Baseball: Cuba beats Japan, wins Group A
Alfredo Despaigne hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning, helping Cuba defeat two-time defending champion Japan 6-3 Wednesday to finish first in Group A of the World Baseball Classic. (ESPN)
View ArticleWorld's smallest phone launched in Japan
It may look like a toy, but Japanese phone firm Willcom has unveiled the world's smallest mobile phone. (Daily Mail)
View ArticleJapanese food ranks top in JETRO overseas survey
Japanese food ranked top as the most favorite foreign cuisine in six out of seven countries and regions surveyed, the Japan External Trade Organization said Tuesday. (Jiji Press)
View ArticleKahala billionaire arrested in Japan for tax evasion; does he pay in Hawaii?
In Japan he's known as the "landlord of neon nightspots." In Kahala, he's known as a landowner with controversial ideas. Now billionaire Genshiro Kawamoto has been arrested in Japan accused of tax...
View ArticleToyota Aqua stays best-selling car for fifth month
Toyota Motor Corp.'s Aqua hybrid hatchback remained the nation's top-selling car for the fifth straight month in February, selling 24,526 units, up 11.7 percent from a year earlier, industry bodies...
View ArticleUeno Zoo to draw curtain on pandas angling to mate
Two giant pandas will be removed from public view Thursday because they appear to have entered the mating season, Tokyo's Ueno Zoo said Wednesday. (Japan Times)
View ArticleLesbian pair are first same-sex couple to get married in Tokyo Disney
An LGBT blogger and her partner became the first gay couple to get married at Tokyo Disney last Friday, undeterred by a lack of legal recognition for same-sex partnerships in Japan. (pinknews.co.uk)
View ArticleBody parts found in Kawasaki apartment
Police said Wednesday that parts of a human body have been found at an apartment in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture. (Japan Today)
View ArticleGov't eyes ceremony to mark Japan's 1952 recovery of sovereignty
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Thursday the government is considering holding a ceremony on April 28 to commemorate the day Japan recovered its sovereignty under the San Francisco Peace Treaty in 1952....
View ArticleBOJ lifts economic assessment, keeps monetary policy unchanged
The Bank of Japan upgraded its assessment of the economy Thursday amid an improvement in overseas economies and kept its monetary policy unchanged as it apparently continues to assess the impact of the...
View ArticleNikkei rises for 6th session to end just below 12,000
Japan's Nikkei average rose to a 4-1/2-year high for a second day in a row on Thursday, boosted by the prospect of Japan soon embarking on a more aggressive monetary policy, although the index failed...
View ArticleJapan nominates vice finance minister to lead ADB
Japan has nominated Takehiko Nakao, its deputy finance minister for international affairs, to become president of the Asian Development Bank. (miamiherald.com)
View ArticleGoogle launches Public Alerts in Japan to provide information during tsunami,...
Google has announced the first international expansion of its Public Alerts system - which helps disseminate details of emergencies through its Web services - after the service launched in Japan....
View ArticleJapan's main international airport boosts capacity
Japan's main international airport on Thursday hiked capacity to allow tens of thousands more flights annually as it faces rising competition and criticism over high landing fees. (Global Post)
View ArticleN. Korea shows some signs of preparing for war
Some indications of North Korea preparing for a war were observable in the capital Pyongyang on Wednesday, a day after the North threatened to scrap the cease-fire that ended the 1950-1953 Korean War....
View ArticleWeather agency introduces new tsunami warning system
The Japan Meteorological Agency introduced a new tsunami warning system Thursday, under which it will initially focus on giving appropriate evacuation warnings rather than accurate forecasts of the...
View ArticleJapan Crown Prince Naruhito gives speech at U.N. headquarters
Japanese Crown Prince Naruhito delivered a keynote speech on disaster reduction at a U.N. conference Wednesday, the first Japanese Imperial Family member to make an address at the U.N. Headquarters....
View ArticleJapan to strengthen fight against new criminal gangs
Japan's National Policy Agency said Thursday that it will strengthen its fight against new gangs accused of repeatedly committing criminal activities such as assault and remittance fraud. (Jiji Press)
View ArticleTsunami-hit towns still barren as rebuilding lags
Like tens of thousands of people who lost everything in the tsunami that pulverized Japan's northeastern coast two years ago, 83-year-old Hide Sato is living in one-room temporary housing, and longing...
View ArticleJapan women near bottom of barrel
Japan has one of the lowest scores in the Asia-Pacific region in terms of socioeconomic opportunities for women, according to MasterCard's latest Index of Women's Advancement released Wednesday. (Japan...
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