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Posted by: Timmy on Friday, June 13, 2008 - 05:55 PM
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Tokyo will stop using a major road in Akihabara for pedestrians only on Sundays and national holidays following the recent fatal street stabbing rampage there, officials said.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Public Safety Commission made the decision on Friday in response to requests made by the Chiyoda Ward Government, a local neighborhood association and shop owners.
This is the first time that the road will not be turned into a car-free promenade on holidays since the program was implemented in June 1973.
The ward government discussed with the local neighborhood association and shop owners in Akihabara whether to continue to turn an 800-meter section of Chuo-Dori street into a pedestrian-only zone on holidays.
Numerous people insisted that it should be discontinued for the time being while others called for a review of safety measures.
In response, the ward government sent a letter to the metropolitan public safety commission asking that the street not be turned into a pedestrian-only thoroughfare for the time being.
The pedestrian-only program will likely be resumed in late July at the earliest, ward officials said.
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Posted by: Timmy on Friday, June 13, 2008 - 05:52 PM
Crime
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Public broadcaster NHK broke no law when it aired a program on wartime sex slaves whose contents were different from what it had explained to a citizens group it interviewed, the top court has ruled.
The Supreme Court overturned a Tokyo High Court ruling that ordered NHK to pay 2 million yen to the plaintiff, "Violence against Women in War -- Network Japan," in January 2007.
Presiding Justice Kazuko Yokoo said those interviewed by broadcasters have no legal protection with regard to their expectations on how the contents will be used in programs.
However, the court did not make any mention of the plaintiff's claim that NHK watered down the contents of the program under pressure from ruling Liberal Democratic Party politicians, including former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
The plaintiff protested the ruling. "It's an unfair ruling that did not made any judgment on politicians' pressure and intervention," a high-ranking member of the citizens group said.
NHK expressed satisfaction with the top court decision. "We think it's a fair ruling. We'll continue to produce programs based on fair editing at our own discretion, and fulfill our responsibility as a news organization," said the public broadcaster's public relations division.
In January 2001, NHK broadcast a mock tribunal on crimes against women in war, such as sex slavery, organized jointly by the plaintiff and other organizations.
The organization sued NHK and the two production firms, complaining that its contents were different from what the broadcaster initially explained to it.
In the ruling, the Supreme Court pointed out that editing of programs is left to the discretion of broadcasters under the Constitution that provides for freedom of expression.
"Those interviewed by broadcasters are able to have no legal protection with regard to their expectations on how the contents will be used in programs only in exceptional cases, such as those that bore an extremely heavy burden in cooperating in the production of the programs or in which the broadcasters gave certain assurances to them in advance," the justice said.
The district and high courts had sided with the plaintiff, ruling that freedom of editing is restricted to a certain extent if there are particular circumstances in which those who cooperate in coverage place expectations on the contents of the programs concerned.
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Posted by: Timmy on Friday, June 13, 2008 - 05:51 PM
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A Korean-Japanese woman filed a suit against the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan seeking compensation for the suffering she experienced after returning to North Korea under a project backed by the association.
Ko Jong-mi, 47, a second-generation Korean-Japanese from Osaka, demanded at the Osaka District Court on Friday that the association pay her 11 million yen in compensation for encouraging her to return to Pyongyang without explaining the severe living conditions back there.
Ko, who now lives in Osaka after defecting from North Korea, claims she suffered mental and physical anguish in a concentration camp where she was detained in North Korea.
It is the first time that a defector from North Korea who is now living in Japan has filed such a suit.
According to Ko, who was born in Osaka, she returned to North Korea in 1963 at the age of three along with her mother and two brothers.
Her father had died in 1962 and her mother was convinced by an official with the association to return to North Korea after he said, "You will have no worries in life if you go to North Korea."
However, back in Pyongyang, her elder brother was detained in a concentration camp after he hoped to return to Japan and later died in the camp.
Ko also had to take on responsibility for her acquaintance after the person was punished for earning foreign exchange.
In 2000, Ko defected to China with her child but was deported to North Korea, where she was detained in a concentration camp and was tortured.
