Wait long enough and daikon legs get fashionable

Bridget Jones said a woman starts to feel her age when the fashion of the times comes full circle and she witnesses the ghostly resurrection of all the stuff she wore in her youth.
I'd like to take that a step further and add that a woman feels her age when she absolutely pines for a time machine just so she can travel back and tell her young self to hold onto that collection of high-waist skirts; they will definitely be back in 15 years. While I'm at it, I might as well advise my younger self to scrap the diet, quit the gym and tuck into that L-saizu (L?サイズ, large size) box of Maccha Pocky (抹茶ポッキー, green-tea flavored Pocky), because one day thick legs will be quite the thing.

IMF flunks good governance

HONG KONG — On Feb. 26, International Monetary Fund managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn put forward a bold-sketch map for what he called "an IMF for the 21st century," but in the very same week he and two key members of the fund, China and Japan, flunked the most important test for the future of the IMF — good and open governance.
At the start of that week, Takatoshi Kato, a former vice minister of finance for international affairs of Japan, retired as IMF deputy managing director, to be succeeded this month by Naoyuki Shinohara, a former vice minister of finance for international affairs of Japan, in what was a clear and blatant case of a job for the "old boys" of Japan's Finance Ministry. Kato had taken over in 2004 from a former top Japanese finance official.

New Windows phones won't run any current applications

NEW YORK (AP) Microsoft Corp. has said its new software for smart phones, Windows Phone 7 series, is a "clean break" with the past. Now it's clear just how clean that break is: The new phones, expected late this year, won't run any applications written for older versions of Microsoft's phone software.
In a blog post March 4, Microsoft executive Charlie Kindel, who handles contact with outside software developers, said that jettisoning support for older applications was necessary to make the new operating system as powerful and user-friendly as possible.

A blueprint for China

In 2009, China succeeded in tiding over the impact of the worst global financial crisis in decades thanks to the government economic stimulus package, which included a 4 trillion yuan (¥52 trillion) two-year investment. But Premier Wen Jiabao's government work report to China's Parliament shows that a crucial time has come for the country to make serious efforts to realize a "harmonious society" by solving such problems as an increasing gap between the rich and the poor, soaring property prices and ethnic tensions.
As Mr. Wen said in his report to the annual session of the National People's Congress, which started March 5, China was the first country to emerge from the global economic downturn. In 2009, China's gross domestic product grew 8.7 percent. The rate was lower than the 9.6 percent growth in 2008 and the annual double-digit growth from 2003 to 2007.

Onkyo's computer stands in for TV; Thanko aids shy phone users

Budget computing: Onkyo opts for a very different form of computer in the shape of its new DE411. Apart from being an all-in-one design, the DE411 also nixes a high-powered processor in favor of the low-powered, 1.6-gigahertz Atom 330 chip, one of those that netbooks favor. It compensates somewhat for the lack of computing muscle with a Nvidia ION chip set. In line with its all-in-one brethren the Onkyo product would look at home in a lounge room, with a digital TV tuner to help in the process and a simple stand at the back to prop it up to a watchable angle. Weighing just 7 kg also helps to make it reasonably portable. It measures 537 mm in width with a height of 374 mm and a thickness that varies from 76.3 mm to 210 mm, depending on the positioning of the stand. The 21.5-inch screen is on the small side for use as a television but it does come with full HD 1,920 × 1,080 resolution. Starting out with 2 gigabytes of memory, it can top out at 4 gigabytes with a 320-gigabyte hard disk for storage. Similar to Sony's versions, the DE411 comes with a DVD drive and Windows 7 Home Premium. Although it has both B and G versions of wireless, it lacks the more-powerful N type of wireless.
All-in-one machines can make cheap alternatives to TV sets, and still handle your desktop-computing needs.

Hello, stranger: the ups and downs of Chatroulette!

NEW YORK (AP) A new Web sensation called Chatroulette! feels like a throwback to the early 1990s, when online chat rooms brimmed with lonely strangers looking for meaningful connections, meaningless sex, or something in between.
But this time, there's a twist: Everyone on the site has a webcam. Chatroulette! randomly links users with strangers who could be anywhere in the world. If you don't like the person who pops up on the screen, just click "Next."

