises slated for November.
The drill, however, would worsen the backlash from Beijing, which has reacted harshly to Japan's nationalization of the Senkaku Islands, which are also claimed by China and Taiwan.
A government source said the decision to skip the Irisuna recapturing drill "reflects the opinion of the prime minister's office."
Another reason was opposition from residents on Okinawa Island, about 60 km away, where sentiment against U.S. bases has flared up following allegations that a Japanese woman was raped by U.S. sailors Tuesday.
In light of these factors, the Defense Ministry found it difficult to proceed with the exercise, although it is considering substitute drills, the sources said.
2012年10月20日土曜日
Sorry, but this isn't really a solution
What time do you usually call it a day and stay in for the night on a weekday? Would you be terribly inconvenienced if you had to be home before 11 PM?
Right.
So, is this really a curfew or is it just fancy words pretending to sound important?
Saturday, Oct. 20, 2012
U.S. forces hit with curfew over rape
By AYAKO MIE
Staff writer
Following the arrests this week of two sailors in the alleged rape of a woman in Okinawa, the U.S. military vowed Friday to impose preventative steps, including a curfew and retraining programs.
The measures were announced at a joint news conference held by U.S. Ambassador John V. Roos and Lt. Gen Salvatore Angelella, the commander of U.S. Forces, Japan, at the embassy in Tokyo.
Angelella said the curfew — 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. — would start immediately and cover all U.S. military personnel in Japan, including those on temporary assignment or who are transiting to another country. The duration of the curfew is open-ended.
People in Japan--especially in Okinawa--would feel a whole lot safer if the US military would just pack up their dangerous toys and undisciplined troops and go home.
Right.
So, is this really a curfew or is it just fancy words pretending to sound important?
Saturday, Oct. 20, 2012
U.S. forces hit with curfew over rape
By AYAKO MIE
Staff writer
Following the arrests this week of two sailors in the alleged rape of a woman in Okinawa, the U.S. military vowed Friday to impose preventative steps, including a curfew and retraining programs.
The measures were announced at a joint news conference held by U.S. Ambassador John V. Roos and Lt. Gen Salvatore Angelella, the commander of U.S. Forces, Japan, at the embassy in Tokyo.
Angelella said the curfew — 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. — would start immediately and cover all U.S. military personnel in Japan, including those on temporary assignment or who are transiting to another country. The duration of the curfew is open-ended.
People in Japan--especially in Okinawa--would feel a whole lot safer if the US military would just pack up their dangerous toys and undisciplined troops and go home.
2012年10月18日木曜日
Still Occupied 67 Years after the War?
Okinawans demand closure of U.S. bases
Kyodo
NAHA, Okinawa Pref. — Okinawans expressed anger Wednesday over the alleged rape of a local woman by U.S. sailors, an incident that came hot on the heels of another alleged sexual assault involving a marine in the prefecture.
Calls to remove all U.S. bases from Okinawa swelled in response to the rape allegations, with Miyoko Ashimine, head of a local group dealing with gender issues, demanding their immediate closure.
"With Ospreys in the sky and weapons on land, where can local residents walk (in safety)?" asked Ashimine, referring to the U.S. Marine Corps' recent deployment of tilt-rotor MV-22 Ospreys to the Futenma air station on Okinawa Island despite safety concerns.
The chairman of Okinawa's prefectural assembly, Masaharu Kina, said local residents have suffered since the end of World War II because of the presence of U.S. bases.
"The United States says it will enforce strict discipline every time there is an incident, but that won't resolve anything," Kina said.
"The U.S. forces seem to view Okinawa as their colony or occupied territory," said Hiroshi Ashitomi, 66, who took part in sit-in demonstrations against the planned relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma farther north on Okinawa Island.
"Women's rights were trampled on again because the (U.S.) bases are here," Ashitomi said. "Okinawa's anger has built up to the point where we will accept nothing less than the immediate shutdown of all the facilities."
Kyodo
NAHA, Okinawa Pref. — Okinawans expressed anger Wednesday over the alleged rape of a local woman by U.S. sailors, an incident that came hot on the heels of another alleged sexual assault involving a marine in the prefecture.
Calls to remove all U.S. bases from Okinawa swelled in response to the rape allegations, with Miyoko Ashimine, head of a local group dealing with gender issues, demanding their immediate closure.
"With Ospreys in the sky and weapons on land, where can local residents walk (in safety)?" asked Ashimine, referring to the U.S. Marine Corps' recent deployment of tilt-rotor MV-22 Ospreys to the Futenma air station on Okinawa Island despite safety concerns.
The chairman of Okinawa's prefectural assembly, Masaharu Kina, said local residents have suffered since the end of World War II because of the presence of U.S. bases.
"The United States says it will enforce strict discipline every time there is an incident, but that won't resolve anything," Kina said.
"The U.S. forces seem to view Okinawa as their colony or occupied territory," said Hiroshi Ashitomi, 66, who took part in sit-in demonstrations against the planned relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma farther north on Okinawa Island.
"Women's rights were trampled on again because the (U.S.) bases are here," Ashitomi said. "Okinawa's anger has built up to the point where we will accept nothing less than the immediate shutdown of all the facilities."
2012年9月30日日曜日
Author of IQ84 has something else to say
Sunday, Sep. 30, 2012
Murakami calls for cool heads amid Senkakus flareup
AFP-Jiji
Haruki Murakami, one of the world's foremost novelists, has waded into the Senkakus sovereignty row, warning of the peril of politicians peddling the "cheap liquor" of nationalism.
His intervention Friday came as Beijing launched a blistering attack on Tokyo at a U.N. session in New York, accusing Japan of theft as the dispute over the Japanese-controlled islet group intensified.
The author of "1Q84," who has a large following in China, called for cool heads to prevail.
Writing in the liberal-leaning Asahi Shimbun, Murakami, who has been tipped as a future Nobel laureate, said territorial disagreements are bound to occur because of the unfortunate system of dividing the world into countries with national borders.
"When a territorial issue ceases to be a practical matter and enters the realm of 'national emotions,' it creates a dangerous situation with no exit," Murakami said.
"It is like cheap liquor: Cheap liquor gets you drunk after only a few shots and makes you hysterical. It makes you speak loudly and act rudely. . . . But after your drunken rampage you are left with nothing but an awful headache the next morning.
"We must be careful about politicians and polemicists who lavish us with this cheap liquor and fan this kind of rampage."
2012年9月21日金曜日
How would you feel?
A reckless driver impulsively tries to pass another vehicle on a narrow road, veering into the opposite lane and killing the teenage driver whose car he smashes into. One stupid move by an impatient 25-year-old vs one life ended for an innocent 19-year-old.
What happens next?
In the old days (last year), the 25-year-old guilty driver would be spirited away by his very powerful employer--the US armed forces--leaving the family of the 19-year-old with nothing but their grief. This time, the guilty driver had to go to court, where it was decided that the life of the boy--whose life was abruptly terminated at age 19--was worth 18 months of the other guy's time. That's all??? The guilty man argued that 18 months out of his life was too much to spend.
This is the first time ever to see even a slight nod to the civil rights of the Okinawan people whose land has been taken over by foreign armed forces.
(There is a longer story about this in The Japan Times Online)
Friday, Sep. 21, 2012
Civilian U.S. base worker loses appeal in fatal Okinawa hit-and-run
AFP-Jiji
The Fukuoka High Court on Thursday upheld the prison term of an American who was working for the U.S. Air Force during a fatal car crash that killed a teenager in Okinawa, marking the first time a domestic court has incarcerated a U.S. civilian base employee.
What happens next?
In the old days (last year), the 25-year-old guilty driver would be spirited away by his very powerful employer--the US armed forces--leaving the family of the 19-year-old with nothing but their grief. This time, the guilty driver had to go to court, where it was decided that the life of the boy--whose life was abruptly terminated at age 19--was worth 18 months of the other guy's time. That's all??? The guilty man argued that 18 months out of his life was too much to spend.
This is the first time ever to see even a slight nod to the civil rights of the Okinawan people whose land has been taken over by foreign armed forces.
(There is a longer story about this in The Japan Times Online)
Friday, Sep. 21, 2012
Civilian U.S. base worker loses appeal in fatal Okinawa hit-and-run
AFP-Jiji
The Fukuoka High Court on Thursday upheld the prison term of an American who was working for the U.S. Air Force during a fatal car crash that killed a teenager in Okinawa, marking the first time a domestic court has incarcerated a U.S. civilian base employee.
2012年9月1日土曜日
Something to Look Forward To
Saturday, Sep. 1, 2012
Four sources face sixfold boost
Renewable energy plan sees no nukes
Kyodo, Jiji
Environment Minister Goshi Hosono released a new strategy Friday to boost power generation capacity by more than sixfold for four renewable energy categories by 2030 to make it possible to eliminate all nuclear power plants.
