News On Japan

The 15-year-old son of a U.S. contractor assigned to Camp Zama will spend time in a Japanese juvenile detention facility for setting fire to a historic shrine. (stripes.com)

This Monday, members of the seminal metal band X Japan were in Odaiba rubbing shoulders with the likes of Brad Pitt, Lady Gaga and AKB48′s Yuko Oshima. The catch? They were all made out of wax. (Japan Times)

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency will launch the country's new solid-fuel rocket Epsilon on Aug. 22, carrying a satellite whose mission is to observe Venus and Mars while orbiting Earth, the science ministry said Tuesday. (Kyodo)

Tokyo stocks rose sharply Wednesday on heavy volume as confidence in recovering domestic and U.S. economies helped construction firms such as Kajima Corp., exporters such as Olympus, and Fast Retailing and other heavily indexed shares. (Wall Street Journal)

Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda's biggest obstacle to ending deflation may be beyond his control, judging by the lowest premium in two decades on developed-nation debt over Japanese bonds. (Bloomberg)

Japan's exports rose less than expected in April from a year earlier due to weak demand from Europe and China, highlighting the challenges confronting the world's third-biggest economy as policymakers try to engineer a sustained revival. (Reuters)

Yokozuna Hakuho dispensed with Kotooshu, and Kisenosato did a hatchet job on Aran to improve to 11-0 with four days remaining at the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament on Wednesday. (Japan Times)

Japan's central bank says the world's third-biggest economy is "picking up" as demand recovers in other countries and remains resilient at home, though the trade deficit widened in April, for the tenth straight month. (abcnews.go.com)

Japan's parliament has approved an international treaty on child abductions after decades of pressure from the United States and other Western nations. (ninemsn.com.au)

Tokyo Skytree, the 634-meter-high tower in Sumida Ward, Tokyo, marked the first anniversary of its opening on Wednesday. (Yomiuri)

Plankton and seawater sampled at 10 points less than a year after the Fukushima meltdowns found concentrations of radioactive cesium were highest at different locations in the Pacific, puzzling scientists. (Japan Times)

Ama female divers from the Toba-Shima area have formed a group to preserve their traditions, as part of a bid by the Mie prefectural government to have the divers declared a national cultural property and UNESCO intangible cultural heritage asset. (Yomiuri)

The Court of Arbitration for Sport on Wednesday said it had rejected an appeal by Japanese hammer-thrower Koji Murofushi against his exclusion as a candidate for election to the IOC Athletes' Commission on the grounds of unfair campaigning at the 2012 London Olympics. (Bangkok Post)

The Japanese government plans to provide 40 billion yen in fresh grant aid to Myanmar for the country's infrastructure development, officials said Thursday. (Jiji Press)

The number of foreigners visiting Japan reached a record high last month. Analysts say the weakening yen is making Japan a more affordable destination. (NHK)

An 18-year-old youth has been arrested on a charge of attempted murder after he allegedly hit a 16-year-old girl in the head with a baseball bat. (Japan Today)

The Nuclear Regulation Authority accepted on Wednesday an assessment that a reactor at the Tsuruga plant in western Japan is sitting above an active fault, making it increasingly difficult for the facility to resume operation. (Kyodo)

A United Nations committee on May 21 called on Japan to prevent hate speech and other actions that degrade former "comfort women" and portray them as prostitutes for Japanese troops in World War II. (Asahi)

Researchers have found for the first time in Japan a tick carrying a virus blamed for 8 deaths so far in the country. (NHK)

Japan has issued a protest with a major South Korean newspaper over a commentary that describes the 1945 US atomic bombings of Japan as divine punishment. (NHK)

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