Tokyo street crime on the increase

RSS Podcast Feed - MP3 TOKYO -Tokyo is often described as the safest big city in the world. While many visitors say they feel safer in the capital than their own home towns, things are changing. Once the domain of organized crime, city centers are now experiencing a rise in youth crime from fights to pick-pocketing. On the phone, Japan Times contributor Geoff Botting who examines the problem of increased street crime and the changing fabric of Japanese society.

New fingerprinting procedures for foreigners

RSS Podcast Feed - MP3 TOKYO - Say cheese! Those entering Japan after November 20th, 2007 will have to submit to fingerprinting and having their picture taken. While the only terrorist attacks on Japanese soil have been perpetrated by Japanese groups like the Red Army and Aum Shinrikyo, the government is singling out gaijin, and putting foreigners under suspicion. This week, an interview with Tokyo based freelance journalist Geoff Botting about the controversial new fingerprinting law.

Japanese Robots - “Loving the Machine” author Tim Hornyak

RSS Podcast Feed - MP3 TOKYO - In this episode, a look at the intriguing world of Japanese robots with Tim Hornyak author of Loving the Machine, a fascinating journey of passion and discovery that takes you from the amazing automatons of feudal Japan to giant animated robots and the cutting-edge androids of today. In a related item, Japan’s National Museum of Nature and Science has just opened a big show entitled “The Great Robot Exhibition: Karakuri, Anime and the Latest Robots,” running through Jan. 27 in Ueno Park, Tokyo.

Bid rigging, Alberto Fujimori, immigration woes

RSS Podcast Feed - MP3  TOKYO - This week, taxpayers pay the price as the practice of bid rigging resurfaces. The disgraced ex president of Peru Alberto Fujimori says he wants to run for office, but this time in Japan. When is a refugee not a refugee?…when they’re in Japan. Want to buy a house and you’re not from around here, better check with the neighbors first, and just how easy is it to make a friend in Japan.

Political gaff, yen falls, and naked news

RSS Podcast Feed - MP3  TOKYO - Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma opens wartime wounds and loses his job. The yen continues to take a tumble against foreign currencies seeing its lowest value since the mid eighties. And the government sponsors naked sign language lessons on an adult television channel.

Taiwan Train Dilemma - Instant Noodles - Coming Of Age Day

RSS Podcast Feed - MP3 TOKYO - Taiwan is now using the Japanese bullet train system after breaking a deal with makers of the French TGV. Why the switch? Momofuku Ando exceeded his dreams when he came up with an answer to ease Japan’s post war food crisis. The inventor of instant noodles passed away at age 96. On the other end of the scale this years coming of age day saw a record low number of those turning 20.

Lucie Blackman - Less Green Space - WWII Soldier Returns

RSS Podcast Feed - MP3 TOKYO - The Lucie Blackman case continues with the slain British girl’s parents testifying in court for the first time. The accused Joji Obara, was not present. Though he claims his innocence he has offered large amounts of money in compensation to the Blackman family and the family of an Australian girl, Carita Ridgway, who died after being drugged in 1992.

At a time when most big cities are thinking of going green, Japanese centers are finding ways to mandate even less green space.

Also, he could well be the last repatriated Japanese soldier. Sixty-three years after heading to battle Ishinosuke Uwano is back at age 83.

MOXing It Up in Aomori - Tokyo Tower, Part Two - Livedoor: A Space Odyssey

RSS Podcast Feed - MP3 TOKYO - On this edition April 2nd, 2006, Japan moves ahead to recycle nuclear fuel in Aomori prefecture. Does the capital need a new Tokyo tower? In the money, a former Livedoor executive gets set for the ride of a lifetime with a 20 million dollar trip to the International Space Station.

AUM Anniversary - Women’s Rights - Italian Color Clash

RSS Podcast Feed - MP3 TOKYO - On this edition March 21st 2006, 11 years since AUM, women’s rights in Japan, and complaints over the color of the Italian Cultural Institute’s building.

This week marks the 11th anniversary of the Tokyo subway gassing. On March 20th 1995 as thousands moved through the city’s mass transit system, members of the cult AUM Shinrykyo released crude sarin mixtures that killed 12 people and injured over 5000. Many remember that black day and the uneasiness it generated. Is Japan a safer place, has it learned anything, and will it be ready for another wayward group like AUM?

March 8th was International Womens Day. Coincidentally Japan’s only medal at the Winter Olympics in Turin, a gold, was won by a woman, Shizuka Arakawa.

The Italian Cultural Institute of Tokyo is a grand red building, but the neighbors don’t think so. They are demanding the the Italian embassy paint over the 12 story structure. This calls in to question, the city’s beauty in general, and the attitude to city planning.

U.S. Bases - Entertainment Visas - Baseball

RSS Podcast Feed - MP3 TOKYO - This week, trouble with relocating U.S. forces within Japan, organized crime and entertainers, and Japan gets bullied by its American big brother in baseball. With the imminent downsizing and reorganizing of U.S. forces here, no one wants soldiers in their backyard. But that’s the dilemma facing residents of Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture. Meanwhile, organized crime has long been linked to “entertainment” visas, so why is Tokyo taking a stand only now? And finally, Japan gets short-changed with a bad call at the World Baseball Classic in California.