News On Japan

Venomous redback spiders, which are indigenous to Australia, have been found in Tokyo for the first time. (Japan Today)

The industry ministry Friday urged Benesse Corp. to take corrective steps over a high-profile customer data leak scandal involving the educational service provider. (The Japan News)

Japan's core consumer price index in August rose 3.1 pct from a year earlier, extending the rising streak to a 15th month, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said Friday. (Jiji Press)

Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force has joined NATO units for their first joint exercise in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia. (NHK)

Mongolian rank-and-filer Ichinojo capitalized on a slip-up by Hakuho to grab a share of the lead at the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament on Friday with a stunning victory over yokozuna Kakuryu. (Japan Times)

Retailer Aeon Co. has said Daiei Inc.'s trade name will vanish after Aeon's full acquisition of the supermarket-operating subsidiary in January 2015. (The Japan News)

Junior ruling coalition partner New Komeito changed its English name back to the original "Komeito" to mark the 50th anniversary of the party's formation in 1964. (Asahi)

The Yomiuri Giants celebrated their third consecutive Central League title and 36th overall on Friday night, as their 6-3 win over the Yokohama DeNA BayStars at Yokohama Stadium combined with a loss by the second-place Hiroshima Carp ended the pennant race. (The Japan News)

China is positive about a resumption of exchanges between ruling-party lawmakers with Japan, Liberal Democratic Party sources said Friday. (Jiji Press)

Passengers changing flights at Tokyo's Haneda airport will get a new option for layovers when their body clock demands nothing but a place to crash. (Japan Times)

Globally renowned theoretical economist Hirofumi Uzawa has died of a brain infarction in Tokyo, it was learned on Sept. 26. He was 86. (Asahi)

Shikoku, the smallest of Japan's four main islands, is perhaps most famous for its 88 temples associated with the priest Kūkai, a key figure in Japanese Buddhism. A 1,200-kilometer pilgrimage route known as the henro taking in all of the temples is popular with both devotees and dedicated tourists. (nippon.com)

Students had more than 6,500 accidents while doing "human pyramid" gymnastic formations at primary schools in fiscal 2012, a public organization promoting sports found recently. (The Japan News)

The summit of Mount Fuji for the first time has been successfully photographed in far-away Kyoto Prefecture, one of 20 prefectures where, given the right conditions, the mountaintop can be viewed. (Japan Times)

Hitachi says it will scrap seniority-based pay for its managers to increase competitiveness. The system has been part of Japan's corporate culture for decades. (NHK)

Japan intends to dispatch more Self-Defense Forces officers to important roles in U.N. peacekeeping activities, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said here Sept. 26. (Asahi)

Kanebo Cosmetics Inc. referred to customers who developed blotches on their skin after using its skin-whitening cosmetics as "minefields" during a meeting last year on how to deal with possible damages suits against the company, sources said Friday. (Japan Times)

Japan expelled top swimmer Naoya Tomita from the Asian Games after he admitted stealing a journalist's camera at the Incheon pool, his team said Saturday. (Japan Today)

Police in Kobe said Friday they have found a rucksack belonging to Mirei Ikuta, 6, in the apartment of the man being held on suspicion of abandoning her dismembered body. (Japan Today)

An expert on volcanoes says the eruption at Mount Ontake likely triggered a rapid flow of rocks and ash known as a pyroclastic flow. (NHK)

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