News On Japan

Police have arrested a 41-year-old Buddhist monk for using his smartphone to film up the skirt of a 16-year-old girl as she was on an escalator at JR Odawara Station in Kanagawa Prefecture. (Japan Today)

Weather officials in Kagoshima city, southwestern Japan, say cherry blossoms have bloomed in the city -- the first of the season anywhere in the country. (NHK)

Yokozuna Hakuho extended his Emperor's Cup record to 34 by defeating fellow yokozuna Harumafuji on the final day of the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament at Bodymaker Colosseum on March 22. (Asahi)

Climbers tackling Japan's highest peak Mount Fuji will be urged to wear a helmet and goggles, authorities said on Wednesday, after more than 60 people died when a nearby volcano erupted without warning last year. (news24.com)

The opening ceremony for this year's National Cherry Blossom Festival was held in Washington on Saturday, attracting some 2,000 people. (Jiji Press)

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko have met former Japanese soldiers who survived a fierce battle on the Pacific island of Peleliu during World War Two. (NHK)

The government has drafted an emergency action plan to prepare for a major earthquake in the Nankai Trough running south of Japan's mainland, forecast to cause massive damage along a wide swath of the country facing the Pacific Ocean, sources close to the plan said Sunday. (Kyodo)

Japan's Nikkei share average rose to a fresh 15-year high on Monday, tracking gains in U.S. shares, while Eisai Co jumped 21 percent after a brokerage upgraded the stock, citing the effectiveness of its drug to treat Alzheimer's disease. (Reuters)

World leaders are paying tribute to the late Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters on Monday that Lee was Singapore's founding father and a great leader who established the foundation for the country's prosperity today. (NHK)

Police in Kofu, Yamanashi Prefecture, have arrested a 54-year-old high school teacher for driving under the influence of alcohol. (Japan Today)

KYOTO - "Find a good marriage partner for me," "Let me succeed in an entrance exam" and "I wish for the well-being of my family" are all wishes people write on ema, small wooden votive tablets. An array of ema bearing these, and many other, hopes are hung at temples and shrines around the nation. (The Japan News)

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will visit the United States between April 26 and May 3, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Monday. (Jiji Press)

Japanese government officials say business output and profits are improving. They've upgraded their take on the nation's economy for the first time in 8 months. (NHK)

The Justice Ministry will next month drastically relax the residency criteria for foreign nationals who establish and run companies in Japan. (The Japan News)

The Hyogo Prefectural Assembly has adopted an ordinance requiring bicycle riders to buy liability insurance so compensation can be provided for injuries and deaths resulting from their bicycle rides. (The Japan News)

The Okinawa prefectural government has instructed the Defense Ministry to suspend underwater work at the planned relocation site for a key U.S. military base in a coastal area of Nago in the island prefecture, the governor said Monday. (Kyodo)

A Japanese court has handed down a suspended prison sentence for the captain of a Chinese fishing boat for illegally taking coral in Japanese territorial waters. (NHK)

Three Japanese victims of the terror attack in Tunisia last Wednesday are on the way home. (NHK)

Wakayama City's Crisis Management Division had a bit of a crisis themselves recently as their director Takashi Yamada stepped down after being arrested for possession of a 9cm-long (3.5inch) knife which he had used to peel some fruit earlier in the day. (rocketnews24.com)

Forty-one kinds of animals and plants will be newly designated as national endangered species, the Environment Ministry announced on Monday. (The Japan News)

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