اليابان والأردن لربع نهائي آسيا

17/1/2011 م

تأهل منتخبا اليابان والأردن إلى الدور ربع النهائي بكأس آسيا لكرة القدم بعد فوزهما على السعودية وسوريا 5- صفر و2-1 على التوالي في الجولة الثالثة والأخيرة لمنافسات المجموعة الثانية للمسابقة اليوم الاثنين.

ففي المباراة الأولى سحق المنتخب الياباني نظيره السعودي بخماسية نظيفة أحرز منها شينجي أوكازاكي ثلاثة أهداف في الدقائق 8 و13 و80، وريويتشي مايدا هدفين في الدقيقتين 19 و51.

وارتفع رصيد منتخب اليابان بعد هذا الفوز إلى سبع نقاط في صدارة المجموعة الثانية، وسيلعب مع منتخب قطر صاحب الأرض (ثاني المجموعة الأولى) في الدور ربع النهائي يوم الجمعة المقبل.

وهذه الهزيمة الثالثة على التوالي لمنتخب السعودية الذي أقال مدربه البرتغالي جوزيه بيسيرو بعد الجولة الأولى، وعين المدرب الوطني ناصر الجوهر بدلا منه.

تأهل الأردن

عدي الصيفي (يسار) يحتفل بعد تسجيله هدف الفوز للأردن بمرمى سوريا (رويترز)
وفي المباراة الثانية ضمن المجموعة ذاتها، تأهل المنتخب الأردني للدور ربع النهائي بعد فوزه على سوريا 2-1.

تقدم محمد زينو لسوريا في الدقيقة 15، وأدرك علي دياب مدافع سوريا التعادل للأردن بطريق الخطأ في مرماه في الدقيقة 30، قبل أن يسجل عدي الصيفي هدف الفوز للأردن في الدقيقة 59.

وارتفع رصيد الأردن إلى سبع نقاط في المركز الثاني متأخرا بفارق الأهداف عن منتخب اليابان المتصدر، بينما تأتي سوريا في المركز الثالث برصيد ثلاث نقاط.

وسيلعب منتخب الأردن في الدور ربع النهائي مع منتخب أوزبكستان متصدر المجموعة الأولى يوم الجمعة المقبل.

المصدر: الجزيرة.
الرابط: http://www.aljazeera.net/NR/EXERES/06605055-5567-41C4-9680-FEE9EC0E3B5C.htm.

U.S., allies reject talks with North Korea

WASHINGTON, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- The United States, South Korea and Japan are declining China's request for emergency talks with North Korea on the Korean Peninsula crisis, officials said.

China called during the weekend for the United States, Japan, South Korea and Russia to engage in emergency talks with North Korea.

Obama administration officials said resuming talks with North Korea would amount to rewarding Pyongyang for actions during the past week that included an artillery attack on a South Korean island and disclosure of the existence of a uranium enrichment plant, The New York Times reported Monday.

"The United States and a host of others, I don't think, are not interested in stabilizing the region through a series of P.R. activities," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Monday.

Gibbs said such talks would lack "seriousness of purpose" if there is no "understanding and agreement from the North Koreans to both end their behavior as they exhibited last week."

White House officials said Washington wants North Korea to take steps toward denuclearization.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak did not address China's proposal for a resumption of talks, but analysts told the newspaper the proposal was disappointing. A spokesman for Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan told the Times resumption of talks depends on whether North Korea modifies its behavior.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2010/11/30/US-allies-reject-talks-with-North-Korea/UPI-26061291094945/.

South Korean president likely to visit Japan in December

Mon, 22 Nov 2010

Tokyo - South Korean President Lee Myung Bak hopes to meet Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan in Kyoto next month to receive some cultural artifacts taken from the peninsula during Japan's colonial rule, a news report said Monday.

Tokyo and Seoul are arranging a meeting between the two leaders in the ancient Japanese city, Kyodo News reported, citing unnamed government sources.

