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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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Oh new head of Japan's Golden Players Club

TOKYO, Japan - Japan's hitting great Sadaharu Oh (L), chairman of the baseball club Softbank Hawks, speaks to reporters at a hotel in Saitama Prefecture on Dec. 13, 2009, after being named new chairman of the Golden Players Club. Standing beside Oh was Koji Yamamoto, a former Hiroshima Carp manager, new sub-chairman of the organization.

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Oh new head of Japan's Golden Players Club

TOKYO, Japan - Japan's hitting great Sadaharu Oh (in this Dec. 13, 2009 file photo), chairman of the baseball club Softbank Hawks, is named new chairman of the Golden Players Club.

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Kansai beats Hosei to win Koshien Bowl

KOSHIEN, Japan - Kansai University quarterback Daichi Haraguchi (top) tries to break tackles by Hosei University in the third quarter of the Koshien Bowl national collegiate championship at Koshien Stadium in Hyogo Prefecture on Dec. 13, 2009. Kansai University won the match 50-38 for the first time in 62 years.

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Kansai beats Hosei to win Koshien Bowl

KOSHIEN, Japan - Kansai University defensive player Hirokazu Kanehara (L) tackles Hosei University running back Takuto Hara (29) in the first quarter of the Koshien Bowl national collegiate championship at Koshien Stadium in Hyogo Prefecture on Dec. 13, 2009. Kansai University won the match 50-38 for the first time in 62 years.

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Kansai beats Hosei to win Koshien Bowl

KOSHIEN, Japan - Members of Kansai University celebrate after beating Hosei University at the Koshien Bowl national collegiate championship at Koshien Stadium in Hyogo Prefecture on Dec. 13, 2009. Kansai University won the match 50-38 for the first time in 62 years.

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Kodaira 3rd in women's 1,000m at World Cup speed skating

SALT LAKE CITY, United States - Japan's Nao Kodaira skates to third place in the women's 1,000-meter race at the World Cup speed skating meet in Salt Lake City on Dec. 13, 2009, earning a spot at February's Vancouver Olympics.

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Kodaira 3rd in women's 1,000m at World Cup speed skating

SALT LAKE CITY, United States - Japan's Nao Kodaira skates to third place in the women's 1,000-meter race at the World Cup speed skating meet in Salt Lake City on Dec. 13, 2009, earning a spot at February's Vancouver Olympics.

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Kodaira 3rd in women's 1,000m at World Cup speed skating

SALT LAKE CITY, United States - Japan's Nao Kodaira (R) celebrates after coming in third in the women's 1,000-meter race, next to winner Christine Nesbitt of Canada, during an awards ceremony at the World Cup speed skating meet in Salt Lake City on Dec. 13, 2009. Kodaira earned a spot at February's Vancouver Olympics.

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Nobel laureate economist Paul Samuelson dies at 94

NEW YORK, United States - Paul Samuelson, a Nobel Prize-winning American economist and professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, shown in a November 1994 file photo, died at his home in Massachusetts on Dec. 13, 2009. He was 94. Samuelson, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1970, influenced the fiscal policies of the United States and many other nations for decades.

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Okinawa protests at U.S. military over accident

NAHA, Japan - People gather at a rally in Yomitan, Okinawa Prefecture, on Dec. 13, 2009, protesting the U.S. military's handling of last month's fatal hit-and-run accident in the village. Yomitan Mayor Taizo Yasuda and other key participants demanded that the U.S. military hand over a serviceman suspected of involvement in the accident to Japanese police.

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Kansai beats Hosei to win Koshien Bowl

KOSHIEN, Japan - Members of Kansai University celebrate after beating Hosei University at the Koshien Bowl national collegiate championship at Koshien Stadium in Hyogo Prefecture on Dec. 13, 2009. Kansai University won the match 50-38 for the first time in 62 years.

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Kansai beats Hosei to win Koshien Bowl

KOSHIEN, Japan - Kansai University quarterback Daichi Haraguchi runs for a touchdown after breaking free from the Hosei University defense in the fourth quarter of the Koshien Bowl national collegiate championship at Koshien Stadium in Hyogo Prefecture on Dec. 13, 2009. Kansai University won the match 50-38 for the first time in 62 years.

