Cigarette butt evidence in rape-robbery lost; cop ad-libs
An Osaka Prefectural Police inspector forged evidence last year in an unsolved rape-robbery case, replacing a missing cigarette butt that had been kept as evidence from the crime scene with one that...
View ArticleRecordable Blu-ray demand to soar
Domestic demand for recordable Blu-ray discs in fiscal 2014 is expected to increase to 328 million, almost 1.8 times the figure for fiscal 2011, an industry body said Wednesday. The brisk demand...
View ArticleThe Japanese hunger games
Before there was The Hunger Games there was Battle Royale, a 1999 Japanese novel about a dystopia where teenagers are forced by adults to battle to the death. And just ahead of the film version of The...
View ArticleKeene becomes Japanese citizen
Donald Keene, a prominent scholar of Japanese literature and culture, has been granted Japanese citizenship, the Justice Ministry announced in a government gazette issued Thursday. Keene, 89, decided...
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Japanese town haunted by loss year after tsunami
The squat 71-year-old fisherman turns his ruddy, weathered face toward the top of the hillside cemetery. With a heavy heart, he climbs steadily past row after row of tall tombstones, a bucket of water...
View ArticleMiyagi city to build huge solar plant
The Iwanuma city government plans to build a mega solar power plant on farmland rendered useless by salt damage and subsidence as a result of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. The plant, which would...
View ArticleJapan's nuclear energy industry nears shutdown, at least for now
All but two of Japan's 54 commercial reactors have gone off line since the nuclear disaster a year ago, following the earthquake and tsunami, and it is not clear when they can be restarted. With the...
View ArticleNegative: Nothing - Step by Step for Japan
March 11th marks a turning point in the life of Swiss travel agent Thomas Kohler. After the Tsunami and the nuclear disaster in Japan he loses all his customers, and eventually his job. Nevertheless,...
View ArticleAnalysis: Weak yen no growth tonic as Japan's fuel bill swells
Long preoccupied with the strength of the yen and its drag on the anemic economy, policymakers in Tokyo are now being served a warning about the risks posed by the currency's retreat. The yen's decline...
View ArticleU.S. delays will raise F-35 fighter price, Japan deal unchanged
The Pentagon on Thursday acknowledged that a delay in U.S. orders for 179 Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter jets would raise the cost of each new warplane in the short term, but said Lockheed still...
View ArticleJapan government keeps up pressure, BOJ seen on hold
Japan's government on Friday kept up pressure on the central bank to further support an economic recovery, but the Bank of Japan appears set to hold monetary policy steady at its regular policy meeting...
View ArticleJapan ends whale hunt with less than a third of its target catch
Japan's Fisheries Agency said the fleet was on its way home from the Antarctic "on schedule", but admitted the catch was way down on expectations. Whalers killed 266 minke whales and one fin whale, the...
View ArticleToyota provides shot in arm for Japan's quake-hit Tohoku
At this 19-year-old Toyota factory in Kanegasaki, 500 km (300 miles) north of Tokyo, one shiny Aqua hybrid car rolls off the assembly line every 75 seconds, 17 hours a day. With 120,000 orders to fill...
View ArticleJapan leads Asia; Nikkei briefly tops 10,000
Japanese stocks drove a rally in Asian markets for a second straight day Friday, with exporters leading the charge against the backdrop of the yen's recent losses, a decline in Chinese inflation and...
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Soccer: Homare Sawa inspires a nation
If there is anyone who embodies the fighting spirit of Japan's disaster-laden year, it is Homare Sawa. The 33-year-old is the captain of Japan's women's soccer team who lifted the FIFA Women's World...
View ArticleJapan widens hunt for escaped penguin
Keepers looking for a runaway Japanese penguin widened their search Friday, asking birdwatchers on Tokyo's rivers for help in tracking down the escapee, five days after it broke out of an aquarium....
View ArticleJapan moves closer to child custody pact
Japan's government on Friday approved a bill to join a pact on settling cross-border child custody rows, opening the way for its adoption after years of foreign pressure. The cabinet approved the bill...
View ArticleThree years in jail sought for Ozawa
Court-appointed lawyers acting as prosecutors demanded Friday that Ichiro Ozawa be sentenced to three years in prison for allegedly violating the Political Funds Control Law. During the 15th session of...
View ArticleThousands of animals still without homes
One year ago, on March 11, 2011, the world watched in horror as one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded hit off the coast of Japan, causing devastating tsunamis and triggering a meltdown at...
View ArticleBaruto starts promotion bid in style
Estonia-born Baruto launched his bid for promotion to sumo's ultimate rank on full octane on the opening day of the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament Sunday, the first anniversary of the devastating...
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