Japan

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UK 14-Year-Old a Star in Japan
 UK 14-Year-Old a Star in Japan 

UK 14-Year-Old a Star in Japan

YouTube sensation Beckii Cruel, 14, releases debut album

(Newser) - Dressing in costumes, dancing around her bedroom to Japanese pop songs, and posting the videos on YouTube has made 14-year-old Rebecca Flint a bona fide star in Japan. The British teen, known online as Beckii Cruel, imitates the dancing style and looks of an anime character; in Japan she's performed...

Whaler, Activist Ship Collide Off Antarctica

Second clash this year in Japanese whaling standoff

(Newser) - The anti-whaling ship the Bob Barker and a Japanese harpoon boat collided in the icy waters off Antarctica today—the second major clash this year in the increasingly belligerent standoff over Japanese whaling. The activist group Sea Shepherd, which sends vessels to confront the fleet each year, said a small...

Monks Sell Mantras With Hip-Hop and Booze

Japanese Buddhists court young with shows, bars

(Newser) - In an effort to draw new converts, a group of Japanese monks has turned to an oddly un-Buddhist method: alcohol and rap. Calling the strategy "Buddhism 2010," monk Kansho Tagai, who is content to be known by his new street name, Mr. Happiness, says that Japanese Buddhism is...

Japan Airlines Goes Bankrupt
 Japan Airlines Goes Bankrupt 

Japan Airlines Goes Bankrupt

Delta and American vie for piece of restructuring JAL

(Newser) - Japan Airlines filed for bankruptcy today in one of the nation's largest corporate failures, entering a restructuring from which it seeks to emerge leaner, smarter, and free of crippling debt. Asia's biggest carrier by revenue, staggering under a $25 billion debt mountain, JAL will slash nearly 16,000 jobs, cut...

Top 10 Places You Can't Go
 Top 10 Places You Can't Go 
FROM AREA 51 TO DISNEYLAND

Top 10 Places You Can't Go

The world's most significant secret places revealed

(Newser) - Want to visit Area 51? Too bad: The mecca for conspiracy theorists isn't open to visitors. Listverse runs down the 10 most significant places around the world that are nearly impossible for the general public to visit:
  • Mezhgorye: This Russian town is believed to house people working on Mount Yamantaw—
...

Boat Destroyed, Whaling Activists Take to the Air

Whale war heats up after Sea Shepherd boat is destroyed

(Newser) - The anti-whaling group whose high-tech boat was destroyed by a Japanese whaler in Antarctic waters yesterday has continued to pursue their target by helicopter, and vowed to keep up the harassment. "We now have a real whale war on our hands," declared the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's leader,...

Huge Tuna Fetches $176K
 Huge Tuna Fetches $176K 

Huge Tuna Fetches $176K

Rare bluefin pulls in even rarer sum at Japanese auction

(Newser) - A gigantic bluefin tuna, weighing in at 512.8 pounds, sold for roughly $176,000 today in an auction in Japan, a sum not seen in nearly a decade. It was Japan’s first tuna auction of the year—amid rapidly declining bluefin stocks—yet it beat out the top...

Record Snow Paralyzes Seoul
 Record Snow Paralyzes Seoul 

Record Snow Paralyzes Seoul

S. Korean capital weathers biggest snowstorm in 70 years

(Newser) - Seoul residents are facing paralyzed traffic and canceled flights after the heaviest snowfall in more than 70 years dumped 10 inches on the South Korean capital today. Gimpo International Airport canceled 224 flights before resuming service this afternoon, AP reports. China and Japan are also coping with snowstorms, with an...

Finally, World-Class Wine From Japan

Critics applaud vino from local grape

(Newser) - For decades, critics wouldn’t give Japan’s wine industry a second sniff—but a new wine from a local grape could change all that. One firm’s koshu wine has won over taste buds from France to the US, the Guardian reports. The “crisp and pleasant” Cuvée...

Developing Countries Boycott Climate Talks
 Developing Countries 
 Boycott Climate Talks 

COPENHAGEN SUMMIT

Developing Countries Boycott Climate Talks

Refuse to participate unless rich countries cut more

(Newser) - A group of 125 developing countries, including China and India, boycotted the climate change talks in Copenhagen today, accusing developed countries of trying to ditch the Kyoto protocol, and the penalties it imposes on them if they don't meet emissions limits. The Africa-led move created chaos at the talks, which...

