News On Japan

The Supreme Court ruled Friday that foreigners with permanent residency status are ineligible for welfare benefits, overturning a decision by the Fukuoka High Court that had acknowledged their eligibility under the public assistance law. (Kyodo)

The US military's Osprey transport aircraft has flown over Tokyo for the first time. The tilt-rotor aircraft traveled to an air base in the capital on Saturday. (NHK)

A capsule hotel catering to those who take early morning flights is scheduled to open Sunday in a parking garage adjacent to Narita International Airport's Terminal 2. (Japan Times)

Police in Osaka said Saturday they have arrested the driver of a car that hit and killed a 3-year-old girl in Osaka. (Japan Today)

Rocket science long dismissed as too impractical and expensive for everyday cars is getting a push into the mainstream by Toyota, the world's top-selling automaker. (AP)

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed his hope Saturday to continue dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin despite criticism toward Russia over a recent Malaysian plane crash in Ukraine. (Kyodo)

Police in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, said Saturday night that an 11-year-old girl who disappeared while walking on her way home from school last Monday afternoon, has been found unharmed after being confined in a man's home. (Japan Today)

Friday's landmark decision by the Supreme Court that permanent foreign residents of Japan are not entitled to welfare benefits will discourage more municipalities than ever from doling out such aid amid ballooning public assistance expenditures, experts said Saturday. (Japan Times)

Mongolia's Hakuho proved he is still the wrestler to beat by upending yokozuna-killer Osunaarashi before a standing-room-only crowd at the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament on July 20. (Asahi)

SHIOGAMA, Miyagi Prefecture--Squeals of delight and the happy splashing of feet in the waves were heard on Katsurashima island's bathing beach on July 19, as it opened to public for the first time in four years. (Asahi)

A total of 102,810 students did not graduate from colleges and universities nationwide this spring, with many choosing to repeat a year because they had decided to decline job offers they were reluctant to take, according to a Yomiuri Shimbun survey. (The Japan News)

A so-called wide-area evacuation of Tokyo residents in the event of major flooding caused by the Arakawa river could reduce the number of people requiring rescue by 90 percent from current estimates, according to a simulation carried out by the Tokyo metropolitan government. (The Japan News)

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe envisions replacing more than half of his 18 ministers in a Cabinet reshuffle expected in early September, ruling coalition officials said Sunday. (Kyodo)

Japan will offer at least 2 million yen in subsidies for fuel-cell vehicles, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said according to media, as the government and Japanese carmakers including Toyota Motor Corp join forces to speed up the introduction the vehicles. (Japan Today)

The jury is still out on Abenomics. What has worked? Will it spur inflation or more deflation? Will Tokyo reform for sustainable growth? A panel of experts puts the economy on the spot. (bij.tv)

A man wielding a knife on a bus was arrested in Fukuoka Prefecture on Sunday. (Japan Today)

In Japan, a country where structure, conformity and security are bedrocks, it is often hard for individuals to break free and follow a more idealized path. It is especially difficult when that path turns out to be somewhat ... eccentric. (CNN)

Police in Yashio, Saitama Prefecture, said Monday they are investigating the death of a 24-year-old man who came into a 7-Eleven convenience store, bleeding from stab wounds and died shortly after. (Japan Today)

Visitors flocked to the Ground Self-Defense Force's Okadama camp Sunday to view two U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey military transport aircraft, which were on display for the first time in Hokkaido. (The Japan News)

You may remember this this year, Japan's largest organized crime group, the Yamaguchi-gumi, launched its own website in Japan. (japansubculture.com)

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