Tokyo ‘Silver shoplifters’: Facing cuts in welfare and pensions, Japan’s swelling ranks of the elderly are turning to crime—many of them stealing food. Shoplifters are now more likely to be over 65 than under 18. Criminal offenses by the over-65 set have doubled in the past decade, even as overall crime has dropped. “Senior citizens shoplift lunch boxes and bread […]
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Meet “Pepper,” said Richard Lawler in Engadget.com. Japanese telecom firm SoftBank unveiled a new, robot last week that it claims “can recognize human emotion” thanks to technology that allows it to “communicate through emotion, speech, or body language.” Pepper is also equipped with microphones and proximity sensors, and will feature upgradable software, allowing users to install apps and updates to […]
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Japan decided to resume Antarctic whale hunt after a hiatus despite an IJC ruling, which prompted international outrage. The International Court of Justice ruled in March 2104 that Japan’s decades-old whale hunt in the Antarctic should stop, prompting Tokyo to cancel the bulk of its whaling for the 2014/2015 season. The order from the United Nations court was binding and […]
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Internment Camps in the United States Miyuki is old enough to have been a child during World War II. Indeed, some of her students are that old as well but they are eager to learn and listen to her carefully. She is a teacher of floral arrangements in the Japanese style of Ikenobo but her face always seems sadder […]
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Japanese schoolchildren have been swept up in a new craze— eyeball licking. The bizarre practice, known as “worming” supposedly is an expression of intimacy, and was sparked by a music video in which a woman licks the lead singer’s eye. Ophthalmologists warned that the practice is causing scratched corneas and infections that could lead to blindness. But Japanese teens have […]
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Researchers in Japan say they have found evidence that radiation from the March 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident has caused the mutation of dozens of butterflies. The mutant butterflies are assumed to be just one of many affected wildlife species. The mutant butterflies have been shown to have stunted wings, irregularly developed eyes, disfigured antennas and different color […]
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The parents of a 7-year-old boy decided to leave their son in a forest to teach him a lesson about throwing rocks at cars. They said that they were only gone for a few minutes and when they came back the boy was gone. The boy was all alone for almost a week. He found an old military hut that […]
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Taro Aso, Japanese Finance Minister and former Prime Minister, bemoaning the financial burden that caring for the elderly in their final years places on the country’s budget. Over a quarter of Japan’s 128 million people are above the age of 60—including Aso, who is 72.
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The Japanese are working themselves to death. Labor activists have been trying to draw attention to the problem of karoshi, or death from overwork, for decades. Reliable statistics can’t be found, because it’s hard to prove causation in the case of someone who, say, worked 36 hours in a row several times in the same month and then died of […]
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Police in Japan have reported that crime is at a minimum and that they have nothing to do. They say that there has only been one gun homicide since 2015 when they made firearms illegal. Gun control is the major reason for this low homicide rate. Japanese Law states that no person is allowed to own a firearm or sword. […]
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