News On Japan

Weeks rarely get worse for world leaders than the one Shinzo Abe just had. (Japan Times)

The selection of restaurants and hotels to be listed in Michelin Guide Tokyo 2017 was announced online Tuesday, including four restaurants that have received a three-star rating for 10 years running. (Japan Times)

Leaders of 4 groups reviewing some of the venues for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games with an eye to cutting costs have agreed to build new facilities for 2 sports in Tokyo as initially planned. (NHK)

Five top school officials of a university-affiliated high school were reprimanded on Monday over inadequate handling of a bullying case where one of its students was the victim of an assaulted that resulted in a broken wrist and a brain concussion. (tokyoreporter.com)

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party resumed on Wednesday Lower House committee deliberations on a long-stalled bill to legalize casinos, with key LDP executives saying the party will try to enact the controversial legislation by Dec. 14. (Japan Times)

Based on a confession provided by a former gangster on death row, police believe human bones found in a forested area of Saitama Prefecture likely belong to a real estate executive who went missing two decades ago, reports TV Asahi (Nov. 30). (tokyoreporter.com)

The wholesale price of premium Japanese wagyu beef is nearing the record level of last December, based on comparable data that goes back to 1990. (Nikkei)

Passengers on board this Tokyo train said they felt like they were in an aircraft when they heard the live English announcement. (rocketnews24.com)

The sun is setting on Japan's clean-energy boom, despite projects like a massive floating solar farm near Tokyo, as the government cuts subsidies and bets on nuclear and coal-fired power, critics say. (Japan Times)

Osaka Prefectural Police have busted a business in which school girls provided customers with illicit services that management considered coaching, reports the Asahi Shimbun (tokyoreporter.com)

An international chemistry organization has officially decided to name a new element "nihonium," as proposed by the Japanese research group that discovered it. The word "Nihon" means "Japan" in Japanese. (NHK)

A 29-year-old employee of the Nikkei newspaper was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of hacking into the email account of model Moe Oshikiri, as well as the accounts of Miyuki Watanabe, a former member of the popular all-girl pop group NMB48, and other celebrities. (Japan Today)

Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 40-year-old man who is suspected of sending a variety of garbage through the mail to former classmates in a revenge plot for bullying, reports TV Asahi. (tokyoreporter.com)

UNESCO has decided to add 33 Japanese traditional festivals featuring parades and floats to its list of intangible cultural heritages. (NHK)

Japan's Princess Aiko, daughter and only child of Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako, turned 15 on Thursday. (Jiji)

In Japan's ancient capital Nara, some 100 deer emerged from the woods to the sound of a horn in an annual winter event. (NHK)

It's the latest craze in a country known for its eccentric tastes and quirky obsessions. The Japanese have gone gaga for… moss? (qz.com)

Japan has received its first Lockheed Martin F-35A, marking the first delivery of a Joint Strike Fighter acquired via the foreign military sale (FMS) route. (flightglobal.com)

Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 22-year-old university student suspected in a series of rapes of women in Adachi Ward, reports Nippon News Network. (tokyoreporter.com)

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg on Friday ahead of a summit between the 2 countries' leaders. (NHK)

Latest Images