Tu_triky wrote:

Yup. I've been following this story for months....it's a long time coming.

Maybe they should bring Aya back as a stewardess.

gaijinmark wrote:

Maybe they should bring Aya back as a stewardess.

I'm sure they could use a little positive press now.

It's official now:

JAL Files for Bankruptcy

Asia's largest carrier, Japan Airlines (JAL), has filed for bankruptcy protection but says its flight operations will not be interrupted.

Crippled by debts of $24 billion, JAL will have to rely on billions in government aid as well as slash 15,000 jobs, a third of its workforce.

JAL shares have plunged to a record low of less than five cents, effectively reducing the market value of the company to $130 million or about half the cost of a new passenger jet.

US carriers American Airlines and Delta are now in a bidding war for a slice of the Japanese airline's lucrative routes.

JAL is expected to continue flying and to honour tickets on the back of government assurances for lifeline funds, while implementing a three-year rehabilitation process.

Even though the bankruptcy filing had been widely expected, analysts warn a flawed response would have a disturbing impact since JAL has more than 13,000 business partners in Japan alone and operates flights to 35 countries and regions.

JAL president Haruka Nishimatsu is expected to resign and top management will soon be transferred to Kazuo Inamori, a charismatic entrepreneur who founded Kyocera Corp, a major Japanese technology company.

gaijinmark wrote:

It's official now: JAL Files for Bankruptcy Asia's largest carrier, Japan Airlines (JAL), has filed for bankruptcy protection but says its flight operations will not be interrupted. Crippled by debts of $24 billion, JAL will have to rely on billions in government aid as well as slash 15,000 jobs, a third of its workforce. JAL shares have plunged to a record low of less than five cents, effectively reducing the market value of the company to $130 million or about half the cost of a new passenger jet. US carriers American Airlines and Delta are now in a bidding war for a slice of the Japanese airline's lucrative routes. JAL is expected to continue flying and to honour tickets on the back of government assurances for lifeline funds, while implementing a three-year rehabilitation process. Even though the bankruptcy filing had been widely expected, analysts warn a flawed response would have a disturbing impact since JAL has more than 13,000 business partners in Japan alone and operates flights to 35 countries and regions. JAL president Haruka Nishimatsu is expected to resign and top management will soon be transferred to Kazuo Inamori, a charismatic entrepreneur who founded Kyocera Corp, a major Japanese technology company.

I'm so sad about this. The first time I went to Japan many years ago was via JAL. I had no idea JAL was having financial problems (too busy watching dramas!) Last summer when I was booking my flight to Japan, the travel agent asked me if it mattered which airline I traveled on. She said she ALWAYS goes back home to Japan via ANA. I said OK to ANA. I'm also concerned for my sister-in-law who retired from JAL. My Japan relatives even said they wouldn't fly JAL. Hope they can get back on their feet soon.

I can't remember the airline that was used for the drama 'GOOD LUCK' It was not mentioned on the Wiki either.
anyway it was Takuya Kimura acting in a really good story and after it showed, lots of young people in Japan wanted to work with the airlines and the fellows wanted to be pilots like Kimura.

Maybe they should re-issue this drama and rev up the interest in flying again.

Hate to see an airline go under.

Peg

In Good Luck! they flew ANA. And if they could guarantee that every flight attendant looked as good as Hitomi Kuroki every flight would be booked solid.

gaijinmark wrote:

In Good Luck! they flew ANA. And if they could guarantee that every flight attendant looked as good as Hitomi Kuroki every flight would be booked solid.

Last time I went to Japan my friend who flew in from London booked his ticket on ANA...they said the plane's coach section was full (overbooked) but he had a reserved booking so they bumped him up to business class free. On a flight from London to Osaka business class fares would probably be 2 to 3 thousand dollars...he made out like a bandit.

Tu_triky wrote:

Last time I went to Japan my friend who flew in from London booked his ticket on ANA...they said the plane's coach section was full (overbooked) but he had a reserved booking so they bumped him up to business class free. On a flight from London to Osaka business class fares would probably be 2 to 3 thousand dollars...he made out like a bandit.

