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.

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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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Japan-based Korean singer Iconiq (25) is making a splash and is about to be in a wave of new commercials aired in Japan. She will be in commercials for no less than seven different corporations at the same time only three months after making her debut in Japan. This is said to be a record. Even funnier is that all seven commercials will air together on TV Asahi March 13th. Some of the corporations involved are ANA, Starbucks, and Maserati. With all this momentum, her Japan debut album “Change Myself,” will no doubt begin to top the charts as her face becomes instantly recognizable.

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Omotesando, Tokyo is home of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade for Japan biggest city. This year’s parade is on March 14 and starts from Omotesando Hills; it runs from 2 p.m. till 4 p.m.

Tokyoites aren’t the only ones that think they have a little Irish in them. Other areas in Japan also hold parades and more.

In Matsue, Shimane Prefecture, parades will take place on land and the Horikawa River on March 14. The land parade starts at midday from Karakoro Plaza. Twenty green boats, will also depart Otemae Horikawa Boat Boarding Point at 11 a.m. and head to Karakoro Plaza. ( www.sanin-japan-ireland.org/festival).

In Yokohama, the parade runs from 1 p.m. till 4 p.m. on Motomachi Shopping Street on March 20, (www.inj-yokohama.com).

In Tsukuba, the parade starts at 3 p.m. in Tsukuba Center Plaza on March 27 (stptsfes.tsukuba.ch).

In Ise, people will parade along a 2-km course, starting at Ise Shrine Geku from midday and finishing at 4 p.m. on March 13 (isepaddysdayparade.googlepages.com).

In Kyoto, a mere 300 participants will march on Oike Dori from 2:30 p.m. till 4 p.m. on March 14 (www.inj-kansai.com).

Visit the Irish Network Japan at www.inj.or.jp for more information.

Photo by infomatique.

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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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On Tuesday, director Takeshi Kitano (63) was in Paris to receive the Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters, France’s highest honor for arts and culture. The award was presented to him by Frédéric Mitterrand, the country’s Minister of Culture and Communication, at the Fondation Cartier art museum.

Kitano is active as an actor, comedian, television personality, and many other things, but he is perhaps best known internationally as a filmmaker. He debuted in 1989 with “Violent Cop” (”Sono Otoko, Kyobo ni Tsuki”) and went on to direct other critically acclaimed films such as “HANA-BI” in 1997 and “Zatoichi” in 2003.

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Panasonic Corp. on Wednesday revealed the price for its first 3-D TV set, confirming that $3,000 is about what it takes to be among the first to watch 3-D movies in the home.

The Japanese company put its first 3-D sets on sale at an event in New York on Wednesday. Panasonic’s suggested retail price is $2,900 for a 50-inch plasma set, one pair of glasses and a 3-D Blu-ray player. An extra pair of glasses costs $150.

Read the rest of the story: Best Buy Seeks First-Mover Advantage With 3D TV

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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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