News On Japan

E-commerce pioneer Rakuten is showing its age, failing to keep pace as sprightlier rivals ride shifting consumer currents and hatch novel services appealing to online shoppers drawn to convenience and word-of-mouth marketing. (Nikkei)

Japan plans to further loosen restrictions on renting out rooms in private homes to travelers as early as fall, easing prohibitive minimum-stay requirements to accommodate foreigners on whirlwind tours. (Nikkei)

McDonald's Holdings (Japan) saw same-store sales jump 26.6% on the year in July, largely from turning its locations across the country into battling and supply stations for players of the smash-hit mobile game "Pokemon Go." (Nikkei)

The number of child abuse cases in Japan exceeded 100,000 for the first time in fiscal 2015, hitting a record high for the 25th straight year, a welfare ministry survey showed Thursday. (Jiji Press)

Footage of Hiroshima and Nagasaki taken by officials of the former Soviet Union shortly after the 1945 US atomic bombings has been shown to the media at a Hiroshima museum. (NHK)

Tournament officials banned a schoolgirl from a practice game at Koshien Stadium on Tuesday in the lead-up to the 98th National High School Baseball Championship tournament, citing concerns for her safety. (Japan Today)

Japan's price-adjusted real wage index in June rose 1.8 pct from a year before, posting the sharpest growth since the 1.9 pct increase in September 2010, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said in a preliminary report Friday. (Jiji Press)

The transport ministry has launched a trial in Tokyo offering a lower starting taxi fare to confirm demand for short-distance rides. (NHK)

Japanese researchers say they have developed a new way of genome editing that doesn't require severing DNA sequences. (NHK)

Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested theatrical troupe member for drugging a female acquaintance and then allegedly sexually assaulting her, reports the Sankei Shimbun. (Tokyo Reporter)

The Japanese Coast Guard says Chinese ships entered Japan's territorial waters near the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea on Friday. (NHK)

A rash of thefts around the Haworthia, a popular succulent plant, is taking place in Japan. The plant has been trading at high prices among people who value it recently. (NHK)

The 2016 Olympic Games are underway in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro. Athletes from 205 countries and territories are taking part in the 17-day event, the first Summer Olympics in a South American country. (NHK)

People throughout Hiroshima are marking 71 years since the US atomic bombing in World War Two. (NHK)

An octopus predicted Friday that Japan will win eight gold medals at the Rio Olympics. (Japan Times)

Ryohin Keikaku, the operator of the Muji brand, has opened a store in India, becoming the first Japanese retailer to do so. (NHK)

The thank you note and display to customers left by the owner inside the door is warming hearts around the Internet. (rocketnews24.com)

The Hiroshima municipal government said Saturday that the main developer of "Pokemon Go" has excluded Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park from the smartphone game. (Jiji Press)

Saitama Prefectural Police are investigating what is believed to have been a suicide following the discovery of a woman's corpse on a road in Misato City, reports Nippon News Network (Aug. 6). (Tokyo Reporter)

About 1,000 people were taken to hospitals apparently due to heat stroke or heat exhaustion as a heat wave covered Japan on Saturday, according to a Kyodo News tally. (Japan Today)

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