GotJapan

Yasuo Fukuda receives applause in the Lower House on Tuesday after winning the chamber’s backing to become the new prime minister.

Call it cheeseburger diplomacy. Japan’s prime minister says he and
President Bush eased their way to a relaxed relationship over a meal of burgers during his first visit to the United States as premier.

“President Bush and I were able to deepen our friendship and trust — in fact, we are now on a first-name basis, calling each other ‘George’ and ‘Shinzo,’” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wrote Thursday in his e-mail newsletter of his April 26-27 American visit.

Abe, who is known as an ice cream fanatic, said Bush sealed the bond with a lunch of “quintessentially American fare, a large cheeseburger.” He said they also “chatted about the outstanding performance of Japanese baseball players in the Major League.”

A whirlpool forms in the Naruto Straits between Shikoku and Awaji island. The phenomenon occurs each spring and has become a major tourist attraction.

The Bank of Japan’s policy panel decided Tuesday to leave its key short-term interest rate unchanged at 0.5%, as market participants had widely expected, after doubling the rate to 0.5% in February.

The BOJ “will encourage the uncollateralized overnight call rate to remain at around 0.5%,” the central bank said in a statement.

Shinzo Abe, a conservative who favors hardline diplomacy and traditional values, is elected the 21st president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, paving the way for him to become Japan’s youngest postwar prime minister.

Gift Certificate

Gift Certificate

The city of Hiroshima holds a memorial ceremony to mark the 61st anniversary of the Aug. 6, 1945, U.S. atomic bombing, with Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba calling on all nations to “faithfully” engage in nuclear disarmament negotiations.

Workers ready the season’s first shipment of cubed watermelons Thursday at a farm co-op here. Demand for the cubic fruit is high despite the 13,000 yen price tag, but they’re usually used only for display since they aren’t considered tasty.

TOKYO — Convenience chain operator Seven-Eleven Japan Co said Thursday it will start marketing two types of canned oxygen designed to help consumers alleviate or soften fatigue and stress. The 3.2-liter canned supplements, named O2 Supli, provide an oxygen density ratio of 95% in relation to the container’s volume, the company said.

Oxygen inside the container is sprayed into a transparent plastic mask which is initially attached to the can as its cap. Users wear the mask, whose other end is inserted into the spray’s nozzle. The canned oxygen products, developed with household products manufacturer Hakugen Co, will help refresh users, especially when they are driving automobiles or working at offices, the company said.

Wednesday, April 19, 2006 at 13:46 EDT

NARITA — A former Imperial Japanese Army soldier who was recently confirmed to be alive in Ukraine after going missing in Russia’s Far East after World War II returned to Japan on Wednesday for the first time in 63 years. Ishinosuke Uwano, 83, and his son, Anatoly, 37, arrived at Narita International Airport aboard an Aeroflot plane and will stay in Japan through April 28.

Uwano will meet with his relatives in the town of Hirono, Iwate Prefecture, on Thursday, his first reunion since he was drafted in 1943.

TOKYO — A new type of digital terrestrial broadcasting started Saturday in Japan, enabling people to watch television programs in high-definition on their portable terminals like mobile phones and car navigation equipment. For the new service, popularly known as “One Seg,” broadcasters are using the remaining one of 13 segments of a channel. They use 12 segments for normal digital terrestrial broadcasting.

While watching a TV program on their terminals, One Seg users can also receive related textual information on the screens. The “data broadcasting” system allows viewers to browse the Internet for further information by simply clicking a menu. Users must pay data transmission fees for web browsing, but it is free to watch TV programs.

Some 30,000 tulips are adorning the Marunouchi area through March 26 in an event titled “Dramatic Flowers.” Free tulips will be given on March 21 and 26 after 3 p.m. at the front entrance of the Marunouchi and Yurakucho buildings.

Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe shows off the new Lexus GS450h in Tokyo Thursday. The car is the first in its lineup to be powered by a hybrid system specifically designed for rear-wheel-drive passenger vehicles. It is available through Lexus dealerships nationwide and will be available elsewhere in the world, starting in the U.S. next month.