Nice. I've only been bumped up once. It was on a flight to Miami, my seat was double booked. They asked me if I could catch the next flight, I didn't want to be a pain in the a$$ because I wasn't in a real rush. I said alright and called me family to tell them. For being a "nice" passenger I got $100 and was put in first class, it was the best flight, so comfy.

Jav_sol wrote:

Nice. I've only been bumped up once. It was on a flight to Miami, my seat was double booked. They asked me if I could catch the next flight, I didn't want to be a pain in the a$$ because I wasn't in a real rush. I said alright and called me family to tell them. For being a "nice" passenger I got $100 and was put in first class, it was the best flight, so comfy.

Very cool. You came up on that one. I've flown business a few times for work a long time ago...it's so much more comfortable on long flights...but it's a lot of money to come out of pocket, especially compared to coach. If money wasn't an issue I'd cop for it but if I'm traveling overseas on vacation I always think 2 to 3 thousand dollars just for the flight...I could spend that on 5 star luxury accommodations and/or really good meals if I wanted and it would be a lot more memorable and worth it in my estimation.

Japan's government is under pressure to pay for the cremations of the escalating number of people in Japan who die penniless and alone.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/01/22/2798799.htm

Japan Airlines bellyflops in a sea of patronage and kickbacks

By Jonathan Manthorpe, Vancouver Sun
February 1, 2010

The decline and fall of Japan Airlines, once Asia's largest carrier, which was put under bankruptcy protection on Jan. 19, is a tale of intellectual, political and financial corruption on an almost unimaginable scale.

It is also an illustration of the massive task facing the new Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) government of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama if it genuinely intends to try to dismantle the institutionally entrenched wrongheadedness that has overtaken Japan during more than 50 years of rule by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

The first decision has been to try to save JAL, which has about $25 billion in debt liabilities, with new management and a $10-billion restructuring program.

The company will be delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange next month, wiping out the equity of individual shareholders who account for 60 per cent of the company's 2.73 billion common shares.

JAL will axe 15,700 employees, a third of its workforce, and cut pensions by one third to one half of their existing levels.

It is suspending services on 13 international and 20 domestic routes and cutting 53 planes from its fleet of 279, which includes the world's largest single fleet of Boeing 747s.

Indeed, JAL has 71 new planes on order with the Seattle company and it's not clear what will happen to those contracts. The list includes 20 short-haul 737s, nine 767s, seven 777 wide-bodies and 35 of Boeing's new 787 Dreamliners.

On the surface, the collapse of JAL is a variation of the ills that have befallen many airlines in recent years.

There are the common afflictions of terrorism, much-hyped pandemics and the global economic recession which has knocked the stuffing out of the tourist industry and sent many otherwise stalwart money-makers such as Singapore Airlines, Malaysia Airlines and Thai Airways International into the red.

JAL's ills, however, are much more deep-rooted than the vagaries of the business cycle.

Since its founding in 1951, JAL has set the standard for gracious cabin service and technical safety that other airlines have tried to follow.

But the JAL story is also part of the familiar Japanese tale of constituency patronage with politicians demanding that Ministry of Transport officials cook the figures to justify building regional airports in their districts.

Japan now has 98 regional airports and though JAL was privatized in 1987, it remains so closely tied to the Ministry of Transport that it was obliged to run loss-making flights to these outposts.

An illustration of that closeness is that JAL is traditionally run by officials who have taken early retirement from the Ministry of Transport.

The Japanese have a word for this -- amakudari -- which translates as "descent from heaven."

This leads to such things as the building of Japan's newest airport, the 98th, at Ibaraki, a mere 80 kilometres northeast of central Tokyo.

Last week the Daily Yomiuri newspaper revealed how one Transport Ministry official was instructed to do a projected user study for an Ibaraki airport, which local politicians saw as a creator of jobs, local revenue and campaign donations.

The official did the study, but could only come up with 200,000 prospective passengers a year.

