The booming popularity of Nintendo’s Wii console and DS handheld sent the combined sales of game machines and gaming software in Japan to a record high last year, according to research by a Japanese publisher. The results underline the stellar success of Nintendo, the company maker behind Super Mario and Pokemon games.
Gold surged to a fresh record high on Tuesday, boosted by firm oil prices, with longer-term trends such as a weakening dollar spurring heavy buying by investment funds. Spot gold rose as far as ,80 an ounce, surpassing the previous record of ,05 reached last week.
Nintendo’s Wii outsold rival Sony’s PlayStation 3 (PS3) three-fold in Japan last year, helping the country’s multibillion-dollar video game market to notch up its best-ever year, a survey showed on Monday. Nintendo sold about 3,63-million Wii consoles in its home market in 2007 while Sony sold 1,21-million PS3s, according to magazine publisher Enterbrain.
Spot gold held near record highs on Friday in Asia as a rally in oil prices to more than a barrel and a weak dollar supported the investment appeal of the precious metal. Platinum hit a record high on Friday, before drifting lower. Investment funds are flocking to gold, which jumped more than 30% in 2007.
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/ 28 December 2007
Flexible concrete that becomes stronger after it cracks is being used in Japanese buildings to protect against earthquakes. Developed by construction firm Kajima Corporation, it contains polymer fibres the thickness of a human hair, commonly used in tyres, which hold it together and prevent cracks from spreading.
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/ 25 December 2007
Japan’s leading mobile phone operator NTT DoCoMo, trying to fight off resurgent competitors, will tie up with United States search-engine giant Google to upgrade its services, a report said Tuesday. DoCoMo will incorporate Google’s search and email features into its popular "i-mode" internet service as part of a broader alliance.
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/ 22 December 2007
No time to bring your suit to a dry cleaner? Just turn on the shower to wash it at home. Washable suits are already available, but Japanese clothing company Konaka says its ”Shower Clean” line of business suits that can be washed in a warm shower and require no ironing is one of a kind.
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/ 21 December 2007
Japan’s whaling fleet in the Antarctic will avoid killing humpback whales for now, but will press on with plans to slay 1 000 other whales by early in the New Year, a government official said on Friday. Plans by Japan to include 50 endangered humpbacks in its annual hunt had sparked an outcry from activists.
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/ 20 December 2007
As Japan takes a more active role in military affairs, the defence minister has more on his mind than just threats here on Earth. Shigeru Ishiba became the second member of the Cabinet to profess a belief in UFOs and said he was looking at how Japan’s military could respond to aliens under the pacifist Constitution.
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/ 17 December 2007
A revolutionary football embedded with a microchip drew a mixed response after being tested at the Club World Cup. Players and coaches were divided over the quality of the ball, designed to put an end to goal-scoring disputes by alerting the referee when it has crossed the line.
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/ 11 December 2007
As if the idea of having one robot to serve a person wasn’t unusual enough, Honda says its robots are now ready to work in pairs — and they can even serve drinks. At a demonstration held on Tuesday in Tokyo, the automaker showed off two of the child-sized Asimo robots serving tea and performing other tasks.
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/ 29 November 2007
Whale curry made its debut as a takeaway business lunch in Tokyo on Thursday, attracting curious customers who seldom eat the meat amid an international row over hunting the giant mammals. Asian Lunch offered South Asian-style keema curry with ground whale in a first trial for the meat.
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/ 28 November 2007
Japan’s future dentists may soon be able to better appreciate patients’ pain by training on a humanoid robot that can mumble "ouch" when the drill hits a nerve. The robot, resembling an attractive young woman with long black hair and a pink sweater, can also listen to instructions and react to pain by moving her eyes or hands.
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/ 27 November 2007
A pearly white robot that looks a little like ET boosted a man out of bed, chatted and helped prepare his breakfast with its deft hands in Tokyo on Tuesday, in a further sign robots are becoming more like their human inventors. Twendy-One, named as a 21st-century edition of a previous robot, Wendy, has soft hands and fingers that gently grip.
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/ 20 November 2007
Japan began fingerprinting foreigners entering the country on Tuesday in an anti-terrorism policy that has sparked complaints from human right activists, business travellers and long-term residents. Some foreign visitors arriving at Narita were unfazed by the new procedures, which involve electronic scanning of both index fingers.
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/ 17 November 2007
Japan’s whaling fleet is set to depart on Sunday for an annual hunt that this year for the first time will take humpback whales — a perennial favourite among whale-watchers — sparking protests from activists. Japan abandoned commercial whaling in accordance with an international moratorium in 1986, but began the next year to conduct what it calls scientific research whaling.
