Japan's pledge to lend the International Monetary Fund $60 billion as part of its resource drive makes the Asian country the fund's top contributor, taking the lead from the U.S.
The U.S. was one of the few countries in the Group of 20 largest economies that said it wouldn't contribute any cash to bolster the IMF's lending base. Japan, meanwhile, was one of the first non-European countries to commit money to the IMF.
(Wall Street Journal)
Japan's IMF pledge makes it no. 1 fund contributor
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Analysis: Walking fine line, BOJ head warns of risks of easing
Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa has been doing his best to keep in check expectations of major new stimulus by the central bank next week.
Three times during a week-long tour of the United States, Shirakawa stressed that monetary easing alone cannot beat deflation and that too much stimulus, in the form of quasi-fiscal policy, could have drawbacks. (Reuters)
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Japan to write off Myanmar debt in thumbs-up for reform
Japan will write off billions of dollars in debt owed by Myanmar and restart development loans, the leaders of the two countries said on Saturday, in a further move to end the Southeast Asian nation's isolation and strengthen its nascent democracy.
The agreement to waive 303.5 billion yen ($3.72 billion) debt and overdue charges was reached during President Thein Sein's visit to Tokyo, the first by a Myanmar head of state in nearly three decades, signaling its steady return to the international fold after decades of brutal military rule.
(Reuters)
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Skating: Japan edges US to win World Team Trophy
Akiko Suzuki finished second in the free skate and first overall in the women's program on Saturday and host Japan won the International Skating Union's World Team Trophy.
Ashley Wagner of the United States won the free skate with 122.29 points, but Japan held a solid eight-point lead after Daisuke Takahashi won the men's free skate on Friday and finished the competition with 55 points, two ahead of the U.S.
(ESPN)
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Japanese tsunami debris reaches Alaska shores
Federal scientists say that a volleyball and soccer ball that washed ashore on an island may be the first pieces of debris to arrive in Alaska from last year's tsunami in Japan.
The Anchorage Daily News reports that the sports balls were spotted by a radar technician on Middleton Island. His wife traced the writing on the balls to a Japanese school in an area hit by the tsunami.
(Fox News)
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The weeklies need to expand their worldview
Japan cuts the world down to size. Thumb through the popular weekly news magazines to get the idea. The weeklies pride themselves on broader, bolder, feistier coverage than the daily press typically musters. All the same, theirs is a small, shrunken world. It consists of four countries: Japan, the United States, China and North Korea.
(Japan Times)
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Russian girl's killing probed
Police have launched a murder investigation after finding the blood-soaked body of a 19-year-old Russian at her home in Yokohama on Friday.
Anna Filimonova is believed to have died around 8 a.m. Thursday from massive blood loss after being stabbed in the chest and abdomen.
(Japan Times)
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Japan: 33% of married women victims of domestic abuse
A recent Cabinet Office survey shows that 32.9 per cent of married women or women who have been married in the past have experienced domestic abuse, such as physical harm or psychological harassment.
According to the survey, 41.4 per cent of domestic abuse victims did not tell anyone about the situation. (AsiaOne)
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1 dead, 15 injured in chemical plant blast in Yamaguchi
A blast at a chemical plant in western Japan killed one worker and injured at least fifteen others on Sunday, police said.
The accident occurred at a factory operated by comprehensive chemical manufacturer Mitsui Chemicals in Yamaguchi Prefecture, an official at Yamaguchi prefectural police said.
(Japan Today)
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Tennis: Japan win berth in Fed Cup World Group
Ayumi Morita secured a berth in the Fed Cup World Group next season when she defeated Tamaryn Hendler to give Japan an insurmountable 3-0 lead over Belgium on Sunday.
It will be the first time since 2007 that Japan will return to the elite eight-team World Group.
(AFP)
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Big science in small town Japan
Hundreds of particle physicists are descending once more on the sleepy village of Tokai-mura in Eastern Japan. Over the next week we will discuss the present and future of an experiment that many have devoted several years of their lives to. An experiment that will forge a path into a new era of understanding the creation of our Universe.
The ND280 detector The ND280 detector, part of T2K.
(guardian.co.uk)
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Rice farmers seek to save their crops from salt
Toshiharu Ota, a rice farmer in Miyagi Prefecture, in northeastern Japan, survived the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster last year. But his fields were devastated by the salt deposits left behind when the tsunami's floodwaters receded. Now, to help farmers like Mr. Ota, a research team is working to develop a new salt-tolerant variety of rice.
(New York Times)
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Tokyo's trade priorities
Achieving full free trade among its members by 2020 remains the stated goal of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) group, but few expect it to materialise due to the non-binding nature of the agreement.
(Bangkok Post)
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14-year-old arrested for stabbing bus driver
Police on April 23 arrested a 14-year-old boy on suspicion of stabbing a bus driver at JR Nishihachioji Station the previous day.
The Metropolitan Police Department's youth crimes department says the boy has admitted to the allegations and said, "I thought of holing up in the bus to prove myself to a friend who made fun of me."
(Mainichi)
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Cool Biz to start May 1, Super Cool Biz on June 1
The government will launch its Cool Biz campaign again this year on May 1, the same as last year. Prior to 2011, the campaign began on June 1, but it was brought forward by a month last year in a bid to conserve electricity after worries that there would be a power shortage following the March 11 disaster.
(Japan Today)
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Bear farm owner's house raided
Police on Sunday searched the house of the owner of a bear farm in Kazuno, Akita Prefecture, where two female employees were killed by brown bears on Friday.
Besides searching the 68-year-old owner's house in Odate in the prefecture on suspicion of professional negligence resulting in death, the Kazuno Police Station on Saturday searched the Hachimantai Bear Farm's office and examined the area where the two women were killed.
(Yomiuri)
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5 injured as boat crashes into 'whale'
Five people were slightly injured Sunday morning after a high-speed boat they were on crashed into what appeared to be a whale off Kagoshima Prefecture, according to a local coast guard office.
Two passengers and three crew members suffered blows to their shoulders or hips when the 140-ton vessel collided with what appeared to be a whale shortly before 9 a.m. on its way from Kagoshima to Yakushima island, Kagoshima Prefecture, the Kagoshima Coast Guard Office said.
(Yomiuri)
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Chain got complaints of rotten beef before poisonings
The barbecue chain tainted by a fatal food poisoning scandal last year was getting complaints about rotten meat before the scandal even broke, investigative sources said.
They also found that employees at the Yakinikuzakaya Ebisu chain had detected the smell of decaying meat and urged their bosses to return it to the supplier, meaning the executives at Foods Forus Co., which runs the "yakuniku" joints, were likely well aware of the situation, the sources said Saturday.
(Japan Times)
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Japan insider trading fears reawaken
The Tokyo Stock Exchange has said it does not want a 'dirty' capital market.
Just as foreign investor interest in the Japanese stock market has picked up, old fears have reawakened over the level of insider trading ahead of deals.
(CNN)
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Japan cops nab arch-bathroom defacer
Japanese police say that they've nabbed a new master vandal who may be responsible for a world record for writing on bathroom walls.
Police say they picked up Friday a 35-year old man who allegedly carved graffiti into 2,600 bathroom stalls with a cutting knife in over 36 of Japan's 47 prefectures. (Wall Street Journal)
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