Announcing the promotion strategy after the day's Cabinet meeting, Hosono said his ministry plans to increase the combined annual capacity of electricity generation using offshore wind, geothermal, biomass and tidal power sources to as much as 19.41 million kw by 2030, compared with 2.96 million kw in fiscal 2010.
Specific targets were set at 8.03 million kw for offshore wind power, 3.88 million kw for geothermal power, 6 million kw for biomass power, and 1.5 million kw for tidal power.
In fiscal 2010, offshore wind power generation totaled 30,000 kw, geothermal power 530,000 kw, biomass power 2.4 million kw and tidal power zero.
While the government is studying options to cut nuclear energy's share of total power generation to zero, 15 percent, or 20 to 25 percent by 2030 in light of the Fukushima nuclear crisis, the strategy is designed to allow for the zero percent option.
Hosono said floating ocean wind power generators should be developed by 2020 to achieve the target of generating the same output as eight nuclear reactors.
2012年8月22日水曜日
Profit or Safety?
Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2012
Power use falls; reactors unneeded
July saw 6.3% drop in demand despite heat amid efforts to save
By JUN HONGO
Staff writer
Sales by 10 major power utilities in July dropped by 6.3 percent due to a decline in demand, the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan has revealed.
But while efforts to cut down electricity use by households and the business sector are paying off, some say the numbers prove that last month's reactivation of two reactors at Kansai Electric Power Co.'s Oi nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture may have been unnecessary.
"Electricity utilities may be opting to restart their nuclear reactors since they are cheaper than thermal power plants," Hideyuki Koyama, executive director of Mihama no Kai, which opposes Kepco's nuclear power use, told The Japan Times.
"The data are solid proof that Japan can supply enough electricity even without any nuclear power generation," he stressed.
The federation said Monday that overall electricity use in July dropped 6.3 percent compared with the same month last year. Nine out of 10 utilities reported a decline in sales, with the exception being Tohoku Electric Power Co., where recovery from the March 2011 disasters is making progress.
Rolling blackouts are to be implemented if necessary this summer in the Kansai region and Kyushu, but so far none has been needed.
The decline in electricity demand also came even though higher than average temperatures were recorded nationwide last month, according to the Meteorological Agency.
In announcing the restart of the two Oi reactors, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda in June warned that it was aimed at supporting the economy and the public's livelihood. His appeal was validated at least in the Kansai region, where electricity demand would have surpassed supply levels during peak hours had the reactors remained offline.
But pundits say that instead of relying on nuclear power, Kepco could have easily covered any shortage by requesting neighboring electricity utilities, which had an oversupply, to provide backup.
"Reactivation of the reactors was decided considering the cost and profits of the electricity utilities," Mihama no Kai's Koyama said. "But under the circumstances, nuclear plants should be shut down for the safety of the public."
Power use falls; reactors unneeded
July saw 6.3% drop in demand despite heat amid efforts to save
By JUN HONGO
Staff writer
Sales by 10 major power utilities in July dropped by 6.3 percent due to a decline in demand, the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan has revealed.
But while efforts to cut down electricity use by households and the business sector are paying off, some say the numbers prove that last month's reactivation of two reactors at Kansai Electric Power Co.'s Oi nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture may have been unnecessary.
"Electricity utilities may be opting to restart their nuclear reactors since they are cheaper than thermal power plants," Hideyuki Koyama, executive director of Mihama no Kai, which opposes Kepco's nuclear power use, told The Japan Times.
"The data are solid proof that Japan can supply enough electricity even without any nuclear power generation," he stressed.
The federation said Monday that overall electricity use in July dropped 6.3 percent compared with the same month last year. Nine out of 10 utilities reported a decline in sales, with the exception being Tohoku Electric Power Co., where recovery from the March 2011 disasters is making progress.
Rolling blackouts are to be implemented if necessary this summer in the Kansai region and Kyushu, but so far none has been needed.
The decline in electricity demand also came even though higher than average temperatures were recorded nationwide last month, according to the Meteorological Agency.
In announcing the restart of the two Oi reactors, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda in June warned that it was aimed at supporting the economy and the public's livelihood. His appeal was validated at least in the Kansai region, where electricity demand would have surpassed supply levels during peak hours had the reactors remained offline.
But pundits say that instead of relying on nuclear power, Kepco could have easily covered any shortage by requesting neighboring electricity utilities, which had an oversupply, to provide backup.
"Reactivation of the reactors was decided considering the cost and profits of the electricity utilities," Mihama no Kai's Koyama said. "But under the circumstances, nuclear plants should be shut down for the safety of the public."
2012年8月14日火曜日
Let's Hope It's True...
Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2012
DPJ vow for next poll: a nuclear phaseout
Kyodo
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's party is arranging to make a nuclear phaseout a key policy pledge in the next general election, sources in the Democratic Party of Japan said.
The DPJ's plan comes amid widespread opposition to the continued use of nuclear energy. Noda has drawn strong public protests over his recent decision to approve the restart of two reactors at the Oi power plant in Fukui Prefecture, the first reactivations since all of the country's reactors went offline amid the Fukushima nuclear disaster that started last year.
Many DPJ lawmakers fear the ruling party, via the restarts, signalled to the public that it is keen on using nuclear power when this is not the case, a senior party member said Sunday.
DPJ vow for next poll: a nuclear phaseout
Kyodo
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's party is arranging to make a nuclear phaseout a key policy pledge in the next general election, sources in the Democratic Party of Japan said.
The DPJ's plan comes amid widespread opposition to the continued use of nuclear energy. Noda has drawn strong public protests over his recent decision to approve the restart of two reactors at the Oi power plant in Fukui Prefecture, the first reactivations since all of the country's reactors went offline amid the Fukushima nuclear disaster that started last year.
Many DPJ lawmakers fear the ruling party, via the restarts, signalled to the public that it is keen on using nuclear power when this is not the case, a senior party member said Sunday.
2012年8月12日日曜日
Like canaries in mines? Butterflies
Sunday, Aug. 12, 2012
Radioactive fallout from Fukushima nuclear meltdowns caused abnormalities in Japan's butterflies
Jiji
Radioactive fallout from the nuclear disaster in Fukushima Prefecture created abnormalities among the nation's butterflies, according to a team of researchers.
"We conclude that artificial radionuclides from the Fukushima (No. 1) nuclear power plant caused physiological and genetic damage" to pale grass blue butterflies, a common species in Japan, a recent article in Scientific Reports, one of on-line journals of the Nature Publishing Group, said.
Radiation exposure harmed butterflies' genes, and the damage could well be passed on to future generations, the article stated.
"Sensitivity (to irradiation) varies between species, so research should be conducted on other animals," said Joji Otaki, a team member and associate professor at the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa.
"Humans are totally different from butterflies and they should be far more resistant" to the health effects of radiation, Otaki noted.
The researchers collected 121 adult pale grass blue butterflies in and outside Fukushima Prefecture in May 2011, two months after the nuclear crisis started.
Abnormalities such as unusually small wings were found in 12 percent of the total. But the rate rose to 18 percent in a second generation produced through mating among the butterflies collected and some even died before reaching adulthood.
When second generation butterflies with abnormal traits mated with healthy ones, the rate of abnormalities rose to 34 percent in the third generation, according to the article.
The team collected another 238 butterflies last September and determined that the abnormality rate stood at 28 percent. However, it nearly doubled to 52 percent among a second generation born to the original butterflies caught.
The researchers said the butterflies collected in May were heavily exposed to radiation as larvae. The impact was apparently more severe on the second generation, as well as on the butterflies collected in September, because they suffered heavy exposure at a far earlier stage while they were still fertilized eggs or just reproduction cells, according to the team.
The impact of artificial radiation exposure on the species was also investigated using larvae collected in Okinawa, one of the prefectures least affected by fallout from the nuclear disaster.
After the larvae were exposed to radiation and fed with leaves contaminated with radioactive materials, similar rates of abnormalities and premature deaths were observed, the article said.
2012年8月9日木曜日
A Haiku Innovation
So many people around the world enjoy reading and creating haiku poems. Here is an innovative idea from the hometown of haiku master Shiki Masaoka, Matsuyama City on the island of Shikoku:
Thursday, Aug. 9, 2012
EU commissioner posts two haiku
Jiji
BRUSSELS — An EU commissioner Wednesday put two haiku about last year's March 11 disasters in a mailbox set up in Brussels by the city of Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture.
The haiku are:
When I came in spring
The land was in great turmoil
Together we heal
And:
Met Japan's heroes
Saw fortitude and courage
Has inspired my life
Matsuyama placed the mailbox in the Belgian capital in a bid to boost tourism. Matsuyama is the hometown of renowned haiku poet Shiki Masaoka. European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, a haiku fan, and others have put their haiku in the mailbox, the first such box installed overseas by the city.
Thursday, Aug. 9, 2012
EU commissioner posts two haiku
Jiji
BRUSSELS — An EU commissioner Wednesday put two haiku about last year's March 11 disasters in a mailbox set up in Brussels by the city of Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture.