At last, a Turkish military coup that failed

ANKARA — The exposure of the plan hatched by senior military officials — called "Operation Sledgehammer" — to destabilize Turkey's government, and the subsequent arrest of high-ranking officers, demonstrates the growing strength of Turkey's democracy. Moreover, prosecutors' efforts to uncover the truth are not a campaign to discredit the Turkish Army, as some allege; nor has the exposure of "Sledgehammer" led to an emerging showdown between "secularists" and "Islamists."
Turkish society and politics are too complicated to be reduced to such simplistic formulas.

No easy solutions for U.S., Japan to revive economies

Even as Japan and the United States need deficit-funded stimulus now to stay on the recovery path, sustained large budget deficits will be a long-term problem that undermines their future growth prospects and must be addressed. But how?
Tax hikes might be one inevitable solution, given that the two countries are near the bottom of the list of advanced economies around the world in terms of tax-to-gross domestic product ratio. U.S. data meanwhile suggest that tax reduction is a much more effective tool than increases in government spending as a tool to turn the economy around.

What now for Mao?

What a show it was.
It has been several days now, and the dust has settled, but nobody can say that the battle for the gold medal in Vancouver between Mao Asada and Kim Yu Na didn't live up to its billing.

Marion stars as Mavs capture 12th straight

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Just when Dallas needed it most, Shawn Marion returned to the high-scoring form that has been absent all season.
That's been the story of this remarkable run for the Mavericks.

UConn women surpass own record

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Tina Charles, Maya Moore and the latest Connecticut Huskies dynasty now has its own place in the record books.
Charles scored 16 points and Moore added 11 to help top-ranked Connecticut win an NCAA record 71st straight game — a 59-44 victory over No. 6 Notre Dame on Monday night in the semifinals of the Big East tournament.

Britain vows to make changes

LONDON (AP) Britain promises "swift and decisive" action regarding its Davis Cup team following a 3-2 loss to Lithuania.
The loss was Britain's fifth in a row under captain John Lloyd and it now has to beat Turkey to avoid dropping to the lowest tier of the competition.

Lakers starting to look less than invincible

NEW YORK — The Lakers lost a mere 17 games all last season when they won the NBA championship.
This season, they've already lost 18 times.

Hawaii fires hoop coach Nash

HONOLULU (AP) Bob Nash was fired as coach of the University of Hawaii's men's basketball team on Monday after posting a 34-56 record over three seasons.
"This was a very tough decision," athletic director Jim Donovan said in a statement. "No person has shown more dedication to UH basketball than Bob Nash."

Endo propels Antlers to triumph

JEONJU, South Korea (Kyodo) Substitute Yasushi Endo snatched a dramatic late winner as the Kashima Antlers beat South Korean foe Jeonbuk Motors 2-1 on Tuesday on a night of differing fortunes for Japanese clubs in the Asian Champions League.
Eninho fired Jeonbuk into the lead shortly before halftime but Koji Nakata equalized in the 70th minute before Endo burst through in the 90th minute to prod home and make it two wins out of two in Group F.

Ohka set to play for Mexican club

MESA, Ariz. (Kyodo) Right-hander Tomokazu Ohka has reached an agreement to play for the Quintana Roo Tigers of the Mexican League, sources said Monday.
Ohka, who became a free agent after playing for the Cleveland Indians last year, is set to formally sign with the club in the coming days.

Roethlisberger hires prominent attorney over sex assault allegation

MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. (AP) A high-profile defense attorney hired by Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger on Monday disputed a college student's claim that the two-time Super Bowl winner sexually assaulted her at a Georgia nightclub.
The 20-year-old told police Roethlisberger, who had been out barhopping with friends, assaulted her early Friday. Roethlisberger has not been charged.

Turco, Stars top Capitals in shootout

WASHINGTON (AP) Marty Turco and the rest of the Dallas Stars could have been forgiven for figuring this was a lost cause.
They trailed by two goals after two periods against Alex Ovechkin and the NHL-leading Washington Capitals, a team seemingly en route to a 14th consecutive home victory and fourth straight win overall. Plus, the Stars have been fading: Entering Monday, they were 0-3 and had been outscored 17-5 since the end of the Olympic break.

