News On Japan

The number of death-row inmates in Japan in 2016 is expected to stand at 129 by Dec. 31, a rise of two people from last year, while continuing to surpass the threshold of 100 since 2007. (Japan Times)

The National Police Agency and the Fire and Disaster Management Agency are urging elderly people to be careful when eating "mochi" rice cakes during the New Year holidays. (Japan Today)

A large shrine in central Tokyo is preparing for crowds of worshippers on New Years' Day. (NHK)

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has published a video online to promote a subway line it operates in an effort to attract more passengers. (NHK)

A civic group set up a statue of a girl symbolizing the issue of so-called wartime comfort women in front of the Japanese consulate-general in Busan, southern South Korea, on Friday. (Jiji)

Fallen Japanese baseball star Kazuhiro Kiyohara, who was handed a suspended term for possessing, using and purchasing illegal drugs earlier this year, has admitted using different drugs during his playing days. (Japan Today)

A car carrying a family of five drove off the fifth-floor ramp of a parking garage Saturday in Yokosuka near Tokyo, leaving three dead and two seriously injured, police said. (Kyodo)

There will be 1.23 million people age 20, Japan's legal age of adulthood, on New Year's Day 2017, up 20,000 from a year earlier, the government said Saturday. (Kyodo)

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says his cabinet will work toward a better future for the country beyond 2020. (NHK)

Tens of thousands of people gathered near a station in central Tokyo for the New Year's countdown. (NHK)

Japan's Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko have received New Year greetings from state dignitaries and foreign envoys. (NHK)

An 80-year-old woman and her 17-year-old grandson were stabbed early Sunday in their home in Marugame, Kagawa Prefecture. (Japan Today)

Kashima Antlers completed Japan's double on Sunday by beating Kawasaki Frontale 2-1 in the Emperor's Cup final. (Japan Today)

Airbnb, a network that allows people all over the world to host visitors in their home, released a ranking titled, Top Places to Visit in 2017. The scenic and southern Melbourne, Australia, the romantic port city of Marseille, France, and the green, green city of Dublin, Ireland made the top 20, to no one's surprise. What we are proud to say, though, is that a neighborhood in Japan stole the fourth spot over Marseille and Dublin. (Japan Today)

Japan is finally starting to seriously seek ways to curb excessive work hours, with the overwork-related suicide of a young employee spotlighting a long-standing issue that has always been in question but never quite addressed. (Japan Today)

Work for a magnetic levitation Shinkansen bullet train line has started in various related locations, with 10 years to go before the scheduled launch in 2027 of the services that will link Tokyo and Nagoya, central Japan, in only 40 minutes at the fastest. (Jiji)

Former Beatle Paul McCartney will tour Japan in April, playing three concerts at Tokyo Dome on April 27, 29 and 30. (Japan Today)

More than 1,000 Japanese companies will mark the 100th anniversary of their founding in 2017, among them precision equipment maker Nikon Corp., automaker Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. and Morinaga Milk Industry Co. (Japan Times)

Japan is considering expanding the scope of mandatory labeling of ingredients containing genetically modified crops from the current 33 food items, according to Consumer Affairs Agency sources. (Kyodo)

Eleven people were rushed to hospitals here after choking on mochi rice cakes on Sunday, two of the victims choking to death, authorities said. (tokyoreporter.com)

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