Japan lawyer calls for Google autocomplete change
A Japanese lawyer on Tuesday urged Google to make its "autocomplete" function more flexible, after a court ordered the search giant to modify the feature to prevent embarrassment for his client....
View ArticleJapan: 40 years on death row
After four decades awaiting execution, a recent court development offers hope of retrial for Masaru Okunishi. An evening in March 1961, in the central Japanese village of Kuzuo: Masaru Okunishi, a...
View ArticleS. Korea slams Japan's new textbook laying claim to Dokdo
South Korea summoned a Japanese diplomat on Tuesday to protest Japan's latest history textbook that reasserts Tokyo's territorial claims to Seoul's easternmost islets of Dokdo. The protest came after...
View ArticleCultist who hid Aum fugitive gets 14 months
The Tokyo District Court sentenced former Aum Shinrikyo member Akemi Saito to 14 months in prison Tuesday for harboring fugitive cultist Makoto Hirata for more than 14 years. Presiding Judge Noriaki...
View Article2channel managed by a dummy corporation
A Singaporean company supposedly in charge of managing the 2channel online bulletin board was found to be a paper company existing only in name. The Metropolitan Police Department has been...
View Article20-year-old woman arrested for attempting to kill 3-month-old daughter
Police said Tuesday they have arrested a 20-year-old woman in Okayama for the attempted murder of her three-month-old daughter. Tomomi Takimura was arrested at her home on Monday after she called the...
View ArticleOwner of boat swept across Pacific by tsunami doesn't want it back
The owner of a fishing boat in Japan that drifted across the Pacific after getting washed away from its moorings by last year's huge tsunami does not want it back, a Japanese official said Tuesday. The...
View ArticleJapan's new high school English texts to emphasize communication skills
Japan's new high school English textbooks will shift emphasis from reading and translation to mastering communication skills. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology unveiled...
View ArticleNikkei retreats from post-quake high, ex-dividend selling weighs
Tokyo stocks ended lower Wednesday as ex-dividend selling dominated the market, while stocks were also weighed by moves to lock in gains after the Nikkei index finished the previous trading session at...
View ArticleWoman swallows needle in jelly drink she bought at supermarket
An elderly woman underwent medical treatment after she swallowed a 2-centimeter-long needle that was contained in a drink she bought at a supermarket here, police said. According to local police, the...
View Article36 foreign caregivers pass qualification exam
Thirty-six caregiver candidates from Indonesia and the Philippines passed the national care worker exam in January, becoming the first applicants to pass Japan's qualification exam among hundreds of...
View ArticleReactor 2 radiation too high for access
Radiation inside the reactor 2 containment vessel at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant has reached a lethal 73 sieverts per hour and any attempt to send robots in will require them to have greater...
View ArticleHigh school texts bulk up with 12% more pages
The average number of pages in high school textbooks to be used from next spring will increase by 11.9 percent compared to those being used now, according to the results of textbook screenings...
View Article60% of big municipalities test school meals' cesium
A recent nationwide survey of 74 major municipalities has found that 44 are testing school meals for radioactive cesium from the Fukushima nuclear crisis. The 44 municipal governments said they are...
View ArticleGuidelines eyed for non-obese people
The health ministry wants people suffering from hypertension and abnormal blood sugar levels to receive comprehensive health guidance even if they are not obese or do not have metabolic syndrome,...
View ArticleSchool textbooks feature 'hip' topics
From pop idol groups to Internet slang, high school textbook makers have tried to stir the interest of students by using topics familiar to them. Casual topics will be used more often in English...
View ArticleSumo: Kakuryu formally promoted to ozeki
The Japan Sumo Association on Wednesday formally decided to promote Mongolian wrestler Kakuryu to sumo's second highest rank of ozeki. Kakuryu, who nearly won the title at last week's Spring Grand Sumo...
View ArticleChild allowance devoid of principle
Providing a monthly child allowance of ¥26,000 for each child aged 15 or younger to all the child-rearing families was one of the primary campaign promises made by the Democratic Party of Japan in the...
View ArticleFormer Olympus execs face new charges over losses
Japanese prosecutors have pressed fresh charges against the former chairman of Olympus Corp and two other executives over the cover-up of massive investment losses. Tokyo prosecutors said Wednesday...
View ArticleNoriko Sakai's younger brother arrested for threatening man blamed for her...
The younger brother of former actress-singer Noriko Sakai has been arrested for threatening a store employee. According to police, Ken Yoshihara, 33, was arrested on the evening of March 21 after...
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