In 2003, she managed to escape from Pyongyang again and returned to Japan.
"North Korea actively promoted the return of Koreans living in Japan by publicizing that North Korea was paradise on Earth but it neglected its responsibility to explain about the actual living conditions in Pyongyang," said the suit.
A Korean man formerly living in Japan and who now lives in South Korea filed a suit in June 2001, demanding the association pay him compensation because he was subject to forced labor in Pyongyang.
However, the Tokyo District Court rejected the claim, saying, "The statute of limitations has expired under the Civil Code." The man appealed the case, but the Supreme Court confirmed the verdict.
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Posted by: Timmy on Friday, June 13, 2008 - 05:42 PM
National
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North Korea pledged in working-level talks with Japan to investigate the abduction of Japanese nationals by North Korea, Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura said Friday.
Moreover, Pyongyang also promised to cooperate in handing over Japanese leftist radicals who have been living in North Korea since they hijacked a Japan Airlines jetliner in 1970.
In response, Tokyo is poised to lift part of its economic sanctions against North Korea, the foreign minister said.
Tokyo has demanded that the abduction victims be returned home while Pyongyang had maintained that the abduction issue has already been settled and no more Japanese abduction victims were living in North Korea.
North Korean officials made the offer during their consultations with Akitaka Saiki, director general of the Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, in Beijing on Thursday. The working-level consultations were aimed at resuming talks on normalization of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Saiki returned to Tokyo on Friday afternoon.
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Posted by: Timmy on Thursday, June 12, 2008 - 05:33 PM
National
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Bees that were supposed to pollinate cherry trees instead flew off to Someiyoshino cherry blossoms this year, meaning farmers in Yamagata Prefecture are likely to suffer a decline in cherry crops, it has emerged.
The problem was caused by cherry trees blossoming earlier than usual this year, resulting in an overlap with the blossoming period for Someiyoshino trees.
"I don't ever remember a situation like this," one farmer said. "It's like bees have had an affair with the cherry blossoms."
At one cherry farm in the Nakagawara district of Sagae, Yamagata Prefecture, the cherry trees started blossoming on April 20, about five days earlier than normal. About 2.4 million bees were released over the 6.6-hectare farm to pollinate the blossoms.
However, at the same time, Someiyoshino cherry blossom trees were in full bloom in Sagae Park, a famous cherry blossom viewing spot, and along the Sagae River, which runs close to the cherry farm. As a result, many of the bees that were released in the farm flew off, heading to the cherry blossom trees along the river.
Officials at an apiary in Sagae said that flowers in full bloom have stronger-smelling nectar than those that have just opened, making it easier to attract bees.
Toshiyuki Watanabe, 67, a senior official of the cherry farm, lamented the situation.
"It's normal for cherry tress to blossom after the blossoms of Someiyoshino and other trees have fallen down. It's a situation I can't remember happening before."
Prefectural agricultural officials said that across the prefecture, cheery trees blossomed on April 24, four days earlier than normal, and low temperatures and strong winds made it harder for bees to pollinate cherries.
Officials in charge of a committee to investigate cherry crops in Yamagata Prefecture say the overall harvest in 2008 is likely to reach only 85 to 95 percent of the figure recorded in normal years.
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Posted by: Timmy on Thursday, June 12, 2008 - 05:31 PM
Politics
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Police are considering outlawing the possession of daggers after one was used in a deadly stabbing spree in the Akihabara district of Tokyo on Sunday, officials said.
The National Police Agency (NPA) is set to draft a bill to amend the Firearms and Swords Control Law to recognize daggers as illegal swords.
The current law restricts the possession of swords with a blade 15 centimeters or longer. However, the dagger that Tomohiro Kato, 25, used in the stabbing rampage had a 13-centimeter blade and is not subject to restrictions under the law.
NPA officials said daggers are highly lethal weapons and are hardly necessary in people's daily lives.
In a related move, a knife industry association in Gifu Prefecture has decided to stop producing daggers and will not import such weapons for the domestic market.
