News On Japan

Spiking interest rates in Japan threaten to undermine, and possibly end, the recovery being engendered by Abenomics. (Reuters)

Provoked by the four-year-long lawsuit between Rina Bovrisse and her former employer, Prada Japan, the United Nations is backing Bovrisse and pushing Japan to introduce legislation to make sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace illegal. (jezebel.com)

All eyes were on Japan's stockmarkets this week, which went on a rollercoaster ride with the Nikkei 225 index dropping 7% on May 23rd only to recover some of its fall the following day. But the truly hair-raising volatility came in tinier increments in the bond market. (The Economist)

A delay in Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife moving into their official residence, the site of past assassinations, has revived talk of ghosts in the corridors, prompting the government to deny any knowledge of hauntings. (Reuters)

Shi Zhongpeng dies for a living. For 3,000 yuan ($488) a month, the sturdily built stuntman is killed over and over playing Japanese soldiers in war movies and TV series churned out by Chinese film studios. (Reuters)

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sunday pledged 91 billion yen in fresh aid to Myanmar, while waiving 190 billion yen in debts, in a bid to support the rapidly democratizing Southeast Asian country's growth. (Kyodo)

About 100,000 solar-powered light bulbs were released into a river in central Tokyo for spectators to enjoy along with the lit-up Tokyo Sky Tree. (NHK)

Yokozuna Hakuho pushed out fellow Mongolian yokozuna Harumafuji on Sunday to finish the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament with a perfect 15-0 record and win his 25th career championship. (Japan Today)

The release of radioactive material from a Japan Atomic Energy Agency facility in Tokai, Ibaraki Prefecture last week suggests scientists still lack a sense of crisis and urgency about radiation dangers despite the 2011 Fukushima disaster. (Japan Times)

An American serviceman fell to his death from the sixth floor of an apartment building in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Sunday morning. (Japan Today)

Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda said Sunday he saw no signs of "excessively bullish expectations" in asset markets and the nation can cope with rising interest rates, provided the economy improves. (Japan Times)

The tender, sensual lesbian romance "Blue is the Warmest Color: The Life of Adele" won the hearts of the 66th Cannes Film Festival, taking its top honor, the Palme d'Or. (Japan Today)

An 80-year-old Japanese adventurer, Yuichiro Miura, says he risked his life to climb and descend Mt Everest. Miura left the mountain on Sunday (NHK)

Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto said Sunday he will urge the U.S. military to strictly discipline its servicemen in Japan and repeated that he would retract a remark suggesting they use Okinawa's sex industry to avoid committing sexual offenses. (Japan Times)

The average value of assets held by Lower House members of Japan's Diet is about 322,000 dollars. (NHK)

Japan's Nikkei share average skidded 3.2 percent on Monday in an increasingly tense market after last week's turbulent trade that sent the benchmark reeling to its worst one-day loss in two years. (Reuters)

The Japanese government on Monday criticized Chinese Premier Li Keqiang for his comment that Japan had "stolen" islands in the East China Sea claimed by Beijing. (Kyodo)

Police said Monday they have arrested a man and a youth in Numazu, Shizuoka Prefecture, following a car crash which left a teenage girl in a serious condition. (Japan Today)

On May 5, a full house inside the Ueno Okura Theater enthusiastically paid tribute to the form of soft-core pornography known as pinku eiga (pink films). In its 25th year, the Pink Grand Prix, as hosted by industry publication PG, awards the top actors, actresses, directors, and personnel responsible for keeping the highly influential genre alive during 2012. (Tokyo Reporter)

Japanese weather officials say the rainy season has started in 3 southwestern regions. (NHK)

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