Earth quake hits Japan again on 24th July

Nihon ni Jishin wa itsumo okirimasu ka.

This is one of the Japanese sentence I learned during my first few months in Tokyo. The translation is: 'Is the earth quake commonly occur in Japan ?' Sometimes in order to remember this sentence I used to ask my friends and they used to answer 'hai' means Yes.

Japan is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries.

On early hours of July 24th, Thursday I could see the hanging fancy lights in my bedroom oscillating and the doors started giving vibration and noise. Sitting on the floor I thought it was my feeling only. But I could really see the oscillation of the hanging lights on the roof. It reminded me the incidents happened in 1993 September in Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India, which was my first experience with earth quake. The next day we could read and watch the agonies of more than 100,000 Indian people from Latur and neighboring districts.

A kind of fear gripped me and I just went to the balcony to see whether anybody is there outside. I could not see anybody outside. Then I realized, Jishin wa itsumo okirimasu ! Earth quake happens frequently in Japan. Probably people do not take small vibrations seriously.

Next day morning, news papers were with full of news on the earth quake that a powerful earthquake rattled parts of northern Japan early Thursday, injuring more than 100 people, triggering landslides and cutting power to thousands of people, officials said.

Associated Press reported: Japan's Meteorological Agency said there was no danger of a tsunami from the temblor, which had a preliminary magnitude of 6.8. It struck shortly after midnight about 65 miles underground and centered just off the coast of Iwate, 280 miles northeast of Tokyo.

At least 109 people were injured, including 16 seriously, according to the National Police Agency. Japan's Kyodo News agency said 131 people were injured, citing its own tally.

The earthquake caused strong shaking of up to 40 seconds in large parts of northern Japan, official said.

"Everything has fallen off the shelves, scattered all over the floor," grocery store owner Tomio Kudo told national broadcaster NHK from the town of Hirono, where the shaking was most violent. "Even a big refrigerator has moved about 30 centimeters (1 foot)."
Several nuclear power plants in the region continued operations after inspection by plant workers found no problems, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said in a statement.
The quake caused a blackout at more than 8,000 homes, it said.

Japan's "bullet" super-express trains were suspended in some areas, according to operator East Japan Railway Co. The earthquake also triggered landslides at several locations, the police agency official said. Details were not immediately available.

Relief workers and local officials hit the streets to take a closer look to the affected areas in daylight Thursday. A team of government officials headed by Disaster Minister Shinya Izumi also arrived in Iwate.

"We must grasp the extent of damage as quickly as possible so that we can immediately take necessary steps," Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda told reporters.

Police said some of the more serious injuries included a woman in Hirono who broke a leg falling down stairs and another woman in Aomori city who broke her hip fleeing out a window.

A 6.8 magnitude earthquake is capable of causing serious, widespread damage. Last month, a 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck sparsely populated rural areas in northern Japan, killing at least 12 people, leaving 10 others missing and injuring more than 300.

Meteorological Agency official Takashi Yokota warned of possible aftershocks from Thursday's quake.

Watch this video news from Reuters:

Remembering Akira Kurosawa

During 1990s, at the time of my graduate studies, there was a screening of Japanese movies in my college campus. It was then I first heard about Akira Kuroswa, the great world famous movie director. The name glued to my memories along with the flashes from his movies. It was such a memorable experience for me and my friends at that time, that we became fan of Japanese movies, eventhough hardly we get anything to watch after that film festival.

Akira Kurosawa stands great with his masterpiece art works. Kurosawa-san is widely regarded as one of the greatest directors in cinema history. It is a testimony to his genius that he could break the language barriers and was able to entertain and communicate with millions of cinema lovers all over the world surpassing cultural limitations.

Among the most post-worldwar II films, both in Japan and abroad, have been those of Kurosawa-san, including Rashomon, Ikiru, and Seven Samurai (Shichinin no Samurai). Kurosawasan has been called the most western of Japanese film directors, and it is true that in content, his films especially those action oriented such as Seven Samurai or deal with events by means of an existentialist kind of psychological probing such as Rashomon, are more readily and universally comprehensible than the films of many other Japanese directors.

The three films screened during the film festival were Rashomon, Ikiru and Seven Samurai.

