http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Japan/FL11Dh04.html"Junichiro Koizumi here. I hear that in Beijing apples grown in Aomori prefecture are sold at 2,000 yen
each. Some time ago, I heard a story that in Shanghai, Japanese strawberries are sold not in cases or boxes, but by the berry: one strawberry for 300 yen. Out of curiosity, I asked a Chinese person who was visiting my office whether this was true, and to my surprise he confirmed this to be the case and also that the price in Beijing for Japanese apples was 150 yuan each."
- Premier Koizumi's Lion Heart newsletter, December 9
-snip-
The last few days have presented Koizumi with a number of tough decisions, next to which even mentioning the price of apples and strawberries in his popular newsletter is baffling.
Start with Japan's troops in Iraq. In an extraordinary meeting of the cabinet on Thursday, the government decided that Japan's Self-Defense Force troops will remain in Iraq for another year, unless Koizumi decides it's too dangerous. Citing the importance of United States ties and the needs of the Iraqi people, the "humanitarian" mission of some 600 soldiers in Iraq will be extended. There have been no casualties so far, though a Japanese traveler has been beheaded.
-snip-
Koizumi's most precious political asset, secured early in his administration that began in April 2001, remains his relationship with the United States and President George W Bush. "Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was probably the happiest person in Japan following the reelection of US President George W Bush," said Yoshio Okubo, a political columnist for the Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan's largest daily.
"In the past six months the only issue that the prime minister truly was concerned about was the result of the US presidential election," says one senior government official.
This was reflected on Friday, when Japan's cabinet eased a 1976 ban on exporting arms and approved joint development of a missile defense system with the US.
-snip-
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Japan better watch out - playing with the bloody hands bushgang can be lethal
wow, $18 per apple
on edit: for some reason this did not copy right, it left out the dollar amount in quotes?????
2,000 yen $19
150 yuan $18
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