Japan learns English from Obama speech textbook

TOKYO (Reuters) – President-elect Barack Obama's speeches are proving a best-seller in Japan -- as an aid to learning English.

An English-language textbook, "The Speeches of Barack Obama," has sold more than 400,000 copies in two months, a big hit in a country where few hit novels sell more than a million copies a year.

Japanese have a fervor for learning English and many bookstores have a corner dedicated to dozens of journals in the language, many of them now featuring the new U.S. leader's face.

"Speeches by presidents and presidential candidates are excellent as listening tools to learn English, because their contents are good and their words are easy to catch," said Yuzo Yamamoto of Asahi Press, which produced the best-selling text book.

"Obama's is especially so. His speeches are so moving, and he also uses words such as 'yes, we can,' 'change' and 'hope' that even Japanese people can memorize," he said.

Speeches by President George W. Bush and former nominee John Kerry's four years ago did not have the same appeal, however, and nor do those made by Japanese politicians, Yamamoto said.

"In Japan, we don't have politicians who have such a positive influence. That's why we have to turn to a foreign president for someone in whom to place our hopes."

The 95-page paperback features Obama's speeches in English from the 2004 Democratic National Convention and during the Democratic Party primaries, in which he defeated Hillary Clinton. They are accompanied by Japanese translations.

The 1,050 yen ($12) book, which includes a CD of the speeches, tops the bestseller list on bookseller Amazon's Japanese Website, http://www.amazon.co.jp/

"Readers have sent in postcards saying that when they heard the speeches, they were so moved and cried even though they don't understand English very well," Yamamoto said.

He said lawmakers from Japan's main opposition Democratic Party had bought the book to study Obama's speeches.

Following Obama's inauguration on Tuesday, Asahi Press plans to issue a sequel that includes his inaugural address, as well as President John F. Kennedy's 1961 inaugural speech. It will also feature a reading of President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg address of 1863.(Editing by Michael Watson)
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Odd News-Perfect for a party - $850 Christmas chicken

Japan - For those in Japan willing to splurge this Christmas despite a looming recession, a department store is offering truffle-stuffed roast chickens for 84,000 yen apiece.
Takashimaya Co has started taking orders for 12 capons to be flown in from Landes, France in time for Christmas Eve. More...

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Stupid News-Man nabbed for skinny dipping in Japan palace moat

AP -
TOKYO - Police have apprehended a Western man who went skinny dipping in a moat ringing the Imperial Palace in a busy Tokyo business district, attracting a huge crowd, officials said Tuesday.

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Odd News:Fat dolphins going on a diet at Japan aquarium

TOKYO - Dolphins at a Japanese marine park are going on a low fat diet after developing pot bellies and failing to look sharp in their aquatic performances.

Kinosaki Marine World in western Japan said Tuesday that all its 19 dolphins have been on a low fat diet since late August, when they started failing to hit jumping targets and keep upright while treading water.
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"We were puzzled by their poor performance, then we noticed they looked rounder," said park spokesman Haruo Imazu.

Keepers measured their weight and found all had gotten plumper, some up to 22 pounds heavier just during the summer.

All had the same menu — about 31 pounds of mackerel mixed with some white fish — but keepers found the mackerels had gotten fattier, adding too many calories for the dolphins.

Keepers immediately put them on a weight loss program, feeding them more white fish and less fatty mackerels, while instituting a routine exercise regime, Imazu said.

Less fat and moderate exercise seemed to be working, he said.


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World's oldest man has 113th birthday in Japan

World's oldest man has 113th birthday in Japan
TOKYO - The world's oldest man celebrated his 113th birthday Thursday in southern Japan, telling reporters he wants to live another five years. Tomoji Tanabe, who was born Sept. 18, 1895, received birthday gifts, flowers and $1,000 cash from the mayor of his hometown of Miyakonojo, on Japan's southern island of Kyushu.

Tanabe told reporters he wants to live "another five years or so," according to city spokesman Akihide Yokoyama. That was a slight downgrade from last year, when he said he wanted to live "for infinity."

The former city land surveyor, who lives with his son and daughter-in-law, is in good health and sticks to the habits that have gotten him this far. He rises early and reads the newspaper each day, drinks milk every afternoon and eats regular meals. He also avoids alcohol and does not smoke.

On Tuesday he woke up early in the morning to eat breakfast before walking out to meet the mayor and members of the press at his home, Yokoyama said. The cash gift he received is given annually to the city's oldest resident.

