Flying Tadpoles Rain In Japan!

In Japan, its no longer purple rain but black rain.

Heavy downpours during early summer rainy season are normal, but in recent days the proverbial "cats and dogs" have been joined by tadpoles, fish and the occasional frog.

Meteorologists are bewildered as people around the country report witnessing the phenomenon since the first sightings of stranded tadpoles were made in Ishikawa prefecture last week.

From Hiroshima in the south-west and Iwate in the north-east people say they have stumbled on the dead creatures near their homes, in fields, school grounds, and on car roofs and windscreens.

In Ishikawa prefecture, on the Japan Sea coast, a resident found 13 crucian carp on and around his truck, each about 3cm long.

The suspected culprits so far are waterspouts or bigger birds, but meteorologists say no strong winds have been reported in the areas where tadpoles were found.

But the question as to why now, and the "flying" tadpoles have never been noticed before?

Swine Flu Still On The Rampage In Japan

Japan has reported 178 swine flu infections on Tuesday and closed more than 4,043 schools, colleges and kindergartens for the rest of the week to slow the spread of the virus, officials said. With the reported figure, Japan is now in the number 4 slot globally in terms of infections count.

The impromptu school break has caused karaoke clubs fill up with students and their friends as schools remain shut.

In Osaka and Hyogo prefectures, firms with infected staff told workers to stay home.

The biggest threat, experts warned is when the infections get to other regions including the capital Tokyo, which with almost 36 million people is the world's most populous urban area and the heart of the Japanese economy.

Swine Flu Causes 1,000 Learning Institutions To Closed In Japan

The latest WHO report released on Saturday 16, indicate that the global figure of swine flu (H1N1) infections has risen by nearly 1,000 over a 24 hour period,
bringing the global number of infections to 8,451 and 72 dead.

Meanwhile, Japan confirmed 78 flu infection cases on Sunday 17. The newly infected are mostly students and their family members in Osaka and Hyogo.

A World Health Organization expert said community-level transmission may have begun in Japan, which could lead the WHO to raise its new flu pandemic alert to the highest level of 6 from the current 5.

Railway, supermarket and convenience store employees in Hyogo, Osaka and Kyoto started wearing masks in line with instructions from their companies. In the affected areas, medical masks were sold out at a number of shops.

On Saturday, the government shifted its new flu action program from ‘‘a period of overseas outbreak’’ to ‘‘an early period of domestic outbreak’’ and called for companies and schools in the areas concerned to allow individuals to avoid commuting during rush hours.

Over 1,000 schools and kindergartens in Osaka and Hyogo will close down to contain the spread.

To read full story click on Japantoday

U.S. To Get High-Speed Rail Expertise From Japan

The deputy chief of the U.S. Federal Railroad Administration, Karen Rae expressed hope Thursday 14, that Japan will offer its technical expertise to the United States in building a high-speed railway network.


"I think Japan is one of several very good systems that we're interested in looking at," she said in an interview in Washington. "We're impressed with the breadth of technology and the accomplishments," she said, referring to the Shinkansen network.

President Barack Obama has highlighted a multi billion dollar effort to develop a high-speed U.S. railway system, saying such a network would save energy, create jobs and reduce dependence on automobiles and airplanes.

Rae said that Washington is in talks with other countries with high-speed railways, citing Spain and France.

To read full story click on japantimes

Click on Shinkansen to watch a video of their fastest train.

Japan Dispatches P-3C To Combat Piracy Menace

P-3C patrol aircraft

Piracy in the Indian Ocean has flourished even though several nations now have warships on patrol in the Gulf of Aden. The media is clustered with piracy escapades daily.

On May 2, armed Somali pirates seized a Greek-owned ship with 24 crew members on board and earlier on the same day, a UK-owned ship had been hijacked by Somali pirates. A day before that on May 1, Portuguese navy successfully thwarted an attempted pirate attack on a Norwegian oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden. The Portuguese navy found high explosives on board the pirate ship.

Piracy is socially acceptable and has become fashionable in Somali, pirates have money, power and are getting stronger by the day. They wed the most beautiful girls, build big houses, own new cars and new guns. Most of them are aged between 20 and 35 years and do it all for money. They get a ransom of $2m per captured vessel on average.

In days past, pirates have been known for arming themselves with AK-47s and RPGs (grenades) only, but it appears they are bracing up for real combat.

The move to dispatch two P-3C patrol aircraft and 150 Self Defense force members to bolster an anti-piracy mission off the Somalia coast, taken by the Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada is commendable and should be emulated by other stakeholders if the war on piracy is to be won.

Google To Recapture Japanese Cities Street Views

Google Street View, a feature of Google Maps now covering most major cities has drawn privacy related complaints from some individuals and institutions. Complaints range from photographing of military related setups, peoples faces, car number plates, over-the-fences and compounds around homes. The complaints have been raised from within the U.S., Greece and Japan.

As a result of the complaints raised from Japan, Google product manager Keiichi Kawai issued a statement on Wednesday stating that they have to reshoot all Japanese street views with a lowered camera view. Google has also blurred vehicle license plates in the images.