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JR West blasted for poor mishap info handling

OSAKA, Japan - Michio Utsunomiya, head of the transport safety department at West Japan Railway Co., bows in apology at a press conference in Osaka on Dec. 13, 2010. Utsunomiya admitted that the company, known commonly as JR West, failed to make public 10 cases from 2005 to 2009 in which its trains went over the speed limit, activating the automatic train stopping system at the curve in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, where a derailment killed 107 people.

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Obama statue to be moved from Jakarta park to his former school

JAKARTA, Indonesia - Photo shows a bronze statue of U.S. President Barack Obama as a boy at Menteng Park in Jakarta. Jakarta authorities announced on Feb. 5, 2010, the statue will be moved to his former elementary school before he visits Indonesia in mid-March. The 110-centimeter statue of a 10-year-old Obama smiling at a butterfly resting on his raised left thumb has drawn criticism since being erected on Dec. 10, 2009.

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'Dr. Yellow' train said to bring good luck to those who see it

NAGOYA, Japan - ''Dr. Yellow,'' in a photo taken Dec. 16, 2009 at Shin-Osaka Station, is a seven-coach express shinkansen bullet train which makes a test run about once every 10 days between Tokyo and Hakata in Kyushu.

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Japanese cemetery in U.K. brought back to its former glory

LONDON, Britain - On Dec. 10, 2009, Momoko Williams (L) and Sachiko Fujita clean up a Japanese cemetery in Hendon, north London, which the Japanese Residents' Association has been restoring since 2006.

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Music rocks 'sento' public bath, breathes life into tradition

TOKYO, Japan - People wait in line before a concert at the Bentenyu public bathhouse in Tokyo's Musashino City on Dec. 10, 2009. An event called ''Furo Rock'' has been held 18 times since 2005 in the hope of drawing people to the bathhouse amid a decline in the number of visitors. A coin laundry next to the bathhouse has been reborn as an eatery that becomes a small bar at night.

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Nagoya to cut local income tax by 10%

NAGOYA, Japan - Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura salutes citizens in the city's assembly room on Dec. 22, 2009, after the assembly enacts an ordinance sponsored by the outspoken leader to cut local taxes by 10 percent in fiscal 2010. Nagoya and Handa, both in Aichi Prefecture, are the first cities to pass ordinances for cuts in local income tax in the next fiscal year starting April.

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Japan bar hostesses form labor union

TOKYO, Japan - A former bar hostess (R), who uses the alias Rin Sakurai, attends a press conference at the labor ministry in Tokyo on Dec. 22, 2009. Sakurai and around 10 other former bar hostesses formed a labor union the same day calling for better working conditions.

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Honda renovates Acty Truck, 1st in 10 yrs

TOKYO, Japan - This photo shows the Acty Truck that Honda Motor Co. released on Dec. 17, 2009 after its first full renovation in 10 years. The minitruck has a larger space inside and can make sharper turns.

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Monks dust Buddhist statues at Toshodaiji

NARA, Japan - Monks carefully dust Buddhist statues using 5-meter-long sticks topped with thin strips of Japanese paper in the main hall of Toshodaiji, a Buddhist temple in Nara, on Dec. 15, 2009. Due to restoration work in the main hall, the annual cleaning of the Buddhist statues took place for the first time in 10 years.

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Japan has ''special'' role to play at Copenhagen and beyond: Ban

NEW YORK, United States - U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon speaks to a group of reporters from Japanese news organizations on Dec. 10, 2009, ahead of his trip to Copenhagen, where he is scheduled to open the high-level segment of the meeting on Dec. 15. He said Japan has a ''special'' role to play at a climate change conference taking place in the Danish capital and beyond, as global leaders grapple with striking a deal in crafting a treaty to replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.

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People rally against nuclear weapons in Oslo

OSLO, Norway - People carry a banner saying ''No to nuclear weapons'' in a rally on Dec. 10, 2009, in front of a hotel where U.S. President Barack Obama stayed on a trip to receive the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize.

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People demand withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan

OSLO, Norway - People march in a rally demanding U.S. forces' withdrawal from Afghanistan on Dec. 10, 2009, in front of a hotel where U.S. President Barack Obama stayed on a trip to receive the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize.

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Ski areas in northern Japan face severe shortages of snow

YAMAGATA, Japan - The Zao Onsen Ski Resort in Yamagata Prefecture, which opened Dec. 5, 2009, faces dried grass and soil on many parts of its slope on Dec. 10. Ski areas in Japan's Tohoku district are facing severe shortages of snow this year, raising worries among ski resort operators, workers and other related people ahead of the arrival of the busy year-end and New Year period.

