Hoffenheim makes offer to Usami

Japanese Olympic hopeful Takashi Usami has had an offer to join German first-division club Hoffenheim from Bayern Munich, a Gamba Osaka source said Wednesday.
Usami, who had been on loan to Bayern from Gamba this season, made just three appearances in the Bundesliga and his deal expires at the end of June.

 

Djokovic wins on red clay in Rome

Top-ranked Novak Djokovic made a solid return to red-clay courts, dominating Australian teenager Bernard Tomic 6-3, 6-3 Tuesday night to open his Italian Open title defense.
On the women's side, Serena Williams beat 46th-ranked Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan 6-2, 6-3 for her 14th consecutive victory, following titles in Charleston, South Carolina, and Madrid — and two wins in Fed Cup. Also, Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova and defending champion Maria Sharapova won in straight sets at Foro Italico to reach the third round.

 

Genba sues publisher for quoting him as saying Senkakus could be handed over to China

Foreign Minister Koichiro Genba has sued major publisher Shinchosha, claiming his reputation was damaged by a magazine article quoting him as allegedly saying Japan could hand over the Senkaku Islands to China if Beijing wants them, it was learned Wednesday.
In the suit filed with Tokyo District Court, Genba is seeking ¥33 million in damages and an apology in print from the publisher.

 

FC Tokyo suffers first defeat in Asian Champions League

FC Tokyo went down 1-0 away to South Korea's Ulsan Hyundai in the Asian Champions League on Wednesday, a first defeat of the competition costing the Emperor's Cup holders a home tie against J. League champions Kashiwa Reysol in the round of 16.
Both teams had already qualified for the next stage but Tokyo only needed a draw to secure top spot in Group F and home advantage against Reysol, who finished second in Group H after a gutsy 2-0 win at Jeonbuk Motors on Tuesday.

 

Deficiency found in some solar-eclipse glasses in Japan

A group of astronomers has warned that some eclipse glasses sold in Japan have been found to be insufficiently lightproof to safely view the upcoming annular solar eclipse and could cause retinopathy when observers see the sun through them.
The Japan committee for the annular solar eclipse 2012, which comprises academic and amateur astronomers, called on observers to make sure they have proper glasses before the eclipse, expected to occur Monday.

 

There is trouble on Kafka's shore

Seventy-six-year-old theater director Yukio Ninagawa is famed and honored the world over for his magnificently visualized stagings of Shakespeare and Ancient Greek tragedies — as well as modern Japanese plays.
He was awarded a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 2002, and has been invited to present his latest interpretation of "Cymbeline," at the World Shakespeare Festival in London this month.

 

Cavs' Irving named Rookie of the Year

Once Kyrie Irving finished cracking jokes, thanking Cleveland's fans, his teammates and coaches, he looked down from the podium at the person who promised this would happen.
He was the NBA's Rookie of the Year.

 

Japan Post profit increases 12%

Japan Post Holdings Co. is reporting that its group net profit for fiscal 2011 increased 11.9 percent from the previous year to ¥468.9 billion, the most since privatization of the postal system started in October 2007.
The increase was attributable primarily to the Japan Post group's bonus cut equivalent to 1.3 months' wages for the year to March.

 

DoCoMo expands offerings for handsets

NTT DoCoMo Inc. said Wednesday it will expand smartphone services, including offering unlimited access to "anime" and music as well as a text translation service.
The No. 1 carrier appears to be striving to reinforce its competitive edge and seeking new sources of revenue, as competition with rival carriers has intensified due to the rapid growth of smartphones.

 

Noda's call for talks with LDP boss Tanigaki on tax hike is rejected

Saying "the time is not ripe," Liberal Democratic Party chief Sadakazu Tanigaki rejected an overture by Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda for talks earlier this month to secure help from the main opposition party to pass a law raising the sales tax, political sources said Wednesday.
Noda, who heads the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, has said he is staking his "political life" on the tax hike plan, and was apparently aiming to break the deadlock in the opposition-controlled House of Councilors, the sources said.

