[TODAY'S TOP STORIES] from [The Japan Times]
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Sunday, Aug. 2, 2009
Astronauts return to sushi surprise
Wakata completes Kibo lab, becomes first Japanese to finish long-term space mission
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) Space shuttle Endeavour and its seven astronauts returned to Earth on Friday, completing a long but successful construction job that boosted the size and power of the International Space Station.
They ended up swamped with sushi.
Endeavour's smooth and punctual arrival, after more than two weeks in orbit, set off a steady stream of congratulations and an ecstatic welcoming reception for Koichi Wakata, the first Japanese astronaut to return from a long space journey. His station mission lasted 4 1/2 months.
At his request, sushi awaited him. But it was more than Wakata had anticipated. He was overloaded with sushi as Kennedy Space Center workers dropped off the delicacy at crew quarters.
Looking remarkably fit for someone still getting used to gravity, Wakata said four hours after touchdown that he had yet to eat any sushi because of all the medical testing. But he was going to splurge as soon as the crew news conference ended.
"I feel great," he told journalists who jammed an auditorium, most of them Japanese. "When the hatch opened, I really smelled the grass of the ground, and just glad to be back home."
The president of the Japanese Space Agency, among the first to greet Wakata, said the astronaut would be accommodated properly when he returns to Japan in a few months.
"He said he did his best," said President Keiji Tachikawa. The official said he was surprised to see Wakata walking so soon after landing.
The astronauts left behind on the space station said they missed Wakata, even though they were happy with his replacement.
"We certainly miss being there, but there's no place like home," said shuttle commander Mark Polansky. He looked thrilled as he shook hands with senior managers and walked around his spaceship. "What a fantastic mission," he said.
While visiting the space station, Polansky and his crew put on a new addition to Japan's $1 billion lab, installed fresh batteries, and stockpiled some big spare parts. They accomplished all of their major objectives and were part of the biggest gathering ever in space: Counting the six station residents, the crowd totaled 13.
The flight lasted 16 days and spanned 10 billion km, one of NASA's longest. It wrapped up a 138-day trip for Wakata, who moved into the ISS in March. He swapped places with American Timothy Kopra, who rode up on Endeavour.
Before leaving orbit, Wakata said he was yearning for some sushi for his first meal back on the planet and a soak in a hot spring once he's back in Japan. At the top of his list, though, was reuniting with his German wife and their 11-year-old son, who were on hand at the space center for the homecoming. About 50 Japanese, in all, gathered at the landing site.
Wakata made it back just in time for his 46th birthday on Saturday.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Sunday, Aug. 2, 2009
Tamogami's A-bomb speech plan slammed
(Kyodo News) A plan by former Air Self-Defense Force chief Toshio Tamogami to deliver a speech in Hiroshima on the day it remembers the U.S. atomic bombing in 1945 is an "act full of malice" being conducted in the name of freedom of speech, a former Japanese diplomat has written.
Tamogami was sacked last year when it was learned he had written a prizewinning essay justifying Japan's militarist past and colonialism.
In a recent essay, Naoto Amaki, a former ambassador to Lebanon, wrote: "It's not too late yet. The government, intellectuals, citizens, supporters of the Constitution, proper rightists who love the country, everybody should join hands by going beyond their positions to postpone Mr. Tamogami's speech in Hiroshima planned on Aug. 6 for the sake of Japan."
Tamogami has said he will give a speech titled "Casting doubt on the peace of Hiroshima" on the day the atomic bomb was dropped on the city 64 years ago, at a venue close to Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park, where the annual memorial ceremony is held.
"Forcing his way to speak flatly against the ceremony on the same day and at the same site is an act full of malice in the name of freedom of speech," said Amaki, who left the Foreign Ministry after being pressured to quit for opposing the Iraq war.
Referring to a proposal by Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba that Tamogami change the date of his speech, Amaki said, "It is natural (for the city) to ask him to change the date of his speech at least. They are not asking him to cancel the event indefinitely."
In a letter dated June 29, the Hiroshima mayor told the organization hosting Tamogami's event, "Giving the speech on Aug. 6 could increase the sorrows of atomic-bomb survivors and bereaved families even more as they are going to console the souls of those who were killed by the bombing from early morning."
But Japan Conference Hiroshima, the group that hosts the event, announced that it will not postpone the speech in an ad carried by a local newspaper on July 27.
"I am infuriated by their moves and can't help worrying about the future of this country," said Amaki, stressing the importance of Aug. 6, when Japanese citizens make their annual appeal against nuclear weapons via the memorial service. Japan is the only country to have been attacked with nuclear weapons.
Amaki was also critical of the government, media and citizens for not restraining Tamogami by raising a voice of protest against his words and actions.
"It was we who allowed Mr. Tamogami to run this wild," Amaki said.
Tamogami was removed as ASDF chief of staff in late October 2008 after an essay he wrote was made public. In it, he argued that Japan was a benevolent colonial ruler and not the aggressor before and during World War II, a stance the government rejected.