On the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Yokohama last week, the two nations signed an agreement to return more than 1,200 volumes of Korean archives taken by Japan during its 1910-45 colonial rule.

On August 10, Kan apologized for the colonial rule and pledged to repatriate the cultural items ahead of the 100th anniversary of Japan's annexation of the peninsula on August 29.

These include royal records of the Joseon Dynasty, currently kept by the Japan's Imperial Household Agency.

But it is not certain whether the transfer of such items can take place yet, as the accord will come into effect after both countries' parliaments ratify it, Kyodo cited the sources as saying.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/354594,likely-visit-japan-december.html.

Japan considers raising troop level over China naval activities

Mon, 22 Nov 2010

Tokyo - Japan is considering doubling the number of ground troops deployed on south-western islands near China and Taiwan to 4,000 due to mounting Chinese naval activities, a news report said Monday.

The new troops would be deployed near a chain of islands stretching from Kagoshima on the southern tip of Japan to Okinawa island near Taiwan, Kyodo News reported, citing unnamed defense sources. China has been boosting its naval activities in the area.

The move could be carried out under the Defense Department's troop allocation program which will be re-evaluated at the end of this year, Kyodo said.

Tension had risen between Japan and China following a Chinese fishing boat's collision in early September with Japanese coastguard vessels off a set of disputed islets near the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands, which China also claims as its territory.

The collision and the subsequent arrest of the trawler captain led to the worst diplomatic row in several years between the two countries.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/354607,level-china-naval-activities.html.

China sends woman to labor camp over anti-Japanese Tweet

Wed, 17 Nov 2010

Beijing - A Chinese woman began a one-year sentence at a labor camp Wednesday after authorities accused her of "disturbing social order" by posting a Twitter message that urged people to attack Japanese property, her fiance said.

Police transferred Cheng Jianping Tuesday night to the Shibalihe Women's Re-Eduation Through Labor Center in the central city of Zhengzhou in Henan province after a local judicial committee passed the sentence, Hua Chunhui said.

Cheng, who used her online name Wang Yi, was arrested after she added her comment to a message from Hua that she reposted on Twitter on October 17.

"Angry youth! Charge!" she wrote next to Hua's message, in which he said the best way to enliven anti-Japanese protests would be to "fly immediately to Shanghai and smash the Japanese pavilion at the World Expo."

"It was kind of satirical," Hua said of Cheng's comment, adding that she was sent to the labor camp "only because she put five characters before my Tweet."

Arresting Cheng solely for exercising her right to free speech was "against the constitution" of China, he said.

Sentences to labor camps are "administrative" and are normally passed by a local judicial committee without any court hearing. They are often used to silence local dissidents, rights activists and religious activists as well as for minor criminals.

Cheng was held under house arrest in Changyuan county in Henan's Xinxiang city until she was transferred to the labor camp.

"The (re-education) committee just decided it; she had no chance to defend herself," Hua said of the sentencing.

Hua said he had asked lawyers to prepare an administrative appeal against Cheng's sentence.

Twitter is blocked by China's "Great Firewall" of government internet controls, but thousands of activists use proxy servers or software to access the website daily.

After several smaller anti-Japanese protests in September, thousands of students joined large protests in Zhengzhou and at least four other Chinese cities over the weekend of October 18-19.

They were held after Japan arrested a Chinese fishing boat captain in September after his boat allegedly collided with Japanese Coast Guard vessels in disputed waters in the East China Sea, sparking a diplomatic dispute.

The ruling Communist Party allowed the heavily policed earlier demonstrations but later warned people not to organize more anti-Japanese protests.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/353899,labour-camp-anti-japanese-tweet.html.

Japan confirms space probe brought home asteroid dust

by Staff Writers
Tokyo (AFP) Nov 16, 2010

A Japanese deep-space probe became the first ever to collect asteroid dust during a seven-year voyage that ended with its return to Earth over the Australian desert this year, Japan said Tuesday.

