Tokyo DispatchJapan, in EnglishA rice surplus has flipped prices in Aichi, where one shop is selling last year's stock at a loss, and growers in Toyota say they cannot keep going at these rates.
A cured-ham buffet in Kansai has gone quiet, a Chinese woman was arrested over smuggled sausage, and 140 detector dogs are sniffing suitcases to keep a pig-killing virus out of Japan.
Takibe Shinji told reporters the prizes at his fundraising parties were either bought within the admission fee or supplied directly by local supporters, after a weekly reported gifts worth more than the fee.