The haiku are:
When I came in spring
The land was in great turmoil
Together we heal
And:
Met Japan's heroes
Saw fortitude and courage
Has inspired my life
Matsuyama placed the mailbox in the Belgian capital in a bid to boost tourism. Matsuyama is the hometown of renowned haiku poet Shiki Masaoka. European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, a haiku fan, and others have put their haiku in the mailbox, the first such box installed overseas by the city.
2012年8月5日日曜日
There's a little light...
There is a tiny bit of light shining from the end of a very dark tunnel. Let's hope nobody turns it off:
Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012
Ospreys to stay grounded for now
Pentagon chief bans test flights until Japan OKs aircraft's safety
AP, AFP-Jiji
WASHINGTON — The United States will suspend all flight operations by MV-22 Ospreys in Japan until Tokyo confirms the tilt-rotor aircraft's safety, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said.
Panetta told reporters Friday at the Pentagon that U.S. officials are completing a safety report and will provide Japan with details about two recent crashes involving Ospreys in Morocco and Florida.
Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012
Ospreys to stay grounded for now
Pentagon chief bans test flights until Japan OKs aircraft's safety
AP, AFP-Jiji
WASHINGTON — The United States will suspend all flight operations by MV-22 Ospreys in Japan until Tokyo confirms the tilt-rotor aircraft's safety, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said.
Panetta told reporters Friday at the Pentagon that U.S. officials are completing a safety report and will provide Japan with details about two recent crashes involving Ospreys in Morocco and Florida.
2012年8月3日金曜日
Wanna buy an Edsel?
Just because they built it doesn't mean people need it or want it.
Here's more on the Osprey helicopter:
Friday, Aug. 3, 2012
Osprey deployment makes no sense: ex-Pentagon official
Kyodo
WASHINGTON — A former U.S. Defense Department official who helped develop the Osprey aircraft has said their planned deployment to the Futenma air base in Okinawa is irrational, given their poor safety record.
"To put a machine like that . . . in a very, very densely populated part of the world in my view makes no sense and I'm not quite sure what military benefit you get out of it being there," Lawrence Korb, assistant secretary of defense from 1981 to 1985, said.
Korb, now with the Center for American Progress think tank, indicated that while the safety of the Osprey has improved, he is "still doubtful" about the aircraft's autorotation capability during an engine-out landing.
"It's a weapon system that should never have been built," he concluded. The former Pentagon official also stressed there is no urgent need to send MV-22s to the Futenma base, which is in a crowded district of Ginowan.
Here's more on the Osprey helicopter:
Friday, Aug. 3, 2012
Osprey deployment makes no sense: ex-Pentagon official
Kyodo
WASHINGTON — A former U.S. Defense Department official who helped develop the Osprey aircraft has said their planned deployment to the Futenma air base in Okinawa is irrational, given their poor safety record.
"To put a machine like that . . . in a very, very densely populated part of the world in my view makes no sense and I'm not quite sure what military benefit you get out of it being there," Lawrence Korb, assistant secretary of defense from 1981 to 1985, said.
Korb, now with the Center for American Progress think tank, indicated that while the safety of the Osprey has improved, he is "still doubtful" about the aircraft's autorotation capability during an engine-out landing.
"It's a weapon system that should never have been built," he concluded. The former Pentagon official also stressed there is no urgent need to send MV-22s to the Futenma base, which is in a crowded district of Ginowan.
2012年7月30日月曜日
A Lesser Known Side of Japan...
Ballet! Not all the medals are at the London Olympics.
Monday, July 30, 2012
Ballet dancers win second prize
Kyodo
MOSCOW — Two Japanese dancers won second prize in the women's and men's categories at the prestigious International Ballet Competition in Varna, Bulgaria, on Saturday.
The two are Miki Wakuta, 21, from Osaka, and Arata Miyagawa, 20, from Fukui.
Wakuta is a member of a ballet company in San Jose, California, and Miyagawa, who has been active internationally, belongs to one in Fukui.
"I was able to dance in a relaxed manner without thinking about winning a prize," Wakuta said. "I want to grow further by maturing as a person."
Miyagawa said he is setting his sights overseas.
"I put everything into it. From now on, I want to take part in auditions in Europe," he said
Monday, July 30, 2012
Ballet dancers win second prize
Kyodo
MOSCOW — Two Japanese dancers won second prize in the women's and men's categories at the prestigious International Ballet Competition in Varna, Bulgaria, on Saturday.
The two are Miki Wakuta, 21, from Osaka, and Arata Miyagawa, 20, from Fukui.
Wakuta is a member of a ballet company in San Jose, California, and Miyagawa, who has been active internationally, belongs to one in Fukui.
"I was able to dance in a relaxed manner without thinking about winning a prize," Wakuta said. "I want to grow further by maturing as a person."
Miyagawa said he is setting his sights overseas.
"I put everything into it. From now on, I want to take part in auditions in Europe," he said
2012年7月26日木曜日
What a difference a day makes...
So much for the request that these albatrosses--I mean ospreys--do their flying over water:
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Ospreys may drill 60 meters off deck
Kyodo
U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 Ospreys may fly at as low as 60 meters above ground during training across various areas in Japan after they become mission-operational, according to documents and other information.
The news is likely to stoke local concerns about the risks posed by the training flights.
The tilt-rotor transport aircraft, whose planned deployment to the Futenma base in Okinawa and subsequent training flights are opposed by communities around military bases in Japan because of the aircraft's spotty safety record, are also expected to fly one additional route during drills in western Japan, according to the information.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Ospreys may drill 60 meters off deck
Kyodo
U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 Ospreys may fly at as low as 60 meters above ground during training across various areas in Japan after they become mission-operational, according to documents and other information.
The news is likely to stoke local concerns about the risks posed by the training flights.
The tilt-rotor transport aircraft, whose planned deployment to the Futenma base in Okinawa and subsequent training flights are opposed by communities around military bases in Japan because of the aircraft's spotty safety record, are also expected to fly one additional route during drills in western Japan, according to the information.
2012年7月25日水曜日
What is wrong with this picture?
Here's the article. Watch the logic twist, starting wih the headline:
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Joint talks seek to show Osprey is safe
Kyodo
Japan and the United States will meet Thursday in Tokyo to discuss how to ensure the safe operation of the Osprey tilt-rotor military transport, Foreign Minister Koichiro Genba said Tuesday.
Genba made the announcement a day after 12 MV-22 Ospreys were unloaded at the Iwakuni base in Yamaguchi Prefecture amid mounting local protests over the safety of the planes, particularly in the wake of two recent crashes abroad.
In a rare disclosure of operational details, the press office at the Iwakuni base announced Tuesday the engines of the aircraft will be started up as part of preparations for future flights.
The transports, a cross between a plane and a helicopter, will be in Iwakuni for test flights in late August at the earliest before being eventually deployed to U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, to replace aging CH-46 helicopters.
Japanese officials said Tokyo is expected to urge Washington in the forthcoming bilateral talks to have the Ospreys fly over the sea as much as possible after the aircraft deploy to Futenma, which is in a densely populated area.
1. Doesn't the headline say "seek to show", not "see to find out if"? Someone has already made a decision, and the word "show" indicates they are out to defend their stance.
2. Urging them to fly over the sea? Shouldn't they be urging them to stay on the ground?
3. The US has a habit of sending products out into the world, then recalling them later when users start dying. Faulty cars, defective baby strollers, medicines that harm instead of cure...
We sense that this helicopter is another such product that someone desperately wants to get off the shelf before the sherriff arrives.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Joint talks seek to show Osprey is safe
Kyodo
Japan and the United States will meet Thursday in Tokyo to discuss how to ensure the safe operation of the Osprey tilt-rotor military transport, Foreign Minister Koichiro Genba said Tuesday.
Genba made the announcement a day after 12 MV-22 Ospreys were unloaded at the Iwakuni base in Yamaguchi Prefecture amid mounting local protests over the safety of the planes, particularly in the wake of two recent crashes abroad.
In a rare disclosure of operational details, the press office at the Iwakuni base announced Tuesday the engines of the aircraft will be started up as part of preparations for future flights.
The transports, a cross between a plane and a helicopter, will be in Iwakuni for test flights in late August at the earliest before being eventually deployed to U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, to replace aging CH-46 helicopters.
Japanese officials said Tokyo is expected to urge Washington in the forthcoming bilateral talks to have the Ospreys fly over the sea as much as possible after the aircraft deploy to Futenma, which is in a densely populated area.
1. Doesn't the headline say "seek to show", not "see to find out if"? Someone has already made a decision, and the word "show" indicates they are out to defend their stance.
2. Urging them to fly over the sea? Shouldn't they be urging them to stay on the ground?
3. The US has a habit of sending products out into the world, then recalling them later when users start dying. Faulty cars, defective baby strollers, medicines that harm instead of cure...
We sense that this helicopter is another such product that someone desperately wants to get off the shelf before the sherriff arrives.