TOKYO - Asian group favorites Japan recovered from an edgy start to blow out China 18-2 in the second game of the inaugural World Baseball Classic on Friday.

Japan had struggled early with pesky China, widely seen as the weakest of the four-team Asian contingent, before winning by a mercy rule that stopped the game after eight innings.

However, less than 16,000 turned up to watch Japan take on China while just 5,000 fans watched South Korea’s win earlier in the day, a major disappointment for organizers.

TURIN (Italy): Former world champion Shizuka Arakawa pulled out the best performance of her career to claim Japan’s first ever Olympic figure skating gold when she took the women’s title here on Thursday.

She gate-crashed what was expected to be a Russian party at the Palavela when she surged to victory after the free skate as leading challengers Sasha Cohen of the United States and Irina Slutskaya of Russia both fell. Cohen took silver with Slutskaya claiming the bronze. Slutskaya had been bidding to complete an historic gold medal sweep for Russia after they won the three other figure skating titles earlier in the Games. But 24-year-old Arakawa, who had considered quitting after winning her world title in 2004, had other things on mind as she gave Japan their first medal of Turin 2006.

“I’m shocked, I can’t find words to describe how I feel,” said Arakawa. “I thought about quitting many times, but I’m happy I didn’t stop. I was expecting it to be the first medal for Japan but I didn’t let the pressure get to me. I hope this will be inspiration for the future generation of skaters.”

SAPPORO — A seven-day snow festival began Monday in the Hokkaido capital of Sapporo featuring some 300 snow and ice sculptures in three locations, including one that replaces a previous Ground Self-Defense Force site.

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The 15 finalists in the Miss Universe Japan contest hold a kick-off party at Soho’s on Thursday night. The winner will be chosen April 25.

Humanoid robot HRP-2 Promet takes a can of juice from a refrigerator after receiving a verbal command from a human operator during a demonstration at AIST in Tsukuba.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi receives an Asashoryu doll from the Mongolian sumo grand champion at an award ceremony for the Japan Professional Sports Grand Prize. Asashoryu won the prize which is awarded each year to the individual or group that is deemed to have made the largest contribution to professional sports in Japan.

TOKYO — Livedoor Co President Takafumi Horie will step down to take responsibility for alleged securities law violations at the start-up company, Livedoor said Tuesday, a day after he was arrested.

Livedoor said it named Kozo Hiramatsu, its senior vice president, as new president, during a board meeting in the afternoon. Hiramatsu, 60, is now also president of Yayoi Co, an accounting software firm that became part of the Livedoor group in 2004. Livedoor officials said Horie remains as a Livedoor director as the company has yet to accept a resignation letter from him.

Young women look at thousands of prayers offered by students at Meiji Shrine. The prayers are for success in their entrance exams.

College entrance is based largely on the scores that students achieved in entrance examinations (jap. nyūgaku shiken 入学試験). Private institutions accounted for nearly 80 % of all university enrollments in 1991, but with a few exceptions, the public national universities are the most highly regarded. This distinction had its origins in historical factors–the long years of dominance of the select imperial universities, such as Tokyo and Kyoto universities, which trained Japan’s leaders before the war–and also in differences in quality, particularly in facilities and faculty ratios. In addition, certain prestigious employers, notably the government and select large corporations, continue to restrict their hiring of new employees to graduates of the most esteemed universities. There is a close link between university background and employment opportunity. Because Japanese society places such store in academic credentials, the competition to enter the prestigious universities is keen. In addition, the eighteen-year-old population is still growing, increasing the number of applicants.

Model Yuri Ebihara, 26, shows off McDonald’s Ebi Filet-O shrimp burger in front of Shibuya’s 109 building. The burger goes on the regular menu this week after a trial run.