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Posted by: Timmy on Thursday, June 12, 2008 - 05:29 PM
Crime
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Kanagawa Prefectural Police raided two companies this month on suspicion of illegally exporting a vacuum pump that was uncovered at a nuclear-related facility in North Korea, sources at law enforcement authorities said.
Police raided a machinery manufacturer in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, and a trading company in Tokyo's Minato-ku on suspicion of violating the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Control Law, after the vacuum pump turned up during an inspection in North Korea by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
It is suspected that the pump was used in the plutonium extraction process. Prefectural police are poised to send investigators to Taiwan, where the pump was initially exported, in a bid to find out how it ended up in North Korea.
Police and other officials said several locations that included vacuum pump manufacturing company Tokyo Vacuum and the head office of trading firm Nakano Corp. were raided in the investigation. The two companies are accused of sending several vacuum pumps to Taiwan in 2003 without permission from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
When the IAEA conducted an inspection at a nuclear-related facility in Nyongbyon, North Korea, a pump believed to have been produced by Tokyo Vacuum was uncovered, and a report was filed to the Japanese government.
Nakano Corp.'s president admitted that the company had been raided and that the pumps had been exported.
"When exporting the pumps, we did not falsify the product name or price, and went through normal customs procedures," he said, adding that the company had received a certificate from the manufacturer indicating that the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Control Law did not apply.
"We were not aware that any of the pumps would be put to use in a nuclear facility," the company president said.
On Thursday morning, Tokyo Vacuum closed its shutters, and company officials repeatedly told reporters that due to the absence of superiors, they didn't know any details of the incident.
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Posted by: Timmy on Thursday, June 12, 2008 - 05:28 PM
Crime
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The man arrested over a stabbing rampage in Tokyo's Akihabara district that left seven people dead and 10 injured has told investigators that he gave advance notice of the attack online in the hope that police might stop him.
When questioned over the Sunday attack, the arrested 25-year-old, Tomohiro Kato, reportedly told police, "I thought that if I gave prior notice of the crime on the Net, someone may report it and police may stop me."
Internet users who saw the warning on the bulletin board of a mobile phone Web site sent about a dozen inquiries to the company operating the site, but because it was a Sunday and the company was closed, the inquiries went unnoticed and police were not alerted.
Kato reportedly told police that he had used the bulletin board as a diary. Police authorities said that the site was operated by an information providing company in Ritto, Shiga Prefecture. The company operated a site called "Kyukyoku Koryu Keijiban (Kai)," generally referred to as "Kyukai." Kato started a thread on Kyukai with the title, "I'm going to kill people in Akihabara."
On Sunday, messages he wrote on the bulletin board included:
"I'll drive a vehicle into people, and when I can't use the vehicle anymore, I'll use a knife. Goodbye everyone." (5:21 a.m.)
"It's time to go." (6:31 a.m.)
"I've arrived in Akihabara." (11:45 a.m.)
People who noticed the comments sent in e-mails and other messages to the operating company suggesting the situation was dangerous. However, the company was closed over the weekend and no one was there. It was not until Monday that workers noticed the postings.
When questioned by the Mainichi, a worker at the operating company said, "It's true that we operate the bulletin board, but the person in charge isn't here so we don't know that details."
In the wake of the fatal stabbing, the National Police Agency has asked four organizations including the Telecommunications Carriers Association to alert police immediately if they see postings such as those warning of murder or bomb threats. Police have also decided to improve Japan's Internet Hotline Center to form responses to threats that are received on holidays and at night.
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Posted by: Timmy on Tuesday, June 10, 2008 - 05:37 PM
National
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A Taiwanese fishing boat sank off the disputed Senkaku Islands early Tuesday after it collided with a Japan Coast Guard (JCG) patrol vessel, coast guard officials said.
All 16 men aboard the Taiwanese leisure fishing boat were rescued by the JCG vessel "Koshiki" before the fishing boat sank off Uotsuri Island. The island is among the Senkaku Islands claimed by Japan, China and Taiwan.
JCG officials believe the 16 have no connection with Taiwanese activists who have made claims to the disputed Senkaku Islands. The JCG is set to question them after the Koshiki enters Ishigaki Port in Okinawa Prefecture.