To the Suds-Lover With Everything, Give Space Beer

Brew's grains related to barley that grew in space station

(Newser) - At a loss for what to get that beer connoisseur on your list? How about suds from space? Yep, Sapporo’s Space Barley brew contains grains related to those that spent five months aboard the International Space Station, and can be yours for just $110 a six-pack. The catch, though,...

Fingerprint Surgery Fools Japanese Immigration

Woman has fingerprints swapped to dodge biometric border control

(Newser) - An illegal immigrant slipped past Japan's biometric security system by having surgery to swap her fingerprints, according to Japanese authorities. The Chinese woman, deported after overstaying her visa last year, had skin patches on thumbs and index fingers removed and regrafted onto the opposite hands, the BBC reports.

Pearl Harbor Submarine Mystery Solved

Mini-sub that sank USS Oklahoma comes to light

(Newser) - A Japanese mini-sub believed to have played a crucial role in the battle of Pearl Harbor has been found. The mini-sub was one of five deployed during the 1941 attack from larger “mother” submarines, University of Hawaii researchers say. The other four have already been found, but the fifth...

Japanese Man Marries Video Game Girlfriend

But the wedding's probably not legally binding

(Newser) - A Japanese man pledged his undying love to a video game character last weekend, in a first-of-its-kind ceremony witnessed by dozens of gamers. The man, username Sal9000, had fallen in love with Nene Anegasaki, a virtual woman in the Nintendo DS dating simulator “Love Plus.” He “married”...

Dow Up 137; Fed News Sparks Rally
 Dow Up 137; 
 Fed News Sparks Rally 
MARKETS

Dow Up 137; Fed News Sparks Rally

Bernanke predicts US GDP growth in 2010

(Newser) - Stocks rallied today on news of strong third-quarter economic growth in Japan and reassurance from Ben Bernanke that the Fed will keep interest rates low, the Wall Street Journal reports.
  • The Dow rose 136.49 points to close at 10,406,96.
  • The Nasdaq gained 29.97, settling at 2,
...

Obama Bow: Right Idea, Wrong Bow
Obama Bow: Right Idea, Wrong Bow
etiquette lesson

Obama Bow: Right Idea, Wrong Bow

Even Nixon bowed to the Japanese emperor —but he did it better

(Newser) - A friend of ABC’s Jake Tapper would like to clear up some misconceptions about President Obama’s bow to the Japanese emperor: First, “the right is wrong about Obama’s bow.” It’s not an “unprecedented” display of subservience from an American president—Richard Nixon bowed...

Obama Bows to Emperor
 Obama Bows to Emperor 
here we go again?

Obama Bows to Emperor

Critics on the right already weighing in

(Newser) - Prepare for another bowing controversy. A photo of President Obama bowing to Japanese Emperor Akihito has surfaced, and it's likely to set off critics on the right—as happened when Obama maybe sorta bowed to the king of Saudi Arabia in April. This time, there's no question about it: It's...

Help! We're Being Killed by Cuteness
 Help! We're Being 
 Killed by Cuteness 
OPINION

Help! We're Being Killed by Cuteness

This is what happened to Japan after WWII, and it's terrible

(Newser) - There is an epidemic of cuteness in the country, Jim Windolf writes, symptomatic of our national desire to be loved and taken care of after 8 years of George W. Bush and a much-diminished standing in the world. The signs are everywhere: giggling babies, LOLcats, cupcakes, “cutegasms,” the...

Obama: China No Threat to US
 Obama: China No Threat to US  

Obama: China No Threat to US

President promises ties to Japan won't suffer

(Newser) - President Obama wrapped up his visit to Japan today with a speech in which he said the US would maintain its relationships with longtime allies in the region—like the host country—while pursuing stronger bonds with China. Indeed, Obama said, an ever-stronger China is not a threat to the...

Obama Arrives in Japan to Shore Up Relations

President will be in Asia for a week

(Newser) - President Obama arrived in Japan today to open his weeklong summit in Asia. At a news conference with Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, Obama acknowledged that relations with Tokyo have been strained and agreed that it's time to modernize the nations' 50-year-old treaty. "Our effort will be focused on revitalizing...

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