[Biography of the Day] from [Britannica]
Leonardo da Vinci
Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci, whose genius epitomized the Renaissance humanist ideal and whose Last Supper (1495–98) and Mona Lisa (1503–06) are widely influential paintings, was born this day in 1452.
[On This Day] from [Britannica]
1955: First McDonald's opened by Ray Kroc
On this day in 1955, American fast-food pioneer Ray Kroc opened the first McDonald's franchise in Des Plaines, Illinois, launching an enterprise that would eventually become the world's largest fast-food chain.
[TODAY'S TOP STORIES] from [The Japan Times]
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Debate starts on bill to free up MSDF
By MASAMI ITO
Staff writer
The Lower House began deliberating on an antipiracy bill Tuesday to create a permanent law that would let the Maritime Self-Defense Force protect ships of any nationality against pirates and remove certain limits on the MSDF's use of force.
Prime Minister Taro Aso（麻生太郎首相） told the chamber that a new antipiracy law must be enacted quickly because of the dramatic increase in pirate attacks off Somalia and the Gulf of Aden, and the need for Japan to play a bigger role in solving the international problem.
"Piracy is a life-or-death matter that threatens Japan's national interests of securing the safety of transport by sea," Aso said. "The pirates off the coast of Somalia are especially a threat to the international community, including Japan, and emergency measures need to be taken."
The Liberal Democratic Party-New Komeito ruling bloc and the government want the bill passed before the Diet session ends in June. But if the opposition camp refuses to cooperate, the ruling bloc might have to extend the session.
The Democratic Party of Japan, the largest opposition force, is urging the government to amend the bill to require prior Diet approval for a dispatch. Aso had the MSDF dispatch two destroyers for antipiracy patrols off Somalia in March.
"The antipiracy measures bill lacks a provision for advance Diet approval should the MSDF be dispatched in case of an emergency — but it is necessary from the viewpoint of civilian control," DPJ lawmaker Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi said. "We also think it is necessary that a dispatch plan clarifying the mission and region be reported to the Diet."
Last month, Japan for the first time used the maritime police-action provision of the Self-Defense Forces Law to send two MSDF destroyers to Somalia. However, the MSDF is only allowed to escort vessels linked to Japan, including Japanese-registered ships or foreign ships with Japanese nationals or cargo on board.
Nevertheless, the destroyers seem to be scaring potential pirates away from freighters unrelated to Japan as well.
The MSDF is not allowed to attack pirates except in limited circumstances, including in an emergency evacuation or in self-defense based on Article 7 of the Police Execution of Duties Law, which limits the use of arms to incidents deemed necessary.
The new law would permit the MSDF to fire at pirate boats that ignore warning shots.
Arguing emphatically against the bill was Japanese Communist Party lawmaker Seiken Akamine. "We absolutely cannot tolerate this bill, which would pave the way for the use of armed forces abroad — which is prohibited by Article 9 of the Constitution — by enabling the SDF to be dispatched abroad and expanding their right to use weapons," Akamine said.
Aso contends that the antipiracy measures do not violate the Constitution, which prohibits the use of force, on the grounds that piracy is a crime.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Seven years urged for stablemaster
NAGOYA (Kyodo) Prosecutors on Tuesday demanded a seven-year prison sentence for former sumo stablemaster Tokitsukaze（元時津風親方）, who stands accused of ordering wrestlers at his stable to assault a 17-year-old grappler, leading to his death.
During his trial session at the Nagoya District Court, the stablemaster, whose real name is Junichi Yamamoto, apologized to the relatives of the victim, Takashi Saito, whose ring name was Tokitaizan, over the 2007 incident.
But Yamamoto, 59, again denied giving an order for senior wrestlers at his stable in Aichi Prefecture to assault Saito, even though three wrestlers were convicted of the assault in a separate trial in December.
Wrestlers Yuichiro Izuka and Masakazu Kimura were sentenced to three years in prison and Masanori Fujii to 2 1/2 years. All three sentences were suspended.
According to the indictment, Yamamoto beat Saito with a beer bottle and ordered the wrestlers to hit him on June 25, 2007. On the following day, they also subjected Saito to what they called "exercise," slamming him on the sumo ring and hitting him with a metal bat for about 30 minutes. Saito later died from shock as a result of multiple trauma.
In the course of his trial that began in February, Yamamoto has admitted the beer-bottle assault but denied ordering any of the three to assault Saito.
When the court handed down its guilty verdict for the three wrestlers, the presiding judge ruled that Yamamoto had told them to assault Saito.
The court also recognized that the excessive sparring session they conducted on the teen deviated from normal training and constituted illegal violence.
But Yamamoto argued that the training blamed for Saito's death was never intended as hazing or punishment, claiming it was "done for the purpose of discipline."
Saito's death is one of the high-profile cases that have marred the public image of Japan's national sport.
Boxer dies at falls
OTSU Shiga Pref. (Kyodo) A professional boxer was found dead in the basin of a waterfall in Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, on Monday evening, police said.