Most of my friends liked the Rashomon in its presentation. Rashomon tells the story of a brutal ambush, rape, and murder, viewed from four different angles - the attacker, the woman, the dead husband, and a witness. Rashomon is an excursion into the nature of truth in storytelling, and how people lie to protect their image and interest. Depending upon which version of story about the incident, the husband was killed in a duel with the bandit to uphold his wife's honor, or he killed himself in mortification over the ravishment of his wife, or he was killed when incited to duel with the bandit by the wife after first seeking to disassociate himself from her behavior.

Ikiru is about the existential search for meaning in life of an aging bureaucrat, who finds out he has only six months to live, and the way his colleagues, relatives, and acquaintances interpret his actions. The theme of this movie was a discussion subject for many days among my friends.

And seven samurai is the incomparable tale of seven honorable samurai who come to the defense of a farming community against bandits. Set in medieval Japan, this film is still one of the most acclaimed epics of the 20th century. Read with the story of film the fact that Kurosawa's father worked as the director of a junior high school operated by the Japanese military and the Kurosawas descended from a line of former samurai.

It may be a coincidence that I got a chance to visit Kurosawa-san's land !

What is Sento Kun and do you like Sento kun ?

Here is an interesting social debate after the mascot Sento kun.

Today I heard from one of my friend about the funny mascot Sento Kun. I think atleast in Japan, there is no need to ask do you know what is Sento Kun?

The city named Nara was the old capital of Japan. Japan will celebrate the 1300th anniversary of the Nara-Heijyoko Capital. This functionw will be held in 2010. Sento kun is the character selected as a symbolf for the function to celebrate the 1300th anniversary of the transfer the national capital to Heizei, in Nara. To transfer the national capital means “sento” in Japanese language. 'knn' means boy. So this character is called “sento-kun.”

Many Japanese people criticize it because it is not so cute and it is strange looking. Sento kun was selected from 21 plans submitted. It combines the horns of deers, which is the symbol of Nara, and the body of a boy.

Many of the Japanese are happy about the mascot character for the Commemorative Events of the 1300th Anniversary of the Nara-Heijyoko Capital to be held in 2010.
For some Japanese Sento kun is creepy, ugly and for some it is sacrilegious as the face resembles to Buddha. Many had reported saying that Sento kun makes them terrified and they want to see a new character as soon as possible.

Nara citizens started appealing to the public for new character. More 34000 people voted for their favorite characters. However, some people say that new candidates don’t have a great impact than Sento Kun.

The character was designed by a sculptor and professor at Tokyo University of the Arts, Satoshi Yabuuchi, who is one of twelve guest designers invited by the Association for Commemorative Events of the 1300th Anniversary of the Nara-Heijyokyo Capital.

The name SENTO-Kun was selected from more than 14,000 public applicants by the association of the event on April 15th. Ever since the announcement of the official mascot character in February many Japanese, including media and religious groups have expressed their negative opinions about SENTO-Kun.

Japanese people says ‘Nara prefecture has become the laughingstock. .. It’s really grotesque.’ Some even think that it is blasphemous towards Buddha and they blame that ‘People who does not have any problem with this figure must be people who have nothing to do with faith.

Some people have positive views about Sento-kun. They see it as kimokawaii - creepy but cute or even as adorable.

An online community was created on Mixi to call for a withdrawal of the mascot selection by the event association immediately after the debut. Now the community has over 1000 members, and it launched a website called “Sen Sanbyaku-nen Kinen wo Sukuu Kai means The 1300th Anniversary Support Group”. Besides the unpopularity of the mascot character design, the group criticizes the Association of Commemorative Events for spending over 5,000,000 yen in tax money to buy out the copyright from Mr. Yabuuchi. The group gathered petitions on the streets to call for a withdrawal of the mascot character design, and conducted a questionnaire survey on the design.

There’s a hot debate on the inappropriate method of character selection as well.

Neither the Governor of Nara-prefecture nor the Association has any intention of changing the mascot character, and the Association issued a statement asking for support from the public for Sento-kun and for the event.

These debates around Sento-kun certainly helped to attract public attention to the event.

A Nara-based Buddhist group announced that it had created its own mascot to mark the 1,300th anniversary of Nara becoming capital of Japan.

The mascot’s name is Namu-kun, and despite what you may think, he is a boy. He is made to look like Prince Shotoku, a leader whose palace is supposed to have been located in Nara. Some feel that this mascot is more justifiable to Buddhism than the unpopular Sento-kun, an antlered Buddha-thing that the Nara government officially named its mascot back in March.

