News On Japan

Only 9 percent of Japanese high school students surveyed last year said they strongly hope for success in their careers, a sign that the country's economic woes may be curbing the ambition of its youth. (Asahi)

A Japanese research team has gained a clue for developing drugs to kill multidrug-resistant bacteria, called superbugs, it said in an article published in the online edition of the British journal Nature on Wednesday. (Yomiuri)

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Thursday that it welcomes Japan's recent economic policies, dubbed "Abenomics," aimed at pulling the country's economy out of a more than decade-long deflationary recession. (Kyodo)

A large crowd of passengers was rounded up and then evacuated from a restricted terminal area at Naha Airport on Wednesday after reports that a passenger was in possession of a pair of scissors. (Japan Today)

Ginza property tycoon Genshiro Kawamoto, 81, who was arrested for tax evasion earlier this month, was granted bail Thursday after he paid 500 million yen in cash. (Japan Today)

NEC Corp. is in talks with Chinese personal computer maker Lenovo Group Ltd. to sell its mobile phone subsidiary as part of its turnaround efforts, company sources said Friday. (Kyodo)

Li Xiaolin, president of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the youngest daughter of former president Li Xiannian, may visit Japan next week for talks with former Japanese prime minister Yasuo Fukuda to help mend ailing ties. (South China Morning Post)

Japanese engineers hurriedly redesigned the rock-collector and science payloads on the Hayabusa 2 spacecraft set to launch on an asteroid-sampling mission in late 2014, hoping to trump a problem which limited the load of asteroid rock fragments brought home by a preceding mission. (astronomynow.com)

Japan, China and South Korea agreed Thursday they will try to make tangible progress at an early date toward forging a free trade agreement among the three countries that account for about 20 percent of global economic activity. (Kyodo)

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Thursday he will work to address the disparity in the weight of votes in Japan's electoral system, after some courts recently judged unconstitutional or invalid the result of last December's general election in which his party returned to power. (Kyodo)

A town in northeastern Japan has decided to partially preserve its former office building destroyed by the earthquake and tsunami on March 11th, 2011. (NHK)

A Japanese woman faces the death penalty in Malaysia after she lost an appeal against a conviction for transporting 4kg of cocaine. (tbsnewsi)

Japan's industrial production in February fell 0.1 pct from the previous month, down for the first time in three months, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Friday. (Jiji Press)

Japan's unemployment rate rose to 4.3 percent in February from 4.2 percent the previous month, the government said Friday, indicating some companies remain reluctant to hire workers while they wait for signs of economic recovery. (Kyodo)

Japan will launch a 140-strong nationwide police task force next week to fight cyber attacks, including those from abroad, the National Police Agency said Thursday. (phys.org)

The utility that operates Japan's crippled atomic plant said Friday that it deserves most of the blame for the country's nuclear crisis, in its strongest remarks about its own shortcomings. (asiancorrespondent.com)

The Tokyo metropolitan board of education has decided to introduce a new system that requires high schools to set academic goals for each subject according to three achievement levels. (Yomiuri)

Shintaro Ishihara on Saturday pledged to remain coleader of Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party), denying speculation he might quit and resign from politics over his poor health. (Japan Times)

A 62-year-old junior college dean at Sophia University in Tokyo has been fired for sexually harassing one of his students. (Japan Today)

A 70-year-old Japanese man was so enraged at being rejected by a TV talent show that he allegedly threatened to blow up the program's broadcaster, police said Friday. (news.com.au)

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