Secret pacts existed; denials 'dishonest'

Secret pacts on nuclear arms and other issues were reached between Japan and the United States during the Cold War, a Foreign Ministry panel concluded Tuesday, effectively ending the government's decades-long official denial.
While the pacts have already been exposed through U.S. declassified documents and other sources, the panel's investigation, launched after the Democratic Party of Japan's historic rise to power last year, made clear that previous governments led by the ousted, but long-ruling, Liberal Democratic Party were "dishonest" about the issue and raised questions over the management and disclosure of diplomatic papers.

Admitting worst-kept secrets all about timing?

The Democratic Party of Japan-led government effectively dragged the skeletons in the closet of postwar Tokyo-Washington diplomacy out into the light Tuesday, in the process exposing the hollowness of its predecessor administrations' long denials.
Some critics, however, question the timing of the DPJ-initiated panel's report, alleging it is just a further dig at its predecessor in power, the Liberal Democratic Party.

Pop vocalist Nakamura in stimulant bust

Koichi Nakamura, vocalist for the Japanese pop group Jaywalk, was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of stimulant possession, police said.
Police found a small amount of amphetamine in a car parked in Tokyo's Minato Ward at around 2:20 a.m., while questioning the 59-year-old musician, who was inside the vehicle, they said.

Toyota experts challenge faulty electronics claim

WASHINGTON (AP) Toyota, dogged by millions of recalls and claims that it still has not fixed its safety problems, took its strongest step yet Monday to silence critics who blame faulty electronics for runaway cars and trucks.
Toyota assembled a group of experts in a bid to refute studies by an Illinois professor who revved Toyota engines simply by short-circuiting the wiring. Toyota's experts say the experiments were done under conditions that would never happen on the road.

North Korea 'creates midrange missile unit'

SEOUL (AP) North Korea has recently created an army division in charge of newly developed intermediate-range missiles capable of striking U.S. forces in Japan and Guam, a South Korean news agency said Tuesday.
The report came as North Korea stepped up its war rhetoric against the U.S. and South Korea after the allies started annual drills aimed at improving their defense capabilities.

Former Mitsui chief to head JFTC

Shoei Utsuda, chairman and former president of trading house Mitsui & Co., will take over as chairman of the Japan Foreign Trade Council from May 31, replacing Marubeni Corp.'s Nobuo Katsumata, according to a release from the group.
Utsuda stepped down as president of Mitsui last year. JFTC is the main lobbying group of the nation's general trading houses.

Honda to build second cycle plant in India

Honda Motor Co. said Tuesday it will boost its motorcycle production in India to meet robust local demand by building a second plant there.
Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd., a wholly owned local unit of the company, aims to operate the planned facility in an industrial area in Rajasthan, about 90 km from central Delhi, from the second half of next year, with annual output capacity projected at 600,000 units, Honda said.

Japanese game show takes the world by storm

LONDON — A Japanese game show is taking the world by storm by becoming one of the top TV formats of recent times.
"Hole in the Wall" originally started off on Fuji Television Network in Japan, but has been sold now in more than 40 countries across. Executives lay the program's success to its being "fun, fast and zany," adding that the "unique" nature of many Japanese shows often makes them stand out from their European and American counterparts.

JAL taking applications for early retirements

Japan Airlines Corp. said Tuesday it will start soliciting early-retirement applications Thursday from rank-and-file employees and midlevel managers aged 35 and older at its key flight-services arm, Japan Airlines International Co.
JAL, the nation's biggest airline, which filed for bankruptcy protection Jan. 19, said it will seek applications from ground and cabin crew, as well as from aircraft maintenance service mechanics aged 50 or older, at the subsidiary until April 9.

Maehara: Ozawa clouding DPJ's 'historic mission'

Scandal-tainted Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa should consider stepping down, given the party's need to fulfill its "historic mission," land minister Seiji Maehara suggested Tuesday.
"Japan's first-ever change of government in the postwar period took place amid a sense of crisis that the country would go into a stalemate if unchanged," the land minister told a news conference. "The DPJ must fulfill its mission.

Shipment of nuclear waste arrives from U.K.

