News On Japan

The Bank of Japan last week decided to allow the yield on the 10-year government bond to move in a wider range. (NHK)

Controversial Japanese casino tycoon Kazuo Okada has been arrested in Hong Kong over alleged and unspecified "corruption-related" offences, his former company in Tokyo said on Monday. (Japan Today)

Imported bluefin tuna are flooding in Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market, amid sluggish domestic supplies, including of renowned tuna from Oma, Aomori Prefecture, due to tighter fishing controls. (Jiji)

A 10-meter-long whale washed ashore at a beach in Kamakura City on Sunday, reports the Sankei Shimbun (tokyoreporter.com)

A Japanese court has begun a trial filed by a man who is seeking compensation from the government after being forced to undergo sterilization under the now-defunct Eugenic Protection Law. (NHK)

The Tanabata Star Festival has opened in Sendai, northeastern Japan, filling the main shopping arcade in the city with colorful bamboo decorations. (NHK)

Enduring a deadly heat wave this summer, Japan is considering adopting daylight saving time from next year, so that the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games can stage events during cooler hours, the Sankei Shimbun newspaper reported Monday. (Japan Times)

Japan's Defense Ministry will raise the age limit of applicants for Self-Defense Forces members and cadets from the current 26 to 32 as early as October, ministry officials said Tuesday. (Jiji)

Overall pay for workers in Japan in June posted the steepest growth in over 21 years in real terms, as bonuses increased on upbeat corporate earnings, the labor ministry said Tuesday. (Jiji)

Japan's Crown Prince Naruhito is set to make an official visit to France on Sept. 7-15. (Jiji)

Kei Komuro, whose marriage to Japanese Princess Mako has been postponed, left Japan on Tuesday to study at Fordham University's law school in New York. (Jiji)

More than 70,000 people have been taken to hospitals across Japan since late April with symptoms of heatstroke. (NHK)

Tokyo Medical University has admitted to tampering with entrance exam scores to raise the bar for women and for men who failed such exams several times. (NHK)

Facial recognition software is to be introduced at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games for the first time in the history of the event. (NHK)

A strong typhoon is expected to come very close to Japan's eastern Pacific coast from Wednesday through Thursday, bringing strong winds and heavy rain. (NHK)

Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga has died. He was 67. (NHK)

People in Japan are observing 73 years since American forces carried out their second atomic bomb attack on the country during World War Two. (NHK)

A typhoon making its way up Japan's Pacific coast has been downgraded to a severe tropical storm but officials say conditions could still be dangerous. (NHK)

Saitama Prefectural Police and Tokyo Customs on Thursday announced the bust of a marijuana smuggling ring that has netted 12 persons, reports the Sankei Shimbun (tokyoreporter.com)

Local organizers announced the road cycling courses for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics on Thursday and declared them "extremely difficult." (Kyodo)

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