Disney Mobile on DoCoMo brand launches with two new Android phones in Japan
It appears Disney's mobile efforts in Japan are going pretty well, and with the help of carrier NTT DoCoMo they're expanding under the joint "Disney Mobile on DoCoMo" brand name. The partnership is...
View ArticleSony's Hirai to replace Stringer as CEO
Sony Corp. announced Wednesday that Kazuo Hirai, who leads the company's core consumer products business, will replace Howard Stringer as CEO and president as the electronics and entertainment company...
View ArticleSouth Korea, Japan want U.S. to detail Iran sanctions
South Korea and Japan will soon meet U.S. officials in Washington to ask how much oil they can import from Iran under new sanctions that leave the Asian nations with few alternative sources for energy,...
View ArticleSharp forecasts $3.8 billion loss
Japanese electronics maker Sharp said Wednesday it expected a full-year net loss of $3.8 billion, blaming falling prices, a high yen and the global economic slowdown. The firm expects to lose 290...
View ArticleJapan's biggest bank reports surge in net income
Japan's major banks reported a mixed bag of earnings results for the April-December period, as valuation losses from equity holdings and an incoming corporate tax shake-up prompted a number of firms to...
View ArticleJapanese Stocks Advance After ANA Raises Forecast, Shipping Lines Surge
Japanese shares advanced, with the Topix (TPX) Index snapping a four-day loss, after All Nippon Airways (9202) Co. raised its operating profit forecast and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. led shipping...
View ArticleWriter talks of 'underground reality' of Japan's foreigners in new book
The myth that Japan is a homogenous society lost its veracity long ago. With the growth of globalization, the sight of foreigners living and working in Japan is certainly no longer a rare occurrence....
View ArticleJapanese emperor to undergo heart test
Japan's ageing Emperor Akihito is to undergo another heart exam next week, a palace official said Wednesday, amid increasing worries about the monarch's health. The angiogram of his coronary arteries,...
View ArticleDarvish's brother guilty of assault
The Osaka District Court on Wednesday sentenced the younger brother of new Texas Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish to a suspended one-year prison term for assaulting a female friend. Sho Darvish, 22,...
View ArticleGundam park to open in Odaiba
A theme park featuring popular "anime" series "Mobile Suit Gundam" will open on April 19 in Tokyo's Odaiba district. According to Bandai Co., the new theme park, named Gundam Front Tokyo, will have a...
View ArticlePipe leaks water from reactor 4 fuel pool
Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Wednesday it has found radioactive coolant water leaking from a broken pipe in reactor 4 of the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, but it hasn't flowed outside the...
View ArticleHamamatsu new 'gyoza' capital
Boasting dozens of restaurants and shops and the highest household consumption rate of "gyoza," Utsunomiya, the capital of Tochigi Prefecture, has long been regarded as the capital of the Chinese...
View ArticlePrivacy and Net cafes - a tale of two cities
Kazushi Takahashi, a 22-year-old student in Tokyo, likes the privacy provided by closed individual rooms in Internet cafes, where he can surf the Web, play online games and read manga. "I wouldn't be...
View ArticleJapan plans to merge major science bodies
In its battle against a sluggish economy, Japan's government is gearing up to make cost savings through a root-and-branch reform of the country's science system, merging some of its most prominent...
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The games that changed Japan
The first arcades in Japan weren't video arcades, and they weren't even in game centres. In the decades following the second world war, gamers played electro-magnetic games in bowling alleys and on...
View ArticleGovt to create new child care program in '15
The government has agreed on a final draft plan for a new preschool child care program designed to combine kindergartens with day care centers. The scheme is designed to reduce the number of children...
View ArticleBrazil passes Japan as number two country on Twitter
Brazil has leapfrogged Japan to become the second most-represented country on Twitter, according to a study from social media research company Semiocast. The U.S. is still the top country on Twitter in...
View ArticleJapan's dilemma over Iran sanctions
Cutting off Iranian oil imports has put Tokyo in a difficult position. The United States and its European allies have already agreed to up the ante on sanctions against Iran, but the domestic costs...
View ArticleTrading suspended in 241 issues in Tokyo on glitch
The Tokyo Stock Exchange says it has suspended trading in 241 securities, including Sony Corp. and Hitachi Ltd., due to a glitch in its electronic trading system. The problem was not affecting other...
View ArticleJapan protests to China over undersea gas drilling
Japan has accused China of unilaterally exploring gas deposits in the East China Sea, in violation of an agreement to jointly develop disputed areas. Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura told...
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