Owarai

Owarai is a broad word used to describe Japanese comedy as seen on television. The word owarai is the honorific form of the word warai, meaning "a laugh" or "a smile". Owarai is most common on Japanese variety shows  and the comedians are referred to as owarai geinin or owarai tarento. Presently Japan is considered to be in an "owarai boom", and many minor talents have been finding sudden fame after a gag or skit became popular. 

Manzai , a traditional form of Japanese comedy that became the basis of many modern acts today, is characterized by a pair of usually older male comedians acting certain roles in a constant comedic battle against themselves. This tradition is continued in the acts of many modern talents. While there are many women talents, they are largely outnumbered by the men, and they tend to take more minor roles. 

Whereas manzai performers traditionally wore kimono , these days a western suit is the outfit of choice for many owarai kombi and many talents who begin their careers performing in a style very similar to stand-up comedy, usually including aspects of manzai and conte. 

Some minor characteristics include frequently used sound effects (cheap, old-fashioned sound effects are used intentionally for comic effect), dajare (a Japanese-style pun), and dokkiri (a hidden-camera prank like those seen in the popular American show Candid Camera). 

Japanese variety shows are the main outlet for most owarai geinin and along with drama and anime they are some of the most popular shows on Japanese television. 

As a general term in Japan, "variety show" can refer to "straight" variety shows with an appropriate myriad of topics, segments, and games. It is also used for comedy oriented shows that focus more on stand-up and skits, and quiz/trivia type shows featuring comic elements. It is not to be expected that a variety show will always follow the same format, and guests from Japanese music and talent pools or frequent. 

The variety style shows generally divided into segments of games, features, and "corners", some very short and some shows focusing (for a special episode) solely on one game or feature. Trivia, quiz, or game shows in Japan are often considered owarai as the contestants of such shows are often a mix of owarai geinin and other Japanese talents of various descriptions. Game shows without any famous characters playing the role of contestants are rare. 

Of these sections and games, many can be seen recurring on a variety of shows all across Japan. It may even be possible to classify Japanese variety shows (or at least the individual sections of the shows) according to the following formats: ). 

Thousands march against nuclear power in Tokyo

Chanting "Sayonara nuclear power" and waving banners, 

tens of thousands of people marched in central Tokyo on Monday 

to call on Japan's government to abandon atomic energy in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear accident. 

The demonstration underscores how deeply a Japanese public long accustomed to nuclear power has been affected by the March 11 crisis, 

when a tsunami caused core meltdowns at three reactors at the Fukushima 

Dai-ichi complex. The disaster - the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl - saw radiation spewed across a wide part of northeastern Japan, 

forcing the evacuation of some 100,000 people who lived near the plant and raising fears of contamination in everything from fruit and vegetables to fish and water.

The September 11 attacks

The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/11) were a series of four coordinated  upon the United States in New York City and the Washington, D.C., area on September 11, 2001. 

On that Tuesday morning, 19  from the  militant group  four passenger jets. 

The hijackers intentionally crashed two planes, and, into the Twin Towers of the  in New York City; both towers collapsed within two hours. Hijackers crashed  into  in. The fourth jet, crashed into a field near, after passengers attempted to take control before it could reach the hijacker's intended target in Washington, D.C.. 

Suspicion quickly fell on, and in 2004, the group's leader, who had initially denied involvement, claimed  Al-Qaeda and bin Laden cited, the presence of, and  as motives for the attacks. The United States responded to the attacks by launching the, invading  to depose the, which had harbored al-Qaeda members. 

Many countries strengthened their anti-terrorism legislation and expanded law enforcement powers. In May 2011, after years at large,. 

The destruction caused serious damage to the economy of  and had a significant impact on global markets. Cleanup of the  was completed in May 2002, and the Pentagon was repaired within a year. 

Numerous memorials were constructed, including the  in New York, the, and the. Adjacent to the National Memorial, the 1,776 feet (541 m) is estimated for completion in 2013. 

Sento

Download

Sento is a type of Japanese communal bath house where customers pay for entrance. Traditionally these bath houses have been quite utilitarian, with one large room separating the sexes by a tall barrier, and on both sides, usually a minimum of lined up faucets and a single large bath for the already washed bathers to sit in among others. 

Since the second half of the 20th century, these communal bath houses have been decreasing in numbers as more and more Japanese residences now have baths. 

Some Japanese find social importance in going to public baths, out of the theory that physical proximity/intimacy brings emotional intimacy, which is termed skinship in Japanese. 

Others go to a sento because they live in a small housing facility without a private bath or to enjoy bathing in a spacious room and to relax in saunas or jet baths that often accompany new or renovated sentos. 

Another type of Japanese public bath is onsen, which uses hot water from a natural hot spring. 

They are not exclusive: A sento can be called an onsen if it derives its bath water from naturally heated hot springs. A legal definition exists that can classify a public bathing facility as sento. 

The bathing area is separated from the changing area by a sliding door to keep the heat in the bath. An exception are baths in the Okinawa region, as the weather there is usually already hot, and there is no need to keep the hot air in the bath. 

Sento in Okinawa usually have no separation between the changing room and the bathing area or only a small wall with an opening to pass through. 

The bathing area is usually tiled. Near the entrance area is a supply of small stools and buckets. There are a number of washing stations at the wall and sometimes in the middle of the room, each with usually two faucets, one for hot water and one for cold water, and a shower head. 

At the end of the room are the bathtubs, usually at least two or three with different water temperatures, and maybe a 'denki buro' (electric bath). In the Osaka and Kansai area the bathtubs are more often found in the center of the room, whereas in Tokyo they are usually at the end of the room. 

The separating wall between the men and the women side is also about 2 m high. The ceiling may be 4 m high, with large windows in the top. On rare occasions the separating wall also has a small hole. 

This was used to pass soap. At the wall on the far end of the room is usually a large ceramic tile mural or painting for decoration. Most often this is Mount Fuji as seen in the picture to the right, but it may be a general Japanese landscape, a (faux) European landscape, a river or ocean scene. 

