News On Japan

Police on Wednesday arrested a 42-year-old man in connection with the deaths of his parents, who were found fatally stabbed the day before in a factory the family ran in Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture. (Japan Times)

The principal of a school in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, has apologized after a teacher buried five newborn kittens, four of which were still alive, on school grounds. (Japan Today)

The two names of what appears to be Japanese are on the boarding list of a Germanwings airplane that crashed in southeastern France Tuesday, according to the Japanese consulate general in Barcelona. (Jiji Press)

Foreign tourists will find this city's prized Himeji Castle significantly more accommodating with the addition of more signs, tour plans and free Wi-Fi service. (Asahi)

A bonsai museum in Tokyo's outskirts is enjoying a popularity boom among foreign visitors. (NHK)

Asian Development Bank President Takehiko Nakao said Wednesday that jointly funding projects with a planned Chinese-led Asian development bank is one way to form a "complementary relationship." (Kyodo)

The Fukuoka High Court ruled Wednesday that the December 2014 general election was unconstitutional due to a disparity in the weight of votes between districts, making it the first such judgment in a series of similar lawsuits filed with high courts nationwide. (Kyodo)

A nesting ground of Bryan's shearwaters, a rare seabird species once believed extinct, was found for the first time in the world on an uninhabited island nearly 1,000 kilometers south of Tokyo, researchers said. (Asahi)

Facing a damaged brand, an aging society and fierce competition from convenience stores, McDonald's Holdings (Japan) hopes to revive its fortunes with a new chief operating officer who started at the bottom. (Nikkei)

An expert panel of the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) has concluded again that a fracture zone running just below the No. 2 reactor of the Tsuruga nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture is an active fault. (The Japan News)

A five-year-old boy drowned in a pond five years after his older sister drowned in the same pond in Mitoyo, Kagawa Prefecture. (Japan Today)

Two Japanese biologists won the 2015 Canada Gairdner International Awards, a prestigious prize in the medical and life science fields, the Gairdner Foundation has announced. ()

Officials at Japan's space agency have launched a rocket carrying an imaging satellite to gather intelligence for national security purposes. (NHK)

Candidates in 10 gubernatorial elections across Japan have launched campaigns in a series of contests that are expected to hinge on measures to boost the economy and revive dwindling regional communities. (NHK)

Police reported a record-high 28,923 minors aged below 18 to child welfare authorities as suspected victims of child abuse in 2014, up 33.9 percent from a year earlier, the National Police Agency said Thursday. (Kyodo)

To help improve taxi services for the growing number of visitors to Japan from overseas, Osaka taxi organizations have launched a study involving 10 drivers proficient in foreign languages, with their overseas passengers asked to evaluate the cab service in Osaka. (The Japan News)

Apple Inc. will establish a technology development facility at a former Panasonic Corp. plant site in Yokohama. (The Japan News)

The Foreign Ministry plans to introduce a system in which the arbitration entities of Japan and other countries will cooperate in meeting the demands of parents overseas, such as in the return of, and meeting with, their children in international child custody disputes. (The Japan News)

Lee Dong Cheol, 61, and an employee of his trading firm were arrested by the Kyoto, Kanagawa, Shimane and Yamaguchi prefectural police departments on Thursday for allegedly importing North Korean matsutake mushrooms under the pretense that they were Chinese ones. (The Japan News)

The assembly of Tokyo's Shibuya Ward is expected to pass an ordinance next week acknowledging same-sex partnerships as equivalent to marriage, after a bill for the ordinance was approved at a committee meeting Thursday. (Jiji Press)

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