 

Kisenosato continues march toward victory

Kisenosato took a big step toward becoming the first Japanese-born winner in over six years Wednesday, beating fellow ozeki Kakuryu on the second attempt to move two wins clear of the field heading into the final stretch of the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament.
Kisenosato, promoted to sumo's second-highest rank after the Kyushu meet last November, and Kakuryu (7-4) had to go through a rematch after both were deemed by ringside judges to have hit the dirt at the same time in their initial clash at Ryogoku Kokugikan.

 

Zaccheroni needs European contingent to hit ground running

Alberto Zaccheroni may have blotted his copybook with defeats in Japan's last two competitive matches, but the national team manager will only have eyes for the here and now as he begins his preparations for the final round of World Cup qualifiers this week.
Zaccheroni on Friday names his squad for next Wednesday's warmup friendly against Azerbaijan in Shizuoka, with the Italian set to draw heavily from his Europe-based contingent ahead of next month's qualifiers against Oman, Jordan and Australia. Losses to North Korea and Uzbekistan at the end of the previous round cost Zaccheroni the unbeaten record he had held since taking over in September 2010, but with the majority of his players arriving straight from the end of the European club season, the dynamic this time will be significantly different.

 

Johjima scheduled for back surgery next week

Hanshin Tigers catcher Kenji Johjima, who has been sidelined with pain in his sciatic nerve, said Wednesday he will have back surgery sometime next week.
The 35-year-old, who aims to return to action this season, will require a month of recovery before he can resume practice after having his hernia removed.

 

Tepco halts dividends, so metro buses to run red ink

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government's bus operations, running in the black since 2003, probably lost money for the first time for fiscal 2011, and the major reason is the dividends from Tokyo Electric Power Co. shares have dried up.
While many bus operators, public and private, have been losing money for more than a decade amid the declining population and rise in other transportation options, the metropolitan government's bus operation has logged profits since 2003.

 

Pacers even up series

This does not sound like a winning formula. Miss 24 of 29 shots in one stretch, on the road. Watch an 11-point second-half lead turn into a deficit. Have your entire team get outscored by two players in the fourth quarter.
Somehow, it worked for the Indiana Pacers.

 

Let international tribunal decide

The ongoing ruckus between Manila and Beijing over Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea exposes China's penchant for bullying and contempt for international law. This gives other countries that have territorial disputes with Beijing, including Japan, an idea of the standoffs they might expect with China in the future.
There should be no other way to resolve this territorial dispute except through a rules-based diplomatic mechanism, preferably adjudication by international tribunals. This is exactly what Manila proposes, which Beijing wantonly rejects.

 

Maldonado victory stirs controversy

Images of Pastor Maldonado celebrating his Formula One victory in the Spanish Grand Prix are being replayed to patriotic music on Venezuelan television, and President Hugo Chavez is heaping praise on the driver.
But while F1 fans on both sides of Venezuela's polarized political landscape are lauding Maldonado's performance, some critics have also been questioning how many millions of dollars Venezuela's state oil company has spent in sponsorship money for the team it's now touting, and whether it makes sense.

 

Kagawa wants Premier League move

Shinji Kagawa's future destination appears to be in England, the Japan midfielder saying on Wednesday he wants to play in the Premier League after meeting Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson.
"It was good to meet and actually talk to him. He had some nice things to say to me," Kagawa said of Ferguson, who was on hand to watch the 23-year-old in Borussia Dortmund's 5-2 victory over Bayern Munich in Saturday's German Cup final.

 

"My Punctuation Marks, Part II — The Food Scenes: Works by 171 Contemporary Illustrators of Japan"

With contributions by 171 artists from the Tokyo Illustrators Society, this exhibition showcases works under the general theme of "food," spanning a wide range of subjects that include cooking ingredients, chefs and people enjoying eating.
Every illustration is accompanied with an explanation so that visitors have a better understanding of the artist's intentions. Also, talk sessions about food with Japanese celebrities, such as rakugo storyteller Kokontei Shinsuke and playwright and film director Koki Mitani, will be scheduled during the exhibition period. Reservations are necessary for the talks; May 19 till July 1.

 

Beijing, Seoul ignore requests to ease import curbs on food

Chinese and South Korean leaders turned a deaf ear to Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's request that they ease restrictions on Japanese food imports imposed last year because of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear, Japanese government sources said Tuesday.
Chinese President Hu Jintao and South Korean President Lee Myung Bak did not respond to Noda's request during their meeting in Beijing on Monday, the sources said.