Japan has one of the world's longest life expectancies, nearly 86 years for women and 79 years for men, which is often attributed to the country's healthy diet rich in fish and rice.

The number of Japanese living past 100 has more than doubled in the last six years, reaching a record high of 36,000 people this year. The country's centenarian ranks are dominated by women, who make up 86 percent of the total.

Japan's centenarian population is expected to reach nearly 1 million — the world's largest — by 2050, according to U.N. projections.

The world's oldest person is 115-year-old Edna Parker, who was born on April 20, 1893, and lives in a nursing home in Indiana.....article


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Odd News-Japan says no word from China on dumpling poisoning

Odd News-Japan says no word from China on dumpling poisoning

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Foreign Ministry denied on Saturday media reports that Beijing had for the first time acknowledged that pesticide-laced dumplings -- at the heart of a bilateral row -- had probably been contaminated in China.

Japanese media, including NHK public television, said China had told Japan an individual working with the factory that produced the poisoned dumplings was probably to blame for causing food poisoning in China in June.

The daily Yomiuri Shimbun evening edition said Beijing was also looking into the possibility that the exported dumplings, which had caused 10 Japanese to become sick in December and January, had also been contaminated in China.

Japan and China have long been at odds over where the dumplings were contaminated, with both denying sabotage in their countries.

The media reports said the individual had contaminated the dumplings "for personal reasons".

"The Japanese government has not received such information from the Chinese government," the ministry said in a faxed statement.

Foreign Ministry officials could not be reached for comment.

The poisoning case has long been a headache for Japan's unpopular Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, who came under fire for taking too long to alert the public after the first consumer fell ill in late December.

(Reporting by Miho Yoshikawa; Editing by Alex Richardson)

Odd News - Japan's females have topped the world's longevity ranks

Odd News - Japan's females have topped the world's longevity ranks


TOKYO (Reuters Life!) - Japanese girls born last year can expect to live until they are 86 years old, which would make them the longest survivors in the world, a report from the country's health ministry showed.
Boys born in 2007 can expect to live to the age of 79.2, ranking third after Iceland and Hong Kong, the report said.

Japan's females have topped the world's longevity ranks for 23 years, something researchers have attributed to their healthy diet and tight social ties, among other reasons.

The report is the latest sign that Japan is ageing quicker than any other country, with government data showing a tenth of the population aged 75 years or older.

The proportion of those 65 years or older is also seen doubling to 40 percent by mid-century.

"People are in different social environments and are influenced by various factors and eating habits, so it's hard to answer the question of why people live long," a ministry spokesman said.

"But we can say that the improvement of medical technologies helps," the spokesman added. Japan has improved treatments for the ageing population's three biggest killers -- cancer, heart disease and stroke.

Japan also has one of the world's lowest birth-rates, leaving the government with the challenge of how to fund its pension requirements, take care of its elderly and maintain productivity.

(Reporting by Yoko Kubota, editing by Miral Fahmy)

Stupid People - Reports: Tokyo rampage suspect warns, 'It's time'

Stupid People - Reports: Tokyo rampage suspect warns, 'It's time'
More proof that people suck!


By JAY ALABASTER, Associated Press Writer
Mon Jun 9, 5:17 AM ET


TOKYO - A man suspected of killing seven people in a knifing rampage foretold the mayhem in a series of messages posted on the Internet, including one just before the attack saying, "It's time," police and media reports said Monday.
Tomohiro Kato, the 25-year-old man accused of ramming pedestrians with a truck and then stabbing 17 bystanders in Tokyo's popular Akihabara district on Sunday, posted the messages on an Internet bulletin board from his cell phone, a police spokesman said.

The police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing protocol, refused to release the Internet messages, but news reports said they were posted in a message board thread titled, "I will kill people in Akihabara," hours before the stabbings.

"I want to crash the vehicle and, if it becomes useless, I will then use a knife. Goodbye, everyone," Kyodo News agency quoted one message as saying.

That was followed several hours later, the report said, by a chilling message sent via cell phone that read: "It's time." The attack began 20 minutes later.

The reported messages gave Japan a limited glimpse into the mind of a man accused of the deadliest knife assault in Tokyo in recent memory.

According to police, Kato said he had "gotten sick of the world," but investigators were trying to find out his motives, why he chose Akihabara and whether he had planned the criminal act over the past few days as reported.

