Japan This Week 12/24/06

今週の日本

The BBC reported on a shopper on the southern island of Okinawa who was stung by a scorpion as she tried on a pair of jeans.

"Doing Time" is not about life in prison--though it is set in a
penitentiary--but the "joys" of regimented living. Director Yoichi Sai's
latest film documents the daily life in the pen, and how everything is
prescribed and proscribed. Read the Midnight Eye Review.

According to the New York Times, Daisuke Matsuzaka is type O. As is Hideki Matsui. And Kei Igawa. And most Japanese leaders. Ichiro, always the odd ball, is B. In Japan, personality
and success are dictated by blood type. Read more on blood types [+]

Public toilets for men in Japan are, well, very public, according to The Japan Times.

The Daily Yomiuri - Japanese man's brain "hibernates" and saves his life. All those who have taught school in Japan will know exactly how he did it.

The JR driver who overshot a curve, which led to a derailment killing 107
passengers in a 2005 accident near Osaka, was so worried about an earlier
mistake that he was fixated on talking on his radio to the control
center--and failed to brake in time. The Herald Asahi reports.

Japan honors robots in government-sponsored ceremony - New York Times.

Japan Stats

70 million newspapers are distributed daily in Japan.

90% of all newspapers in Japan are home delivered.

The largest-selling daily The Yomiuri Shimbun has a circulation of 14 million readers.

Japan Health Stats

The average hospital stay in Japan is 27 days compared with 3-4 days in the US and 7-8 days in Europe.

Japan has 1.8 million hospital beds, nearly twice the number in the US.

Also, as anyone who has lived in Japan will know, a visit to the doctor or hospital outpatients upon catching a common cold is considered almost de rigueur in Japan.

Japan Health Stats Source: The Japan Healthcare Debate: Diverse Perspectives

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Japan Scorpion Okinawa Japan News Daisuke Matsuzaka Blood Types Yoichi Sai