Metropolis-Aug-8-2014

Scientists in
Hiroshima have
bred a flightless
ladybug for use as
a biopesticide in
greenhouses.
the small print
BY STEVE TRAUTLEIN
LINGO BOX
Wairo wo uketoru
( 賄 賂 を 受 け 取 る) = accept a bribe
Saiban-in ( 裁 判 員 ) = lay judge
Tento-mushi (てんとう 虫 ) = ladybug
Sekai-isan ( 世 界 遺 産 ) = UNESCO
World Heritage Site
THE SEA HAS BOTH ITS GENTLE AND VIOLENT SIDES,
BUT THE PACIFIC OCEAN IS THE SEA OF BLESSING,
THE SEA OF OUR TREASURE.”—Tsuyoshi Maekawa, leader of
a shopkeepers’ association in disaster-hit Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, on the
opening of a local beach for the first time since the 3/11 tsunami
BRASS ACTION
⊲For ⊲ the first time ever, the top uniformed
military officers of Japan, the U.S. and South
Korea held face-to-face talks. The meeting
took place early last month in Hawaii.
⊲Japan’s ⊲ youngest mayor—29-year-old Hiroto
Fujii of Minokamo city in Gifu Prefecture—was
arrested for allegedly accepting a bribe from
a local business owner.
⊲About ⊲ 300 people attended a meeting in
Adachi-ku to call for the dissolution of Aleph,
the successor to the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday
cult.
⊲Members ⊲ of a government advisory panel
have recommended that a group of Christian
churches in Nagasaki be listed as UNESCO
World Heritage Sites.
THE AIR UP THERE
⊲Japanese ⊲ officials are set to adopt the Boeing
777-300ER as the government’s new official
state aircraft.
⊲The ⊲ planes will be used for shuttling the
prime minister and the imperial family on
at a glance
BY GRACE MINETA
overseas trips.
⊲Among ⊲ the requirements for the new aircraft
are that they’re able to “fly directly to the U.S.
East Coast” as well as provide VIP rooms and
executive offices.
⊲Meanwhile, ⊲
ANA is set to introduce a
“stretched” version of the Boeing Dreamliner,
dubbed the 787-9.
FOREIGN INTRIGUE
⊲Newly ⊲ declassified documents from the foreign
ministry show that officials were unsure
about the protocol for issuing a passport to
Emperor Hirohito before a state visit to Europe
in 1971. The emperor had not embarked
on an overseas trip since assuming the throne
in 1926.
⊲A ⊲ bilateral economic partnership agreement
is being credited with a surge in wine imports
from Chile. Chilean wines have overtaken
imports from Italy and trail only those from
France in terms of market share.
⊲Under ⊲ the provisions of a new trade deal,
Mongolia has agreed to reduce tariffs on Japa-
stats
74
Percent of respondents to a newspaper
survey who believe that the lay judge
system, which was introduced five
years ago, should be continued
79
Percent of respondents who say they
do not want to serve as lay judges
1.03 MILLION
Number of EcoCute water heaters that
Panasonic is recalling over concerns
that the devices “could blow up due to
metal corrosion”
nese cars while Japan will lift import restrictions
on Mongolian “heated beef.”
GRIM TIDINGS
⊲Officials ⊲ at the trade ministry have determined
that if a magnitude nine earthquake
were to strike along the Nankai Trough, it
would liquefy the soil underneath nearly half
of the petrochemical complexes on the Pacific
coast.
⊲Authorities ⊲
at the justice ministry say more
than 200 organizations that participated in a
government-sponsored training program for
foreigners abused their interns last year.
⊲The ⊲ labor ministry announced that the number
of compensation claims for “work-related
depression or other mental illnesses” hit a
record high in fiscal 2013.
INTO THE WILD
⊲According ⊲ to the environment ministry, the
number of licensed hunters in Japan has fallen
from 518,000 in 1975 to just 198,000 in 2011.
⊲What’s ⊲ more, only 9 percent of hunters 40
years ago were aged 60 or older; today, that
figure is 66 percent.
⊲Bottom ⊲ Story of the Week: “Composer
Writes Music for Poem by Barefoot Gen creator
Keiji Nakazawa” (via Mainichi Japan)
Many Japanese women's desire to become—and remain—pale-skinned extends to the beach, where they
will wear several layers of clothing to protect their complexion. This can leave their Western counterparts
feeling a little overexposed.
Small Print Updated Weekly
→ METURL.COM/SMALLPRINT
Compiled from reports by AP, Japan Today, The Japan Times, Jiji, The Tokyo
Reporter, The Mainichi, The Japan News, AFP, Reuters and Kyodo
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