TIBET: Joviality

Abhishek Madhukar / Reuters

The Dalai Lama (right) and Richard Moore, the founder of the charity "Children in Crossfire," laugh as they share a joke during a function at the Tibetan Children's Village School in Dharamsala, India

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HONG KONG: Sign Language: Massaaaaaaaarge!

Massaaaaaaaarge!

Location: massage therapy room in Hong Kong

Spotted by: Shahnaz Guivi

View article…

N. KOREA & CHINA: North Korean leader in China seeking cash, clout

May 5, 2010

By Barbara Demick and John M. Glionna, Los Angeles Times, Reporting from Beijing and South Korea

Kim Jong Il arrives by armored train to meet with Chinese leaders. His country needs an influx of funds for its faltering economy and help in fending off international sanctions.

When North Korea's reclusive leader, Kim Jong Il, ventures outside his hermit kingdom, he must be in need of something and for his current trip to China, the wish list is especially long. From his last real ally, the 68-year-old dictator is seeking protection from international sanctions and the nod to install his twentysomething son as his successor, as well as money to prop up a faltering economy.

Famously phobic about flying, Kim reportedly arrived in China on Monday, in a style befitting one of the world's last Cold War dictators: on an armored train and in what was supposed to be complete state secrecy. He and his retinue crossed the Yalu River separating North Korea and China and arrived at 5:20 a.m. in the border city of Dandong. From there, he was said to have traveled to the port city of Dalian, where he was believed to be ensconced in the luxury Furama Hotel, before heading in the early evening to Beijing.

In keeping with Kim's anachronistic style, the Chinese government maintained a media blackout on the visit (in contrast to the many photographs published of French President Nicolas Sarkozy and even more of his model wife, Carla Bruni, during a visit to China last week).

But it's impossible to keep under wraps a 17-carriage armored train, not to mention the accompanying limousines and a bus with Pyongyang license plates that was reportedly following along. Roads alongside Kim's route were closed for much of the day Monday for security.

South Korean and Japanese press were stalking Kim's delegation; once in Beijing, he is believed likely to meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao and a succession of other Chinese officials. Kim has visited China four times since 2000, but not since 2006, several months before North Korea conducted its first nuclear test. He badly needs Chinese money and, just as important, China's clout in the international community, especially on the U.N. Security Council, to fend off crippling economic sanctions.

"To remain strong and withstand the pressure, the relationship with China is very important,'' said Kim Keun-sik, a professor at South Korea's Kyungnam University.

CALENDAR ALERT FOR MAY 5

Holidays that are being celebrated in NE Asia today:

• CHILDREN’S DAY in S. Korea and Japan
• GOLDEN WEEK in Japan

CALENDAR ALERT FOR MAY 4

Holidays celebrated in NE Asia today:

• YOUTH DAY in China
• GREENERY DAY (PART OF GOLDEN WEEK) in Japan
• LITERARY DAY in Taiwan

CALENDAR ALERT FOR MAY 3

Holidays celebrated in NE Asia today:

• CONSTITUTION MEMORIAL DAY (PART OF GOLDEN WEEK) in Japan

CALENDAR ALERT FOR MAY 2

Holidays that are being celebrated in NE Asia today:

• GOLDEN WEEK in Japan

CALENDAR ALERT FOR MAY 1

Holidays that are being celebrated in NE Asia today:

• LABOR DAY in Hong Kong and Taiwan
• SPRING & LABOR DAY in Russia
• 2010 WORLD EXPO opening in Shanghai, China
• INTERNATIONAL WORKER'S DAY in China
• GOLDEN WEEK in Japan

CALENDAR ALERT FOR APRIL 30

Holidays that are being celebrated in NE Asia today:

• GOLDEN WEEK in Japan

ARRIVAL IN BEIJING

I’ve arrived at the Beijing airport to clear immigration and customs.  It will nice to finally make it to the hotel and crash.  We’re supposed to have a view of the Forbidden City so, I am looking forward to awaking to a view something like this:

CALENDAR ALERT FOR APRIL 29

Holidays that are being celebrated in NE Asia today:

• SHOWA DAY (PART OF GOLDEN WEEK) in Japan

FLYING INTO BEIJING

After a 2.5-3 hour layover in Narita, I am finally on my way to Beijing!  I should be there in a little over 4 hours to arrive at the airport at 10:30 PM (local time) and get a taxi to the hotel.

I am looking forward to a good night’s sleep in a comfy bed!

HEADING TO ASIA

I’m departing San Francisco now for an 11.5 hour flight to Narita (Tokyo).  I’m scheduled to arrive there tomorrow (Wednesday, 4/28) at 4:30 PM (local time).  I’m hoping to meet up with my friend Karen again before she departs for Beijing.

DEPARTING LA

I’m leaving LAX for San Francisco now for the first part of my journey. Flight time (gate to gate) is only 1.5 hours. 

I hope to be able to say hello to my friend Karen before she boards her flight.