When he presented his report, his angry superior said: "Are you stupid? We want figures showing how desperately we need an airport in this area. Your projection should have been for 800,000 or one million."

The official did as he was told and Ibaraki now boasts a two-runway airport which is host to only one Asiana Airlines flight a day to and from Seoul, South Korea.

There are many similar stories and other variations on how political interference has sunk not only JAL, but distorted Japan's transportation system.

Take Japan's main international airport, Narita, 60 kilometres northeast of Tokyo.

It closes down at 11 p.m. and doesn't reopen until 7 a.m. so that local farmers can get their sleep.

Now, very many Japanese wanting to take an international flight, to Vancouver, say, have to fly first to Tokyo's domestic airport, Haneda, and then take, with their baggage, a two-hour train trip to Narita.

This inconvenience leads many Japanese from the provinces to use South Korea's Inchon Airport or Taipei in Taiwan as their international hub.

The solution to the Tokyo problem would appear to be obvious.

The domestic terminal Haneda is built on a man-made island in Tokyo Bay, so there are no farmers around to be disturbed in the wee hours. And Haneda is about to get a fourth runway, so it would be able to offer a 24-hour international flight service.

But when this was suggested by the new transport minister, Seiji Maehara, last fall, the governor of Chiba district, home to Narita airport, went incandescent.

This would, he said, rob his prefecture of jobs and revenue, and allow more foreign criminals to enter the country.

The idea has been dropped for the moment.

In this climate it's hardly surprising that JAL has been suffering from a lack of passengers for years.

But even the attempted remedy has backfired because it has involved giving massive discounts and -- even worse -- kickbacks to large travel agencies.

A seat on JAL's Boeing 747 flights to the northern island of Hokkaido, for example, is usually about 10,000 yen, or $118.

But the kickbacks on that fare can be up to 80 per cent. So JAL is only getting perhaps $23 a passenger on those flights.

Even with a full 747 it's hard to make money at that rate.

Tu_triky wrote:

