People are being asked to not use mobile phones while walking in train stations in Tokyo. The transport ministry and railway companies began the effort after a 5th grade elementary school boy who was walking and looking at his smartphone accidentally stepped off the platform and onto the train tracks at Tokyo’s Yotsuya Station on May 27.

The boy fell 1.1 meters onto the tracks at the same time that a train was pulling into the station. The train came to a stop before reaching the boy, who had dived into the open space under the platform. The boy suffered minor injuries from the fall.

East Japan Railway Company (JR) officials say collisions between people walking while looking at their mobile phones has increased steadily the past three years.

On June 10, JR placed "Don’t use your phones or look at game devices while walking" posters in 520 stations in the Tokyo metropolitan area. Station announcements also ask people not to use mobile phones or handheld game players while walking. The mobile phone safety awareness campaign will run until July 31.

photos: Shinjuku station, Tokyo Shibuya station, Tokyo

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The maker of a popular pigeon-shaped cookie was awarded naming rights to three beaches in Kamakura, Japan. The beaches will be renamed in 2014 by the manufacturer of the Hato Sabure (pigeon sable) butter cookie. Toshimaya company opened the first Hato Sabure confectionary store in Kamakura circa 1897.

The Kamakura city government in Kanagawa Prefecture sold the naming rights to cover the cost of beach maintenance. Ten firms submitted naming rights bids. Hato Sabure will pay 12 miliion yen annually for 10 years. It is the first time beach naming rights have been sold in Japan.

Koshigoe, Yuigahama, and Zaimokuza beaches will share a single name. Hato Sabure officials have not chosen a name for the beaches but says it does  not intend to name the areas Hato Sabure Beach.  

Kanagawa prefectural outdoor advertisement regulations limit advertising displays to 2-meters in size.

Recipe: Butter Cookies 

photos: Zaimokuza beach; Yuigahama beach; Koshigoe beach.

Japan’s national provisional safety limit for levels of radioactive cesium in food is 500 becquerels per kilogram. Let’s Japan reviewed food-test data issued by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare covering the period from March 1, 2011 – Dec. 21, 2011.

Highest becquerels per kilogram levels

photos: radiation measurement; cabbage protesters; checkpoint Minamisoma Fukushima; Fukushima relief effort fundraiser; tsunami destruction; produce-stand

Shoppers in Tokyo, March 25, 2011

We’ve been having some troubles here in Japan.  Maybe you’ve heard. I’ve written some articles about the earthquake and the coverage of the tsunami and the Fukushima nuclear reactors. You can read my reports here:

March 25, 2011
Op-Ed: Tokyo OK, foreign media’s sensational coverage shameful

March 16, 2011
US govt recommends 80 Km Fukushima evac zone; currently 30km

March 15, 2011
US agrees with reactor response ambassador in Tokyo says

March 15, 2011
Higher than normal radiation detected along Japan Pacific coast

March 14, 2011
Shielding possibly damaged by explosion at Fukushima No.2 Tuesday

March 14, 2011
Op-Ed: The earthquake aftermath in Tokyo

March 13, 2011
Rolling Blackouts Begin Monday in Tokyo

March 12, 2011
How I survived the Japanese earthquake

A popular beach near Yokohama implemented a smoking policy at the start of this year’s swimming season in June. Zushi beach in Kanagawa Prefecture has banned smoking except at designated areas on its 600-meters of sand. Five smoking huts have been installed on the beach. Four standing ashtrays have also been placed in the span of sand. There is no penalty for violating the smoking rules.


Shirahama city in Wakayama Prefecture implemented smoking rules on its beach in 2008. Banners and a standing signboard notify visitors of the locations of smoking areas. There are several standing ashtrays in the sand. 

A smoking policy went into effect on the July 2 season opening of the 300-meter-long Ougigahama beach in Tanabe City, Wakayama. No-smoking signs are posted in three places, and there is a smoking area near the official beach facilities office.

Atami City in Shizuoka prefecture commenced smoking regulations at its beach in 2005. Kanagawa is the only prefecture of Japan’s 47 prefectures to have a smoking policy in effect for a beach.

Seventy-seven gropers (chikan) were arrested on Tokyo commuter trains during a crackdown by the Japan National Police Agency. During the April 15 - 21 effort, 120 officers from the NPA and the Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa prefectural police rode train routes known to attract molesters.

Six people were caught on the Keio Line and JR Chuo Line, the highest number of all the train lines. The JR Saikyo Line, notable for frequent reports of groping, installed security cameras on some trains last year. Five people were caught on the Saikyo Line during the April crackdown. All of the perpetrators were caught in cars without security cameras.

Twenty-six of the 77 victims were high school students and fourteen people were university students. Forty of the victims were between 15 and 19 years of age. Forty-two of the arrests occurred between 7 a.m and 9 a.m.

Fifty-eight of those arrested were charged under the "public nuisances" law. Four of the perps were charged with using a hidden camera to take secret photos in the train. Three were arrested on charges of forced obscene acts in the train car, and one man was charged with indecent exposure in the car.

Eleven people were charged with taking indecent photos of passers-by on escalators and on the stairs on station premises.

Twenty-nine of the 77 had previously been caught molesting train passengers. In one incident, while an officer obtained a description of a suspect from one victim, the officer saw the suspect in the first crime grope another victim in the same car. The suspect was arrested.