The Taiwanese fishing boat and the Koshiki collided with each other in the Japanese sea about 10 kilometers south of Uotsuri Island in Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, at around 3:20 a.m. on Tuesday, according to the JCG.
The 966.22-ton Koshiki, which belongs to the 10th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters in Kagoshima, rescued three crewmembers and 13 passengers aboard the fishing boat after they fled in life rafts. The captain of the fishing boat sustained light injuries to his right knee.
The fishing boat sank about seven kilometers south-southeast off Uotsuri Island about one hour and 15 minutes later.
Coast guard officials said the Koshiki spotted the Taiwanese fishing boat in Japanese waters and drew near to the boat. The fishing boat then started to zigzag across the sea, and the Koshiki chased after the boat.
When the fishing boat suddenly made a right turn, the two vessels collided with each other, coast guard officials said.
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Posted by: Timmy on Tuesday, June 10, 2008 - 05:36 PM
Entertainment
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Pinup model Akina Minami tossed the ceremonial first pitch to open a Japanese interleague baseball game at Jingu Stadium in Tokyo on Sunday while dressed as "Pikachu," the main character from the popular animation series "Pokemon."
"I'm not good at sports, so I practiced throwing the ball with my stylists. I'm glad the ball got to home base," said the 19-year-old Minami with a smile after her successful pitch at the game between the Tokyo Yakult Swallows and the Chiba Lotte Marines.
Minami, who said she occasionally goes to watch baseball games, was embarrassed by not being able to remember the players' names. "Yoshinobu (Takahashi of the Yomiuri Giants) is probably the only baseball player I know," she said.
The first pitch ceremony was held as part a promotional campaign co-hosted by the animation film "Pocket Monsters Diamond Pearl: Giratina and the Sky's Bouquet Shaymin" (Japanese title) that will be released on July 19, in which Minami starred as a voice actress, and the Yakult Swallows.
Popular "Pokemon" characters will welcome visitors to Yakult Swallow's games at Jingu Stadium until late August. Visitors can also enjoy playing "Pokemon" games at the "Pokemon DP Adventure Park" set up outside the stadium.
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Posted by: Timmy on Tuesday, June 10, 2008 - 05:34 PM
Crime
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A yakuza was slapped Tuesday with a 24-year prison term for fatally shooting a hospital inpatient he mistook for a member of a rival gang.
The Saga District Court convicted Fumio Imada, 61, a member of an affiliate of the Dojin-kai crime syndicate, for murder. Prosecutors had demanded that he spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Imada fatally shot Hiroshi Miyamoto, 34, a sheet metal worker, in his room at a hospital in Takeo, Saga Prefecture, in November last year, according to the ruling.
The room was previously occupied by a member of the Kyushu Seido-kai gang. Imada had intended to kill the yakuza in retaliation for the shooting death of Yoshihisa Matsuo, leader of the Dojin-kai, last August.
Matsuo was killed amid a bitter rivalry between the Dojin-kai and the Kyushu Seido-kai.
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Posted by: Timmy on Monday, June 09, 2008 - 06:13 PM
Business
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Japanese stocks fell Monday but held up a bit better than expected, as weak U.S. jobs data on Friday and surging crude prices triggered a sharp drop on Wall Street.
The Nikkei 225 index fell 308.06 points, or 2.1 percent, to 14,181.38.
Traders say investors want to see how U.S. shares fare later in the global day after of a jump in the American unemployment rate rekindled fears of a slowdown in that key export market.
"The performance (of U.S. stocks) will likely to set the directions of the Nikkei tomorrow," said Tsuyoshi Segawa, equity strategist at Shinko Securities.
Earlier in the day, the market trimmed its losses on hopes that Wall Street stocks may rebound this week after the Dow Jones industrial average stumbled 3.1 percent on Friday. As the dollar stayed above 105 yen during Asian trading hours, futures-buying supported the Nikkei around 14,200 before it slipped lower.
In late Tokyo trading, the dollar bought 105.42 yen up from 104.90 late Friday in New York.