The news crowns with success the journey of the unmanned Hayabusa probe, which five years ago made a pinpoint landing on an asteroid 300 million kilometers (186 million miles) from Earth -- about twice as far as the sun.

Since the probe's return in June, scientists had carried out a lengthy analysis of the samples it brought back to confirm they were genuinely extraterrestrial after technical problems during the mission.

"It's a world first and a remarkable accomplishment that it brought home material from a celestial body other than the moon," Japan's science and technology minister, Yoshiaki Takagi, told a news conference in Tokyo.

Hayabusa, which means falcon, blasted off in 2003 for its lonely odyssey, which at times appeared doomed. At one stage the probe lost contact with Earth for seven weeks, a glitch that added three years to its space voyage.

It made a pinpoint landing in 2005 on the potato-shaped, revolving asteroid Itokawa, but an attempt to fire a pellet to whirl up dust failed, casting doubt on whether the probe had collected any extraterrestrial material.

Japan cheered when Hayabusa ended its voyage in June, when it burnt up on reentry over the Australian outback -- but not before releasing its heat-proof and sealed pod, which was picked up from the desert sand.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) confirmed that the pod did indeed contain minute particles, but it did not know for sure whether these were the valued bits of asteroid they were seeking, or simply contaminants.

On Tuesday, after analysis using electron microscopes, JAXA said it had confirmed that about 1,500 particles are indeed material from a rock and that "almost all of them are extra-terrestrial and come from Itokawa".

Scientists believe asteroids can help reveal secrets about the birth of the solar system 4.6 billion years ago.

The celestial bodies are believed to retain materials from the solar system's earliest days, unlike scorched remains such as meteorites or materials on Earth which have been transformed through high pressure and heat.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Japan_confirms_space_probe_brought_home_asteroid_dust_999.html.

Germany welcomes US backing for Japan to win special UN seat

Sun, 14 Nov 2010

Berlin - German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle praised US President Barack Obama on Sunday for casting his support behind Japan to obtain a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

Germany is itself seeking a similar permanent seat. Westerwelle had earlier praised Obama's support for India to win a seat too.

In a written statement in Berlin, Westerwelle said, "I welcome the support of US President Obama for a permanent Japanese security council seat. This underscores our efforts to obtain a security council that reflects the realities of the 21st century.

"Asia and Latin America are under-represented in the security council, as is Africa."

The council currently has five permanent members with the power to veto resolutions: the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China. Germany is to take up a two-year-only security council seat in January. Diplomats say changing the rules could take years.

Germany has linked up with India, Japan and Brazil to argue for UN reforms that would entail permanent seats for all four states.

On November 9, Westerwelle had also welcomed Obama's endorsement of India's campaign to obtain a permanent seat.

On Sunday, he said, "I hope the efforts for reform of the security council will gain new impetus from President Obama's recent remarks. Germany is also willing to adopt more responsibility in this."

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/353475,win-special-un-seat.html.

Japan calls Aung San Suu Kyi's release 'a step forward'

Sat, 13 Nov 2010

Yokohama, Japan - Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara welcomed Saturday the release of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The Japanese government "views the release as a step forward, as we had been deeply concerned about the fact that the pro-democracy leader in Myanmar had been under house arrest for many years," Maehara said in a statement.

"We expect the government of Myanmar to take further positive measures in the future to realize improvement of the human rights situation, democratization and national reconciliation," he added.

Kei Nemoto, a professor at Sophia University in Tokyo and expert on the modern history of Myanmar, was giving a lecture to some 30 people when the release was reported.

Nemoto said he is concerned that Suu Kyi may be detained again if she expresses doubts over the legitimacy of last week's general election in the country, Kyodo News reported.

"They released her only because her detention period expired," Nemoto was quoted as saying. "We need to closely watch to what extent her political freedom will be approved."

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/353390,release-a-step-forward.html.