On rarer occasions it may also show a group of warriors or a female nude on the male side. Playing children or a female beauty often decorate the women's side. 

Japan's hula girls reopen resort near Fukushima

Japanese hula girls, who helped revive a former coal mining town as a Hawaii-themed spa, have returned to the resort as it reopened nearly seven months after it was damaged by the March 11 earthquake. 

They danced to 21 songs, often in tears, in a "Polynesian Show" as some 700 guests cheered at the Spa Resort Hawaiians, 180 kilometres north of Tokyo, as it reopened for business on Saturday, according to local media. 

The resort has attracted an annual 1.5 million visitors in recent years, including many from China and South Korea. 

But it is expected to struggle for survival due to fears over radiation from the tsunami-crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant 50 kilometres away. 

Spa Resort Hawaiians, located in the city of Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, is a resort and theme park in Japan. It opened on January 15, 1966 as the Joban Hawaiian Center, becoming the first in the country. 

The resort was an outgrowth of the mining industry. The Joban Mine had become the Japan's largest mine in 1944, and business continued booming through the 1950s. 

As Japan's economy shifted from being powered by coal to oil in the 1960s, though, the owners realized that its useful life was limited. Yutaka Nakamura, the vice president, was determined to extend the mine's life somehow, and hit upon the idea of using the area's hot springs, an inconvenience to the mines, to open a resort. He selected a Hawaiian theme. 

One of the Resort's most well-known features is its dance troupe. Rather than inviting an outside troupe to perform, the company decided to create its own, and initially trained 18 employees' daughters. In the very close-knit mining community, entire families would work at the Resort. 

Nakamura intentionally kept the hotel small at the beginning, so the local ryokan would benefit from the increased business, and purchased as much as possible from local suppliers. 

Its popularity reached its peak in 1970?71, as attendance passed 1.55 million visitors per year. 

In 1989, Joban Hawaiian Center received the Deming Application Prize, becoming the first leisure-industry company to win this quality control award. 

In 1990, it changed its name to Spa Resort Hawaiians, reflecting an increased focus on the spa facilities. 

In 2004, it was the tenth most popular theme park in Japan, with 1.5 million visitors. 

The 2006 film Hula Girl was based on the story of the founding of the resort. 

One of 3 Chosen for Nobel in Medicine Died Days Ago

When a representative of the Nobel Foundation could not reach Dr. Ralph M. Steinman by telephone Monday to deliver the thrilling news that he had been awarded a Nobel Prize in Medicine for his breakthrough work in immunology, he sent him an e-mail about the honor. 

The family of the late Dr. Ralph M. Steinman, pictured on the screen, on Monday after he was announced as a Nobel Prize winner. 

Dr. Jules A. Hoffmann, above, and Dr. Bruce A. Beutler, both immunologists, shared this year's Nobel Prize in Medicine with Dr. Ralph M. Steinman, who died of pancreatic cancer on Friday before learning of their selection. 

But Dr. Steinman would never see the message nor learn of the prize. He died of pancreatic cancer on Friday, three days before the phone call from the Nobel committee. 

He had been battling the highly deadly disease for four years, using a treatment he devised to try to prolong his life, essentially turning his body into an extension of his research. 

However, Nobel Prizes cannot be awarded posthumously. And so the Nobel committee, which had believed Dr. Steinman to be alive, faced a quandary. 

On Monday morning, one of Dr. Steinman's daughters, Alexis, saw the e-mail from the Nobel Foundation and contacted Rockefeller University in New York, where her father had worked. The president of the university, Marc Tessier-Lavigne, immediately called the chairman of the Nobel Prize committee to inform him. 

Then the committee, at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, scrambled to figure out what to do. As heartless as it might seem, would the prize for Dr. Steinman have to be revoked? 

"This is a unique situation ? Steinman died hours before the decision was made," Goran Hansson, secretary of the Nobel committee for physiology and medicine, told Swedish Radio News after the situation came to light. "News of his death was not made public. We had no idea, nor did they know at his place of work." 

The foundation's nine-member board of directors met Monday afternoon and consulted lawyers concerning the interpretation of the statutes of the Nobel Foundation issued in 1974. The statutes hold that the Nobel Prize is not to be given posthumously. But if a person who is announced as a prize winner dies before receiving it at the Nobel ceremonies on Dec. 10 ? the anniversary of the death of Alfred Nobel, the Swedish industrialist who endowed the prizes ? the award remains valid. 

Shabu-shabu

Download

Shabu-shabu is a Japanese variant of hot pot. The name Shabu Shabu is derived from the "swish swish" sound of cooking the meat in the pot. The dish is related to sukiyaki in style, in that both use thinly sliced meat and vegetables and are usually served with dipping sauces, but it is considered to be more savory and less sweet than sukiyaki. It is considered a winter dish but is eaten year-round. 

Shabu-shabu was introduced in Japan in the 20th century with the opening of a Shabu-shabu restaurant "Suehiro" in Osaka. Its origins are traced back to the Chinese hot pot known as "shuan yang rou". Shabu-shabu is most similar to the original Chinese version when compared to other Japanese dishes such as sukiyaki. 

The name of Shabu-shabu was named when Suehiro served it. After that, Suehiro registered the name of shabu-shabu as a trademark in 1955. The cuisine rapidly spread through Asia. Together with sukiyaki, shabu-shabu is a common dish in tourist hot-spots, especially in Tokyo, but also in local Japanese neighborhoods (colloquially called "Little Tokyos" or "Japantowns") in countries such as the United States and Canada. 

The dish is traditionally made with thinly sliced beef, though modern preparations sometimes use pork, crab, chicken, duck, or lobster. Most often, tender ribeye steak is used, but less tender cuts such as top sirloin are also common. A more expensive meat, such as wagy?, may also be used for its enhanced flavor and texture. It is usually served with tofu and vegetables, including Chinese cabbage, chrysanthemum leaves, nori (edible seaweed), onions, carrots, shiitake mushrooms and enokitake mushrooms. In some places, udon, mochi or harusame noodles may also be served. 