Earlier in April last year, Tamogami also mocked a ruling by the Nagoya High Court that the ASDF mission in Iraq was unconstitutional, borrowing a popular comedian's signature phrase "Sonna no kankei nee" ("That doesn't matter") at a press conference while he was the ASDF chief.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Sunday, Aug. 2, 2009
Allied POW war dead honored in Yokohama
By KAZUAKI NAGATA
Staff writer
YOKOHAMA — About 100 people participated in the 15th annual memorial service at the British Commonwealth War Cemetery on Saturday to pay their respects to soldiers and others from Allied nations who died in Japan as prisoners of war during World War II.
Gertie Mulder, minister plenipotentiary political affairs at the Netherlands Embassy in Tokyo, said the annual service "is a token of respects to these prisoners of war who faced unimaginable hardships, and a simple but fitting gesture to honor their memory."
"By honoring those who perished more than 60 years ago, we are also voicing our dedication to the men and women who have risked life and limb since then to promote international peace," she told the participants at the cemetery in Yokohama's Hodogaya district.
About 1,800 soldiers from the Commonwealth and other nations, including New Zealand, India and Pakistan, are buried here. Most died as POWs in Japan.
Those attending the event, which was organized by Japanese and foreign volunteers, ranged from local high school students to a lawmaker and various diplomats.
Speeches and hymns were offered at the ceremony, and participants then placed flowers in areas where gravestones were placed by nationality.
Baking in the hot weather, participants, some with parasols, stood before gravestones buried in fresh grass and prayed for the soldiers while remembering the importance of peace.
"We must not forget that so many people regardless of their nationalities died during the war," said Michiyo Arakawa, 35, of Tokyo. Arakawa belongs to a group studying POWs and was attending the event for the first time.
Arakawa said she felt it is important that the event continue to preserve the message from the soldiers and their families.
Tsuyoshi Amemiya, professor emeritus at Aoyama Gakuin University and a founding member of the event, said that since the service has become firmly rooted in tradition, it will continue on to the next generation.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Sunday, Aug. 2, 2009
Hayakawa's death sentence final
(Kyodo News) The Supreme Court on Friday finalized the death sentence for a former member of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult after rejecting his appeal, sources familiar with the matter said Saturday.
Kiyohide Hayakawa, 60, was convicted in connection with a series of crimes, including the 1989 murders of an anti-Aum lawyer and his family. He was sentenced to death by the Tokyo District Court in 2000, a decision that was upheld by the Tokyo High Court in 2004 and the Supreme Court on July 17.
Hayakawa is the sixth member of the cult to land on death row. Aum founder Shoko Asahara, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, and four other former followers are also waiting to be hanged.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Sunday, Aug. 2, 2009
Astronauts return to sushi surprise
Wakata completes Kibo lab, becomes first Japanese to finish long-term space mission
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) Space shuttle Endeavour and its seven astronauts returned to Earth on Friday, completing a long but successful construction job that boosted the size and power of the International Space Station.
They ended up swamped with sushi.
Endeavour's smooth and punctual arrival, after more than two weeks in orbit, set off a steady stream of congratulations and an ecstatic welcoming reception for Koichi Wakata, the first Japanese astronaut to return from a long space journey. His station mission lasted 4 1/2 months.
At his request, sushi awaited him. But it was more than Wakata had anticipated. He was overloaded with sushi as Kennedy Space Center workers dropped off the delicacy at crew quarters.
Looking remarkably fit for someone still getting used to gravity, Wakata said four hours after touchdown that he had yet to eat any sushi because of all the medical testing. But he was going to splurge as soon as the crew news conference ended.
"I feel great," he told journalists who jammed an auditorium, most of them Japanese. "When the hatch opened, I really smelled the grass of the ground, and just glad to be back home."
The president of the Japanese Space Agency, among the first to greet Wakata, said the astronaut would be accommodated properly when he returns to Japan in a few months.
"He said he did his best," said President Keiji Tachikawa. The official said he was surprised to see Wakata walking so soon after landing.
The astronauts left behind on the space station said they missed Wakata, even though they were happy with his replacement.
"We certainly miss being there, but there's no place like home," said shuttle commander Mark Polansky. He looked thrilled as he shook hands with senior managers and walked around his spaceship. "What a fantastic mission," he said.
While visiting the space station, Polansky and his crew put on a new addition to Japan's $1 billion lab, installed fresh batteries, and stockpiled some big spare parts. They accomplished all of their major objectives and were part of the biggest gathering ever in space: Counting the six station residents, the crowd totaled 13.
The flight lasted 16 days and spanned 10 billion km, one of NASA's longest. It wrapped up a 138-day trip for Wakata, who moved into the ISS in March. He swapped places with American Timothy Kopra, who rode up on Endeavour.
Before leaving orbit, Wakata said he was yearning for some sushi for his first meal back on the planet and a soak in a hot spring once he's back in Japan. At the top of his list, though, was reuniting with his German wife and their 11-year-old son, who were on hand at the space center for the homecoming. About 50 Japanese, in all, gathered at the landing site.
