January Canon Japan employees leave early to make babies Canon lets workers leave early twice a week to encourage them to have more babies. The 5:30 p.m. lights-out program at Canon addresses the declining birthrate problem while also reducing employee overtime costs. February ‘Doorplate mania’ man arrested. A 42-year-old Tokyo man is arrested for stealing
The little monkey that has caused so much trouble in Tokyo since August has now been running loose for 101 days. The last reported sighting of the Japanese macaque was on Nov. 6 in Itabashi, Tokyo. The adventuresome wild monkey first appeared in Tokyo’s Shibuya train station the morning of Aug. 20. The lone simian
A wild monkey has been loose in Tokyo for three months. On Aug. 20 the Japanese macaque appeared in Shibuya station in Tokyo. Morning rush hour commuters cleared a path for more than 30 net-carrying cops who arrived to capture the ape. The monkey, then perched atop a ceiling-mounted timetable display, calmly watched the police
A man who challenged a 1999 groping accusation by a female commuter won his court case against the accuser Nov. 7, 2008. The Japan Supreme Court revoked the charge of "public nuisance" against the man. In September 1999, a woman accused the man of rubbing his groin on her thigh as they stood on the
Macaques Encircle City A wild monkey that appeared in Shibuya station in Tokyo on August 20, 2008 and escaped into the city, may now have a partner. A TV station in Tokyo reports more than one monkey is loose in the Tokyo metropolitan area. On November 6, TBS-TV Evening 5 news in Tokyo reported a
A tiny dog is the honorary stationmaster at Oku-Nakayama Kogen Station, in Ichinohemachi, Iwate Prefecture. Maron, a tiny 8-year-old Yorkshire terrier, wears a tiny uniform and tiny hat and serves as a tourist attraction for the Iwate Galaxy Railway Company. Since 2000, the dog had been accompanying its owner to work at the then-named Oku-Nakayama Station. In June 2008, the president of IGR officially proclaimed the dog as stationmaster
Report: Tama-chan Boosts Business For only the price of cat food, a kitty in a train station in rural Japan has benefited the local economy. In April 2008, Lets Japan wrote about Tama-chan (Cat in Hat Can’t Quit), the official hat-wearing stationmaster feline at Kishi train station on the Kishigawa Line in Wakayama Prefecture. Tama-the-cat
Baby in Belly Maternity marks are desirable in Japan. The so-called "maternity mark" tags and buttons worn by expectant mothers alert bystanders to their condition. Japan Airlines now offers maternity mark tags to pregnant women flying domestic routes. JAL is the first airline in Japan to offer the baby-in-belly tag. In 2006, East Japan Railway