The dish is prepared by submerging a very thin slice of meat or a piece of vegetable in a pot of boiling water or dashi made with kombu  and swishing it back and forth several times. The familiar swishing sound is where the dish gets its name. 

Shabu-shabu directly translates to "swish-swish". Cooked meat and vegetables are usually dipped in ponzu or "goma"sauce before eating, and served with a bowl of steamed white rice. Once the meat and vegetables have been eaten, leftover broth from the pot is customarily combined with the remaining rice, and the resulting soup is usually eaten last. 

Lists face crackdown

The Metropolitan Police Department campaign, which includes designating more marked bikeways, comes amid an increase in accidents and violations that will now face stiffer penalties. 

People who ride bicycles without proper brakes or run red lights may face a fine of up to \50,000. Failing to ride slowly and carefully on sidewalks can result in a fine of up to \20,000. Police plan to strictly enforce the new measures while at the same time enhancing safety. 

Cycling has long been a popular form of exercise and has increasingly been viewed as a means of commuting, particularly after the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11 stranded untold thousands of people in the capital, prompting a run on bicycles that quickly sold out. 

Although most people use common sense when they cycle, there are aggressive types who thumb their nose at safety. 

Some apparently find it fashionable to pedal brakeless, one-gear "pist" track bikes on the street. It is legal to ride a brakeless bike on a track, but not on the street. 

A pist rider got the attention of police in February when one such bike was involved in a fatal collision with a 69-year-old female pedestrian in Shibuya Ward. 

But in terms of overall identified violators of the Road Traffic Law, the MPD cited only 300 cases of cyclists running red lights, compared with 111 in 2009 ? in both cases the figures only account for incidents police processed. Police also handled 661 cases of cyclists riding illegally modified bikes, including those with no brakes, compared with two in 2009. 

Overall, cyclists who, according to police, violated the Road Traffic Law numbered 1,438 last year, compared with 574 in 2009. The number from this January to September was 1,351. 

By prefecture, Tokyo logs the highest number of bicycle accidents. Last year saw 1,039 bicycle-pedestrian accidents, or about 40 percent of all such cases logged nationwide, an MPD spokesman said Oct. 20. Between last January and August, accidents involving bicycles accounted for 37.8 percent of all traffic accidents in Tokyo, the largest percentage ever. 

The police are also planning to collaborate with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to increase designated bicycle ways on both the left side of streets and the right side of sidewalks, the spokesman said. 

With Gadhafi Dead, What Does Future Hold for Libya?

Moammar Gadhafi ruled Libya for forty-two years. He was killed Thursday after fighters loyal to the National Transitional Council, the NTC, captured him in his hometown of Sirte. People celebrated in Tripoli, including this engineer who gave only his first name, Osama. 

OSAMA: "All the people go outside and they celebrate and feel so happy about the end of this Gadhafi's regime and everyone, even the families, the children, the old people, all are out to celebrate this moment. This moment is very happiness moment now." 

Questions about how the Libyan leader died have raised the possibility of an international investigation. 

Moammar Gadhafi was twenty-seven when he took power in nineteen sixty-nine after a military overthrow of Libya's king. He once declared himself Africa's King of Kings. 

This Nigerian social worker, Mary Ene, says other African leaders who want to stay in power forever should learn something. 

MARY ENE: "This is a lesson to our leaders in this part of the world to know that power belongs to God and that God can take power from anybody anytime. It is time for our leaders to look beyond trying to grab all the things that belong to the public for their own pockets, for their own families." 

Ugandan government spokesman Fred Opolot had some praise for the former leader. 

FRED OPOLO: "Gadhafi will be remembered in Uganda as a Pan-Africanist who contributed a lot to the workings of the African Union.  Also in individual countries he contributed a lot in foreign direct investment and let's not forget, he was a key proponent for African unity, so in that context, Gadhafi will be missed." 

The United States blamed Libya for bombing a German nightclub in nineteen eighty-six. Two American servicemen were killed. The United States reacted with deadly air strikes in Libya. 

In two thousand three, Colonel Gadhafi took steps to improve relations with the West. He admitted responsibility for the nineteen eighty-eight bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. That attack killed two hundred seventy people. He also rejected weapons of mass destruction and terrorism. As a result, the United States re-opened diplomatic ties with Libya. 

The rebellion in Libya began in February in the eastern city of Benghazi. Colonel Gadhafi sought to crush the unrest. He refused to leave even as NATO planes began attacking his forces in March. 

NATO says its air strikes likely aided in his capture. It says its planes had attacked a large group of vehicles that attempted to flee Sirte on Thursday. It says NATO officials did not know at the time that Colonel Gadhafi was in one of the vehicles. 

NTC officials have said control of Sirte would begin a series of moves for elections, a new government and a new constitution. 

President Obama said the United States looks forward to the quick formation of a government and to free and fair elections. 

Mr. Obama added, "Without putting a single U.S. service member on the ground, we achieved our objectives, and our NATO mission will soon come to an end." 

Tengu

Download

Tengu ("heavenly dogs") are a class of supernatural creatures found in Japanese folklore, art, theater, and literature. They are one of the best known y?kai (monster-spirits) and are sometimes worshipped as Shinto kami (revered spirits or gods). 

Although they take their name from a dog-like Chinese demon (Tiangou), the tengu were originally thought to take the forms of birds of prey, and they are traditionally depicted with both human and avian characteristics. 

The earliest tengu were pictured with beaks, but this feature has often been humanized as an unnaturally long nose, which today is practically the tengu's defining characteristic in the popular imagination. 

Buddhism long held that the tengu were disruptive demons and harbingers of war. Their image gradually softened, however, into one of protective, if still dangerous, spirits of the mountains and forests. Tengu are associated with the ascetic practice known as Shugend?, and they are usually depicted in the distinctive garb of its followers, the yamabushi. 

The tengu in art appears in a large number of shapes, but it usually falls somewhere between a large, monstrous bird and a wholly anthropomorphized being, often with a red face or an unusually large or long nose. Early depictions of tengu show them as kite-like beings who can take a human-like form, often retaining avian wings, head or beak. The tengu's long nose seems to have been conceived in the 14th century, likely as a humanization of the original bird's bill. 

The tengu's long noses ally them with the Shinto deity Sarutahiko, who is described in the Japanese historical text, the Nihon Shoki, with a similar proboscis measuring seven hand-spans in length. In village festivals the two figures are often portrayed with identical red, phallic-nosed mask designs. 

Some of the earliest representations of tengu appear in Japanese picture scrolls, such as the Tenguz?shi Emaki, painted ca. 1296, which parodies high-ranking priests by endowing them the hawk-like beaks of tengu demons. Tengu are often pictured as taking the shape of some sort of priest. Beginning in the 13th century, tengu came to be associated in particular with the yamabushi, the mountain ascetics who practice Shugend?. 

The association soon found its way into Japanese art, where tengu are most frequently depicted in the yamabushi's distinctive costume, which includes a small black cap and a pom-pommed sash Due to their priestly aesthetic, they are often shown wielding the Shakujo, a distinct staff used by Buddhist monks. 

Tengu are commonly depicted holding magical hauchiwa, fans made of feathers. In folk tales, these fans sometimes have the ability to grow or shrink a person's nose, but usually they are attributed the power to stir up great winds. Various other strange accessories may be associated with tengu, such as a type of tall, one-toothed geta sandal often called tengu-geta. 

Disposal of quake debris begins

Work to dispose of debris from the quake-ravaged city of Miyako, Iwate Prefecture, began Thursday in Tokyo with about 30 tons arriving on a train at Tokyo Freight Terminal, the first load from Iwate to be accepted by a local government outside the Tohoku region. 

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government plans to accept a total of 11,000 tons of debris from Miyako by next March, as part of plans to dispose of a combined 500,000 tons of debris from both Iwate and Miyagi prefectures, the areas hit hardest by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, by fiscal 2013. 

At the terminal in Shinagawa Ward, debris containers were transshipped onto trucks to be carried to a crushing facility in Ota Ward, from where combustibles will be taken to an incinerator in Koto Ward. 

Resulting ash and incombustibles are to be used as landfill in Tokyo Bay. 

In light of radiation fears among residents, the metropolitan government plans to monitor and release data weekly on radiation levels in the air at the edge of the crushing premises and once a month on crushed waste, ash and exhaust gas, it said. 

Its four crushing facilities, incinerator and landfill site are all located in an industrial zone facing Tokyo Bay. 

Miyako is located 260 km north of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, while Tokyo is roughly 220 km southwest of the plant. 

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Thursday the detection of radioactive xenon at its stricken Fukushima No. 1 power plant, indicating recent nuclear fission, was not the result of a sustained nuclear chain reaction known as a criticality, as feared, but a case of "spontaneous" fission. 

When it revealed Wednesday that it had detected at its crisis-hit No. 2 reactor xenon-133 and xenon-135, which are typically generated by nuclear fission and have relatively short half-lives, it touched on the possibility that melted fuel inside the reactor may have temporarily gone critical. 

Tepco has been analyzing the phenomenon, which did not raise the reactor's temperature or pressure, with support from the Japan Atomic Energy Agency. 

The nuclear crisis at the plant, the world's worst in 25 years, erupted in the wake of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, and resulted in the meltdown of nuclear fuel in the six-reactor power complex's reactors 1, 2 and 3. 

The World at 7 Billion, and Growing

The United Nations estimates that the world reached seven billion people on Monday. No one can be sure. 

Populations are growing faster than economies in many poor countries in Africa and some in Asia. At the same time, low fertility rates in Japan and many European nations have raised concerns about labor shortages. 

Population experts at the United Nations estimated that the world reached six billion in October nineteen ninety-nine. They predict nine billion by twenty-fifty and ten billion by the end of the century. 

China's population of one and a third billion is currently the world's largest. India is second at 1.2 billion. But India is expected to pass China and reach one and a half billion people around twenty twenty-five. India will also have one of the world's youngest populations. 

Economists say this is a chance for a so-called demographic dividend. India could gain from the skills of young people in a growing economy at a time when other countries have aging populations. But economists say current rates of growth, although high, may not create enough jobs. 

Also, the public education system is failing to meet demand and schooling is often of poor quality. Another concern is health care. Nearly half of India's children under the age of five are malnourished. Sarah Crowe at the United Nations Children's Fund in New Delhi says these two problems "could keep India back." 

SARAH CROWE: "That child is unable to really grow to its ability and will remain in a state of stunting and not be able to learn when it goes to school -- when he or she goes to school, and indeed later earn and really pay back and pay into the economic and help the country and the region move forward. We have, you know, out of every two hundred million children who start school, only ten percent complete grade twelve." 

Michal Rutkowski is the director of human development in South Asia at the World Bank. He says the seven billionth person was likely to be a girl born in rural Uttar Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh is one of India's poorest and most crowded states, with nearly two hundred million people. 

He says reaching seven billion people in the world is a good time for a call to action. 

Acupuncture

Download

Acupuncture is an alternative medicine that treats patients by insertion and manipulation of needles in the body. Its proponents variously claim that it relieves pain, treats infertility, treats disease, prevents disease, or promotes general health. 

Around ninety works on acupuncture were written in China between the Han Dynasty and the Song Dynasty, and the Emperor Renzong of Song, in 1023, ordered the production of a bronze statuette depicting the meridians and acupuncture points then in use. However, after the end of the Song Dynasty, acupuncture lost status, and started to be seen as a technical profession, in comparison to the more scholarly profession of herbalism. It became rarer in the following centuries, and was associated with less prestigious practices like alchemy, shamanism, midwifery and moxibustion. 

The general theory of acupuncture is based on the premise that bodily functions are regulated by an energy called qi which flows through the body; disruptions of this flow are believed to be responsible for disease. 

