News On Japan

Police in Izumiotsu City, Osaka Prefecture, said Friday they are looking for a man who attacked a junior high schoolgirl and cut off her ponytail. (Japan Today)

The dollar has briefly climbed to the upper 121-yen level following the strong US jobs data for November. (NHK)

Swedish furniture giant IKEA has reportedly said next year it will stop selling a controversial decorative map in which the body of water between the Korean Peninsula and Japan is labeled only as the Sea of Japan. (Japan Times)

A conservative Japanese daily on Saturday apologized for carrying an advertisement for books by an author who claims Jewish people were behind the country's 2011 earthquake-tsunami disaster. (Japan Today)

A quarter of Japanese believe they are working at so-called "black" companies with sweatshop-like working environments or inadequate wages, a labor union survey has shown. (Jiji Press)

Heavy snow is falling in wide areas of Japan, mostly along the Sea of Japan coast. (NHK)

Police have arrested a Russian man who smashed the glass on a koban (police box) in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward. (Japan Today)

Imported fruit juice ingredients are getting more expensive, with the spot price for orange, pineapple and apple juice up by between 10% and 40%. (Nikkei)

A Japan Air Self-Defense Force transport plane carrying 20,000 sets of anti-Ebola protective gear left for West Africa on Saturday. (Kyodo)

In the early years of the 21st century, such neologisms as nyū puā (new poor) and wākingu puā (working poor) began appearing in the Japanese media. Like their equivalents overseas, the terms were typically applied to people unable to realize a decent livelihood while holding down a job, or even more than one job. (Japan Times)

North Korea released a statement Dec. 7 that clearly relished a cyber attack on Sony Pictures, which is producing an upcoming film that depicts an assassination plot against Pyongyang's supreme leader. (Asahi)

Miyagi Prefecture Police said they arrested a 31-year-old woman from Aoba Ward, Sendai, on Tuesday on suspicion of killing her 4-month-old daughter. (Japan Times)

Fitch Ratings said Tuesday that it has placed its A plus sovereign credit rating on Japan under negative watch for a potential downgrade, citing the country's delay in a consumption tax rate hike. (Jiji Press)

Calling the biopic of American Olympic runner Louis Zamperini, who spent two years in Japanese POW camp, 'a pure fabrication,' nationalists say that the war hero's account of torture at the hands of his captor has never been verified. (nydailynews.com)

Police have arrested a Chinese man on suspicion of illegally accessing a server operated by NTT Communications Corp.'s Internet service provider OCN, it was learned Tuesday. (The Japan News)

The proportion of obese adult men has remained almost unchanged in recent years in Japan, a survey by the health ministry revealed Tuesday. (Jiji Press)

Struggling Skymark Airlines Inc. is planning to seek assistance from All Nippon Airways Co. in the form of code-sharing and other tie-ups, sources familiar with the matter said Tuesday. (Kyodo)

Tokyo shares closed down 2.25 percent on Wednesday following a sell-off across global markets, while a stronger yen pressured exporters. (brecorder.com)

Yuka Suzuki, 47, has virtually no savings, earns about half the average national wage and cannot see where the money will come from to retire one day. (Japan Times)

Police in Tokyo have arrested a 65-year-old man after he brandished a kitchen knife at staff at the NTT Docomo headquarters located in Chiyoda Ward on Tuesday. (Japan Today)

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