 

Bond trading gains pushed profits higher at major banks in fiscal 2011

The combined consolidated net profit of five major Japanese banking groups rose 36.3 percent in fiscal 2011 from the previous year to ¥2.403 trillion, primarily boosted by temporary benefits from government bond trading, according to their earnings reports released through Tuesday.
But profits from core banking business remained sluggish during the year through March amid lower interest rates, even as corporate demand for fresh loans showed signs of recovery, especially amid the acceleration of earthquake and tsunami reconstruction work.

 

Doctor rules Rose out for eight months to year

The doctor who operated on Derrick Rose's knee insists the Chicago Bulls' star can dominate again.
It will take time, though.

 

Flag-burning Okinawan activist fights to give U.S. bases the boot

An antiwar activist in Okinawa convicted of torching the Hinomaru flag at a 1987 national athletic meet in his hometown is determined to continue his battle for "peace and equality" in the island prefecture, where the U.S. military maintains a heavy presence 40 years after its reversion to Japanese sovereignty.
Shoichi Chibana, a 64-year-old Buddhist monk from the village of Yomitan, says there is a "grim reality" in Okinawa: The heavy U.S. military presence compared with other parts of Japan means islanders still suffer from "structural discrimination."

 

Old deals sowed seeds of unresolved problems

Forty years after the U.S. returned Okinawa to Japan after a 27-year occupation, the public agreement ensuring American bases would remain after reversion and the secret agreement allowing the U.S. to reintroduce nuclear weapons continue to create anger in Okinawa and problems for the Japan-U.S. security alliance.
But as declassified U.S. cables and other documents related to the negotiations that led to the 1971 agreement to return Okinawa to Japan clearly show, opposition in Okinawa to the U.S. bases long before 1972 was the major factor that forced both Washington and Tokyo to act. They also made clear the U.S. desired to remain in Okinawa after the reversion and retain the right to bring in nuclear weapons.

 

Orbital goes wonky after two years of gigs

Orbital doesn't seem to have changed much since the 1990s — but their audience has. At last weekend's Metamorphose event in Chiba, pant sizes among the crowd were noticeably less baggy than they were 20 years ago — and there were a few more gray-haired heads bobbing to the beat.
But everyone in attendance went wild when the duo played "Chime," both the generation who were around when the track was released in 1989 and, well, their children.

 

Greisinger handcuffs Dragons as Marines win interleague opener

Seth Greisinger pitched three-hit ball over eight innings, leading the Chiba Lotte Marines to a 3-1 win over the Chunichi Dragons as interleague play got under way on Wednesday.
Greisinger (4-1) struck out eight and walked one and Yasuhiko Yabuta finished things off at Nagoya Dome as Lotte won its fifth in a row and improved to 11-4 with two ties on the road.

 

Geoparks offer vital data: scientists

Lessons can be learned from natural disasters and climate change by utilizing parks with geological features, according to scientists and environmental conservationists who wrapped up a four-day international conference in Shimabara, Nagasaki Prefecture.
At the closing ceremony Tuesday of the Fifth International UNESCO Conference on Geoparks, British geologist Patrick McKeever read out a declaration adopted at the conference that included the statement, "Education about our dynamic planet in geoparks is a most effective way to help our local communities understand how to coexist with nature."

 

Lawrie may be facing ban after ump dustup

Brett Lawrie called it an "unlucky bounce." Major League Baseball is likely to call it a suspension.
A furious Lawrie slammed his batting helmet to the ground after he took strike three and it struck plate umpire Bill Miller in the hip as the ninth inning turned nasty Tuesday night in Toronto's 4-3 loss to Tampa Bay.

 

Tokio Marine bags Delphi Financial

Tokio Marine Holdings Inc. said Wednesday the Japanese property and casualty insurer has completed its acquisition of Delphi Financial Group Inc., a medium-size U.S. life and nonlife insurance group.
Of about $2.7 billion in total cost for the acquisition, Tokio Marine will raise $1.3 billion from a fund the government has created for Japanese firms' overseas mergers and acquisitions in response to the yen's appreciation.

