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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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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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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Greenpeace Japan Nuclear Protesters

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.

Read the rest of the story: Shipment of nuclear waste arrives from U.K.

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photo by Tiago Rïbeiro

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.

Read the rest of the story: Trucker busted with 260 stolen undies

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The Oscar win for documentary “The Cove” is not getting much applause in Taiji, the port city in western Japan where Louie Psihoyos and his crew secretly filmed the annual dolphin slaughter.

“This film has mistakes of fact,” mayor Kazutaka Sangen told local press. “I’m surprised that it won the award even though its content is not truthful.”

Tokyo-based Medallion Media will release the doc in Japan this summer.

Read the rest of the story: Japanese politicians pan Oscar winner

At the Awards

“The Cove” Trailer

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Preparatory education for university entrance examinations is an important rite of passage for many Japanese teenagers. This period of preparation can be a time of profound personal growth, confidence-building, and personal triumph for many of these ambitious youths. Toward that end, Tokyo-based, Mustard Seed Academy (MSA) recently celebrated the debut of its new campus in Shizuoka City last month, introducing to the community a unique approach to preparatory education in Japan. According to author, school dean, and senior English instructor Hajime Nakazawa, “If students deeply experience their worth and value, then they will be empowered to do above and beyond what they think they can do. We strive to provide that kind of uncompromising quality in student care, education and guidance, down to the smallest detail — including the restroom sinks.”

The “sinks”—is he serious, one might ask? The commitment to demonstrate “love, faith and hope” to the students, as stated in the school’s mission statement, is clearly evident in the school’s polished interior design by Ms. Yokoyama of Kukan Kosei Co. Ltd. in Minato-ku, Tokyo. Walking into the school, you cannot help but notice the chandeliers before you, flickering soothing light against the baby-blue colored walls. As you enter across the marbled-floor lobby, you’re greeted by a sienna-colored uketsuke, or front desk which might, at first, lead you to believe you had just walked into a hotel. However, allowing your eyes to follow the white crown molding along the chocolate-colored walls into the two adjacent classrooms for a momentary glance reveals that you’ve indeed entered a very “classy” sort of school.

“We want our students to have a vision of the best things in life. Of what’s possible. That they deserve the very best,” says Mr. Nakazawa, “The atmosphere we create here for learning is not only one of high academic standards but also of high personal and moral standards. Our students deserve all that we can give them. Wouldn’t you want the best for your child?” As this is the fruition of a dream over 10 years in the making, he emphasized that he envisioned a prep school with quality student care likened to a five-star hotel and restaurant, catering to the specific needs of every student like valued guests. “What can I say, we all like to be treated well.”

And yes, down to the sinks. The women’s powder room (and rightly called, as “restroom” would seem quite inadequate) is a sight to behold in a prep school. A chandelier lamp reminiscent of the lobby’s design rests comfortably upon a white half-moon table, decorated sparsely yet elegantly. And yes, the pink flowery-glossed porcelain sink rests below the stylish faucets beyond comparison to those of any school any of us are familiar with. A trip down the hall to the men’s restroom reveals the equally elegant yet tastefully spartan facility appropriate for maturing teens.

Ian Shen, Mustard Seed Academy’s full-time native English-speaking Instructor and Chaplain, explains, “Though it may seem a bit excessive as a cram school to some, I’m very proud that our school reflects of our strong commitment to our students in every way. There’s nothing that compares as far as I know.”

The desire to enter a top university in Japan is the first of many dreams a young man or woman may have. Mustard Seed Academy Shizuoka campus nurtures and educates these students in this five-star, hospitality-based atmosphere, offering its educational philosophy of cultivating hope, faith and love in the next generation of Japanese teenagers, as it has been doing faithfully since 2005 in Tokyo.

Class registration period is currently open for the 2010 school year. Introduction Open School Sessions in Shizuoka are held March 13, 20, 27, or April 1 and 10 from 3PM to 5PM, and in Tokyo on March 10, 14, 17 and 21 from 1:30PM to 3:30PM. For more information, visit http://mustardseedacademy.com or call 03-5261-5217.

Original Press Release at http://mustardseedacademy.com/download/5
Additional photos at http://mustardseedacademy.com/download/4

MSA Shizuoka web.zip (398 KB)

This post was submitted by im3ngs.

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Crown Prince Naruhito of Japan on Sunday began a three-day official visit to Ghana at the head of a 30-strong delegation. He was welcomed at Kotoka international airport by Vice President John Dramani Mahama to traditional Ashanti drumming and dance, an AFP reporter saw. The visit is at the invitation of Ghana and is aimed at boosting ties between the two countries, officials said.

The prince is expected to hold talks with President John Atta-Mills on Monday at the presidential palace, known as the Castle.

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Australian police searched two anti-whaling ships at the request of Japanese authorities on Saturday, seizing log books and videos, after activists called a halt to their turbulent harassment campaign. Police boarded the Sea Shepherd group’s Steve Irwin and Bob Barker ships as they were greeted by well-wishers in Tasmania, but refused to reveal the reasons for the search warrant. “As a result of a formal referral from Japanese authorities, the Australian Federal Police can confirm it conducted a search warrant in boarding the Steve Irwin this morning,” a police spokesman said.

Rad the rest of the story: Australian police search anti-whaling ships for Japan

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Futenma Air Station

Japan’s government will keep a US military base on Okinawa, meeting the demands of the Obama administration, even if that means alienating a coalition partner and local people, a vice defense minister said.

Okinawan residents, who want the Marine base moved off the island, will be offered compensation in return for accepting the government’s decision, Akihisa Nagashima, said in an interview in Tokyo yesterday, without elaborating. His remarks are the most definitive by a member of the government indicating that Japan will keep the facility on Okinawa.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has set a May deadline for settling a dispute that has overshadowed the 50th anniversary of the US-Japan security treaty. Almost 50,000 US military personnel are stationed in Japan, more than half living on Okinawa, 950 miles south of Tokyo.

Read the rest of the story: US Marine base to stay on Okinawa

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