Acupuncture describes a family of procedures aiming to correct imbalances in the flow of qi by stimulation of anatomical locations on or under the skin (usually called acupuncture points or acupoints), by a variety of techniques. 

The most common mechanism of stimulation of acupuncture points employs penetration of the skin by thin metal needles, which are manipulated manually or by electrical stimulation. 

Acupuncture needles are typically made of stainless steel wire. They are usually disposable, but reusable needles are sometimes used as well, though they must be sterilized between uses. 

Needles vary in length between 13 to 130 millimetres (0.51 to 5.1 in), with shorter needles used near the face and eyes, and longer needles in more fleshy areas; needle diameters vary from 0.16 mm (0.006 in) to 0.46 mm (0.018 in), with thicker needles used on more robust patients. Thinner needles may be flexible and require tubes for insertion. The tip of the needle should not be made too sharp to prevent breakage, although blunt needles cause more pain. 

Since most pain is felt in the superficial layers of the skin, a quick insertion of the needle is recommended. If skilled enough, a practitioner purportedly can insert the needles without causing any pain. 

Japan to join Pacific trade pact talks

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda is to announce the country will join negotiations on a trans-Pacific trade agreement despite strong opposition from farmers, a report said Sunday. 

Noda will make the announcement on Thursday, days before an Asia-Pacific summit in Hawaii where he hopes to join in US-led talks towards forming a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade framework, the Yomiuri daily reported. So far the pact negotiations involve the US, Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam, and Japan would be the second-largest economy in the future TPP if it joined. 

But Japan's Central Union of Agricultural Cooperatives has campaigned vigorously against participation, saying a deal would reduce food security in a country where farmers -- especially of rice -- enjoy generous government protection, at the cost of high prices for consumers. 

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), also known as the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement, is a multilateral free trade agreement that aims to further liberalise the economies of the Asia-Pacific region; specifically, Article 1.1.3 notes: "The Parties seek to support the wider liberalisation process in APEC consistent with its goals of free and open trade and investment." 

The original agreement between the countries of Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore was signed on June 3, 2005, and entered into force on May 28, 2006. Five additional countries ? Australia, Malaysia, Peru, United States, and Vietnam ? are negotiating to join the group. On the last day of the 2010 APEC summit, November 14, leaders of the nine negotiating countries endorsed the proposal advanced by President Obama that set a target for settlement of negotiations by the next APEC summit in November 2011. 

The TPP was previously known as the Pacific Three Closer Economic Partnership , its negotiations launched on the sidelines of the 2002 APEC Leaders' Meeting in Los Cabos, Mexico, by Chilean President Ricardo Lagos and Prime Ministers Goh Chok Tong of Singapore and Helen Clark of New Zealand. Brunei first took part as a full negotiating party in the fifth round of talks in April 2005, after which the trade bloc became known as the Pacific-4. 

Although all original and negotiating parties are members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the TPP is not an APEC initiative. However, it is considered as a pathfinder for the proposed Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP), an APEC initiative. TPP negotiations have occurred on the sidelines of APEC summits since 2002. 

The objective of the original agreement was to eliminate 90 percent of all tariffs between member countries by January 1, 2006, and reduce all trade tariffs to zero by the year 2015. It is a comprehensive agreement covering all the main pillars of a free trade agreement, including trade in goods, rules of origin, trade remedies, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, trade in services, intellectual property, government procurement and competition policy. 

Europe and the Debt Crisis in Greece

For months, people around the world have watched the strikes and violent protests in Athens. But Greeks in rural areas say the country's debt crisis is hitting them even harder. And they say the government is ignoring their problems. 

In the West Macedonian town of Ptolemaida, electricity is the main industry. Mines in the area supply lignite or "brown coal" for power. The electric company in the town is owned by the state. But the government plans to sell off many of its state-owned utilities to help pay Greece's debts. 

In the nearby town of Kozani, Lefteris Ionnadis helps lead an activist group called the Independent Kozani Movement. 

LEFTERIS IOANNIDIS: "Our economy has depended on the coal industry for years. Most people living here were employed in the mines, and other industries were neglected. Private businesses have been struggling for decades, and rural economies have taken a big hit." 

The area is one of the poorest in Europe. It has the highest unemployment rate in Greece, at seventeen percent. And it gets a lot of aid from the European Union. 

People in Kozani say they are worried about the future. 

MAN: "It's getting really bad here. There are no jobs around. Everything is just rotten really." 

WOMAN: "I'm a student. I am absolutely sure I will not be employed once I'm done with my studies. I am also pretty sure I will never get a pension in my life. So at the moment we are just waiting for some gift from God." 

Lazaros Maloutas is the mayor of Kozani. He says government cuts will end up hurting the Greek economy. 

LAZAROS MALOUTAS: "5.5 billion euros are being cut from the real economy, of what is a fairly small country," he says. "If we stick only to such austerity measures, the country will plunge deeper and deeper into recession. We need investment." 

Leaders of the world's biggest economies held two days of talks late this week in Cannes, France. French President Nicolas Sarkozy hosted the Group of 20 meeting to discuss ways to strengthen the world economy. But the Greek political crisis became a top issue. 

Earlier this week, Prime Minister George Papandreou made a surprise call for a nationwide vote on the European Union's latest financial rescue plan. The EU had reached agreement on the plan just days earlier. The plan would reduce Greece's debt by nearly a half if the government approves big spending cuts. 

On Thursday, Mr. Papandreou withdrew his proposal to let voters decide whether to approve the EU plan. Mr. Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel had pressured him to drop the idea. 

Mr. Sarkozy says Europe's two biggest economies had a duty to intervene to defend the seventeen nations that use the euro. 

Protesters came from around the world to demonstrate near the G20 meeting on the French Riviera. Eran Hakim flew in from Israel. He blamed the leaders for the growing inequalities in the world. 

ERAN HAKIM: "We see inequality going higher and higher inside countries and between countries. They are managing it, they're responsible. I do not think they will change it, but I am saying that we want it to be changed." 

Nellini Stamp took time from the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York to join the protest in France. 

