News On Japan

The Kabukiza theater, the spiritual home of the 410-year-old performing art, reopened Tuesday in Tokyo's Ginza district after a three-year hiatus due to renovation work. (Kyodo)

A woman in Soka, Saitama Prefecture was stabbed in the back by an unknown assailant in the street on Monday, police said Tuesday. (Japan Today)

The United States moved an Aegis warship Monday to waters near the Korean Peninsula in response to the increasingly threatening rhetoric exhibited by North Korea. (Kyodo)

The government decided Tuesday to liberalize the electricity retail market from 2016, making it possible for consumers to choose power suppliers that can offer lower electricity rates. (Kyodo)

Asian stock markets were mixed during late Asian trade on Tuesday, with markets in Japan coming under pressure as the yen strengthened against its major counterparts ahead of the Bank of Japan's highly-anticipated policy meeting later this week. (investing.com)

Japan's Environment Ministry says water temperatures are on the rise in rivers and lakes across the country. (NHK)

The number of primary school students who took the Eiken tests of practical English proficiency topped 200,000 for the first time in fiscal 2012, up nearly 80 percent from a decade ago, according to the Eiken Foundation of Japan. (Yomiuri)

The Japan Housing Finance Agency said Tuesday that interest rates on its "Flat 35" long-term fixed-rate housing loans sank to record lows in April. (Jiji Press)

Former Japanese postdisaster reconstruction minister Tatsuo Hirano tendered his resignation from the Democratic Party of Japan on Tuesday, aiming to run in this summer's House of Councillors election as an independent. (Jiji Press)

The government has tightened procedures for opening bank accounts and taking out loans to step up the fight against money laundering. (Yomiuri)

Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department set up Tuesday a special investigation unit for cybercrimes amid a growing number of attacks through computers against government agencies and private companies in Japan. (Jiji Press)

The rubella epidemic is spreading quickly, particularly in the Kanto region. Usually limited to developing countries, the disease, also known as German measles, poses a threat to pregnant women as it can cause disorders in fetuses, including hearing impairments, cardiac disease and cataracts. (Japan Times)

A species of shellfish, Thais clavigera, has disappeared in a 30km coastal area near Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, Japanese experts said. (hindustantimes.com)

A Japanese scroll showing in meticulous detail the arrival of the US fleet led by Commodore Matthew Perry in 1854 has been acquired by the British Museum. (guardian.co.uk)

The Supreme Court has upheld a Sapporo High Court ruling ordering a mother to pay her former husband 50,000 yen for each time she denied him access to their daughter, despite agreeing to fixed meetings during family court arbitrations. (Yomiuri)

Labor ministry investigators searched the Osaka head office of printing firm Sanyo-CYP Co. on Tuesday on suspicion it neglected its duty to take proper care of its workers' health, after 17 developed bile duct cancer, eight of whom died. (Japan Times)

Police in Osaki, Miyagi Prefecture, said Tuesday they are looking for a man who stabbed a customer at a sushi restaurant. (Japan Today)

The most famous gate of the UNESCO world heritage site Shuri Castle in Naha City, Okinawa, has just reopened to the public. (NHK)

The Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force has deployed a newly-built submarine at its base in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo. (NHK)

Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda is struggling to build a consensus ahead of his first central bank board meeting this week, risking disappointing markets that expect hefty bond purchases and a radical shift in its policymaking framework. (Reuters)

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