CHINA: Driving force

 

Chinese car-makers are keen to compete globally

Page last updated at 02:20 GMT, Tuesday, 27 April 2010 03:20 UK

By Michael Bristow
BBC News, Beijing

There were few private cars on China's road two decades ago.

Even in the capital Beijing, pedestrians were more likely to be knocked over by a bicycle than by someone behind the wheel of their own automobile.

But China is now the world's biggest car market, with 13.6m vehicles sold last year.

That is why this year's Beijing auto show is attracting such attention: from buyers as well as sellers.

The exhibition centre playing host to the show gives a hint of the developments in the car industry in China over recent years.

It was previously held at a cramped venue in the city centre.

It has now moved to a larger site on the outskirts of the capital: vast car parks have been marked out for the thousands of visitors.

Perhaps unwittingly, this new venue undermines the image propagated by manufacturers that cars bring the ultimate freedom to move around.

Visitors driving to the exhibition centre still have to leave their cars far away from the show, and take a bus for the final leg of the journey.

Big ambitions

There is huge interest in Chinese car makers at this exhibition because of their desire to compete with bigger, global brands across the world.

Experts say the quality of Chinese-made cars is improving rapidly

BYD, based in Guangdong province, is just one of the companies that wants to expand abroad, mainly by selling its advanced range of battery-powered cars.

Its electric E6 car, which can travel about 300km (186 miles) on one battery charge, is due to be launched in China and the United States later this year.

BYD wants to become the biggest Chinese car maker by 2015 - and the biggest in the world just 10 years after that.

It sounds like a tall order for a company that only began building cars five years ago, but spokeswoman Elva Zhai was unmoved when that was put to her.

"We should be able to do it. I believe we'll be able to completely meet these targets," said Ms Zhai, whose company's name stands for Build Your Dreams.

Across the hall, Roberto Holtheuer, a car importer from Chile, was admiring another Chinese-made vehicle, this one manufactured by Geely.

He said Chinese-made cars are getting better all the time, and believes they could one day soon compete with the likes of General Motors and Volkswagen.

"It took Japanese cars probably 25 years to reach a level where no-one doubted the quality," said Mr Holtheuer, of the firm Derco.

"Korean cars, such as Kia and Hyundai, are doing an excellent job. It probably took them 15 years. We think China is going to take 10 years."

Expensive tastes

There are many foreign car makers at the show, firms that are more interested in selling in China than anywhere else.

Luxury cars fit the fashion for extravagant purchases

China's economy has recovered from the global downturn and its car market gives them the chance of increasing sales that could prove elusive in other countries.

Rolls-Royce, the UK-based company at the luxury end of the market, says sales have jumped three-fold in the first three months of this year in China.

A jet-black Phantom - priced at 9m yuan ($1.3m: £860,000) - made especially for the Beijing show was bought even before the exhibition opened.

"The Chinese have taken to Western luxury brands in a very satisfactory fashion," said a tanned and relaxed Richard Carter, director of global communications.

"They understand the notion of luxury - and not just in motor cars: watches, yachts, aeroplanes and so on. We are doing very well here."

And it is not just the market as it is today that has foreign cars firms excited - it is also the possibility of a growing market for years to come.

Car analyst Michael Dunne said only one in 10 Chinese people currently owns a car. The figure is eight out of 10 in the US.

"That makes CEOs all over the world salivate when they think of China," said Mr Dunne.

View article...

VLADIVOSTOK, RUSSIA: Army Parade Run-Through Starts in Vladivostok

Tuesday, April 27 2010, 11 AM

The Vladivostok garrison military units marched in the Vladivostok main square

VLADIVOSTOK, April 27, vladivostoktimes.com The first run-through of the military parade on the occasion of the Victory Day took place in the main square of the Primorye capital city. On April 26, Monday, the Vladivostok garrison military started marching at 6 in the morning; then they carried on the rehearsal at 3 in the afternoon; the correspondent of RIA PrimaMedia reports.

The Pacific Navy battalions and companies, the police and emergency forces units and the parade company of the Pacific Navy Maritime Institute as well as the rest participants of the Victory Parade are going to march three times a week: on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  The preparatory running of aviation and armored units is to take place on May 5. The dry run is to be held on May 7 at 11 a.m. 

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RUSSIA: Russian police crush blue bucket protests

A blue bucket has become the symbol for a popular revolt against Russian officials whose limousines use a flashing blue light to flout traffic traffic laws with impunity. Picture: WSJ Source: The Australian

April 27, 2010 10:56AM

By Tony Halpin

From: Times Online

THE flashing blue light is a symbol of all that ordinary Russians hate about the powerful elite whose cars break the law with impunity.

As Alexei Dozorov demonstrated to The Times yesterday, however, you can achieve roughly the same effect with a plastic bucket.

VIDEO: Moscow's blue bucket brigade

When Mr Dozorov, who heads the Moscow branch of the Committee to Protect Drivers' Rights, first put a blue child's bucket on the roof of his car he ignited a popular revolt against the arrogance of state officials whose limousines use a flashing blue light, or migalka, to force their way through traffic as they speed between the capital and their country mansions.