2012年7月23日月曜日
Do you like being called "you people"?
There was a big uproar in the US when a possible first lady sneeringly called her fellow citizens "you people". Of course we are all "people", but the implication was that one people's world and the other people's world do not really intersect.
Sometimes, that is true. People can be world's apart in what they believe.
Japan believes we-the-people have the right to physical safety.
So, when a country that believes it is OK for any madman to fill his private home with assaut rifles and explosives to be used against innocent movie-goers tells us something is "safe", are we talking about the same kind of "safe"?
I don't think so.
That's why America's new favorite military toy, the Osprey, should not fly in Okinawa, in spite of official assurances.
This is from Kyodo News in The Japan Times online:
Osprey on way but U.S. won't ignore safety: defense deputy
Kyodo
U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said the United States wants MV-22 Osprey flight operations to be in full swing in Japan in October despite local opposition to the deployment of the funky tilt-rotor transport aircraft.
But he also made it plain Saturday that the U.S. will give top priority to ensuring the planes are safe before they start flying here.
"Safety is a very important issue," the No. 2 man at the Pentagon told reporters in Tokyo. "I take it very seriously, and I think the government of Japan and the people of Japan also take it very seriously. I think that's entirely appropriate."
Nice words, but I don't think we are speaking the same language.
Sometimes, that is true. People can be world's apart in what they believe.
Japan believes we-the-people have the right to physical safety.
So, when a country that believes it is OK for any madman to fill his private home with assaut rifles and explosives to be used against innocent movie-goers tells us something is "safe", are we talking about the same kind of "safe"?
I don't think so.
That's why America's new favorite military toy, the Osprey, should not fly in Okinawa, in spite of official assurances.
This is from Kyodo News in The Japan Times online:
Osprey on way but U.S. won't ignore safety: defense deputy
Kyodo
U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said the United States wants MV-22 Osprey flight operations to be in full swing in Japan in October despite local opposition to the deployment of the funky tilt-rotor transport aircraft.
But he also made it plain Saturday that the U.S. will give top priority to ensuring the planes are safe before they start flying here.
"Safety is a very important issue," the No. 2 man at the Pentagon told reporters in Tokyo. "I take it very seriously, and I think the government of Japan and the people of Japan also take it very seriously. I think that's entirely appropriate."
Nice words, but I don't think we are speaking the same language.
2012年7月21日土曜日
Godzilla didn't do it, nature did
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Tokyo Tower shrinks as quake-bent spire is replaced
By JUN HONGO
Staff writer
Tokyo Tower is standing a bit shorter than its listed 333-meter height because an antenna at the top is being replaced after being bent by the Great East Japan Earthquake.
According to Nippon Television City Corp., which manages the iconic landmark, the tip had been trimmed to about 315 meters by Monday after work to replace it began on July 10. But work to install the new antenna has added about 9 meters since, bringing it back up to about 324 meters as of Friday, an NTC spokeswoman told The Japan Times.
"It is the first time that the tower has been shorter than 333 meters" since its grand opening in 1958, she said. The tower will be returned to its original height by late August.
Tokyo Tower served as a broadcast tower for NHK and other TV stations until analog TV broadcasts ceased with the conversion to digital signals. Since the wobbling caused by the March 11 quake bent the antenna, NTC had to reinforce the damaged segment until it could be repaired. Nevertheless, the spokeswoman said its replacement was inevitable since all TV broadcasts have shifted from analog to digital. Despite the replacement work, the tower's observatories and facilities are functioning as usual, she added.
Tokyo Tower opened on Dec. 23, 1958 as a TV broadcasting antenna for Greater Tokyo. In 2006, the tourist spot logged its 150-millionth visitor.
In May, the 634-meter Tokyo Sky Tree took over Tokyo Tower's duties to become the capital's main digital terrestrial TV tower as well as the new record holder for height. Tokyo Tower remains a tourist draw and still broadcasts radio shows and some TV.
2012年7月19日木曜日
Put this on your wish list
Rockets are exciting, when they are used for space missions, and anyone can watch the launching from a distance. Japan, too, has a space probe launch site. With a launch scheduled for the public schools' summer vacation, it is a prime holiday destination this year:
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Tourists flock to Tanegashima for rocket launch
Jiji
Tourists are flocking to Tanegashima island in Kagoshima Prefecture for Saturday's launch of an H-IIB rocket.
The H-IIB Launch Vehicle No. 3, carrying the Konotori-3 cargo spacecraft, is scheduled to be launched from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Tanegashima Space Center on Saturday morning.
Hotels, bed and breakfast inns, rental cars and flights have been completely booked for Friday and Saturday, and waiting lists were growing. High-speed boat reservations were almost filled.
Saturday's launch will be the first for a large rocket during the school summer vacation period since 2001, when an H-IIA was launched that Aug. 29.
The H-IIB is larger than the H-IIA, and its white smoke and roar during liftoff are impressive.
The Konotori-3 is loaded with supplies and equipment for the International Space Station, where astronaut Akihiko Hoshide arrived on a Soyuz spacecraft Tuesday.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Tourists flock to Tanegashima for rocket launch
Jiji
Tourists are flocking to Tanegashima island in Kagoshima Prefecture for Saturday's launch of an H-IIB rocket.
The H-IIB Launch Vehicle No. 3, carrying the Konotori-3 cargo spacecraft, is scheduled to be launched from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Tanegashima Space Center on Saturday morning.
Hotels, bed and breakfast inns, rental cars and flights have been completely booked for Friday and Saturday, and waiting lists were growing. High-speed boat reservations were almost filled.
Saturday's launch will be the first for a large rocket during the school summer vacation period since 2001, when an H-IIA was launched that Aug. 29.
The H-IIB is larger than the H-IIA, and its white smoke and roar during liftoff are impressive.
The Konotori-3 is loaded with supplies and equipment for the International Space Station, where astronaut Akihiko Hoshide arrived on a Soyuz spacecraft Tuesday.
2012年7月6日金曜日
True Love leads to Birth of Panda
Japan's Ueno Zoo is a place of rejoicing. Their giant panda Shin-Shin, on loan from China, gave birth to a healthy baby panda yesterday.
Shin-Shin was introduced to another giant panda, Ri-Ri, in March. Love at first sight! This is the first natural panda birth to take place in the panda house at Ueno Zoo in more than two decades.
Shin-Shin was introduced to another giant panda, Ri-Ri, in March. Love at first sight! This is the first natural panda birth to take place in the panda house at Ueno Zoo in more than two decades.
2012年7月5日木曜日
E-readers, Banzai!
My own book, (Paperwork, by Celine Nisaragi) just became available on Kindle--in English. This makes people who want to read it without having to pay shipping costs happy.
Now the same joy--getting a book instantly, without having to use planes, trains, or automobiles--will be available to readers of Japanese. The Sony e-reader has been around for a while. Now Kindle and Japan's own Kobo are joining the e-reader club.
Welcome!
From The Japan Times online:
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Battle is joined to win new e-book market
AFP-Jiji
In highly literate and gadget-loving Japan, e-books are curiously rare — but the battle for the largely untapped and potentially lucrative market is about to commence.
When e-commerce giant Rakuten unleashes its Kobo Touch e-reader later this month, it will fire the opening shots in the war for new literary territory, hoping for a slice of the ¥1.8 trillion that Japanese spend on books every year.
The Kobo will be joined later in the year by a Japanese version of the Kindle, Amazon's world-leading e-reader, pitting two of the planet's biggest names in e-books against each other.
At around ¥8,000 for either device — a price in line with Amazon's offering in the U.S. — both firms will be looking to lock customers in to their format with their eyes on the content prize, where the real money is.
"I want to start the reading revolution in Japan and in the world with Kobo," Rakuten Chief Executive Hiroshi Mikitani said Monday as he announced the July 19 launch.
"Kobo is a global device, a global platform, which allows anyone in the world to enjoy a variety of content."
Material in Japanese will initially be limited to about 30,000 titles, but Rakuten said it is aiming to grow that figure to about 1.5 million over the coming years.
Japan's existing e-book market is largely a niche segment, mostly comprising manga for cellphones.
Only a limited number of novels and nonfiction titles have been digitized in Japan, where the unique language protects publishers from foreign competition.
The situation has long frustrated IT-ready Japanese bookworms, some of whom have made their own e-books by cutting apart printed works and scanning the pages for their tablet computers.
But that is about to change.
Late last month Amazon broke years of strategic silence and said it would soon announce Kindle's launch in Japan.
Sony is also trying to cultivate the market with its slick Reader device, supported by its own e-book store with nearly 60,000 Japanese-language titles.
That is more than enough to cover best-sellers but still woefully incapable of keeping up with the 80,000 new books published in Japan every year.
Publishers, already facing falling printed book sales, have so far been reluctant to digitize their books for fear that e-books could kill physical sales.
But with the coming of behemoths such as Amazon, they have been galvanized by fears that a market-rejuvenating platform might slip from their grasp, said Yashio Uemura, a communications professor at Senshu University.