Watch You Tube Videos of Animated Sento kun Watch Dancing Sento Kun

Remember Pearl Harbor !

As part of my learning process, I was reading through 'The Fruits of Modernity' in 'Japanese culture by Paul Varley, an outstanding book, in which the author in around 383 pages tell us the Japanese history and culture. The narration of facts attracted me much. This book neatly surveys over 2000 years of the arts, religion and cultural peculiarities of one the most cultivated of nations - Japan. Varley's Japanese Culture remains the best book of its kind on the market.

I was surprised by the braveness and obsession (we can use this word) Japanese showed during the time of second world war. I was excited by the narrated stories in the book. During 1941, as Japan penetrated its powers through the south east asia, the United staes reacted by freezing Japanese assets in America and by joining Britain and Holland in imposing an embargo on all exports to Japan. This intractable American opposition to the Japanese aggression in 1941 made Pearl Harbor all but inevitable.

To the Americans, the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, in which more than two thousand Americans died, was an dastardly act that inspired a thirst for revenge. This revenge account for much of the brutality with which US subsequently conducted the pacific war.

To the Japanese on the other hand, there was nothing infamous or dastardly about Pearl Harbor. Japanese regarded it as a brilliant victory. Japanese public was ecstatic. Many writers publicly expressed that the anticipated war had finally begun and that Japan had delivered a devastating blow at the enemy, identified primarily as the United States and England.

Choosing the classical waka form of verse, a poet proclaimed that "The time has come, To slaughter America and England." And see this one:

Remember December eighth !

On this day the history of the world was changed.

The Anglo-Saxon powers

On this day were repulsed on Asian land and sea.

It was their Japan which repulsed them,

A tiny country in the Eastern sea,

Nippon, the Land of the Gods

Ruled over by a living god.

Whatever be the American and western point of view holds on Japanese aggression during second world war, we Indians while studying through highschool history books, had felt great proud about Japan. It was Japan who helped the Subhash Chandra bose, the great freedom fighter of India, to capture many eastern areas of British ruled India. Japan promised a new hope for Indian freedom fighting at the time of world war. Indian people hate to see Japan's surrender to US.

Now, the business had changed the world scenario and the historical faults of nations are no more important. But still the aggressiveness with which Japanese fought the war is remarkable.

As Paul Varley comment on his book, Japan and Japanese never give up. They keep on trying and exploring and if in war, Japan fights to its last soldier !

Is there any Indonesian Restaurants in Tokyo?

Is this a question !

There are many Indonesian restaurants in Japan, especially in Tokyo. Indonesian migrant population in Japan is more compared to other south east asian countries like India. Japan also have interests in Indonesia as it is an oil rich area. During second world war, when allied forces, stopped oil supply to Japan, Japan dared to attack Indonesia and captured it as a source of petroleum. That is now part of history. Our topic is Indonesian Hotels in Tokyo.

This is the second time I was going to an Indonesian hotel in Tokyo. The first time I went with my Indonesian friend was to Surabay hotel in Odaiba, near water park. This time, we went to another SuraBaya hotel in Toyosu. This hotel is inside the Lalaport shopping complex in Toyosu.

Many varieties of food were displayed infront of the Surabaya hotel. Indonesian Surabaya hotel is near to and Indian hotel Bombay Talkie, inside the shopping mall.

The taste of food is similar to the traditional taste of food at Surabaya, my Indonesian friend told. Surabaya is a district in the East Java province. Surabaya is the capital of East Java. The distance from Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia is around 900 km, and takes around 70 minutes by air. East Java is famous for its cultural and religious mix up. Majority of Hindu people in Indonesia are from Java. They keep the traditional customs and rituals of Hindu religion till date.

'nashi goreng'

The food we have tasted also were not much different from many of the food varieties I have experienced in India. I took 'nashi goreng' in Indonesia, meaning fried rice with oil fried chicken and half boiled egg with fried fish snack. Nashi goreng is one of the popular food in Surabaya. The coutesy of the staff at restaurant was commentable. They are attentive and polite. Some Japanese staff are also there.

I enjoyed the nashigoreng and would love to revisit Surabaya restaurant again !