Cars with blue lights can ignore speed limits and traffic rules, police cannot stop them and they have been involved in several controversial traffic accidents.

Now the bucket, which resembles a migalka from a distance, has been adopted by other drivers as a mobile protest against the blue-light class. The action threatens to become an embarrassment for President Medvedev, who promised to end "legal nihilism" in Russia.

Mr Dozorov said: "People are fed up with these people getting away with everything while we have no protection either from migalka drivers or corrupt police. Why should we be second-class citizens on the road?"

The Times joined him as he drove around Moscow yesterday in his hatchback with the blue bucket attached to the roof by a magnet. Mr Dozorov exchanged beeps with a 4x4 whose owner had also stuck a blue bucket on the roof.

The authorities have failed to see the funny side, ordering traffic police to crush the bucket protest. But it is not illegal to drive with a bucket on the roof and officers have struggled to find a way to punish drivers.

Police initially accused them of breaching "cargo transportation regulations". Mr Dozorov, 45, carries with him however a court judgment revoking a fine he received after a judge ruled that no offence had been committed.

"Now there's a new trick," he said. "They ask you to remove the bucket and when you refuse they arrest you for disobeying a police order."

Officially, the number of blue-light vehicles on the road is restricted to 964 for Russia's most senior politicians and bureaucrats. The newspaper Vedomosti and a Moscow radio station counted 1,123 after asking readers and listeners to send in photographs.

Russia's traffic police chief has pledged to investigate illegal migalki amid rumours that businessmen have bought the lights from corrupt officers. Yuri Luzhkov, the Mayor of Moscow, recently proposed that only the President, the Prime Minister and the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church should have them.

"They are under police protection anyway so they never need one. Nobody should have a migalka except the emergency services," Mr Dozorov said. "We should all be equal on the road."

The Times

View article...

JAPAN: City rejects man's request for allowance for 554 adopted children

Apr 24 02:24 AM US/Eastern

(AP) - AMAGASAKI, Japan, April 24 (Kyodo) A city government in Hyogo Prefecture has rejected a resident's application to obtain newly instituted benefits designed to aid families with children after the man, a South Korean national, attempted to apply for 554 children who he said were adopted in Thailand, a city official told Kyodo News Saturday.

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry issued earlier this month a notice detailing some conditions for children residing abroad and others to be eligible for the benefit such as being in the same household and individually approved by the local municipal government.

In it, the ministry cites a case of a foreign national who has adopted 50 orphans in their home country as an example of being ineligible.

The monthly allowance, to be disbursed from June, is set at 13,000 yen per child, which would come to just over 86 million yen per year for the 554 children.

The ministry said this is the first time that someone has tried to file an application for several hundred children at one time. The child benefit law enacted in March does not require residency in Japan for eligible children, generating concerns in some quarters about abuse.

According to the Amagasaki municipal government, the man, who appeared to be in his 50s, visited the city office on Thursday and applied for the child benefit by showing documents that he said were certified by Thai authorities, along with translations, that showed the names of the children and their birthdates.

The man said the children he adopted include those in a monastery in Thailand, where his wife comes from, according to the city.

Aware of the ministry's earlier notice, the city immediately consulted the ministry and decided not to accept the application.

The applicant also carried records showing that he has been sending money to the children, the necessary documents by a foreign resident to make an application, and his passport to prove that he visited the children. The ministry requires at least two child visits per year, supported by passport records, for foreigners who have children abroad.

The city official said they do not know if all the documents were authentic as they did not accept the application.

After being briefed and rejected by staff, the man requested the name of the division at the ministry in charge of the allowance and its phone number before leaving the office, the city official said.

On March 26, the Democratic Party of Japan-led ruling bloc enacted the child benefit law, one of the party's key campaign pledges for last year's general election.

The law applies to children until they finish lower secondary school. The DPJ aims to provide 26,000 a month from fiscal 2011 per child.

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SHANGHAI, CHINA: South Korea's pavilion at the World Expo

A visitor walks past South Korea's pavilion at the World Expo site in Shanghai, China. The expo is likely to be the biggest world fair ever, with some 70 million people expected to attend.

CHINA: Monks 'asked to leave Qinghai quake zone'

Large numbers of monks travelled to Yushu to help with the relief efforts

The Chinese government has confirmed that it has asked Tibetan monks to leave Qinghai's earthquake-hit region so as not to hinder relief operations.

Hundreds of monks had rushed to Yushu County in the wake of the 14 April earthquake, which left more than 200 people dead and thousands homeless.

The population of Yushu - high on the Tibetan plateau - is 97% ethnic Tibetan.

China's State Council said the monks should return to their monasteries.

"The duties of rescue workers in the quake zone are basically over, and the focus has moved to disease prevention and reconstruction, which need specialised people," it said in a statement issued by its information office.

