News On Japan

The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant says the metal scaffolding right below the damaged No.3 reactor appears to have gone missing after the 2011 disaster. (NHK)

A 49-year-old woman had been arrested after camera footage showed that she had been adding dishwashing detergent to her husband and son's tea, local police said. (Japan Today)

The United States is bracing for the possibility of another ballistic missile launch by North Korea. (NHK)

Policymakers at the Bank of Japan have decided to continue with their easing program in a bid to achieve a 2-percent inflation target. But the officials have revised the forecast date for meeting the target. They say an extra year is needed. (NHK)

The number of criminal offenses reported to police in Japan in January-June fell 7.7 pct from a year earlier to 450,887, on track to hit an annual postwar low, a National Police Agency report showed Thursday. (Jiji)

A male worker for a construction company engaged in a project to construct Japan's new National Stadium, the main venue for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, committed suicide in March, a lawyer representing his bereaved relatives revealed Thursday. (Jiji)

Japan has changed some pictogram signs used on street corners and created new ones, mainly to help foreign visitors get around more easily, the industry ministry said Thursday. (Jiji)

An informed source in the sumo world says Mongolian Yokozuna Grand Champion Hakuho is considering the option of acquiring Japanese citizenship. The move would allow him to become a stablemaster after retirement and train younger wrestlers. (NHK)

The Tokyo District Court on Thursday handed a homeless man a prison sentence extending for three years and six months for starting a fire that damaged a number of buildings in the historic Golden Gai last year, reports Jiji Press. (tokyoreporter.com)

In two separate cases, Tokyo Metropolitan Police have this week arrested two men suspected in dozens of bag-snatching incidents across the metropolis, reports TV Asahi. (tokyoreporter.com)

Seven female members of the Miyagi prefectural assembly on Friday asked the governor of the northeastern Japan prefecture to remove a tourism promotion video it is using on the internet, claiming it portrays women as sex objects. (Kyodo)

Princess Kako, a granddaughter of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, will study at the University of Leeds in England from September to June next year, it was reported at a cabinet meeting on Friday. (Japan Today)

A Japanese horse has never won the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, the race which is regarded as the most prestigious turf contest anywhere in the world. However, Satono Diamond could be the first to land that prize later this year as the multiple-time Group One winner has been tipped by many as their fancy in October. (newsonjapan.com)

US President Donald Trump says the wife of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe doesn't speak English. (NHK)

Japan's financial regulator has told the country's smaller banks they must find new ways to make profits if they are to survive, warning many face risks when interest rates eventually rise and that some are already in a precarious state. (Reuters)

Over the years, numerous reasons have been provided for Japan's prolonged deflation problem. These have ranged from automation to mindset problems. Amazon.com, Inc. is the latest culprit to be assigned the blame. (investopedia.com)

Yokozuna sumo grand champion Hakuho set a new record on Friday by earning the 1,048th win in his professional career in the Japanese national sport. (Jiji)

The Japanese infrastructure ministry plans to consider removing the expressway over Tokyo's landmark Nihonbashi Bridge, in a bid to improve the landscape, it was learned on Friday. (Jiji)

Dozens of venomous fire ants have been found at Hakata port, the Environment Ministry said, marking the first detection of the invasive species in Kyushu. (Japan Times)

Kanagawa Prefectural Police have re-arrested a 39-year-old for allegedly dumping the bodies of two Chinese sisters, found in suitcases in a mountainous area in Hadano City earlier this month, reports TBS News (tokyoreporter.com)

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