News On Japan

The operator of the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant has resumed full-scale operation of a system for treating radioactive water. (NHK)

The Tomioka Silk Mill, a historic factory building in Japan, is crowded with tourists on Sunday, one day after it was designated as a World Cultural Heritage site. (NHK)

Japan's holiest shrine is demolished and rebuilt every two decades in accordance with Shinto notions of death and renewal. In 2,000 years, no foreigner has witnessed the sacred ceremonies involved. Until now. (independent.co.uk)

Police have arrested the former boyfriend of a 24-year-old woman whose body was found in a dry riverbed near Hino, Tokyo. (Japan Today)

Narita International Airport near Tokyo has added automated gates at the immigration control that allows preregistered travelers to go through examinations quickly. (Jiji Press)

Japan's Crown Prince Naruhito has completed an official visit to Switzerland. The 2 countries are celebrating the 150th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. (NHK)

Japanese shares edged up to a five-month closing high on Monday after an upbeat survey on Chinese manufacturing activity added to the positive mood from the US Federal Reserve's dovish policy stance. (Economic Times)

A memorial service for the war dead was held in this southern Japan city Monday to commemorate the 69th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Okinawa in World War II. (Jiji Press)

A ruling Liberal Democratic Party member of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly on Monday admitted heckling an assemblywoman with sexist remarks during a session last week. (Kyodo)

Environment Minister Nobuteru Ishihara apologized Monday for a remark suggesting the issue of where to store contaminated soil from the disaster-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was a matter of money. (Kyodo)

Manufacturing in China and Japan returned to growth in June after months of decline but an unexpectedly sharp fall in French business activity dragged on the wider euro zone, surveys showed on Monday. (Reuters)

Japan is looking at building a new base on Antarctica so scientists can study air trapped in ice a million years ago, in a bid to better understand climate change, an official said Monday. (zeenews)

Japanese car makers will recall more than 800,000 vehicles after finding defects in their air bags. (NHK)

Police in Shirokata, Yamagata Prefecture, said Monday they are investigating the murder of a 63-year-old man whose body was found in his house on Saturday night. (Japan Today)

The nation saw a rise in the collection rate for "kokumin nenkin" basic pension premiums in fiscal 2013, the welfare ministry and the Japan Pension Service said Monday. (The Japan News)

Next up for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe? Figuring out how to put official development assistance (ODA) to "strategic" use so the international aid program can help Japan make a more "proactive contribution" to world peace, one of Abe's pet policy goals. (Japan Times)

NEMURO, Hokkaido--Whistles, ultrasonic waves and flashing lights have proved ineffective, as have unorthodox measures, such as tossing around lion excrement. (Asahi)

A Japanese government report says liquefaction may affect more than one third of surveyed industrial complexes in coastal regions, following a megaquake that is projected to strike between eastern and southern Japan. (NHK)

More than 20 percent of the successful applicants of the examination for elite national public employees this year are women. (NHK)

One year after Mt. Fuji was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site, the designation has proved to be a mixed blessing. Visitors to the iconic mountain and the resulting economic benefits have increased sharply, but so have the number of reckless climbers and the amount of environmental damage. (The Japan News)

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