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Sunflowers bloom out of season on wide farmland in Toyama

TOYAMA, Japan - Large sunflowers are captured in their full glory on a 1,000-square-meter area of farmland in Toyama Prefecture Dec. 10, 2009. Warm weather apparently had something to do with the flowering of the gorgeous summer plants in early winter. Local people are stunned by the out-of-season spectacle that emerged against the backdrop of trees bearing autumn fruit and a snow-clad mountain.

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Artisan in home stretch of finishing 'Year of Tiger' goods

KOFU, Japan - Gakunan Saito, an artisan in Kofu, Yamanashi Prefecture, busily works Dec. 10, 2009, putting the final touch to a batch of clay bells in the shape of a tiger. According to an oriental calendar, 2010 is the year of the tiger. All kinds of knickknacks featuring a tiger are hitting store shelves across Japan to celebrate the advent of the New Year.

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UDD rallies against PM Abhisit

BANGKOK, Thailand - An image of ousted former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is projected during a rally against the government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva held in Bangkok on Dec. 10, 2009, by the National United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD). UDD, which supports Thaksin, demands Abhisit's resignation and a general election.

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UDD rallies against PM Abhisit

BANGKOK, Thailand - Members of the National United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), who support ousted former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, rally against the government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva in Bangkok on Dec. 10, 2009, demanding Abhisit's resignation and a general election.

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China hosts dinner for Ozawa

BEIJING, China - Ichiro Ozawa (L), secretary general of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), attends a dinner with Lu Hao, first secretary of the Communist Youth League of China, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Dec. 10, 2009. China hosted the dinner for Ozawa, who is on a two-day visit to Beijing, and more than 600 Japanese, including around 140 DPJ lawmakers and about 400 DPJ supporters, who were accompanying him. (Pool photo by Kyodo News)

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Children light up eco-friendly Christmas tree

TOKYO, Japan - Children, together with a Santa Claus and a woman, bounce and jump on a specially designed part of the floor to try to generate electricity free of carbon dioxide to light up LED bulbs on a Christmas tree at Odakyu department store in Tokyo on Dec. 10, 2009. The event will last until Dec. 25.

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Hatoyamas, golf star Ishikawa among new dolls

TOKYO, Japan - A woman in kimono shows off six sets of ''kawari-bina'' dolls depicting figures and themes that were this year's newsmakers, unveiled by traditional doll maker Tougyoku at a Tokyo hotel Dec. 10, 2009. The figures and themes, which included Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama who took office this fall and his wife Miyuki, teenage golf star Ryo Ishikawa, and the new flu, were selected by votes from the public.

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Ozawa meets China's Hu

BEIJING, China - Ichiro Ozawa (L in center), secretary general of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, holds talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao (R in center) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Dec. 10, 2009. (Pool photo)

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Ozawa meets China's Hu

BEIJING, China - Ichiro Ozawa (L), secretary general of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, shakes hands with Chinese President Hu Jintao (R) before their talks at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Dec. 10, 2009. (Pool photo)

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Ozawa meets China's Hu

BEIJING, China - Ichiro Ozawa (L), secretary general of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, holds talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao (R) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Dec. 10, 2009. (Pool photo)

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Panasonic acquires 50% stake in Sanyo

OSAKA, Japan - This combination of undated file photos shows the headquarters of Panasonic Corp. and Sanyo Electric Co. in Osaka. Panasonic announced Dec. 10, 2009 that it acquired a 50.19 percent stake in Sanyo for 403.78 billion yen, completing a tender offer that would create one of the world's largest consumer electronics conglomerates with a strong grip on solar and battery markets.

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Panasonic gets 50.19% stake in Sanyo in successful tender offer

OSAKA, Japan - Fumio Otsubo (L), president of Panasonic Corp., and Seiichiro Sano, president of Sanyo Electric Co., shake hands during a press conference in Osaka on Dec. 10, 2009, at which they announced that Panasonic has acquired a 50.19 percent stake in Sanyo for 403.78 billion yen, completing a tender offer that will create one of the world's largest consumer electronics conglomerates.

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U.S. envoy Bosworth in S. Korea after 'useful' trip to Pyongyang

PYONGYANG, North Korea - Stephen Bosworth, U.S. special representative for North Korean policy, speaks to Kyodo News and other media as he leaves Pyongyang's Sunan Airport on Dec. 10, 2009, to wrap up his three-day visit to North Korea.

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U.S. envoy Bosworth in S. Korea after 'useful' trip to Pyongyang

PYONGYANG, North Korea - Stephen Bosworth (3rd from R), U.S. special representative for North Korean policy, accompanied by a senior official of North Korea's Foreign Ministry, heads for a plane bound for South Korea at Pyongyang's Sunan Airport on Dec. 10, 2009, after winding up his three-day visit to North Korea.