Tokyo International Book Fair at Big sight

Japan is the World’s 2nd Largest Publishing Market. Today, July 13 was the last day of book fair. One of my friend, Mr. Guo zhen, who is originally from China during our Japanese lessons at OVTA told me about the 15th Tokyo International Book Fair. The venue was in Big sight Tokyo, around 10 minutes by train from Toyosu station. Big sight and Toyosu are some of Tokyo's posh areas.

Finding English books in Tokyo is a tiresome task. Manytimes I had felt sorry about myself saying shit about this trend. I was searching for such a book fair from the first week of my stay in Japan. Along with my Indonesian friend, I could enjoy purchasing books from TIBF.

There were 770 Exhibitors from over 30 Countries. As the leading event in the world's 2nd largest publishing market, TIBF is the best venue to find the latest releases in all genres - fiction & non-fiction, business & economics, education, how-to's, manga & comics, all types of magazines, and many other specialty books. As TIBF brings more business every year, the number of both exhibitors and visitors is increasing.

There were international publishers around the world will be joining TIBF, such as Asian exhibitors from South Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam and India, as well as those from all over Europe including UK, Spain, Belgium, France, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. As well, TIBF will welcome exhibitors from US, Canada, and Brazil. To be the Hub of Rights Trade in Asia TIBF Show Management offers an online “Rights Trade Support Service” for its participants.

English bookd were very less compared to the Japanese books. The used books section observed the peak of rush, with foreigners and Japanese people eagerly looking for books of their interest. We purchased some really useful books of our interest. The low price of technical books in Used books section surprised us.

Organizers had arranged stage programs for the visitors to relax and take interval during purchase. Ofcourse it was in Japanese ! no doubt, but atleast I could take some snaps !

Japanese Marriages

I have studied in our Japanese language class about verbs, that 'getting married' in Japanese is 'Kekkonshimasu'. Huge amounts of money is spent on getting married in Japan, as the lavish advertising by specicalized wedding establishments in trains and other public places indicates. Eventhough this is the general case, in recent years, simple inexpensive marriages, popularly known in Japanese as jimikon have become popular. The meaning of jimikon is plain wedding.

Love marriages are most popular in Japan. In Tokyo and other cities, love matches or Ren'ai kekkon are increasingly becoming trend. But arranged marriages or miai kekkon are frequent in interiror parts.

In arranged marriages, the families first exchange shashin or photograhs and rirekisho or bio-data, which generally give information about the family as a whole and about the prospective candidate. Even though these marriages are arranged by families, the couple will be given enough opportunities to get to know each other. And in worst case to say no, if anything wrong they found each other, before any final arrangements are made. This formal introduction and get know each other helps marriage breaks after.

The first formal meeting of the prospective candidates is known as o-miai. They will be accompanied by the perosn who is arranging the marriage. In Japan such persons are known as nakodo. Nakodo is an important figure during the wedding festivities in Japan. Nakodo is so important in Japan that even couples who have met without the aid of a nakodo will ask someone close to them to act as a nakodo.

iPhone launched in Japan

Yesterday I wrote in this blog that Japan is waiting for iPhone. Today, after having my lunch at McDonald at Itoyokado in Kiba, near to my office, I was walking through the open shopping malls, watching Japanese people shopping.

My attention was drawn to a mike announcement in Japanse and many people gathered near one of the entrance of Itoyokado. There was a huge rush and as I approached, I found many leaflets of iPone 3G. It was a booking counter and the displays showed i-Phone 3G, 8G and 16G models.

Further I read Reuters news that more than a thousand excited and sleep deprived Japanese celebrate the launch of Apple's new iPhone in Tokyo. The long-anticipated third-generation (3G) iPhone, which has faster Web links than its predecessor and supports third-party applications such as games and email, was Launched Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand on Friday as part of the global launch in 22 countries.

Wath the Video Report from Chika Osaka, Reuters:

Reuters Reports Japan awaits for iPhone 3G

Reuters reported on July 9 that the wait is almost over for the new 3G version of the Apple iPhone which hits stores around the world on Friday. In markets like Britain retailers have already warned that demand could well outstrip supply.

But in tech-savvy Japan analysts say the iPhone faces a big battle justifying all the hype.

In Japan, one of the world's most advanced mobile markets, about 20 people were lining up outside of the Softbank Corp flagship store in Tokyo on Wednesday morning, with a sign at the top of the queue reading "We Love iPhone".