"The industry is feeling a sense of crisis that, if they do nothing and stay passive . . . huge foreign IT firms could take the e-book market," said Uemura.
The sector should more than double to ¥150 billion in 2015, from ¥67 billion in 2010, according to a study by Yano Research Institute, but it will still be dwarfed by sales of physical books.
Other research firms have given more aggressive forecasts amid high hopes for the Kindle.
The market for e-reader devices should soar to a whopping ¥70 billion in 2015 from a mere ¥2 billion in 2010, Yano Research said.
Amazon's entry, it said, "could trigger a significant expansion of available digital book titles over the next two to three years".
Kindle, launched in 2007 in the United States, has enjoyed phenomenal success among English-language readers.
In the U.S., e-book sales in the adult category surpassed those of hardback books in the first quarter of 2012, according to the Association of American Publishers, jumping 28 percent year on year to $282.3 million, compared with $229.6 million for hardbacks, up 2.7 percent.
Uemura is a key member of a new firm, created in April by a group of top publishers and a government-backed investment body, tasked with helping Japanese publishing houses digitize 1 million book titles in five years.
That means making e-versions of all books that can be purchased in Japan, plus a selection of out-of-print titles.
"In this country, where people love new gadgets, it's inconceivable that digital content won't enjoy strong sales," he said.
Now the same joy--getting a book instantly, without having to use planes, trains, or automobiles--will be available to readers of Japanese. The Sony e-reader has been around for a while. Now Kindle and Japan's own Kobo are joining the e-reader club.
Welcome!
From The Japan Times online:
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Battle is joined to win new e-book market
AFP-Jiji
In highly literate and gadget-loving Japan, e-books are curiously rare — but the battle for the largely untapped and potentially lucrative market is about to commence.
When e-commerce giant Rakuten unleashes its Kobo Touch e-reader later this month, it will fire the opening shots in the war for new literary territory, hoping for a slice of the ¥1.8 trillion that Japanese spend on books every year.
The Kobo will be joined later in the year by a Japanese version of the Kindle, Amazon's world-leading e-reader, pitting two of the planet's biggest names in e-books against each other.
At around ¥8,000 for either device — a price in line with Amazon's offering in the U.S. — both firms will be looking to lock customers in to their format with their eyes on the content prize, where the real money is.
"I want to start the reading revolution in Japan and in the world with Kobo," Rakuten Chief Executive Hiroshi Mikitani said Monday as he announced the July 19 launch.
"Kobo is a global device, a global platform, which allows anyone in the world to enjoy a variety of content."
Material in Japanese will initially be limited to about 30,000 titles, but Rakuten said it is aiming to grow that figure to about 1.5 million over the coming years.
Japan's existing e-book market is largely a niche segment, mostly comprising manga for cellphones.
Only a limited number of novels and nonfiction titles have been digitized in Japan, where the unique language protects publishers from foreign competition.
The situation has long frustrated IT-ready Japanese bookworms, some of whom have made their own e-books by cutting apart printed works and scanning the pages for their tablet computers.
But that is about to change.
Late last month Amazon broke years of strategic silence and said it would soon announce Kindle's launch in Japan.
Sony is also trying to cultivate the market with its slick Reader device, supported by its own e-book store with nearly 60,000 Japanese-language titles.
That is more than enough to cover best-sellers but still woefully incapable of keeping up with the 80,000 new books published in Japan every year.
Publishers, already facing falling printed book sales, have so far been reluctant to digitize their books for fear that e-books could kill physical sales.
But with the coming of behemoths such as Amazon, they have been galvanized by fears that a market-rejuvenating platform might slip from their grasp, said Yashio Uemura, a communications professor at Senshu University.
"The industry is feeling a sense of crisis that, if they do nothing and stay passive . . . huge foreign IT firms could take the e-book market," said Uemura.
The sector should more than double to ¥150 billion in 2015, from ¥67 billion in 2010, according to a study by Yano Research Institute, but it will still be dwarfed by sales of physical books.
Other research firms have given more aggressive forecasts amid high hopes for the Kindle.
The market for e-reader devices should soar to a whopping ¥70 billion in 2015 from a mere ¥2 billion in 2010, Yano Research said.
Amazon's entry, it said, "could trigger a significant expansion of available digital book titles over the next two to three years".
Kindle, launched in 2007 in the United States, has enjoyed phenomenal success among English-language readers.
In the U.S., e-book sales in the adult category surpassed those of hardback books in the first quarter of 2012, according to the Association of American Publishers, jumping 28 percent year on year to $282.3 million, compared with $229.6 million for hardbacks, up 2.7 percent.
Uemura is a key member of a new firm, created in April by a group of top publishers and a government-backed investment body, tasked with helping Japanese publishing houses digitize 1 million book titles in five years.
That means making e-versions of all books that can be purchased in Japan, plus a selection of out-of-print titles.
"In this country, where people love new gadgets, it's inconceivable that digital content won't enjoy strong sales," he said.
2012年7月4日水曜日
Bring on the sunshine gigawatts!
How much is a gigawatt? 3.2 of them equal the output of three atomic reactors.
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Japan to become No. 2 solar market
Incentives could lead to ¥760 billion in new installations, increase output by 3.2 gigawatts
By CHISAKI WATANABE
Bloomberg
Japan is poised to overtake Germany and Italy to become the world's second-biggest market for solar power as incentives that started Sunday drive sales for equipment makers from Kyocera Corp. to China's Yingli Green Energy Holdings Co.
Industry Minister Yukio Edano on June 18 set a premium price for solar electricity that is about triple what industrial users now pay for conventional power. That may spur at least ¥760 billion in new installations with 3.2 gigawatts of capacity, Bloomberg New Energy Finance forecast. The total is about equal to the output of three atomic reactors.
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Japan to become No. 2 solar market
Incentives could lead to ¥760 billion in new installations, increase output by 3.2 gigawatts
By CHISAKI WATANABE
Bloomberg
Japan is poised to overtake Germany and Italy to become the world's second-biggest market for solar power as incentives that started Sunday drive sales for equipment makers from Kyocera Corp. to China's Yingli Green Energy Holdings Co.
Industry Minister Yukio Edano on June 18 set a premium price for solar electricity that is about triple what industrial users now pay for conventional power. That may spur at least ¥760 billion in new installations with 3.2 gigawatts of capacity, Bloomberg New Energy Finance forecast. The total is about equal to the output of three atomic reactors.
2012年7月2日月曜日
In the Land of the Rising Sun--Raising Solar Power
Japan used to be famous for taking the long term view. Over the long term, renewable resources win.
This is from The Japan Times online edition:
Monday, July 2, 2012
SoftBank-Kyocera solar plant gets off to soggy start amid downpour in Kyoto
By ERIC JOHNSTON
Staff writer
The first of the project's two solar power facilities, built in a joint venture between SoftBank group's SB Energy Corp. and the Kyocera group, began operations later in the day. The second facility is scheduled to go online in September, and each is expected to generate 2.1 megawatts. When both are up and running, their combined capacity will be enough to power around 1,000 households, SB Energy said.
The ceremony took place in a downpour, prompting SoftBank Corp. President and CEO Masayoshi Son to note that the weather proves Japan needs a mix of renewable energy sources.
"When it's raining, hydropower would be an appropriate energy source. When it's windy, you can rely on wind power, and geothermal energy can be used at other times," he said.
Noting the project was being initiated in the home of the Kyoto Protocol and on the day that the Oi plant in Fukui Prefecture was scheduled for reactivation, Son said critics of renewable energies need to take a long-term view and weigh the future costs of conventional electricity generation, especially nuclear power.
"After 40 years of operating a nuclear power plant, there are a lot of problems left over if you shut it down, especially nuclear waste," Son said. "Thus, over the long run, renewable energy sources are actually the cheapest forms of electricity."
Seishu Makino, senior vice minister at the industry ministry, also attended the ceremony.
"We hope the introduction of the system will mean a new business model and the entrance of new players into the renewable energy sector," Makino said before heading to the Oi power station for the restart of reactor 3 later in the day.
2012年6月28日木曜日
If it's not the shareholders and not the local government...
... then who is the one who makes the decision about nuclear power?
Utilities defy shareholders' antinuke calls
By KAZUAKI NAGATA and ERIC JOHNSTON
Staff writers
Nine electric utilities held annual shareholders' meetings Wednesday, with antinuclear investors causing a ruckus by pushing them to shut down their atomic plants and increase the use of renewable energy.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. and Kansai Electric Power Co. also faced rare criticism from local governments, which own a considerable stake in the regional power companies and have started scrutinizing their financial structures after the catastrophe at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
"Public confidence in Tepco has been damaged," and the company has to seriously try to change itself, Tokyo Vice Gov. Naoki Inose told the meeting. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is Tepco's largest stakeholder.
Shareholders voted in favor of the plan to nationalize the utility.
Not a single proposal by shareholders was approved.