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Hatoyama delivers speech at Bali Democracy Forum

BALI, Indonesia - Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama delivers a speech at the opening of the Bali Democracy Forum in Nusa Dua, Bali island, Indonesia, on Dec. 10, 2009. Hatoyama urged China, Myanmar, and North Korea to push ahead with democratization efforts. (Pool photo by Kyodo News)

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Japanese Prime Minister Hatoyama speaks at Bali Democracy Forum

NUSA DUA, Indonesia - Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama delivers a speech in the opening of the second Bali Democracy Forum in Nusa Dua, Bali island, Indonesia, on Dec. 10, 2009. Hatoyama called on China, Myanmar, and North Korea to push ahead with democratization efforts. (Pool photo by Kyodo News)

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Japanese PM Hatoyama talks with Indonesian President Yudhoyono

NUSA DUA, Indonesia - Visiting Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama (L) talks with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at a hotel in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Dec. 10, 2009. (Pool photo by Kyodo News)

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Japanese Prime Minister Hatoyama speaks at Bali Democracy Forum

NUSA DUA, Indonesia - Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama delivers a speech in the opening of the second Bali Democracy Forum in Nusa Dua, Bali island, Indonesia, on Dec. 10, 2009. Hatoyama called on China, Myanmar, and North Korea to push ahead with democratization efforts. (Pool photo by Kyodo News)

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Hatoyama applauds Yudhoyono's speech

BALI, Indonesia - Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama applauds a speech by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the Bali Democracy Forum in Nusa Dua, Bali island, Indonesia, on Dec. 10, 2009. Hatoyama urged China, Myanmar, and North Korea to push ahead with democratization efforts during the first day's session that he co-chaired with Yudhoyono. (Pool photo by Kyodo News)

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Japanese PM Hatoyama talks with Indonesian President Yudhoyono

NUSA DUA, Indonesia - Visiting Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama (R) and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono shake hands at a hotel in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Dec. 10, 2009, before their talks. (Pool photo by Kyodo News)

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Hatoyama willing to pay taxes if money from mom found taxable

NUSA DUA, Indonesia - Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama speaks to reporters at a hotel in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Dec. 10, 2009. Hatoyama said he is willing to pay to authorities gift taxes over a large amount of money he received from his mother if prosecutors find it subject to taxation. (Pool photo by Kyodo News)

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DPJ's No. 2 leader Ozawa leaves for Beijing

TOKYO, Japan - Ichiro Ozawa, secretary general of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, leaves Tokyo's Haneda airport on Dec. 10, 2009, for Beijing, where he will hold talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao. Ozawa is scheduled to travel to Seoul on Dec. 11 for talks with South Korean President Lee Myung Bak.

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Japan power broker Ozawa leaves for Beijing

TOKYO, Japan - Ichiro Ozawa (C), secretary general of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, gives a wave as he leaves Tokyo's Haneda airport on Dec. 10, 2009, for Beijing for talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao. Ozawa, an influential power broker in Japan, is scheduled to travel to Seoul on Dec. 11 for talks with South Korean President Lee Myung Bak.

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Obama, Matsui, featured in decorative battledores

TOKYO, Japan - A woman in kimono poses with a ''Kawari Hagoita'' featuring Ryo Ishikawa, the teenage golf star, at the main office of Japanese doll maker Kyugetsu in Tokyo on Dec. 9, 2009. Among this year's 10 ''Kawari Hagoita,'' a traditional Japanese battledore popular as decoration during New Year's, are those featuring U.S. President Barack Obama, Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and his wife Miyuki, and New York Yankees slugger Hideki Matsui, the winner of this year's World Series MVP.

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Christmas tree at aquarium in Fukui Pref.

FUKUI, Japan - Breeding staff wearing Santa Claus costumes set up a 3-meter-high Christmas tree in a water tank at Echizen Matsushima Aquarium in the town of Mikuni, Fukui Prefecture, on Dec. 4, 2009. Some 3,000 fish of 20 kinds swim in the tank, which measures 10 meters in width and 6 meters in depth.

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Nikkei tops 10,000, 1st time in 5 weeks

TOKYO, Japan - A man passes an electronic display in Tokyo showing that the Nikkei stock index topped 10,000 after the morning trading session at the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Dec. 4, 2009. The index went above the 10,000 line for the first time in five weeks.

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Nikkei tops 10,000, 1st time in 5 weeks

TOKYO, Japan - People pass an electronic display in Tokyo showing that the Nikkei stock index topped 10,000 after the morning trading session at the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Dec. 4, 2009. The index went above the 10,000 line for the first time in five weeks.

