January
A letter a Kawasaki schoolgirl sent aloft by balloon in 1993 was found fastened to a fish by a fisherman off Choshi port,150 kilometers away from where the balloon was launched.

February
A 39-year-old man wearing a high school girl’s uniform and a long wig loitered near a Saitama high school and was arrested for trespassing and avoiding police by trying to blend into a group of teenagers on school grounds.

March
Cartoon robo-cat Doraemon named Japan’s "anime ambassador".

April
A city council employee in Kinokawa, Japan makes 780,000 hits on porn websites in nine months, on his office computer.

May
Homeless woman lived in man’s closet for year. Disappearing food leads to discovery in home of man who thought he lived alone.

June
Investigation finds "pub cabs" popular as hundreds of government bureaucrats routinely receive free beer, snacks and sometimes cash from taxi drivers competing for late-night business from public servants.

July
Dummy clown mascot "Kuidaore Taro" makes final appearance as 59-year-old Osaka restaurant goes out of business.

August
Wild macaque monkey causes chaos during morning rush hour at Tokyo’s Shibuya station.

September
(1) The Japan Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare plans to set up counters in all prefectures and large cities to offer counseling to "hikikomori" – people who suffer from a kind of agoraphobia and who further isolate themselves from society.

(2) Fifteen officers all fail to realize "corpse" wrapped in plastic found in forest was actually a life-sized sex doll.

(3) Two employees of Japanese confectionery company open can of red-bean paste, notice paste has strange odor, decide to eat some to check the quality, then suffer numbness in limbs, and are rushed to hospital.

October
(1) British tourist swims naked in the moat of Imperial Palace then leads cops on foot chase around palace grounds.

(2) A camera-police-hotline-alarm-equipped Coca-Cola vending machine is installed in a park in Toyohashi, Japan, and is vandalized three days later.

November
Man releases hundreds of beetle larvae inside moving express train "to see women get scared and shake their legs.”
December
Japan police cancel plan to fine drivers aged 75 or older who fail to display a maple-leaf-shaped sticker that indicates to other drivers that they are elderly. Some elderly have said the sticker resembles a dead leaf, and police will also consider redesign of the sticker.

Ryu Kawaguchifujiyamasan, Jan. 1 - Feb 16. (Reason for resignation: health - "irritable atreporta syndrome".)

Taro Suzuki, March 2 - March 28. (Lack of support: public opinion rating falls below 1%.)

Jun Satoishikawa, April 1 - April 25. (Says: "I don’t know how to cook. There is no chef at official residence. I’m tired of making instant ramen." )

Daisuke Fukudabeda, May 5 - July 4. (To ease political gridlock and traffic gridlock.)

Mariko Makuharimashita, July 30 - Aug. 10. (Health - "rye sigureenan-moldi disease".)

Yasu Obamaramawada, Aug 11 - Aug. 28. (Defeated by LDP, JCP, PGA, LPGA, JCB, and JMLB.)

Jo "Hako" Hakowajima, Sept. 7 - Oct. 30. (Says: "I’m afraid of naked tourists swimming in moat at Parliament.") 

Ken Tamagochihama, Nov. 16. - Nov. 30. (Spend more time reading manga and going to expensive izakaya.)

Tomo Onomotapaya, Dec 2 - Dec. 9. (Health - "scandalitis fundingosis". )

Shinzo Tokodome, Dec. 20 - 26.  (Spend more time with family and at club.) 

related: Japan’s premiers doomed to failure; Japan’s global invisibility

Engines Off While Waiting
A campaign to get drivers to stop idling car engines has been underway for more than ten years in Japan. The Japan Ministry Of Environment started the effort in June 1997. Large quantities of "stop idling" stickers were distributed by the Environment office, to be posted on trucks and taxis. The agency also provide information about the effects of idling to concerned industry asscociations and local governments. Tokyo and Osaka have city ordinances that prohibit vehicle engine idling when parked.

Idle-Stop Devices Increasing Aftermarket devices that stop engine idling automatically are available now in Japan. Vehicle engine idle stopping devices are intended to cut air pollution, reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, and contribute to the effort to reduce global warming. The idle-stop systems also enable energy conservation and noise pollution reduction.