Kepco shareholders said no to all 28 motions made Wednesday to shift from nuclear power and fossil fuels to renewable energy, including one backed by the mayors of Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto that would have obliged the utility to eventually abolish its 11 reactors.
Utilities defy shareholders' antinuke calls
By KAZUAKI NAGATA and ERIC JOHNSTON
Staff writers
Nine electric utilities held annual shareholders' meetings Wednesday, with antinuclear investors causing a ruckus by pushing them to shut down their atomic plants and increase the use of renewable energy.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. and Kansai Electric Power Co. also faced rare criticism from local governments, which own a considerable stake in the regional power companies and have started scrutinizing their financial structures after the catastrophe at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
"Public confidence in Tepco has been damaged," and the company has to seriously try to change itself, Tokyo Vice Gov. Naoki Inose told the meeting. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is Tepco's largest stakeholder.
Shareholders voted in favor of the plan to nationalize the utility.
Not a single proposal by shareholders was approved.
Kepco shareholders said no to all 28 motions made Wednesday to shift from nuclear power and fossil fuels to renewable energy, including one backed by the mayors of Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto that would have obliged the utility to eventually abolish its 11 reactors.
2012年6月25日月曜日
Money or Magic?
Does anyone have a magic wand we could borrow?
Japan's infrastructure needs rebuilding, the parts of Japan devastated by last year's tsunami and earthquake need rebuilding, and our aging population is starting to claim their social security pensions. This means Japan has big bills to pay. And that is why Japan needs a magic wand.
The ruling party planned to finance all this through a hike in the sales tax. No one likes taxes. No one likes to live in a country where bridges fall down, tunnels collapse, harbors are unusable, and the electricity and water supplies fail, either. The lesser evil seems to be raising the tax in order to pay for what needs to be fixed.
Even the opposition parties agree on this.
Actually, everyone agrees except the ruling party's disgraced Ichiro Ozawa.
His idea is for him to resign from the ruling party in protest of the proposed tax hike and take his buddies with him. This means Japan will have to stop dealing with rebuilding the infrastructure and go through the fuss and feathers of an election which Mr. Ozawa has pinned his political hopes to.
Is the expensive and time consuming rigamarole of an election really what Japan most needs at this point in time?
Did I mention that Mr. Ozawa represents Iwate, the prefecture hardest hit by last year's tsunami? The prefecture most in need of rebuilding?
If Mr. Ozawa were willing to pay for the necessary rebuilding out of his very own pocket, he might be forgiven his election, but he has been strangely silent on this point.
So, if you happen to have an extra magic wand, please send it to Tokyo.
Thank you!
Japan's infrastructure needs rebuilding, the parts of Japan devastated by last year's tsunami and earthquake need rebuilding, and our aging population is starting to claim their social security pensions. This means Japan has big bills to pay. And that is why Japan needs a magic wand.
The ruling party planned to finance all this through a hike in the sales tax. No one likes taxes. No one likes to live in a country where bridges fall down, tunnels collapse, harbors are unusable, and the electricity and water supplies fail, either. The lesser evil seems to be raising the tax in order to pay for what needs to be fixed.
Even the opposition parties agree on this.
Actually, everyone agrees except the ruling party's disgraced Ichiro Ozawa.
His idea is for him to resign from the ruling party in protest of the proposed tax hike and take his buddies with him. This means Japan will have to stop dealing with rebuilding the infrastructure and go through the fuss and feathers of an election which Mr. Ozawa has pinned his political hopes to.
Is the expensive and time consuming rigamarole of an election really what Japan most needs at this point in time?
Did I mention that Mr. Ozawa represents Iwate, the prefecture hardest hit by last year's tsunami? The prefecture most in need of rebuilding?
If Mr. Ozawa were willing to pay for the necessary rebuilding out of his very own pocket, he might be forgiven his election, but he has been strangely silent on this point.
So, if you happen to have an extra magic wand, please send it to Tokyo.
Thank you!
2012年6月15日金曜日
Would you want these people as neighbors?
I don't think so. Read what they buried in the backyard they rented. And now they are asking for a new lease?!
Friday, June 15, 2012 [Japan Times online]
Agent Orange at base in '80s: U.S. vet
Nearby residents of Futenma possibly tainted by leaking barrels
By JON MITCHELL
Special to The Japan Times
The U.S. Marine Corps buried a massive stockpile of Agent Orange at the Futenma air station in Okinawa, possibly poisoning the base's former head of maintenance and potentially contaminating nearby residents and the ground beneath the base, The Japan Times recently learned from interviews with U.S. veterans.
[photo--unable to reproduce here, but I want you to know it exists]Deep deception: The worksite where Kris Roberts unearthed over 100 leaking barrels is seen in a photo taken in summer 1981. KRIS ROBERTS
The barrels were apparently abandoned in Okinawa at the end of the Vietnam War — when the U.S. government banned the dioxin-laden defoliant for health reasons — and were buried at the installation in the city of Ginowan after the Pentagon ignored requests to safely dispose of them, according to the veterans who served at the installation in the 1970s and 1980s.
PS: Did you read that bit about being abandoned for "health reasons"? Hah! Whose health?
Friday, June 15, 2012 [Japan Times online]
Agent Orange at base in '80s: U.S. vet
Nearby residents of Futenma possibly tainted by leaking barrels
By JON MITCHELL
Special to The Japan Times
The U.S. Marine Corps buried a massive stockpile of Agent Orange at the Futenma air station in Okinawa, possibly poisoning the base's former head of maintenance and potentially contaminating nearby residents and the ground beneath the base, The Japan Times recently learned from interviews with U.S. veterans.
[photo--unable to reproduce here, but I want you to know it exists]Deep deception: The worksite where Kris Roberts unearthed over 100 leaking barrels is seen in a photo taken in summer 1981. KRIS ROBERTS
The barrels were apparently abandoned in Okinawa at the end of the Vietnam War — when the U.S. government banned the dioxin-laden defoliant for health reasons — and were buried at the installation in the city of Ginowan after the Pentagon ignored requests to safely dispose of them, according to the veterans who served at the installation in the 1970s and 1980s.
PS: Did you read that bit about being abandoned for "health reasons"? Hah! Whose health?
2012年6月7日木曜日
We missed it
Tokyo on Wednesday, June 6, was covered by clouds and sprinkled by intermittent rain--especially in the morning, when we should have been able to witness the planet Venus's transit across the sun. For simple folk like me, it would have been interesting because of the event's rarity. But scientists have a much deeper interest. Here is how they explain the significance of the Venus transit:
Planetary transits have enduring scientific value.
"Timing the transit from two widely separated places on the Earth's surface allows you to work out the distance to Venus and hence the size of the solar system," explained Fred Watson, astronomer-in-chief at the Australian Astronomical Observatory.
Scientists say it also allows them to learn more about how to decipher the atmospheres of planets outside our solar system as they cross in front of their own stars.
Only six transits have ever been observed — in 1639, 1761, 1769, 1874, 1882 and 2004 — because they need magnification to be seen properly, though the event has happened 53 times between 2000 BC and 2004.
Planetary transits have enduring scientific value.
"Timing the transit from two widely separated places on the Earth's surface allows you to work out the distance to Venus and hence the size of the solar system," explained Fred Watson, astronomer-in-chief at the Australian Astronomical Observatory.
Scientists say it also allows them to learn more about how to decipher the atmospheres of planets outside our solar system as they cross in front of their own stars.
Only six transits have ever been observed — in 1639, 1761, 1769, 1874, 1882 and 2004 — because they need magnification to be seen properly, though the event has happened 53 times between 2000 BC and 2004.
2012年6月4日月曜日
It's About Time
The wheels of the law grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly fine. Thank goodness!
Monday, June 4, 2012
Aum fugitive Kikuchi collared in Kanagawa
Kyodo
Aum Shinrikyo cultist Naoko Kikuchi was arrested Sunday night after spending 17 years on the lam following the deadly 1995 nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, investigative sources said.
Kikuchi, formerly a senior member of the doomsday cult, was taken into custody in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, and transferred to the Metropolitan Police Department in nearby Tokyo, where she was arrested for murder and attempted murder in connection with the sarin attack.
Kikuchi, 40, is one of a trio of Aum fugitives that had eluded police until Makoto Hirata turned himself in on New Year's Eve last year after more than 16 years on the run.
Kikuchi allegedly helped make the deadly gas and an anesthetic that was used to initiate Aum followers and subdue those who grew skeptical of the cult's deranged guru, Shoko Asahara, 57.
Monday, June 4, 2012
Aum fugitive Kikuchi collared in Kanagawa
Kyodo
Aum Shinrikyo cultist Naoko Kikuchi was arrested Sunday night after spending 17 years on the lam following the deadly 1995 nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, investigative sources said.
Kikuchi, formerly a senior member of the doomsday cult, was taken into custody in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, and transferred to the Metropolitan Police Department in nearby Tokyo, where she was arrested for murder and attempted murder in connection with the sarin attack.
