Gender-conflicted inmates to get solo bathing time, choice of undergarments
The Justice Ministry has issued a new guideline for handling prisoners with gender identity disorder that allows them to bathe alone and wear the underwear of the gender they identify with, sources...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Equestrian: Hiroshi Hoketsu qualifies for London Olympics at age 70
Japanese equestrian Hiroshi Hoketsu qualified for the London Olympics at age 70, although it's not yet clear if he will actually compete. The oldest Olympian in history is Swedish shooter Oscar Swahn....
View ArticleMarathon: Yamamoto closes in on place at Olympics
Ryo Yamamoto is used to taking the express lane. The 27-year-old proved it on Sunday, placing fourth in the Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon for the top finish among Japanese runners to all but secure his...
View ArticleCrackdown on intellectual property piracy pays off
The first joint effort between Japan and Taiwan to crack down on the pirating of intellectual property has led to the seizure by Taiwanese police of nearly 10,000 Japanese DVDs sold in the island's...
View Article1 year after Japan's quake, 20% of affected businesses closed
Of about 27,000 Japanese businesses in prefectures affected by last year's earthquake and tsunami, more than 20 percent have not resumed operations, according to a recent Yomiuri Shimbun survey. Some...
View ArticleSemester shift to align universities globally means major overhaul
A call to shift enrolment from the current April to September, made by the prestigious University of Tokyo and supported by at least 30 other universities, has turned the spotlight on higher education...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Okada loses in Manila as Wynn goes 'nuclear'
Stephen Wynn stepped off his private jet at Manila airport in June 2010 to be greeted by the Philippines gaming regulator. On the tarmac too, in black wraparound sunglasses and trademark 1950s-style...
View ArticleJapanese factories in post-tsunami rethink
When small unheard-of factories on Japan's tsunami-hit northeast coast were knocked out of action last year, few people would have predicted that it would cause the global car industry to come...
View ArticleCharges loom over falsified AIJ reports
The Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission is considering filing criminal charges against executives of scandal-ridden AIJ Investment Advisors Co. on suspicion of falsifying pension asset...
View Article500-kg bull gores man shielding grandkids
A 56-year-old farmer was gored and seriously injured while he tried to protect his grandchildren from a 500-kilogram bull that had escaped from its owner on Tokunoshima island in Kagoshima Prefecture,...
View ArticleMore retailers look to S.E. Asia / Economic doldrums at home make...
Domestic demand-oriented companies, such as supermarket chains, convenience store chains and food makers, are accelerating their moves into the markets of other Asian countries. Aeon Co. on Friday...
View ArticleGovt increasing efforts to woo LDP
Deputy Prime Minister Katsuya Okada has met with senior members of the largest opposition party--the Liberal Democratic Party--and asked for their cooperation on bills related to consumption tax...
View ArticleHimeji bar owner killed in arson attack
An apparent dispute over money resulted in the death by arson of the owner of a hostess bar in Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture, police said Sunday. According to police, the bar owner, who has been named as...
View ArticlePenguin escapes from Kasai Rinkai Aquarium
A penguin bred at Kasai Rinkai Aquarium in Tokyo's Edogawa Ward escaped on Sunday morning. According to the aquarium, around 11 a.m., an employee at a nearby bird park called the aquarium, saying that...
View ArticleJapanese artist creates music using brain waves
News of the mind-controlled skateboard spurred a rather heated discussion on Crave this week about how we could apply brain-wave-powered tech to other aspects of our lives. Of all the things we came up...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Heroes of Japan's nuclear disaster all but forgotten
Koichi Nakagawa sometimes wonders if he should have bailed out on his friends and other employees at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear-power plant a lot earlier. Maybe he should have left the day he...
View ArticleNikkei drops on profit-taking, China growth target letdown
Japan's Nikkei share average dropped on Monday as profit-taking from domestic investors mounted near key chart levels and as Asian shares slipped on disappointment after China announced its lowest...
View ArticleShareholders file $67 bln lawsuit against Tepco executives
Shareholders of Tokyo Electric Power Co Inc, operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant in northeast Japan, are suing the utility's executives for a record 5.5 trillion yen ($67.4 billion) in...
View ArticleDisasters cost $380 billion in 2011, says UN
Disasters led by the Japan earthquake cost the world a record figure of more than $380 billion last year, a UN official said Monday. While countries are managing to control the disaster death toll,...
View ArticleJapan beats US women 1-0 on 84th-minute goal by Megumi Takase to reach...
Megumi Takase scored on a header in the 84th minute, and world champion Japan beat the United States 1-0 Monday at Faro, Portugal, in a rematch of last year's World Cup championship game. With the win,...
View Article