"While fully recognising the positive contributions of the monks that came from other areas, we suggested to them that they return to their monasteries to ensure the high effectiveness and order of quake relief work."

'Grateful'

The statement confirms earlier reports that the monks had been told to go home.

But the Yushu prefectural governor, Wang Yuhu, was later quoted by state news agency Xinhua as saying that no such orders had been given or received by him.

"Actually, we are very grateful for the role Tibetan monks played in the relief effort," the agency quoted him as saying.

The monks began arriving in Yushu shortly after the earthquake and played a major role digging people out of rubble and tending to survivors.

But correspondents say Beijing remains wary of their loyalty to the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

Two years ago violent protests in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa sparked anti-China demonstrations in ethnic Tibetan parts of surrounding provinces, including Qinghai.

View Article…

CHINA: Snow Snarls Recovery

Published: April 22, 2010

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Thousands of homeless earthquake survivors huddled in tents against strong winds Thursday as traffic slowed on snow-slicked roads, challenging recovery workers in far western China. Snow was to continue through Saturday in Yushu County, the disaster’s center, the official Xinhua news agency reported. The death toll was 2,183, with 84 missing.

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RUSSIA: Drills in Far East to involve warships of three Russian fleets

© Alexander Smirnov

05:2023/04/2010

Warships of three Russian fleets will meet in the Sea of Japan during large-scale military exercises in the Far East, a Pacific Fleet source told RIA Novosti on Friday.

The Russian Armed Forces will conduct large-scale Vostok-2010 military exercises in Siberia and Far East in June-July. The exact date of the drills is yet to be announced.

The flagships of the Northern Fleet and the Black Sea Fleet, the Pyotr Veliky nuclear-powered missile cruiser and the Moskva missile cruiser, respectively, are expected to join warships of the Pacific Fleet during the exercise, the source said.

"During the Vostok exercise, warships of the three Russian fleets will conduct joint maneuvers with firing at naval and aerial targets. In addition, they will train elements of joint combat and repelling underwater and aerial attacks," the source said.

The upcoming land drills will involve units from the Far Eastern, the Siberian and the Volga-Urals military districts.

As part of the drills, the Armed Forces will practice the deployment of additional troops in Siberia and the Far East to strengthen the existing military contingent in the region in case of a potential military conflict.

Russia holds Vostok strategic command-and-staff exercises every two years. More than 8,000 troops took part in Vostok-2008.

The Russian military conducted the Caucasus 2009, Zapad 2009 and Ladoga 2009 strategic exercises, and 15 brigade-level and 161 battalion-level drills last year.

Related News

• Blackseafor warships leave Bulgaria to conduct next stage of drills
• Russia, Greece to hold joint naval drills in 2010
• Russia conducts Navy anti-submarine drills in Sea of Japan
• Russian military gets ready for large-scale drills in Far East

VLADIVOSTOK, April 23 (RIA Novosti)

View article...

RUSSIA: About 27 Thousand Employees Involved in Building Projects in Sochi and Vladivostok

Vladimir PUTIN, the head of RF Government, reported to the State Duma

VLADIVOSTOK, April 23, vladivostoktimes.com Currently about 27 thousand employees are involved in the building projects in the Olympic Sochi in 2014 and the APEC Summit in 2012 in Vladivostok. Last year about a thousand sport facilities were put into operation, the RF Prime Minister Vladimir PUTIN reports.   

“The preparation for the Sochi Olympic Games and the APEC Summit in Vladivostok in 2012 is carried on according to the schedule. Currently, about 27 thousand employees are involved in the building projects in these cities. Last year about a thousand sport facilities were put into operation; they were built at the expense of the Federal, regional and local budgets and privet investments,” Vladimir PUTIN reports to the State Duma on the Government work in 2009.

He also noted that the number of people who go in for sport regularly amounts to 24 million people.

“In comparison with the year 2008 there is a 1.5-million increase in this rate. It means that the new stadiums and ice centers will be full. Moreover, if we want more people to attend modern sport facilities, we should erect them everywhere. We intend to encourage the regions and municipalities to join us in doing this job,” the Prime Minister says. 

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JAPAN: Whaling plan draws greens' anger

 The proposal would secure a future for Japanese coastal whaling

Page last updated at 23:59 GMT, Thursday, 22 April 2010 00:59 UK

By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News

The International Whaling Commission (IWC) has published draft proposals for regulating whaling for the next decade.

Japan's Antarctic whale hunt would fall in stages to less than a quarter of its current size. But hunting would continue on the endangered fin whale.

The draft is the latest stage in a two-year process aiming to find compromise between pro- and anti-whaling camps.

It will be debated at the IWC's annual meeting in June. Some conservation groups have already condemned it.

Commercial whaling was banned globally in 1982, but Iceland, Japan and Norway continue to hunt under various exemptions, collectively targeting more than 2,000 whales each year.

"If an agreement is reached, this represents a great step forward in terms of the conservation of whales and the management of whaling," said IWC chairman Cristian Maquieira.

