News snippets from Japan

Here are some news snippets from Japan:

Dengue in Tokyo
Batman in Japan

New cycling policy in Tokyo? Interesting in that it notes that the majority of cyclists in Tokyo are women with children:

The majority of Japanese cyclists are “regular people” riding mamacharis on the sidewalks at speeds less than 30 km/h for distances of less than 2 km each trip. Compared to these cyclists, the roadies, mountain bikers and bicycle commuters make up just a small percentage of the total number of cyclists.

Roundabouts are making an appearance in more places in Japan. I know of two that have pre-existed this announcement, but you can understand that this "new" phenomenon may make drivers and pedestrians nervous.