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| More Japanese volcanoes may become active after the 2011 earthquake |
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May 17, 2013 - 7:21 PM - by Ceewan
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More volcanoes across Japan, including the country's highest peak Mount Fuji, are in danger of becoming active after the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, a panel warned.
The Cabinet Office investigative committee concluded its first proposal on May 16 on how to deal with large-scale eruptions, recommending the central government to take measures such as strengthening monitoring systems and drawing out evacuation plans at an early date. The government is set to establish policies based on the proposal to tackle the issue as early as fiscal 2013.
The proposal was made based on the assumption that a total of 100 million to several billion cubic meters of lava and ash spout out during a large-scale eruption. One hundred million cubic meters of volcanic lava and ash could fill up Tokyo Dome some 80 times. In addition to damages from lava flows and pyroclastic flows, one to two centimeters of ash could seriously affect road traffic.
However, out of 47 volcanoes across the country that the Meteorological Agency regularly monitors, the surrounding municipalities of 10 haven't prepared any hazard maps.
The committee requested these municipalities to create hazard maps as early as possible while granting local governors and mayors authority to issue evacuation orders to respond quickly in case of large-scale eruptions.
To improve monitoring systems, the committee requested the central government to consider an arrangement to make full use of knowledge from experts at institutions and organizations. Furthermore, noting that it will be difficult for residents to evacuate all at once right after ash starts to fall and pyroclastic flows hit their neighborhoods, it proposed gradually extending evacuation areas so that residents can be smoothly led to safety. To do so, the committee said the government should secure various means of evacuation and consider traffic regulations.
"Japan... [Read More]
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| China lays claim to Okinawa as territory dispute with Japan escalates |
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May 16, 2013 - 3:04 AM - by jswift255
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China is attempting to open a new front in its territorial dispute with Japan by questioning Tokyo's sovereignty over the island of Okinawa, home to 25,000 US troops.
The two countries are already pushing rival claims to the Senkakus, a chain of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea that are controlled by Tokyo. The dispute over the islands, known as the Diaoyu in China, has hit bilateral trade and sent diplomatic relations to their lowest point for decades.
Beijing began its attempt to broaden the territorial dispute earlier this month when the communist party newspaper, the People's Daily, ran an article in which two Chinese academics challenged Japan's sovereignty over the Ryukyu chain of islands, which includes Okinawa.
Luo Yuan, a two-star general in the People's Liberation Army, raised the territorial stakes again this week, saying the Ryukyus had started paying tribute to China in 1372, half a millennium before they were seized by Japan.
"Let's for now not discuss whether [the Ryukyus] belong to China, they were certainly China's tributary state," Luo said in an interview with China News Service. "I am not saying all former tributary states belong to China, but we can say with certainty that the Ryukyus do not belong to Japan," he added, in comments translated by the South China Morning Post.
The potential for more diplomatic clashes over territory comes amid fresh criticism of Japan's attitude towards its wartime conduct in China and the Korean peninsula.
Beijing reacted angrily after the outspoken nationalist mayor of Osaka, Toru Hashimoto, said this week that Japan's forced recruitment of Asian women to work in military brothels before and during the second world war had been necessary to maintain discipline among soldiers.
"We are appalled and indignant about the Japanese politician's comments boldly challenging... [Read More]
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| Broker in human trafficking details Japan’s island of ill repute |
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May 15, 2013 - 10:38 AM - by Ceewan
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On occasion, Japan’s tabloid media will profile the infamous Watakano Island, which is accessible by boat in Mie Prefecture’s Matoya Bay. With a circumference of a mere six kilometers, this tiny hideaway is home to a population of 300 people, most of whose livelihoods revolve around one trade: prostitution.
Keita Kuwata, a pseudonym, tells the weekly Friday (May 24) that he once made 50 million yen in a single year as a broker for the brothels on the island, which is in the process of reshaping its illicit image.
Kuwata began in the business in 1997. He had met a yakuza member who was in the process of sending prostitutes to the island. “The first girl I provided to a brothel was a runway from Osaka,” he tells the tabloid. “In order to ship a girl, one must first be referred by a female working for organized crime. She will then make an introduction to a madam who manages a brothel.”
At that time, one girl was worth two million yen, a sum that she would have to pay back by working. Even after he paid a tip of 10 percent to the madam, he was still left with a sizable 180,000-yen chunk of change.
It was easy work. “I thought this would be a great shinogi” — a yakuza slang term meaning money-making enterprise — “so I sent three more girls, representing a total of six million yen,” he says. “I continued on, supplying more than 30 women.”
Kuwata, who was arrested in 1998 on charges of violating employment laws, says that back then there were six brothels employing 200 women, of whom most were young Japanese girls. “Unbelievable, right?”
The former broker says that prior to World War II the island served as a port town for fisherman. The prostitution businesses sprang up soon after the war’s conclusion.