YOKOHAMA — Pop duo Puffy, who have been gaining fans in the United States for an animation featuring them, were appointed Monday as goodwill ambassadors to the United States to promote tourist visits to Japan.

Ami Onuki, 32, and Yumi Yoshimura, 30, received their letter of appointment from Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Kazuo Kitagawa as part of the government’s “Visit Japan Campaign” to increase the number of foreign tourists to Japan. “Please tell the people the good parts of Japan when you go to the United States,” said Kitagawa, and Onuki replied, “That’s a big job.”

TOKYO — Events are being held across Japan on Monday to celebrate Coming-of-Age Day, but the number of those who turned 20 years old has fallen by 70,000 from the year before to 1.43 million, the second lowest figure on record.

The number accounts for 1.12% of Japan’s total population, matching an all-time low marked in 1987. According to government figures, about 730,000 men and 700,000 women turned 20, the age in Japan that marks one’s entry into adulthood.

Seijin shiki (成人式) is the Japanese coming-of-age ceremony. It is held annually on Coming-of-Age Day (成人の日, seijin no hi), the second Monday in January. Festivities include ceremonies held at local and prefectural offices and parties amongst family and friends to celebrate passage into adulthood.

The age of majority in Japan is 20. The seijin shiki covers all those who will reach this age during the current school year, which runs between April and the following March. The ceremony is generally held in the morning at local city offices and all young adults who maintain residency in the area are invited to attend. Government officials give speeches, and small presents are handed out to the new adults.

Many women celebrate this day by wearing furisode (振袖), a special kind of kimono. Since most are unable to put on a kimono by themselves due to the intricacies involved in putting one on, many choose to visit a beauty salon to dress and to set their hair. A full set of formal clothing is expensive, so it is usually either inherited or rented rather than being bought specially for the occasion. While men sometimes also wear traditional dress (dark kimono or hakama), most men now wear business suits instead.

After the ceremony, the young adults often gather in groups and go to parties or go out drinking. Young women not used to wearing the slippers (zori) can often be seen limping as the afternoon wears on and evening approaches. Later in the evening, it is not unusual to see wobbly young adults staggering in the trains, heading happily home after a day of celebration.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi came to work on a Segway scooter on Friday, enjoying a gift he received a month ago from visiting U.S. President George W Bush in Kyoto.

Koizumi rode the two-wheeled stand-up vehicle the roughly 150 meters from his official residence to his office building within the same premises. “It was relatively easy to navigate,” Koizumi told reporters afterward, saying he practiced the ride on Thursday night. Under Japan’s traffic law, the Segway cannot run on public roads as it has no brakes.

Seihan Mori, chief priest at Kiyomizu Temple, writes the kanji for “ai,” (love), which was selected as the character most apropos for 2005 in the annual Kanji of the Year contest held by the Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation. Organizers said voters may have been influenced by such events as the marriage of the former Princess Nori and the outpouring of aid to victims of disasters like Hurricane Katrina in the U.S

Popular pop duo Puffy ride a float Thursday modeled after the tour bus in the U.S. cartoon “HiHi PUFFY AMI YUMI” during the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade here. It is the first time Japanese artists have joined the parade, the duo’s agent said.

Japanese motorcycle giant Yamaha unveils the concept model of a high-performance hybrid motorcycle, the ‘Gen-Ryu,’ equipped with a 600cc engine and electric motor hybrid system which can achieve over 1,000cc class machine performance at the 39th Tokyo Motor Show in Makuhari.(AFP/Yoshikazu Tsuno)

NEW YORK — Toyota Motor Corp said Wednesday Time magazine has named its “i-unit” four-wheel, one-seat electric car one of the “coolest inventions” of 2005 as part of the magazine’s “The Most Amazing Inventions” issue.

The leaf-shaped lithium-ion battery-powered car can reach speeds of up to 30 miles per hour. The i-unit — measuring 1.1 meters long and 1.8 meters high when it is moving in a low-speed upright mode — can also run in a high-speed reclining position. When a driver shifts the car to the high-speed mode, the car’s shape and wheel base change to measure 1.8 meters long and 1.25 meters high. But its width remains 1.04 meters.