The sleek control box of the M-K Japan ITS-1200/2400 idle stopping unit perches on the steering column and retails for about JPY 57000.

The less-elegant EcoStarter dash-mounted idling-stopping button and installed box offered by Ecomotion retails for about JPY 40000.

A cloud-shaped license plate issued by Matsuyama City is the first non-rectangular vehicle number plate in Japan.

Rice-shaped license plates have been issued by Tome City, and Ueda City has produced a castle-shape number plate.

Mount Fuji, Japan’s most famous landmark, is represented in a new rectangular license plate for cars and a mountain-shaped number plate for smaller vehicles The 4 non-standard designs can be used for scooters with an engine displacement under 50cc, motorcycles of 125cc or less, and small-sized special vehicles such as tractors and combines.

The cloud number plate represents Matsuyama in the clouds on the top of a hill. Tome, a rice growing area in Miyagi Prefecture, began offering rice-shaped license plates in October. The rice shape was chosen by citizens’ votes on entries submitted in a city-sponsored design contest in April. The slogan on the plate is ""Mizu no Sato Tomeshi" (Water’s hometown: Tome city) The castle-shaped license plate that promotes Ueda Castle is issued from the Ueda city government. The white, yellow, and pink color options are dependent on the engine displacement of the registered vehicle.  

License plate regulations were modified in 2006 to allow themed "Place Number" license plates. Previously, only official car registration office locations – such as Shinagawa, Hachioji, and Tokyo – were imprinted on standard-sized plain plates.

Mobile phone signal-blocking at cash dispensers is the newest effort to fight fraud in Japan.
In October Japan police made a major nationwide effort to prevent citizens – especially the elderly – from becoming victims of various telephone scams. In many of the frauds, senior citizens were instructed by phone to go to banks and withdraw money. The con artists told the victims to bring a phone in order to receive continuous instructions. Police eventually were stationed at most ATM cash dispensers, and questioned folks using cell phones. (Timeline)

Chiba Bank installed phone signal-jamming devices at 4 unmanned ATMs at bank branches in the Tokyo metropolitan area Dec. 10. It is the first use of the device in a financial institution in Japan.

The ceiling-mounted electric wave control unit blocks cellular signals inside a sphere of 1-2 meters. Phones of customers waiting in line a few steps from the ATMs are not affected by the frequency blocker. The bank will phase-in the cell phone signal-blocking device at all its ATM locations.

Electric wave control devices that block mobile phone signals are currently installed in some concert venues and medical facilities in Japan.

A cell phone blocking license issued by The Japan Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications is required in order to legally install and operate the phone frequency blocker.

related: Fraud prevention tips for the elderly.
source, photos: 47News; Yomiuri Shimbun

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People are producing electricity by walking across a special panel on the plaza outside Shibuya train station in Tokyo.

The Shibuya Ward government installed the 90-square-centimeter 2.5-centimeter thick piezoelectric mat near the Hachiko dog statue at Shibuya station. Electricity is created when people step on the mat.

The people-power runs an electronic Light Emitting Diode display board in the plaza which continuously updates the total amount of electricity generated. A small holiday lights display is also powered by the footstep-generated electricity. The floor panel can withstand light rain but is not completely waterproof. The special mat will remain until Dec. 25.

The "power generation floor" was developed by Soundpower Corp. The Soundpower website indicates rental options for various sizes and versions of the panels for research and educational purposes. According to the website, the panels installed at Shibuya station can be rented for JPY 50000.  photos: ASCII; Soundpower

A new digital telephone announces earthquake warnings issued by the Japan Meteorological Agency.
The system utilizes a standard telephone line and an included Local Area Network wireless terminal.

The fixed-line cordless phone from Sanyo automatically receives and loudly announces Urgent Earthquake News Flash alerts. Additionally, the 1.7-inch liquid crystal display backlight on the handset displays a red warning, a light on the handset blinks, and the LAN terminal lamp flashes red. The phone lamp also acts as a flashlight.