"The big appeal (of the iPhone) is that this is an Apple product," said Hiroyuki Sano, a 24-year-old graduate student who arrived early on Tuesday from Nagoya, 360 km (225 miles) west of Tokyo, to be first in the line.

He will turn 25 on Thursday while waiting to get his hands on the high-end version of the iPhone with 16 gigabytes of memory. Apple also offers an entry-level version with an 8 gigabyte memory.

Softbank, Japan's third-biggest mobile carrier, will start selling iPhones at the flagship store at 7 a.m. on Friday (2200 GMT Thursday) and expand sales nationwide at noon.

Research firm Enterbrain has said 6.7 percent of 1,200 people it surveyed in Japan wanted to buy an iPhone immediately, and most of the people in the queue plan to buy the device as their second cellphone.

Japan's 108 million mobile users already frequently use Web browsing and email on 3G networks, and some analysts say the iPhone might not attract many buyers among mainstream cellphone users. "We can expect certain demand from core Apple fans and others, but there will be users who would hesitate about buying iPhone because of high monthly charges of some 8,000 yen," said Hironobu Sawake, a JPMorgan senior analyst in Tokyo.

Even though there will be other features that are more attractive than ordinary phones, the fact that iPhone does not offer some features that are available on most handsets could turn off some users too, some users commented.

Japanese Tea Ceremony and Reese Witherspoon

The Japanese tea ceremony is a great part of Japanese culture. It is known in Japanese as cha-no-yu. Japanese tea ceremony is a custom influenced by Zen Buddhism. In Tea ceremony, powdered green tea, or matcha 抹茶, is traditionally and ceremonially prepared by skilled practitioner and served to a small group of guests in a calm and cool atmosphere.

A tea practitioner is familiar with the production and types of tea, with kimono, calligraphy, flower arranging, ceramics, incense and a wide range of other disciplines and traditional arts in addition to his or her school's tea practices. For this reason, the study of tea ceremony takes many years and often lasts a lifetime for many. Even to participate as a guest in a formal tea ceremony requires knowledge of sado, including the prescribed gestures and phrases expected of guests, and the proper way to take tea and sweets, and general deportment in the tea room.

On June 11, Hollywood actress Reese Witherspoon took part in a Japanese tea ceremony, serving green tea for breast cancer survivors in Tokyo.

Watch this Video News from Reuters:

Wearing a traditional Japanese kimono, Witherspoon was taught the tea-making procedure in which powdered green tea, or matcha, is ceremonially prepared and served to others. The Legally Blonde star is an Avon Global Ambassador promoting women's health and safety, a project supported by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).

She was visiting Japan to raise awareness of breast cancer and domestic violence. A study shows only 12% of Japanese women get regular screenings for breast cancer.

Working in a Japanese company

Many Japanese companies have branches abroad and they do employ foreigners. This publisher is also belong to this category. Japanese companies employ foreigners both in Japan and in foreign country as well. Japanese companies are well known for their systematic approach to work and discipline. They are also known for their system of lifetime employment and promotion of staff according to the age rather than personal achievements. Even after this, only the most talented will be able to got right to the topp.

Change is happening in these areas and now a days the word 'Risutora' or downsizing has entered in the vocabulary. If you are working in a Japanese company, over time will be a must. You have to show a lot of output and give the company a right place in your life probably equal status to the life.

It is well known that Japanese people are addicted to work. Many times during discussion I have heard about Japanese work culture their obsession with the job. Most of the Japanese are workaholics. They expect the same attitude from their foreign counterparts.

So, if you are selected by a Japanese company, be prepared to do hard work and earn reputation.

Love to Wear Stylish Prescription Glasses

Like other parts of the world, Japanese people also love to wear glasses. Wearing glasses is a symbol of intellectual level of a person and also it is a fashion.

Zenny Optical Sells Stylish Prescription Glasses Online. They have a huge selection of frames, with single vision lens, sun-sensor (photo-chromic) lens, tinted sunglasses lens, bifocal lens and progressive lens. Which you will love to own. The Secret of Zenni’s Low Prices is that they sell only their own manufactured frames direct to the customer, with no middlemen and virtually no advertising budget. That makes Zenny Optical unique and genuine.

