2003.09.04

Paraplegic Climber Reaches Mt. Fuji Peak (AP). AP - An American student who lost the use of his legs in a car accident as a teenager reached the peak of Mount Fuji on Thursday, the first successful climb of its kind. [Yahoo! News - World] 2003.09.04

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Beer Delivered with Your Pizza (Pizzamarketplace.com)   An Asahi Shimbun item that we must have overlooked but an important one for those of us here in Japan who order pizzas for delivery but are too lazy to hit the conbi for the beers. 2003.09.04

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Koizumi Omen? (Asahi)   Well, the LDP leadership does seem to behave like a pack of simians. As good a prognostication theory as we have heard on predicting political change in Japan. 2003.09.04

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Japan-Currency Intervention Currency market players say Japan's Finance Ministry ordered a massive dose of dollars Thursday after the greenback plunged to 115,75 yen. Just days after U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow in Tokyo spoke out against government intervention in currency markets, Japan did just that, ordering the central bank to buy dollars. That prompted further yen selling among speculators, sending the greenback late here to above 116.80 yen. That's more than eight-tenths yen above its late New York quote and a half yen  higher than its previous late Tokyo rate. 2003.09.04

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Japanese Warships in Russia (Vladivostok News)   It's like the Shipping News today here at Nippon Goro Goro. Seems like we have some Japanese military vessels also on the move -- making a courtesy call to a Russian Pacific Naval port. 2003.09.04

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U.S. Said Taking North Korean Threat Seriously (Reuters). Reuters - Despite a public emphasis on future talks, the Bush administration is taking seriously a North Korean threat to possibly test soon a nuclear weapon or missile, moves that would send shock waves throughout Asia. [Yahoo! News - World] 2003.09.04

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Mangyongbong Returns (AP)   Mangyongbong-92 from North Korea now back in Niigata port. Japanese authorities carry out their so-called Port State Control inspections. Latest details here.(VOA)   2003.09.04

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Carter vs. Fujimori (Japan Times)   We have generally been a fan of ex-President Jimmy Carter for his humble volunteer work -- building houses for the poor and the like -- after he left Washington. But we do believe he has his NE Asia priorities mixed up. He wants Japan to extradite Alberto Fujimori back to Peru but wants everyone to coddle Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang? Fujimori is no saint and may have been indirectly responsible for the deaths of some innocent people while he was President of Peru, but Kim and his late father have the blood of millions of Koreans on their hands and it is a regime that is still killing, unlike the Fujimori family. 2003.09.04

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U.S. Secty of State re DPRK: 'Don't Worry, Be Happy' (Reuters via WNYC)   The U.S. State Department is still holding out hope that the DPRK nuclear issue can be resolved without an escalation of tension. The Bush administration, much to the nervousness of Japan and South Korea, are preparing contingencies just in case things do not proceed as smoothly as the diplomats desire. 2003.09.04

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