News On Japan

An Osaka police officer arrested in January on suspicion of murdering his mistress has told investigators he impulsively choked her after she found out he was married, investigative sources said Friday. (Japan Times)

Japanese ruling party executive Toshihiro Nikai and South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Friday agreed on the need to resolve the thorny bilateral issue of so-called comfort women. (Jiji Press)

Women jostled feverishly Friday in stores to buy Valentine's Day chocolates for the men in their lives - guys who do sweet nothing in return. (Japan Times)

An Indian tour guide accused of drugging and raping a Japanese woman this week in the northern city of Jaipur turned himself in to police on Friday, an officer said. (Japan Today)

Reserved seats on the first train on the extended Hokuriku shinkansen line, which will go into operation on March 14, sold out at in 25 seconds on Saturday. (Japan Today)

Shiga Prefectural Police on Saturday announced the arrest of the daughter of a woman whose corpse was found over a week ago floating in Lake Biwa in Otsu City, reports the Asahi Shimbun (Feb. 14). (Tokyo Reporter)

This is something of a surprise actually, and it's also an interesting indicator of just how fast economic growth can be. Average wages in South Korea are now higher than they are in Japan. (forbes.com)

Nissan Motor Co. has reported that Japan now has more places to charge electric vehicles than gas stations. ()

Japanese listed companies this fiscal year are expected to pay a record 7.4309 trillion yen ($61.9 billion) in stock dividends, up 520 billion yen from the previous record of 6.9027 trillion yen, reached last fiscal year. (Nikkei)

In Thomas Piketty's bestseller, "Capital in the Twenty-First Century", Japan appears as another rich country in which wealth is becoming ever more concentrated. (businessinsider.com)

The Defense Ministry confirmed on Friday that it would soon sign a defense cooperation treaty with Japan. (thejakartapost.com)

Japan may be the country with the fewest vacation days in the world. According to a recent poll by the labor ministry, in fiscal 2013 Japanese workers used less than half of their annual leave, taking only nine of the average 18.5 paid vacation days that they are entitled to. Around 16 percent of workers took no holidays at all. (Japan Times)

Boeing Co (BA.N) has won a contract valued at $403 million to upgrade four 767-based airborne warning and control aircraft for the government of Japan, the Pentagon said in its daily list of major contract awards on Friday. (Reuters)

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has paid his first visit of the year to areas in northeastern Japan hit by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. (NHK)

The Japanese and South Korean governments plan to terminate their bilateral currency swap arrangement, which is designed to help each other in case of emergency such as a financial crisis, informed sources said Saturday. (Jiji Press)

Japan's foreign ministry officials say authorities in Iraq's Kurdish autonomous region detained a Japanese man for several days earlier this month. (NHK)

Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Saturday evening arrested Yudai Hikichi, 25, for allegedly strangling his girlfriend to death inside the apartment they shared in Setagaya Ward, reports Nippon News Network (Feb. 15). (Tokyo Reporter)

Japan's economy likely rebounded from recession in the final quarter of last year, data on Monday is set to show, giving a much needed boost to premier Shinzo Abe's efforts to steer the country out of decades of stagnation. (Reuters)