News On Japan

An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.3 struck in the sea off Fukushima Prefecture at 10:51 a.m. Thursday, but no tsunami alert was issued by the Japan Meteorological Agency. (Japan Today)

We've got some good news; steady snow has been falling in Niseko since last week, pretty intensely further up the mountain. (SkiJapan.com)

Japan's exports jumped 9.6 percent in October from a year earlier to 6,688.5 billion yen, their highest value in six years, buoyed by the yen's sharp slide and robust car shipments abroad, government data showed Thursday. (Kyodo)

Tokyo stocks closed flat on Thursday as losses on Wall Street and data showing weak Chinese manufacturing activity offset gains from the yen sinking to multi-year lows. (brecorder.com)

Sources say a 67-year-old woman suspected of killing her husband had links to a place where police found a chemical compound containing cyanide. (NHK)

Sales at department stores in October fell 2.2 percent from a year before on a same-store basis, down for the seventh consecutive month since April, when the consumption tax was raised, an industry group said Wednesday. (The Japan News)

Japan's ruling bloc agreed at a tax panel meeting Thursday that it will aim to implement a reduced consumption tax rate for certain items in April 2017 when the tax is to be raised to 10 pct. (Jiji Press)

Tokyo has conducted an anti-terrorism drill on its subway system, simulating the 1995 sarin nerve gas attack that killed 13 people and sickened more than 6,000 others. (NHK)

Japan's Defense Ministry plans to acquire 30 amphibious vehicles in fiscal 2015 and 22 the year after, two years earlier than planned, to beef up the defense of remote islands amid rising tensions in the East China Sea. (Nikkei)

Convenience store operator Seven-Eleven Japan Co. will start selling doughnuts at store counters next year, informed sources said Thursday. (The Japan News)

A US congressional panel has warned that China's missile and nuclear force development could affect the United States' military superiority and Japan's defense. (NHK)

Money saved in secret by Japanese wives exceeds that by husbands by 3.4 times, a survey by Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co. showed Thursday. (Jiji Press)

Visitors at a hot spring resort in Hakone Town, west of Tokyo, are bathing in a spa containing newly released Beaujolais Nouveau wine. (NHK)

According to various Japanese news sources, 83-year-old retiree Yasuji Shibata was arrested for selling obscene material via an Internet auction in April for 3,400 yen (about US$28) after police found explicit photos in his home on November 16. (rocketnews24.com)

Japan's education minister Hakubun Shimomura suggested Thursday that school curriculum guidelines be revised so as to allow elementary school English-language education to start in the third grade. (Jiji Press)

A fault line running just below the No. 2 reactor of Japan Atomic Power Co.'s nuclear power plant in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, is active, a panel of experts at the Nuclear Regulation Authority has concluded for the second time. (The Japan News)

The Lower House of the Japanese Diet has been dissolved for a snap election next month. (NHK)

Stocks closed moderately higher on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Friday after recouping losses in late trading thanks to purchases on dips. (The Japan News)

Yokozuna Hakuho's hopes of a record-tying 32nd championship title got a big boost at the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament on Nov. 21 as Harumafuji drove Kakuryu out of the ring--and out of the lead--in the first yokozuna showdown of the competition. (Asahi)

A couple in Ibaraki, Osaka Prefecture, have been arrested on suspicion of starving their 3-year-old daughter to death. (Japan Times)

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