News On Japan

The risk of a fire starting in reactor 4's spent-fuel pool at the Fukushima No. 1 plant continues to alarm scientists and government officials around the world, prompting a leading U.S. nuclear expert to urge Japan to tap global expertise to avert a catastrophe. (Japan Times)

More than 30 percent of evacuees from around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant say they want to retrieve their pets that they were forced to leave behind. (NHKReloaded)

Japan recently asked North Korea to hold high-level talks next Monday or even earlier, following their first intergovernmental talks in four years held last week, sources close to the matter said Saturday. (Japan Times)

Japan has decided to offer 6 million dollars in total to the US and Canadian governments to help dispose of debris from the tsunami that hit northeastern Japan on March 11th last year. (NHKReloaded)

Russia and Japan say they signed a series of trade agreements Saturday, including pacts on crab poaching and a timber processing factory. (UPI)

A man doing maintenance work died after he was wedged between a running roller coaster and a rail at an amusement park in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, on Saturday. (Yomiuri)

A man allegedly masquerading as a doctor conducted health checks on 2,300 people in fiscal 2010 and fiscal 2011 at a hospital in Itabashi Ward, Tokyo, sources said Saturday. (Yomiuri)

They are mere specks on the map. Many are uninhabited, and others sparsely so by seasonal residents. Yet the disputed ownership of these tiny constellations of islands is inflaming nationalist fervor from the cold North Pacific to the tropical South China Sea. (cbsnews.com)

Seven & i Holdings Co. plans to halve the number of full-time employees at its Ito-Yokado Co. supermarket chain, while sharply increasing the number of part-time workers by around fiscal 2015, with the aim of cutting personnel costs, it was learned Saturday. (Yomiuri)

Tens of thousands of people rallied Sunday against U.S. plans to deploy Osprey hybrid aircraft on a southern Japanese island amid renewed safety concerns. (abcnews.go.com)

Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba and his South Korean counterpart Kim Sung Hwan agreed Saturday to deal with the elevated tension between the two countries over disputed islands as calmly as possible to quiet it down promptly, Japanese officials said. (Mainichi)

Police said Sunday they have arrested a 77-year-old man for threatening to start a fire in appliance retailer Yodobashi Camera's store in Tokyo's Shinjuku district. (Japan Today)

Chinese President Hu Jintao said on Sunday Japan should not make a "wrong decision" over a territorial dispute when he met Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda after weeks of tension between the neighbors, media reported. (Reuters)

Japan's Nikkei average closed flat on Monday, with losses from exporters hurt by a strong yen cancelling out gains for China-related firms boosted by the country's infrastructure drive. (Reuters)

Three men will challenge Yoshihiko Noda for leadership of the governing Democratic Party of Japan, it was announced Monday, with the prime minister widely expected to stay in the position. (Japan Today)

Japan has revised down its growth numbers for the second quarter, raising concerns about a slowdown in the world's third-largest economy. (BBC)

A 49-year-old man from Yokkaichi has been arrested for allegedly abducting a high school girl and demanding ransom money from her mother, police said Monday. (Japan Today)

Financial Services Minister Tadahiro Matsushita was found dead at his residence in Tokyo on Monday, police said, adding they suspect the country's top financial regulator committed suicide. (Mainichi)

Efforts to deal with problems at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan still face many challenges more than a year after the meltdown. (NHKReloaded)

An NHK research laboratory has won a prestigious award at the 2012 International Broadcasting Convention, or IBC, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. (NHKReloaded)

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