... [Read More]
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| Yoshiwara soapland bathhouses banning Chinese tourist |
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May 11, 2013 - 1:27 AM - by Ceewan
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According to the Japan National Tourism Organization, a record-high 1.43 million Chinese tourists visited Japan in 2012. This figure represents an increase of 37.3 percent over the year before, when the Great East Japan Earthquake and the nuclear disaster in Fukushima Prefecture unfolded.
Monthly magazine Cyzo says that visitors from China seek out Japanese products since they are viewed to be of high quality, but one item is proving to be elusive: the prostitute.
Bathhouses in the Yoshiwara brothel quarter are implementing a general ban on visitors from China due to “cultural differences.”
“About two or three years ago, Yoshiwara started seeing a rise in the number of Chinese tourists,” says an employee at one bathhouse. “Due to language difficulties, they are not able to understand the fee system.”
To enter a bathhouse may require 15,000 yen, but there is also the matter of paying 30,000 yen to the awa hime, or foam princess, once the session is complete.
“There have been quarrels,” continues the worker. “So as of now, Chinese tourists are not allowed to enter.”
The manager of another shop says that Chinese tourists also lack appropriate manners. “Inside the bathhouses photography is prohibited,” says the manager. “But Chinese tourists always want to take photos.”
These photos, says the manager, eventually wind up on Web sites in China.
Furthermore, there are a lot Chinese tourists who tend to be rude and possesss an aggressive attitude. “The soap girls are reluctant to serve them,” continues the manager.
With Japan’s adult-entertainment industry presently enduring difficult times due to the prolonged recession, the manager adds that he is grateful when any customer arrives... [Read More]
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| Japan PM's "stealth" constitution plan raises civil rights fears |
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May 04, 2013 - 10:32 AM - by Ceewan
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(Reuters) - Shinzo Abe makes no secret of wanting to revise Japan's constitution, which was drafted by the United States after World War Two, to formalize the country's right to have a military - but critics say his plans go deeper and could return Japan to its socially conservative, authoritarian past.
Abe, 58, returned to office in December for a second term as prime minister and is enjoying sky-high support on the back of his "Abenomics" recipe for reviving the economy through hyper-easy monetary policy, big spending and structural reform.
Now he is seeking to lower the hurdle for revising the constitution as a prelude to an historic change to its pacifist Article 9 - which, if strictly read, bans any military. That would be a symbolic shift, loosening restrictions on the military's overseas activities, but would have limited impact on defense as the clause has already been stretched to allow Tokyo to build up armed forces that are now bigger than Britain's.
However, sweeping changes proposed by Abe's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in a draft constitution would strike at the heart of the charter with an assault on basic civil rights that could muzzle the media, undermine gender equality and generally open the door to an authoritarian state, activists and scholars say.
RESTRICTIONS, RESTRAINTS
"What I find strange is that although the prime minister is not that old, he is trying to revive the mores of his grandfather's era," said Ryo Motoo, the octogenarian head of the Women's Article 9 Association, a group devoted to protecting the constitution.
"I fear this might lead to a society full of restrictions, one that does not recognize diversity of opinions and puts restraints on the freedom of speech as in the past."
Abe's grandfather Nobusuke Kishi was a pre-World War Two cabinet minister who was arrested but never tried as a war... [Read More]
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| Japanese police target users of Tor anonymous network |
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Apr 27, 2013 - 6:43 AM - by Trollbeater
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Japanese police target users of Tor anonymous network
BBC News
Japanese people who "abuse" the Tor anonymous browsing network could be blocked from using it.
The recommendation was made in a report drawn up for the National Police Agency (NPA) in Japan by a panel of technology experts.
The panel was formed to help decide how to tackle crimes committed with the aid of the Tor network.
For months, Japanese police attempts to catch a hacker known as "Demon Killer" were hampered by his use of Tor.
'The Onion Router'
The internet service provider (ISPs) industry would be asked to help site administrators block the use of Tor if people were found to be abusing it, the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper reports.
Tor (The Onion Router) is a way for people to use the web without surrendering the identifying data that websites typically gather. As its name suggests, it sends data traffic through a series of routers arranged in layers like in an onion to make it difficult to find out who is browsing a site or is behind any particular web activity.
Tor has vexed several Japanese police investigations into cybercrime. In particular it stifled attempts to find and arrest a hacker who used the "Demon Killer" alias.
Japanese police began investigating the hacker after he started threatening to bomb schools and nurseries via messages posted to chat forums and discussion boards. A reward of 3m yen (£20,000) was offered for information leading to the hacker's identification.
Police arrested four people for posting the threats but realised the hacker had compromised the computers of these innocent victims and was abusing their machines remotely via Tor.
Malicious program
The hacker continued to taunt police in emails that sent investigators all over the country looking for him. In a bizarre... [Read More]
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