The NPA will post police officers on trains to crack down on gropers who target particular victims or stalk women after they get off the train. "If you get groped on a train, please tell the nearest police officer," an NPA spokesman said.

In one groping arrest in February, a 16-year-old girl who was fondled on the JR Takasaki Line grabbed the suspect’s hand, hauled him off the train at the next station, and handed him over to police. The girl is a member of her high school judo team. The 21-year-old perpetrator was charged with public nuisance.

Chikan Densha Otoko 2 Molester Trainman game (Windows PC)

The Tokyo Setagaya-ku Cleaning and Recycling department uses expired departmental flyers for its business cards. The department uses the reverse side of printed material that has been used in the department. The front of the business card contains the usual business card information. On the back of the cards Lets Japan received is a portion of an announcement about the trash collection schedule at the end of the year. The flyer paper is not as heavy as a standard business card, but heavier than a standard piece of paper.

When two employees of the Cleaning and Recycling department presented their business cards to LJ, the employees pointed out the reverse side of their cards.

McDonald’s discount coupons from outlet in Setagaya-ku, Tokyo. This seems to be the standard coupon issued for McDonald’s outlets celebrating their third year of doing business.

Other unique ordinal numbers available in Japan:
1th
Jeans
Websites
Birthday
Photography
Sports & Life-Style
Pro wrestling
2th
Search
Delivery health
Tee shirt
Spa
2st
University map

2rd
Tokyo Stock Exchange
Tohoku University
3nd
Bicycle racers
University map

1st-13st

 

Help: Ordinal symbols; Ordinal list
photos: English monthiy; Theater TV; Ipod recorder; One outs; Risa Niigaki;  Golf; Apple Japan 4rd; Tsutaya

Japanese Princess Aiko, 8, attended elementary school again March 8, the first time since she stopped going to school March 2 after complaining of being bullied by some boys at school. Princess Aiko is in the second grade at Gakushuin Primary School in Tokyo. Princess Aiko is the only child of Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako.

Princess Aiko has complained of an upset stomach and has showed deep anxiety since March 2.

The Imperial Household Agency said that Princess Aiko and several other students had been "treated harshly" by boys in another class. A school official said the incident may have been a misunderstanding.

Crown Princess Masako accompanied Princess Aiko to the school to attend the fourth period of morning classes. They then left the school together.

The outing was a rare public appearance for Crown Princess Masako, 46, who was diagnosed with an adjustment disorder in July 2004. Her condition is attributed to the difficulties of adjusting to palace life and the pressure to bear a son. Crown Princess Masako hasn’t attended most official duties for several years.

Doctors monitoring the health of Crown Princess Masako said March 5 her condition has vastly improved but she needs more time to reach a level that will allow her to expand the scope of her official duties.

Princess Masako "has gotten better and is now in a state incomparable to" five and a half years ago when she started to receive treatment, the doctors said in a statement issued through the IHA.

"However, considering her long battle with the illness and the stress she has been under, it will take more time for her to expand the scope of her activities," the statement said, noting that she "has made surprisingly great efforts" to overcome the illness.

In the statement, the doctors noted that the support of people close to her, especially members of her family, has played a key role in helping her to recover. "Watching Princess Aiko growing up and her increasing exchanges with her friends is a joy as well as a remedy for the crown princess," it said.

The doctors mentioned the crown princess’ presence last year at events commemorating the 20th anniversary of Emperor Akihito’s ascension to the throne as well as at a ceremony last month to mark the 15th anniversary of the Great Hanshin Earthquake.

The visit to Kobe for the quake memorial ceremony was her first official trip outside Tokyo involving an overnight stay since January 2008.

The statement warned, however, that high expectations for more public appearances could hamper her recovery.

"Although expectations for her to perform more official duties are expected to grow as her recovery progresses, it is necessary to consider the workload that she would shoulder so that it would not impose a heavy burden," the doctors said.

Some medical experts outside of the imperial family are skeptical about the prospects for a full recovery being achieved quickly.

"Although the cause of her stress is not clearly shown in the report, I assume there may be a gap between the feelings of Crown Princess Masako, who is longing to live the way she wants to, and the Imperial Household Agency, which tends to put things in a mold," said Masaaki Noda, a professor at Kwansei Gakuin University. "It looks like her illness could last longer judging from the doctors’ opinions," he said.

(Above compiled from news reports)

Princess Masako’s condition could have an influence on her daughter. 

The reports about Princess Aiko’s experience at school seem to indicate nothing more than normal, temporary fears.

However, studies suggest that children or adolescents are more likely to have an anxiety disorder if they have a parent with anxiety disorder.
(more…)

Suicides increase in March in Japan so the government has begun an emergency 3-month suicide prevention campaign. National Police Agency statistics indicate the number of people who commit suicide is highest in March. The fiscal year ends on March 31 and it’s believed poor financial situations at companies cause managers to commit suicide. The NPA data also shows the number of annual suicides was over 30,000 for the past 12 years. There were 32,753 suicides in Japan in 2009.

The government suicide prevention website also attributes the high suicide rate to long working hours, severe unemployment, bankruptcies, and being liable for multiple consumer loans. As part of the stepped-up suicide prevention effort, consultation counters have been opened at all Hello Work public job-finding centers throughout Japan

Government-sponsored public service TV advertisements show a daughter expressing concern to her sleepy father. The ad advises people who have difficulty sleeping for two weeks or more to consult a doctor.