Zenny Optical’s Single Vison, Bi-Focal and progressive bi-focal lenses are premium-quality high-index Polycarbonate composite polymer high-impact resistant lenses with full UV protection and a special strong anti-scratch coating. Sunglass tint is available for any of our glasses for $4.95. Premium Anti-Reflective plus Anti-Radiation coating, a very highly recommended upgrade, is only $4.95 extra.

The anti-reflective & anti-radiation coating is great for night driving and Computer use. They minimize annoying and dangerous reflections and glare in night driving and reduce glare from computer screens to prevent eye strain. Also, Anti-reflective coating greatly reduces the external reflections on the lens surface which would mask the eyes, producing a much nicer cosmetic appearance.

Most Japanese love to wear stylish glasses. Like the tooth brush habits, wearing glasses is another popular stereotype of the Japanese. It makes them feel good and recent surveys had shown that Japanese people think that wearing glassess is a symbol of intellectual thinking level of a person. Japanese society value the spectacles or glasses and those who wear it !

Japan use Fiber Optic cable to Monitor Earth Quake and Tsunami

Japan is prone to earth quakes and had witnessed many worst hit tragedies in the past. Gained experience from past events and in order to take preventive action to save its citizens, Japan has been investing in its research facilities to get more advanced technologies to monitor earth quake, Tsunami and similar natural disasters.

As a measure to monitor natural disasters, Japan’s Meteorological Agency abbreviated as JMA has begun laying a fiber-optic cable under the Pacific Ocean. Generally Fiber Optic cables are deployed for high data transmission and supreme quality voice channels. Japan will not use this undersea fiber optic cables for telecommunications. The cable will be part of an advanced monitoring and alert system that could provide warning before a destructive earthquake hit the shores of Japan.

In the past the mainly the south east asian and far east Asian countries had bad experience with Tsunami. One of the major reasons for these destructive tidal waves was the undersea earthquakes. Undersea tidal waves possess much more energy that normal waves. Japan has been hit by killer tsunami waves in the past. The worst series of tsunami waves were those that occurred in December 2004 that followed an earthquake near another island nation, Indonesia.
The new monitoring system with fiber cable extends 220 kilometers from the south coast of Japan near Shizuoka prefecture. Shizuoka prefecture has long been marked by seismologists for having a significant chance of a major earthquake.

Along with the cable there are nine large pods. Each around 2 meters long and approx. 26 cm wide. The pods were developed by NEC as part of the project. Out of these nine pods, five pods are earthquake sensors, three pods are tsunami sensors and the last pod handles signal relay from the far end of the cable back to shore. From the shore the signals are sent to data processing centers in Tokyo and Osaka. Since the two cities are several hundred kilometers apart, even if one got affected by an earthquake, the other should keep running. Data from the pods can be used to determine the location and size of undersea earthquakes and the possibility of a tidal wave.

As Japan is one of the most seismically active nations, it has a highly sophisticated earthquake monitoring and reporting systems. Typically the size and intensity of a quake is announced by the JMA and flashed over Television screens within 2 or 3 minutes of its occurrence. An important integral part of this reporting system is that it predicts the possibility of tidal waves.

A more recent innovation is an early-warning system that seeks to provide notice seconds in advance of strong quakes. The system monitors the fast moving but weak primary waves to quickly determine the approximate location and intensity of a quake and attempts to get out a warning in advance of the more destructive secondary waves.

Recently the warning system provided about 13 seconds warning of a strong quake to the 1 million residents of Sendai city in northern Japan. The warning system can't yet provide alerts fast enough to those very close to the epicenter but it's still in its early days having started operation last October.

The new cable is being laid by the Subaru. It is a ship owned by Japanese telecom provider NTT. This ship is specifically built for this job. It set sail from Yokohama port on the first week of July. Before the ship started its journey the reporters were allowed on-board to observe the functionality of the ship.

Fiber Optic Cable was in a large circular storage area that is several stories high in the center of the ship. This time the circular storage contained only 220 kilometers of fiber optic cable for the new cable system. But the storage is capable of storing up to 5,000 kilometers. Just like pulling a piece of string from the center of a ball, the cable is pulled up to the deck level of the ship and then through a series of pulleys and wheels before disappearing over the back of the boat and into the ocean.

