News On Japan

Japanese Crown Princess Masako has expressed her hope to inherit the Imperial tradition of sericulture from Empress Michiko, sources in the Imperial Household Agency said Thursday. (Jiji)

The Japanese government is considering setting a new target to reduce its fiscal deficit to 3 pct of nominal gross domestic product by fiscal 2021, informed sources said Friday. (Jiji)

Kanagawa Prefectural Police have arrested a 30-year-old man for allegedly recruiting a high school boy to participate in an orgy at a residence in Funabashi City two years ago, reports the Sankei Shimbun (tokyoreporter.com)

Japanese all-male pop group Tokio will remain as special ambassadors to promote the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games despite the departure of one member for forcibly kissing a high school girl at his home in February, Tokyo Gov Yuriko Koike said Friday. (Japan Today)

A dead fire ant was found in Osaka Prefecture, the Environment Ministry has said. (Jiji)

The golf venue for the Tokyo 2020 Games has granted the first full memberships in nearly four decades to women after lifting a ban under pressure from the International Olympic Committee. (Japan Times)

An elementary schoolgirl was attacked by a man as she walked to school in Tokyo’s Koto Ward on Friday morning. (Japan Today)

Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso has retracted a remark of his about a former top bureaucrat at his ministry who is accused of sexually harassing a female TV reporter. (NHK)

An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.2 struck the north of Nagano Prefecture on Saturday morning, according to the Meteorological Agency. A tsunami warning was not issued. (Japan Times)

North Korea says it will dismantle a nuclear test site in the country's northeast sometime between May 23rd and 25th. (NHK)

A suspicious man in black clothes was repeatedly seen near the site where a 7-year-old girl was found dead Monday in Niigata, local officials said Saturday. (Japan Times)

Colorful knitted wool has been wrapped around the enormous bronze spider sculpture in the Roppongi Hills complex in Minato Ward, Tokyo, to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the opening of the popular complex. (the-japan-news.com)

Osaka Prefectural Police have arrested a civic employee for allegedly molesting a woman on a train in Osaka City on Friday, reports Nikkan Sports (tokyoreporter.com)

Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 33-year-old man who is suspected of stealing a smartphone from a woman and using it to upload obscene videos to Twitter, reports the Sankei Shimbun. (tokyoreporter.com)

Yokozuna Hakuho didn’t look rusty, even taking time to coax his opponent to attack on Sunday’s opening day of the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament at Tokyo’s Ryogoku Kokugikan. (the-japan-news.com)

Gunma Prefectural Police are investigating what is believed to have been a murder-suicide after a man and woman were confirmed dead after being found collapsed in Takasaki City on Saturday, reports TBS News. (tokyoreporter.com)

Two high school girls died in a plunge from a building in Ashikaga City on Friday in what police are viewing as a double suicide, reports the Sankei Shimbun. (tokyoreporter.com)

Women are banned from entering the ring in professional sumo, but the rule doesn't apply to a town in northern Japan that holds a women-only sumo event. (NHK)

Police in Chiba Prefecture near Tokyo have arrested a man on suspicion of attempted murder of 4 people, including 2 children, with a knife. (NHK)

Japan Airlines is launching a low-cost carrier that will offer mid- to long-distance international flights. The company's executives hope to have it off the ground around the summer of 2020, when Tokyo hosts the Olympics and Paralympics. (NHK)

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