News On Japan

In an annual year-end event, the 10 most memorable words and phrases of the year in Japan were announced on Tuesday. (NHK)

Eleven people in Fukushima Prefecture aged 18 or younger at the time of the 2011 triple meltdown were recently diagnosed with thyroid cancer, bringing the number of confirmed cases to 115 since the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. (Asahi)

The Metropolitan Police Department on Tuesday filed criminal papers against three men, including a 30-year-old company employee of Tahara, Aichi Prefecture, on suspicion of obstructing business of a Tokyo-based law office by rewriting facility names on Google Maps. (Japan Times)

A memorial ceremony was held Wednesday to mark the third anniversary of the Sasago Tunnel collapse that killed nine people in Yamanashi Prefecture, eastern Japan. (Jiji Press)

Prince Mikasa, the youngest brother of Emperor Showa, turned 100 on Dec. 2, the first imperial family member on record to become a centenarian, according to Imperial Household Agency officials. (Asahi)

Railway workers in Japan have devised an ingenious scheme to prevent daredevil turtles from meeting a grisly end-and delaying trains-while crossing train tracks. (Japan Today)

Nissan Motor Co. has discussed countermeasures against France's efforts to expand its influence over the management of the Japanese automaker's French partner Renault SA, it was learned Tuesday. (The Japan News)

The Japanese government will halve the fixed asset tax for up to five years for farmers who lease farmland via so-called farmland banks, government officials said Wednesday. (Jiji Press)

Japan's largest oil distributor JX Holdings Inc. has broadly agreed to merge with rival TonenGeneral Sekiyu K.K., sources close to the deal said Wednesday, in a further push for refinery consolidation amid falling demand for oil products. (Kyodo)

Police in Narita, Chiba Prefecture, have arrested a 23-year-old woman on suspicion of abandoning the corpse of her newborn baby in a paper bag last month. (Japan Today)

Malfunctions plaguing JR East's much-awaited new train, touted as the embodiment of its technological prowess, cast doubt on the railway operator's long-term growth strategy and overseas ambitions. (Nikkei)

An international exhibition of state-of-the-art robots opened on Wednesday in Tokyo. (NHK)

Police arrested three Sri Lankan and four Japanese men Wednesday on suspicion of kidnapping a Sri Lankan man living in Kanagawa Prefecture to force his brother to pay the victim's debt. (Japan Today)

Aching from severe labor shortages, Japanese retail, food service and construction companies are actively hiring foreigners from other Asian countries as interns, with help from regulatory changes that took effect earlier this year. (Nikkei)

Police in Shibukawa City, Gunma Prefecture, are looking for a man who stole 220,000 yen from a Mos Burger store. (Japan Today)

The Great Buddha of Nara, a 15-meter-high statue listed among Japan's national treasures, has only 492 spiraling curls of hair on its bronze head, not the 966 locks described in ancient documents, new research indicates. (Japan Times)

Tokyo Metropolitan Police this week busted a massage parlor staffed with Chinese attendants in the Akihabara area for licensing violations, reports TBS News (Dec. 3). (Tokyo Reporter)

The Japanese and Philippine governments signed a loan agreement worth up to 242 billion yen ($1.95 billion) for a railway development project on Nov. 27 in Manila. This is Japan's biggest single outlay of official development assistance. (Nikkei)

A Japanese philanthropic organization says a failure to address child poverty in Japan will likely cost the country's economy about 33 billion dollars. (NHK)

The Defense Ministry has launched a full-fledged study on introducing a state-of-the-art U.S. missile defense system to guard against ballistic missiles from North Korea, it was learned Thursday. (Japan Times)

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