Exporters were weak on profit-taking, with Tokyo Electron shedding 4.8 percent to 6,800 yen and Canon dropping 4.4 percent to 5,450 yen. Toyota Motor Corp. sank 2.9 percent to 5,430 yen, and Honda Motor Co. fell 3.4 percent to 3,730 yen.
Meanwhile, oil-linked shares rose after crude prices surged to records late last week, climbing above US$139 a barrel in after-hours trading Friday. Inpex Holdings gained 3.8 percent to 1.35 million yen. In Asian trading, oil retreated below US$137 a barrel.
One share that made a splash in an otherwise gloomy session was sportswear maker Goldwin, whose shares shot up 22 percent to 299 yen. Individual investors piled into the stock because the company has a license to sell Speedo's LZR Racer swimsuits, which was what Japanese swimmers were wearing as they set new national and world records at the Japan Open swimming competition over the weekend.
In currencies, the euro hit 166.39 yen -- its highest level since Dec. 28 -- and was trading at 165.98 Monday afternoon. Against the greenback, the euro was at $1.5788, a tad higher than $1.5776 in New York Friday.
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Posted by: Timmy on Monday, June 09, 2008 - 06:06 PM
Crime
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A former employee of advertising giant Hakuhodo Inc. was handed a suspended prison term on Monday for molesting a woman after making her drink wine laced with a sleeping drug.
The Tokyo District Court sentenced Fumito Kamizaki, 24, to two years in prison, suspended for four years, for indecent assault.
"The crime is vicious as he assaulted the woman who was unable to resist or even notice his actions," Judge Saburo Tokura said as he handed down the ruling.
Kamizaki took the victim in her 30s to a guestroom at a hotel in Minato-ku, Tokyo, in December last year after lying to her that there would be a party there with celebrities, the court said.
He gave her a glass of wine laced with a sleeping drug, which she drank. After she fell asleep, he molested her, according to the ruling.
Kiyomasa Yagai, 42, his former boss who is accused of lacing the wine with the drug, is being separately tried at the court.
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Posted by: Timmy on Monday, June 09, 2008 - 05:58 PM
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Gifu Shinkin Bank will boost interest paid on term deposits if schoolboy golf prodigy Ryo Ishikawa wins a tournament on the Japan tour this season, bank officials said.
Should the high school boy-cum golf pro win one of the 16 tournaments on this year's Japan Tour, it will raise the interest on yearlong term deposits by 0.1 percentage points.
Bank officials said the increase will be a one-off regardless of how many victories racked up by the golfer popularly known as "The Bashful Prince."
The term deposits eligible in the program are year-long plans that pay interest of 0.5 percent, already 0.15 points higher than other year-long term deposits the bank offers.
Term deposits can be made in amounts from 100,000 yen to 5 million yen. The bank will accept deposits until July 25, or until the fund reaches 20 billion yen, whichever comes first.
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Posted by: Timmy on Monday, June 09, 2008 - 05:55 PM
Crime
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The bereaved families and friends of the victims of Sunday's fatal rampage in Tokyo's Akihabara electric town, in which a man mowed down or stabbed seven people to death, have expressed anger at the suspect and sorrow over the deaths of their loved ones.
"It's all too sudden, I'm furious. It's like I'm having a bad dream," said the father of 19-year-old university student Kazunori Fujino, who was one of the victims.
Kazunori had left home on Sunday morning, telling his father, "I'm going to check out some devices for computers with my friend," according to the father who returned home by taxi shortly past 1 a.m. on Monday after confirming the dead body of his son at a hospital in Tokyo.
The father of Takahiro Kawaguchi, another 19-year-old university student who fell victim to Sunday's rampage, said, "I wish it was a bad dream. Even if you have problems in your life, you shouldn't kill others to relieve your stress. There's no room for sympathy (for the suspect)."
Takahiro was visiting Akihabara with three friends when he was involved in the incident, according to his 53-year-old father.
A teacher at Ukima Junior High School in Tokyo's Kita-ku, who coached a tennis team that Mai Muto, 21, a university student who died in Sunday's incident, used to belong to, said "She was liked by everybody. I wish it was someone else. It's really regrettable."