Recalled Japan envoy back in Moscow

Tue Nov 9, 2010

Japan's envoy to Moscow who was recalled last week in reaction to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to disputed Islands has returned to the country.

Kono said he was keen on negotiating a possible meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Medvedev in Yokohama, Japan, Russia's Itar-Tass news agency reported on Monday.

Medvedev visited the island of Kunashir, one of the four islands known as the Kuril Islands in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan on November 1. The visit was the first of any such visit made by a Russian leader.

The Japanese premier quickly expressed regret over the controversial visit to the remote Pacific islands.

“Japan's stance is that those four northern islands are part of our country's territory, so the president's visit is very regrettable,” Kan said.

Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara also said any such visit would “hurt the feelings of the Japanese people.”

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov denied that Medvedev's trip to the disputed islands was politically motivated.

The Russian president "does not take advice from anyone" on which region of Russia he should visit, Lavrov said on Friday.

Kono was temporarily recalled to Tokyo for consultations after Medvedev's visit to the Kunashir Island.

The Kurils Islands have rich fishing grounds, mineral deposits, as well as potential oil and gas reserves.

The archipelago of some 56 islands, which are home to about 19,000 people, has been controlled by Moscow since being seized by Soviet troops in 1945. All of the islands are under Russian jurisdiction, but Japan claims that the four southernmost islands as part of its territory.

Tension over the disputed Kuril Islands has snarled ties between Tokyo and Moscow, preventing the signing of a formal peace treaty to end WWII hostilities.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://presstv.ir/detail/150202.html.

Japan recalls envoy from Moscow over territorial dispute - Summary

Tue, 02 Nov 2010

Tokyo - The Japanese government said Tuesday it would recall its ambassador from Moscow in response to a visit by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to a disputed island north-east of Japan.

Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara said the recall was temporary.

The decision was made after he talked to Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan, he said.

A government official in Tokyo earlier said that the leaders of Japan and Russia were expected to meet at the sidelines of an upcoming summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC) in Japan in mid-November.

"I believe the bilateral talks are to be held at the time of the meeting in Yokohama," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku told a news conference.

But Maehara said that the meeting had not been arranged yet.

Medvedev on Monday traveled to Kunashiri Island, one of the disputed Kuril Islands north-east of Japan. The 56 Kuril Islands are under Russian rule, but Japan claims the four southern islands, including Kunashiri, as its territory.

Kan on Monday described the visit as "very regrettable," as Japan had warned the visit would seriously hurt the two countries' relations.

Medvedev was the first Russian leader, including those of the Soviet Union, to visit the islands, which Japan refers to as the Northern Territories.

The islands were occupied by Soviet forces during the closing days of World War II. The two countries have not signed a peace treaty because of the row over the islands.

The region between the Japanese northern main island of Hokkaido and Russia's Kamchatka peninsula is known to be rich in mineral deposits and fishing stock.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/351445,territorial-dispute%C2%A0%C2%A0%C2%A0-summary.html.

Japanese whaling town fails to find common ground with activists

Tue, 02 Nov 2010

Tokyo - A meeting between the leaders of a Japanese whaling town and foreign activists ended without any progress, news reports said Tuesday.

Local officials from the coastal town of Taiji in western Japan met with the activists from three anti-whaling groups, including the United States-based Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

The Taiji residents argued that many livelihoods depend on whaling and dolphin hunting, and underlined the importance of mutual respect for different cultures, Kyodo News reported.

Katsutoshi Mihara, chairman of the Taiji Town Assembly, was quoted by Kyodo as saying, "We have been living by relying on marine resources for our livelihood. We can't just let you force your values on us."

But the activists said while they understand dolphin hunting is part of local culture, it was an inhumane practice and could not be justified by the longstanding tradition.

Scott West, a member of Sea Shepherd, who said he had no plans to stop his protest activities, argued some things have to end when the time comes.

The two-hour meeting was not to open to the public and only some journalists were allowed to cover it. The town's representatives declined to hold a news conference after the meeting.