Japan Airlines bellyflops in a sea of patronage and kickbacks By Jonathan Manthorpe, Vancouver Sun February 1, 2010 The decline and fall of Japan Airlines, once Asia's largest carrier, which was put under bankruptcy protection on Jan. 19, is a tale of intellectual, political and financial corruption on an almost unimaginable scale. It is also an illustration of the massive task facing the new Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) government of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama if it genuinely intends to try to dismantle the institutionally entrenched wrongheadedness that has overtaken Japan during more than 50 years of rule by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). The first decision has been to try to save JAL, which has about $25 billion in debt liabilities, with new management and a $10-billion restructuring program. The company will be delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange next month, wiping out the equity of individual shareholders who account for 60 per cent of the company's 2.73 billion common shares. JAL will axe 15,700 employees, a third of its workforce, and cut pensions by one third to one half of their existing levels. It is suspending services on 13 international and 20 domestic routes and cutting 53 planes from its fleet of 279, which includes the world's largest single fleet of Boeing 747s. Indeed, JAL has 71 new planes on order with the Seattle company and it's not clear what will happen to those contracts. The list includes 20 short-haul 737s, nine 767s, seven 777 wide-bodies and 35 of Boeing's new 787 Dreamliners. On the surface, the collapse of JAL is a variation of the ills that have befallen many airlines in recent years. There are the common afflictions of terrorism, much-hyped pandemics and the global economic recession which has knocked the stuffing out of the tourist industry and sent many otherwise stalwart money-makers such as Singapore Airlines, Malaysia Airlines and Thai Airways International into the red. JAL's ills, however, are much more deep-rooted than the vagaries of the business cycle. Since its founding in 1951, JAL has set the standard for gracious cabin service and technical safety that other airlines have tried to follow. But the JAL story is also part of the familiar Japanese tale of constituency patronage with politicians demanding that Ministry of Transport officials cook the figures to justify building regional airports in their districts. Japan now has 98 regional airports and though JAL was privatized in 1987, it remains so closely tied to the Ministry of Transport that it was obliged to run loss-making flights to these outposts. An illustration of that closeness is that JAL is traditionally run by officials who have taken early retirement from the Ministry of Transport. The Japanese have a word for this -- amakudari -- which translates as "descent from heaven." This leads to such things as the building of Japan's newest airport, the 98th, at Ibaraki, a mere 80 kilometres northeast of central Tokyo. Last week the Daily Yomiuri newspaper revealed how one Transport Ministry official was instructed to do a projected user study for an Ibaraki airport, which local politicians saw as a creator of jobs, local revenue and campaign donations. The official did the study, but could only come up with 200,000 prospective passengers a year. When he presented his report, his angry superior said: "Are you stupid? We want figures showing how desperately we need an airport in this area. Your projection should have been for 800,000 or one million." The official did as he was told and Ibaraki now boasts a two-runway airport which is host to only one Asiana Airlines flight a day to and from Seoul, South Korea. There are many similar stories and other variations on how political interference has sunk not only JAL, but distorted Japan's transportation system. Take Japan's main international airport, Narita, 60 kilometres northeast of Tokyo. It closes down at 11 p.m. and doesn't reopen until 7 a.m. so that local farmers can get their sleep. Now, very many Japanese wanting to take an international flight, to Vancouver, say, have to fly first to Tokyo's domestic airport, Haneda, and then take, with their baggage, a two-hour train trip to Narita. This inconvenience leads many Japanese from the provinces to use South Korea's Inchon Airport or Taipei in Taiwan as their international hub. The solution to the Tokyo problem would appear to be obvious. The domestic terminal Haneda is built on a man-made island in Tokyo Bay, so there are no farmers around to be disturbed in the wee hours. And Haneda is about to get a fourth runway, so it would be able to offer a 24-hour international flight service. But when this was suggested by the new transport minister, Seiji Maehara, last fall, the governor of Chiba district, home to Narita airport, went incandescent. This would, he said, rob his prefecture of jobs and revenue, and allow more foreign criminals to enter the country. The idea has been dropped for the moment. In this climate it's hardly surprising that JAL has been suffering from a lack of passengers for years. But even the attempted remedy has backfired because it has involved giving massive discounts and -- even worse -- kickbacks to large travel agencies. A seat on JAL's Boeing 747 flights to the northern island of Hokkaido, for example, is usually about 10,000 yen, or $118. But the kickbacks on that fare can be up to 80 per cent. So JAL is only getting perhaps $23 a passenger on those flights. Even with a full 747 it's hard to make money at that rate.

Thanks for the article...I had no idea.

Sengo wrote:

Thanks for the article...I had no idea.

As a student of Japanese political science this is quite common and has come to characterize many industries during Japan's post-WWII growth. Call it the dark underside of Japan's industrial policy dominated by the LDP for roughly five decades.

Controversial sumo grand champion Asashoryu has announced his retirement following a drunken attack on a man outside a Tokyo nightclub.

Asashoryu, real name Dolgorsuren Dagvadorj, attacked the man following a drinking session in the middle of the season-opening tournament last month in Tokyo.

"I decided to retire. So many things have happened. But I feel fine right now," the teary-eyed 29-year-old Mongolian said.

"I feel heavy responsibility as a yokozuna (grand champion) that I have caused a trouble to so many people. I am the only person who can put an end to it all. I think it's my destiny that I retire like this.

"I want to take a rest for a while. It was a heavy blow for me mentally. I was overwhelmed by everybody's pressure."

Asashoryu, labelled the "bad boy" of sumo for his abrasive remarks and manners despite his sporting success, made the announcement after being questioned by the board of the Japan Sumo Association, the sport's governing body.

He reportedly hit the man during an altercation outside the club at around 4:00am on January 16 in the swanky nightclub district of Nishiazabu.

Asashoryu had initially told the association that he had punched his own manager.

Asashoryu's stable master told reporters his charge had said he could not remember exactly what had happened on the night because he was too drunk.

The victim, who suffered a broken nose, a cut lip and bruises to the back of his head, spoke to police but did not file a formal complaint.

