Notre Dame Japan Bowl 2009

Cover of the Spring 2009 Chronicle

Honda Motor to release new model of Super Cub minibike

Thursday 11th June, 06:42 AM JST

TOKYO —

Honda Motor Co said Wednesday it will start selling a new model of its popular Super Cub minibike, which features high mileage, on the domestic market on June 19.

The 110 cc Super Cub 110 minibike can travel 63.5 kilometers per liter, about 6% better than its predecessor, the Super Cub 90, in fuel efficiency. It will sell for 249,900 yen.

Zama American High alums mark 50 years

By Bryce S. Dubee, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Monday, June 8, 2009

CAMP ZAMA, Japan — Fifty years ago, the Big Bopper had just died, rapper Flavor Flav was born and a small American high school at Camp Zama held its first graduation.

More than 100 school alumni representing graduating classes from throughout Zama American’s history gathered on base this weekend to celebrate the school’s history.

“This is great, I’m having a lovely time,” said Lyle Bishop, representing the class of 1960, the oldest class present.

The celebration began Friday morning with a tree-planting ceremony in which alumni, current students and school faculty planted 15 trees near the school grounds.

Read more…..

Visa launches Tokyo Shopping Guide

Tuesday 02nd June, 05:38 AM JST

TOKYO —

Visa cardholders visiting Japan can enjoy even more special discounts and privileges
when they use their Visa card through the Tokyo Style 2009 Fashion Guide, which was launched Monday by Visa.

The Tokyo Style 2009 Fashion Guide provides Visa cardholders visiting Japan a range of preferential treatments from a selection of 19 deluxe labels and 24 premiere stores. Visa cardholders who present coupons from the Tokyo Style 2009 Fashion Guide and make purchases using their Visa card at participating stores will be given a 10% discount or will be able to receive an array of original gifts and services from each store.

The offers are available through April 30, 2010.

This Tokyo Style 2009 Fashion Guide is a continuation of programs developed in the past for Visa cardholders in cooperation with top Japanese electronics goods stores, department stores and other leading merchants.

This new program is designed to help visitors obtain items from Japan’s leading fashion retail outlets such as Beams, United Arrows, Tommorowland, CA4LA, and Estnation —which operate primarily from individual street-side stores. Visa cardholders using the Tokyo Style 2009
Fashion Guide can also enjoy complimentary drinks at Loveless shops as well as an assortment of other items to enhance their shopping experience in Tokyo.

The Tokyo Style 2009 Fashion Guide can be downloaded from Visa’s special campaign website
(http://www.visa.co.jp/tokyostyle/). Customers can enjoy a range of benefits simply by printing the guide and showing it to staff at participating stores when purchasing items with their Visa card.

Currently available in English, Korean and traditional Chinese, this guide will be available in four language versions—a Korean version, two Chinese language versions (in simplified and traditional characters), and an English version.

Yokohama holds gala to mark its 150th year

By SETSUKO KAMIYA

Staff writer

YOKOHAMA — More than 3,400 people gathered Sunday for a ceremony marking the 150th anniversary of the opening of Yokoyama port and its role as Japan's gateway to the West.

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko as well as Prime Minister Taro Aso were among the dignitaries at the Pacifico Yokohama convention center for the celebration of the nation's largest port.

Mayor Hiroshi Nakada said the 150th anniversary will be a year for Yokohama to reflect on and appreciate the port town's rich history, while vowing to improve its functions as a port and convention host. Next year the city will be the venue for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting.

"Yokohama has been built on a history full of challenges. Our seniors have made Yokohama into what it is today by meeting these challenges, overcoming hardships and preserving traditions. . . . We promise to continue meeting challenges in the future," Nakada said.

Guests included envoys from the United States, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Russia and France — the five nations that signed trade agreements with the Tokugawa shogunate in 1858 that led to the opening of the port a year later.

Gerard Collomb, mayor of Lyon, France, one of Yokohama's eight sister cities, said the international community coming together to celebrate Yokohama's success at this time of economic crisis sends a message against protectionist trade policies.

Ambassadors from around 30 African countries who participated in the Tokyo International Conference on African Development, held last year in Yokohama, also attended the event.

The ceremony was followed by a show on Yokohama's 150 years staged by celebrities with ties to Yokohama, as well as 500 Yokohama residents. The show was produced by Amon Miyamoto, who was nominated in 2004 for a Tony Award.

Let's Have dinner Tonight

U.S. journalist Roxana Saberi arrives in Austria

84% Say English Should Be America's Official Language

Eighty-four percent (84%) of Americans say English should be the official language of the United States. Only nine percent (9%) disagree, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Seven percent (7%) are not sure. The support for English as the country's official language remains steady from three years ago.

Cutting-Edge Robots Show Off in Japan

Technology Review, May 12, 2009
Researchers at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation are discussing the latest advances in robotics--from robotic cars to cutting-edge climbing machines and robots that can find their way around a city by asking pedestrians for directions and using gesture tracking and voice recognition to interpret commands.