Sky Tree booked for 1st month
The Tokyo Sky Tree, set to open on May 22, has been completely booked by groups seeking to visit the tower during the first month of its opening, while individual tickets are yet to be made available....
View ArticleSolar power from external walls / New material allows for more efficient...
Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corp. plans to sell a new type of external building material that generates power from sunlight beginning in fiscal 2013, it has been learned. Unlike conventional solar...
View ArticleNew fissures open in Japan
Hideo Sato, 47, and his family escaped to this snowy city 200 kilometers from the radiation emitting Fuksuhima power plant that was struck by the earthquake-driven tsunami on March 11. "We were forced...
View ArticleHow I became a J-pop fangirl
Every form of geeky fandom can be a slippery slope of obsession. The franchises and worldly outlooks that inspire devotion by so many are riddled with gently linked, coincidentally tangential fandoms....
View ArticleSoy may not protect against stomach cancer
Estrogen-like compounds that come with a soy-rich diet are sometimes linked to a reduced risk of cancer, but new research from Japan suggests that protection doesn't extend to stomach cancer. In a...
View ArticleJapan PM vows to bring rebirth of Fukushima
Japan's prime minister pledged Wednesday in his traditional new year's press conference to bring "rebirth" to the area around the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant. Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda...
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Baseball: Ichiro felt 'mental stress' last year
Japan's greatest baseball export Ichiro Suzuki has confessed to feeling "mental stress" last year after seeing his record streak of 200-hit seasons snapped at 10. The Seattle Mariners outfielder told...
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A nuclear-free town fades away in Japan
In the mid-1990s, the small seaside community of Maki was a rare exception in Japan, rejecting a nuclear-power plant offered to keep the town afloat, while similar villages embraced reactors as an...
View ArticleHiroshima peace park cenotaph found vandalized
The cenotaph for atomic bomb victims at Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park was found defaced with what appears to be golden paint in the early hours of Wednesday, police said. Paint was sprayed over part...
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Toyo University wins ekiden in record time
Proving its depth, Toyo University won the annual Tokyo-Hakone collegiate ekiden road relay for the third time in four years with a stunning record time on Tuesday. Toyo completed the 217.9-km round...
View ArticleNikkei climbs 1.2 percent, eyes 75-day moving average
Japan's leading share average rose to a three-week closing high on Wednesday after better-than-expected economic data from the United States and China, although strategists said the rally could stall...
View ArticleChina and Japan find common ground
As with all important occasions, it does not matter so much who was there, but who was missing. On December 28, among thousands of North Korean mourners parading past the body of the deceased Dear...
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Japanese automakers say goodbye to disaster-filled 2011
The big Japanese automakers are happy to see 2011 in their rear-view mirrors. The Detroit auto companies posted a double-digit sales increase for the year, but the big Japanese brands -- especially...
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Fukushima schools kick off semester
Public elementary and junior high schools in the city of Fukushima kicked off a new semester Wednesday, one week earlier than normal amid the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant crisis. Those schools had...
View ArticleNew Yamanote Line station eyed
East Japan Railway Co. may build the first new station on the Yamanote Line since 1971, sources said Wednesday, adding the site would be between Shinagawa and Tamachi stations. JR East is looking to...
View ArticleAnti-whalers find Japanese harpoon ship
Anti-whaling activists claimed a small victory in their Antarctic campaign Wednesday with the discovery of a Japanese harpoon ship, as one of their boats limped back to Australia badly damaged. The Sea...
View ArticleNew party Kizuna launched by 9 DPJ defectors
Nine Lower House lawmakers who announced last week that they were leaving the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, on Wednesday launched a new party called Kizuna. The party, headed by Akira Uchiyama from...
View ArticleWoman's body found beside Route 428 in Kobe
Police said Wednesday that a woman's body was found lying beside a national highway in Kobe. Police said they received a report from a driver traveling along Route 428 in Kobe at around 11:40 a.m. on...
View ArticleJapan tuna sale smashes record
A bluefin tuna has been sold for three quarters of a million dollars in Tokyo - a price almost double last year's record sale. The bluefin tuna, prized for making the finest sushi, fetched 56.49m yen...
View ArticleBattle of the brushes in Japan
From small children to octogenarians, thousands came together in Tokyo Thursday for a new year's battle of the brushes in an annual national calligraphy contest. In what has long been a ritual for the...
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