Emailed earthquake alerts can be sent to registered email addresses. When mail is transmitted within about 30 minutes after the earthquake warning is received, the content of the "Safety Confirmation Mail" is automatically transmitted to a maximum of three pre-registered email addresses.

An internet connection is required. The monthly service charge for the quake warning service is JPY 525, in addition to standard ISP charges and phone line fees. An Internet Protocol version 6 internet connection is also required. IPv6 allows more versatility in the transmission of data and is the successor to the current version 4.

Sanyo TEL-LANW60(W) about JPY 20,000-40,000 depending on number of cordless handsets.

A soft, chewy candy that was linked to choking deaths and pulled from the market in October will be available again in early December in a new formula and with larger warnings on the packaging. Mannan Life Co., stopped production of its Konnyaku Batake brand konnyaku jelly Mini Cup after receiving reports of children and the elderly choking while eating the candy chilled. Similar cases had been reported in 2007.

Following the reports, three industry associations of konnyaku and confectionery manufacturers asked 19 member companies that produce or sell jelly packaged in small cups to take measures to prevent similar accidents. A standard warning label began appearing on the front of the outer packaging of the products in September 2007.
Following the latest choking death in October 2008, the warning effort was expanded by industry associations. Manufacturers of konnyaku jelly mini-cup-size products decided to put larger warnings on the outer packaging, and on each individual cup of the candy. Retailers are being asked not to display the mini-cup-size konnyaku products on shelf space next to children’s sweets.

The revised warning label says: "This product is very elastic. This product poses a choking hazard for the elderly and small children with weak chewing power." The message also says small children and the elderly should "never" eat the candy. Because the gel-like candy is often consumed frozen, an additional warning has been added: "This product gets harder when frozen. Please don’t freeze the jelly pieces."

Mannan reports it has adjusted the ratio of the ingredients in its konnyaku jelly mini cup to lower elasticity. The company also says it was pleased to learn of an online petition campaign urging the company to bring back the product. Mannan says the petition received 32,000 signatures.

Fujikawa was elected in April 2007. After an in-depth local TV news report about her in January 2008, she became a hot topic on internet forums and attracted nationwide attention. Her personal website received more than 230,000 hits per day and at times overloaded the server. Her personal website was soon taken offline and replaced with a more businesslike site.

Following the TV broadcast, she hired an agent to handle numerous requests to pose for photo shoots and appear at events. Since taking office in 2007, Fujikawa had often been asked by a Pony Canyon Inc. producer to make an idol-style DVD. Following the attention in April, she agreed to make the DVD provided it would promote Hachinohe.

In August, Fujikawa played taiko drums in the Hachinohe Festival. She wore a shoulder-revealing sarashi.

In September Fujikawa disclosed the DVD project, and a video clip was released. In the video, Fujikawa wears a white swimsuit and is shown posing on the beach. The reaction among locals was generally favorable. Though some people objected to her appearance in swimwear. In addition to the beach scenes, Fujikawa also wears yukata, haori coat, and hakama as she visits tourist spots and attends festivals.
Japanese news reports are unclear about any connection between Hachinoe City and the production of the PR video.
Fujikawa’s father, Tomonobu Fujikawa was a council member and vice-mayor of Hachinohe city.

More Japan news report videos: ( 1 ) ( 2 ). Yuri Fujikawa blog.

A man who challenged a 1999 groping accusation by a female commuter won his court case against the accuser Nov. 7, 2008. The Japan Supreme Court revoked the charge of "public nuisance" against the man. In September 1999, a woman accused the man of rubbing his groin on her thigh as they stood on the Chuo line railway train in Tokyo. The man was arrested and charged with a crime but denied the accusation. He filed civil lawsuits against the woman. The Nov. 7 TBS Tokyo Evening 5 news program reported on the case. At two points in the TBS video story, computer-generated imagery characters on a train illustrate the woman’s description of being rubbed against from the side. The video depicts a circular and simultaneous up-down motion. The complete CGI scene is at 1:17 in the video.

chuo line photo