Noriyuki Komatsu, 29, a former flyweight champion of the Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation, is believed to have accidentally fallen in while engaging in ascetic training at the waterfall, they said.
He had been visiting a temple in Kyoto since Saturday for meditation.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Data faked on Hitachi-built atomic plants
(Kyodo News) Hitachi Ltd（日立製作所原子力部門）. said Monday it has discovered that data were falsified in connection with equipment at two nuclear plants in Shizuoka and Shimane prefectures, but shrugged off any safety concerns.
The falsified data relate to the heat-treatment process used by another company responsible for the pipe welds on the moisture-separator heaters, Hitachi and its group company said. The heaters increase thermal efficiency by removing moisture from steam sent to turn the turbines and heating it.
Hitachi admitted that the equipment used at Chubu Electric Power Co.'s No. 5 reactor at the Hamaoka plant in Shizuoka Prefecture and at Chugoku Electric Power Co.'s No. 3 reactor under construction at the Shimane plant in Shimane Prefecture, were not operating as specified. But Hitachi claimed that "there is no problem with its material or safety."
Hitachi is checking for any similar data falsification incidents at its 17 other nuclear reactors.
Hitachi outsourced the heat treatment work, which was intended to make the pipes more resistant to cracking, to Japan Industrial Testing Co.
Although Hitachi was reprimanded by the government over a similar incident involving a subcontractor in 1997, it does not appear that the company is facing harsher punishment.
Instead, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency told Hitachi and Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy Ltd., to investigate whether other incidents of falsification had occurred and to submit plans to prevent a recurrence. Hitachi-GE Nuclear was formed by the merger of the nuclear businesses of the Hitachi and U.S. giant General Electric Co.
During the work, the pipes' temperatures fell faster than specified because of inappropriate temperature management, but that data was erased from the records using a bleaching agent, according to Hitachi, its group company and other sources.
The incident at the Shimane reactor occurred last December when a person in charge of the work wrongly operated the heat treatment equipment and failed to spot the irregularity quickly enough, they said.
The person in charge was quoted as saying: "If (the mistake had been) found, I would have had to do the heat treatment process again at the yearend when I was supposed to be off. I didn't want to do that."
An official at Japan Industrial Testing apologized and vowed that the company will train its employees appropriately. Hitachi has also apologized and said it will work to prevent a recurrence.
Hitachi started to investigate after Chugoku Electric Power in March found possible data falsification related to the heat treatment work of the Shimane plant's No. 3 reactor.
Leonardo da Vinci
Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci, whose genius epitomized the Renaissance humanist ideal and whose Last Supper (1495–98) and Mona Lisa (1503–06) are widely influential paintings, was born this day in 1452.
[On This Day] from [Britannica]
1955: First McDonald's opened by Ray Kroc
On this day in 1955, American fast-food pioneer Ray Kroc opened the first McDonald's franchise in Des Plaines, Illinois, launching an enterprise that would eventually become the world's largest fast-food chain.
[TODAY'S TOP STORIES] from [The Japan Times]
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Debate starts on bill to free up MSDF
By MASAMI ITO
Staff writer
The Lower House began deliberating on an antipiracy bill Tuesday to create a permanent law that would let the Maritime Self-Defense Force protect ships of any nationality against pirates and remove certain limits on the MSDF's use of force.
Prime Minister Taro Aso（麻生太郎首相） told the chamber that a new antipiracy law must be enacted quickly because of the dramatic increase in pirate attacks off Somalia and the Gulf of Aden, and the need for Japan to play a bigger role in solving the international problem.
"Piracy is a life-or-death matter that threatens Japan's national interests of securing the safety of transport by sea," Aso said. "The pirates off the coast of Somalia are especially a threat to the international community, including Japan, and emergency measures need to be taken."
The Liberal Democratic Party-New Komeito ruling bloc and the government want the bill passed before the Diet session ends in June. But if the opposition camp refuses to cooperate, the ruling bloc might have to extend the session.
The Democratic Party of Japan, the largest opposition force, is urging the government to amend the bill to require prior Diet approval for a dispatch. Aso had the MSDF dispatch two destroyers for antipiracy patrols off Somalia in March.
"The antipiracy measures bill lacks a provision for advance Diet approval should the MSDF be dispatched in case of an emergency — but it is necessary from the viewpoint of civilian control," DPJ lawmaker Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi said. "We also think it is necessary that a dispatch plan clarifying the mission and region be reported to the Diet."
Last month, Japan for the first time used the maritime police-action provision of the Self-Defense Forces Law to send two MSDF destroyers to Somalia. However, the MSDF is only allowed to escort vessels linked to Japan, including Japanese-registered ships or foreign ships with Japanese nationals or cargo on board.
Nevertheless, the destroyers seem to be scaring potential pirates away from freighters unrelated to Japan as well.
The MSDF is not allowed to attack pirates except in limited circumstances, including in an emergency evacuation or in self-defense based on Article 7 of the Police Execution of Duties Law, which limits the use of arms to incidents deemed necessary.