NELLINI STAMP: "I think it is great because it shows international solidarity, because it is a global economic crisis, so you have to have a global movement, which is happening." 

NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen

Download

Kohaku Uta Gassen, more commonly known as simply Kohaku, is an annual music show on New Year's Eve produced by Japanese public broadcaster NHK and broadcast on both television and radio, nationally and internationally by NHK's networks and some overseas (mainly cable) broadcasters which bought the program. The show ends shortly before midnight (when NHK switches to a frenzy of "Happy New Year" greetings from around the nation). 

Literally "Red and White Song Battle," the program divides the most popular music artists of the year into competing teams of red and white. The "red" team or akagumi is composed of all female artists (or groups with female vocals), while the "white" team or shirogumi is all male (or groups with male vocals). 

The honor of performing on Kohaku is strictly by invitation, so only the most successful J-Pop artists and enka singers can perform. In addition to the actual music performances, the costumes, hair-styles, makeup, dancing, and lighting are also important. Even today, a performance on Kohaku is said to be a big highlight in a singer's career because of the show's large reach. 

At the end of the show, the audience and a panel of judges notable celebrities who may or may not have a connection to the music industry?vote to select the winning team. In the past, the audience vote has been composed of a head count of the venue audience members, who can vote for either team (NHK Hall, which has been the venue for most Kohaku editions since 1971, can seat 3,000 people). This counted as one vote. 

Aside from the performances, there are special performances where certain performers do their act together, and the so-called "Ring Show" where performers from both teams take part in a "singing exercise." 

Royal Address to the National Diet of Japan（excerpt）

By　 His Majesty King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck 

The Bhutanese people have always held a strong affection for Japan and shared emotionally in the success of your great nation over the decades. 

Following the devastating earthquake and tsunami in March it was deeply moving to see so many Bhutanese visit temples and monasteries around the country offering butter lamps, in their humble yet genuine efforts to provide comfort and support to the Japanese people. 

I, myself, remember watching the news of the tsunami unfold ? sitting helpless and unable to do anything. 

I have waited ever since to be able to say to you ? that I am deeply sorry for the pain and suffering of families who lost loved ones ? for those who lost their livelihoods ? for the young whose lives have been completely altered ? for the nation of Japan that must rebuild life after such great disaster. 

No nation or people should ever have to experience such suffering. And yet if there is one nation who can rise stronger and greater from such adversity ? it is Japan and her People. Of this I am confident. On your path to rebuilding and restoring of lives, we the Bhutanese people stand with you ? humble in our power to provide material assistance but heartfelt and true, in our friendship, solidarity and goodwill. 

Your Excellencies, we, in Bhutan, have always thought of the Japanese people as our fellow brothers and sisters. Our two Peoples are united by our commitment to - family, integrity and honour; to placing the aspirations of the community and country before one's own desires ? to raising the common good above the self. 

2011 is a special year in our relations ? it marks the 25th anniversary of our diplomatic ties. Yet, the Bhutanese people have always had a special affection for Japan that goes beyond our formal ties. I know that my father and his generation watched with pride as Japan led Asia into the modern world decades ago ? as you brought confidence and a sense of an Asian destiny to what was then a developing region ? and as you inspired so many countries who have since followed Japan into the forefront of the world economy. Japan was and continues to be a leader. Even more so today ? because in this globalized world Japan is an example of strength in technology and innovation, of hard work and commitment and of strong age-old values. 

The world always identified Japan as a people of great honour, pride and discipline ? a people with a proud tradition in history ? who approach everything with tenacity, determination and a desire to excel ? a people of unity in thought and action; of brotherhood and fraternity and unfailing strength and fortitude. 

I must humbly state, that this is not a myth ? this is a reality that was displayed in your response to the unfortunate economic recession of past years and to the natural disaster in March. You displayed the true qualities of Japan and her people. 

What would have shattered other nations and caused anarchy, chaos and lament - was met by the Japanese people with quiet dignity, confidence, discipline and strength of heart, even under the worst of circumstances. 

For this strength has seen Japan rise again and again, throughout history, from every setback to its status as one of the most successful nations in the world. And even more remarkable is the manner in which Japan has always, without hesitation, shared her success with people in all corners of the world. 

Your Excellencies, I speak from the heart, and on behalf of all Bhutanese. I am no expert or academic ? just a simple man with a deep affection for Japan. 

You have our full commitment and support. 

I hereby pledge that it shall be my constant endeavor to further strengthen and deepen the bonds between our two people. Once again I convey the prayers and good wishes of the People of Bhutan to the People of Japan. 

With Your Excellency's permission, I would like to say a prayer in my own language ? "May Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress enjoy good health and happiness. And may the sun of peace, security and prosperity forever shine on the beautiful Nation and People of Japan." 

Thank you, Your Excellencies!? 

Nasa telescope finds Earth-like planet

Nasa has found a new planet outside Earth's solar system that is eerily similar in important aspects. 

Scientists say the temperature on the surface of the planet is around 22 Celsius. Its star could almost be a twin of Earth's sun. It probably has water and land. 

It was found in the middle of the habitable zone, making it the best potential target for life. 

The discovery announced today was made by Nasa's Kepler planet-hunting telescope. This is the first time Kepler confirmed a planet outside Earth's solar system in the habitable zone. 

Twice before astronomers have announced planets found in that zone, but neither was as promising. One was disputed; the other is on the hot edge of the zone. 

Kotatsu

Download

The history of the kotatsu begins in the Muromachi era in the 14th century. 

Its origins begin with the Japanese cooking hearth known as the irori. 

Charcoal was the primary method of cooking and heating in the traditional Japanese household and was used to heat the irori. 

By the 14th century in Japan, a seating platform was introduced to the irori and its cooking function became separated from its seating function. 

On top of the wooden platform a quilt was placed, known as an oki which trapped and localized the heat of the charcoal burner. 

This early ancestor to the modern kotatsu was called a horigotatsu. The word horigotatsu is derived from the kanji meaning ditch, meaning torch or fire, and  meaning foot warmer. 

