News On Japan

A man with a metal bat attacked a woman and a child at JR Tennoji Station in Osaka on Wednesday afternoon. (Japan Today)

Japan's ruling bloc has dropped a plan to have the House of Representatives pass a proposal to ratify the Trans-Pacific Partnership multilateral free trade pact and related bills on Friday. (Jiji)

The House of Representatives Cabinet Committee is expected to begin as early as Wednesday debates on a bill to lift a ban on casinos in Japan. (Jiji)

Rents at new office buildings in Tokyo have risen in the latter half of the year for a second straight year, a Nikkei Inc. survey shows, reflecting brisk demand for relocation and expansion among companies with strong earnings. (Nikkei)

Pizza delivery ninjas will be unleashed by Italian-restaurant operator Strawberry Cones under a service launching Friday for foreign guests staying at private residences in Tokyo's Ota Ward. (Nikkei)

The national football team of Japan need to stop being so respectful and start being more aggressive, if they want to get anywhere in the World Cup. (insidejapantours.com)

A human rights group is urging the government to give ample consideration to sexual minority students in compiling educational guidelines and teacher training programs, in a proposal to fully protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender children from harassment and bullying at school. (Japan Today)

Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 33-year-old company employee for fraudulently using a another person’s credit card to purcahse the bitcoin virtual currency, reports TV Asahi (Nov. 3). (tokyoreporter.com)

Japan and Russia have selected about 30 priority projects that will be implemented in the private sector under the two countries' eight-point economic cooperation plan, officials said Thursday. (Jiji)

Myanmar's State Counsellor and de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi has visited Kyoto University, where she once studied as a researcher. (NHK)

A Chinese woman in her 20s was found bleeding from her neck in Tokyo’s Nakano Ward early Thursday and was later confirmed dead at a hospital, police said. (Japan Times)

Police arrested a woman at Narita International Airport on Monday for kicking another woman and breaking a panel in a fit of rage following trouble printing her ticket. (tokyoreporter.com)

Police plan to serve a fresh arrest warrant soon on a detained Chinese man on suspicion of killing his wife at their home in Tokyo, investigative sources say. (Japan Today)

Banks in Japan are stepping up efforts to cater to a growing number of foreign workers and students, as well as travelers from abroad. The institutions are adding foreign-language services at their outlets and call centers. (NHK)

A total of 582 people attended the funeral of Japan's Prince Mikasa, who died at the age of 100 on Oct. 27, in central Tokyo on Friday to bid farewell to the youngest brother of Emperor Hirohito, posthumously called Emperor Showa. (Jiji)

A tour bus driver was filmed playing smartphone game Pokemon Go behind the wheel, prompting the bus operator to ban smartphones from the driver’s seat, NHK reported on Friday (tokyoreporter.com)

Kanagawa Prefectural Police have used the results of a DNA analysis to arrest a man from Ube City, Yamaguchi Prefecture in the stabbing of a woman in Yokohama seven years ago, reports the Mainichi Shimbun (Oct. 4). (tokyoreporter.com)

An assistant inspector with the Hyogo Prefectural Police on Friday resigned from his post admitting to taking illicit images of a women on trains, reports TV Asahi. (tokyoreporter.com)

A special committee of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Diet, Japan's parliament, approved a proposal on Friday to ratify the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement, along with relevant bills. (Jiji)

Styluses are back in demand in Japan as analog records attract renewed attention from musicians and consumers, long after vinyl lost music market dominance to compact discs and online distribution. (Jiji)

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