Let's Japan.org Debunking Eikaiwa and Ramblings in Japan

More on the biogasoline as the English-language press picks up the story:

The Environment Ministry and the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry are pressing forward with the introduction of bioethanol saying that it helps prevent global warming because corn and sugar cane from which it is made absorb carbon dioxide.

Uhhh....but don't we end up burning the stuff anyway? And what about consumers who are quick to jump on the environment bandwagon like this guy?

This story has been making the rounds in Japan-related forums and blogs:

Thousands of Japanese have been swindled in a scam in which they were sold Australian and British sheep and told they were poodles.

Flocks of sheep were imported to Japan and then sold by a company called Poodles as Pets, marketed as fashionable accessories, available at $1,600 each.

I know I've been harping on energy and cars lately, but this kind of "reporting" on TV [link to video and transcript in Japanese] has me scratching my head. This is a prime example of news dressed up as an advertisement or PR. The clip is about biofuels (bioethanol from sugar cane and other plants) becoming available to consumers in Yokohama and how it will help combat global warming. The biofuel goes on sale tomorrow at 50 gas stations with the goal of supplying biofuels nationwide by 2010.

I stumbled upon an interesting nugget concerning NOVA's recent legal troubles. If you read this article on Nikkei BP Net [in Japanese], as a result of NOVA's loss in the Supreme Court, METI has tightened its interpretation of the Specific Commercial Transaction Law and is now not even allowing a "rational" reason to recalculate service costs when providing a refund.

The Japan Times has an article on Toyota North America President Jim Press who said that technology is key to solving the auto industry's problems.

Two weeks following the death of Lindsay Ann Hawker, the suspect is still on the loose. Reporting by the Japanese media has followed a typical pattern--pretty much all we know is what the police have told the media and what the media has relayed to its readers and viewers.

Asada Mao spoke at The Foreign Correspondents' Club on Friday the 6th. When you get a chance to ask questions of one the world's top figure skaters, you'd think the topic would be figure skating, wouldn't you? The Japanese media, however, was quick to point out the absurdity of some of the questions.

The Asahi Shimbun is reporting that eikaiwa school Lado International has filed for bankruptcy [link is to Japanese article]. The story offers no details, but compare the timing of the story today with the announcement from The General Union a few days ago that it has scored a "historic victory" in its fight with Lado. It can't be a complete coincidence, can it?

Update April 9

As mentioned in the forums, NOVA lost it's appeal in the Supreme Court.

The top court on Tuesday dismissed an appeal by prominent English language school NOVA and ordered the group to return about 300,000 yen in prepaid tuition fees to a student who cancelled a contract.

Here's an interesting look at how we see the news. The English press in Japan reported on a finding in a survey about how young Japanese women have been injuring themselves on purpose. Here's how the Kyodo News reported it: