News On Japan

Japan's Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry will simplify as early as fiscal 2019 tax-related procedures that entrepreneurs must go through to set up companies, officials said Wednesday. (Jiji)

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday signed a decision to designate four northwestern Pacific islands at the center of a longstanding territorial issue with Japan as a special economic zone. (the-japan-news.com)

Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry started Wednesday giving advice to depopulated regions with the declining number of gas stations, including recommendations to integrate or transfer existing pump stations to optimal locations. (Jiji)

Sticking to Japanese barbecue mainstays like sausages and yakisoba noodles would've been the smarter move. (rocketnews24.com)

A subgroup of the Japanese government's Central Environment Council on Wednesday approved the removal of the goshawk from the list of domestic endangered species on Sept. 21, after the recovery of its population. (Jiji)

The city of Yokohama ordered a grilled meat restaurant in the area to temporarily stop operation Wednesday after two people who had dined there turned out to be infected with the O-157 strain of the E. coli bacteria. (Japan Times)

The head of a neighborhood council is believed to have solicited a number of school girls for illicit encounters at his residence, reports TV Asahi. (tokyoreporter.com)

FamilyMart Uny Holdings Co. and discount chain Don Quijote Holdings Co. said Thursday they reached a basic agreement to forge a capital and business alliance. (Japan Times)

A fossilized tooth of an extinct mammal thought to be a close relative of marsupials has been unearthed in central Kyushu, a find that dates back about 90 million years and may provide clues to how mammals evolved in Asia, the Mifune Dinosaur Museum said Thursday. (Japan Times)

Kanagawa Prefectural Police have arrested a 43-year-old male coach of a girl's basketball team who is suspected of molesting a player, reports TBS News (tokyoreporter.com)

People in Japan and China will celebrate 45 years of diplomatic relations between their countries next month in Beijing. (NHK)

A Japanese research team, in cooperation with NHK, has succeeded in filming a fish swimming at a depth of 8,178 meters in the Pacific Ocean -- the deepest ever recorded. (NHK)

A series of network failures including Internet access difficulties hit Japan Friday. (Jiji)

A Japanese government advisory panel on disaster management said in a report on Friday that it is impossible to predict with high accuracy massive earthquakes occurring along the Nankai Trough in the Pacific Ocean off central to southwestern Japan. (Jiji)

Torrential rain lashed Japan's central to northern regions of Tohoku, Hokuriku and Hokkaido on Friday, leaving one dead and three others missing. (Jiji)

A 4-year-old girl died Friday a day after she was found unconscious in a nursery school pool in the city of Saitama, the police said. (Japan Times)

A Tokyo high school student is in critical condition after suffering heatstroke during a basketball club practice, the metropolitan education board said Friday. (Japan Today)

Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested two men in the alleged trafficking of stimulant drugs in the Kabukicho red-light district of Shinjuku Ward, reports TV Asahi. (tokyoreporter.com)

A 33-year-old man has been arrested for the alleged possession of marijuana and a special form of the same banned drug at his residence in Isehara City, reports the Mainichi Shimbun. (tokyoreporter.com)

After a hiatus of nearly a month that was lauded by the U.S., North Korea launched three short-range ballistic missiles early Saturday, with two flying roughly 250 km and the other exploding almost immediately, the U.S. military’s Pacific Command said. (Japan Times)

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