News On Japan

Kanagawa prefectural police said Thursday they have arrested a 34-year-old man over the murder of his 26-year-old ex-girlfriend whose body was found in the Sagami River in Hiratsuka last November. (Japan Today)

The number of people who committed suicide in Japan in 2014 fell for the fifth straight year, returning to the level before the financial crisis in the late 1990s, preliminary data from the National Police Agency showed Thursday. (Jiji Press)

An economic partnership agreement between Japan and Australia takes effect on Thursday, with Australia becoming the first major farm produce exporter to have an EPA with Japan. (Jiji Press)

Tokyo stocks have jumped 1.86 per cent after two days of losses, as the yen retreated against the US dollar, boosting major exporters. (dailytelegraph.com.au)

The Bank of Japan said Thursday that a moderate recovery remains underway in all regional economies, upholding previous upbeat assessments because of the expectation that cheaper oil will spur consumption. ()

Upon the U.S. government's request, a speech delivered by Prime Minister Eisaku Sato during his visit to Okinawa in 1965 was revised beforehand to stress the importance of the island in terms of security, according to diplomatic documents disclosed by the Foreign Ministry on Thursday. (The Japan News)

Tokyo police have disclosed for the first time records of police communications immediately after the 1995 sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system. (NHK)

An industry ministry panel has compiled a report calling for the nation's retail gas market to be liberalized by around 2017. (The Japan News)

Honda Motor Co. took the wraps off its Acura NSX supercar production model at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit on Monday. (The Japan News)

Tokyo police are asking foreign visitors arriving at Haneda Airport to help step up security following the terror attacks in France. (NHK)

Southern All Stars vocalist Keisuke Kuwata, leader of the legendary pop rock band, offered an apology Thursday for performances at the end of last year that were widely taken as a swipe at Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. (Japan Times)

The health ministry has frozen fiscal 2014 grants-in-aid to Gunma University Hospital amid an uproar over the deaths of eight patients who underwent laparoscopic liver surgery at the Maebashi-based facility, ministry sources said. (The Japan News)

Large numbers of fish have been found dead at Kasai Rinkai Aquarium in Tokyo. Aquarium officials said they have not yet been able to identify the cause of death. (Japan Today)

Police in Fussa, Tokyo, said Thursday they have arrested a 21-year-old man after he stomped on an 11-year-old boy, breaking his leg, in a park. (Japan Today)

The "47 ronin" samurai who inspired the long-loved saga of loyalty and honor eulogized in films, books and plays are fighting a new kind of battle in urban Japan. (AP)

An outbreak of highly pathogenic bird flu has been confirmed in the western Japan prefecture of Okayama, prefectural government officials said Thursday. (Jiji Press)

More than 20 people, including several foreigners, were missing Friday after a tugboat sank on the Yangtze River in eastern China, the state-run Xinhua News Agency said. (Japan Today)

Authorities in Okayama Prefecture, western Japan, are slaughtering about 200,000 chickens at a poultry farm after the H5 strain of bird flu was confirmed there. (NHK)

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe left Tokyo on Friday morning for the Middle East. Abe will meet the leaders of Egypt, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories during his 6-day tour. (NHK)

One of the three former AUM Shinrikyo cult members arrested in 2012 after 17 years on the run pleaded not guilty Friday to charges related to the group's 1995 deadly sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system. (Kyodo)

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