Fashion boom — or boob?

Japanese youngsters can be very unselfconscious about fashions that some people might think extreme, but how many will be wearing these “breast scarves”? It may be a while before we get to see the streets full of these imaginatively designed, brightly colored scarves because they are for the moment part of an art exhibition. The scarves come in M/L/XL sizes and have proved popular, but we don’t how many people are trying to get their hands on them.

New Headphones with Recording/Playback Capabilities

Aiwa will start selling the UZ-PS128 model headphones with memory recording and play-back capabilities. The headphones will be able to connect to computers using a USB 1.1 interface and can playback music or record using the built-in 128MB flash memory. The headphones utilize MP3 Digital Sound Enhancer for clear playback of music.

The head-phones record music in MP3 format. They use a single AAA battery for operation, which lasts about 10 hours during playback and 7 hours for recording. The headphones weigh approximately 100 grams. A software application called Music Transfer is included with the headphones and they are compatible with Microsoft Windows 98SE/ME/2000/ XP.

Japan news

Six kidney patients denied kidney transplants DUE to computer errors

Six kidney patients who should have been higher on a recipient list for donated kidneys were not selected for surgery because of a computer programming error, the Japan Organ Transplant Network said last month. The error is "an important issue affecting the basic structure of our system," said Kikuo Nomoto, vice director of the network.
Selecting recipients is done by a trans-plant coordinator, who examines a short list prepared by a computer screening program. Various factors are taken into account, includi-ng how long a patient has been on the waiting list as well as certain types of human leuko-cyte antigen. The erroneously programmed software included antigen types that should not have been factors in the selection process, thus barring some patients from the shortlist.

Crime Rate in Japan drops

The crime rate in Japan in 2003 was down for the first time in eight years, with criminal cases falling 2.2% from a record 2,853,739 the year before, the National Police Agency (NPA) said Monday. Police handled 2,790,136 cases of crime last year.
The drop in the overall number of cases was attributed to fewer street crimes. There was a 12.4% drop in purse-snatchings and a 22% decrease in motorbike thefts. However, murders jumped 4% to 1,452 cases and robberies of houses or shops were up 27.6%.

Sony robot Qrio becomes 'voice actor' in animation series

In a country where engineers are crazy about developing humanoid robots like "Astro Boy," Sony Corp took another step toward achieving that goal.
The two-legged, walking robot Qrio recorded a dialogue for its "spot in the limelight" in the Japanese television animation series Astro Boy. Qrio even responded to orders from director Kazuya Konaka such as "Speak with inflection" and won his taskmaster's approval at the fourth attempt.

Indy Japan 300 to be held April 15-17th

Indy Japan 300, the third race in the Indy Car Series in the 2004 Indy Racing League season, will be held for three days beginning April 15, event organizers said.
Toyota driver Toranosuke Takagi and Honda's Roger Yasukawa will be making their second appearances at the 300-mile Indy Japan, which will take place at Twin Ring Motegi in Motegi, Tochigi Prefecture, featuring a 1.5-mile oval.

Sakamoto wINS 2004 Osaka International Ladies Marathon

The 23-year-old Naoko Sakamoto, long-distance road specialist outdueled Masako Chiba, world bronze medalist and cruised to her first ever career victory at the Nagai Stadium on 25th January. She was competing in only her third full marathon, crossed the finish line in 2 hours, 25 minutes, 29 seconds while Chiba clocked 2:27:38. Hiromi Ominami took third in 2:27:40

Sasaki decides to stay in Japan

The Seattle Mariners' all-time saves leader may not throw a pitch in the Major Leagues this season. Kazuhiro Sasaki's agent said that the right-hander wants to remain in Japan to be with his family and has decided to forfeit the second year of his two-year, $16 million contract with the Mariners.
"He's not coming back," agent Tony Attanasio said. "He wants to be with his wife and two children. They weren't with him last year and it played on him the entire year." Attanasio said Sasaki informed him of his intentions a week ago.
"I knew it was coming," Attanasio said. "Ever since he left Seattle at the end of the (2003) season, he has been working out in Okinawa and Saipan. And the more he was away from his family, the worse it got.
"He told me, 'I just can't leave my family.'" Sasaki's wife, Kaori, and their two children, Reina and Shogo, live in Tokyo. One report out of Tokyo mentioned that Sasaki might sign with the Tokyo Giants. But for that to happen, the reliever must clear Major League waivers — just one of the steps needed to sever ties with the Mariners and all other MLB clubs.
Sasaki, who will be 36 on Feb.22, joined the Mariners in 2000 after spending 10 years with Yokohama, where he set single-season and career saves records. He became an instant success and is Seattle's all-time saves leader.

