News On Japan

As always, the second Monday of the year is Coming of Age Day in Japan. During the public holiday, all young folks who turned 20 in the previous year gather for a special ceremony in celebration of their adulthood. (rocketnews24.com)

Dazzling in colourful kimonos and wafting clouds of hairspray in their wake, thousands of young Japanese women marked their entry into adulthood today - before hitting bars and clubs to celebrate. (dailymail.co.uk)

Japan's price-adjusted real wage index in November last year rose 0.1 pct from a year before, the first increase in 11 months, a labor ministry preliminary report said Tuesday. (Jiji)

Toyota Motor says it is developing a self-driving electric vehicle to shuttle people between venues at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. (NHK)

Three yokozuna, or grand champion sumo wrestlers, have taken part in a ring-entering ceremony at a Shinto shrine in Tokyo to pray for safety and success at the sport's New Year tournament. (NHK)

Four citizens filed a lawsuit against the Japanese government on Tuesday for damages over mental distress caused by the family register law, which does not allow married couples to use separate surnames. (Jiji)

A Japanese kayak racer who drugged a rival at a national championship event has been banned from competing for 8 years. (NHK)

South Korea's Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha says the country's government will not renegotiate its 2015 agreement with Japan on those referred to as comfort women. (NHK)

Police in Shimada, Shizuoka Prefecture, said Tuesday they have arrested a 15-year-old boy on suspicion of attempted murder after he stabbed his 12-year-old brother with a kitchen knife at their home. (Japan Today)

Japanese economist and TV commentator Takaaki Mitsuhashi, 48, has been released from custody following his arrest last week for allegedly physically assaulting his teenage wife. (Japan Today)

The number of households in the nation receiving welfare increased by 634 in October last year from the previous month to hit a record high of 1,642,907, up for the sixth straight month, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said Wednesday. (the-japan-news.com)

Japan's industry ministry decided Wednesday to increase the maximum penalty on companies that violate the law on Japanese Industrial Standards from one million yen to 100 million yen. (Jiji)

The U.S. government has approved the sale of anti-ballistic missiles to Japan to defend itself against a growing nuclear and missile threat from North Korea, a State Department official said on Tuesday. (the-japan-news.com)

The Kosho Hajime new year lecture event, in which leading experts from the academic community deliver lectures to Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, was held at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Wednesday. (Japan Times)

The number of fire fatalities in Japan has been declining, data from the Fire and Disaster Management Agency show. (Jiji)

Officials in Kagawa Prefecture, western Japan, say dead birds found at a local poultry farm have tested positive for bird flu in a preliminary check. (NHK)

Kanagawa Prefectural Police used posts made by a city councilor in Shizuoka Prefecture to arrest him for allegedly engaging in illicit acts with an underage boy and soliciting obscene photographs from another youth last year, reports TBS News (tokyoreporter.com)

Police arrested a 36-year-old man Wednesday on suspicion of trying to kill an acquaintance with heat-not-burn tobacco laced with mercury. (Japan Today)

Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 34-year-old man for allegedly molesting a woman in Adachi Ward last year, TV Asahi (tokyoreporter.com)

Details emerged Wednesday about significant debts faced by a kimono rental firm that went bust just before Coming-of-Age Day ceremonies, leaving scores of women celebrating adulthood without their formal attire. (Japan Times)

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