Japan winter seen mostly colder to normal
Japan will see mostly colder to average weather from December to February, raising concerns that utilities, particularly in the west of the country, could find it harder to meet power demand following...
View ArticleGovt eyes pension cut starting in fiscal 2012
Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said Thursday the government would begin discussing a cut to pension benefits from their current levels by 2.5 percent from fiscal 2012. The Government...
View ArticleNoda seeks to appease party foes to TPP talks
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda held a meeting Thursday with lawmakers from his Democratic Party of Japan in an effort to ease their opposition to Japan taking part in the Trans-Pacific Partnership...
View ArticleLower House passes Tohoku disaster tax bill
The House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday to enable the government to execute an emergency tax hike to secure funds for rebuilding Tohoku from March quake and tsunami. The Lower House, where...
View Article'Smart' apps becoming lifestyle game-changer
On a trip to Seoul, you may want to order at a restaurant but don't know any Hangul. But don't worry - just hold your smartphone over the menu and the phone will automatically translate it into...
View ArticleSumo: Hakuho silences crowd by beating Kotoshogiku
Mongolian yokozuna Hakuho tipped over ozeki newbie Kotoshogiku to zero in on his 21st Emperor's Cup on Thursday, while Kisenosato snatched victory from the jaws of defeat to get his promotion campaign...
View Article2nd earthquake of day shakes northern Japan
Two strong earthquakes rattled northern Japan on Thursday, but neither caused any apparent damage or a tsunami. A magnitude-6.1 quake struck Thursday evening south of the northern island of Hokkaido,...
View ArticleNew postage stamp sheets feature AKB48
Japan Post Network Co. is taking orders online and at post offices across the nation for stamp sheets featuring AKB48, the popular all-girl pop group, for distribution in February. The sets feature the...
View ArticleJapan risks slide towards funding strains
Japan must explain how it will correct its public finances to avert the risk that investors would shun its bonds and push up borrowing costs, the credit rating agency Fitch has warned. Japan was...
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Japan Tobacco accused of marketing to girls at World Cup volleyball
Anti-smoking campaigners in Japan are accusing one of the world's leading tobacco companies of marketing products to teenage girls at World Cup volleyball events here. Japan Tobacco's logo (JT) is on...
View ArticleA gambling problem for Japan Inc.
Tokyo public prosecutors on Tuesday arrested Mr. Mototaka Ikawa, former chairman of Daio Paper Corp., on suspicion of causing financial damage to four subsidiaries by taking out massive loans from them...
View ArticleRugby: Japan all set for biggest ever Sevens Rugby Series
On the eve of the 2011 Gold Coast Sevens - Fever Pitch, the first round of the 2011/12 HSBC Sevens World Series, the anticipation is building for what will be yet another fascinating season of Sevens....
View ArticleJapan's debt a rising concern, IMF report warns
The International Monetary Fund has warned in a new report that market concerns over fiscal sustainability could trigger a "sudden spike" in Japanese government bond yields that could quickly render...
View ArticleTepco's simplified form just 34 pages, 1,005 sections
Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Thursday it has created a simplified application form for people seeking compensation related to the Fukushima nuclear accident, after victims criticized the original...
View ArticleJapan in talks to resume Myanmar aid
Japan and Myanmar will hold a meeting in Naypyidaw next week to discuss resuming Tokyo's official development aid, a foreign ministry official said Thursday. The move is the latest in a series of...
View ArticleOlympics: Japanese PM Noda to support Tokyo 2020 Olympic bid
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda will serve as a top adviser to a panel supporting Tokyo's bid to host the 2020 Summer Olympics. Japanese Olympic Committee President Tsunekazu Takeda said...
View ArticleNuke accident-linked cancer may be impossible to detect
Even if the world's worst nuclear accident in 25 years results in many people developing cancer, we may never find out. Looking back on the early days of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, that may sound...
View ArticleU.S. fighter exercises to move outside Okinawa
The Japanese and U.S. governments are in the final stage of negotiations to conduct fighter jet exercises scheduled for December in Guam, instead of Okinawa Prefecture as originally planned, it was...
View ArticleScience in Japan: Where rats and robots play
Think of a university and what comes to mind may be the cloistered calm of Oxford, the architectural chaos of MIT or even, perhaps, the 1950s brutalism of Moscow. A Daliesque building on a subtropical...
View ArticleBasketball: Japan pro league gets first female coach
Japan's track record for shattering the glass ceiling for working women is a short one. But on Thursday, another crack was made when a female was named head coach for the first time in Japan's...
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