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Polar bear Peace turns 10, breaks record

TOBE, Japan - Peace, a polar bear in the Tobe Zoological Park of Ehime Prefecture, turned 10 years old on Dec. 2, 2009, at the zoo in southwestern Japan. Taken away from her mother at birth over fears that she may hurt the cub, and hand-raised by the zoo, the local celebrity has lived longer than any other hand-raised polar bear in Japan.

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BOJ to inject 10 tril. yen in emergency fund supply

TOKYO, Japan - Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa speaks during a news conference at the BOJ's head office in Tokyo on Dec. 1, 2009, after an extraordinary meeting of the central bank's Policy Board. The BOJ decided to inject about 10 trillion yen into the financial system, introducing a new emergency fund-supply operation to lower longer-term interest rates to fight deflation.

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BOJ to inject 10 tril. yen in emergency fund supply

TOKYO, Japan - Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa speaks during a news conference at the BOJ's head office in Tokyo on Dec. 1, 2009, after an extraordinary meeting of the central bank's Policy Board. The BOJ decided to inject about 10 trillion yen into the financial system, introducing a new emergency fund-supply operation to lower longer-term interest rates to fight deflation.

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High European inflation symptom of deeper economic shift: economist

STORY: High European inflation symptom of deeper economic shift: economist DATELINE: Dec. 7, 2022 LENGTH: 00:02:36 LOCATION: Rome CATEGORY: ECONOMY SHOTLIST: 1. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): Carlo Altomonte, Professor of political economics at Bocconi University in Milan 2. various of the factory 3. various of supermarket 4. various of good in shop STORYLINE: An Italian economist has said that record rates of inflation that have hit European Union (EU) member states this year are a symptom of a wider economic paradigm shift. Inflation in the 19-nation eurozone was 10 percent in November, following a record-high of 10.6 percent the month before, and the highest year-on-year price increases since the creation of the euro currency have all taken place in the last nine months. Carlo Altomonte, professor of political economics at Bocconi University in Milan, said the record price increases are part of a broad economic shift for European countries. This shift is even more extreme than that of the 2008-2009 fina

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Yearender: Xinhua's top 10 China news events in 2021

(211229) -- BEIJING, Dec. 29, 2021 (Xinhua) -- Combo photo shows villagers Lin Xingcong (2nd R), Li Yunxiang (3rd R) and their family posing for a group photo in front of their house under reconstruction on Jan. 25, 2009 (top, photo taken by Xinhua journalist Jiang Yi), and Lin Xingcong (3rd R, back), Li Yunxiang (4th R, back) and their family posing for a group photo in front of their house on May 4, 2021 (bottom, photo taken by Xinhua journalist Jiang Hongjing), in Maoxiang Village of Gaochuan Township in Mianyang City, southwest China's Sichuan Province. Xinhua's top 10 China news events in 2021 5. China attains milestone development goal Xi announced on July 1 that China has realized its first centenary goal -- building a moderately prosperous society in all respects. Poverty eradication is considered the "bottom-line task" in attaining this milestone development goal. It.....

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Seiji Ozawa to conduct Berlin Philharmonic in April 2016

Undated photo shows Japanese conductor Seiji Ozawa. The Berlin Philharmonic said on Dec. 18, 2015 that Ozawa will conduct the orchestra in concerts in the German city on April 8 and 10, 2016, for the first time since May 2009. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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'Dr. Yellow' train said to bring good luck to those who see it

NAGOYA, Japan - ''Dr. Yellow,'' in a photo taken Dec. 16, 2009 at Shin-Osaka Station, is a seven-coach express shinkansen bullet train which makes a test run about once every 10 days between Tokyo and Hakata in Kyushu. (Kyodo)

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Obama statue to be moved from Jakarta park to his former school

JAKARTA, Indonesia - Photo shows a bronze statue of U.S. President Barack Obama as a boy at Menteng Park in Jakarta. Jakarta authorities announced on Feb. 5, 2010, the statue will be moved to his former elementary school before he visits Indonesia in mid-March. The 110-centimeter statue of a 10-year-old Obama smiling at a butterfly resting on his raised left thumb has drawn criticism since being erected on Dec. 10, 2009. (Kyodo)

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Japanese cemetery in U.K. brought back to its former glory

LONDON, Britain - On Dec. 10, 2009, Momoko Williams (L) and Sachiko Fujita clean up a Japanese cemetery in Hendon, north London, which the Japanese Residents' Association has been restoring since 2006. (Kyodo)

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Music rocks 'sento' public bath, breathes life into tradition

TOKYO, Japan - People wait in line before a concert at the Bentenyu public bathhouse in Tokyo's Musashino City on Dec. 10, 2009. An event called ''Furo Rock'' has been held 18 times since 2005 in the hope of drawing people to the bathhouse amid a decline in the number of visitors. A coin laundry next to the bathhouse has been reborn as an eatery that becomes a small bar at night. (Kyodo)