News On Japan

After topping the Japanese box office for 16 weekends in a row, Disney's Frozen can add one more feat - its very own PlayStation 4. (rocketnews24.com)

Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera, visiting the United States, said Thursday that his ministry plans to request for the first time funds to buy the MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft under the fiscal 2015 state budget. (The Japan News)

The government plans to recommend a group of Christian churches and related sites in the country's southwest to be registered on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2016, officials said Thursday. (The Japan News)

Dozens of rusting barrels unearthed on former U.S. military land in Okinawa City have been identified as containing chemical precursors to defoliant Agent Orange, a toxic compound used widely in the Vietnam War and blamed for poisoning that has resulted in birth defects and other health problems. (Japan Times)

Police in Matsue, Shimane Prefecture, said Friday that a 40-year-old woman was stabbed by an unknown assailant after she returned home on Thursday night. (Japan Today)

The government will launch a project to develop an autonomous underwater vehicle capable of collecting oceanographic data on ice distribution in the Arctic Ocean, The Yomiuri Shimbun learned Friday. (The Japan News)

A South Korean war museum has canceled an exhibition on "One Piece" after receiving complaints that the original work of the popular Japanese manga series contains imagery resembling Japan's "rising sun" wartime flag. (The Japan News)

Japan's labor shortage is nearing crisis in some key industries as it spreads from construction to services, curbing companies' operations, pushing up wages and potentially crimping a tentative recovery in the world's third-largest economy. (Reuters)

The cabinet office lodged a complaint with NHK over tough questions asked during a television interview with Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, according to weekly magazine Friday. (japansubculture.com)

Huge amounts of personal information on customers of education service provider Benesse Corp. may have been leaked from a database management subcontractor of a Benesse affiliate, informed sources said Friday. (Jiji Press)

Japan lifted a tsunami advisory early Saturday after a minor wave was monitored along large areas of the country's northeastern Pacific coast following a strong 6.8-magnitude earthquake, authorities said. (voiceofrussia.com)

The defense chiefs of Japan and the United States have agreed that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's reinterpretation of Japan's Constitution regarding the right to collective self-defense should be reflected in a review of the bilateral defense cooperation guidelines. (NHK)

Seismologists said an earthquake that struck near Japan's shuttered Fukushima nuclear site early Saturday was an aftershock of the tremor that sparked 2011's deadly tsunami, and warned of more to come. (Sun Daily)

A ruling party project team for promoting construction of new Shinkansen lines has decided to call on the government to open routes currently under construction three to five years ahead of schedule. (The Japan News)

Todaiji temple is set to make its first repairs in 20 years to two more than 800-year-old wooden Nio statues that stand guard at the famed Nandaimon gate. (Asahi)

People in Tokyo on Saturday walk on newly built tracks between Akihabara and Kanda stations. (The Japan News)

The Japanese government says North Korea apparently fired 2 ballistic missiles from the southwest of the country toward the Sea of Japan early Sunday morning. (NHK)

Pacific trade talks have reached broad agreement on labor issues and sanitary and phytosanitary standards but some difficult aspects remain to be tackled, Japan's chief negotiator said on Saturday. (Reuters)

A 65-year-woman riding a minibike was hit by a car and dragged along for about 1.5 kms before falling to the road in Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture, police said Sunday, adding that the driver of the car kept going. (Japan Today)

SoftBank Corp. is struggling to gain an edge in the U.S. mobile phone service market one year after its debut. (The Japan News)

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