Lifestyle & Travel
John Hofilena on Jun 11 2013
If there’s one thing that will be certain from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s big-spending fiscal policies – dubbed “Abenomics” – it is that the government will continue to strive for a weaker yen to help boost Japanese exports. The flipside of that, however, is that a weaker yen will drive up the consumer prices of imported products, including imported beer. Japan is generally a beer-drinking culture, and imported beers are heavily consumed. But small local breweries – makers of locally made craft
beers – are hoping that the economic situation will drive more people to opt for locally brewed ale.
Police in
Okinawa say they arrested a 22 year old serviceman with the U.S. Air Force after he was seen vandalizing a parked car. The police have not revealed the airman's name, but say he is with the 18th Maintenance Group at the US Kadena Air Base. After his arrest early Sunday morning, the young man told the officers that he was too drunk to remember what he did.
While this last weekend marks the three-day-weekend that comes with the holiday of Memorial Day in the United Sates, tragedy befell one serviceman stationed in Japan's
Kanagawa Prefecture on Sunday. Police say a 24 year old man was found dead in Yokosuka at around 2:30 AM after
falling from a sixth floor balcony on the apartment building where he lived.
Trains and train stations – these are two things that are part and parcel of a Japanese commuter’s daily life. Another thing that is becoming normal in
train stations is an issue that is not as acceptable as the other parts of the daily commute – the increasing violence against train station staff. This is revealed in the data released by the Association of Japanese Private Railways, which gives light to the situation that violence against personnel at train stations is very much a “normal” thing.
A group of grad students at the
University of Tokyo will be offering free alcohol tolerance tests for students at a school festival on May 18 and 19. The tests, their bid to warn the young people against the dangers of binge drinking, will determine the ability of the person to break down alcohol by examining the
enzymes and then advise them as to the level of resistance of their bodies.
A USS Stethem sailor was arrested by Japanese police on Sunday night for unlawful entry after he was discovered inside a Zushi city elementary school, in
Kanagawa Prefecture. 23 year old Petty Officer 2nd Class Kristopher Lee Murphy was discovered sleeping inside a second-floor classroom in Hisagi Elementary School. He remains in Japanese police custody while an investigation is still ongoing.
The
Kyoto Prefectural Police saw it fit to commend 13-year-old junior high school student Ryoga Nomura for his bravery during a groping accident that happened on his train ride home on the afternoon of April 14. Nomura was awarded with a certificate of appreciation by the Ukyo Ward precinct of the police as he instigated a brave rescue of a woman from the groping hands of an intoxicated man seated next to him.
In January, a local pub in
Yokohama City allegedly served beer and other alcoholic beverages to a group of underage girls – one of them a 6th grader – in violation of the Entertainment Business Act which states that one must be 20 years old or older to be served alcoholic drinks. The Kanagawa prefectural police sent its findings to prosecutors on April 24 concerning the Daiya pub in Yokohama city, on suspicion that two of its staff served beer to the group of young girls.
If you love beer, coffee and elephant poop, then Sankt Gallen Brewery's new special
beer is for you. Okay, chances are you like two out of three of those things, but if you're the "adventurous" type, you should definitely check out
Un Kono Kuro. You might have trouble getting hold of one though, as it sold out within minutes of going on sale on April Fool's Day.
Police in
Saitama Prefecture revealed on Monday that three people were stabbed in a drunken brawl that took place outside a local train station between more than ten Chinese nationals and group of Japanese. What began as an argument at around 10:00 PM on Sunday night escalated into a full-on fight, and ended with police arresting the Chinese group and the three stabbing victims going to the hospital.