U.S. first lady Laura Bush tries her hand at calligraphy in Kyoto, assisted by a teacher.

Employees of All Nippon Airways Co., biting “waribashi” disposable wooden chopsticks and holding mirrors, beam during a smile training session at Tokyo’s Haneda airport.

The line goes around the building at Cold Stone Creamery, the first store in Japan for the U.S. ice cream chain. The store, which opened Nov 3 in Roppongi Hills, is targeting upscale customers, with prices for a single serving costing up to 900 yen. Staff mix ice cream while singing.

NTT DoCoMo Inc on Wednesday took the wraps off a new line of high-speed third-generation phones with a walkie-talkie feature. NTT DoCoMo said the lineup of six FOMA 902i phones, to be put on the market beginning in mid-November, includes a function allowing users to talk to a group of people at the same time with the push of a button rather than dialing a phone number.

The new service will cost 5 yen per push or 1,000 yen per month for unlimited use. The service will be offered free of charge by the end of the year. (Kyodo News)

McDonald’s Japan Corp announced Friday that a new product will be added to its menu from Oct 28: the shrimp burger. McDonald’s also said that other products were under development, including a grilled chicken sandwich, crispy and grilled chicken salads, and mixed berry yogurt.

The new burger, namely “Ebi Filet-O” in Japanese, was specifically developed to target Japanese who are the leading consumers of shrimp in the world, said a McDonald’s spokesman. The burger is similar to Filet-O-Fish and has a very crispy taste. It will sell for 270 yen or 580 yen when ordering a value meal.

Suginami Ward resident on Friday began testing selling bright yellow garbage bags designed to prevent crows from seeing inside them. Ward officials conducted experiments with crows to see which colors hampered their vision and decided on yellow.

The yellow bags have not been given government approval, but the Tokyo metropolitan government gave special permision to Suginami Ward to try the bags. The ward office gave away 400 in just 10 minutes after it opened at 9 a.m.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and his Liberal Democratic Party cruised to victory Sunday, handily winning a majority in the 480-seat House of Representatives and giving him a mandate to push ahead with postal privatization.

In contrast, the Democratic Party of Japan, the main opposition force, was battered in the election. It was expected to fall short of the 177 seats it held going into the race, and its leader, Katsuya Okada, indicated later in the evening that he would step down.

Kidsbeer, a nonalcoholic brew aimed at children, is catching on with young drinkers and is posting monthly shipments of 75,000 bottles, according to maker Tomomasu Co.

The beverage, one of whose ingredients is the Latin American plant guarana, sells for around 380 yen per 330-milliliter bottle. The bottles themselves are colored brown to make the drink look even more like its more potent counterpart, the company said.

Mitsubishi Materials Corp said Thursday it has made the world’s largest gold bar weighing 250 kilograms and filed for a listing in Guinness World Records.

The gold bar, valued at 400 million yen (about $3.7 million), measures 45.5 centimeters by 22.5 cm at the base and is 17 cm high, it said. The gold bar, made at its Naoshima refinery in Kagawa Prefecture, will be put on show at a tourist facility in Izu, Shizuoka Prefecture, from July 11.

Hamami is the time of year when Cherry Blossom Flowers blossom and droves of people go out to view them. Often it’s about having a picnic under the beautiful trees.

TOKYO — Women-only cars in Tokyo were launched for the first time in morning rush-hour trains on Monday in a bid to prevent groping.

Female passengers generally had a good impression on the new system, with one saying, “I feel relaxed because there’s no chance of being groped.” Another said, “It was less crowded than I thought. I will use it tomorrow, too.”

