Kyodo News (Snapshot)

Fate of U.S. Futemma base hinges on Hatoyama's decision

Time ticks away for Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama who pledges to decide by the end of May on the fate of the controversial Futemma Air Station of the U.S. Marine Corps in the densely populated area in Ginowan in the southern Japan prefecture of Okinawa. Opposition grows to the current plan of closing the base and moving its function to an envisioned new airfield to be built on coral reefs in Nago, also in Okinawa, following events such as the recent election of an opponent to the base relocation as the new mayor. ==Kyodo (Photos by Shuzo Shikano and Yuki Sato)

Photos of women at work in N. Korea

Pictures highlighting various aspects of women's working lives in North Korea that were taken during a government-organized tour in October. Officials said the government regards women's labor as important and is providing child-care assistance to allow them to return to work after giving birth. ==Kyodo (Photos by Kota Kyogoku)

World Cup inspires child soccer players in South Africa

Children in South Africa are busy playing soccer in wild fields despite their poverty ahead of the World Cup finals the country will host in 2010. Ismail, who voluntarily serves as coach of a local children's team in Johannesburg, said he hopes the upcoming international sport gala prompts more professional club scouts to pay attention to needy children -- including pro wannabes. ==Kyodo (Photos by Shuzo Shikano)

Residents tossed about as state cancels dam project

Many residents in the small mountain town of Naganohara in Gunma Prefecture cannot think of life without a dam, even though the new government of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has decided to cancel the costly dam project here. The cancellation came too late as hundreds of affected residents have abandoned their communities. Some have begun settling at relocation sites 57 years after initially opposing the project. The project is now 70 percent complete through related infrastructure and was to start dam construction. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo (Photos by Naohiko Hatta)

Fishermen catch sea urchins to save marine ecosystem

Fishermen are busy catching sea urchins in the East China Sea off Akune in Kagoshima, southwestern Japan, not to eat or sell them but to save the seaweed from being devoured by the animal as the plant's populations have been seriously depleted. The seaweed colony is on the verge of drastically shrinking as unlike in the past, sea urchins hungrily eat the plant throughout the year. While some experts say a rise in sea temperatures in winter helps make the sea animal more active, the undersea hunt is a bid by local residents to restore the balance in the ecosystem. ==Kyodo (Photos by Toshiyuki Kuwana and Hiroko Harima)

Tokyo Comic Market sees record number of visitors

The Comic Market in Tokyo, the world's largest sales exhibition of manga magazines, anime and games, drew some 560,000 people during the three-day event starting Aug. 14, a record high since its start in 1975. Setting aside a political controversy over a plan to spend a whopping 11.7 billion yen on a new public facility for the Japanese subculture, exhibitors -- professionals and amateurs alike -- and visitors spent their time at Tokyo Big Sight chatting with each other, buying products and showing off creations. ==Kyodo (Photos by Yusuke Ogata)

Closure plan gives Guantanamo detainees glimpse of hope

Detainees feel a glimpse of hope and guards struggle to operate business as usual at a controversial U.S. military detention camp complex in Cuba's Guantanamo Bay under a shaky plan to close it by next January. ==Kyodo (Photos by Toru Takei)

History of Yukio Hatoyama, wife Miyuki -2-

Yukio Hatoyama, president of the Democratic Party of Japan who is presumed to become Japan's next prime minister, is an academic-turned-lawmaker known for promoting his harmony-oriented policy of dealing with matters under the credo ''yuai'' or fraternalism. Go to Part 1 Born into a wealthy family in Tokyo, Hatoyama graduated from the prestigious University of Tokyo and then studied at Stanford University in the United States, where he met his wife Miyuki, a musical actress. His father was former Foreign Minister Iichiro Hatoyama and his grandfather was former Prime Minister Ichiro Hatoyama. ==Kyodo

History of Yukio Hatoyama, wife Miyuki -1-

Yukio Hatoyama, president of the Democratic Party of Japan who is presumed to become Japan's next prime minister, is an academic-turned-lawmaker known for promoting his harmony-oriented policy of dealing with matters under the credo ''yuai'' or fraternalism. Go to Part 2 Born into a wealthy family in Tokyo, Hatoyama graduated from the prestigious University of Tokyo and then studied at Stanford University in the United States, where he met his wife Miyuki, a musical actress. His father was former Foreign Minister Iichiro Hatoyama and his grandfather was former Prime Minister Ichiro Hatoyama. ==Kyodo

Veteran politicians feel joy, sorrow at DPJ's historic victory

Veteran Japanese politicians felt joy and sorrow at the Democratic Party of Japan's historic victory over Prime Minister Taro Aso's ruling Liberal Democratic Party in Sunday's House of Representatives election. Former Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa and former Vice President of the LDP Taku Yamasaki were among the LDP heavyweights who failed in their reelection bids as many voters grew tired of the party, while DPJ President Yukio Hatoyama, who is set to become the country's next prime minister, and the top brass of his party rejoiced after successfully toppling the LDP-led government for the first time since the DPJ was established in 1998. ==Kyodo