News On Japan

The estimated number of visitors to Japan in July rose 26.6 pct from a year earlier to 1,269,700, the highest figure ever for any month, the Japan National Tourism Organization said Wednesday. (Jiji Press)

A 111-year-old Japanese man, Sakari Momoi, was recognized as the world's oldest man on Wednesday. (Jiji Press)

A total of 36 people were confirmed dead and seven remain missing on Wednesday after a series of landslides and flooding triggered by torrential rain overnight engulfed residential areas in Hiroshima, western Japan. (Kyodo)

Mazda plans to become effectively debt-free during the year ending March 2017, by tapping increased cash inflows from its core business to repay liabilities. (Nikkei)

Japan is considering setting aside 1 trillion yen for stimulus measures in fiscal 2015 to help stave off a blow from a consumption tax hike planned for October next year. (Nikkei)

Police in Niigata said Wednesday they have arrested a 17-year-old girl over the death of her newborn baby daughter in July. (Japan Today)

A U.S.-based social media challenge daring people to douse themselves with buckets of ice water has spread to Japan, with celebrities from billionaire Masayoshi Son to singer Ayumi Hamasaki taking up the gauntlet to boost awareness of what is known as Lou Gehrig's disease. (Japan Times)

On 19 July the Noda City department of the Chiba Prefectural Police announced the arrest of 49-year-old elementary school teacher Masaki Yabusaki on charges of intimidation. (rocketnews24.com)

A DNA test of a Japanese man embroiled in a surrogacy scandal in Thailand shows that he is the biological father of at least 15 babies, police said Wednesday. (Japan Today)

The Hiroshima city government's response to the deadly rain-triggered landslides that left scores dead or missing will likely be questioned because it issued evacuation notices to residents after the disaster had already occurred. (The Japan News)

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been criticized for playing golf after he received on Wednesday morning the first report of mudslides in the western city of Hiroshima, where the death toll later exceeded 30. (Jiji Press)

A Japanese rescue worker in torrential rain-hit Hiroshima died while trying to save an infant. (NHK)

Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Thursday announced the arrest two suspects, including one organized crime member, for the alleged sale of drugs to troubled singer Aska, reports public broadcaster NHK (Aug. 21). (Tokyo Reporter)

The body of a 7-year-old boy who went missing on Monday was found Wednesday on train tracks in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture. Police said the boy appeared to have been run over by a train. (Japan Today)

A sexual harassment scandal was gripping Japan's skating world Wednesday after pictures emerged of a young heartthrob Olympian in the clutches of the 49-year-old boss of his sport. (asiaone.com)

Tokyo stocks ended modestly higher on Thursday, with its benchmark Nikkei stock index rising for the ninth consecutive trading day bolstered by the U.S. dollar's rise to the upper 103 yen range. (china.org.cn)

The annals of Emperor Hirohito of Japan, posthumously called Emperor Showa, has been completed 24 years after the start of compilation work. (Jiji Press)

Thousands of rescuers combed through the wreckage of homes engulfed by landslides in western Japan on Thursday in the slim hope of finding survivors, a day after a wall of mud claimed at least 39 lives. (AFP)

The number of people missing after landslides early Wednesday in Hiroshima has risen to 51, from seven, as search and rescue operations continued Thursday in neighborhoods where 39 people died, police said. (Kyodo)

The National Police Agency reported Thursday that police gave correctional guidance nationwide to a total of 220 minors younger than 18 who tried to provide sex for money or sell their used underwear online from January to June this year. (The Japan News)

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