Features National
John Hofilena on May 22 2013
Just outside of Japan’s disaster-stricken
Fukushima Prefecture, there are people who are saying they have been denied compensation despite experiencing increased radiation levels even from living around the fringes of the nuclear disaster that was caused by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. 700 residents of the Hippo district in
Miyagi Prefecture, an area northeast of Fukushima, filed their claims on Tuesday via a government arbitration office, saying that they should at least be getting the same rates of compensation as the residents of Fukushima.
A 15 year old American teen, the son of a US contractor assigned to Camp Zama in the
Yokota Air Base, has been sent to a Japanese juvenile detention facility as part of his punishment for setting fire to the historic Kurihara Shrine, located in Kanagawa Prefecture. The boy confessed to setting fire to a shed and consequently the shrine last March 7 because he was trying to release his stress.
Seems that Osaka Mayor
Toru Hashimoto has a goal of trying to offend almost everyone, as his newest statement will surely cause more controversy. A week after saying that comfort women were "necessary" for the Japanese military during World War II, the outspoken right-wing politician this time said that even the
South Korean soldiers were also using women for sex during the Vietnam War in the 60s and 70s.
Former Japanese Prime Minister
Tomiichi Murayama, the same prime minister during which the 1995 apology of Japan to countries affected by its invasions and imperialistic conquests in World War II – which now is named after him, the “
1995 Murayama Statement” – has expressed his disagreement and criticism of current Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s recent remarks about the ambiguity of the word “invade”. The current prime minister went on record in April saying about the Murayama statement that, “I will not accept it as it is. The definition of invasion isn't set in stone”.
As Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto continues to dig himself into a deeper hole over comments he made last week about Japan's use of sexual slavery during World War II, his
Nippon Ishin no Kai (
Japan Restoration Party) made the decision to expel lawmaker Shingo Nishimura for making a statement in what can only politely be deemed a lapse of judgement. On Friday of last week, House of Representatives member Nishimura stated that Japan was overrun with
South Korean prostitutes.
Michael Woodford, former chief executive officer of Japanese camera makers Olympus, has expressed his skepticism over notions that corporate governance in Japan has made great strides. Woodford, who was terminated from his job after questioning several suspicious transactions, said at the 66th CFA Institute Annual Conference on Monday that said that the corporate environment in Japan is not transparent, and that will just scare away foreign investors.
Features National
John Hofilena on May 20 2013
In the latest of a long series of provocative and aggressive warlike actions,
North Korea has fired another short-range missile into the Sea of Japan as part of its most recent weapons drills that have been cause for concern in South Korea and condemned by UN chief Ban Ki-moon. This firing is the fifth in three days and was later confirmed by a spokesman for the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff.
South Korean military officials said that it was unclear if North Korea was testing highly accurate guided missiles, or just rockets from multiple rocket launcher systems.
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency team that inspected the
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant last month said that the plan by Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) to pump groundwater into the sea before it flows into the reactor buildings is a good
solution to the increasing radioactive water inside the plant.
Surveys by leading Japanese newspapers show that majority of the public think that Osaka Mayor
Toru Hashimoto's controversial statements about comfort women and prostitution were "inappropriate". The outspoken politician's comments were met with outrage and criticism by Japan's Asian neighbours and even its ally, the United States.
As criticism continue to hound Osaka Mayor and
Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) co-leader
Toru Hashimoto – the outcry against his comments on Japan’s wartime sex slave system and prostitution are coming from all over the globe now – the outspoken Japanese politician put the blame squarely on the media, criticizing them for putting out what according to him were “misleading” reports.
