News On Japan

Rents on newly constructed office buildings in Tokyo have climbed for the first time in two years thanks to improving business sentiment driving office expansion. (Nikkei)

For most parents the harrowing sound of a baby crying is one they could probably do without. But for competitors at the 400-year-old Naki Zumo festival in Japan, the more sobs your little one can muster, the better. (dailymail.co.uk)

A survey by a leading Japanese advertising agency suggests that one out of 13 respondents can be classified as sexual minorities. (NHK)

Japan launched a major push at the United Nations on Tuesday to rally support for its drive to settle lingering questions over the decades-old abductions of Japanese nationals by North Korea. (zeenews)

An evacuation order has been issued around the Owakudani area of Mount Hakone. (NHK)

Australia wants Japan to help it develop a new fleet of submarines. Australian Defense Minister Kevin Andrews asked his Japanese counterpart Wednesday to join the $20 billion project in a 15-minute phone call that took place at the request of Australia, according to the Japan Times. (ibtimes.com)

Japanese officials are warning of a possible minor volcanic eruption in Hakone, a hot spring resort town near Tokyo. (NHK)

Japan's experiment module Kibo (Hope), which has been in operation on the International Space Station since 2008, will be equipped with new research devices this year, including one that will observe dark matter (See below), a substance considered to be one of the greatest mysteries in physics. (The Japan News)

A zoo in southwestern Japan was forced to backpedal on its announcement Wednesday that it will name a baby Japanese monkey "Charlotte" in honor of the newborn British princess after protests that the move is disrespectful to the royal family. (Kyodo)

Toyota Motor Corp. said Friday its group operating profit for the business year to March 31 rose 20.0 percent year-on-year to a record 2.75 trillion yen ($22.93 billion), topping the previous all-time high of 2.29 trillion yen set the previous year, due in part to the yen's depreciation. (Kyodo)

Tokyo stocks rose 0.45 percent Friday after Wall Street rallied and the yen eased on hopes for a solid US jobs report, while Nintendo shares surged on better-than-expected earnings. (brecorder.com)

A group of experts says faults under a nuclear reactor compound in Fukui Prefecture are unlikely to become active. (NHK)

A scientist says volcanic gas venting near Owakudani at Mount Hakone contains more carbon dioxide than before the latest seismic activities began. (NHK)

Visitors at a zoo in Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan, can now watch twin giant panda cubs outside their cage. (NHK)

An 86-year-old Japanese woman who allegedly carried on cashing her parents' pension for half a century after they died has been arrested, police in Ena, Gifu Prefecture, said Friday. (Japan Today)

Drinking glasses with a 3-D image of Mount Fuji carved into the base have created a buzz at home and abroad. (Asahi)

A large concrete slab was found on a farm road after it came loose and fell from an elevated bridge used for the Tohoku Shinkansen in Osaki, Miyagi Prefecture, police said Friday. No one was injured and train services were not disrupted. (Japan Today)

Foreign nationals account for some 80 pct of students at Japan's public nighttime junior high schools, an education ministry survey showed Friday. (Jiji Press)

The Japanese government withdrew a plan Thursday to disclose draft clauses of a proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership multilateral free trade agreement to Japanese lawmakers. (Jiji Press)

The body of a woman in her 30s and a newborn baby girl were found in the parking lot of an apartment building in Tokyo's Meguro Ward on Friday morning, police said, adding that the woman apparently jumped from an exterior stairwell. (Japan Today)

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