Tokyo to ban panty trade, juveniles from late-night Net cafes

The Tokyo metropolitan assembly intends to ban trade in girls' underwear by sex shops in
a set of proposals on juvenile issues drafted by a government advisory panel. An advisory panel to Tokyo Gov Shintaro Ishihara also proposed restricting children under 18 from entering karaoke parlors and Internet cafes between 11pm and 4am.
The package of proposals, which was submitted by the panel working on measures to reduce juvenile delinquency, also requires books and manga deemed inappropriate for minors to be wrapped in covers when displayed.
The Tokyo metropolitan government plans to draft a set of major revisions to the ordinance on the upbringing of youth and submit it to the metropolitan assembly in February for deliberations.
The current ordinance already bars children under 18 from entering certain entertainment facilities late at night, but the 1964 legislation does not include Internet cafes and karaoke parlors because they did not exist then.
Some sex shops in Tokyo have recently started a new business of allowing teenagers to directly sell their underwear to customers, who pay as much as 10,000 yen a pair after they are worn by the girls.
As for publications, the panel called for asking publishers to voluntarily wrap adult ones and to require shop owners to wrap those designated by the metropolitan government as inappropriate for minors.

International News

Mich. Mother Delivers Last of Sextuplets

A woman pregnant with sextuplets has given birth to the five remaining babies more than a week after delivering the first. The four boys and two girls were three months premature. Amy Van Houten delivered four babies Friday, followed by one the next morning, All were in critical condition, weighing between 1 pound, 4 ounces and 2 pounds, 1 ounce.
"The Lord just blessed us abundantly," said father Ben Van Houten, a 29-year-old machine builder. "Six little wonderful darling children that from (our) perspective seem to be really healthy. From the doctor's perspective, they're in critical condition."
The mother, a 26-year-old teacher, was in fair condition but tired, the hospital said. Van Houten used fertility drugs to become pregnant. She and her husband learned of the pregnancy in September, and the mother has been hospitalized since early December.
Complications after multiple births often affect the proper formation of the heart, lungs and brain.

Tardy Jackson Pleads Innocent, Irks Calif. Judge

Michael Jackson pleaded innocent to child molestation charges during a hearing in which a California judge gave the onetime "King of Pop" a stern warning for showing up late and slapped a gag order on his newly assembled high-profile legal team.
But Jackson apparently left the court-room in a good mood and showed it by climbing onto the roof of a black sports utility vehicle, where he waved, blew kisses and shuffled through a few dance steps for the benefit of several hundred cheering fans gathered outside.
Jackson's impromptu performance triggered a brief frenzy among the crowd, which included many people who had traveled long distances or waited days to catch a glimpse of him, offer moral support or wave signs proclaiming his innocence.
The boy, who has accused Jackson of molesting him, was not in court although he would be expected to testify at trial. Jackson could face nearly 20 years in prison if convicted.

Eiffel Turns Red

The Eiffel Tower is lit in red during a test-run ahead of Chinese New Year festivities in Paris on January 23, 2004. Dancing dragons, elaborate floats and clanging cymbals will invade the stately Champs Elysees in Paris when the French capital gives its centre stage to Chinese New Year festivities for the first time. The parade on January 24 will mark the start of a Year
of China cultural exchange that includes Chinese art exhibitions, concerts, films and circuses.

Holy Cow!

A bull jumps over a group of people during the Pongal festival in the village of Paalame-du, near the southern Indian city of Madurai, January 16, 2003. The objective of this event is to wrest a bounty, which is held in a cloth bag, from between the horns of the bulls. At least 200 bulls and 15,000 spectators parti-cipated in the event this year. Pongal is the largest celebrated festival in South Indian.

SARS Vaccine

China has approved human trials of an experimental and 30 people have volunteered for this treatment. Researchers cautioned that the government's approval of what it called the first phase of human trials doesn't mean the vaccine can be produced for widespread use anytime soon, China Central Television said
"There is still a lot of research work that needs to be done before this medicine can be effectively used," said Zheng Xiaoyu, director of the State Food and Drug Admini-stration. Meanwhile, a 57-year-old doctor hospitalized for 10 months with SARS was finally discharged, leaving Hong Kong with no patients suffering from the respiratory disea-se.Hong Kong remains on alert, however, following the emergence of three new SARS cases in mainland China since December.

News section compiled by Jason Mills