News On Japan

A policeman apparently committed suicide in a koban in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, police officials said Sunday. (Japan Today)

Authorities in southwestern Japan say they have found the H5 strain of bird flu virus in chickens at a local poultry farm. (NHK)

A Japanese man in his 30s in Tokyo is being tested for possible Ebola infection after he developed a fever early Monday following his return to Japan from Sierra Leone earlier this month, the health ministry said Monday. (Japan Times)

Japan on Monday ordered the slaughter of some 42,000 chickens after officials confirmed the country's second bird flu outbreak in less than a month. (Japan Today)

Police on Monday arrested a 57-year-old man over the death of a 59-year-old woman in her apartment in Koganei, Tokyo. (Japan Today)

A small fire broke out inside the Yasukuni Shrine compound in Tokyo on Wednesday and police arrested a 25-year-old man in connection with the incident. (Japan Times)

With as many as five rocket launches scheduled, 2015 is set to be one of the busiest years ever at the Tanegashima Space Center. (Japan Times)

When millions of Japanese get their customary New Year's greeting cards on Thursday, the sheep that's on the postage stamps will have finished knitting the scarf it began 12 years ago. (Japan Today)

Japan's population slid for the 8th straight year in 2014, marking the sharpest decline after World War Two. (NHK)

Visitors at a hot spring resort at the foot of Mount Fuji had the rare pleasure of seeing Japan's highest peak bathed in the glow of the year's first sunrise. (NHK)

Major convenience store chains hope to take a bite out of the nation's doughnut market in 2015, which at present is 90 percent controlled by Duskin Co.'s Mister Donut. (Japan Times)

Strong gusts and heavy snowstorms hit many parts of Japan for the New Year with the Japan Meteorological Agency predicting that unstable weather conditions would continue until Saturday. (Japan Today)

A 19-year-old male student at Sundai Prep School in Tokyo has been arrested and charged with attempted murder after he stabbed a fellow classmate with a kitchen knife. (Japan Today)

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in a New Year's message on Thursday, underscored his determination to push ahead with reforms of the nation in 2015. (Jiji Press)

Japan's Emperor wishes the coming year will bring happiness to the people of Japan and the world. (NHK)

An 18-year-old Korean man drowned after jumping into the Dotombori River during New Year's Eve celebrations early Thursday. (Japan Today)

In a land where service is king, a few big retailers are committing lèse-majesté. They are replacing checkout clerks with machines. (Wall Street Journal)

As Japan tries to mobilize underemployed workers and revitalize business outside major city centers like Tokyo and Osaka, crowdsourcing - the allocation of tasks to remote workers online - may become a valuable tool. (Japan Times)

Six people were taken to hospitals in the Tokyo area on Thursday after choking on "mochi" rice cakes, the Tokyo Fire Department said Friday. Two of them later died. (Japan Today)

A growing number of private junior high schools are introducing English testing in their entrance examinations in anticipation of the language being emphasized in elementary schools in coming years to improve students' conversation ability. (Asahi)

Latest Images