News On Japan

A man operating a radio-controlled helicopter near Tokyo has apparently caused his own death. (NHK)

The provider of the LINE communications application for smartphones has been urged by Thursday to take preventive measures against sex crimes after a boy in Kyoto Prefecture was arrested on suspicion of sharing child porn video using the app. (Jiji Press)

SoftBank Corp., the Japanese majority owner of Sprint Corp., formed a joint venture with Bloom Energy Corp. to market and distribute the California startup's fuel cell technology in Japan, the companies said. (Yomiuri)

Gasoline prices in Japan have risen due to supply concerns and higher prices of imported oil. (NHK)

Suzuki Motor Corp. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. have reported to the transport ministry that they are recalling over 250,000 vehicles due to a seatbelt problem. (Yomiuri)

Former Beatle Paul McCartney, 71, will tour Japan in the fall for the first time in 11 years. McCartney will perform at Fukuoka Yafuoku Dome on Nov 15 and at Tokyo Dome Nov 18-21. (Japan Today)

Three people were injured by a bear in a residential area of Aizumisato, Fukushima Prefecture, on Thursday morning. (Japan Today)

Japan will not accept China's unilateral development of gas fields in the East China Sea, the government's top spokesman said Thursday, after media reported that Chinese state-run oil companies plan to develop seven new gas fields in the sea at the heart of heightened tensions between Tokyo and Beijing. (Kyodo)

Visitors to a zoo in western Japan are now being treated to the view of little white felines shoving each other, playing together or just lolling around. (NHK)

East Japan Railway Co. this month began selling records of the use of Suica cards--without notifying the cardholders of the sale, it has been learned. (Yomiuri)

Tokyo stocks suffered their worst loss in a month Friday, as players took advantage of an overbought market to take profits amid unease before important parliamentary elections slated for Sunday. (Wall Street Journal)

Officers from the Kumamoto and Hiroshima prefectural police announced on Friday the bust of two uncensored porn DVD operations. (The Tokyo Reporter)

Japan on Saturday said it had won the rights to explore for cobalt-rich crusts in the Pacific, a move that could reduce its dependence on China for rare metals. (New Straits Times)

Finance ministers and central bank chiefs from the Group of 20 nations agreed Friday to make future changes to unconventional monetary policy carefully at a two-day meeting in Moscow, as possible tapering of the U.S. central bank's ultraeasy monetary is expected to rattle financial markets and hurt emerging economies, sources close to the matter said. (Kyodo)

Japanese voters appear set to hand a resounding political victory to Shinzo Abe, the nationalist architect of the nation's recent economic resurgence, possibly giving him stronger control of Japan's long-fractured political landscape than any leader in almost a decade. (New York Times)

The Naval Diplomat ventured from sweltering New England to sweltering Washington, DC last Friday to explore Japanese maritime cooperation with fellow Asian seafaring powers. Well, cooperation with powers apart from A Certain Large Asian Power Whose Name May Not Be Spoken, anyway. (The Diplomat)

A team of Japanese and foreign researchers has confirmed the existence of a previously undetected type of neutrino oscillation, a discovery that has eluded scientific investigators. (Yomiuri)

With recent financial market turmoil blurring the outlook for emerging economies, Group of 20 finance chiefs pledged Saturday to take steps to avoid a global economic slowdown, and to put primary emphasis on boosting employment and economic growth. (Kyodo)

Police have detected 23 cases of illegal online campaigning for Sunday's House of Councillors election and issued warnings, the National Police Agency said Saturday. (Jiji Press)

Visitors are flocking to a rice field in northeastern Japan to see elaborate artworks that stretch across the landscape. (news10.net)

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