Starving to Death in Japan

Kjeld Duits, Friday, February 11, 2005 Posted: 12:41 PM JST

The Asia Times Online carries a disturbing article by GLOCOM fellow J Sean Curtin about the rising number of poor people in Japan. "Hungry women and their children," he writes, "are not an exception in the land once known for rising wealth, but now plagued by rising poverty."

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Running with Babies

Kjeld Duits, Wednesday, February 9, 2005 Posted: 12:25 PM JST

On Friday February 11 a unique festival is held at my friend's shrine in Sumoto on Awaji island. Fathers race with their three-year-old children in their arms between two shrines in their little fishing village. Occasionally, kids are dropped.

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Fewer Leftovers on Japanese Plates

Kjeld Duits, Wednesday, February 9, 2005 Posted: 11:10 AM JST

The Asahi reports today that Japanese eaters clean their plates better when eating out. They hardly leave "a scrap untouched on dishes", a survey by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries shows.

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Japan Jittery about Soccer Match with North Korea

Kjeld Duits, Wednesday, February 9, 2005 Posted: 10:51 AM JST

The Japanese national team meets the North Korean team today at Saitama Stadium in a World Cup qualifying match and authorities are decidedly jittery and worried. "Sports is a different world from politics, so we'd like people to watch the match calmly and enjoy the soccer," Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said earlier this month. His comments alluded to the anger the Japanese feel toward North Korea over the abduction saga. Especially since scientific tests have shown that evidence handed over by Pyongyang was false.

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'Friendly' Buses for Foreign Tourists...

Kjeld Duits, Wednesday, February 9, 2005 Posted: 10:29 AM JST

The Cities of Kyoto, Nara and Osaka have recently launched 'experiments for bus transport friendly to foreign tourists'. It is financed by subsidies of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport created in fiscal 2004 to make Japan into a tourism nation.

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