"For the first time since the adoption of the commercial whaling moratorium, we will have strict, enforceable limits on all whaling operations.

"As a result, several thousand less whales will be killed over the period of the agreement."

Seeking sanctuary

Key countries, including the US and Japan, have limited comments to saying they will consider the draft proposal carefully.

But some conservation and animal welfare groups have already indicated opposition.

"The fact that this proposal is even being discussed shows just how far out of touch the IWC is with modern values," said Claire Bass, manager of the Marine Mammal Programme at the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA).

THE LEGALITIES OF WHALING

Objection - A country formally objects to the IWC moratorium, declaring itself exempt. Example: Norway

Scientific - A nation issues unilateral 'scientific permits'; any IWC member can do this. Example: Japan

Aboriginal - IWC grants permits to indigenous groups for subsistence food. Example: Alaskan Inupiat

"It is entirely missing the point that blasting conscious animals with exploding harpoons is grossly inhumane."

However, others argue that the aim of completely banning whaling is unrealistic, and that a major down-scaling, combined with bringing it under international oversight, is a worthwhile compromise.

But the inclusion of fin whales and the continuation of hunting in the Southern Ocean - which has been declared a whale sanctuary - are points of concern.

"There are some positive elements here, but there are some unacceptable provisions too," said Sue Lieberman, director of international policy with the Pew Environment Group.

"This allows whaling by Japan to continue in the Southern Ocean - and the Southern Ocean Sanctuary should be set in stone."

Quota cuts

Japan currently targets about 930 minke whales and 50 fins in each Antarctic season, though in recent years it has actually caught a lot fewer owing to skirmishes with ships of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and to a fire on the factory ship Nisshin Maru.

The draft envisages the annual Antarctic minke catch falling to 400 immediately, then to 200 in the 2015/16 season.

The fin whale quota would be set at 10 now, falling to five in 2013/4.

A demand that Japan has made regularly for several years - that it be allocated a commercial or quasi-commercial minke whale quota in the North Pacific waters around its coasts - would be granted, with 120 of the animals targeted each year.

Iceland - which last year mounted a major escalation in its fin whale hunt, catching 125 - would be allocated an annual quota of 80 fins and 80 minkes, which is considerably less than it has been demanding.

Norway's annual quota would be set at 600 minkes, and no other country would be permitted to start hunting - a clause that has aroused the ire of South Korea.

It is clear that the big players are still some way apart on key issues, including whether international trade should be permitted during the 10-year period.

Permitting it is a key demand of Iceland, which sees a potentially big export market in Japan. But conservation groups and anti-whaling nations are equally adamant that it must be stopped.

International trade in whalemeat is banned, but Iceland, Japan and Norway have registered exemptions to the UN wildlife trade convention for some whale species.

The endangered fin whale would continue to be a target

If adopted at the June IWC meeting, the "peace package" would set terms for the next 10 years, with a review after five.

Initial quotas could be amended downwards if scientific assessments indicated the necessity.

Governments would agree not to set quotas unilaterally, and to keep all hunting within the control of the IWC, effectively suspending the current measures of "scientific" whaling or hunting "under objection".

Whaling nations would have to agree to a monitoring regime involving observers on boats and a DNA register designed to keep illegal whalemeat out of the market.

Whaling by indigenous groups would not be affected.

View article...

RUSSIA: Emerald brooch of Russian empress sold for over $1.6 mln

© PhotoChristie’s Images Limited 2010

03:1423/04/2010

A diamond and emerald brooch owned by Empress Catherine II the Great of Russia went under the hammer for more than $1.650 million at a Christie's auction, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported on Friday.

The imperial gem was bought by an anonymous phone bidder, for the price which exceeded the pre-sale estimate of $1-$1.5 million.

The unique item is made of silver-topped gold, and combines a hexagonal-cut Colombian emerald of exceptional quality weighing between 60 and 70 carats and three rows of rose and old mine cut diamonds.

The brooch was presumably made in Russia and is believed to originally belong to Catherine II the Great, who was enthroned in 1762. She was known for her fondness of jewelry.

In 1776, the brooch was given as a wedding gift to Sophie Dorothea, princess of Wurttemberg, who became the second wife of Catherine's son and successor, Emperor Paul I.

Another outstanding historic jewel, the Emperor Maximilian Diamond weighing almost 40 carat, was sold for $1.762 million.

Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian Joseph of Austria was proclaimed Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico in 1864 during the Second Mexican Empire, and ruled about three years before being captured and court-marshaled by republican forces.

According to a legend, the emperor wore the diamond ring in a small satchel tied around his neck when he was executed by a firing squad on 19 June 1867. After the execution the ring was returned to his consort, Princess Charlotte of Belgium.

NEW YORK, April 23 (RIA Novosti)

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JAPAN: Michelin covers three more Japanese cities

The Michelin Guide is expanding its influence in Japan

(AFP)

TOKYO — After exploring the finest eateries of Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto, the Michelin Guide has set its sights on three more Japanese cities, publishers of the French food guide said Thursday.