In the deep ocean the fiber optic cable sits on the seabed. Near to land a trench needs to be dug so the fiber optic cable lays under the surface for protection. Once the installation is over, the system will provide advanced features for seismologists to predict earthquakes and killer waves. Fiber optics not just limited to voice or internet communication in Japan !

Japanese Monkeys put on Crash diet !

It is reporte by Reuters that a group of monkeys in a Japanese Park have been put on a strict diet after many of them ballooned from overeating as measure to reduce their weight.

About 50 Rhesus monkeys, who live in an enclosure at Ohama park in Osaka, have been steadily gaining weight for several years. Some became so fat they couldn't move around.

Ohama park authorities decided to put these primates on a crash diet, with their calorie intake being cut nearly sixty-percent.

Watch full video:


Source, Reuters, Sonia Legg reports.

Water-fuel car unveiled in Japan

Japanese company Genepax presents its eco-friendly car that runs on nothing but water.

The car has an energy generator that extracts hydrogen from water that is poured into the car's tank. The generator then releases electrons that produce electric power to run the car. Genepax, the company that invented the technology, aims to collaborate with Japanese manufacturers to mass produce it.

SOUNDBITE: Kiyoshi Hirasawa, CEO, Genepax.

Sourc: Reuters, Michelle Carlile-Alkhouri reports.

Japan bank ties with Bank of India

Jan. 25 - Japan's No. 2, Mizuho Financial, will form business ties with top State Bank of India, the latest global move by a Japanese lender.

Mizuho last week announced a $1.2 billion investment in Merrill Lynch, a milestone for Japan's once reeling banks, now looking for overseas opportunities.

Source: Reuters, Dan Sloan reports

Japanese imports of Chinese food

Japanese imports of Chinese food are not expected to cool despite a recent dumpling scare.

One-fifth of Japan's frozen food comes from China, and Yuzaburo Mogi, head of soy sauce giant Kikkoman says that trend won't change based on sourcing needs and price differentials.

Source: Reuters, Dan Sloan reports.

Japan smokers will pay more

Rising materials costs may hit Japan consumers in their front pockets, as Japan Tobacco eyes hiking prices for the first time in 14 years.

JT expects profit to fall to $3 billion this year, its first drop in 8 years.

Source: Reuters, Dan Sloan reports.

Japan - Love for Roses

Tens of thousands gather for a rose and gardening show on the outskirts of Tokyo.

An estimated 250,000 visitors are expected to visit the Tenth International Rose and Gardening Show over five days. The rose does not have a long history in Japan compared to the chrysanthemum or the cherry blossom, which are Japan's "national flowers", but its popularity is definitely blooming!

Source: Reuters, Michelle Carlile-Alkhouri reports.

Japan and Earth Quakes

Earth Quake is quite common in Japan. During my initial days, when I feel that something shaky, I suspected it my wrong judgement. I never disclosed that sometimes I feel like the earth shivering. Since I have a back pain, I attributed those shakes to my bad back. One day Mr. Balasan, the man who is behind my coming over to Japan, asked me whether I felt an quake last day. Then only I could realize that it is common in Japan and nobody seems to bother much.

These are the news I read from Mainichi Daily News about the mild quakes on July 5, 2008.

A fairly strong earthquake jolted Ibaraki Prefecture Saturday afternoon, the Meteorological Agency said. There was no immediate report of casualties or damage to property, police said. No tsunami warning was issued following the quake.

The temblor that struck at 4:49 p.m. registered lower 5 on the 7-point Japanese intensity scale in Hitachi, Ibaraki Prefecture, and 4 in wide areas of southern Ibaraki Prefecture and southern Tochigi Prefecture.

The focus of the earthquake, which is estimated at 5.1 on the open-ended Richter scale, was located about 50 kilometers below the seabed off Ibaraki Prefecture.

Fairly strong quake jolts eastern Hokkaido

A fairly strong earthquake jolted eastern Hokkaido on Thursday morning, the Meteorological Agency said. There was no immediate report of casualties or damage to property, police said. No tsunami warning was issued following the temblor.

The temblor that struck at 8:41 a.m. registered 4 on the 7-point Japanese intensity scale in Urakawa and Hiroo and 3 in Niikappu, Shin-Hidaka, Erimo and Kushiro.

The focus of the earthquake, which is estimated at 5.3 on the open-ended Richter scale, was located about 60 kilometers below the seabed off Urakawa, the agency said.

