Japan: Bowling Pin Ice Sculptures Displayed In Tokyo

Bowling pin ice sculptures displayed in Tokyo

Two huge ice sculptures of bowling pins have been put on display on a hot day in Tokyo.

The Bowling Proprietors' Association of Japan is showing the sculptures in a square in front of Shinbashi Station to promote the sport.

The association's president and former pro bowling star Ritsuko Nakayama unveiled the sculptures.

The pins are 1.5 meters high and weigh 180 kilograms each. They started to melt immediately in the scorching weather.

A man said that just looking at the ice-sculpture pins cooled him off and made him feel like bowling.

As Friday has been designated as Shaved Ice Day by an industrial shaved ice association, the event's organizers also gave passersby bowls of shaved ice flavored with syrup.

Tokyo's temperature was above 33 degrees Celsius at the time of the event, just before noon.

Hot weather is prevailing in most of Japan, with highs above 38 degrees in some areas.

2008/07/25 16:11

http://www.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/25_22.html

Canada: Pm Calls Three Federal Byelections For September

PM calls three federal byelections for September

Updated Fri. Jul. 25 2008 2:56 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has called three byelections for early September, a move that could serve as a possible litmus test for a general election later in the year.

The vacant Quebec ridings of Westmount-Ville Marie in Montreal and nearby Saint Lambert will be up for grabs in the Sept. 8 elections, as will the Guelph riding in Southwestern Ontario.

The Westmount and Guelph ridings were both held by the Liberals, while Saint Lambert went to the Bloc Quebecois in 2004.

Harper had until Saturday to announce the elections, and the earliest possible date they could have been held was Sept. 2.

The elections offer the chance for all parties to generate some political momentum ahead of a possible general election in the fall.

Stephane Dion's Liberals suffered three embarrassing losses in two earlier sets of byelections -- including the former Liberal stronghold of Outremont -- and are desperate to regain some ground. Dion said this week he believes Canadians are now ready for a general election in the fall.

However, Liberal MP Martha Hall Findlay said the party's priority is to focus on the next challenge -- winning seats in the byelections.

"Our plan is to highlight what the Liberal government can offer as an alternative, certainly highlight the strengths of our candidates and highlight the challenges that more Canadians are seeing much more clearly with regard to the Conservative government," she told CTV Newsnet.

Dion has spent much of the summer trying to sell his Green Shift environmental priorities to Canadians, including his controversial carbon tax plan that would be partially offset by personal and corporate tax cuts.

Hall Findlay played down the notion of the byelections being a referendum on Dion's environmental blueprint, saying such contests are often determined by local issues.

"I really would suggest to Mr. Sparrow he be a little bit careful about calling anything a referendum on anything because it could also end up being a referendum on the current Conservative government," she said.

"We're pretty confident about the opportunity for Liberal success in all three."

Rather than a referendum on his carbon tax plan, Dion suggested the byelections will represent a referendum on Harper's leadership.

A Liberal news release cites Dion as saying the following:

"Canadians will use the three federal byelections called in Quebec and Ontario today to send Prime Minister Stephen Harper a strong message that they don't like the way he is running the country."

The Liberals are running former astronaut Marc Garneau in Westmount, and Frank Valeriote in Guelph -- both Liberal ridings they are desperate to hold onto.

Last year, the NDP's Thomas Mulcair won an upset victory in Outremont -- a loss that set the Liberals buzzing over Dion's leadership capabilities. Mulcair, deputy leader of the party, recently said the party has high hopes to pull off another such win in Westmount.

Dion has so far declined to bring down the minority Conservative government, though multiple confidence votes in Parliament over the past year provided the chance.

However, the party's performance in the byelections could determine whether Dion pushes for a fall vote, or not.

Harper is also likely to gauge support for his party from the results of the fall elections.

Conservative MP Jason Kenney said all three ridings were won by opposition parties in the last election and it will be tough for the Conservatives to gain ground.

But he said he doubts Canadians will endorse Dion's plan. He took Sparrow's comments further and said Dion's performance as Liberal leader will be judged in the byelections.

"It's his record that's on the ballot in these two Liberal-held ridings and we don't think Canadians are accepting Mr. Dion's message that it's time for higher taxes, higher energy prices, higher food prices, higher electricity prices, higher home heating prices," Kenney told Newsnet.

"That's what he wants to do to our economy... he wants to impose a multi-billion dollar tax grab on just about everything."

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/stor...?hub=TopStories

Japan: Moxibustion ritual held at temple

Moxibustion ritual held at temple

In a traditional ritual to beat the summer heat, people burnt moxibustion on their heads at a Buddhist temple in Kyoto on Thursday.

The moxibustion event is held annually at Sampoji Temple to pray for health and safety on the hottest day of summer according to the Japanese calendar.

Visitors put an earthenware plate, measuring about 30 centimeters in diameter, on their heads on which is inscribed a sutra to ward off evil. Amid the chanting of sutras, moxa is then burnt on the plate for about 5 minutes.

One participant said he feels relaxed after the ritual and hopes to survive the summer heat.

Chief priest Eisho Suzuki said that the ritual, originally believed to cure heat exhaustion, now attracts many children who want to pass their school entrance exams.

2008/07/24 21:43

http://www.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/24_34.html

Japanese, Mongolian Scientists Recover Complete Dinosaur Skeleton

Japanese, Mongolian scientists recover complete dinosaur skeleton
Friday 25th July, 05:15 AM JST

TOKYO —
Japanese and Mongolian scientists have successfully recovered the complete skeleton of a 70-million-year-old young dinosaur, a nature museum announced Thursday.

The scientists uncovered a Tarbosaurus—related to the giant carnivorous Tyrannosaurus—from a chunk of sandstone they dug up in August, 2006 in the Gobi Desert in Mongolia, said Takuji Yokoyama, a spokesman for the Hayashibara Museum of Natural Sciences, a co-organizer of the joint research project.

“We were so lucky to have found remains that turned out to be a complete set of all the important parts,” he said.

After two years of careful preparatory work, scientists found that the fossilized skeleton only lacked neck bones and the tip of the tail.

Young dinosaur skeletons are hard to find in good condition because they often are destroyed by weather decay or because they were torn apart by predators. The latest find would be a major step toward discovering the growth and development of dinosaurs, Yokoyama said.

The fossil, believed to have died at age five, measured about 2 meters long, he said. Adult dinosaurs of the species are believed to have grown up to 12 meters.

The dinosaur, whose gender was unknown, came from a geological layer created about 70 million years ago in the late Cretaceous period.

The Japanese scientists and colleagues from the Center of Paleontology under the Mongolian Academy of Sciences have been jointly conducting dinosaur excavations in the Gobi Desert since 1993.

The Japanese museum is run by Hayashibara Co, a biotechnology firm based in Okayama, western Japan.

http://www.japantoday.com/category/nationa...nosaur-skeleton

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