"She was the type of person who would inspire other people. I'm filled with sadness," said a 22-year-old male university student who was Muto's classmate at the Tokyo Metropolitan Hibiya High School in Chiyoda-ku.
Muto was studying sound effects and recording techniques at the Tokyo University of the Arts.
"What else can I say other than I'm devastated?" said the 74-year-old wife of Katsuhiko Nakamura, 74, who had just retired as a dentist in Tokyo's Fuchu in March.
Nakamura was fatally involved in Sunday's incident while he was visiting Akihabara with his son to buy a computer and other stuff.
"My husband had a lot of things he wanted to do. He is now probably worried about the future of his children and grandchildren and hopes that this kind of thing would never happen again," his wife told the Mainichi.
Terue Asami, 58, who was a homeroom teacher for another victim, Mitsuru Matsui, 33, during his elementary school days in Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture, told the Mainichi: "He was a kind and delicate child, who would offer a helping hand when I was carrying luggage. Why did he have to be involved in such an incident?"
The family members of Kazuhiro Koiwa, 47, an unemployed man who died in the random killing said in a comment released through the Metropolitan Police Department.
"Our feelings of having suddenly lost an important family member in such an incident are not much different from what you would expect. We are hurting now and cannot sleep at night. We would like to mourn over him and quietly send him off. We cannot deal with the news coverage. Please understand our feelings."
The father of Naoki Miyamoto, a 31-year-old company employee who was also among the seven victims of Sunday's incident, said, "I'm saddened. I hope that society will never witness this kind of thing again."
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Posted by: Timmy on Friday, June 06, 2008 - 06:15 PM
Business
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About 300 million yen contributed by employees of the bankrupt language school chain Nova Corp. to a staff welfare fund was transferred to a company bank account in July to cover operating costs and done without the approval of employees, the police have said.
According to the police, former Nova president Nozomu Sahashi ordered the transfer of the entire balance of the fund to a Nova business account to allow the payment of refunds to students who had canceled contracts with the financially troubled firm.
The police are investigating the case as possible embezzlement in the course of business by Sahashi, who owned the affiliate firm that handled the money transfer.
According to sources close to Nova and the investigation, Nova employees made monthly contributions from their pay to fund a mutual aid organization that covered the costs of business trips and occasions of congratulations or condolence.
Held in a bank account, the fund was managed by an employee in Nova's accounting division. The fund was rarely used and had an accumulated a balance of 300 million yen.
Last June, Nova was ordered by the central government to partially suspend its operations due to illegal business acts, including giving misleading sales pitches and making exaggerated claims in advertisements.
Many students canceled their contracts with the firm as a result.
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Tuition refunds ruled out
Trustee administrators for Nova have sent letters to all of the chain's 300,000 former students, stating that due to the firm's financial status, prepaid tuition fees will not be refunded, it was learned Wednesday.
The firm, currently undergoing bankruptcy procedures, has assets of about 3 billion yen with which to pay creditors, according to the letter. This amount is already accounted for, however, by debts of about 2.5 billion yen in outstanding taxes, and about 6 billion yen in unpaid salaries for former employees, including foreign teachers.
Former students therefore cannot expect full or partial refunds of their prepaid tuition and other fees, which totaled about 56.4 billion yen.
The letter said: "The only option left [for former students to receive compensation] is to receive preferential treatment from G.education Co.," the company that took over Nova's language school business.
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Posted by: Timmy on Friday, June 06, 2008 - 05:35 PM
Business
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Japanese banks are saddled with 850 billion yen (US$8 billion) in losses linked to the bad housing credit problem in the United States, the government said Friday, a number that's still small compared to counterparts there and in Europe.
Data from the Financial Services Agency showed the losses at Japanese banks caused by the subprime mortgage crisis in the U.S. had ballooned 41 percent by the end of the first quarter, compared with 600 billion yen (US$5.7 billion) at the end of December.
The agency also said banks and other lenders hold 1.019 trillion yen (US$9.6 billion) in subprime-related products, down from 1.519 trillion yen (US$14.3 billion) in December.