 

Kings withstand heavy hits to take 2-0 lead on Coyotes

The Los Angeles Kings knew the Coyotes would come with everything they had.
Even when that meant some questionable hits as the frustration grew, the Kings never let it bother them.

 

Expect 3/11 aftershocks for decades

Aftershocks of the giant earthquake of March 11, 2011, are expected to continue for at least several decades along the border of Fukushima and Ibaraki prefectures, according to a study released Wednesday.
Aftershocks, including those that can't be felt by people, are likely to persist for two years off the Miyagi coast and about four years in Tokyo, according to the study by Shinji Toda, an associate professor at Kyoto University's Disaster Prevention Research Institute.

 

In the Record Bag: A Taut Line

Tokyo-based British DJ/producer Matt Lyne, aka A Taut Line, coruns the record label Diskotopia, with Brian Durr, aka BD1982. A Taut Line's melodic broken house, garage and techno productions are just as influenced by the Chicago jazz and postrock scenes as by the 1980s Chicago house scene. Meanwhile, Greeen Linez, a joint project Lyne has with Hong Kong In The 60s member Christopher Greenberg, unites early '90s dance music with '70s and '80s jazz funk. Keeping in mind the variety of music Lyne has been exposed to, we took a look inside his record bag.
Opening Number: Mim Suleiman — "Hebu" [Running Back]. Maurice Fulton-produced futurist-Afrobeat taken from the East African singer's album "Tungi." Just a very solid, stoic start to a set that I've taken to recently. Although if I want to begin slow and build, I'll often kick things off with something like Patrice Rushen's "Remind Me" or "Mambo" by Wally Badarou.

 

Kansai power crunch just political rivalry?

The confrontation between the central government and Kansai area leaders over the restart of two nuclear reactors in Oi, Fukui Prefecture, has more to do with the growing power struggle between Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto and Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda than with safety or objective attempts to determine how much electricity will be available this summer.
Since February, Kansai Electric Power Co. has revised downward its projected electricity shortages after being grilled by Hashimoto-appointed critics.

 

Pyongyang to meet proxy of DPJ's Nakai to talk about postwar remains

Final arrangements are being made for a Japanese academic close to ruling Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Hiroshi Nakai to meet with a senior North Korean official in China over Japanese postwar remains in the North, government sources said Wednesday.
The scholar, whose name has been withheld, is expected to visit northeastern China from Thursday, possibly to exchange views with the official, Song Il Ho, about the apparent remains of Japanese who stayed behind in what is now North Korea after World War II.

 

Maccabees rise above indie's fall

So indie-guitar music in Britain is in the doldrums, is it? Try telling that to The Maccabees.
In a world of Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj and Rihanna, the London five-piece are bucking the trend for young white British boys armed with a six-string. Not only is third album "Given to the Wild" their finest by far, but critical platitudes are being matched by commercial success: "Given to the Wild" is a U.K. Top 5 album and 2012 sees The Maccabees embark on their biggest tour to date.

 

Andymori "Hikari"

Tokyo rock trio Andymori formed in the fall of 2007. The following summer — before the group had released any music — it earned an invite to perform at the Fuji Rock Festival. In 2009, Andymori issued its eponymous debut and appeared at Summer Sonic. Continuing to build upon its initial successes, the band has since played numerous concerts across the country and has also gigged in Canada and South Korea.
Its fourth full-length, "Hikari" ("Light"), opens with the radio-friendly, pop-rock cut "Bass Man." Guitarist Sohei Oyamada's polished, melodic vocals and catchy bits of whistling are the main focus of the song and play out over simple, toe-tapping rhythms. Revisiting the youthful exuberance they showcased on excellent early singles like "Follow Me" and "Everything is My Guitar" from its first album, the title track and "San Punkan" ("For Three Minutes") are two of the edgier offerings on "Hikari." The former starts as a fast-paced piece of alternative rock and doesn't let up during its nearly three-minute running time. The latter gains steam as Oyamada's singing switches from crooning to ragged yelps. Both should have little difficulty making crowds bop around during Andymori's summer shows.

 

NEC to start voluntary retirement program in July

NEC Corp. announced Wednesday it will solicit voluntary retirement among employees in July as part of restructuring efforts.
Employees aged 40 and above who have been with the company or a group firm for five years or longer and are currently in sections including its mobile phone and platform business operations are eligible to apply from July 17 to 31 for retirement as of Sept. 28, it said.

