Toyota Prius hybrid remains top seller
Toyota Motor Corp.'s Prius hybrid topped the February sales rankings in Japan, retaining first place for the ninth consecutive month, with its sales nearly doubling from a year earlier to 35,875 units,...
View ArticleDiscount overseas parcel service eyed
Japan Post Service Co. on April 1 will launch a new international parcel delivery service about 20 to 40 percent cheaper than its existing Express Mail Service, to target online auction service users....
View ArticleVolcker rule may 'harm' sovereign debt markets
Bank of Japan Deputy Gov. Kiyohiko Nishimura has voiced concerns that Washington's plan to introduce the so-called Volcker rule could negatively impact the liquidity of sovereign debt markets. "If the...
View ArticleJapanese researchers develop fingerprint-free tablet touchscreens
Researchers at one of Japan's top industrial units, Toray, have come up with a solution to modern-life's little annoyances -- greasy, fingerprint-smeared tablet touchscreens. Using nanotechnology that...
View ArticleHas the earth moved under Japan's atomic industry?
A leading Japanese seismic expert may have thrown a spade into plans to bring back online at least one reactor complex located in the heart of the country's so-called "nuclear Ginza" in rural Fukui...
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Fukushima farmers in two-front war
Radioactive realities and radioaction rumors continue to plague farmers in Fukushima Prefecture a year into the crisis that started last March 11 when a megaquake and monster tsunami put a local...
View ArticleJapan's nuclear mobsters escape tsunami pain
A year after an earthquake in Japan touched off the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl, here's the question on my mind: Who's going to jail? The news media are asking the obvious and safe questions...
View ArticleJapan zoo tries to drum up alligators' interest in sex
A Japanese zoo has turned to rhythmical banging on traditional drums in a bid to encourage some enthusiasm for sex among lust-lacking alligators. Zookeepers said Wednesday they hoped the low booming...
View ArticleGolf: Masters gives exemption to Ryo Ishikawa
Ryo Ishikawa no longer has to worry about trying to qualify for the Masters. The 20-year-old from Japan received a special invitation for the second time. Augusta National chairman Billy Payne says the...
View ArticleNikkei down for third day, investors sell blue chips
Japan's Nikkei average fell for the third session on Wednesday as fears that Greece may not meet its bond swap deadline sapped risk appetite, while Brazil's weaker annual growth added to fears of a...
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Don't break the bank: Japan's superb cheap eats
Eating on the cheap in Japan doesn't have to mean scrounging for samples on the food floors of department stores or surviving on convenience-store onigiri rice balls -- though these are time-tested...
View ArticleHow Starbucks tries to fit in on a sacred street
When it decided to open its first outlet close to the entrance to a shrine in Japan, Starbucks Coffee Co. adopted a sound strategy: It toned down its presence in the culturally sensitive neighborhood....
View ArticleDoctors remove fluid from emperor's chest
Doctors on Wednesday conducted a procedure to remove fluid from Emperor Akihito's chest, the Imperial Household Agency said. The emperor, 78, was discharged from hospital last Sunday after undergoing...
View ArticleA year on - no tsunami-hit community has clear plan to move to high ground
Despite government efforts to relocate households inland or to higher ground following the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, none of the affected municipalities has drawn up the necessary plans, a...
View ArticlePixar's BRAVE in Japan - new scenes!
Brave is making its way across the globe as Japan gets its first glimpse of the movie trailer. Opening in 3D and 2D theatres in North America on June 22nd, the animated adventure takes on a new twist...
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Rebuilding Japan: After the deluge
On a cold February day, the northeastern Japanese city of Sendai is a snow-covered wasteland. It might pass for out-of-season farmland were it not for the chunks of grey concrete arrayed in...
View ArticleLabel scents global success with Japan band Perfume
The world's biggest record label says it is trying something a little different as it seeks the elusive "holy grail" for Japanese pop -- global chart success. In what is billed as a first for...
View ArticleThai PM in Japan vows no more flood chaos
Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Wednesday pledged floods would never again disrupt business in the kingdom as she sought to reassure investors during a trip to Japan. The Thai premier said...
View ArticleInsight - Japan missed tsunami wake-up call for change
Japan's mammoth government debt keeps piling up while critical decisions get pushed back, referred to various panels, lodged in elaborate rituals of "consensus-building" or political horse-trading in a...
View ArticleJapan prosecutors charge key figures in Olympus scandal
Tokyo prosecutors on Wednesday charged Olympus Corp and six key figures in the $1.7 billion accounting fraud at the camera and endoscope maker, tightening their case in the investigation of one of...
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