Japan's industrial output rises 2.4% in June

Japan's industrial output rose 2.4 percent in June from the previous month, marking the 4th consecutive month of increase.

The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry said on Thursday that the industrial output index stood at 81 in June, against a base of 100 for 2005.

The rise is attributed to increases in production of steel for automobiles, and semiconductors for cell phones and game consoles.

The ministry says major manufacturers are forecasting that production will rise 1.6 percent in July and 3.3 percent in August.

The ministry says the recent government stimulus measures are helping to revive industrial output, as indicated by increased production of hybrid vehicles and liquid crystal display TVs.

It also cautions that production levels remain low, and that it will keep a close watch on future trends.

Children's baseball event starts in Tokyo

An international children's baseball event has started in Tokyo as a prelude to next year's World Children's Baseball Fair.

Young players from Australia, Cameroon, Canada, Germany, Taiwan and Japan are taking part in the friendship event organized by the World Children's Baseball Foundation in Tokyo.

In the opening ceremony on Wednesday, the foundation chief, Sadaru Oh, said he wants to help children have good memories of playing baseball.

Oh, who holds the world record for home runs in a top league, was the manager of the Japanese national team that won the first World Baseball Classic tournament in 2006.

Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara was in the batter's box when Choji Murata, a former leading pitcher of Japan's Pacific League team, the Lotte Lions, threw the ceremonial first ball. The governor swung at the ball and missed despite his promise to hit a home run.

Girls' teams from Tokyo's Adachi Ward and Canada met for the day's first game before a cheering crowd of spectators.

More than 20 countries are to take part in the World Children's Baseball Fair scheduled for July 2010 in Tokyo.

Obesity costing US $147 bil. annually

US health authorities say obesity is costing the country 147-billion dollars annually, and warn that the burden could further increase unless the problem is tackled.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studied the cost of treating diabetes, heart disease and other illnesses tied to obesity.

The CDC found that the cost had risen to 147-billion dollars, or 9.1 percent of total medical spending, in 2006.

People who are obese were spending about 1,400 dollars more on health care, or about 40 percent more than people of normal weight.

The CDC says obesity-related illnesses are pushing up overall US medical costs. It says that society-wide programs, rather than individual efforts alone, are necessary to counter the problem.

The CDC has issued a set of 24 recommendations to help prevent obesity. The strategies urge communities and schools to promote healthy eating and more physical activity.

Auto-related corporate failures rise 50%

Bankruptcies by auto-related firms in Japan soared more than 50 percent in the first half of this year, compared with the same period of last year.

Private research firm Teikoku Databank says 273 auto-related companies went under between January and June this year, with debts of more than 10 million yen, or 104,000 dollars. The figure is up 50.8 percent from a year earlier.

By industry, failures of new and used car dealers, and auto parts wholesalers and retailers rose 19 percent.

There was an 11 percent increase in bankruptcies in the auto service industry such as maintenance and repair.

Auto parts manufacturers saw 3.4 times more failures.

Bankruptcies surged as slumping auto sales from the global recession led major auto companies to heavily cut production.

More large firms have become casualties of the global downtown.

71 companies went bankrupt with more than 5.2 million dollars in losses. The number quadrupled from a year earlier.

The research firm says that production cuts are easing at major carmakers, thanks to government tax incentives for eco-friendly cars. But as full recovery in demand is still not in sight, more corporate failures are likely.

100 boats parade in Osaka's Tenjin Festival

The annual Tenjin Festival in Osaka culminated on Saturday evening in a grand boat procession on the city's Okawa River.

Legend has it that the god, enshrined in Osaka's Tenman Shrine, made his yearly appearance at this time of the year and viewed the vicinity from a boat on the river.

In the event called "Funato-gyo," about 100 festival boats were divided into 2 groups, one cruising upstream and the other downstream, with each making return trips.

About 10,000 people were aboard the boats, beating drums and cheering.

Crowds of spectators packed the riverbanks and enjoyed the illuminations of the boats reflected on the water.

At dusk, 5,000 fireworks adorned the sky, providing yet another source of excitement for the participants.

Women find workplaces unfriendly to working moms

A Japanese government survey has found that more than half of the women who quit work to raise children, cited unfriendly work environments as the main reason behind their decision.

The survey was conducted by the Cabinet Office in February and March and canvassed 10,000 men and women aged between 20 and 44. They were asked if they had changed jobs after marriage or in order to raise their children. Respondents were allowed to choose more than one answer.