When combining losses that are indirectly related to the subprime mortgage crisis, the losses widen to as much as 2.436 trillion yen (US$23.0 billion), the government said.
Japan is feeling the global fallout from the U.S. credit woes, but more serious risks may come from declining exports caused by economic slowdowns in the U.S. and Asia. Rising oil and raw material costs are also weighing on the world's second largest economy.
Earlier this week, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Japan's growth will be moderate this year at 1.7 percent. Japan's economy grew 1.5 percent in the fiscal year ended March 31, a drop from growth of 2.5 percent the previous fiscal year.
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Posted by: Timmy on Friday, June 06, 2008 - 05:32 PM
Business
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After copping a beating for much of the past couple of years, NTT DoCoMo is poised to strike back with its new line of mobile phones aimed at giving users what they want, according to Sunday Mainichi (6/15).
Since portability came into effect almost two years ago, allowing mobile phone users to change carriers while keeping the same number, NTT DoCoMo has seen its dominant market presence eaten away by fierce rivals au and Softbank.
Last year, NTT DoCoMo's share of Japan's 100 million-plus user mobile phone market fell below 50 percent for the first time in 11 years and, now has just 53 million subscribers.
NTT DoCoMo has fought back, though, moving its marketing emphasis from trying to sign up new customers to satisfying those already registered with it.
"We listened to users' requests like 'Give us something simple instead of all these useless functions' and 'give us thinner phones to watch our One Seg (TV broadcasts for mobile phones),'" an NTT DoCoMo spokesman tells Sunday Mainichi. "We've re-made our line based entirely on the types of phones users are looking for."
NTT DoCoMo has come out with nine new models in its 906i series and 11 new versions for its 706i range. The 706i line includes the P706iu, which, at just 9 millimeters thick, is the world's thinnest phone with One Seg reception capability; but the series also includes the "Wellness Mobile" SH706iw, a phone that also works as a pedometer and checks the pulse rate. The 906 series, meanwhile, can be turned into IP phones when connected to a wireless network.
"Demand in Japan's mobile phone market has shifted largely toward buyers of new models and there's not much hope of signing up new customers," an industry source tells Sunday Mainichi, a reputable current affairs weekly produced by the Mainichi Newspapers. "Coming up with highly functional phones is a must to succeed."
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Posted by: Timmy on Friday, June 06, 2008 - 05:27 PM
Technology
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Japan's Kibo laboratory at the International Space Station (ISS) was fully activated early on Friday Japanese time, with the necessary electrical and communications systems in place.
The space lab was completely activated at 5:49 a.m. on Friday, Japanese time, with a backup electrical and communications system in place.
Two racks to be used for experiments were brought into the lab. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency plans to begin conducting experiments in August after confirming the lab's initial performance.
On Friday Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide transported an electrical control rack that had been in a storage facility temporarily set up at the ISS in March into the lab. He also oversaw the activation of the control rack for the Kibo's robot arm.
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Posted by: Timmy on Friday, June 06, 2008 - 05:25 PM
National
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The rainy season began in the Kanto region, which includes Tokyo, earlier than in northern Kyushu this year -- an unusual phenomenon that hadn't happened in 13 years, according to the Meteorological Agency.
This is only the fifth time that such a phenomenon has been observed since the agency began to take statistics in 1951, agency officials said.
The rainy season typically starts in southern areas earlier as the high-pressure system in the Pacific Ocean grows stronger in the south and gradually pushes the seasonal rain front toward the north.
However, high-pressure systems unusually appeared in the Sea of Okhotsk east of Hokkaido and the Pacific Ocean off the Sanriku district of the Tohoku region in northeastern Honshu between late May and the beginning of this month.
These caused cold and wet air to blow into the Kanto-Koshin region and brought seasonal rains earlier than normal. The agency said the rainy season got under way in the Kanto-Koshin region on June 2, six days earlier than normal.
On the other hand, the rainy season has not yet begun in northern Kyushu and western Honshu as a seasonal rain front is moving northward slower than usual.
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- Boy not allowed to get life-saving transplant in Japan
(Jun 14, 2009)
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