 

Otomo's genga will make you remember

Without "Akira" there would be no "Cool Japan."
There's no denying that for many non-Japanese back in early 1990s. The anime adaptation of the manga "Akira" was for them the first taste of a drug that ultimately drove the addicted to seek more highs like it, and it caused a pandemic of interest in Japanese pop culture that still exists today.

 

Hotel where fire killed seven not up to code

Despite failing inspections for decades, no changes were ever made at the hotel where a fire killed seven on Sunday, the city of Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture, admitted Tuesday, adding the facility wasn't even up to code at the time of the first inspection in 1987.
The municipal government initially said that although the Hotel Prince wasn't up to current building code, it met the standards at the time of construction in the 1960s and therefore the hotel owner could not be forced to make renovations.

 

Matsui hitless in minor league debut

Hideki Matsui went hitless in his minor league debut on Tuesday.
The 37-year-old, who recently signed a minor-league contract with the Tampa Bay Rays, batted fourth as the Triple-A Durham Bulls' designated hitter against Pawtucket. He struck out once in four at-bats.

 

Tieups best hope to keep TV business alive

As Japanese electronics makers step up restructuring in their efforts to bounce back from massive losses in the business year that ended in March, they are seeking to team up with others to continue their television businesses.
The nation's three top TV manufacturers — Sharp Corp., Sony Corp. and Panasonic Corp. — are exploring ways to remain in the market, now led by South Korean firms, despite seeing their money-losing TV operations drag down their earnings last year.

 

BOJ misses first bond buying target

The Bank of Japan missed its target for buying government bonds in the first round of an asset-purchase program, the central bank said Wednesday.
In an auction, the BOJ offered to buy ¥600 billion in long-term government bonds from financial institutions but attracted only ¥480.5 billion in demand. A BOJ official said this was a "temporary development due to extraordinary factors."

 

Welfare recipients continue to top 2 million threshold

The number of people on welfare came to 2.1 million in February, up 5,499 from the previous month, extending a record high that began last July, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said Wednesday.
After exceeding 2 million in February 2011, the number rose by around 90,000 over the next 12 months to reach 2,097,401, with increases affecting not just the elderly but also younger workers who were thrown out of their jobs.

 

Imperial Couple leave for British queen's jubilee

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko departed Wednesday for a five-day visit to Britain to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's diamond jubilee, their first overseas trip since 2009 when they visited Canada and Hawaii.
"I am very happy to have an opportunity to express my congratulations to her majesty, who is still well performing her duty as the queen," the Emperor said at Haneda airport in Tokyo.

 

K-1 promoter FEG goes bankrupt

FEG Inc., a K-1 martial arts promoter, has effectively gone bankrupt by starting protection procedures with the Tokyo District Court on May 7, Teikoku Databank Ltd. said Wednesday.
The amount of debt left by the failure has not been disclosed.

 

Exiled Uighur leader raps China for intervening in Japanese affairs

Rebiya Kadeer, the leader of exiled Uighurs, on Wednesday criticized China for "intervening in Japanese affairs" by trying to stop Tokyo from issuing her a visa to attend a meeting of the World Uyghur Congress.
The president of the congress being held in Tokyo also dismissed Beijing's claim that she is a "terrorist," saying her group takes a "nonviolent" approach.

 

Beijing tightens the screws on foreign journalists

In 2001, when it made a successful bid to host the 2008 Summer Olympics, Beijing promised there would be complete freedom for the foreign media to report in China. While this did not occur, more liberal rules were introduced, such as not requiring official permission before conducting interviews.
However, the Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia of 2010 triggered fear in Beijing that the Arab Spring movement might spill over into China and, very soon, there was a clampdown on the media, which has now led to the first expulsion of a foreign correspondent in more than a decade: Melissa Chan, the reporter for Al Jazeera's English-language channel.

 

Tepco's price hike sparks ire

Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s intention to raise household rates in July met with stiff opposition from representatives of consumers and small companies at a meeting of the government's panel tasked with examining the appropriateness of the proposed hike.
Tepco President Toshio Nishizawa told the meeting Tuesday that raising electricity rates by an average of 10.28 percent is necessary to enable the utility to stay afloat amid rising fuel costs for thermal power generation to make up for the halt in nuclear power generation due to the Fukushima crisis.

