News On Japan

Every weekday morning, millions of American kids wake up and go to school, usually under the watchful eye of an adult. But in Japan, children are expected to make the journey alone. (cbsnews.com)

Three sites in Japan have been added to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization's list of areas having traditional farming systems that should be inherited to future generations, Japan's Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry said Tuesday. (Jiji Press)

An advisory panel to the Japanese government on Wednesday recommended lowering monthly smartphone charges to 5,000 yen or less for light users of data communications. (Jiji Press)

Homare Sawa, former FIFA Women's World Player of the Year, announced her retirement from soccer on Wednesday. (Japan Times)

Japan and the United States have held a disaster drill focusing on a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier at a US naval base in the city of Yokosuka, near Tokyo. (NHK)

Police sent to public prosecutors Wednesday an unauthorized minpaku (lodging) case in which rented rooms were allegedly used as inexpensive accommodations for a large number of Chinese tourists in Kyoto earlier this year. (Japan Times)

Tokyo police say they are making progress in questioning a South Korean man arrested in connection with the minor explosion at Yasukuni Shrine. They say the man has begun to admit to planting some kind of device at the site. (NHK)

Japan's Supreme Court has ruled that one of the country's longstanding Civil Code provisions regarding marriage is unconstitutional. The ruling is the first of its kind by the court. (NHK)

Bankruptcy proceedings are set to begin for the former AIJ Investment Advisors, the Tokyo firm that became infamous nearly four years ago for losing tens of billions of yen in individuals' retirement savings. (Nikkei)

A working group under the Financial System Council has compiled a draft proposal on regulations for virtual currencies that are traded on the Internet, informed sources said Wednesday. (Japan Times)

Individuals opening their private homes for travelers is nothing new to Japan. During the Edo Period (1615-1868), travelers such as the famed Matsuo Basho, on his journey to the far north, made use of the minpaku system. (Japan Times)

Udon-smooth white noodles made of wheat flour-is not only the signature product of Kagawa but something very special for the western Japanese prefecture. Local people eat twice the volume of the noodles than the national average and the local newspaper has "udon" as an independent section along with other sections such as "weather" and "sports" on its website. (Japan Today)

The estimated number of visitors to Japan totaled 17,964,400 between January and November, up 47.5 percent from the same period last year, the Japan National Tourism Organization said Wednesday. (the-japan-news.com)

Police arrested an 18-year-old man in Yokohama Wednesday on suspicion of abducting an elementary school girl and confining her at his house for three days. (Japan Times)

A South Korean court has acquitted a Japanese journalist charged with defaming President Park Geun-hye. (NHK)

A set of critical valves designed to release pressure inside the No. 2 reactor at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant likely failed due to surging temperatures and extreme stresses that built up in the early stage of the 2011 disaster, the plant's operator said Dec. 17. (Asahi)

Household financial assets in Japan totaled 1,684 trillion yen at the end of September, up 1.7 pct from a year earlier, the Bank of Japan said Thursday. (Jiji Press)

The Kyushu Shinkansen Nagasaki route is unlikely to be opened as scheduled in fiscal 2022 because development of so-called free gauge trains to be used on the route has been delayed. (the-japan-news.com)

Mitsubishi Heavy Industry has started work on the first Lockheed Martin F-35A to be assembled in Japan. (flightglobal.com)

Home electronics chain Bic Camera Inc. said Thursday it will set up a joint venture with Japan Airport Terminal Co. to enhance the sale of tax-free products to foreign travelers. (Japan Times)

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