News On Japan

East Japan Railway plans to build by the mid-2020s a new line linking Haneda Airport and downtown Tokyo that would slash travel time to roughly 20 minutes, helping to make it a more convenient Asian hub for travelers. (Nikkei)

The environmental bureau of the State of Rio de Janeiro recently gave a certificate of commendation to Japanese Consul General Yasushi Takase in Rio de Janeiro, recognizing the Japanese supporters who collected litter at stadiums after World Cup matches in which the Japanese team played. (The Japan News)

The Japanese government has put off plans to lift the evacuation order for a village near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, after strong opposition from residents who say the area is still not safe. (NHK)

Japan has been a late adopter when it comes to smartphones, but it's catching up quickly - already more than half the population owns one. But Tokyo is a crowded city, and warnings are being issued about the risk of mass collisions among phone-using pedestrians at one busy crossing. (BBC)

Japan can send troops to the Middle East for minesweeping without a cease-fire, as a reinterpretation of the Constitution will expand their overseas role in a major security policy shift, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Monday. (Kyodo)

Radioactive materials dispersed during work to remove rubble at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant may have polluted rice more than 20 kilometers from the plant last year, it was learned on Monday. (Jiji Press)

Police in Sapporo said Monday they have arrested a 31-year-old woman for slashing two people at random on the street. (Japan Today)

Narita International Airport is expecting a 5 percent fall in cross-border passengers in the upcoming summer vacation period from a year earlier, due largely to airlines having shifted some flights to Haneda, the other international gateway closer to central Tokyo, according to the airport operator. (Kyodo)

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Tuesday he will consider creating a permanent law to dispatch Japan's armed troops overseas, after Tokyo reinterpreted the pacifist Constitution to expand their role. (Kyodo)

Japan's Nikkei share average climbed to a 1-1/2-week high on Tuesday after Citigroup's strong earnings and a merger and acquisition deal in the U.S. healthcare industry lifted sentiment. (Economic Times)

On June 24, Keiji Nagura, a 37-year-old restaurant manager from Saitama Prefecture, lost control of his car and plowed it into a group of pedestrians near the west exit of JR Ikebukuro Station, leaving a woman in her 20s dead and seven others injured. (Tokyo Reporter)

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter opened at Universal Studios Japan in Osaka on Tuesday. The attraction, which has proved a big hit at the Universal Studios theme park in Orlando, Florida, is the first Harry Potter themed area outside the United States. (Japan Today)

A 28-year-old woman walking home in Tokyo's Meguro Ward on Monday night was knocked down by an unknown man who forcibly removed her underwear and fled with it. (Japan Today)

MIYOSHI, Tokushima Prefecture--A bronze statue of a naked little boy urinating off a sheer cliff into the valley far below attests to local lore that this was once a test of courage for boys. (Asahi)

Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda denied the possibility on Tuesday that year-on-year growth in consumer prices in Japan, excluding the effects of the April 1 consumption tax hike, will fall below one pct this summer. (Jiji Press)

A developer of smartphone messaging applications, Line, has applied for a listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange to raise funds to expand its overseas business. (NHK)

Japanese education minister Hakubun Shimomura said Tuesday that the government plans to introduce an income limit for free preschool education for five-year-old children. (Jiji Press)

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare says there are 378 children under the age of 18 whose whereabouts are unknown within the Tokyo metropolitan area. (Japan Today)