Kurashi - News From Japan

The Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA) has banned the cutting off of sharks' fins by foreign fishermen to curb a flourishing global trade that is threatening the survival of the sea predator and marine ecosystems, according to Reuters : The United Nations estimates that 100 million sharks are killed every year world-wide, mostly for their fins which are a delicacy in East Asia where a bowl of shark fin soup can command high prices. "Shark finning is the wasteful and cruel practice of slicing off the highly valuable fins, often from living sharks, and dumping the rest of the creatures back into the sea to face a slow and certain death," SFA said in a statement. "Shark finning ... threatens ... the stability of marine ecosystems, sustainable traditional fisheries, food security, dive and eco-tourism," SFA said. Science News has more details about the problem, noting that throughout the seas, sharks fill an important ecological niche. As top predators, they keep i...

Sweden just won against Finland in the thriller Olympics ice hockey final. That felt great, but my heart was beating so fast!! That means Sweden got 7 gold medals, our best winter Olympics ever. Congratulations! 1. Germany 11 12 6 2. United States 9 9 7 3. Austria 9 7 7 4. Russia 8 6 8 5. Canada 7 10 7 6. Sweden 7 2 5 7. South Korea 6 3 2 8. Switzerland 5 4 5 9. Italy 5 0 6 10. France 3 2 4

South Korea dominated the last day of short-track speed skating events at the Turin Winter Olympics on Saturday by winning two golds and one bronze medal in three disciplines. South Korean athletes picked up a total of six golds, three silvers and one bronze in the eight short track events. China has 2 gold medals and Japan one. Sweden also has six gold medals, our best Winter Olympics ever. Tonight the Swedish icehockey team meets Finland in the thriller final, so we could win one more gold... Medals Table Sat Feb 25 Gold Silver Bronze 1. Germany 11 12 6 2. United States 9 9 7 3. Austria 9 7 6 4. Russia 8 5 8 5. Canada 7 10 7 6. South Korea 6 3 2 7. Sweden 6 2 5 8. Switzerland 5 4 5 9. Italy 4 0 6 10. France 3 2 4 The Yonhap photos show Ahn Hyun-soo and Jin Sun-yu, two of South Korea's fantastic speed skaters, who took one gold medal each on Saturday night. Both of them took a total of three golds in Turin. "I'd like to say thanks to all my teammates and coaches who ...

NHK reports that Japanese researchers have succeeded in producing a chemically composed version of the anti-bird flu drug Tamiflu, which is now made from plants. Many countries are stockpiling Tamiflu to cope with any outbreak of the killer bird flu. It has been difficult to produce the drug in large quantities in a short period as it is made from the nuts of a plant called star anise, which originates in China. Read more about Tamiflu on the Protein Spotlight website. What do Peking duck and the French aperitif pastis have in common? A scent: that of badian – otherwise known as star anis. And if star anis has been of growing interest recently it is less for its spicy perfume than for its antiviral virtues… Indeed, a molecule known as shikimic acid is found in the Chinese star anis and it is from this that the popular drug Tamiflu is designed. Now that the dread of an outbreak of the Avian flu carried by the H5N1 strain is hovering over us, badian has an aftertaste of Tamiflu. Al...

Finally, Japan got a gold medal as figure skater Shizuka Arakawa performed flawlessly in the Turin Winter Olympics. Arakawa, 24, became the first Japanese Olympic gold medalist in figure skating and just the second with any medal; Midori Ito , one of Arakawa's idols, won silver behind Kristi Yamaguchi in 1992. Ito led the cheers of the flag-waving Japanese in the crowd. Actually, it is the first Asian Olympics gold medal ever in figure skating. Arakawa used music from Puccini's opera "Turandot" for her free skate program, and Japan's Prime Minister Koizumi in his congratulatory phone call to Arakawa, said that was a good choice, as he is also a opera fan. Born in on December 29, 1981 in Tokyo, Shizuka surprised the skating world by winning the 2004 World Championship in Dortmund, Germany, becoming the third Japanese woman to claim the title after Midori Ito (1989) and Yuka Sato (1994). Dividing her time between Simsbury and Japan, Shizuka had another successful s...

The Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate program is challenged in an interesting article, that I found here . This initiative was proposed by governments including the two biggest carbon emitters (China and the United States), the highest per capita carbon user (Australia), along with the Republic of Korea, India and Japan, to solve global warming problems. However: Even the conservative Economist newspaper characterized it all as "more hot air," adding it is hard to imagine big energy companies, or anyone else, taking climate change action without financial incentives or regulations. The bigger picture is that the APPCDC program is not just about climate change. It is a very high profile shot at establishing a "partnership" culture between governments and businesses. But, there is scant evidence that large-scale partnerships of this kind can succeed in the longer term. In many cases, various forms of public-private couplings, including joint in...

NHK reports that the head of a U.S. union of government food inspectors says that a shipment of banned beef parts to Japan last month is only the tip of the iceberg: The U.S. Agriculture Department released a report last week that said the faulty shipment was an isolated case. But the chairman of the National Joint Council of Food Inspection Locals, Charles Painter, told NHK that it was only by chance that risky cattle parts which could cause mad cow disease were detected. Charles Painter/Food inspection chief: "And this is just the tip of the iceberg. This is not the first offense; it's just the first time they got caught, in that period after the ban. After the ban was removed. That inspector does not open the box. That inspector does not look inside the boxes. We need more authority. The policy needs to change and we need more authority to be able to inspect, to look, to do -- things of that nature." Last year, Mr Painter prompted the Agriculture Department to disclose...