OSAKA, Japan, - Individuals in the Japanese city of Osaka who feed the city's macaque monkey population may face fines of up to $101, authorities say.
(Source: The Yomiuri Shimbun)
A city government in Osaka Prefecture is expected to ban tourists from feeding Japanese macaques in a bid to dampen the ardor of the well-nourished and consequently fecund monkeys and slow down the excessive increase in their ranks.
The Minoo municipal government also is expected to enact an ordinance to impose fines of up to 10,000 yen on people who feed the monkeys living around the Minoo-Otaki waterfall.
While the Minoo monkeys are designated by the central government as a protected species, their number has grown to about 600--about three times what is considered a suitable figure--prompting the city to impose strict regulations and establish a rare ordinance to fine people feeding animals. The city government will submit the ordinance to the city assembly in September, aiming for its enforcement in April next year.
The city opened the Minoo-yama Shizen-Dobutsuen (Mt. Minoo Animal Park) near the waterfalls in 1955. It allowed holidaymakers to feed the monkeys in the hope that they would visit the park.
Bills worth Y7.5 mil found scattered on street in Kanagawa
(Japan Today)
Bills worth 7.5 million yen were found scattered across a street early Friday in Hadano, Kanagawa Prefecture, after local police received an anonymous call about a man acting suspiciously, the police said.
The economic downturn and the rising yen have actually enabled revolving sushi restaurants to thrive during these tough times. Those two factors have pushed down wholesale prices of fish, allowing the kaiten-zushi restaurants to offer discounts that would have been impossible several months ago.
Former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is the lawmaker best suited to serve as prime minister, according to a recent Yomiuri Shimbun survey. However, while 14.8 percent of respondents to the nationwide survey, conducted on April 25 and 26, believe Koizumi would be the best person for the job--up from 12.9 percent in the previous poll taken on March 14 and 15--support for the incumbent also has increased.