Kikuchi, 40, is one of a trio of Aum fugitives that had eluded police until Makoto Hirata turned himself in on New Year's Eve last year after more than 16 years on the run.
Kikuchi allegedly helped make the deadly gas and an anesthetic that was used to initiate Aum followers and subdue those who grew skeptical of the cult's deranged guru, Shoko Asahara, 57.
2012年6月2日土曜日
Spring and the Animals
First it was a penguin, now it's a "tanuki" raccoon dog. Animals just wanna have fun.
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Raccoon dog evades palace guards
By MIZUHO AOKI
Staff writer
Imperial Palace guards continued efforts Friday to shoo away a "tanuki" raccoon dog that has been hiding in a gap in a stone wall at the palace moat.
The 30-cm-long raccoon dog was spotted near the moat by a passerby Thursday morning. When a police officer went to the site, the animal escaped to the stone wall.
The Environment Ministry, which oversees the environment around the palace, tried and failed Thursday to catch the wayward critter. Tanuki in folklore are fond of making mischief.
The gap is big enough to hold the raccoon dog comfortably, and it appears to be in good health. The animal apparently inhabits the palace compound.
The ministry plans to leave a wooden board it has placed in hopes the raccoon dog will use it to escape. Mikihiro Yoshino, general affairs chief of the ministry division supervising the Imperial Palace moats, said they won't try again to catch the animal unless it is injured.
"The raccoon dog is a wild animal. So we will just wait for it to come out from the gap in the wall and return to where it came from," Yoshino said.
Naturalist Hiroshi Sasaki said at least five or six raccoon dogs inhabit the grounds of the Imperial Palace, and at least 1,000 reside in Tokyo's 23 wards.
"They are also in the Roppongi, Shibuya and Shinjuku areas," he said. "I have seen them around the statue of Hachiko (at Shibuya Station) and on a street along Shinjuku Alta."
According to Sasaki, raccoon dogs mainly inhabit areas with rich plant life such as at the Imperial Palace, but some live in residential and factory districts. He hasn't heard of them causing any trouble in Tokyo, apart from eating plants in flower pots.
The species has inhabited Tokyo since around the Edo Period (1603-1867), and their population in Tokyo has remained level or has slightly increased in recent years, he said.
Sasaki advises people to refrain from feeding them because they easily grow attached to humans.
"If you give them food, they soon start to show up (at the same spot) every day," he said. "This is the season raccoon dogs come out with babies. Keeping a certain distance is the best thing for us and the animals."
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Raccoon dog evades palace guards
By MIZUHO AOKI
Staff writer
Imperial Palace guards continued efforts Friday to shoo away a "tanuki" raccoon dog that has been hiding in a gap in a stone wall at the palace moat.
The 30-cm-long raccoon dog was spotted near the moat by a passerby Thursday morning. When a police officer went to the site, the animal escaped to the stone wall.
The Environment Ministry, which oversees the environment around the palace, tried and failed Thursday to catch the wayward critter. Tanuki in folklore are fond of making mischief.
The gap is big enough to hold the raccoon dog comfortably, and it appears to be in good health. The animal apparently inhabits the palace compound.
The ministry plans to leave a wooden board it has placed in hopes the raccoon dog will use it to escape. Mikihiro Yoshino, general affairs chief of the ministry division supervising the Imperial Palace moats, said they won't try again to catch the animal unless it is injured.
"The raccoon dog is a wild animal. So we will just wait for it to come out from the gap in the wall and return to where it came from," Yoshino said.
Naturalist Hiroshi Sasaki said at least five or six raccoon dogs inhabit the grounds of the Imperial Palace, and at least 1,000 reside in Tokyo's 23 wards.
"They are also in the Roppongi, Shibuya and Shinjuku areas," he said. "I have seen them around the statue of Hachiko (at Shibuya Station) and on a street along Shinjuku Alta."
According to Sasaki, raccoon dogs mainly inhabit areas with rich plant life such as at the Imperial Palace, but some live in residential and factory districts. He hasn't heard of them causing any trouble in Tokyo, apart from eating plants in flower pots.
The species has inhabited Tokyo since around the Edo Period (1603-1867), and their population in Tokyo has remained level or has slightly increased in recent years, he said.
Sasaki advises people to refrain from feeding them because they easily grow attached to humans.
"If you give them food, they soon start to show up (at the same spot) every day," he said. "This is the season raccoon dogs come out with babies. Keeping a certain distance is the best thing for us and the animals."
2012年5月29日火曜日
If Penguins Could Talk...
I wonder what this bird would tell us? Was his adventure a high point in his young life, or the scariest thing ever? It makes me want to re-read The Story of Ping, a picture book about a runaway duckling I read in kindergarten.
In any case, the runaway penguin is back at home, only a little worse for the wear.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Penguin picked up case of pinkeye
AFP-Jiji
The plucky penguin that was recaptured last week after nearly three months on the lam in the polluted waters of Tokyo Bay has conjunctivitis, an aquarium official said Monday.
The Humboldt penguin, one of 135 kept at Tokyo Sea Life Park, was taken back into captivity after 82 days of freedom following a breakout that made global headlines and garnered it a following around the world.
On Friday, the day after its adventure came to an end, the bird "was diagnosed by a veterinarian as having conjunctivitis, so we have kept it in a room separate from the rest of our penguins," said aquarium official Takashi Sugino.
Fans of the 1-year-old runaway — known by the aquarium only as Penguin No. 337 and lacking any sexual features due to its age — will have to wait until it has recovered from the condition, also known as pinkeye, before it is back in public view.
In any case, the runaway penguin is back at home, only a little worse for the wear.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Penguin picked up case of pinkeye
AFP-Jiji
The plucky penguin that was recaptured last week after nearly three months on the lam in the polluted waters of Tokyo Bay has conjunctivitis, an aquarium official said Monday.
The Humboldt penguin, one of 135 kept at Tokyo Sea Life Park, was taken back into captivity after 82 days of freedom following a breakout that made global headlines and garnered it a following around the world.
On Friday, the day after its adventure came to an end, the bird "was diagnosed by a veterinarian as having conjunctivitis, so we have kept it in a room separate from the rest of our penguins," said aquarium official Takashi Sugino.
Fans of the 1-year-old runaway — known by the aquarium only as Penguin No. 337 and lacking any sexual features due to its age — will have to wait until it has recovered from the condition, also known as pinkeye, before it is back in public view.
2012年5月28日月曜日
Mama Nature Gets Some Help
An unusual bird that has been absent for years might make a comeback. Here is the latest bulletin from The Japan Times Online:
Monday, May 28, 2012
Crested ibis chicks leave Sado nest
Kyodo
NIIGATA — All three of the crested ibis chicks hatched in the wild late last month temporarily left their nest on Sado Island in Niigata Prefecture on Sunday, two days after the first sibling became the first to do so in 38 years, the Environment Ministry said.
The possibility is high that the three will come back to the nest or stay in nearby trees for awhile. Still, the incident marked a landmark for Japan, which tried for years to save the bird from extinction and used artificial breeding to reintroduce the species to the wild.
Monday, May 28, 2012
Crested ibis chicks leave Sado nest
Kyodo
NIIGATA — All three of the crested ibis chicks hatched in the wild late last month temporarily left their nest on Sado Island in Niigata Prefecture on Sunday, two days after the first sibling became the first to do so in 38 years, the Environment Ministry said.
The possibility is high that the three will come back to the nest or stay in nearby trees for awhile. Still, the incident marked a landmark for Japan, which tried for years to save the bird from extinction and used artificial breeding to reintroduce the species to the wild.
2012年5月20日日曜日
See the Annular Elcipse
An annular eclipse--the kind where the moon passes between the sun and earth leaving only a fiery ring of sunshine visible is due on Monday and should be visible from Tokyo. Here is a plan to make this unusual event even more special:
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Excitement builds for rare eclipse, but will weather hold?
AFP-Jiji
A wide stretch of the country will be able to see the ring eclipse, in which the moon will pass in front of the sun, blocking out all but an outer circle of light. Scientists call this an annular eclipse.
Astronomers say the greater Tokyo area, home to more than 30 million people, will be a prime spot to see the event, which has not been visible in the capital for 173 years.
Eclipse-viewing glasses have flown off the shelves and television stations are planning live broadcasts amid stark warnings not to look directly at the sun.
One of the most ambitious projects to mark the moment is being mounted by Panasonic Corp., which had sent an expedition to the top of Mount Fuji to film the phenomenon using solar-powered equipment.
"Our goal in this project is to broadcast the world's most beautiful annular eclipse from the highest mountain in Japan," the electronics giant said
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Excitement builds for rare eclipse, but will weather hold?
AFP-Jiji
A wide stretch of the country will be able to see the ring eclipse, in which the moon will pass in front of the sun, blocking out all but an outer circle of light. Scientists call this an annular eclipse.
