News On Japan

Third-year students in junior high schools in Japan achieved a state-set goal for writing in English while failing to meet targets for listening, speaking and reading skills, an education ministry survey showed Friday. (Jiji)

A 39-year-old woman stabbed her 11-year-old son in the back and then stabbed herself in the neck at their home in Tokyo's Adachi Ward on Thursday night. (Japan Today)

Many employees across Japan will be leaving work at around 3 pm on the last Friday of each month, starting this week. (NHK)

A medical university in Kyoto, western Japan, is requesting its president to resign over alleged ties with the head of an organized crime group. (NHK)

Game maker Nintendo is suing a Tokyo-based rental go-cart company on copyright infringement. (NHK)

Oscar-winning Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki has come out of retirement to work on a new animated feature film, a producer at Studio Ghibli has said. (Japan Times)

An event marking the start of the whirlpool-watching season has been held in the Naruto Strait in western Japan. (NHK)

Anxious students across Japan are sitting the annual entrance examinations for public universities. (NHK)

A smoking ban that Japan's health ministry plans to impose on restaurants in the country with some exceptions will cover small "izakaya" eateries and "yakitori" skewered chicken restaurants, informed sources said Saturday. (Jiji)

A New Zealand man who died after an avalanche swept him away at a ski resort yesterday in Japan has been remembered as a guy with a "massive heart" who had an "infectious energy". (tvnz.co.nz)

With over 3 million visitors from abroad visiting the ancient capital of Kyoto in fiscal 2015, getting around with an official interpreter would have meant relying on government-qualified guides. (Japan Times)

Japan's trade ministry will seek to expand the domestic aircraft industry by boosting ties with France-based Airbus. (NHK)

A 28.5-kilomater section of the Kenoudo Expressway in Ibaraki Prefecture opened on Sunday, allowing the belt highway to link the six major expressways stretching from the Tokyo metropolitan area to various other regions in Japan. (Jiji)

More than 36,000 runners took to the streets of Tokyo on Sunday for Japan's largest marathon event. (NHK)

The Asian Winter Games drew to a close Sunday marking the end of an event which brought together some 1,200 athletes from a record 32 nations and regions for nine days of hotly contested continental competition. (Kyodo)

A female zoo attendant in Nagano Prefecture, central Japan, was attacked by a lion and seriously wounded on Sunday. (Jiji)

A fire broke out in a restaurant at the luxury hotel Grand Hyatt Tokyo at Roppongi Hills on Sunday night. (Japan Today)

Manhole covers are trending high in Japan and for good reason -- they're stunning! Only in Japan are manholes to cover sewage designed so beautifully that they now make MANHOLE TRADING CARDS! (ONLY in JAPAN)

The Lower House on Monday approved a record ¥97.45 trillion budget for fiscal 2017 designed to finance ballooning social security costs and enhance Japan's defense capabilities. (Japan Times)

A Tokyo zoo's hopes for a new baby panda grew Monday as it confirmed that its pair of giant pandas had mated for the first time in four years. (Japan Times)

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