Free Republic

Old people in Japan should kill themselves to avoid burdening the state, a professor at Yale University has said. Yusuke Narita, an assistant professor of economics, has also suggested that euthanasia could be made compulsory. Last year, official statistics in Japan revealed that over-75s accounted for 15 per cent of the country’s population for the first time. Those over 65 account for 29.1 per cent of the total, making the Japanese population the oldest in the world. “I feel like the only solution is pretty clear,” said Mr Narita, 37. “In the end, isn’t it mass suicide and mass ‘seppuku’...

A flight that was four hours into its course, bound for Tokyo's Narita Airport Tuesday, had to return to its origin of Los Angeles International Airport after an 'unauthorized person' was on-board. The flight from LAX to Tokyo is about 12 hours long. The total time for the flight to take off and return was just over eight hours.

TOKYO, May 19 (AFP) - SNIPPET: "The pilot of the Boeing 747-400 with 407 passengers and crew bound for Minneapolis turned around late Monday about three hours into the flight from Tokyo's Narita airport after crew found the two men who refused to leave the cabin bathroom. Reports said the pair, who identified themselves as Chinese citizens aged in their 20s, had boarded the flight during an earlier stop in Shanghai. Japanese immigration officials were questioning the men, who said they did not have passports."

Two people have been arrested in a flight that was supposed to travel from Japan to Minneapolis Monday, according to Delta officials. The plane was rerouted mid-flight and returned to Narita International Airport without incident, Delta said. The two people were taken into custody by law enforcement. There has not been any information released on why the two people were arrested. The flight was canceled for Monday and an extra flight was scheduled for Tuesday. Hotel rooms were reserved for the delayed passengers. Delta officials said the airline is cooperating with local law enforcement. There were 386 passengers onboard the...

Original report just issued on web in Japanese. English translation not up yet; synopsizing here for Free Republic.Upshot is that Japanese pandemic-tracking organization (per Japanese link) is bundling this Mexican swing flu into a threat coming from both MEXICO and the UNITED STATES, and as such more than likely the flu will be officially named "The North American Influenza" in due time. (理的由来から名づけられており、このため、このインフルエンザは「北アメリカインフルエンザ（North American influenza）」と呼ばれることが理にかなっているだろう。 )Additional observations:1) Japanese Border Inspection authorities (at airports and ports) are stringently inspecting each aircraft coming either from Mexico, or the United States with travelers from Mexico. Protection-suited up health specialists with googles, operation...

Nikkei news announces urgent measures by Japan Ministry of Health and Welfare, starting with the next aircraft arriving on 29 April, (there are two direct flights a week from Mexico to Japan), passengers will not be allowed off the aircraft and on to Japanese soil, until a team of 3-6 Japanese doctors and nurses, who have entered the landed craft, check each passenger, survey the group in total, interview, use thermographic testing imagery equipment, etc. to look for Mexican Swine Flu symptoms; passengers will be monitored for 10 days after entering Japan as well. Passengers coming in from California, which...

Holy cow..

TOKYO — A group of landowners who for decades blocked the development of Tokyo's Narita International Airport were ordered by a Japanese court on Wednesday to sell their property. The Chiba District Court ordered the 12 landowners to sell six plots totaling 1,116 square yards _ less than a quarter acre _ to airport authorities, said court spokesman Naoto Shikano. The landowners are part of a left wing group called the Kitahara faction, which spearheaded fierce opposition to the authorities' appropriation of land. Protests and violent clashes over the airport _ linked to the violent revolutionary politics of the 1960s...

<p>Stepping up from domestic airline routes to international routes brings some perks to pilots -- like fewer flights per month -- but a 13-hour leg can really be a pain in the keister. AVweb's Michael Maya Charles just upgraded to the MD-11 and the Memphis to Tokyo route ... and now he spends his off-duty time catching up on sleep.</p>