News On Japan

A post made on social media resulted in the arrest of three members of a bosozoku biker gang for riding recklessly on a highway in the southern part of the prefecture earlier this year, reports the Asahi Shimbun (tokyoreporter.com)

Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a member of a quasi-criminal syndicate over the alleged confinement and attempted extortion of a boy in Toshima Ward earlier this year, reports TBS News (tokyoreporter.com)

A court on Tuesday ordered the state and the operator of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 atomic plant to pay a total of about ¥500 million in damages for the 2011 nuclear disaster, the second ruling of its kind in a series of group lawsuits filed nationwide. (Japan Times)

The current account surplus expanded to ¥2.38 trillion ($21 billion) in August - the highest on record for the month - lifted by foreign investments and a bigger trade surplus, government data showed Tuesday. (Japan Times)

Iwakura in Aichi Prefecture is striving to make the central Japan city a mecca of yo-yos, which were a big hit in the country in the 1980s and 1990s. More than 10 million people across Japan are thought to have played with them. (Jiji)

Crown Prince Naruhito of Japan and Denmark's Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary have visited an exhibition marking 150 years of diplomatic relations between the 2 countries. (NHK)

Two U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers flew over the Korean Peninsula on Tuesday in a show-of-force exercise as tensions with a nuclear-armed North Korea continue to escalate. (washingtonexaminer.com)

Japan started Tuesday the nationwide distribution of vehicle registration number plates featuring the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics to increase the country's momentum toward the quadrennial international sports events. (Jiji)

Police arrested a woman on Tuesday for alleged vandalism at a temple in central Japan, while also looking into her potential connection with graffiti at a nearby historic temple. (Japan Times)

The alert level for Mt Shinmoe, a volcano in Kyushu region, has been raised to 3 on a scale 5 after a small-scale eruption on Wednesday, the Japan Meterological Agency said. (Japan Today)

A scandal involving falsified data on Kobe Steel products may be worse than first believed. (NHK)

Tokyo Metropolitan Police have re-arrested a 29-year-old man in the robbery of a male taxi driver, a crime the suspect says he committed to cover the cost of an abortion, reports TV Asahi. (tokyoreporter.com)

The Nikkei's rally comes despite a big scandal enveloping Japan's third-biggest steel maker, Kobe Steel. (theguardian.com)

A female giant panda cub born in June is growing up healthily and can pull to stand on her hind legs, Tokyo's Ueno Zoo said Wednesday. (Jiji)

Japanese Defense Ministry officials say they've been notified by the US military that a CH-53 helicopter caught fire after it landed near the US military's Northern Training Area on Okinawa island late Wednesday afternoon. (NHK)

Before Hisashi Kanbe in 2013 introduced BakeryScan, the world's first image recognition checkout system designed specifically for bread, it was the job of every bakery worker in Japan to memorize the assorted prices of each baked good - from baguettes back to bagels. (Japan Times)

Japan may face a shortage of influenza vaccines this winter due to a production delay. (Jiji)

A small aircraft landed in a river in Fukui Prefecture, central Japan, on Sunday after reporting engine trouble and all four men on board escaped unhurt. (Japan Today)

Japanese officials are expressing growing frustration with the Trump administration's economic policies, vowing to continue striking trade deals with other countries that undercut U.S. agricultural exports rather than seek a new trade agreement with the United States. (politico.eu)

The Japan Tourism Agency plans to launch model projects in early December to consider ways to attract more people, including foreign tourists, to snow resorts amid the declining skiing and snowboarding population. (Jiji)

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