News On Japan

Toyota Motor Corporation says it will return to the World Rally Championship in 2017 for the first time in 18 years. (NHK)

A Japanese woman who was helping a Fuji TV crew covering the Japanese hostage situation was killed in a traffic accident near the Turkey-Syria border on Thursday. (Japan Today)

Police in Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture, have arrested seven 17-year-old youths over the attack on five other youngsters who had been riding bikes and listening to music last October. (Japan Today)

Manga giant Katsuhiro Otomo won the Grand Prix Award at the prestigious Angouleme International Comics Festival on Jan. 29, marking the first time that a Japanese creator took the event's top honor. (Asahi)

Sapporo Breweries Ltd. has asked the National Tax Agency to return Y11.5 billion of extra liquor tax it paid last year over the categorization of its "Goku Zero" popular beer-like product, it was learned Friday. (The Japan News)

Japan has offered to import more rice from the United States in response to strident calls from Washington to make a concession toward concluding Pacific Rim free trade talks, negotiation sources said Friday. (Kyodo)

Snow blankets houses in Tokyo's Arakawa Ward on Friday morning. (The Japan News)

The Aichi Prefectural Police said Friday that the 19-year-old Nagoya University student who has admitted killing a 77-year-old woman last month apparently used her cellphone to take pictures of the victim's corpse. (Japan Times)

The number of public school teachers who were penalized for corporal punishment of students reached a record high of 3,953 in the last academic year, the education ministry announced Friday. (The Japan News)

The fates of Japanese journalist Kenji Goto and Jordanian Air Force pilot Muath al-Kasaesbeh remain unknown after a deadline purportedly set by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) for the release of would-be suicide bomber Sajida al-Rishawi in exchange for Goto passed at sunset Thursday. (The Japan News)

The University of Tsukuba, one of the selected universities for the Japanese Government's "Top Global University Project", is holding a kick-off symposium on February 14-15 at the Toranomon Hills Forum in Tokyo. (Japan Today)

Thousands of hungry people are enjoying a local delicacy at a festival in Ishikawa Prefecture. (NHK)

Asians who crossed land bridges into today's Ryukyu Islands more than 30,000 years ago encountered plenty of game. In addition to deer and boar, they hunted elephant and steppe bison until the larger mammals were hunted to extinction in Japan about 17,000 years ago. (Japan Times)

Officials at Japan's Meteorological Agency are warning that a snowstorm could be heading for the eastern coast of Hokkaido as a low pressure system developing off the coast lashes the region with powerful winds. (NHK)

Police in Kinokawa, Wakayama Prefecture, have arrested a 32-year-old woman for abusing her 10-year-old son by using a hot lighter to burn his buttocks and other parts of his body. (Japan Today)

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Feb. 1 condemned the apparent killing of journalist Kenji Goto by Islamic State, vowing to work with other nations to bring those responsible to justice. (Asahi)

The White House said Saturday that U.S. analysts were working to authenticate a purported Islamic State video showing the apparent beheading of Japanese hostage Kenji Goto. (voanews.com)

Taxi app Uber on Thursday launched a pilot ride-sharing service in one Japanese city, its latest bid to take on the transport industry around the world. (Japan Today)

The net population inflow to the Tokyo metropolitan region in 2014 increased for the third straight year, accelerating population concentration in the region, the government said Thursday. (Kyodo)

Many of you might have fond memories of summers spent cooling off on a backyard water slide (and possibly not-so-fond memories of friction burns). (rocketnews24.com)

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