News On Japan

Prosecutors investigating Obayashi Corp. suspect the major construction firm rigged a bid for the building of a maglev train station emergency exit, with one of the company's vice presidents brought in voluntarily for questioning about the matter, sources close to the case said Sunday. (Japan Times)

The American husband of a former Japanese abductee has died at the age of 77. (NHK)

About 100 police and firefighters resumed their search Monday morning for a three-year-old boy who has been missing in Echizen, Fukui Prefecture, since Saturday. (Japan Today)

Severe weather conditions are expected to continue in northern and western Japan through Wednesday. (NHK)

A window from a US military helicopter has fallen onto the grounds of an elementary school in Okinawa, Japan's southern prefecture. (NHK)

With staff getting harder to come by, nearly 60% of top executives at major Japanese companies are inclined to invest more in training and educating personnel in fiscal 2018, according to a Nikkei Inc. survey. (Nikkei)

A total of 83 wooden boats apparently from North Korea have been found drifting in the Sea of Japan or to the Japanese coast so far this year, the highest figure since comparable data become available in 2013, the Japan Coast Guard said Wednesday. (Jiji)

Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, Komeito, adopted on Tuesday an income tax reform plan that will bring about heavier burdens on salaried employees earning over 8.5 million yen a year. (Jiji)

Japan's Supreme Court has upheld a lower court ruling finding the mayor of Minokamo in Gifu Prefecture, central Japan, guilty of receiving bribes. (Jiji)

The average life expectancy in 2015 for Japanese men was highest in Shiga Prefecture, western Japan, at 81.78 years, a health ministry survey showed Wednesday. (Jiji)

For the first time, a Japanese high court has ordered the operator of a nuclear plant not to restart a reactor. (NHK)

Officials from a Japanese train operator say a crack was found near the welded joint of one of the key parts and the undercarriage of a Shinkansen bullet train. (NHK)

Kanagawa Prefectural Police have launched a manhunt after a stabbing in Sagamihara City on Tuesday left one man dead, reports TBS News (tokyoreporter.com)

Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 72-year-old man over the alleged molestation of a fourth-year middle school girl in a parking lot in Edogawa Ward earlier this year, reports the Sankei Shimbun (tokyoreporter.com)

Osaka University said Wednesday that personal data of around 80,000 students, graduates, staff, former workers and others may have been stolen by hackers. (Japan Times)

Emperor Akihito wishes to step down in an abdication ceremony that is "as simple as possible," without inviting foreign guests and holding a parade, the head of the Imperial Household Agency said Thursday. (Japan Today)

Japan's space agency says its asteroid probe Hayabusa2 is on course to reach its target between Earth and Mars in about 6 months. (NHK)

Japanese authorities have found 4 bodies in 2 wooden boats that washed ashore on the Sea of Japan coast in Akita City, Akita Prefecture. (NHK)

The Japanese government has decided to add more entities to its sanctions list for North Korea, which is continuing its nuclear and missile development. (NHK)

The latest Tankan survey by the Bank of Japan shows the country's labor shortage is the worst that it has been in over a quarter of a century. (NHK)

Latest Images