Yokohama and Kamakura, both south of the capital, will be added to the 2011 edition of the Michelin Guide Tokyo to be released in November, while Kobe will be added to the Kyoto-Osaka guide.

"Yokohama, Kamakura and Kobe each offer very interesting culinary characteristics," said Jean-Luc Naret, director of Michelin guides.

Bernard Delmas, director of Michelin Japan, said inspectors based in the country had visited the three cities since mid-2009.

Michelin last year anointed Tokyo as the world capital of three-star restaurants, scoring 11 such prizes in the 2010 edition, against 10 in Paris.

The Japanese metropolis also won a world-beating total of 261 stars for 197 restaurants, up 34 from the previous year.

But France remained home to the largest number of top tier restaurants in the world, with 26 three-star eateries against 18 in all of Japan, Michelin found.

Under Michelin's rules, one star signifies "very good" cooking quality, two stars mean "excellent" and three stars rate a restaurant as "exceptional".

View article...

JAPAN: Women on board: Breaking the 'bamboo ceiling'

April 22, 2010 -- Updated 0608 GMT (1408 HKT)

By Kyung Lah, CNN

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• 1.4 percent of Japanese executives are women
• Women in Japan are pushed to traditionally female roles
• Leading businesswoman thinks Japan may be ready for a change
• First woman on board: Corporate Japan wants to change; doesn't know how

Tokyo, Japan (CNN) -- Change a few circumstances in her life and Sakie Fukushima says she would have been a housewife. She was raised to be a good Japanese wife and homemaker, after all. That's what was expected of women of her generation -- to sit behind their men, make their bentos, iron their shirts and watch them rise to lead Japan's economy.

Life did not go as Fukushima expected.

60-year-old Fukushima is one of Japan's most powerful executives, sitting on the board of both U.S. and Japanese-based multi-national companies. The fact that she is a female in one of the most male-dominated business cultures is a stunning backstory in one woman's remarkable ascent through the so-called "bamboo ceiling." Bamboo bends, and unlike glass, never breaks. But Fukushima managed to crack through, by working for a U.S. company.

"I was lucky to be in a place where the hard work was appreciated," said Fukushima, of her corporate beginnings at Korn-Ferry International.

The American company saw her sales output, the highest in the Asia-Pacific region, as the reason for promotion.

An American mentor and her supportive husband urged Fukushima to push beyond her Japanese cultural expectations.

"If I was to work for a Japanese company, a large Japanese company, I don't think I would have come this far."

The World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Index ranks Japan 101 out of 134 countries. Part of the reason for the low ranking is that just 1.4 percent of Japanese executives are women.

What that has meant for women in the workplace is they are pushed to traditionally female roles: secretary and store clerk. It is a dismal reality for the world's second-largest economy, said Beth Brooke, Ernst and Young's Global vice chairwoman and a Forbes Magazine 100 most powerful woman.

"Japan is a very homogeneous society. So on the spectrum of diversity, not just gender; it is more difficult to embrace diversity because it's not a terribly diverse culture to begin with."

Ironically, Brooke believes the global economic slowdown and Japan's aging population is a chance to rediscover the people under-utilized in the workforce.

"I think we have an opportunity to change the conversation here. Whether you're a country or a company, you need growth. Japan has an enormous opportunity, frankly, to see the opportunity to spark innovation through a gender lens of diversity. I think gender diversity is a big part of the solution."

Fukushima agreed, as she celebrates her recent appointment to the Bridgestone Corporation board. She is the first female to be elected to the Japanese company's boardroom.

"Experimenting is the best way to say it," said Fukushima, describing Japan's corporate sentiment toward women. "They know they have to have diversity but they don't know how to do it and how to use it effectively. As a result of increasing competition outside of Japan from China and Korea, the Japanese business community has realized it has to change. They can't rely on the past successful model of the 1970s and '80s. They will have to increase diversity, change the way of doing business in order to compete."

Fukushima's new colleague, Bridgestone Americas, Inc. CEO and President Gary Garfield, said he is encouraged that his company in Japan is catching up to other global companies.

He calls having a female on the board a no-brainer. His advice to Japanese companies:

"Just branch out and do it. They'll be stronger for it. I think they'll be better companies for it."

Links referenced within this article:

Japan
http://topics.edition.cnn.com/topics/Japan

Business
http://topics.edition.cnn.com/topics/Business

Asia
http://topics.edition.cnn.com/topics/Asia

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JAPAN: U.S. says no way on Tokunoshima

Friday, April 23, 2010

Kyodo News

Choppers need to be close to troops

The United States has rejected the idea of relocating the U.S. Futenma base to Tokunoshima Island, a contentious site favored by the administration of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, because it is too far from Okinawa-based marine units, a government source said Thursday.

Hatoyama has suggested his government will pursue the relocation of the air station to the Kagoshima Prefecture island about 200 km to the northeast, but Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa said Thursday it appears resolving the issue by the end of May as promised is "extremely difficult."