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Imperial family attends memorial concert

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese Emperor Akihito (2nd from L) and his wife Empress Michiko (C) and Crown Princess Masako (2nd from R) attend a concert in which Crown Prince Naruhito, the royal couple's son and the princess's husband, plays the viola in Tokyo on Dec. 13, 2009. The concert commemorated the 50th anniversary of the couple's marriage and the 20th anniversary of the emperor's enthronement. (Pool photo)

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Ishikawa plays Three Tours Championship

ICHIHARA, Japan - Japanese golf star Ryo Ishikawa reacts after missing an eagle putt on the 10th hole during the Three Tours Championship at King Fields Golf Club in Chiba Prefecture on Dec. 13, 2009.

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Ishikawa, Yokomine and veteran 'Jet' Ozaki

ICHIHARA, Japan - (From L) Ryo Ishikawa, a teenage golf star who became this year's money champion, veteran Tateo Ozaki and this year's female money champion Sakura Yokomine walk during the Three Tours Championship at King Fields Golf Club in Chiba Prefecture on Dec. 13, 2009.

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Okinawa protests at U.S. military over accident

NAHA, Japan - Participants in a rally march in Yomitan, Okinawa Prefecture, on Dec. 13, 2009, protesting the U.S. military's handling of last month's fatal hit-and-run accident in the village. Some placards read ''Hand over the bad American soldier'' and ''Apologize to the victim.''

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Crown prince plays viola at concert

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese Crown Prince Naruhito (front) plays the viola during a memorial concert to mark the 50th anniversary of the marriage of his father Emperor Akihito and mother Empress Michiko in Tokyo on Dec. 13, 2009. The concert performed by an orchestra of graduates of Gakushuin University also commemorated as well the 20th anniversary of the emperor's enthronement. (Pool photo)

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Golf stars Ishikawa, Ikeda team up

ICHIHARA, Japan - Japanese golf stars Ryo Ishikawa (front) and Yuta Ikeda line up a putt during the Three Tours Championship at King Fields Golf Club in Chiba Prefecture on Dec. 13, 2009. Ishikawa became the money champion for this year, while Ikeda came second.

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Apapane wins Hanshin Juvenile Fillies

OSAKA, Japan - Second favorite Apapane (L) races for victory in the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies at Hanshin Racecourse in Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture, on Dec. 13, 2009, edging fifth favorite Animate Bio (C).

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Bosworth dicusses recent trip to Pyongyang

TOKYO, Japan - Stephen Bosworth, the top U.S. negotiator on North Korea, speaks to reporters at a hotel in Tokyo on Dec. 13, 2009. Bosworth said that North Korea used ''no rhetoric'' when touching on its past abductions of Japanese nationals during recent bilateral talks in Pyongyang.

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Kyoto geisha start New Year preparations

KYOTO, Japan - Apprentice geisha, or maiko, line up to receive a special fan from the Kyomai dance master Inoue Yachiyo (L) at her home in Kyoto on Dec. 13, 2009. The ceremony was one of the annual ''kotohajime'' events that signal the start of preparations for the New Year in the city's Hanamachi entertainment quarter.

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Kyoto geisha start New Year preparations

KYOTO, Japan - Apprentice geisha, or maiko, line up to receive a special fan from the Kyomai dance master Inoue Yachiyo (2nd from L) at her home in Kyoto on Dec. 13, 2009. The ceremony was one of the annual ''kotohajime'' events that signal the start of preparations for the New Year in the city's Hanamachi entertainment quarter.

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Junior lawmaker Koizumi popular among voters

TOKYO, Japan - Shinjiro Koizumi (L) of the opposition Liberal Democratic Party speaks to participants in an LDP-organized event in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Dec. 13, 2009. Koizumi, the second son of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, led people to a Maritime Self-Defense Force base in his hometown with demand for tickets for the event surpassing supply by over 100 times.