 

Train lights wasting electricity

Regarding the serious shortfalls in electrical energy predicted for Kansai and other regions of Japan this summer, it troubles me to see obvious waste by those who should know better. At this time, all segments of society should be taking action to eliminate any extravagance in their use of electrical energy.
I'd like to bring to light something I noticed recently while standing on a platform at JR Osaka station. Although this case involves JR West trains, no doubt a similar situation exists throughout Japan. A JR West train often consists of two separate trains connected together. For example, a 12-car train may be made up of an eight-car-long segment joined to a four-car segment.

 

"Images Shout: The Power of Creative Woodcut Prints"

 

Seizure-linked accidents prompt look at traffic law

In the wake of fatal car accidents involving epileptics, the National Police Agency has began studying possible revisions to the Road Traffic Law in hopes of preventing accidents by drivers with disorders characterized by seizures.
A minivan rammed into pedestrians at a busy intersection in the city of Kyoto's Gion entertainment district on April 12, killing seven people and injuring 11. The 30-year-old driver, Shingo Fujisaki, also died, after crashing into a utility pole at high speed.

 

Palestinians now merit full ambassador

The Foreign Ministry has given diplomat Naofumi Hashimoto, chief of the Representative Office of Japan to the Palestinian Authority, the title of ambassador in charge of Palestinian affairs.
It is an extraordinary step for a diplomat in charge of an area that Japan has not yet recognized as a state to be designated as an ambassador.

 

Unable to thwart China's might

Regarding Mark Valencia's May 14 article, "Philippines-China spat tests ASEAN solidarity": Thanks for a nice article. I appreciated it because I have doubts that coincide with the writer's as to whether the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the United States and other countries with close ties to the Philippines will stand and support our country in case of armed conflict.
We only have our ego and fighting spirit to stand upon. In reality, we can't do anything to thwart Chinese military might even if we have a strong basis to support our territorial claims to Scarborough Shoal. We hope this standoff will not end with a military confrontation. I understand why ASEAN members are so quiet on the issue: There's not only China's military strength but also economic fears related to China's dominance in the region.

 

Female sumo wrestlers gather for annual meet

Fifty-eight women got together to fight in a rare female-only sumo meet Sunday in Fukushima, Hokkaido, an event to commemorate two renowned sumo champions who hail from the southern Hokkaido town.
In the championship match, Etsuko Abe, 46, defeated an American woman who goes by the ring name Odori-yama (Dance Mountain). Abe, whose own ring name is Etsuno-umi, was the apparent underdog, at half of her American challenger's weight.

 

Russian Orthodox leader to visit

The head of the Russian Orthodox Church is coming to Japan in September for the centennial of the death of a missionary who brought the orthodox religion to Japan, Russia's ITAR-Tass news agency said Tuesday, quoting the church's external affairs official.
Patriarch Kirill will first visit Hakodate, Hokkaido, where the missionary served at the end of the Edo Period (1603-1868) as a priest for the Russian Consulate, according to the report.

 

Whose nod will reassure us?

Regarding the May 15 front-page article "Oi assembly says yes to restarting reactors" and the rush to restart these idled nuclear reactors: The Oi municipal assembly's choice to preserve its local economy makes sense, especially in light of the lucrative measures of support promised by the central government and Kansai Electric Power Co. Any locality needs a sound economy simply to survive.
But the Oi assembly's choice to anticipate "the central government's steps to ensure the Oi reactors' safety" puzzles me. I am wondering whose judgment the assembly members intend to trust? Will it be another thumbs-up indication from Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda? Or maybe a nod of reassurance from Kepco's front office with its vested interests? Or maybe a confident smile from some street-corner fortuneteller who wisely relies on candles?

 

Agent Orange 'tested in Okinawa'

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.
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.

 

NATO: world's best security insurance

Many years ago, I took my children to visit the sites of the D-Day landings (June 6, 1944) in Normandy. I wanted them to understand the sacrifices that others had made so that Europe and North America could enjoy the benefits of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
We saw the beaches whose names echo through history — Omaha, Utah, Juno. Those beaches remain a memorial to the idea that, together, we can overcome any threat, no matter how great.

