Pregnant woman, 7-yr-old girl killed after car hits schoolchildren
A seven-year-old girl and a pregnant woman were killed Monday morning when a car hit a group of elementary school children in Kameoka, Kyoto Prefecture. Five children were seriously hurt when the car,...
View Article16 Japanese educational satellites to be launched
Sixteen educational satellites are under construction in Japan. The first should be launched in May 2012 followed by the others over the next two years. The first to launch is the amateur radio...
View ArticleJapan, Australia remain apart on farm trade liberalization
Japan and Australia began Monday in Canberra five-day talks on sealing a bilateral free trade agreement, with differences remaining over liberalizing trade in agricultural products. In the 15th round...
View ArticleTokyo shares end lower as yen-buying erases earlier gains
Tokyo stocks fell Monday, as an uptick in the yen erased earlier gains in shares such as Toyota Motor and Sony, in tepid trading ahead of key policy meetings by the central banks of Japan and the U.S.,...
View ArticleRare crested ibis hatches in Japan
Japanese wildlife researchers say a crested ibis chick hatched in the wild is the first of the endangered birds born outside captivity in 36 years. The nestling hatched from an egg produced by a pair...
View ArticleJapan's Cosmo Oil renews Iran oil imports deal
Japan's Cosmo Oil Co has renewed its annual oil purchase deal with Iran and cut the volume to comply with U.S. sanctions against the Islamic nation, trade sources said on Friday. Cosmo's new...
View ArticleIf Japan is broke, how is it bailing out Europe?
If you want to understand Japan, try watching what people do rather than listen to what they say. More even than in other parts of the world there is a difference - and what people do is, of course, a...
View ArticleJapan struggles with nuclear decontamination
Over a year after the nuclear accident triggered by a massive earthquake and tsunami contaminated large swathes of land in northeastern Japan, the future of the largely agricultural area and those who...
View ArticleHow Japan's rail industry bounced back from the tsunami
The Japanese rail network - including its fleet of 200mph bullet trains were working normally within 50 days of the earthquake and tsunami which devastated the country and killed, according to the...
View ArticleDisciplinary action taken against Chiba police superintendent in stalking...
A police superintendent and 20 other police members were subjected to disciplinary action on April 23 over a case in which officers put off the handling of a stalking complaint and went ahead with a...
View ArticleTokyo gets double dose of gay pride for 2012
For the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, gay pride parades are not only a great means to raise awareness of LGBT issues and spread the message of diversity and acceptance, but also a...
View ArticleNagano woman arrested for attempted murder after strangling 1-year-old daughter
Police said Monday they have arrested a 40-year-old woman for allegedly strangling her one-year-old daughter at their home in Iiyama, Nagano Prefecture. The woman, who has been named as Ikue Inose,...
View ArticleTeenage boy found dead outside public facility in Tokyo
A teenage boy was found dead outside a public facility in Tokyo apparently after being beaten, police said on April 23. According to police, Yuji Nakahashi, a 16-year-old unemployed boy from Tokyo's...
View ArticleOlympics: Japanese official confident of at least 6 golds in London
Mitsuo Tsukahara, deputy chef de mission of Japan's London Olympic delegation, said Monday he is sure about six gold medals at this point because of the excellent form shown by athletes such as Kosuke...
View ArticleTemperatures soar in Japan; 30.5 C recorded in Oita town
Temperatures soared across eastern and western Japan on Tuesday, brought on by a high pressure system, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. In many parts of the nation, the mercury was 10 degrees...
View ArticleBank of Japan likely to ease, may buy longer-dated government bonds
The Bank of Japan is likely to ease monetary policy on Friday by boosting asset purchases by up to 10 trillion yen ($123 billion) and in doing so may extend the maturity of government bonds it targets...
View ArticleCan Tokyo learn from the American political 'matsuri'?
If the U.S. election race conjures up images of mud flying through the air for many Japanese, campaigning politicians in the Land of the Rising Sun evoke visions of a more white-gloved affair. Japan's...
View ArticleHealth ministry eyes crackdown on 'legal herbs' used as drugs
At least 77 people have been delivered to hospitals in Tokyo this year after smoking "legal herbs" that have the same hallucinatory and stimulatory effects as illegal drugs, figures gathered by the...
View ArticleJapan car makers look to wow Beijing auto show crowd with green machines
The 2012 Beijing International Automotive Exhibition opened on April 23. With some 18.5 million new vehicles rolling off Chinese dealer lots in 2011, making China the world's largest car market, the...
View ArticleTokyo stocks fall at close
Tokyo shares are 0.78 percent lower following losses on Wall Street stoked by political and economic uncertainty in Europe and softer Chinese manufacturing figures. The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo...
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