On Monday, Japanese auto giants and Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) joined forces to set up a common system to recharge electric cars, with the hopes to create a global standard.

The growth of the electric vehicle sector has brought questions over whether zero-emission cars or the networks of recharging stations should come first.

Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi Motors and Fuji Heavy Industries have linked up with TEPCO to organize “CHAdeMO.”

The name comes from the words “Charge” and “Move” and a pun on the popular Japanese phrase.

There are 158 companies and government bodies that are members, including 20 foreign firms.

TEPCO chariman Tsunehisa Katsumata said standardizing charging infrastructure is vital to making electric cars popular.

“We need to make this protocol a standard protocol outside of Japan,” he told a gathering in a Tokyo hotel.

Read the rest of the story: Japan Companies Team Up For Standard On Electric Cars

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A group of cartoonists including Tetsuya Chiba, illustrator of popular manga series “Ashita no Joe” (Tomorrow’s Joe), voiced their opposition Monday in Tokyo to a proposed ordinance revision aimed at regulating sexual imagery in comics and animations.

Arriving at the Tokyo metropolitan government, the cartoonists voiced concerns over the proposal, to be put before a vote Friday, which calls for restricting comics and animations that contain sexualized depictions of “nonexistent minors” — a controversial concept described in the draft regulation, referring to characters that people would assume to be minors.

Read the rest of the story: Cartoonists oppose new regulation on sexual expressions in comics

See also: Tokyo’s Youth Protection and Nurturing Ordinance and it’s possible effect on Anime & Manga

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Broadcaster NTV previously announced that its weekday evening show “NNN News Realtime” is being replaced by a new program called “news every.” More details have been revealed, including the appointment of NEWS member Keiichiro Koyama (25) as a regular reporter. Before he was in NewS, he was a member of BAD and J-Support, which was later renamed K.K.Kity, along with fellow NewS members Hironori Kusano and Shigeaki Kato.

The show will have announcer Takahiko Fujii (38) as the main newscaster, with sportscaster Kimiko Jinnai (45) and newscaster Izumi Maruoka (38) also appearing regularly. Koyama will be on the show once a week, covering human interest stories.

“news every.” will start on March 29.　The show will occupy the same time slot as “NNN News Realtime” (4:53pm-7:00pm Monday-Thursday, 5:00pm-7:00pm Friday). Koyama is currently scheduled to appear on Thursdays.

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photo by Okinawa Soba

If you have been keeping up with the latest news around the world today, then you’ll know that Japan’s been getting a bad rap. But, what can you do? Well how about a laugh about it.

Toyota’s Woes

David Letterman – Toyota CEO Sets The Record Straight

The Hump, Japanese restaurant in Santa Monica and its chef charged with serving whale meat

The Japanese Tradition – Sushi

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Courtesy JAXA

The Japanese Space Agency has unveiled a prototype of what it says is the world’s first solar powered sail spacecraft.

It will be launched together with the country’s first Venus orbiter on May 18. There is also a campaign you can be a part of in this project. Look below for information on how to get your name and a message into space.

How it works:
IKAROS (Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation Of the Sun) is a solar sail which gathers sunlight as propulsion by means of a large sail. This spacecraft will be launched in 2010 together with the Venus Climate Orbiter, “AKATSUKI”(PLANET-C), using the H-IIA launch vehicle. This will be the world’s first solar power sail craft employing both photon propulsion and thin film solar power generation during its interplanetary cruise.

IKAROS’s membrane is square, with a diagonal distance of 20m. The destination of the IKAROS is not specific but will be flown toward Venus.

Future Projects:
TPS is developing a spacecraft which is called “LightSail-1” that will sail around the earth revolving in orbit by the end of 2010. TPS, is one of the biggest organizations in the world promoting space exploration projects, outreach activities, and public information.

LightSail-1 is an ultra-light spacecraft with a mass of less than 5 kilograms. With a sail area of approximately 32 square meters, its goal is to fly in Earth orbit to demonstrate control and attitude in orbit and the ability to increase velocity utilizing sunlight pressure.

You can get your name and a message in space!
The collaborative message campaign held for JAXA’s “IKAROS” satellites and The Planetary Society’s “LightSail-1″ mission has been extended until March 22, (Monday and a holiday in Japan for Vernal Equinox Day.)