51 percent of women who quit their jobs after giving birth or to raise children, said working conditions made it difficult for them to continue.

46 percent said they wanted to take more time for housework and to raise their children.

31 percent said they found themselves physically unfit to continue their jobs.

49 percent of women who cited work-related reasons said their workplaces had no system or atmosphere to help employees maintain a good balance between work and family.

43 percent said working hours were too long for them to continue working while raising children.
34 percent said they had no colleagues who kept working under a similar situation, while 22 percent said their firms had no plans to nurture female workers.

The Cabinet Office says many women feel Japanese companies lack systematic support for working parents and bosses and other employees are not sympathetic.
It points out the need to improve such work environments.

"Maid" waitresses visit Taiwan to promote tourism

A group of young women working as waitresses at "maid cafes" have left for Taiwan in a bid to lure tourists to Osaka, western Japan.

The 8 young women attended a ceremony at Kansai Airport in Osaka on Friday before their departure for Taiwan.

The waitresses have been chosen to represent the cosplay restaurants known as "maid cafes" in Osaka's Nipponbashi district.

Maid cafes originated in Tokyo's Akihabara district, patronized by the young male fans of anime, manga comics and computer games for which the area is famous.

Waitresses at such cafes are typically clad in the costumes of popular anime and computer game characters. Typically, they play the role of a house servant, flattering their customer, who is addressed as "master."

The group that departed on Friday will demonstrate their unique hospitality skills at a maid cafe in Taipei. They will also attend Taiwan's largest anime and comics event, taking place on Saturday and Sunday.

The trip is also aimed at attracting tourists to Kansai Airport. The airport saw a 44 percent drop in the number of travelers in June from a year earlier due to the global economic slowdown and the outbreak of the new influenza.

Tokyo to study wave motion power generation

The Tokyo metropolitan government has launched a feasibility study on the use of wave motion to generate power.

Research is underway, mostly in the United States and Europe, to develop a system to float a giant buoy on the ocean, and use its bobbing motion to turn a power-generating turbine.

The panel launched on Wednesday includes researchers from universities and private companies.

They will discuss through the end of March how to raise research funds, how such a system would affect the fishing industry, and other issues. The panel will then compile its proposals.

The metropolitan government's goal is for 20 percent of energy consumed in Tokyo to be from natural energy sources such as solar and wind power by 2020.

A senior Tokyo government official in charge of environmental policies, Junichi Uratani, says Japan should make use of the massive energy in the ocean, which surrounds this country.

He says the metropolitan government aims to spearhead efforts to put wave power generation into practical use.

Solar eclipse observed south of Tokyo

Sky gazers on Ioto island and a passenger ship in the Pacific Ocean, south of Tokyo, were able to view the longest total solar eclipse of the century on Wednesday.

On the island of Ioto, Japan's National Astronomical Observatory and NHK jointly observed the total solar eclipse. At 11:25 AM, the sun was hidden by the moon and the phenomenon, called "black sun", appeared.

Sky gazers also observed a phenomenon called the diamond ring, in which sunlight glows like a ring just before and after the moon blocks the sun. The astronomic show lasted more than 5 minutes.

Amateur astronomers on a passenger ship cruising near the Ogasawara Islands, south of Tokyo, also viewed the eclipse.

They applauded at the sight of a corona glowing around the sun and sunset-like scenery along the horizon.

Unfortunately, those who gathered on Akuseki-jima Island off Kagoshima Prefecture in southern Japan were cursed by bad weather. If the clouds had parted, the total eclipse would have been observed for the longest from any inhabited part of the world this century, lasting more than 6 minutes from 10:53 AM.

But the sun was not seen from the island as well as nearby locations, because of rainy weather.

A partial eclipse was observed elsewhere in Japan.

The eclipse also darkened wide areas of Asia from India and China to Japan. The total eclipse was the first observed in Japan in the 46 years since 1963.

Dissolution of the House of Representative

Japanese political parties have effectively started their campaigns for a general election scheduled for August 30th.

On Tuesday morning, the Cabinet endorsed Prime Minister Taro Aso's decision to dissolve the House of Representatives.

In the afternoon, the chamber's speaker, Yohei Kono, reading from the Emperor's rescript countersigned by Aso and his Cabinet ministers, formally declared the House of Representatives dissolved.

Later, the Cabinet officially set the election for August 30th, with official campaigning due to start on August 18th.

The general election will be the first since September 2005 and the first since the Second World War to take place in August.

The Constitution says that a general election must be held within 40 days from the date of dissolution of the House of Representatives. This will be the first general election with 40 full days of campaigning.

