Japan's AA- credit rating may be cut if economic outlook weakens
Standard and Poor's affirmed Japan's sovereign-debt rating at AA- while maintaining a negative outlook and warning that a downgrade is likely if medium-term growth prospects weaken. The ranking is...
View ArticleNikkei surges 1.4 pct above 9,500 after China's easing
Japan's Nikkei share average advanced 1.4 percent on Monday to trade above 9,500 for the first time in more than six months, encouraged by China's move to stimulate growth by cutting the amount of cash...
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Japan in contact with N. Korea over retrieval of remains
Japanese government officials contacted North Korea last November and proposed that the two sides discuss the retrieval of the remains of Japanese people who died in North Korea and the establishment...
View ArticleGhibli creates animated magic in 'Secret World of Arrietty'
In Japan, Studio Ghibli plays a role akin to Disney's place in American culture. Its wonderfully inventive films are celebrated as classics, with 2002's "Spirited Away" out-grossing "Titanic" to become...
View ArticleEgg vending machine spotted in Japan
Japan is the country with the highest number of vending machines per capita, and you can just about get anything and everything from a vending machine. Apart from the usual physical sustenance that we...
View ArticleSchool for Germans in Japan faces financial pinch after Fukushima
The German School of Tokyo Yokohama, established more than a century ago, is facing financial difficulty and seeking aid from the German government, following a sharp drop in enrollments in the...
View ArticleNikkei up after China easing but falls short of 9,500
Japan's Nikkei average jumped above its 1-year moving average on Monday, boosted by China's move to stimulate growth by cutting the amount of cash banks must hold in reserve but ended short of 9,500, a...
View ArticleJapan shuts down nuclear reactor
Japan on Monday began a process that will see another one of the country's nuclear reactors go offline, leaving just two of 54 in operation. Kansai Electric Power Co (KEPCO), the largest utility firm...
View ArticleSupreme Court upholds death penalty after campaign
Japan's Supreme Court on Monday upheld the death sentence for a man who killed a young mother and her baby daughter when he was a juvenile, ending years of campaigning by the victim's husband. The...
View ArticleDead shark dumped in Tokyo's Yoyogi Park
Police said Monday that a dead shark was found dumped in Yoyogi Park on Sunday morning. A security guard found the 1.5-meter-long shark, which had been gutted, at the entrance to the park nearest...
View ArticleQuality gap narrows among Detroit, Korean and Japanese cars; price...
Car shoppers today are less likely to end up with a lemon. In the past five years, global competition has forced automakers to improve the quality and reliability of their vehicles - everything from...
View ArticleJournalists tour devastated Japanese nuclear plant
Operators at Japan's earthquake and tsunami-ravaged Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant ushered journalists clad in protective clothing through the plant on Monday, just weeks ahead of the first...
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Japan: One year on
Incredible new 'before and after' images show the almighty clear-up operation that has got Japan back on its feet just under a year after the devastating tsunami. On Friday 11 March last year, waves...
View ArticleResidents of three towns received as much as 23 millisieverts of radiation
The Fukushima Prefectural Government said Monday that residents in three municipalities near its crippled nuclear plant were exposed to as much as 23 millisieverts of radiation in the four months after...
View ArticleSearch for disaster victims held on Fukushima coast
Some 100 officers from the Miyagi Prefectural Police force conducted an intensive search Monday for remains near an elementary school in Ishinomaki that lost 70 of its 108 students to the quake and...
View ArticleJapanese firms seek Europe phone market share
Japanese companies Fujitsu and Panasonic plan to enter the European smartphone market as rivals Apple and Samsung have piled on the pressure in their previously isolated home market. Panasonic unveiled...
View ArticleJapan, China want Europe to help itself
Finance Minister Jun Azumi and Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan's confirmation on Sunday that they would take concerted action to help contain the debt crisis in Europe is believed to reflect the two...
View Article66% of middle schools to start judo classes
About 66 percent of public middle schools nationwide are likely to choose judo as a mandatory martial arts class from the start of the new school year in accordance with a new government initiative, a...
View Article3 people found dead apparently from starvation in Saitama apartment
Three people were found dead in an apartment in Saitama City on Monday afternoon, after having apparently died of starvation, police said. The three bodies, believed to be a couple in their 60s and...
View ArticleJapan to win exemption from Iran sanctions by U.S.
Japan is likely to win an exemption from U.S. sanctions by reducing its imports of crude oil from Iran by at least 11 percent per year, the Yomiuri newspaper said on Tuesday. The two countries reached...
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