The registered names and messages will be recorded either on an aluminum plate or DVD to be loaded onto the IKAROS spacecraft and travel through space toward orbit with Venus. Those who have not registered, don’t miss this opportunity!

Click here for more information and to register.

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A strong magnitude 6.6 earthquake hit off the eastern coast of Japan on Sunday, rattling buildings across a broad swath of the country, including the crowded capital.

There were no reports of casualties, with only light damage to structures near the epicenter, according to local officials.

The quake hit at 5:08 p.m. and was felt most strongly in central Fukushima prefecture about 130 miles (210 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

“It was fairly strong, but didn’t knock over anything in the office,” said Ken Yoshida, a town official in Naraha, one of the hardest-hit areas. He said an earthen wall in town was partially toppled.

The earthquake was centered about 50 miles (80 kilometers) off the eastern coast at a depth of about 25 miles (40 kilometers), the meteorological agency said.

Adam Lambert, from American Idol fame, is in Japan at the moment and has had this to say so far: “Greetings Tokyo! Let’s do some shopping!:) looking forward to meeting my Japanese fans!!”

He also tweeted about the earthquake, saying: “Hardly felt quake. Just Lil sway. goodnight all!”

And all is well in the world.

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The “Youth Nurturing and Protection Ordinance,” is a proposal to essentially censor images of “childlike” characters in media. It is set to enter committee on March 18th. Should the bill move through it will be placed before the Diet for a vote on March 30th, and will be taking effect as early as October.

In a country where comics and animation are entrenched in the culture and mainstream media, the effect on Japan would be astounding.

Read more about this proposal at welcome datacomp, where a more detailed explanation of the proposal is given.

See also: Japanese cartoonists voice opposition to new regulation in comics and anime

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Thirty Japanese women were injured in an accident Friday while watching the making of an animated drama starring South Korean heartthrob Bae Yong Joon, according to the Japanese Embassy and South Korean police and firefighters. While most of the 30 women had only light injuries, one sustained a serious injury to her face, the Japanese Embassy said. The women were in their 30s to 70s. Three South Korean men were also hurt in the accident. According to Yonhap News Agency, high winds during the event at an outdoor set in a resort area of Gangwon Province in northeastern South Korea caused part of the set to fall down.

The rest of the story: 30 Japanese tourists hurt during making of animated Yon-sama drama

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X Japan leader Yoshiki has filed a lawsuit with the Tokyo District Court against the music production company Nexstar Corporation, seeking approximately 375 million yen in damages. However, that figure could grow by another 600 million yen.

According to the lawsuit, after X Japan reunited, they entered a contract with Nexstar Corporation in January 2008, which included the use of some recordings. That initial deal was for the sum of 600 million yen in advance royalties and contract money, which has so far been entirely unpaid.

Between 2008 and 2009, the company also sponsored ten of the band’s concerts in Japan and other parts of Asia. About 320 million yen in performance fees and merchandise sales from those concerts is due to the band as well. In all, the total unpaid amount is more than 900 million yen.

Yoshiki’s side points out that the ticket and merchandise sales have earned more than 2.5 billion yen in revenue for Nexstar, making it unreasonable that the company still has not paid any of it. Although attempts were initially made to resolve the dispute between the two parties, a lack of progress led Yoshiki to take the matter to court.

The lawsuit is currently seeking only 375 million yen for the revenue earned from the concerts, but should the case go to trial, Yoshiki’s side plans to file an additional claim for the 600 million yen in the initial contract.

When reached for comment, Nexstar stated that they have not yet received the lawsuit. The company reportedly acknowledged that there is some unpaid money due to the band, but they said that the amount is different from Yoshiki’s claim.

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Earlier this year, whale hunters and environmentalists clashed in the Southern Ocean.

A high-speed environmentalist vessel, the Ady Gil, and a Japanese security vessel collided, in a culmination of weeks of tension over whale hunting.

After the incident, the captain of the damaged trimaran, Pete Bethune, boarded the Japanese ship, Shonan Maru 2, to deliver a letter of protest.

He was then held on board the vessel for just under a month, taken back to Tokyo and arrested by Japanese authorities on Friday morning.

The New Zealander is expected to be charged with trespass.

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