The 4-year term of the dissolved chamber was to end on September 10th. Its members served 1,410 days, the second-longest amount since the end of World War Two. The longest period was from 1972 to 1976, when lawmakers served out their full 4-year term.

The focus of the election is on whether the Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, New Komeito, will maintain a majority or the opposition led by the Democratic Party will take power.

Today is Marine Day

Umino-no-hi, or Marine Day is observed on the third Sunday of July. It promotes awareness of the benefits of the sea,and celebrate the nation's maritime prosperity.

National law establishes Marine Day as a day of gratitude for the blessings of the oceans and to hope for the economic prosperity of maritime Japan. Prior to 1996, it was known as Marine Memorial Day, and was not a holiday. In 1996, it became a national holiday, with its date fixed as July 20. An amendment to the law was made in 2003 to set the holiday on a Monday.

Tokyo Assemly election today

I went to local junior high school which is used for polling station to cast ballots in the assembly election this morning.

Attention is focused on whether the governing bloc of the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito can retain its majority. The opposition Democratic Party is seeking to replace the LDP as the assembly's largest party.

All parties waged the 9-day election campaign on the premise that the results would affect the timing of dissolution of the Lower House for a general election.

Candidates exchanged in fierce debate during the campaign on the issues of restructuring ShinGinko Tokyo, which is funded by the Metropolitan Government, the low birthrate, employment, and medical costs.

Some 1,800 polling station in Tokyo opened at 7AM on Sunday local time. Voting will end at 8PM and ballots will be counted on the same day.

Sumida River Fireworks Festival

Many fireworks festival are held in summer in Japan. Sumida river fireworks festival is most famous and historical one.

Sumida River Fireworks Festival

Date/Time : Jul. 25 (Sat.)
*Will be canceled in case of rain

Location: (Site 1) Between Sakurabashi Bridge and Kototoibashi Bridge
(Site 2) Between Komagatabashi Bridge and Umayabashi



Descriptions
The origin of the Sumida River Fireworks Festival, one of the largest and most famous fireworks displays in Tokyo, dates back to 1733. Although it had been repeatedly cancelled through its history, the festival officially rejuvenated in 1978 and has been annually held since then, marking its 30th year. In addition to the display of traditional fireworks, the program includes a competitive presentation of various new styles created by Japan's top class fireworks craftsmen (the competition is held at the festival site 1). Some presentations are based on this year's themes, "rainbows" and "fairies." The festival finishes with an impressive finale at which 3,000 fireworks are launched in five minutes at both festival sites.

Let's go to Sumida river wearing Yukata(light cotton Kimono)

Today is Star Festival !

Tanabata is the Star Festival held on July 7th.

It is based on a Chinese legend in which Altar(the star of the herdsman) and Vega(the star of the weaver-princess), though separated on opposite side of the Milky Way, meet once a year on this day.

The reason why they were separated is that Vega was so lovesick for Altair she neglected her weaving and the God put the Milky Way between them.

Children write their wishes on strips of fancy paper, which they put on displays made of the branches of bamboo trees.

Passport Renewal

Yesterday I went to the passport center which is located inside the Tokyo Government office in Shinjuku.

My passport will expire on 07the of July.

Of course after the expire we can apply renew a passport, but we must submit family resister as additonal documet which is need for new passport application.

Required Documents are followings,

1. One Application Form (please use BLACK ink)

-Applicants under the age of 20 years may apply only for a 5 year passport.

-Even applicants age 0 must apply for their own passport.

2. One Family Registry (Koseki Tohon or Koseki Shohon), issued within six months

- However, if the current passport is NOT expired and there are NO changes to the name or domicile, the family registry will NOT be necessary.

3. One photo(4.5cm X 3.5cm), taken within six months

- Size of face, from head to chin should be between 3.2cm – 3.6 cm (1 1/4 – 1 3/8 inches)

-Should be facing forward with plain background and no shadows -No hats, masks or sunglasses

-School picture may not be accepted -Best if taken at a photo studio as grainy digital camera photos or blurred photos may not be accepted.

4.Current Passport (even if expired)

Processing time is 5 working days. Pick-up must be done by the applicant within six months of the application date.

Fee:

16,000Yen (10 year passport)
11,000Yen (5 year passport)
6,000Yen (5 year passport for children under 12 years)

I can pick up new passport on and after 10th of July.

Payment must be done by fiscal stamp, not by cash.

I wonder which place I will go aboard after the renewal of the passport.