Astronomers say the greater Tokyo area, home to more than 30 million people, will be a prime spot to see the event, which has not been visible in the capital for 173 years.
Eclipse-viewing glasses have flown off the shelves and television stations are planning live broadcasts amid stark warnings not to look directly at the sun.
One of the most ambitious projects to mark the moment is being mounted by Panasonic Corp., which had sent an expedition to the top of Mount Fuji to film the phenomenon using solar-powered equipment.
"Our goal in this project is to broadcast the world's most beautiful annular eclipse from the highest mountain in Japan," the electronics giant said
2012年5月17日木曜日
Agent Orange on Okinawa
Here is the full story from The Japan Times online, revealing the "smoking gun" that proves Uncle Sam is a liar when he says Agent Orange was never on Okinawa, and that the men and women who served in the US military in Okinawa do not, therefore, deserve to have their Agent Orange-caused illnesses treated.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Agent Orange 'tested in Okinawa'
Documents indicate jungle use in 1962
By JON MITCHELL
Special to The Japan Times
Recently uncovered documents show that the United States conducted top-secret tests of Agent Orange in Okinawa in 1962, according to a veterans services employee.
Paper trail: Michelle Gatz holds the logbook of the SS Schuyler Otis Bland, which apparently transported defoliants to Okinawa in the early 1960s. MICHELLE GATZ
The experiments, believed to have taken place under the auspices of Project AGILE — a classified program to research unconventional warfare techniques — have also been confirmed by a former high-ranking American official.
The documents, which include a ship's logbook, army deployment orders and declassified government records, were tracked down by Michelle Gatz, a veterans service officer in Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota.
While assisting a former soldier who claims he was poisoned by these defoliants at military ports in Okinawa in the early 1960s, Gatz pieced together the paper trail of how the chemicals were transported from the U.S. to the island aboard the merchant marine ship SS Schuyler Otis Bland.
"The ship's logbook shows it was carrying classified cargo that was offloaded under armed guard at White Beach (a U.S. Navy port on Okinawa's east coast) on 25 April, 1962," Gatz told The Japan Times.
The Bland was a civilian-owned ship regularly employed by the U.S. Navy to transport defoliants incognito and that was able to bypass customs inspections of military vessels entering foreign ports.
Three months prior to its arrival at Okinawa, the Bland had traveled to South Vietnam to deliver one of the Pentagon's first shipments of defoliants. After departing Okinawa in spring 1962, the Bland sailed to the Panama Canal Zone where, the Panamanian government asserts, the U.S. tested Agent Orange in the early 1960s.
Recently, more than 30 U.S. veterans — all of them suffering from diseases consistent with dioxin-exposure — have spoken to The Japan Times about the presence of Agent Orange at 15 military installations in Okinawa, causing widespread alarm that the prefecture remains polluted by notoriously persistent dioxins.
The U.S. government has repeatedly denied assistance for these ailing veterans, claiming Agent Orange and similar herbicides were never present in Okinawa. However, the U.S. government still refuses to release large sections of its records related to the defoliant tests it conducted in the 1960s.
Gatz believes the Bland's cargo was used in some of these tests — namely Project AGILE, which was tasked with finding how chemicals could deprive enemy soldiers of jungle cover and crops.
The publicly accessible pages of the project show that in 1962, the military was growing impatient with the inconclusive results of early defoliation experiments in South Vietnam, so it ordered an unspecified group in Army Chemical Biological Research "to develop advanced dissemination systems for defoliating vegetation."
After filing a request with the Army College in Pennsylvania under the Freedom of Information Act, Gatz was able to pinpoint what she believes to be the precise unit — the U.S. Army's 267th Chemical Service Platoon.
"The 267th was formerly stationed in Alaska, but the records show that in 1962, it was inexplicably reactivated, then transferred to Okinawa. It was brought there to conduct defoliant tests on the island's tropical vegetation," says Gatz.
The 267th Chemical Service Platoon was also involved in "Operation Red Hat," the military project that shipped 12,000 tons of U.S. biological and chemical weapons out of Okinawa before its reversion to Japan, according to veterans' testimonies and a 2009 ruling on defoliants by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
A retired American high official made headlines in The Okinawa Times last September when his account broke the military's wall of silence by claiming that the Pentagon had tested defoliants in the island's northern jungles near Kunigami and Higashi villages.
In an interview with the newspaper, the official, who declined to be named, stated that Okinawa was selected for such experiments due to its vegetation's similarities to that of Vietnam and the lack of strict safety regulations that curtailed potentially dangerous tests elsewhere.
After reading the chain of events pieced together by Gatz, the retired official, who asked to remain anonymous, confirmed that her assertions were correct. However, he added that he was concerned for Gatz's job security now that she was going public with her findings.
Gatz says she is determined to pursue the truth no matter what the consequences.
"These documents are the smoking gun. Now there is no way that the Department of Defense can continue to deny defoliants were ever on Okinawa. It's time they owned up and started giving these sick veterans the justice they deserve."
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Agent Orange 'tested in Okinawa'
Documents indicate jungle use in 1962
By JON MITCHELL
Special to The Japan Times
Recently uncovered documents show that the United States conducted top-secret tests of Agent Orange in Okinawa in 1962, according to a veterans services employee.
Paper trail: Michelle Gatz holds the logbook of the SS Schuyler Otis Bland, which apparently transported defoliants to Okinawa in the early 1960s. MICHELLE GATZ
The experiments, believed to have taken place under the auspices of Project AGILE — a classified program to research unconventional warfare techniques — have also been confirmed by a former high-ranking American official.
The documents, which include a ship's logbook, army deployment orders and declassified government records, were tracked down by Michelle Gatz, a veterans service officer in Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota.
While assisting a former soldier who claims he was poisoned by these defoliants at military ports in Okinawa in the early 1960s, Gatz pieced together the paper trail of how the chemicals were transported from the U.S. to the island aboard the merchant marine ship SS Schuyler Otis Bland.
"The ship's logbook shows it was carrying classified cargo that was offloaded under armed guard at White Beach (a U.S. Navy port on Okinawa's east coast) on 25 April, 1962," Gatz told The Japan Times.
The Bland was a civilian-owned ship regularly employed by the U.S. Navy to transport defoliants incognito and that was able to bypass customs inspections of military vessels entering foreign ports.
Three months prior to its arrival at Okinawa, the Bland had traveled to South Vietnam to deliver one of the Pentagon's first shipments of defoliants. After departing Okinawa in spring 1962, the Bland sailed to the Panama Canal Zone where, the Panamanian government asserts, the U.S. tested Agent Orange in the early 1960s.
Recently, more than 30 U.S. veterans — all of them suffering from diseases consistent with dioxin-exposure — have spoken to The Japan Times about the presence of Agent Orange at 15 military installations in Okinawa, causing widespread alarm that the prefecture remains polluted by notoriously persistent dioxins.
The U.S. government has repeatedly denied assistance for these ailing veterans, claiming Agent Orange and similar herbicides were never present in Okinawa. However, the U.S. government still refuses to release large sections of its records related to the defoliant tests it conducted in the 1960s.
Gatz believes the Bland's cargo was used in some of these tests — namely Project AGILE, which was tasked with finding how chemicals could deprive enemy soldiers of jungle cover and crops.
The publicly accessible pages of the project show that in 1962, the military was growing impatient with the inconclusive results of early defoliation experiments in South Vietnam, so it ordered an unspecified group in Army Chemical Biological Research "to develop advanced dissemination systems for defoliating vegetation."
After filing a request with the Army College in Pennsylvania under the Freedom of Information Act, Gatz was able to pinpoint what she believes to be the precise unit — the U.S. Army's 267th Chemical Service Platoon.
"The 267th was formerly stationed in Alaska, but the records show that in 1962, it was inexplicably reactivated, then transferred to Okinawa. It was brought there to conduct defoliant tests on the island's tropical vegetation," says Gatz.
The 267th Chemical Service Platoon was also involved in "Operation Red Hat," the military project that shipped 12,000 tons of U.S. biological and chemical weapons out of Okinawa before its reversion to Japan, according to veterans' testimonies and a 2009 ruling on defoliants by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
A retired American high official made headlines in The Okinawa Times last September when his account broke the military's wall of silence by claiming that the Pentagon had tested defoliants in the island's northern jungles near Kunigami and Higashi villages.
In an interview with the newspaper, the official, who declined to be named, stated that Okinawa was selected for such experiments due to its vegetation's similarities to that of Vietnam and the lack of strict safety regulations that curtailed potentially dangerous tests elsewhere.
After reading the chain of events pieced together by Gatz, the retired official, who asked to remain anonymous, confirmed that her assertions were correct. However, he added that he was concerned for Gatz's job security now that she was going public with her findings.
Gatz says she is determined to pursue the truth no matter what the consequences.
"These documents are the smoking gun. Now there is no way that the Department of Defense can continue to deny defoliants were ever on Okinawa. It's time they owned up and started giving these sick veterans the justice they deserve."
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