Japan's Minors, beware of Cigarette Vending machines!

Japan is always one step ahead of the world in implementing new discoveries and ideas in their society. Now the Ministry of Finance has approved cigarette vending machines that use face recognition technology to determine whether the purchaser is a minor or not. It is a breakthrough in cigarette vending machine history of Japan.

The vending machines, which determine a person's approximate age from the size of their eyes and mouth and their bone structure, were developed by Kyoto Prefecture company Fujitaka Co., a major producer of vending machines.

Vending machines designed to prevent minors from purchasing cigarettes were rolled out across Japan in July, but the taspo cards that are used as age identification have yet to become widespread.

With face-recognition technology, users will be able to purchase cigarettes without a taspo card. There are already 5,000 such machines in operation across Japan.

Taspo cards had designed these face recognition system. This is to prevent minors from buying cigarettes at vending machines went into full effect in Tokyo, Okinawa and seven other prefectures on Tuesday, bringing all of Japan's prefectures into the system. Under the system, people are no longer able to buy cigarettes from vending machines without taspo cards.

The taspo system was first introduced in Miyazaki and Kagoshima prefectures in March, and gradually spread across the nation. However, since people have to go to the trouble of applying for cards, providing photographs and identification, the system is still largely unused.

Space Beer: One Small Step - The Japanese way

Japan, the maker of milk, horse radish and even Pharaoh's beer, promises a new brew that is out of this world: Space Beer.

The new beer from Sapporo will use grain made from barley grown in the Russian unit of the International Space Station, in a beverage landing later this year.

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Source: Reuters, Dan Sloan reports.

Japan robot scales Grand Canyon

It may be a Great Wonder of the World, but the Grand Canyon could not stop a determined 17-cm robot and a pair of AA batteries.

After a few returns to base camp, a carbon-plastic robot powered by Panasonic's Evolta batteries made the 530-m rope climb in under seven hours.
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Source: Reuters, Dan Sloan reports.

Japan's humanoid hottie

Japan, home to robot babies, musicians and pets, now has its first humanoid hottie -- Sega's E.M.A.

Short for Eternal, Maiden, Actualization, the 38-centimeter, curvaceous cyborg blows kisses, sings and shakes its -- grooved things.

Source: Reuters, Dan Sloan reports.

Japan asks: anybody out there in the space (Reuters News)

Japan's biggest astronomical observatories are teaming up for a fresh quest to find out if there is life in outer space.

They're aiming to pursue their investigation by marshalling their combined resources to view intensively one small area of space over a short period of time.

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Source: Reuters

Police and Alien Card in Japan

One thing I was surprised in Japan is the terminology Japan has given to the identity card of foreigners. They call it Alien Registration card. Many times I feel that I came from a different planet to this earth known as Japan. That is why they call our identity card as Alien Card. This implies that Foreigners are aliens. May be this is due to my perception problem.

The police are fairly visible in Japan. Police boxes, called Koban in Japanese, can be visible at regular intervals on major streets. On cross roads and near railway stations and all, these are good places to ask for directions if we are doubtful of the place or feel that we are going to get lost. Policemen, Keikan, and Police women, Fujin-keikan are referred to as o-mawari-san, or the more ruffianly as poriko~.

Foreigners in Japan must carry their alien registration card with them all the times, and we may be asked to show this to a police officer if we are walking alone most probably at night for example.

The police and Crime in Japan

Japan is famous for the safety in its roads at night. Even at night people used to travel without fear. Recently due to the fear of terrorism, Japanese people look at foreigners especially those from Pakistan, Bangaladesh, Middle east asian countries, India, Srilanka with suspicious eyes. Police checking the foreigners details has become a common phenomena now a days. I was told by my well wishers to avoid travel alone at night due these developments.

One day along with my friend I was returning from Akihabara to Kiba. At the railway station, two people blocked us and showed their identity card and told in Japanese that they are police. They told us to co-operate with them to show our Alien registration card. We showed our card and police checked for details and were allowed to go. Police had taken utmost care not to embarass us in the crowd. Even in the crowdy Akihabara, nobody could notice that we were being verified by police authorities. This is the beauty I like with Japan. They check, they verify, but take care not to harass you.

Eventhough crime rate is less in Japan, there are many gangsters involved in organized crime. Gangsters are known as Yakuza in Japanese.