News On Japan

Japan's Nikkei share average dropped to its lowest in more than a week on Friday after weaker-than-expected U.S. housing data soured the mood, and investors awaited Japanese corporate results coming out from next week. (thehindubusinessline.com)

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Okinawa Gov. Takeshi Onaga on Friday remained apart over the planned relocation of a U.S. air base within the island prefecture. (Kyodo)

Sony’s hacking problems aren’t over yet. Whistleblower site WikiLeaks put hundreds of thousands of emails and documents from last year’s crippling cyberattack against Sony Pictures Entertainment into a searchable online archive on Thursday. (Japan Times)

A 58-year-old man working at a sewage plant in Tokyo fell into a giant 17-meter deep tank on Friday morning. (Japan Today)

A Liberal Democratic Party panel on Friday questioned executives of TV Asahi Corp. and Japan Broadcasting Corp., or NHK, about popular news shows. (Jiji Press)

Time magazine has named two Japanese among its list of the world's 100 most influential people of 2015: novelist Haruki Murakami and Marie Kondo, an organizing consultant whose book introducing her art of tidying up became a best-seller. (NHK)

Investigators have found 7.85 million passwords, credit card numbers and other pieces of stolen personal information on an Internet server seized last year from a Tokyo-based firm that provided proxy servers for Chinese users, Tokyo police said Friday. (Japan Times)

Police in Tatebayashi, Gunma Prefecture, are investigating the murder of an 84-year-old woman whose body was found in the Tatara River on April 15. She had a plastic bag over her head and a scarf pulled tightly around her neck when she was found. (Japan Today)

As you might have heard, that little indie film Star Wars is getting a squeal or something like that. And, like Pokemon and Hello Kitty before it, the franchise is getting its own themed plane with the R2-D2 jet, set to start flying international routes this fall. (rocketnews24.com)

Consumer confidence in Japan improved in March for the fourth straight month. (NHK)

Samsung Electronics will no longer put its name on the Galaxy smartphones it sells in Japan. (Nikkei)

A group of 27 women in Tokyo and nearby prefectures on Friday sued Kanebo Cosmetics Inc. at Tokyo District Court for damages totaling 487 million yen for skin problems caused by Kanebo products. (Jiji Press)

Japan's government says the country's population continues to decrease and become grayer. (NHK)

A British couple who tied the knot at a Kyoto shrine have become the first to receive a memorial marriage certificate from the city, under a newly created program to attract more foreign visitors. (Asahi)

Tokio Marine Holdings, one of Japan's oldest insurers, is joining its Chinese peers in investing in property overseas - but with a twist. (independent.ie)

Tokyo Metropolitan Police arrested a boss of the Yamaguchi-gumi organized crime group for the repeated extortion of a 49-year-old IT executive, reports the Sankei Shimbun. (Tokyo Reporter)

Environment ministry guidelines for trail running (see below) rules have been introduced at national parks amid a growing number of problems and complaints resulting from the sport. (The Japan News)

Sri Lanka and Japan plan to formulate and sign a Free Trade Agreement between the two countries to enhance bilateral trade. (colombopage.com)

Japan must repeatedly say sorry to China, Korea and the other countries it invaded in the 20th century until its former victims have heard enough, says novelist Haruki Murakami. (shanghaiist.com)

AONE, Japan - In the historic wooden schoolhouse here, decked out in the kind of bright artwork done by kids the world over, there are two classrooms, each containing three desks that sit marooned in the middle of a space made for many more. At break time, a boy kicks a soccer ball around the yard by himself. (washingtonpost.com)

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