Debt-riddled Japan relaxes decades-old arms exports ban
Debt-riddled Japan Tuesday relaxed its self-imposed decades-old ban on military equipment exports in a move that will open new markets to its defense contractors and help the nation squeeze more out of...
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Activists using drones against Japanese whalers
The longstanding battle against whaling has mostly been a game of wait, watch, chase and hope for the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. But activists are now hoping they'll be able to chase down...
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Japan leads the way in sexless love
t's not easy being a young man in Japan today. Every few months sees the release of a new set of figures, stats and stories trumpeting the same meme: today's Japanese men are unmanly - and worse, they...
View ArticleWomen beat men to jobs as Japan 'mancession' spurs deflation
Three times a week, Seiya Ogawa bikes to an unemployment center in Kadoma, home to Panasonic Corp., looking for work to help pay for his son's final year at college. "At this point, I'm willing to take...
View ArticleJapanese judo champ charged with rape
Japanese prosecutors have filed rape charges against a two-time Olympic judo gold medalist. Tokyo prosecutors said Masato Uchishiba, 33, was formally charged Tuesday. He is accused of raping a teenager...
View ArticleJapan's industrial output down, unemployment flat
Japan's industrial output dropped last month - with production, shipments and inventory figures all decreasing - but government forecasters had manufacturing and production looking for a rebound this...
View ArticleU.S. says China not currency manipulator; chides Japan
The U.S. Treasury again shied away from labeling China a currency manipulator on Tuesday, but it rapped the country for not moving quickly enough on exchange rate reforms. The United States also chided...
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Japanese boffins crack arse-based ID recognizer
Researchers at Japan's Advanced Institute of Industrial Technology have developed a seat that can identify the user by the shape and heft of their buttocks. The seat, currently designed for use in the...
View ArticleLast shelters in Fukushima Pref. close
The last two evacuation centers in Fukushima Prefecture were closed Wednesday, more than 9-1/2 months after the March 11 disaster. All shelters set up in hard-hit Fukushima, Iwate and Miyagi...
View Article9 lawmakers submit resignations from DPJ
Nine lawmakers of the Democratic Party of Japan submitted their resignations from the party Wednesday to protest a planned consumption tax hike and other policies of the administration of Prime...
View ArticleFew options for left-behind parents even if Hague OK'd
For years, Japan was the object of international criticism for not joining the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction that prevents cross-border parental...
View ArticleShonen Knife celebrates 30 years
Today we celebrate 30 years under the Knife. Yes, it was on Dec. 29, 1981, that three teenage girls - Naoko Yamano, her sister Atsuko and their friend Mitchie Nakatani - entered an Osaka rehearsal...
View ArticleDeflation's grip returns as production, retail sales slide
The rebound from the March earthquake and tsunami sputtered in November as production and retail sales tumbled, deepening the return to deflation that first took hold a decade ago. Industrial output...
View ArticleNo executions in 2011 for 1st time in 19 yrs
It was confirmed Wednesday that no execution would be carried out in 2011, the first time in 19 years that the state has not carried out the death penalty during a calendar year. There has been at...
View ArticleSkilled foreigners to get grades, perks
The government announced Wednesday that it will start grading skilled foreign workers this spring and granting those with higher marks preferential treatment amid intensifying international competition...
View ArticleJapan has year without executions
JAPAN has not executed anyone so far in 2011, the government says, setting it up to be the first year in nearly two decades the country has not carried out a single death sentence. However, the number...
View ArticleJapan PM says to invest $4.5 bln in India industrial corridor
Japan will invest $4.5 billion in the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor over the next five years, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said on Wednesday after meeting his Indian counterpart in New...
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Japan's cramming schools: Testing times
The yells of children pierce the night, belting out the elements-"Lithium! Magnesium!"-as an instructor displays abbreviations from the periodic table. Next, two dozen flags stream by as the...
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Japanese drinks company launches vending machine with free Wi-Fi
In a country where vending machines can be found not only on every street corner, but in between every street corner, across from every street corner and beside every street corner (in other words,...
View ArticleCan Web-savvy activist moms change Japan?
Japan's nuclear crisis has turned Mizuho Nakayama into one of a small but growing number of Internet-savvy activist moms. Worried about her 2-year-old son and distrustful of government and TV reports...
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