OSAKA — The first delivery of at least 850 canisters of high-level radioactive vitrified waste arrived Tuesday morning by ship from the U.K. in Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture, where it will sit in storage for decades before being buried deep underground.
Antinuclear activists argue that with no local government yet willing to host a final disposal site and concern over the international security and environmental risks of transporting so much nuclear waste between the U.K. and Japan, the shipments should end.

Kids at pro-North high schools fret tuition waiver snub

For Om Kwan Ja, excluding "chosen gakko" pro-Pyongyang schools from the government's tuition-waiver program would mean more than just having to shell out extra cash for her kids' education. It's a problem that touches on her family's identity, especially for her son, who is studying at Tokyo Korean Junior & Senior High School in Kita Ward.
"I felt it necessary that my children learn the culture and language (of North Korea) at the school, since we as parents can't provide that," Om, a fourth-generation Korean residing in Tokyo, told The Japan Times.

Non-English schools hope for aid

Private international high schools where English is not the language of instruction are hoping they will be eligible for planned annual subsidies of ¥120,000 per student, according to school officials.
Unlike at more expensive English-based international schools, the subsidies, which would be disbursed at the discretion of the education ministry, would go a long way to covering tuition.

UAW: spare NUMMI

NAGOYA (Kyodo) The vice president of the largest U.S. autoworker union visited the headquarters of Toyota Motor Corp. on Tuesday, urging the carmaker to rethink its decision to shut its Fremont, Calif.-based factory, Toyota officials said.
United Auto Workers Vice President Bob King issued the appeal in a meeting with Toyota Executive Vice President Atsushi Niimi at the head office in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture.

Sony to launch 3-D Bravia TVs

Sony Corp. said Tuesday it will begin selling 3-D televisions in Japan starting in June, pinning its hopes on the latest technology to help regain the lead in a market now dominated by South Korean rivals.
The Japanese electronics giant also said it will aim to sell about 25 million liquid crystal display televisions in the next financial year through March 2011, of which about 10 percent would be 3-D TVs.

Key index on state of economy recovers pre-Lehman Shock level

The key gauge of the current state of the economy rose 2.5 points in January from the previous month, recovering to a level not seen since before the collapse in September 2008 of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., which triggered the global financial crisis, a government survey showed Tuesday.
The composite index of coincident economic indicators stood at 99.9 against the 2005 base of 100, the highest level since July 2008, the Cabinet Office said in a preliminary report.

Takeda, Daiichi Sankyo eyeing flu vaccines

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. and Daiichi Sankyo Co. are each considering producing vaccines for new and seasonal influenza, a move that would likely sharply increase supplies of domestically produced vaccines, sources said.
The companies are considering commencing production as demand for influenza vaccines is expected to grow amid the spread of new influenza in addition to seasonal flu. The government is also beefing up support for vaccine production due to a lack of domestically produced flu vaccines.

Trucker busted with 260 stolen undies

SAGA (Kyodo) Kenichi Ikeda of the city of Nagasaki has carried around three bags and a secret he could not tell his family at home — inside the bags were hundreds of women's undergarments that he had stolen over 10 years, police said.
Police arrested the 36-year-old truck driver, who allegedly had stolen about 260 pairs of women's underwear and kept them in bags behind the driver's seat of his truck. "I couldn't leave them home because I have a wife and children," Ikeda was quoted as saying by police.

'Cove' Oscar won't end Taiji dolphin kill

TAIJI, Wakayama Pref. — The gala crowd in Los Angeles cheered as "The Cove" won the best documentary Oscar with its grisly portrayal of dolphin slaughter. But residents of this small port shown in the film abhorred the attention and said it will not end their centuries-old tradition.
Residents of Taiji gathered in whale eateries with names like Tail and rolled their eyes Monday when told of Oscar laurels for the film, which they see as yet another biased foreign take on their culture.

Dowa Holdings chief to join panel

The government has appointed Hirokazu Yoshikawa, chairman and chief executive officer of nonferrous metals manufacturer Dowa Holdings Co., to the Government Revitalization Unit effective Thursday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano said Tuesday.
Yoshikawa, 67, will replace Kazuo Inamori, honorary chairman of Kyocera Corp., who stepped down from the post at the government body for administrative reforms late last month to become a part-time special adviser to the Cabinet.