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/ 15 November 2007
A publisher has taken to Japan’s top court his eight-year fight over the banning of imported images of male genitals in a book of pictures by the late American photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. Publisher Takashi Asai said he expected to win his case because the court had taken the step of agreeing to hear his appeal.
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/ 15 November 2007
Japan will launch satellite searches for rare metals with Botswana and South Africa in a global race to secure industrial resources, a minister said in an interview published on Thursday. Japan has a strong interest in platinum and other rare metals and minerals abundant in Africa.
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/ 13 November 2007
A series of successes by recent mothers has prompted questions whether childbirth, far from spelling the end of a sporting career, can actually boost an athlete’s performance. Paula Radcliffe has a sensational New York Marathon win this month, after having her first child in January.
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/ 5 November 2007
Shares of Citigroup rose 5% in their debut on the Tokyo bourse on Monday, a day after the United States bank’s head resigned to take responsibility for spiralling losses on subprime-related investments. Charles Prince stepped down after four years as Citigroup’s chief on Sunday after the bank said it may suffer an -billion write-down for subprime losses.
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/ 1 November 2007
Japan ordered its naval ships on Thursday to withdraw from a refuelling mission in support of United States-led operations in Afghanistan as a political deadlock kept the government from meeting a deadline to extend the activities. The Pentagon said that Japan’s withdrawal would not affect its patrolling of the Indian Ocean.
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/ 24 October 2007
Japanese Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama said on Wednesday he wanted to consider more ‘tranquil’ methods of execution. ”I am fully aware that ‘death by hanging’ is written in the criminal code,” Hatoyama said after a parliamentary committee meeting. It was not clear what other methods he was considering.
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/ 23 October 2007
If you’re stuck in traffic when Mother Nature calls, Japan’s Kaneko Sangyo Corporation has developed the loo for you. The manufacturer of plastic car accessories drew back the curtain on Tuesday on its new portable toilet for cars. The toilet comes with a curtain large enough to conceal users and a plastic bag to collect waste.
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/ 22 October 2007
A postcard mailed by a Japanese soldier from a World War II battlefield in Burma reached his friend 64 years after it was sent, thanks to a Japanese exchange student and the family of a former United States soldier who kept the card. The card travelled from Burma, Nagasaki, Arizona and Hawaii before finding Shizuo Nagano (80).
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/ 11 October 2007
Couch potatoes beware: Wii owners will be able to get an even more vigorous workout from December when Nintendo launches a new fitness balance board for its hit video-game console. The ”Wii Fit” board and software can be used for exercising, sports and games including yoga, virtual snowboarding, ski-jumping and aerobics.
Nintendo’s ”Wiimote” is getting a cushion cover. The Japanese game maker’s Wii machine has become a global hit among players young and old alike. To help prevent accidents and soften possible blows, Nintendo is shipping for free rubbery silicone covers for the handheld devices.
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/ 30 September 2007
Lewis Hamilton won the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday to take a huge step towards becoming the first rookie to win the Formula One championship. While the 22-year-old Briton celebrated his fourth victory of an extraordinary debut season, his closest rival Fernando Alonso crashed out of an action-packed, rainswept race.
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/ 29 September 2007
A strong earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 7,1 hit near the United States Pacific territory of Guam on Sunday, Japan’s Meteorological Agency said, but island media said there were no immediate reports of injuries. Guam’s Pacific Daily News said the quake could be felt in high-rise buildings on the island.
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/ 27 September 2007
A Japanese dairy company on Thursday announced the launch of super-premium milk for stressed-out adults — at the price of $43 for a bottle of 900ml, or one quart. Tokyo-based Nakazawa Foods will launch the "Adult Milk" line of products in October, targeting "adults who live in a stressful society", the company said in a statement.
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/ 25 September 2007
Yasuo Fukuda, a seasoned moderate lawmaker, was chosen as Japan’s Prime Minister on Tuesday, then tapped veteran ministers from his predecessor’s Cabinet to confront a resurgent opposition keen to force an election. The Liberal Democratic Party chose Fukuda as its leader to revive party fortunes after a disastrous year of scandals.
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/ 23 September 2007
Japan’s ruling party on Sunday picked Yasuo Fukuda, who seeks warmer ties with Asian neighbours, to succeed Shinzo Abe as prime minister in an effort to revive the party’s fortunes and fill a political vacuum. Fukuda will be chosen as prime minister on Tuesday by virtue of the ruling camp’s huge majority in Parliament’s Lower House.
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/ 21 September 2007
Sony said on Thursday that it is bringing the rumble feature back with a new PlayStation 3 (PS3) controller, but there was no mention of any price cut for the console. The head of Sony Computer Entertainment, Kazuo Hirai, said that 40 new PS3 software titles will be released by the end of the year.