News On Japan

Saitama prefectural health officials said Thursday that 24 people have fallen ill after dining at a conveyor-belt sushi restaurant in Gyoda. (Japan Today)

A four-meter-long daio ika giant squid has been found inside a fixed net off Sadogashima island, Niigata Prefecture. (The Japan News)

Crowds of people in western Japan are paying their respects to Ebisu, the god of commerce, to pray for a good year for their businesses. (NHK)

France and Japan vowed Thursday to strengthen their military ties, as Tokyo seeks French support in its long-running spat with Beijing over disputed islands that has raised fresh tensions. (The West)

The number of cases of murder and attempted murder in Japan in 2013 totaled 939, falling below 1,000 for the first time in the postwar period, the National Police Agency said Thursday. (Jiji Press)

The Emperor and Empress have attended academic lectures in an annual New Year's event at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. (NHK)

Japan's health ministry is looking into a problem with a multi-million-dollar, state-backed research project on Alzheimer's disease. (NHK)

Japan's Nikkei benchmark eked out a slight gain on Friday, though it still suffered its worst weekly loss since October, while Uniqlo clothing chain operator Fast Retailing Co Ltd climbed after its quarterly earnings beat expectations. (Reuters)

Police have charged a 43-year-old man with murder after he attacked a 73-year-old woman with a sickle in Imari, Saga Prefecture. The woman died short afterward in hospital. (Japan Today)

A strong winter chill is gripping many parts of Japan on Friday. The Meteorological Agency says the coldest air mass of this season is covering the country. (NHK)

The Okinawa prefectural assembly demanded Friday that Governor Hirokazu Nakaima resign, arguing that the governor broke his election promise by approving landfill for a planned U.S. base relocation within the southernmost Japan prefecture. (Jiji Press)

Japanese mobile operator NTT Docomo said Friday that the launch of a new smartphone operating system to rival Google's Android and Apple's iOS had been pushed back owing to development delays. (indiatimes.com)

A Japanese academic journal has drawn criticism for putting a broom-wielding female robot on its cover, it seems. (BBC)

China and Japan are criticising each other's policies in Africa as each country pledges more money for the continent. (BBC)

An operator of sightseeing buses in Tokyo has celebrated the coming-of-age of its tour guides. (NHK)

Chinese officials say their country's global trade volume increased 7.6 percent from the previous year in 2013, topping 4-trillion dollars for the first time, while trade with Japan decreased for a 2nd year in a row. (NHK)

A 25-year-old man was arrested Thursday for squirting mayonnaise in the hair of a 15-year-old schoolgirl while she was riding an escalator at a train station in Kawanishi City. (News On Japan)

A German woman who returned to her country after a trip to Japan in August last year was infected with dengue fever, Japan's health ministry said Friday. (Jiji Press)

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe set out on his first tour of the new year on Thursday aiming to boost Tokyo's influence globally and help Japanese companies gain ground on their European and Chinese rivals in the lucrative Middle East and African markets. (China Daily)

About 1,500 men tested their running skills at a shrine compound in Nishinomiya, western Japan, in a race to become the "lucky man of the year." (NHK)

Latest Images