The new law would permit the MSDF to fire at pirate boats that ignore warning shots.
Arguing emphatically against the bill was Japanese Communist Party lawmaker Seiken Akamine. "We absolutely cannot tolerate this bill, which would pave the way for the use of armed forces abroad — which is prohibited by Article 9 of the Constitution — by enabling the SDF to be dispatched abroad and expanding their right to use weapons," Akamine said.
Aso contends that the antipiracy measures do not violate the Constitution, which prohibits the use of force, on the grounds that piracy is a crime.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Seven years urged for stablemaster
NAGOYA (Kyodo) Prosecutors on Tuesday demanded a seven-year prison sentence for former sumo stablemaster Tokitsukaze（元時津風親方）, who stands accused of ordering wrestlers at his stable to assault a 17-year-old grappler, leading to his death.
During his trial session at the Nagoya District Court, the stablemaster, whose real name is Junichi Yamamoto, apologized to the relatives of the victim, Takashi Saito, whose ring name was Tokitaizan, over the 2007 incident.
But Yamamoto, 59, again denied giving an order for senior wrestlers at his stable in Aichi Prefecture to assault Saito, even though three wrestlers were convicted of the assault in a separate trial in December.
Wrestlers Yuichiro Izuka and Masakazu Kimura were sentenced to three years in prison and Masanori Fujii to 2 1/2 years. All three sentences were suspended.
According to the indictment, Yamamoto beat Saito with a beer bottle and ordered the wrestlers to hit him on June 25, 2007. On the following day, they also subjected Saito to what they called "exercise," slamming him on the sumo ring and hitting him with a metal bat for about 30 minutes. Saito later died from shock as a result of multiple trauma.
In the course of his trial that began in February, Yamamoto has admitted the beer-bottle assault but denied ordering any of the three to assault Saito.
When the court handed down its guilty verdict for the three wrestlers, the presiding judge ruled that Yamamoto had told them to assault Saito.
The court also recognized that the excessive sparring session they conducted on the teen deviated from normal training and constituted illegal violence.
But Yamamoto argued that the training blamed for Saito's death was never intended as hazing or punishment, claiming it was "done for the purpose of discipline."
Saito's death is one of the high-profile cases that have marred the public image of Japan's national sport.
Boxer dies at falls
OTSU Shiga Pref. (Kyodo) A professional boxer was found dead in the basin of a waterfall in Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, on Monday evening, police said.
Noriyuki Komatsu, 29, a former flyweight champion of the Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation, is believed to have accidentally fallen in while engaging in ascetic training at the waterfall, they said.
He had been visiting a temple in Kyoto since Saturday for meditation.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Data faked on Hitachi-built atomic plants
(Kyodo News) Hitachi Ltd（日立製作所原子力部門）. said Monday it has discovered that data were falsified in connection with equipment at two nuclear plants in Shizuoka and Shimane prefectures, but shrugged off any safety concerns.
The falsified data relate to the heat-treatment process used by another company responsible for the pipe welds on the moisture-separator heaters, Hitachi and its group company said. The heaters increase thermal efficiency by removing moisture from steam sent to turn the turbines and heating it.
Hitachi admitted that the equipment used at Chubu Electric Power Co.'s No. 5 reactor at the Hamaoka plant in Shizuoka Prefecture and at Chugoku Electric Power Co.'s No. 3 reactor under construction at the Shimane plant in Shimane Prefecture, were not operating as specified. But Hitachi claimed that "there is no problem with its material or safety."
Hitachi is checking for any similar data falsification incidents at its 17 other nuclear reactors.
Hitachi outsourced the heat treatment work, which was intended to make the pipes more resistant to cracking, to Japan Industrial Testing Co.
Although Hitachi was reprimanded by the government over a similar incident involving a subcontractor in 1997, it does not appear that the company is facing harsher punishment.
Instead, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency told Hitachi and Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy Ltd., to investigate whether other incidents of falsification had occurred and to submit plans to prevent a recurrence. Hitachi-GE Nuclear was formed by the merger of the nuclear businesses of the Hitachi and U.S. giant General Electric Co.
During the work, the pipes' temperatures fell faster than specified because of inappropriate temperature management, but that data was erased from the records using a bleaching agent, according to Hitachi, its group company and other sources.
The incident at the Shimane reactor occurred last December when a person in charge of the work wrongly operated the heat treatment equipment and failed to spot the irregularity quickly enough, they said.
The person in charge was quoted as saying: "If (the mistake had been) found, I would have had to do the heat treatment process again at the yearend when I was supposed to be off. I didn't want to do that."
An official at Japan Industrial Testing apologized and vowed that the company will train its employees appropriately. Hitachi has also apologized and said it will work to prevent a recurrence.
Hitachi started to investigate after Chugoku Electric Power in March found possible data falsification related to the heat treatment work of the Shimane plant's No. 3 reactor.
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