News On Japan

In a triumph marked by years of unremitting experiments, scientists at the Riken national research institute have synthesized new atomic element 113, making Japan the first Asian country to have the honor of naming a new element. (Asahi)

Wakayama Prefectural Police have arrest of two members of the Takumi-gumi organized crime group for the robbery of a jewelry store in Wakayama City two years ago, reports Wakayama Broadcasting System (Feb. 4). (Tokyo Reporter)

A male teacher at a public junior high school in Kasai, Hyogo Prefecture, burned a student's hair with a lighter during a class in January. (Japan Today)

As the small primate slow lorises continue to be sold as exotic pets in Japan nearly a decade after international trade in them was banned, the possibility of illegal sales of the cute critters is high, according to the results of a recent survey published in an academic journal. (Japan Times)

McDonald's Japan saw customer traffic at existing stores increase in January for the first time in 33 months, marking a recovery from the quality and food safety issues that erupted in 2014. (Nikkei)

Toyota is killing its Scion brand after years of slumping sales. Beginning in August, 2017 model-year Scion vehicles will be rebadged as Toyotas. (Japan Today)

Author Victor Hugo once said, "Virtue has a veil, vice a mask," but what if Japanese, contemporary, and fetish masks are your vice? You'll want to check out Tokyo Mask Festival Vol. 2! (rocketnews24.com)

Olympics minister Toshiaki Endo, who formerly headed a shake-up of Japan's English education program, has admitted taking cash from the founder of a Tokyo teacher dispatch agency but said he did nothing wrong. (Japan Times)

Police in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, have arrested a 41-year-old man on suspicion of stabbing his 28-year-old girlfriend to death. (Japan Today)

Former Formula One driver Kamui Kobayashi was announced as a full-time driver oi Toyota's World Endurance Championship team on Thursday, marking his first entry into the premier class of endurance road racing. (Japan Times)

Prosecutors sought on Thursday a sentence of 10 to 15 years in prison for the eldest of three teenagers charged in the slaying of a 13-year-old boy at a riverbank in Kawasaki last year. (Japan Times)

The risk of brain hemorrhage is 36 pct higher for those who skip breakfast five or more days a week than for those who have it every day, a group of Japanese researchers has found. (Jiji Press)

A former associate dean of Tokyo's pro-Pyongyang Korea University who is suspected of supporting the activities of North Korea's spy agency was found to have deleted several documents from his computer after a South Korean lawmaker was arrested for alleged connections to the agency, it has been learned. (the-japan-news.com)

Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry, also known as Foxconn, looks likely to clinch a deal to purchase ailing electronics maker Sharp, using a higher bid and promises to keep on workers to edge past a rival public-private Japanese fund. (Nikkei)

Japan's 2 major airlines have changed routes of some flights in response to North Korea's announcement of the planned launch of what it says is a satellite. (NHK)

Kawasaki Frontale striker Yoshito Okubo was named the 2015 Footballer of the Year on Thursday in a poll of Japan's soccer writers. (Japan Times)

When Japanese electronics giant Sharp Corp. said on Thursday that it would devote more resources to audit a $5.95 billion acquisition offer from Hon Hai Precision Industry than it would a state-backed rescue plan, the announcement appeared to be a surprise victory for Terry Gou, the founder and chairman of the Taiwanese iPhone assembler. (Nikkei)

A push by the world's largest pension fund for permission to bypass asset managers when doing business in Japan's stock market has reportedly hit a wall. (bloomberg.com)

Police referred a 16-year-old high school student to prosecutors on Friday on suspicion of using software on other people's computers to obtain the online account details of several hundred people, including records of their online shopping. (Japan Times)

If you've seen the Tower Records documentary All Things Must Pass, you'll know that the film ends with the chain's founder visiting Japan where Tower Records is still a thriving business. Actually, it's not just Tower. The Japanese are still mad for their CDs. But why? (ajournalofmusicalthings.com)

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