News On Japan

Trains were packed, flights full and highways congested on Sunday afternoon as the Obon holiday return rush peaked in Japan. (Japan Today)

Japanese mobile carrier SoftBank's failed bid for T-Mobile marked a rare defeat for its brash billionaire founder, but few expect it to sideline a man intent on building "the world's number-one company". (The West)

Floods and landslides following torrential rain in western Japan have killed at least two people and prompted one city to advise more than 80,000 people to flee their homes, officials said on Sunday. (AFP)

The Japanese Foreign Ministry said Sunday it has received information that a Japanese man has been held by Islamist extremists in Aleppo, northern Syria. (Kyodo)

Japan's Nikkei ended flat on Monday in thin trade as geopolitical tensions dulled risk appetite, but Chugai Pharmaceutical jumped on a media report that Roche Holding AG's may be close to sealing a deal to take full ownership of the Japanese drugmaker. (Reuters)

Three mountain climbers who went missing Sunday after being swept away by a torrent of water in the Northern Alps of Gifu Prefecture, were found Monday. (Japan Today)

Things got a little too hot for the driver of a Lamborghini on Sunday, whose exotic Italian car went up in flames on the Tokyo expressway. (rocketnews24.com)

Japanese retailers are drawing inspiration from pop culture to satisfy foreign visitors looking for a more memorable kind of souvenir to take home. (Nikkei)

A group of visa overstayers launched a month-long campaign Monday in which they will ask 36 local assemblies in the Kanto region for special permission to remain in the country legally. (Japan Times)

A dugong, a rare marine mammal that inhabits waters around Okinawa, was spotted about 5 km east of Henoko on Sunday, the same day as seabed surveys started before landfill operations begin at the relocation site for the U.S. Marine Corps' Air Station Futenma. (Japan Times)

Malaysia-based AirAsia is considering options for aid to Skymark Airlines, seeking control of Japan's third-largest domestic carrier, people familiar with the matter said Monday. (Nikkei)

The Seoul bureau chief of the daily Sankei Shimbun appeared Monday at the Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office after being summoned over the alleged defamation of President Park Geun-hye. (Japan Times)

Exporting of rice grown in Fukushima Prefecture has resumed after it was halted in the wake of the nuclear crisis in 2011 and concerns about radiation contamination, a national agricultural cooperative said Monday. (Kyodo)

The lawyer of a Japanese man suspected of having fathered at least 12 babies using Thai surrogate mothers submitted DNA samples to Thai police on Monday in a bid to clear his name. (Japan Times)

Japanese researchers have announced a five-year project to develop a diagnostic system that can detect 13 different types of cancer by using tiny molecules in the blood as biomarkers. They expect the system will allow the detection of cancer in a routine health check. (NHK)

A Sapporo assemblyman has drawn fire for posting comments online stating the indigenous Ainu group "no longer exists," and suggesting those who identify as Ainu are motivated by government programs that benefit the ethnic minority. (Japan Times)

The Mandarake shoplifting saga that has kept Japanese netizens on the hook since August 4 has finally drawn to a close. (rocketnews24.com)

Tokyo shares ended Tuesday higher with Nikkei extended its rising for the seventh day on a weaker yen and gains in the overnight U.S. market. (shanghaidaily.com)

A fire happened on a saury fishing boat outside the bay of Otsuchi in northeastern Japan Monday night, leaving two men missing as of Tuesday morning, Japan Coast Guard officials said. (Jiji Press)

SoftBank Mobile Corp. says it will begin sales of a low-cost smartphone, jointly developed with its Sprint Corp. unit, in Japan on Aug. 29. (The Japan News)

Latest Images