Japan Sumo Association chairman Musashigawa apologised to the victim and sumo fans for the trouble caused by Asashoryu.

"We discussed the punishment on Asashoryu at today's meeting. He and his stable master left the meeting saying they needed to decide and then gave us the letter of his retirement. The board accepted it," said Musashigawa.

Sumo authorities can dismiss wrestlers who cause scandals that damage the reputation of the sport, or whose results are poor.

Sumo traditionalists have accused Asashoryu of being too brash for a grand champion, or "yokozuna", who is supposed to be a role model in society.

In 2007, he was banned for two tournaments after playing in a charity football match in Mongolia despite skipping a sumo tour in Japan citing injury.

Asashoryu claimed his 25th tournament victory last month to become the third-best wrestler in history, bettered only by Taiho's 32 titles and Chiyonofuji's 31.

-AFP

^ I wonder if people not in Japan realize how huge this news is. It would be like Kobe Bryant announcing his retirement over here.

gaijinmark wrote:

^ I wonder if people not in Japan realize how huge this news is. It would be like Kobe Bryant announcing his retirement over here.

You are right; it is huge news. I would have likened it to if Barry Bonds, after setting the career home run record, would have immediately apologized for his bad behavior, admitted he cheated, and then retired. Asashoryu, like Bonds was in baseball, is an extraordinarily polarizing figure in sumo.

shin2 wrote:

Asashoryu, like Bonds was in baseball, is an extraordinarily polarizing figure in sumo.

Yeah, I mentioned it on another message board and they were all glad he's gone and how much better it will be with Hakuho.

gaijinmark wrote:

^ I wonder if people not in Japan realize how huge this news is. It would be like Kobe Bryant announcing his retirement over here.

I had no idea. But I cant say Im a big sumo fan either.
_________________

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It's all good!

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gaijinmark wrote:

Yeah, I mentioned it on another message board and they were all glad he's gone and how much better it will be with Hakuho.

While Hakuho, like Asashoryu, is Mongolian, he is a model representative of sumodo; that's why he's so popular with the sport's traditionalists, including of course the JSA.
The problem with Asashoryu's departure from a competitive point of view is that Hakuho could possibly dominate sumo even more now--and that's saying something since he set the record just last year for most wins in a calendar year in addition to winning half the basho of that year. Asashoryu, even though a little past his prime, was the only rikishi who could consistently go toe-to-toe with Hakuho.
Sumo as a sport is facing huge problems. Asashoryu, despite his controversial and oftentimes egregious behavior, was the sport's biggest draw, and his retirement may have a detrimental impact on the sport's ability to put butts in the seats in future tournaments. Then there is the problem with a lack of quality in the makuuchi division--it's like Hakuho and the 40 dwarves. And the fact that no Japanese has won a basho in four years and that the top-ranked rikishi are almost all foreigners is another reason for the sport's decline in popularity in Japan. And of course the many off-the-dohyo problems that have besmirched the sport in recent years.

I'll just check out the bags, honey...

Dead man found in landing gear of US jet in Japan

Mon Feb 8, 2010

TOKYO (AFP) – Japanese authorities have found the body of a man in the landing gear of a Delta airliner that arrived in Tokyo from New York and said Monday they were seeking US help in identifying him.

The man, who was of dark complexion and dressed only in blue jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, was carrying no passport or personal belongings.

A mechanic found the body in the landing gear bay of the Boeing 777 after Delta Flight 59 landed at Tokyo's Narita International Airport at about 6:05 pm local time Sunday, a Chiba prefecture police spokesman said.

"Doctors say he probably froze to death and that he suffered a shortage of oxygen at an altitude of more than 10,000 metres (about 30,000 feet)," said another police official, Narita airport station spokesman Yoshimi Ichihara.

"We found no passport, no bag and no personal belongings. If he carried any luggage, it must have all dropped out when the airplane opened up the hatch of the landing gear bay above the ocean before it landed."

Japan was seeking help from US police to identify him, he said.