News On Japan

Tokyo stocks plummeted on Monday, with the Nikkei index seeing its biggest points drop this year, as a Greek debt default looked likely this week following the collapse of eleventh-hour talks over the weekend. (Kyodo)

Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries plans to establish a system to certify the skills of chefs who cook Japanese food abroad. (Jiji Press)

Japan's sports minister Hakubun Shimomura says the reconstruction of the main stadium for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics will cost 2 billion dollars, 700 million dollars more than the initial estimate. (NHK)

Police have arrested a 20-year-old university student who drove his motorbike into a pedestrian mall on Sunday, running over a young boy. (Japan Today)

Local authorities are urging climbers to bring helmets to protect themselves against a possible eruption of Mount Fuji after the season to ascend the nation's highest peak opens on July 1. (Asahi)

Wagering on its proximity to Tokyo's gateway airport, the operators of the publicly run horse track in Shinagawa Ward are touting its nighttime racing to woo more foreign tourists through the gates. (Asahi)

Head lice infestations - which often cause severe itching - have been spreading among nursery school and primary school pupils. (The Japan News)

An intensive investigation involving about 50 police officers has revealed the culprit in the vandalism of about 40 cars in the Higashi-Izumo area of Matsue this spring. Crows. (The Japan News)

Honda Motor plans to make English the official language for international communications within the company around 2020, the automaker said in a report Monday. (Nikkei)

Public contrition has long been an art in Japan, and this past month has offered a great opportunity to study the form. June has seen a sudden rash of apologies from top chief operating officers (including the bosses of Toshiba, Sharp, Takata and Toyota) and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. (Japan Times)

Prince Akishino and Princess Kiko marked their 25th wedding anniversary on Monday, expressing appreciation to each other in a statement. (The Japan News)

A group of Japanese media representatives has issued a statement of protest against recent remarks by lawmakers. (NHK)

Two boys aged 3 and 4 were hit by a train in Showacho, Yamanashi Prefecture, on Monday afternoon. (Japan Today)

Salarymen's allowances have fallen to their lowest level in 33 years even as the cost of lunch has surged, showing the pinch felt by workers that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is counting on to drive a recovery in the economy. (Japan Times)

Tokyo stocks have gained 0.63 per cent, rebounding after sharp losses in the previous session as investors brace for an expected Greek default later in the day. (tradingroom.com.au)

Two passengers on a Japanese Shinkansen bullet train have died after one of them doused himself in oil and set himself ablaze, local media is reporting. (abc.net.au)

Japan's Suzuki Motor has chosen a new president. (NHK)

Japan's debts are expected to reach about 1,035 trillion yen, or nearly 8.5 trillion dollars, at the end of next March. (NHK)

Tottori Prefecture's population of just over half a million is shockingly small by densely-populated Japan's standards, and it's just generally ignored by the rest of Japan as a place that, well… doesn't have much to see, to put it kindly. (rocketnews24.com)

Japanese electronics giant Sony says it will raise up to 440 billion yen, or about 3.6 billion dollars, by issuing new shares and bonds to invest in its fast-growing image sensor business. (NHK)

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