News On Japan

The Japan Football Association will make a formal offer to former Algeria coach Vahid Halilhodzic, a source confirmed on Friday. (Kyodo)

Kyushu Railway Co. (JR Kyushu) plans to start a "sweet train" service this summer that will serve custom-made confectioneries on a restored train from the Meiji Era (1868-1912). (Asahi)

Recovering demand in the U.S. and other foreign markets is driving up Japan's output, especially as the weak yen finally starts to benefit businesses here by bolstering profits on exports. (Nikkei)

Aya Ueto, 29, was Japan's TV commercial queen for 2014, according to Video Research Co. The actress had the most air time in the Kanto, Kansai and other areas. (Japan Today)

Once again, Japanese snack company Calbee is teaming up with the world's most famous fast food fried chicken outfit. (Japan Today)

All 300 units of a newly developed robot offered by major Japanese telecom operator Softbank have sold out. The human-like robot can talk and read human expressions. (NHK)

Police in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, say a man in his 20s killed his 58-year-old mother, called 110 to admit what he had done and then bit his tongue, seriously injuring himself. (Japan Today)

Organizers of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics have drawn up a basic plan to be used as guidelines to prepare for the events. (NHK)

Health authorities ordered the Japanese unit of Novartis AG to shut down most operations for 15 days in March, saying the drug maker failed to report side effects from its products in a timely fashion. (wsj.com)

The Duke of Cambridge was transformed into a samurai warlord when he visited the set of a long-running Japanese drama. (westernmorningnews.co.uk)

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe joined Britain's Prince William on a visit to Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan, on Saturday. (NHK)

Japan's banking industry looks to enter a new stage of its history in June, when all of the nation's five megabank groups will have finished repaying the public bailout funds they received from the government. (The Japan News)

Defense Minister Gen Nakatani has called for legislation that would enable Japan's Self-Defense Forces to go to the rescue of Japanese nationals outside the country. (NHK)

A 57-year-old man being investigated on a charge of possession of illegal drugs, who escaped from police by stealing a taxi in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, on Feb 6, has turned himself in a police station. (Japan Today)

Toto plans to install its latest toilets at Narita Airport in April, hoping that foreigners will tell people about their experience when they get back home. (Nikkei)

Japanese actress Rei Dan has been appointed an international goodwill ambassador for Japanese cuisine ("washoku"). Her mission is to spread appreciation for the many charms of "washoku," the agriculture ministry said. (Japan Today)

Major businesses in the country will begin Sunday their recruitment processes for university students who are due to graduate in spring 2016. (The Japan News)

Japan and South Korea need to become more mature partners over the next 50 years and work together to write a new history, South Korean President Park Geun-hye said in a speech on Sunday. (Jiji Press)

Kyoto University Prof. Shinya Yamanaka stressed his efforts toward greater clinical use of the induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells he created, while Nagoya University Prof. Hiroshi Amano described potential uses of light-emitting diode (LED) technologies in the medical field at the Nobel Prize Dialogue Tokyo 2015 on Sunday. (The Japan News)

Japan is one of the world's richest countries but one in six Japanese children now live in poverty - one of the worst rates in the industrialised world. (ABC)

Latest Images