Taiji was brought into the international spotlight last year by the Academy Award-winning documentary The Cove, which criticized their annual dolphin-hunt.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/351451,find-common-ground-activists.html.

Japan awards ex-Iranian envoy

A former Iranian ambassador to Japan is awarded with a Japanese order of merit for his efforts to promote cultural ties between the two ancient nations.

Abdul Rahim Govahi travelled to Japan upon a formal invitation from Tokyo officials on Thursday and was awarded with the Order of the Sacred Treasure on Friday, IRNA reported.

The award was presented to Govahi by Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama in a ceremony at the Imperial palace, which was also attended by Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano and a number of Japan's cabinet members.

The Iranian diplomat and academician was among the five top foreign researchers who received the decoration along with 30 Japanese officials and elites.

After the ceremony, Govahi and a number of other decorated researchers met with Emperor Akihito.

Govahi served as the Islamic Republic's Ambassador to Tokyo in 1360-65. He also established the Iran-Japan friendship group and chaired the commission for a decade.

Govahi is the third Iranian researcher to receive the Order of the Sacred Treasure from Japan after Hashem Rajabzadeh in 2009 and Mohammad Naqizadeh in 2008.

Govahi has also written a book on Shinto tradition.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=125723§ionid=3510212.

Plan to keep US base angers Japanese

Angry residents of Okinawa have rejected a plan by the Japanese prime minister to keep at least part of a disputed US military base on the island.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said on Tuesday that removing the US Marines' Futenma air base from the southern island of Okinawa would be impossible.

"We have reached a conclusion that it is difficult to relocate all of Futenma's functions outside the country or the island because of a need to maintain deterrence under the Japan-US alliance," he said after a meeting with local officials in Okinawa.

Hatoyama went on to express hope that islanders would accept a plan to transfer some US Marines to the tiny island of Tokunoshima, located in northeast of Okinawa.

The Japanese official, however, was greeted by angry protesters who demanded him stick to his election promise of moving the airbase off the island altogether.

Some 47,000 US troops are currently based in Japan, with more than half of the soldiers stationed in Okinawa.

The issue has threatened the political future of Hatoyama with both Washington and his political allies putting him under pressure to find a solution to the deadlock.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=125449§ionid=351020406.

Japan seeks arrest of anti-whaling leader

Tokyo - The Japanese Coast Guard has obtained an arrest warrant for a leader of an anti-whaling group for allegedly ordering his members to obstruct operations by Japan's whaling fleet, Japanese media reported Friday.

The Coast Guard is seeking the arrest of Paul Watson, founder and president of the US-based Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, on suspicion of assault and obstruction of business, the Kyodo News agency reported.

Japanese authorities are to put Watson on the international wanted list through Interpol, Kyodo reported, citing unnamed sources.

Watson, a Canadian, is suspected of ordering Peter Bethune, a New Zealand national, to throw a chemical onto a Japanese whaling ship in the Antarctic Sea in February and commit other acts of obstruction, Kyodo said.

Bethune was the skipper of the Sea Shepherd's high-speed trimaran Ady Gil during the society's annual mission to disrupt the whaling season. The trimaran sank in January after colliding with the Shonan Maru Number 2, the Japanese whaling fleet's security ship.

The New Zealander then allegedly boarded the ship to make a citizen's arrest of the Japanese skipper for the attempted murder of the Ady Gil's crew members.

He was detained on board the Japanese vessel in mid-February and was handed over to the Japanese Coast Guard when the ship docked in Tokyo in March.

Bethune was the only one directly engaged in the acts but the Coast Guard decided to arrest Watson because Bethune had reportedly told investigators that he had acted on Watson's orders, Kyodo reported.

Watson told Kyodo Friday on the phone that the arrest warrant did not worry him.

"It is clearly a politically motivated arrest warrant," Watson was quoted by Kyodo as saying. "... It's not an investigation into an infraction. Japan is doing everything they can to stop us going down to the Southern Ocean next year."