 

The discourse over 'liberation'

I share Donald Feeney's concerns in his May 10 letter, "Politically correct 'straw men," about modern political discourse, but it seems we are not reading the same letters. He implies that my May 3 letter accused him of claiming in his April 29 letter "that Western males were perfect with regard to their treatment of women." I did no such thing. My response was specifically to his rendering of Ayaan Hirsi Ali's views, which he chose to include and present as: "White men are not oppressors, she says, but rather liberators."
Feeney asks why it is "contemptible" and "obscene" to quote an internationally famous activist to make a point. I made no such complaint. My objection (May 3) was not to Hirsi Ali's views, per se, but to his summation above, which was not a quotation. As for the courageous Ayaan Hirsi Ali, readers will find a very sympathetic critique of her views and her book, "Nomad," by Michelle Goldberg at http://www.democracyjournal.org/18/6776.php?page=all

 

Business entities do not qualify

Is Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s plan for returning to profitability — restarting nuclear power plants to raise enough cash to pay off the damage caused by their inability to properly manage nuclear power plants — supported by government officials?
The damage caused to the Fukushima area and the continuing potential for disaster from exposed reactor rods is not something that can be swept under the rug while finance people dance around with profit projections. Nor should nationalizing Tepco be undertaken merely to hand taxpayers a bill for corporate screwups. Tepco should never be handed back to business entities again.

 

Tepco pares gas field investment

Tokyo Electric Power Co. and three other Japanese firms plan to buy interests in an offshore Australian natural gas field for around ¥350 billion, industry sources said Wednesday.
Tepco's financial difficulties stemming from the nuclear crisis at its Fukushima No. 1 power plant have forced it to revise its 2009 plan to acquire a 15 percent interest in the Wheatstone gas field development and an 11.25 percent stake in a project to liquefy gas there, the sources said.

 

"Architect Togo Murano and The City of Amagasaki"

These days, Togo Murano (1891-1984) may not be a household name, however for architecture fans, he is renowned for his modernist designs of several prestigious buildings, including the Memorial Cathedral for World Peace in Hiroshima.
Held in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, this exhibition reassesses Murano's relationship with the city, highlighting two of his high-profile buildings — Amagasaki's government office and Osho community center. The buildings respectively commemorate their 50th and 75th anniversaries, and the show presents 150 architectural artifacts, including blueprints and models; till June 3.

 

Man gets 17 years for child porn

The U.S. Federal District Court in Riverside, California, has sentenced a Japanese man to 17 years in prison and lifetime supervised release for conspiracy to advertise child pornography on the Internet, the Justice Department said Tuesday.
Futoshi Tachino, 32, pleaded guilty after being arrested in Chicago in July 2009.

 

Argentina's old-school economics

Resource nationalism was supposed to be a throwback, a discredited school of economics that failed the governments that embraced it. Apparently, Argentine President Christina Fernandez de Kirchner never got the memo.
Instead, she decided in mid-April to seize a majority stake in one of her country's leading energy producers Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales (YPF), a move that threatens not only to trigger an economic war with some of her country's biggest trade partners, but also could well undermine the primary objective of the move itself: the revitalization of Argentina's fraying energy infrastructure.

 

Pension investment limits proposed

The welfare ministry proposed Wednesday limiting the investment of pension assets through a single advisory firm following the disappearance of massive funds entrusted to AIJ Investment Advisors Co.
The proposal was included in the draft report by an experts' panel after the ministry determined that a clear set of rules is necessary to avoid a scenario in which corporate pension funds suffer massive losses after concentrating their assets into one management firm, as was the case with AIJ, officials said.

 

"Shoichi IDA, Prints"

It has been six years since Shoichi Ida passed away. As a prominent woodblock print artist, Ida produced outstanding works throughout his career and is considered a significant contributor to the development of Japanese print art.
Ida taught himself printmaking while still a college student, and his talent was recognized by critics soon after graduation. In his late 20s, he was asked to contribute to the International Biennial Exhibition of Prints in Tokyo from 1968 to 1970, and his work has been popular since.