A visit by Hatoyama to the city of Kagoshima on May 15 has been in the works, other sources close to him said, but Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano denied that the prime minister would go to Kagoshima Prefecture in connection with the Futenma issue.

Earlier this week, the mayors of the three towns on Tokunoshima rejected a government proposal to meet with Hirano in Kagoshima to discuss the matter, following a massive rally Sunday on the island to protest the base's possible relocation there.

In rejecting the Tokunoshima relocation, Washington informed Tokyo that a helicopter unit should be no further than 120 km from ground forces, according to the source.

The helicopter unit at Futenma is used to transport marines stationed at such bases in Okinawa as Camp Hansen and Camp Schwab.

The United States has told Japan that it is desirable for the two operations to be close enough to enable them to react to situations swiftly, the source said.

"It's an extremely difficult thing (to achieve) because we must clear various hurdles, namely, the U.S. military, local governments and the ruling coalition parties," Kitazawa said at a session of the Upper House Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

Referring to a parliamentary debate the previous day in which Hatoyama expressed his determination to see the issue settled by the self-imposed May 31 deadline, Kitazawa said the prime minister "exhibited his resolve in the serious setting, and we will do our utmost toward that goal."

If he visits Kagoshima in mid-May, Hatoyama would attend a gathering of his ruling Democratic Party of Japan's local chapter in the prefectural capital ahead of the Upper House election this summer, according to sources.

But, Hirano said at a news conference, "Isn't it false information?" and added that Hatoyama should go to the municipality where the government will want to relocate the base to ask the local government and residents concerned to accept the proposal.

The Hatoyama government, which came to power in a historic change of government last September, has spent months re-examining the current bilateral plan that seeks to relocate the Futenma base from the crowded city of Ginowan to a coastal area of Camp Schwab in Nago, also in Okinawa, by 2014.

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CHINA: Mourning for Yushu continues in China

Yushu: a girl who survived the earthquake wears a white daisy in remembrance of other victims in Yushu prefecture of China’s Northwest Qinghai province on April 21, 2010. [Photo/Xinhua]

Tianjin: Students from Tianjin Medical University stand in a heart shape while praying for the quake victims in Yushu prefecture of China’s Northwest Qinghai province on April 21, 2010. [Photo/Xinhua]

Shenyang: Students light candles in the No.2 Shenyang Art primary school to mourn for the quake victims in Yushu prefecture of China’s Northwest Qinghai province on April 21, 2010. [Photo/Xinhua]

Hainan Airline: Airline hostesses mourn for the quake victims in Yushu prefecture of China’s Northwest Qinghai province on airplane, April 21, 2010. [Photo/Xinhua]

Shishi, Fujian: Frontier defense soldiers mourn for the quake victims in Yushu prefecture of China’s Northwest Qinghai province on April 21, 2010.[Photo/Xinhua]

Guangzhou: Medical staffers from Guangzhou Nanfang Hospital together mourn for the victims in Yushu prefecture of China’s Northwest Qinghai province on April 21, 2010. [Photo/Xinhua]

Beijing: Tsinghua University students and teachers gather to mourn for the quake victims in Yushu prefecture of China’s Northwest Qinghai province on April 21, 2010. [Photo/Xinhua]

Shanghai: The Expo entertainment stadium closes today in commemoration of the earthquake dead in Yushu prefecture of China’s Northwest Qinghai province on April 21, 2010. [Photo/Xinhua]

Xi’an: A transferred Yushu patient mourns for the Yushu victims in the First Affiliated Hospital of the Medical College of Xi’an Jiaotong University on April 21, 2010. [Photo/Xinhua]

Chendu: An elderly man holds today’s Chengdu newspaper in Tianfu square to show sympathy and to pray for the dead in Yushu prefecture of China’s Northwest Qinghai province on April 21, 2010. [Photo/Xinhua]

Zaozhuang,Shandong: Students from the Hui ethnic primary school stand in formation in remembrance of the dead in Yushu prefecture of China’s Northwest Qinghai province on April 21, 2010.

Hong Kong: Entertainment celebrities gather in a press conference to mourn the quake victims in Yushu prefecture of China’s Northwest Qinghai province on April 21, 2010. [Photo/Xinhua]

Haiti: Policemen from the Chinese Haiti Peacekeeping force gathered to mourn for the quake victims in Yushu prefecture of China’s Northwest Qinghai province on April 21, 2010. [Photo/Xinhua]

Jinan,Shandong: People stand in a heart shape to pray for the quake victims in Yushu prefecture of China’s Northwest Qinghai province on April 21, 2010. [Photo/Xinhua]

Xining: An elderly Tibetan woman (C) prays for the quake victims in Yushu prefecture of China’s Northwest Qinghai province on April 21, 2010. [Photo by Qi Xiao/chinadaily.com.cn]

Xining: A policeman stands in the rain praying for the quake victims in Yushu prefecture of China’s Northwest Qinghai province on April 21, 2010. [Photo by Qi Xiao/chinadaily.com.cn]

Xining: Students stand in the rain praying for the quake victims in Yushu prefecture of China’s Northwest Qinghai province on April 21, 2010. [Photo by Qi Xiao/chinadaily.com.cn]

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S. KOREA: South Korea’s homemakers don’t want to be pegged

Kim Yong-sook founded Ajumma are the Pillars of the Nation, which seeks to boost the image of middle-aged Korean women. (John M. Glionna / Los Angeles Times)

April 21, 2010 | 5:26 p.m.

