News On Japan

Japan is discovering that even the tightest labor market in a generation is no quick spur for higher wages. (Japan Times)

Air Do, a regional carrier based in Sapporo, said Tuesday that it has decided to cancel a total of 34 flights on two routes in November due to a lack of pilots. (Japan Times)

The Finance Ministry has recommended revising the criteria used for the distribution of consumption tax revenue among the prefectures to rectify disparities between urban and rural areas. (the-japan-news.com)

On a crisp autumn morning, colorful hot-air balloons took off from a riverbed in the southwestern Japanese city of Saga for the opening of one of Asia's largest festivals for the aircraft on Nov. 1. (Kyodo)

A trial to increase the speed limit from 100 kilometers per hour to 110 kph began on a section of some 50 kilometers on the Shin-Tomei Expressway in central Japan on Wednesday. (Jiji)

Dole Japan Inc., a producer of fruits and vegetables, said Wednesday it will recall approximately 9,000 bunches of packaged Philippine bananas due to concerns of tampering. (Japan Times)

A man who kept the dismembered bodies of 9 people in his apartment near Tokyo has reportedly told police that 4 of them were girls in their late teens. (NHK)

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has reappointed all of his Cabinet ministers, following his reelection by the Diet as Japan's leader. (NHK)

Chiba Prefectural Police have arrested a boss of an organized crime group over two shootings in Matsudo City in June, reports TV Asahi (tokyoreporter.com)

Japan was placed at 114th in the World Economic Forum’s global gender equality rankings for 2017 released Thursday, down from 111th last year and the worst standing among the Group of Seven major economies. (Japan Times)

Ivanka Trump, the U.S. president's daughter and senior advisor, arrived in Japan on Thursday for a three-day stay ahead of a visit by her father. (Kyodo)

The Kyoto city assembly on Thursday passed an ordinance to levy an accommodation tax on people who stay at hotels and other accommodations in the western Japan city. (Jiji)

Takahiro Shiraishi, a 27-year-old man allegedly behind one of the nation’s most gruesome serial murders in recent years, preyed upon suicidal victims through twitter, offering them assistance of sorts. (Japan Times)

A Japanese government council will recommend that education minister Yoshimasa Hayashi give the go-ahead for a veterinary medicine department plan by a school operator at the center of a favoritism scandal involving Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, informed sources said Thursday. (Jiji)

Senior Democratic Party lawmaker Katsuya Ogawa on Thursday tendered his resignation to the party over an alleged assault of an elementary school girl by his son, who said he intended to molest her. (Japan Times)

A total of 30,170 drivers aged 75 or older in Japan showed signs of dementia in tests conducted from March, when the country's revised Road Traffic Act was enforced to toughen dementia checks on elderly drivers, through the end of September, police data showed Thursday. (Jiji)

In preparation for U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to Japan from Sunday, the Metropolitan Police Department will be on full alert primarily in central Tokyo, deploying about 18,000 officers --- the highest level in 20 years for the protection of a prominent person. (the-japan-news.com)

US President Donald Trump's eldest daughter and presidential advisor Ivanka Trump has called for promoting women's participation in the economy in her speech in Tokyo. (NHK)

Police have arrested a gang member on suspicion of attempted murder after he fired a gun at a man inside a Tokushima coffee shop on Thursday. (Japan Today)

The mutilated body of a cat and its decapitated head were found in Ichikawa City, Chiba Prefecture, police said Friday. (Japan Today)

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