Police say Kato — reportedly a factory worker — rammed a rented two-ton truck into a crowd of afternoon shoppers in Akihabara, a prime shopping area for electronic goods and a hangout for young people, particularly comic book fans.

Kato himself reportedly had a penchant for computer games and anime — like vast numbers of Japanese youths. Kyodo said he listed a female computer game character as his "favorite person" in his junior high school yearbook.

After ramming the pedestrians, the man jumped out and began stabbing the people he had knocked down with the truck before turning on horrified onlookers, police said.

The rampage shocked Japan, which boasts a low crime rate compared to other industrialized nations. Tokyo, with a population of 12.7 million, is considered relatively safe, with guns tightly restricted and shootings rare. The exception is gang violence, but gangsters do not generally attack the general public.

Takashi Kiuchi, who was on a high school judo team with one of the victims, said many Japanese live with the assumption that their country is safe, but that assumption was under attack.

"It's gotten so you can't even walk down a crowded street," he said.

On Monday, the scene of the attack was covered with flowers, comic books and soft drinks left for the souls of the dead. The offerings were shielded from the rain by a small white tent.

"Everyone says that Japan is a safe country, but I'm not sure if that's true anymore," said Sayaka Itoda, a young woman who had come to leave flowers.

On Monday, local television broadcast agents at Kato's apartment in Shizuoka, about 100 miles southwest of Tokyo.

Government officials scrambled to respond. The ruling coalition held an emergency meeting with Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda to come up with ways to secure crowded public spaces, and the government is considering limiting access to large knives like the one used on Sunday.

"Obviously, the suspect possessed the knife without a legitimate reason," said Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said. "I think we have to seriously consider what we can do to step up the restrictions."

Compared to gun violence, stabbings are less rare in Japan.

In March, one person was stabbed to death and at least seven others were hurt by a man who went on a slashing spree with two knives outside a shopping mall in eastern Japan. In January, a 16-year-old boy attacked five people in a shopping area, injuring two of them.

A spate of knife attacks also has occurred in schools, the worst being June 8, 2001, when a man with a history of mental illness burst into an elementary school near Osaka killing eight children. He was executed in 2004.

Stupid News - TOKYO - A jumbo black watermelon auctioned in Japan

Stupid News - TOKYO - A jumbo black watermelon auctioned in Japan


TOKYO - A jumbo black watermelon auctioned in Japan on Friday fetched a record $6,100, making it one of the most expensive watermelons ever sold in the country.
In a society where melons are a luxury item commonly given as gifts, the watermelon's hefty price tag followed another jaw-dropping auction last month, when a pair of "Yubari" cantaloupe melons sold for a record $23,500.

The 17-pound, black-skinned "Densuke" watermelon, a variety grown only on the northern island of Hokkaido, was purchased Friday by a marine products dealer who said he wanted to support local agriculture, according to Kyodo News agency.

The price was the highest on record for a Densuke watermelon, said Kazuyoshi Ohira, a spokesman for the Tohma Agricultural Cooperative in Hokkaido. Most retail at department stores and supermarkets for a more modest $188 to $283, Ohira said.

And what makes a watermelon worth $200, much less $6,000?

Ohira says it's the unusual black skin and unparalleled taste. "It's a watermelon, but it's not the same," he said.

Stupid News - Lost parrot tells veterinarian his address

Stupid News - Lost parrot tells veterinarian his address
No Way!
TOKYO - When Yosuke the parrot flew out of his cage and got lost, he did exactly what he had been taught — recite his name and address to a stranger willing to help.

Police rescued the African grey parrot two weeks ago from a neighbor's roof in the city of Nagareyama, near Tokyo. After spending a night at the station, he was transferred to a nearby veterinary hospital while police searched for clues, local policeman Shinjiro Uemura said.

He kept mum with the cops, but began chatting after a few days with the vet.

"I'm Mr. Yosuke Nakamura," the bird told the veterinarian, according to Uemura. The parrot also provided his full home address, down to the street number, and even entertained the hospital staff by singing songs.

"We checked the address, and what do you know, a Nakamura family really lived there. So we told them we've found Yosuke," Uemura said.

The Nakamura family told police they had been teaching the bird its name and address for about two years.

But Yosuke apparently wasn't keen on opening up to police officials.

"I tried to be friendly and talked to him, but he completely ignored me," Uemura said.