Wakata made it back just in time for his 46th birthday on Saturday.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Sunday, Aug. 2, 2009
Tamogami's A-bomb speech plan slammed
(Kyodo News) A plan by former Air Self-Defense Force chief Toshio Tamogami to deliver a speech in Hiroshima on the day it remembers the U.S. atomic bombing in 1945 is an "act full of malice" being conducted in the name of freedom of speech, a former Japanese diplomat has written.
Tamogami was sacked last year when it was learned he had written a prizewinning essay justifying Japan's militarist past and colonialism.
In a recent essay, Naoto Amaki, a former ambassador to Lebanon, wrote: "It's not too late yet. The government, intellectuals, citizens, supporters of the Constitution, proper rightists who love the country, everybody should join hands by going beyond their positions to postpone Mr. Tamogami's speech in Hiroshima planned on Aug. 6 for the sake of Japan."
Tamogami has said he will give a speech titled "Casting doubt on the peace of Hiroshima" on the day the atomic bomb was dropped on the city 64 years ago, at a venue close to Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park, where the annual memorial ceremony is held.
"Forcing his way to speak flatly against the ceremony on the same day and at the same site is an act full of malice in the name of freedom of speech," said Amaki, who left the Foreign Ministry after being pressured to quit for opposing the Iraq war.
Referring to a proposal by Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba that Tamogami change the date of his speech, Amaki said, "It is natural (for the city) to ask him to change the date of his speech at least. They are not asking him to cancel the event indefinitely."
In a letter dated June 29, the Hiroshima mayor told the organization hosting Tamogami's event, "Giving the speech on Aug. 6 could increase the sorrows of atomic-bomb survivors and bereaved families even more as they are going to console the souls of those who were killed by the bombing from early morning."
But Japan Conference Hiroshima, the group that hosts the event, announced that it will not postpone the speech in an ad carried by a local newspaper on July 27.
"I am infuriated by their moves and can't help worrying about the future of this country," said Amaki, stressing the importance of Aug. 6, when Japanese citizens make their annual appeal against nuclear weapons via the memorial service. Japan is the only country to have been attacked with nuclear weapons.
Amaki was also critical of the government, media and citizens for not restraining Tamogami by raising a voice of protest against his words and actions.
"It was we who allowed Mr. Tamogami to run this wild," Amaki said.
Tamogami was removed as ASDF chief of staff in late October 2008 after an essay he wrote was made public. In it, he argued that Japan was a benevolent colonial ruler and not the aggressor before and during World War II, a stance the government rejected.
Earlier in April last year, Tamogami also mocked a ruling by the Nagoya High Court that the ASDF mission in Iraq was unconstitutional, borrowing a popular comedian's signature phrase "Sonna no kankei nee" ("That doesn't matter") at a press conference while he was the ASDF chief.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Sunday, Aug. 2, 2009
Allied POW war dead honored in Yokohama
By KAZUAKI NAGATA
Staff writer
YOKOHAMA — About 100 people participated in the 15th annual memorial service at the British Commonwealth War Cemetery on Saturday to pay their respects to soldiers and others from Allied nations who died in Japan as prisoners of war during World War II.
Gertie Mulder, minister plenipotentiary political affairs at the Netherlands Embassy in Tokyo, said the annual service "is a token of respects to these prisoners of war who faced unimaginable hardships, and a simple but fitting gesture to honor their memory."
"By honoring those who perished more than 60 years ago, we are also voicing our dedication to the men and women who have risked life and limb since then to promote international peace," she told the participants at the cemetery in Yokohama's Hodogaya district.
About 1,800 soldiers from the Commonwealth and other nations, including New Zealand, India and Pakistan, are buried here. Most died as POWs in Japan.
Those attending the event, which was organized by Japanese and foreign volunteers, ranged from local high school students to a lawmaker and various diplomats.
Speeches and hymns were offered at the ceremony, and participants then placed flowers in areas where gravestones were placed by nationality.
Baking in the hot weather, participants, some with parasols, stood before gravestones buried in fresh grass and prayed for the soldiers while remembering the importance of peace.
"We must not forget that so many people regardless of their nationalities died during the war," said Michiyo Arakawa, 35, of Tokyo. Arakawa belongs to a group studying POWs and was attending the event for the first time.
Arakawa said she felt it is important that the event continue to preserve the message from the soldiers and their families.
Tsuyoshi Amemiya, professor emeritus at Aoyama Gakuin University and a founding member of the event, said that since the service has become firmly rooted in tradition, it will continue on to the next generation.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Sunday, Aug. 2, 2009
Hayakawa's death sentence final
(Kyodo News) The Supreme Court on Friday finalized the death sentence for a former member of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult after rejecting his appeal, sources familiar with the matter said Saturday.
Kiyohide Hayakawa, 60, was convicted in connection with a series of crimes, including the 1989 murders of an anti-Aum lawyer and his family. He was sentenced to death by the Tokyo District Court in 2000, a decision that was upheld by the Tokyo High Court in 2004 and the Supreme Court on July 17.
Hayakawa is the sixth member of the cult to land on death row. Aum founder Shoko Asahara, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, and four other former followers are also waiting to be hanged.