Japanese prosecutors indicted Bethune earlier this month on five criminal counts in connection with obstructing Japanese whaling.

A worldwide ban on whaling was enacted in 1986, but Japan uses a loophole in that agreement to continue whaling under the premise of doing it for scientific research.

Its critics, however, have accused it of conducting its annual hunt for commercial purposes, and Sea Shepherd harasses its whaling fleet each year to try to disrupt its catch.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/321329,japan-seeks-arrest-of-anti-whaling-leader.html.

Japan provides post-cyclone, 110-million-dollar loan to Philippines

Manila - Japan is providing a 109.8-million-dollar loan to the Philippines to rebuild infrastructure damaged by two devastating cyclones last year, the government in Manila said Monday.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo said he signed the loan agreement with Japanese Ambassador Makoto Katsura.

Romulo welcomed the aid, extended in response to the Philippines' request for help after the storms.

"This Japanese assistance package will provide much-needed funds for rehabilitating our physical structures and assets and improving their carrying and load capacity," he said.

"More importantly, this vital package helps us lay the foundations for our climate-proofing efforts," he said. "This is a vital task, given that typhoons and extreme weather events can only be expected to increase in intensity and frequency as a result of climate change."

Nearly 1,000 people were killed by floods, landslides and other accidents caused by Tropical Storms Ketsana and Parma in September and October.

Ketsana dumped one month's worth of rain in less than one day and caused the worst flooding in metropolitan Manila and nearby provinces in more than 40 years.

Many roads, bridges, power lines, homes and schools were damaged or destroyed by the two cyclones. Some communities in the northern Philippines are still difficult to reach because of the devastation.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/320554,japan-provides-post-cyclone-110-million-dollar-loan-to-philippines.html.

Japan Islanders reject US military base

Thousands of political activists in Tokunoshima have rallied against the possible re-location of a US military base to the Japanese island.

About 15,000 demonstrators chanted anti-US slogans and expressed their anger over the planned presence of American forces.

Protest organizers say over half of the island's population attended the rally. Tokunoshima Mayor Hideki Takaoka was among the protesters.

"Reports several days ago said the U.S. side is against the idea and so are locals. A plan for relocating the base to Tokunoshima is out of the question," Kyodo quoted Takaoka as saying.

Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has been planning to move the US base in Okinawa to a new location.

Media reports say Tokyo is considering Tokunoshima as a potential destination for the US base. Hatoyama has told US President Barack Obama that he will find a new location by the end of May.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=123683§ionid=351020406.

Japanese astronauts serve sushi in space

Tokyo - Japanese astronauts aboard the International Space Station ISS treated their colleagues to a worldly delicacy from their homeland, by making them space sushi for dinner, Kyodo News reported Thursday.

Naoko Yamazaki, 34, donned an immaculate pink kimono to prepare the rice and seaweed rolls in zero gravity, according to a NASA photo.

Soichi Noguchi, 44, caught the celestial snacks in his mouth as they floated free, the report said. He had promised to make sushi for his fellow astronauts before taking off for the mission in December, and packed frozen scallops and tuna for the purpose.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/318812,japanese-astronauts-serve-sushi-in-space.html.

Japan to display antique Persian rugs

Japan is to host a month-long exhibition of antique Iranian rugs and hand-woven fabrics during a local festival, an organizing body says.

Japan's Silk Museum will put a collection of Iranian carpets and hand-woven silk fabrics on display in the city of Kyoto where the event will kick-start on April 23, Iranian Handmade Carpets Association website in Japan says.

Also on display will be a monumental silk carpet dating back to Safavid monarch, Shah Abbas' era around 500 years ago.

The antique carpet is to be put on show during the annual semi-religious Gion Matsuri festival for the first time during the past decades.

The carpet delivered to Japan during the Safavid period through the Silk Road, has been usually kept out of public view for preservation.

Organizers of the show will also display various stages of creating hand-woven silk materials from the development of silkworm cocoons to the weaving of fabrics and carpets.

