Fierce Talent War (NPB)

--- Translation of Japanese into English ---

FUKUDOME declared Free Agent

In Nippon Professional Baseball, Kosuke FUKUDOME who belongs to Chunichi Dragons (30 years old) made a statement that he will declare right of Free Agent that he got this season. To acquire him there are a lot of teams not only japanese teamｓ but aloso Major League for example Tigers, Giants, Cubs and more.

He said "I don't have any priority" therefore it is said that there will be fierce talent war about him.

FUKUDOME appeared at statement that was conducted from 9 am with at ease. I became to want to have evaluation about me from another teams he was quoted to explain the reason of decision about Free Agent.

On the other hand, he said "if I have no illusion about business is business It was easy for me to decide this decision. But I have been stood by fan and teammates so I
could not grow by myself." He exposed his bitter about this decision.



--- Translation of English into Japanese ---

プロ野球、中日ドラゴンズの福留孝介外野手（３０）が１２日、名古屋市内で会見し、今季取得したフリーエージェント（ＦＡ）権を行使することを表明した。福留をめぐってはすでに阪神、巨人のほか、カブスなど国内外の１０球団以上が獲得に名乗りを上げている。福留は「すべて横一線。（希望する球団は）一切ない」としており、今後、し烈な争奪戦が繰り広げられることになる。

福留は午前９時から開かれた会見にすっきりとした表情で臨み、「周りの評価を聞いてみたいという気持ちが強くなった」とＦＡ宣言の理由を説明。

一方で、「ビジネスと割り切れば簡単だったが、９年間、ファン、チームメートに支えられてきた。自分１人でここまで育ったのではない」と苦渋の決断だったことも明かした。



--- Vocabulary ---

Declare : 宣言する
Make a statement : 声明を発表する
Right : 権利
Acquire : 獲得する
Priority : 優先
Fierce : 熾烈な
Talent war : 人材争奪戦
Appear : 現れる
Conduct : 行なう
At ease : 落ち着いて
Evaluation : 評価
Have no illusion that : -を割り切る
Decision : 決定
Stand by : -を援助する
Glow : 成長する
By myself : 1人で
Expose : 明らかにする
Bitter : 苦しみ

Current Account Surplus in JAPAN

Current account surplus marks 40 percent rise

Japan's current account surplus rose 40.4 percent in September from a year earlier, marking nine months of growth, the government said Monday.

The surplus in the current account stood at 2.883 trillion yen (US$26.07 billion) in September before seasonal adjustment, the Finance Ministry said. The data recorded a 42.1 percent increase in August.

The result exceeded the estimate by economists surveyed by Dow Jones and Nikkei, who had predicted a surplus of 2.655 trillion yen (US$24.01 billion).

The surplus, the broadest measure of Japan's trade with the rest of the world, for the April-September fiscal half expanded 34.1 percent on year to 12.424 trillion yen (US$112.33 billion), marking the fourth consecutive growth, the ministry said.

The current account measures trade in goods, services, tourism and investment. It is calculated by determining the difference between Japan's income from foreign sources against payments on foreign obligations and excludes net capital investment.



--- Vocabulary ---
Current account surplus : 経営黒字
Surplus : 残り、黒字、余剰
Current account : 経常収支
Rose : 上昇した (=rise)
Trillion : 1兆
Seasonal adjustment : 季節調整
Predict : 予測する、予想する
Measure : 量、単位、手法、手段、測定する（動）
Consecutive : 連続した
Determine : 決定する、測定する
Obligation : 義務、債権、債務
Exclude : 排除する
Capital investment : 資本投資

Nuclear Waste Disposal Problem

Waste disposal problem forces Japan power company to shut down nuclear reactor

A Japanese power company is investigating a waste disposal problem that forced it to shut down a reactor at a nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan, a plant spokesman said Sunday.

No radiation was leaked in the incident at the No. 3 reactor at the Onagawa nuclear power plant in Miyagi prefecture Saturday afternoon, plant operator Tohoku Electric Power Co. said in a statement.

Power plant workers manually shut the reactor down after an abnormal jump in hydrogen concentration in the reactor's gaseous waste disposal system, plant spokesman Toshio Abe said.

Workers at the plant detected the gaseous buildup at midday; the reactor had only resumed operations about 12 hours earlier following the completion of a six-month-long regular inspection, Tohoku Electric Power said.

Officials decided to shut down the reactor a few hours later to investigate the cause, the statement said. No radiation was leaked and no other anomalies were detected, it said.

The 825,000-kW reactor was to be closed indefinitely while Tohoku Electric Power Co. officials completed their investigation, Abe said. The plant's No. 1 reactor was operating normally, but the No. 2 reactor has been closed since mid-October for regular inspections, he said.

Japan relies heavily on its nuclear power program, which supplies about 30 percent of its electricity. The country's largest nuclear power plant was shut down in July for repairs and tests after an earthquake led to a raft of radioactive leaks and malfunctions.


--- Vocabulary---
reactor : 原子炉
radiation : 放射物
power plant : 発電所
leak : 漏れる、小便をする、漏らす
manually : 手動で
abnormal : 異常な
jump : 急上昇
hydrogen : 水素
concentration : 濃度
gaseous : ガス
spokesman : 広報担当者
detect : 見つける、見破る
buildup : 積み上げ、終結
midday : 正午、真昼
resume : 再開する、復旧させる
following : -の後に
six-month-long : 6ヶ月間開催される
completion : 完成、完了
anomaly : 例外、異常
indefinitely : 無期限に
rely on : 頼る、信頼する
heavily : 重く、大量に
supply : 供給する、提供する
electricity : 電気、電力
led to : -にいたる、-をもたらす (lead to)
raft or : 大量の
raft : いかだ、救命ボート
radioactive : 放射能を持った、放射能による
malfunction : 機能不良、異常、故障