News On Japan

Researchers at Kyoto University have used tests with induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells, to show that a widely-used drug could help in the treatment of people with dwarfism. (NHK)

Police in Saitama said Thursday they have arrested a 41-year-old man for fatally stabbing his 39-year-old wife. (Japan Today)

The International Whaling Commission adopted a resolution Thursday calling for tightening its screening of research whaling programs, as Japan hopes to resume hunting for scientific purposes in the Antarctic Ocean under a new program. (Jiji Press)

Japan is considering new sanctions against Russia over the Ukrainian crisis, Japanese government officials said Thursday. (Jiji Press)

The Japan Coast Guard has confirmed that fresh lava flows have almost covered Nishinoshima Island south of Tokyo. (NHK)

A Tokyo man who was so stoned that he fell off his bike became the first bicyclist in Japan arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of "dappo" (law-evading) drugs, police said. (Asahi)

The slopes of Japan's Mount Fuji are increasingly being defaced by rubbish and graffiti, despite an overall decline in the number of people scaling the peak. (scmp.com)

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index has closed at its highest level in nearly seven years, with the tumbling yen propelling the Japanese market and investors breathing a sigh of relief over Scotland's vote to stay in the United Kingdom. (businessspectator.com.au)

Researchers who measured the slipperiness of banana peels, the ability of pork strips to stop nosebleeds and the reactions of reindeer to humans in polar bear suits were among the winners of this year's Ig Nobel prizes for comical scientific achievements. (Japan Times)

Japan's iPhone fans, some of whom had waited in line for nearly two weeks, finally got their hands on Apple Inc.'s much anticipated iPhone 6 Friday. (Wall Street Journal)

A computer programmer has admitted to killing dozens of cats in Tokyo's Ota Ward, saying he had become enraged by all the strays that had gathered in the neighborhood, police said Sept. 18. (Asahi)

The recent rapid weakening of the yen against the U.S. dollar has brought both joy and sorrow to Japanese firms. (The Japan News)

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe asked South Korean President Park Geun-hye for a summit meeting in a letter handed over on Friday, seeking a breakthrough in bilateral ties frozen by disagreements over Japan's wartime past, including the "comfort women" issue. (Japan Times)

More than three years since it was crippled by a megaquake, tsunami and triple core meltdown, the Fukushima No. 1 power plant is still bleeding tons of toxic radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean. (Japan Times)

A trio of Mongolian wrestlers remained seated at the summit of the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament with 6-0 records on Friday, the sixth day of the event at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan. (Japan Times)

It would be foolish to look to Japan as a model for the future of the music industry. (fortune.com)

The city of Kitakata, Fukushima Prefecture, may be famous for traditional warehouses and ramen noodles, but now it has an unlikely addition: ancient Chinese pictographs. (The Japan News)

Fifty-one children died in 49 abuse cases in Japan in fiscal 2012, excluding deaths from murder-suicide cases, with both numbers falling by seven from the preceding year, a Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry report showed Friday. (The Japan News)

An Indian man who claimed to be 116 years old and registered as a runner in the 18th Asia Masters Athletics Championships has decided not to participate, it has been learned. (The Japan News)

SoftBank has no intention of selling its Alibaba shareholdings, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Masayoshi Son said, even with their value up by a factor of 4,000 from what it paid for them thanks to Friday's initial public offering. (Nikkei)

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