The formation of the horigatsu was slightly changed in the Edo Period in the 17th century. These changes consisted of the floor around the irori being dug-out into the ground in a square shape. 

The wooden platform was placed around this, making a hearth. The blanket was then again placed on top of the platform where one could sit underneath to stay warm. 

The moveable kotatsu was later created originating from the concept of horigatsu. This kotatsu came about with the popular use of tatami matting in Japanese homes. Instead of placing the charcoals in the irori, they were placed in a earthen pot which was placed on the tatami making the kotatsu transportable. This more modern style kotatsu is known as the okigotasu. 

In the middle of the 20th century charcoal was replaced with electricity as a heating source. Instead of having the moveable earthen pot of charcoals beneath the kotatsu, it was possible to attach an electric heating fixture directly to the frame of the kotatsu. Thus, the kotatsu became completely mobile with electricity and was mainstreamed in the Japanese home. 

Locals worried by ice, snow falling from Tokyo Sky Tree

The builders of Tokyo Sky Tree have announced some of the technologies that have been installed to deal with the winter weather, after it was confirmed that chunks of snow and ice had fallen from the upper portion of the structure to the street below between January and March this year. 

Fuji TV reported Sunday that local residents are concerned about the danger of falling bits of ice, some of which have landed within a 400-meter radius of Tokyo Sky Tree. 

A spokesperson for Tobu Railway Company, which operates Tokyo Sky Tree, said that on the observation deck, the outside of the windows has been coated with a special kind of glass that is designed to prevent snow from falling to the ground. 

Embedded in the glass, developers say, are 3,000 tiny electric heaters that are designed to melt the snow and stop it from building up, Fuji TV reported. 

Kim Jong Il dead

SEOUL--North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has died, North Korea's state radio and television reported in special broadcasts at noon Monday. He was 69. 

Kim, general secretary of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, died at 8:30 a.m. Saturday on a train while on his way to give "field guidance" to workers, the reports said. 

He died of physical and mental strain from overwork, the reports added. 

North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim suffered a serious heart attack on Saturday. 

The same day, the agency made an official announcement that Kim's third son, Kim Jong Un, 28, would succeed his father as leader. 

But it is highly likely that North Korea will become unstable during the process of power transition, according to observers. 

Referred as North Korea's "dear leader," Kim maintained a dictatorship in the country for 17 years following the death of his father, Kim Il Sung, in 1994. 

After he was named his father's successor in a general meeting of the party Central Committee in February 1974, he steadily solidified his power base until his father's death. 

Kim had held key posts such as Workers' Party of Korea general secretary; the Central Military Commission chairman, which is the country's top post; and supreme commander of the Korean People's Army. 

Despite North Korea's economic strain, Kim Jong Il took the lead of the country's nuclear and missile development programs. 

Under his leadership, the country carried out two nuclear tests, in October 2006 and in May 2009. 

Kim held summit talks with former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in 2002 and 2004, in which he admitted for the first time that North Korea had abducted Japanese nationals. 

In a special broadcast by Korean Central Television, a female announcer clad in black Korean traditional dress reported Kim Jong Il's death. Kim's black-rimmed portrait was shown during the news. 

According to the "medical conclusion" on the leader's death, which the KCNA reported, Kim had received treatment for heart and cerebrovascular vessel failures for years. 

His funeral will be held in Pyongyang on Dec. 28 as a state event, and his body will be placed in the Kumsusan Memorial Palace, where his father's embalmed body lies, the news agency said. 

North Korea has been accelerating moves to establish a system for Kim's successor, positioning 2012 as the year for "opening the grand gate toward a great, prosperous and powerful nation." 

On Sept. 28, 2010, Kim Jong Un was elected as a Central Committee member at a conference of party delegates and named a vice chairman of the party's Central Military Commission, a new post, at a general meeting of the committee. 

He also was named a general in the Korean People's Army. 

The transition of power will be the first for the country since Kim Jong Il assumed power. 

Although he has joined the leadership of the country's party and army, Kim Jong Un has not yet had enough time to prepare for succession from his father. It remains unknown how far he has assumed the reins of power and taken control of his subordinates. 

Oden 

Download

Oden is a Japanese winter dish consisting of several ingredients such as boiled eggs, daikon radish, konnyaku, and processed fish cakes stewed in a light, soy-flavoured dashi broth. Ingredients vary according to region and between each household. Karashi (Japanese mustard) is often used as a condiment. 

Oden was originally what is now commonly called miso dengaku or simply dengaku; konnyaku or tofu was boiled and one ate them with miso. Later, instead of using miso, ingredients were cooked in dashi and oden became popular. 

Oden is often sold from food courts, and most Japanese convenience stores have simmering oden pots in winter. Many different kinds of oden are sold, with single-ingredient varieties as cheap as 100 yen. 

In Nagoya, it may be called Kantō-ni and soy sauce is used as a dipping sauce. Miso oden is simmered in hatcho-miso broth, which is lightly sweet taste. Konjac and tofu are common ingredients. 

In Kansai area they are sometimes called Kantō-daki and tend to be stronger flavoured than the lighter Kantō version. 

Oden in Shizuoka use a dark coloured broth flavoured with beef stock and dark soy sauce, and all ingredients are skewered. Dried and ground fish (sardine, mackerel, or katsuobushi) and aonori powder (edible seaweed) are sprinkled on top before eating. 

Udon restaurants in Kagawa Prefecture in Shikoku almost always offer oden as a side dish, to be eaten with sweet miso while waiting for the udon. 

Japan arrests woman who lived with cult fugitive 

A woman claiming to have lived with a senior member of the doomsday cult behind the 1995 nerve gas attack on Tokyo's subways turned herself in and was arrested

Tuesday for helping him evade police for nearly 17 years. 

Akemi Saito, also a member of Aum Shinrikyo, gave herself up after Makoto Hirata surrendered to police on New Year's Eve, 

according to police and Saito's lawyer. 

Hirata has refused to explain how he managed to keep underground for so long despite being one of Japan's most-wanted fugitives. 

