* Busy week
* Some news from the JAPUNDIT aggregator

* Number of foreign visitors to Japan plunges
* Bullet train may be headed to U.S.
* “Fill My Cups” at Singapore nightclub
* Chocolate fondue boom in Japan
* Court awards damages to overworked foreign workers
* 4-year-old survives 8-story fall with minor injuries

* Men’s cosmetics on the rise
* Wasabi smell fire alarm
* Police hotline to accept child abuse reports
* Bullets sent to politicians by mail
* Baseball fans have no right to make noise
* Murder in Japan at post-war record low
* Butcher of Akihabara apologizes

Music (Podsafe Music Network)
* Another Stupid Idea from Japan, by Dogs Must Be Carried
* Japanese People The Argyle Pimps

* Middle segment: Weaving Song by Akino

Links Of Interest
* Child Abuse Hotline
* Child Abuse Hotline: 0120-924-839

* Japan Talk in the iTunes Store

Contact: podcast@japundit.com

* 38 years ago tomorrow, Shoichi Yokoi emerges from Guam jungle
* X Japan’s Toshi files for bankruptcy, divorce
* Fake funerals for sale in Korea
* China’s economy now No. 2
* Chinese marathon cheats busted
* J-housewife stashes are shrinking

* Japanese Finance Minister calls for shorter working hours
* Aussie legal action could sink free trade agreement
* Teacher stabbing ruled as on-the-job death
* Denkibukuro (electric bath)
* Japan Immigration to break up another family?
* Love me, I’m a yakuza

Music
* Sea Of Stars
* You Don't Know
* Lonely City
All music this week by Lisa.

Links Of Interest
* Lisa on YouTube
* Lisa's Official Blog
* Lisa on MySpace Music
* Lisa on Facebook

* Sento Guide

* Japan Talk in the iTunes Store

Contact: podcast@japundit.com

* James Cameron to direct Hiroshima movie?
* Japan slipping into “poverty”?
* J-publishers units against Kindle
* 900 weekly protests by Korean comfort women
* Kim Jong Il admits failure (so far)
* Tokyo cops fall for gaijin prank
* Strange J-beauty products set for world market
* J-doctor charged with trafficking in bear parts
* Uniqlo prez still Japan's wealthiest

* Ringer Hut to open Bangkok outlet
* Sony timer urban legend
* J-government set for gaijin local suffrage
* Sex-changed man’s son un-registerable in Hyogo
* 61st Sapporo Snow Festival
* Man hired as school principal found to have record
* Transsexual marriage ring busted
* Dice-K confesses to hiding WBC injury
* Woman drives home with body of 80-year-old on windshield
* Happy Valentine Pizza from Domino Japan
* Welfare group busted for tax evasion
* Boys arrested for throwing object onto expressway

Music
* Intro segment: Baja Taxi by Brain Bucket (Podsafe Music Network)
* Middle segment: Weaving Song by Akino (MF247)
* Ending: Sweet Melissa (Live in Tokyo) by Chris Juergensen (Podsafe Music Network)

Links Of Interest
* Chris Juergensen's website

* Japan Talk in the iTunes Store

Contact: podcast@japundit.com

* Suzan Boyle scores big for NHK, receives marriage proposals
* Less than half of J-singles looking for a mate
* Seiji Ozawa cancels schedule due to cancer treatment
* Gundam coming to Shizuoka
* Medical history discrimination in hiring
* College students put off by smokers
* Single tuna auctioned for 16.28 million yen

* Electric shock treatment for mushrooms
* Caution required when visiting Osaka maid cafes
* Tiffany robbed by man “trying on” rings
* Hole-in-the-wall gang strikes again
* 14-year-old girls busted for pot
* Woman sets hubby alight
* Nippon TV looking for disenchanted Obama supporters

Music

* Intro segment: Baja Taxi by Brain Bucket (Podsafe Music Network)
* Middle segment: Weaving Song by Akino (MF247)
* EndingWahoo! by Hiryu (Japan Files)

* Japan Talk in the iTunes Store

Contact: podcast@japundit.com

* Play a role in deciding the news that appears on Japan Talk. Visit JAPUNDIT to contribute stories or to vote on stories contributed by others.

Contact: podcast@japundit.com

* Chocolate sparkling soda from Suntory
* Transparent goldfish
* Japan Meteorological Agency to stop cherry blossom report
* Japanese man shoots for paper plane record
* Japanese wine gaining respect
* Japan gang hands out cash to kids for New Year

* Margaret Thatcher turned down karate ladies in 1979
* Macdonald's Japan to roll out four new burgers
* Dancing to the bath house rock
* Japan suicides over 30,000 again
* Prime Minister pays hefty back tax levy
* Crazy emergency police calls
* Anti-groping gloves
* Man in Japan prefers his collection of dolls

Music - Courtesy of JapanFiles.com
* Melty Vision by BESPA KUMAMERO
* Furusato Jizou by Kouji Fukushima
* Umeboshi Plums (Big Seeds) TsuShiMaMiRe

* Japan Talk in the iTunes Store

Links of Interest
* Furusato
* Jizou
* Enka

Contact: podcast@japundit.com