News On Japan

Japan Tobacco said Wednesday it was being probed by the European Union after a report it broke sanctions by shipping cigarettes to a firm linked to the Syrian regime, but denied any wrongdoing. (AFP)

Japan's public wants the government to phase out nuclear power according to the results of town hall-like forums to give the public a say in the debate on the nation's energy supply post-Fukushima. (Bloomberg)

Japan slipped back into a trade deficit in July, as exports languished and imports of gas and generating equipment surged, the Ministry of Finance reported Wednesday. (marinij.com)

Japanese news agency Japan Press releases the footage shot by journalist Mika Yamamoto in the hours before she was shot dead in the Syrian city of Aleppo. (telegraph.co.uk)

July sales for members of the Japan Department Stores Association fell to 575.9 billion yen, down 3.3 percent from a year ago on an existing store basis. This year, stores launched their summer sales at different times and economists watched with interest the effect this had. (Yomiuri)

German customs seized a $1.2 million violin from a Japanese professional musician and are demanding she pay almost $475,000 to get it back, reports said on Wednesday. (Japan Today)

Relatives of a slain Japanese journalist arrived in Istanbul on Wednesday evening to bring her body back to Japan. (Mainichi)

A departure ceremony for Japanese Paralympians who will participate in the London Paralympics, which begin next Wednesday, was held Wednesday at Narita Airport in Chiba Prefecture. (Yomiuri)

Plutonium believed to be from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant has been detected at 10 locations in four municipalities in Fukushima Prefecture, the science ministry said. (Japan Times)

A study reveals that a massive landslide from Mt. Fuji caused by an earthquake would affect some 400,000 people in peripheral areas. (NewsOnJapan.com)

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko arrived in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, on Thursday for a short summer break. The couple arrived aboard a special bullet train just after 11 a.m. (Japan Today)

Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) confirmed Thursday that one of its workers at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant died after collapsing on Wednesday. (Japan Today)

The education ministry has decided to create an online database of information about public and private universities in Japan as early as fiscal 2014, sources said. (Yomiuri)

A coming increase in arrival and departure slots for domestic routes at Haneda Airport has sparked a row over the slots' allotment, with All Nippon Airways insisting Japan Airlines does not deserve any slots due to its 2010 bankruptcy. (Yomiuri)

The Japanese government has not reached a decision yet on whether it will buy South Korean government debt, Finance Minister Jun Azumi said on Friday, as a diplomatic row escalates between the two countries over a territorial dispute. (Reuters)

Police on Thursday arrested a 39-year-old man for allegedly beating his 3-year-old daughter in a fit of anger after he lost while playing a video game on his TV at his home in Kasugai, Aichi Prefecture. (Japan Today)

Police said Thursday that the remains of a woman were found in a mountain forest in Numata, Gunma Prefecture, on Tuesday. (Japan Today)

Olympic gymnastics champion Kohei Uchimura has experienced the darker side of celebrity after complaining of a schoolgirl stalker, local media reported on Thursday. (Japan Today)

A powerful typhoon was moving toward Okinawa on Friday afternoon, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. (Japan Today)

Softbank Corp., Japan's third- biggest mobile phone company, and Mitsui & Co. plan to build and start operating what may be the nation's biggest solar power plant. (Bloomberg)

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