The Japanese host has organized the event with the aid of Iranian Handmade Carpets Association and National Iranian Carpet Center, a sponsor for the exposition.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=123001§ionid=351020105.

Japan Kagoshima governor rejects US Marines base

The governor of Japan's Kagoshima Prefecture has expressed his strong opposition against the proposed relocation of US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa to Tokunoshima Island.

Yuichiro Ito told reporters on Friday that he will oppose the relocation along with the residents of the island and the Kagoshima Prefectural Assembly.

He added that the government has not contacted the prefecture about the relocation. He also stressed that Tokunoshima residents do not want to accept a US military base.

The reaction comes as thousands of residents on Tokunoshima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture held a protest rally on Sunday after the island was reported to be a candidate site for hosting the contentious Futenma base in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture.

"The government has never consulted with any of the three mayors about the issue, even though it advocates the decentralization of authority," said Tokunoshima Mayor Hideki Takaoka, as he criticized Tokyo's disrespect for municipal governments.

The protest was organized by the municipalities and an organizing committee consisting of over 60 groups from Kagoshima's Amami Islands.

"We cannot expose our children to noise and crime. We don't need a base here on this island of children, longevity and mutual cooperation," said a 39-year-old housewife.

Farmer Tokuhiro Motoda, 80, saw the matter as a threat to his way of life. "Tokunoshima is an island with rich nature and farming. Our living would be destroyed by the base," he said.

A new survey conducted by the Sankei newspaper showed that more than 73 percent of respondents were unhappy with Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's management of the issue.

Nearly half of the voters believe Hatoyama should resign if he fails to resolve the problem by the end of May as he himself announced the May deadline.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122310§ionid=351020406.

Japan refuses to pay individual Korean victims of colonial era

Seoul - Japan's Foreign Affairs Ministry said Thursday that it would make no reparations to Korean individuals who suffered under its colonial rule, contradicting a 1965 document, a news report said. The 1965 document, recently declassified by the ministry and obtained at the weekend by South Korean media, said Tokyo believed that Korean forced laborers or conscripts were eligible to seek compensation as individuals.

However, the ministry told South Korea's Yonhap News Agency Thursday that it was unclear what the newly declassified internal ministry document referred to.

Under Japanese colonial rule from 1910 to 1945, thousands of Koreans were forced to work to support Japan's war effort in jobs that ranged from serving on the front lines to being abused as sex slaves for the military.

A bilateral treaty between South Korea and Japan in 1965 established diplomatic ties between the two nations, which included what Tokyo said is remuneration for unpaid wages to forced laborers.

In the declassified document, Japan acknowledged that the 1965 pact only covered government-level compensation, not individuals' claims.

"This document shows the Japanese government's thoughts when the South Korea-Japan pact was established," Choi Bong Tae, a lawyer for the victims, was quoted as saying by Yonhap. "Japan should make public all diplomatic documents on negotiations for the [1965] Treaty of Basic Relations between South Korea and Japan."

Japan's Foreign Affairs Ministry has long claimed that the treaty resolved all compensation issues, Dr Chung Chin Sung, an advisory committee member of the Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, told the German Press Agency dpa.

Individuals' claims would be rejected even if lawsuits are filed, the ministry told Yonhap, stating for the first time since 1992 its position on individual colonial victims' compensation to South Korean media.

This latest diplomatic hubbub brings into sharp relief a case from December in which seven South Korean women were paid 99 yen (about 1 dollar) for nearly a decade's worth of forced labor.

"At least this time they admitted that they have legal responsibility," Chung told dpa in December.

This year is an important one in the two countries' relations as 2010 marks the 100th anniversary of Japan's annexation of Korea.

Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama had told South Korean President Lee Myung Bak that he, unlike his predecessors, had the courage to address their countries' painful history.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/314664,japan-refuses-to-pay-individual-korean-victims-of-colonial-era.html.