Girl, 12, kills self on Japan railway track
A 12-year-old Japanese girl was killed after she lay down on railway tracks and waited for a speeding train in an apparent suicide, Tokyo police said Wednesday. The elementary school student died after...
View ArticleCreative use of land / Tokyo lags in attracting foreign companies
The downturn in foreigners visiting Tokyo after the Great East Japan Earthquake is well-documented. The number of foreign visitors staying overnight in Tokyo during summer to autumn last year was down...
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Japan phones built to survive showers, toilet-drops
Japanese women are so fond of their phones, they even use them in the shower, say manufacturers. This makes waterproofing a must -- also good against rainstorms and accidents while texting on the...
View ArticleKeep females in Imperial clan: experts
Female members of the Imperial family must retain their status after marriage to maintain the Emperor system, experts told a government panel Wednesday. Journalist Soichiro Tahara and Akira Imatani, a...
View ArticleGoogle warned over handling customer data
Responding to widespread concerns, the government was expected to ask the Japanese unit of Google Inc. Wednesday in writing to handle personal data carefully, a day ahead of the introduction of the...
View ArticleJapan shares close flat on profit-taking
Japanese shares have closed flat despite upbeat factory production data and optimism over eurozone banks after profit-taking zapped earlier impressive gains, brokers say. The Nikkei 225 index at the...
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Fukushima 'punks' rage against evacuation
You wouldn't know the punk band was Japanese, a culture self-programmed for propriety. I can't write the chorus (sung in English) of the band's favorite song here, as my editor would first delete the...
View ArticleBudget airline Peach launches in Japan
Peach Aviation Ltd., backed by All Nippon Airways Co. (9202), began flights in Japan today, becoming the first of three budget carriers to start operations in the country this year. The debut Peach...
View ArticleGiant airbags could protect Japanese houses from earthquakes
As Japan continues to rebuild after last year's devastating earthquake and tsunami, one company has developed an ingenious new method to protect homes from the shaking-let them ride it out on a cushion...
View ArticleJapan demands concrete action from North Korea
Six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program have moved a step closer to resumption after Pyongyang's deal with Washington but there needed to be "concrete" action, Japan said Thursday. Foreign...
View ArticleS Korean president urges Japan to resolve sex slave issue
South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak on Thursday urged Japan to settle long-running grievances over wartime sex slavery, saying time was running out to resolve the issue. In a speech commemorating...
View ArticleJapan government moves to legalise gambling
Casinos could appear in Japan within five years if the government's move to legalise gambling in the country proves successful. A cross-party coalition of 150 lawmakers are in support of legalising...
View ArticleWalk me through Japan
In the suburbs of Nakatsugawa, about 300 kilometers west of Tokyo, a wooden signboard carries notices of the kind common in travelers' haunts across Asia, such as the right prices to pay for porters...
View ArticleShinto priests prepare to mark Japan's quake anniversary
Shinto priests throughout Japan are preparing to hold commemoration ceremonies on March 11 to mark the one-year anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami that killed an estimated 20,000 people. The...
View ArticleCentral banks' joint efforts sustain global system
Never before have the world's central banks sent so much money sloshing through the global financial system. From slashing interest rates and buying government debt to dangling cheap loans to banks and...
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Poverty in Japan: Shadowy figures
Poverty rarely stares you in the face in Japan. There is almost no begging, and the homeless hide in the shadows. In Osaka's Nishinari ward, where many destitute live, bottles and stones mark out...
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Tokyo expats live in altered landscape
Jacinthe Martin says it took her a few days to reach "panic" status last March, as Japan's nuclear crisis deepened following its earthquake and tsunami. But the agitated news reports and frantic emails...
View ArticleBaseball: Japanese All-Star game to be played in Fukushima
Japan's professional baseball league will hold an All-Star game in quake-hit Fukushima in 2013 to help with the reconstruction of the area following last year's earthquake and tsunami. Nippon...
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Can Japan break the yen-won curse?
THE strength of the yen, especially against the South Korean won, has helped spatter Japanese electronics companies with red ink in recent years. Now it has spilled blood. On February 27th Elpida, a...
View ArticleYahoo Japan's leadership becomes younger
Yahoo Japan Corp. freshened up its management team, installing much younger executives as Chairman Masayoshi Son called for the company to stay competitive in the fast-moving Internet industry. Yahoo...
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