He is suspected of involvement in a cult-related kidnapping-murder in 1995.

High Food Prices, Revolutions, and the Future

Food prices are down from their record highs in February. But prices are still higher than they were a year ago. In a year of Arab protests, high food prices helped fuel the anger against oppression, corruption and poverty. 

Many experts think the political fires that burned across North Africa and the Middle East started last year in the wheat fields of Russia. A combination of heat, drought and wildfires during the summer of twenty-ten destroyed one-third of Russia's winter wheat crop. World food prices rose after Russia halted wheat exports. 

Shenggen Fan is head of the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington. He links higher food prices to the uprisings in Egypt and other Arab countries. 

The last time food prices jumped was in two thousand eight. At that time, Egypt was also was among the countries where food riots and demonstrations took place. 

Ghiyath Nakshbendi is a professor in the Department of International Business at American University in Washington. He agrees that food prices played a part in the Arab revolutions. 

Cornell University economist Chris Barrett says another problem is that gains in farm production have slowed. 

He says food supplies are not growing enough to meet the demand of seven billion people. The world is expected to add two billion more by the middle of the century. And people in emerging economies like China are eating more meat, which requires more animal feed. But in twenty-eleven, for the first time, the United States used more maize, or corn, for biofuels than for animal feed. 

The good news is that high prices always encourage farmers to grow more. A record harvest in twenty-eleven is helping to ease food prices in many parts of the world, but not all. 

Spa Resort Hawaiians

Download

Spa Resort Hawaiians, located in the city of Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, is a resort and theme park in Japan. It opened on January 15, 1966 as the Joban Hawaiian Center, becoming the first in the country. 

The resort was an outgrowth of the mining industry. The Joban Mine had become the Japan's largest mine in 1944, and business continued booming through the 1950s. As Japan's economy shifted from being powered by coal to oil in the 1960s, though, the owners realized that its useful life was limited. 

Yutaka Nakamura, the vice president, was determined to extend the mine's life somehow, and hit upon the idea of using the area's hot springs, an inconvenience to the mines, to open a resort. He selected a Hawaiian theme. 

One of the Resort's most well-known features is its dance troupe. Rather than inviting an outside troupe to perform, the company decided to create its own, and initially trained 18 employees' daughters. 

In the very close-knit mining community, entire families would work at the Resort. Nakamura intentionally kept the hotel small at the beginning, so the local ryokan would benefit from the increased business, and purchased as much as possible from local suppliers. 

Its popularity reached its peak in 197071, as attendance passed 1.55 million visitors per year. 

In 1989, Joban Hawaiian Center received the Deming Application Prize, becoming the first leisure-industry company to win this quality control award. 

In 1990, it changed its name to Spa Resort Hawaiians, reflecting an increased focus on the spa facilities. 

In 2004, it was the tenth most popular theme park in Japan, with 1.5 million visitors. 

The 2006 film Hula Girl was based on the story of the founding of the resort. 

Japan's damaged rice culture20 Jan 

The 3.11 tsunami and radiation may have changed a system for good The effects of the March 11, 

2011 earthquake and nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan have wrought havoc on the long-term prospects for the country's storied rice industry as well as doing short-term damage, according to a report by the Philippines-based International Rice Rese arch Institute. The disaster spurred evacuation of farmland in a 30-km radius around the nuclear plant, with consumer confidence in domestic rice falling and cutting into a system in which the country has been able to maintain the sovereignty of its international agricultural trade policies and agreements, with high tariffs keeping Japanese farmers self-sustaining, according to the report. 

Captain Blamed for Italy's Costa Concordia Disaster

The wreck of the cruise ship Costa Concordia in Italy comes just before the one hundredth anniversary of a much worse disaster at sea. This April will mark a century since the wreck of the Titanic. The Titanic was the biggest cruise ship of its time. 

It struck an iceberg on its way from England to New York. The ship was carrying more than two thousand people. Most of them died. 

The sinking of the Titanic not only led to major motion pictures. The Titanic disaster led to new requirements including safety training for passengers within twenty-four hours of sailing. 

The passengers on the Concordia had been at sea for just a few hours when it struck rocks off Italy's northwestern coast last Friday night. Their safety training had been planned for the next day. 

Passengers say the ship turned onto its side so quickly that many lifeboats could not be lowered into the water. 

Passengers were sitting down to late dinner when the ship hits rocks. They were told the ship was having electrical problems. Some said there was no organization among the crew during the crisis. Some people jumped into the cold sea and swam toward land. 

There were four thousand two hundred passengers and crew members on the ship. Rescuers used lifeboats and helicopters to take most of them to the island of Giglio and to Porto Santo Stefano on the mainland. Officials said at least eleven people died and twenty-one others were missing. 

Movements of the grounded ship and concerns about bad weather have interfered with efforts by divers to search underwater areas. The concern is that the ship could move off its rocky resting place and slide into deeper water. Bad weather could also delay work to remove fuel from the ship and protect the environment along the Tuscan coast. 

The ship is part of Carnival, the world's largest operator of cruise ships. Carnival is based in the American city of Miami, Florida. Its one hundred one ships carry about half of the world's fifteen million sea-going tourists each year. Carnival Corporation says it will closely examine safety at all of its cruise lines, including Costa Cruises, which operated the Concordia. 

Shortly after the accident, the ship's owners blamed the captain of the Concordia. They said he had made an unapproved change in direction and brought the ship too close to the coast. 

A judge released Captain Francesco Schettino from jail on Tuesday and placed him under house arrest. He faces charges of causing deaths and fleeing his ship before all the passengers were rescued. 

A recording of an exchange with an Italian coast guard officer showed that Captain Schettino refused orders to get back on the ship. Coast Guard Captain Gregory De Falco demanded that Captain Schettino use a ladder to climb back onto the Concordia and report how many people were still on the ship. 

But Captain Schettino said he was not going anywhere, that it was too dark. He said he was handling the rescue from a lifeboat. An angry Captain De Falco shouted that Captain Schettino was "going to pay" for his actions.