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Added some info on Living in Japan.

check out the updates…
4 Procedures for residence (in Japan)
4-1 Status of residence and period of stay
4-2 Renewing a period of stay
4-3 Changing a status of residence
4-4 Obtaining a status of residence
4-5 Activities outside the status permit
4-6 Getting a Re-entry Permit
4-7 Permanent residency permit / Naturalization
4-8 Choosing a nationality

5 Alien registration
5-1 About alien registration
5-2 [Toroku genpyo kisai jiko shomei sho]
5-3 Procedures for reporting changes
5-4 Registration confirmation (renewal) procedures
5-5 Loss of or damage to an alien registration certificate
5-6 Returning a certificate of alien registration

6 Health and medical services
6-1 What to do if you suddenly become ill
6-2 Basic knowledge about medical facilities, etc.
6-3 Medical fees and public medical insurance
6-4 The social insurance system
6-5 National health insurance
6-6 Items for which health insurance cannot be used
6-7 Other insurances related to medical services
6-8 For health (The work of public health offices)
6-9 Vaccinations
6-10 Prevention of infectious diseases

Sony Corp’s Play Station Portable (PSP) is shown next to a shopping bag printed with an image of the game console in Tokyo early December 12, 2004. About 200,000 of the sleek black devices, packed with multimedia features, went on sale for 19,800 yen ($183) as Sony crossed the starting line in its bid to loosen rival Nintendo Co. Ltd.’s iron grip on the market for handheld game machines.

Dec. 6 TOKYO, Japan - Victor Co. of Japan said Dec. 6 it has succeeded in manufacturing an environmentally friendly DVD with a special plastic synthesized from corn starch. Unlike conventional DVDs made from oil, the new DVD, made mainly from polylactide resin, will help reduce the consumption of oil and the quantity of carbon dioxide emitted in the process of incinerating used DVDs for disposal, JVC said. (Kyodo)

A performer in traditional raftsman’s clothes balances on a floating square log, a stunt derived from the Edo era (1603-1868) at a festival in Tokyo

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A Japanese woman performs at a Samba festival in Tokyo August 28, 2004. The annual samba carnival attracted hundreds of thousands of people while 4,500 samba dancers and participants paraded with floats along downtown streets in the Asakusa district.

More Pictures Here

Children with freshly shaven heads pose Wednesday for a photo at Higashi-Honganji Temple in Kyoto’s Shimogyo Ward. The Otani branch of the Shinshu sect of Buddhism allows 9-year-olds to become priests, with initiation ceremonies held almost monthly.

July 7th is called Tanabata in Japan. It’s a Japanese tradition wherein people write their wishes on tanzaku paper (colorful, small strips of paper) and hang them on bamboo branches. People also hang many kinds of paper decorations on bamboo branches and place them outside their houses. People celebrate the day at home and in schools.

The most common Tanabata decorations are colorful streamers. Streamers are said to symbolize the weaving of threads. Other common decorations are Toami (casting net), which means good luck for fishing and farming and Kinchaku (bag), which means wealth.

Tanabata originated more than 2000 years ago with an old Chinese tale called Kikkoden.

FIGHTER-MAN

Tsuyoshi Shinjo of the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters strikes a pose wearing a Spider-Man mask prior to Sunday’s game against the Orix BlueWave at Tokyo Dome.

A square melon is on sale for 10,000 yen at a shop in Ebisu. The melons were developed by farmers in Zentsuji, Kagawa Prefecture, to fit better into small refrigerators.

For anyone living in Japan (meaning you have a Alien Registration Card, “gaijin card") and wish to travel abroad and then return within your authorized period of stay, you much apply for a re-entry permit (called sai nyu koku kyoka) before you leave on your trip.

http://gotjapan.com/living/re-entry_permits.php

Check it out
1 In an emergency
1-1 If you are a victim or are involved in an accident or theft
1-2 In case of a fire
1-3 In case of sudden illness and injury
1-4 In case of an earthquake
1-5 In times of typhoons and floods
1-6 If involved in a traffic accident
1-7 Gas leaks
1-8 Lost property

Find out calling prefixes throughout Japan.
When dialing another area code, you do not need to dial 1 before you dial the phone number.