A court has ordered a Japanese McDonald's franchise to pay more than $70,300 USD to a store manager for years of unpaid overtime. Hiroshi Takano, a 46-year-old store manager in Kumagaya, claimed that he had served more than 100 hours of overtime in a month, without taking a day off. Coming to work at 6:00 a. m. everyday, the increasing number of responsibilities would usually find him heading for home at about midnight. "I was a manager in name only and conditions were harsh," said Takano at a press conference held at the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry in Kasumigaseki, Tokyo. "It was a long battle, but [the court] finally made the right decision. . . I hope to speak out again in the future so I can live more like a human being. "

Japan's penchant for robots is coming to the aid of allergy sufferers. Weathernews Inc has created 12-inch spherical robots with eyes that flash colors to alert of the presence of cedar or cypress pollen. The eyes flash white, green, blue, purple or red depending on pollen concentration.

It used to be that thousands of Filipinos and foreigners would search the islands, spurred on by myths of Japanese World War II plunder. For decades, fortune seekers have traveled to the archipelago in search of hidden riches stolen by Japanese General Tomoyuki Yamashita and allegedly hidden across the island nation. However a new edict by Environment Secretary Lito Atienza will place all treasure-hunting activities under the watchful eyes of government regulation to protect the nation's natural and cultural heritage.

Aside from his extraordinary leadership skills which led to his being named "Person of the Year" by Time Magazine, Russian President Vladimir Putin will soon be recognized internationally for his athletic prowess. In particular his judo moves as he and an Olympic Japanese judo medalist will come out with an instructional video soon. Mr. Putin and Yasuhiro Yamashita shot the instructional video disc as a supplement to a judo manual. The disc is slated to be released on January or February, President Putin said Friday at the opening of a Toyota Motor Corporation's assembly plant near St. Petersburg.

A top Japanese government spokesman announced Tuesday that he "definitely" believes UFOs exist. The statement was made during a press conference, when the official was asked to comment on an opposition lawmaker's insistence that an investigation be launched into frequent reports of UFO sightings. Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said that he firmly believed in the existence of UFOs, despite an official statement from the government saying that there are no confirmed sightings of any flying spacecrafts believed to have come from outer space.