There were demonstrations against nuclear power recently in Japan (one in Tokyo that at one estimate attracted 60,000 demonstrators). And naturally there have counter-demonstrations against the demonstrations. However, one group, claimed to be Zaitokukai in a video below (with its own history of violent and property-damaging demonstrations) gave exhortations to police to inflict violence at the anti-nuke protesters (if not getting rough with the protesters themselves). Yet as usual the Japanese police don’t arrest or hinder the Rightists, instead taking action against the Leftists — arresting two within the following video. One Japanese woman and one French man. The 2 arrested offer their account of what happened here. FCCJ Press Conference in this issue today, in conjunction with an eyewitness account of the demonstration from the H-Japan listserv reproduced below

FCCJ: Are the Japanese police looking to silence political dissent through a scientific campaign of intimidation against the young specifically? Are the democratic rights to protest being observed in practice by people who claim to be protecting Japan’s social order? This event is a chance to mirror upon these crucial issues.

Scholars, writers and political analysts have issued a joint statement denouncing police suppression of the 9/11 rally. The cruel measures against a calm protest can have enormous implications for the longer term in Japan.

a brand new car company called Vehicle Production Group (VPG) is putting out a brand new van that’s “factory-ready for wheelchair users”.  It’s called the MV-1 and has the subsequent features: (A)n integrated ramp able to holding 1,200 lbs. with an anti-slip…

The good Pacific Garbage Patch: [physical geography] featuring the PlastikiNoun: The nice Pacific Garbage Patch is a set of marine debris within the North Pacific Ocean. Marine debris is litter that leads to oceans, seas, and other large bodies…

Well today over the border in Warsaw the Eastern European Partnership meeting occurs between the ecu representatives and the six nations inside the EaP. So off have trotted the ecu high level representatives, suitably encouraged by Baroness Ashton in her warm up speech.  Quite.  Nothing new in that lot or the agenda. Anyway, I [...]

For interested patrons with disabilities: on September 27 beginning at 2:00 pm, there’ll be a program spotlighting the Microsoft Office Speech Recognition software “APP” and the way to download it on iPhones and other devices on the library’s Technology Training Center. …

McPike: In keeping with research done by both Law Professors in Japan and by Left-Behind Parents, we all know that these cases [of abducted children in Japan with American citizenship] number into the thousands.

Within the english translation (Translation by Matthew J. McCauley of University of Washington’s Law School) of a paper written by Professor Tanase in 2009 (who has also been used as a specialist by DoS) he states, using statistics provided by various Japanese sources, that:

“ Over 251,000 married couples separated in 2008, and if this number is split by the 726,000 marriages inside the same year, roughly one out of each 2.9 marriages will result in divorce. Out of all divorcing couples, 144,000 have children, equaling about 245,000 children in all. Seeing as roughly 1.09 million children were born this year, about one out of each 4.5 children will experience divorce before reaching adulthood. Regardless of the rise in visitation awards, only about 2.6% of the 245,000 children suffering from divorce [in Japan] can be allowed visitation. “

To simplify it: Out of 245,000 children who’s parent’s are divorced in Japan ONLYabout 6300 children would be allowed to preserve some level of contact with their “non-custodial parent” (We’ll come back to how custody is decided). The rest 238,700 children have one parent ceremoniously cut completely and suddenly from their life – often being punished, either emotionally or physically, by the “custodial parent” in the event that they ask to continue to work out the removed parent.

As well, in accordance with statistics provided by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare (and gathered by Left-Behind Parent: John Gomez):

From 1992 to 2009, there were 7,449 divorces between an American and a Japanese in Japan.
Of these Americans, 6,208 were men, and 1,241 were women.
In keeping with the statistics, there’s, on average, one child per divorce in Japan

So if you take 7,449 divorces (each with a typical of one child according to the above statistics) and use Professor Tanase’s 2.6% estimate (which may be expected to be higher than would truly apply to foreign parents), that leaves you with approximately 7,255 children people citizens (just counting data as much as 2009) which are being denied access to their US parent….

As lots of you dear readers would be aware, successive Ukrainian governments since independence have done little or no by means of updating historical Soviet laws that weren’t of their interest on the time to take action.  (Namely if such laws didn’t stand of their technique to achieve X or Y, then they’ve remained [...]

Harvard University's Center for Geographic Analysis is the method of developing WorldMap, an open source web mapping system available to anyone. The project is an excellent new opportunity in modern education. Teachers can now assign mapping project for college students and…

(Note: The subsequent review is of a POD book that’s currently not available from the library’s distributors. In case you scroll all the way down to the tip of the post, you can see information on where to get it.) Pulp magazine fans like myself were…

Associated with my FCCJ article posted here a number of days ago, we’ve the J-media now piling on about “harmful ads within the free newspapers geared toward foreigners”, encouraging criminal behavior. It is a national issue after all (as I argued before, articles/campaigns about foreign crime take priority, even drown out excellent news (or any news) about NJ residents in Japan), and essentially a similar article becomes common to the key papers (submitter JK sends the Yomiuri, Mainichi, and Nikkei).

JK comments: i locate it odd that at the one hand, the NPA is concentrated on ads in free papers enticing foreigners to accomplish criminal acts, whereas however, the NPA has, to my knowledge, yet to report at the collection of pachinko parlors that paid out tokens / goods to players that have been converted into cash (read: gambling, a criminal act!). To me, it’s obvious that the NPA is being selective in investigating potential criminal acts because when it comes to the ads within the free papers, NJ are specifically involved.”

Yomiuri: Many ads encouraging criminal behavior inclusive of working illegally and getting into fake marriages were carried by free newspapers aimed toward foreigners, in keeping with a police survey.

The survey, conducted by the National Police Agency in May and June, said 736 harmful ads were present in papers distributed in commercial and entertainment districts across the nation.

The NPA will ask publishers of free papers to not run ads encouraging illegal activity. It also may pursue criminal charges against publishers allowing such ads to seem of their papers.

Mainichi adds: The NPA has named the services and process of communication that promote crimes as “crime infrastructure.”