By John M. Glionna, Los Angeles Times, Reporting from Seoul

Some stay-at-home mothers, known as ajumma, are fed up with being stereotyped as deadbeats who just love to gossip and shop. Kim Yong-sook is helping them forge a new identity.

Kim Yong-sook is fed up and she's not going to take it anymore.
She's weary of women between the ages of 30 and 60 being ridiculed as selfish and unstylish — bossy, gossiping magpies with bad perms who pinch pennies and hog seats on the subway.

They're known as ajumma, a word long applied to married women with children but which in recent years has taken on a pejorative connotation that irks Kim.

Among many South Koreans, it's now often used to conjure an image of homemakers who disdain full-time jobs to while away afternoons on park benches, in coffee shops and at social clubs, bragging about their children and, if they've got the money, go on shopping sprees.

At 58, Kim has empathy for her fellow ajumma, who she insists have too long been misunderstood and ridiculed. Ajumma are not deadbeats, cracks in Korea's economic engine.

"Actually, we're running the nation," says the mother of one, a son. "We've got one foot in the house and one foot in society."

A decade ago, Kim formed a support group called "Ajumma are the Pillars of the Nation." Since then, she has attracted thousands to her declaration of independence. She's written a book and consults with business and government.

Her message: Ajumma unite! Don't take the snickers, behind-the-back finger-pointing and jibes lying down!

Kim figures there are more than 10 million ajumma, married women with children. She sees them not as being forgotten or overlooked women but as a force that can be harnessed to make their own individual statement.

Kim, a petite woman with black swept-back hair, has become a role-model for South Korean mothers in search of a new cultural identity. When she married decades ago, Kim says, wives in the then-more-conservative culture were expected to bear children, cook and keep the house clean, nothing more.

Leave the important work, like earning a living, to us, husbands would say. But Kim was having none of it.

"I gained my financial independence from my husband," she says. "He didn't fight me. He knows I'm stubborn. Even if he had demanded that I stay at home, he knew I wouldn't."

She worked as a flight attendant and television actress and later started her own clothing manufacturing business. But the business went bankrupt. She was sued for back taxes, and, without money for a lawyer, she says, she was forced to represent herself.

"I was like a child in court. I wasn't prepared for the challenge," she recalls. "Half the time I didn't even understand what the judge was saying to me."

Despite the disadvantage, she won her case. But another, more personal, verdict hit hard.

"I thought I was successful, but I realized that I just didn't have the modern social or survival skills to make it in this society."

Kim saw that the world had changed. Young men no longer wanted their partners to do nothing more than stay home and bear children. Now they expected double incomes to survive the roller-coaster South Korean economy.

Young women might be going to work, but their mothers seemed trapped in another time. Many didn't even realize that the times had left them so far behind, she says.

Convinced that women of her generation needed a lightning rod, Kim began organizing. For the 2004 World Cup in Seoul, she solicited volunteers to host foreign families without charge, a way for the women to stand up and serve as national ambassadors.
She also organized teams to help make garbage a green energy source and started a consulting service for middle-aged women.

Yoo Eun-hee is one of her protégés. The 50-year-old former homemaker watched Kim and asked, why can't I do that?
Always a good cook, she took her talents out into the job market and was hired as a chef.

"Working with this group gave me confidence," Yoo says. "It made me see that I could do something for myself. I could see a wider world out there."

Kim's mantra is not that every Korean mother and homemaker should go to work to find an identity. She just wants to help women who seek to shake off stereotypes she says are still reinforced both inside the home and out.

Lee Jiwon has also learned from Kim.

"I'm still one of those coffeehouse women," she says. "But I understand myself better. Meeting with my friends is a way to blow off steam. I live this life because I chose it. It's not a sentence."

But Kim knows that some women cling to home and family as a refuge, out of fear, and she says they often become defensive and selfish as a result.

"I think trying to reason with these women would be a waste of words," she says. "I do it through action, creating jobs, breaking down barriers and providing more channels for their success."

Yoo also sees the ones left behind. And it makes her sad.

"They're afraid to take the chance to try to be innovative. Deep down inside, it's not that they don't want to get a job, they just don't know how to go about it."

Kim knows the biggest obstacle for many ajumma is not their husbands, parents or even their culture, but themselves.

"That's the lesson we try to teach women," she says. "You don't need anyone's permission to follow your dreams."

Ju-min Park of The Times' Seoul Bureau contributed to this report.

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