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NEWS ABOUT: Japan

Japan Uses Disaster Budget to Fund Whaling Hunt

Official defends the controversial move

(Newser) - Of Japan's $230 billion in supplementary budgets meant for tsunami reconstruction, $29 million will be used for … a whaling hunt. An official confirmed the move today, and simultaneously defended it, noting that some whaling towns were hit badly by the March 11 tsunami, and the funding will help... More »

Radiation Found in Japanese Baby Formula

Levels not high enough to pose health risk, parents told

(Newser) - Nearly nine months after the 9.0 earthquake and tsunami wrought havoc on Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant, the country's nuclear nightmare is continuing. Traces of radiation have been found in infant formula for the first time and while government experts say the levels aren't high enough to... More »

Reviled Japanese Admiral Hoped to Avoid War With US

Isoroku Yamamoto attacked Pearl Harbor after losing that argument

(Newser) - Isoroku Yamamoto was once one of the most reviled men in America, and no wonder: He was the Japanese admiral who devised and carried out the attack on Pearl Harbor. But author Ian W. Toll uses the 70th anniversary to point out that before the attack, Yamamoto led the debate... More »

No Wonder It Was So Bad: Japan Had Two Tsunamis

They merged into an ultra-powerful wave

(Newser) - This might explain why the tsunami that devastated Japan in March caused so much death and destruction: Scientists think it was actually two tsunamis that merged into one uber-powerful wave, reports CNN . Satellites show two wave fronts combining far out at sea to create a tsunami double the normal height... More »

New Leak Found at Fukushima

Radioactive water may have already leaked into Pacific

(Newser) - A significant new leak of highly radioactive water has been discovered at Japan's crippled Fukushima power plant, and has possibly already oozed radiation into the Pacific Ocean. Some 12,000 gallons of contaminated water were discovered yesterday morning around a condensation unit of a water purification system, according to... More »

Chain-Reaction Crash Triggers Priciest Pileup Ever

8 Ferraris, 3 Mercedes, a Lamborghini Diablo turned into scrap

(Newser) - A chain-reaction crash of some of the priciest driving machines in Japan triggered the most expensive pileup in car-wreck history. Millions of dollars of luxe metal were crumpled when eight Ferraris, three Mercedes Benzes, and a Lamborghini Diablo slammed into one another on the Chugoku Expressway in southwestern Japan yesterday... More »

Buffet: Eurozone Not Working

Billionaire investor hails Japanese business during Fukushima visit

(Newser) - The European debt crisis has exposed serious problems in the 17-country Eurozone that will require radical changes to fix, warns Warren Buffett. There is a "major flaw in the euro system," the billionaire investor said yesterday while on his first visit to Japan. "That flaw won't... More »

Missing Olympus Billions Tied to Yakuza Crime Gangs

$4.9B unaccounted for at Japanese firm

(Newser) - To make a serious financial scandal much, much worse, simply quadruple the sums involved and add gangsters. Investigators probing the shady accounting at Japanese camera maker Olympus believe that in addition to the $1.4 billion the firm paid in merger fees to mask losses, some $4.9 billion is... More »

Olympus Admits Hiding Decades of Losses

Accounting shenanigans could doom Japanese firm

(Newser) - Olympus has done an about-face after weeks of denials, and admitted to financial wrongdoing on a scale that could doom the Japanese camera and medical equipment maker. The company has admitted that it used acquisitions to hide over $1 billion in investment losses dating back to the 1990s, the New ... More »

Japan Plans 'Backup' Tokyo

Tiny city would be a place for government to retreat in an emergency

(Newser) - The Japanese government wants to be prepared in case Tokyo gets hit with another natural disaster—so officials have devised a plan to build a miniature “backup” capital around an airport some 300 miles away. This little city would include all the buildings the parliament and ministry need to... More »

Japanese MP Takes Dare to Drink Fukushima Water

Gulp designed to prove it's safe

(Newser) - Under pressure from journalists to prove that decontaminated water from the Fukushima area is safe, Japanese lawmaker Yasuhiro Sonoda downed a glass of water taken from puddles underneath the reactors themselves during a news conference today, his hands visibly shaking as he did so, the BBC reports. But he did... More »

2012's Top Ten Getaways

List includes Ghana, the Yucatan, even Kansas City

(Newser) - What part of the globe should you trek to next year? The writers and editors at Frommer's have released their top 10 destinations for 2012 with selections among unconventional getaways, hot spots hosting high-profile events, and regions that have been re-energized, notes USA Today . Some of the choices: More »

Japan Eclipses France as Culinary King

But skeptics take issue with Michelin Guide assessment

(Newser) - Japan has overtaken France as the fine dining capital of the world—at least according to the latest Michelin Guide, reports ABC News . The newly released 2012 edition of the influential guide has bestowed 29 Japanese eateries with a 3-star rating—the highest possible grade—compared with 25 in France.... More »

WWII Vets Receive Mystery Cards From China

Befuddled Texas vet gets reporter to snoop online

(Newser) - World War II veterans are discovering mysterious postcards from China in their mailboxes. "It takes a strong man to save himself, a great man to save another," read one card, sent to a befuddled vet living near Houston. "Thank you for 1944. From China." 88-year-old veteran... More »

Want to Go to Japan? It's Doling Out 10K Flights

Officials reassure foreign travelers that country is safe to visit

(Newser) - How to cope with the unpleasant reality of a major drop in tourism following March's earthquake and tsunami? Free stuff for tourists! Japan will attempt to woo back wary travelers by doling out 10,000 free airline tickets next year, the Japan Tourism Agency announced this week. Officials are... More »

Poop-Powered Bike to Tour Japan

Driver's feces to fuel 600-mile jaunt

(Newser) - Calling it “clean” fuel would be a bit of a stretch: Japan’s top toilet maker has built a bike that runs on human excrement. TOTO’s Toilet Bike Neo has a seat that looks like a toilet, and it’s powered by bio-gas from the driver’s own... More »

Japan: We Will Hunt Whales This Year

Activist group will again try to disrupt them in the Antarctic

(Newser) - It could be a nasty December in the Antarctic: Japan says it will go ahead with its annual whale hunt and promises to ramp up security to protects its boats from activists, reports AP . The leading activist group, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, promises to be back in full force.... More »

Japan Firm Builds 'Noah's Ark' For Next Tsunami

Giant tennis ball also functions as toy house

(Newser) - It’s Noah’s Ark for the 21st century: A Japanese firm has built a tiny, floating shelter that can hold four adults, the AP reports. Called the “Noah,” the enhanced-fiberglass contraption looks like a huge tennis ball and doubles as a toy house for kids. Cosmo Power... More »

Pilot Screw-Up Almost Flips Jet

He mistook the rudder trim nob for the cockpit door lock

(Newser) - This will go down in the annals of wacky pilot screw-ups: An All Nippon Airways passenger jet rolled over 131.7 degrees earlier this month—putting it almost belly-up—because a pilot accidentally turned the rudder trim knob instead of the one unlocking the cabin door, Japan’s Transport Safety... More »

Boeing Finally Delivers Dreamliner— Take a Tour

First plane delivered after years of delays

(Newser) - The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is finally taking off—just three years behind schedule. Yesterday, the much-anticipated jet was officially delivered to its first customer, Japan’s All Nippon Airways. With a ceremony planned for today in Everett, Wash., reporters are getting a look at the nifty features that set the... More »

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