Potpourri of news from Japan

A samurai statue in Hokkaido. Reminder of the violent
past of Japan.

I've had people in Australia ask about violence in Japan. On the surface it appears to be a very low-violence country, which is a big change from what happened in the Pacific War. 
This article shows that violence lives on, though there appears to be mixed opinions about it, it does seem, from the article, to be an ingrained part of the culture, and not just in sport. From our own limited experience in Japanese sports and schools, this isn't across the board, but it is worth knowing about, especially if you pray for this country.

As much as I hate to bring it up, there has apparently been radioactive water leaking at Fukushima. I've tended to ignore the news, because it is hard to know the real truth. Japanese authorities tend to suppress it and journalists tend to hyperbolise it. Nonetheless, here is an article about it.

The ageing population is an ongoing story. This particular article, however, talks about some people who are doing something to address the suffering of the aged and lonely.

In a bizarre law suit, a 71 year old Japanese man is suing NHK, the national broadcaster in Japan, because he says they use too many non-Japanese loanwords.

Subway hero helps Tokyo citizens. This one's been going around Facebook.