Kayaker paddling from Washington to Japan
By week's end, Ryota Yamada hopes to slip his sea kayak gently into the Columbia River at Clover Island, embarking on the first leg of adventure to Japan. The retired scientist who did...
View ArticleU.S., China, Japan lead world in economic growth
The U.S., Japanese and Chinese economies have regained their momentum and are leading the world in growth, according to the latest report Tuesday from a global monitoring group. Meanwhile, Europe's...
View ArticleJapan PM Noda to call rivals' bluff on tax
Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda is ready to call everyone's bluff in a drawn out political game over tax. Unlike his long line of ousted predecessors, he might even succeed. If he does, Noda will...
View ArticleNew system estimates scale of quakes in minutes
A system has been developed that can estimate the scale of crustal movement within minutes following a big earthquake, much faster than the system now widely used that takes more than five hours,...
View ArticleDisasters impact land prices
For the fourth consecutive year, Japan's land prices have fallen. Prices decreased an average 2.6 percent in 2011, but the decline was smaller than the 3.0 percent in 2010 as the economy bounced back...
View ArticleHatoyama files protest with Iranian Embassy
Former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said Tuesday he has lodged a protest with the Iranian Embassy in Tokyo over an Iranian state-run television report that he criticized the International Atomic...
View ArticlePolice to look into tightening stalker laws
The National Police Agency (NPA) plans to look at tightening stalker laws. NPA Commissioner General Yutaka Katagiri said a series of cases involving delays and destroyed evidence have caused a loss of...
View ArticleJapan high court rejects appeal by Hawker murderer
A court rejected Wednesday an appeal by the Japanese man who raped and killed young British teacher Lindsay Ann Hawker in 2007. The Tokyo High Court dismissed the motion from Tatsuya Ichihashi, who was...
View Article9-year-old girl dies after being hit by truck in Tokyo's Shinagawa
Police said Wednesday that a 9-year-old girl died after being hit by a truck at a T-junction in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward. Police said the accident occurred at about 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday. (Japan Today)
View ArticleJapan machinery orders show surprise rise as capex recovers
Japan's core machinery orders unexpectedly rose in February in a sign that capital expenditure is likely to steadily increase as the country rebuilds its earthquake-battered northeast coast. Core...
View ArticleNikkei ends at 2-month low on renewed eurozone debt fears
Tokyo stocks dropped for a seventh consecutive trading day Wednesday, with the benchmark Nikkei index ending at a two-month low below the 9,500 line on renewed fears about the eurozone debt crisis and...
View ArticleJapanese journalist weighs in on the princess problem
Should Japan's royal women be able to stay in the imperial family even if they marry outsiders? One of Japan's most well-known, and controversial, female journalists says "no." At a government hearing...
View ArticleGolf: Japan Tour gets underway in Nagoya
The Japan Golf Tour begins its 2012 schedule this week when the traditional opening event of the season, the Token Homemate Cup, is played at the Token Tado Country Club in Nagoya. The Japan Golf Tour...
View ArticleSony CEO to lay out revival strategy as losses pile up
Kazuo Hirai's brief honeymoon as Sony Corp's new chief has ended abruptly as the struggling electronics giant doubled its annual loss forecast, sending its shares tumbling. On Thursday he will try to...
View ArticleGov't on full alert ahead of N Korea rocket launch
The Japanese government on Thursday went on full alert, ahead of North Korea's planned rocket launch by creating an intelligence taskforce and putting the nation's military on standby. Poor but...
View ArticleTEPCO to sell additional 800 properties to raise funds for compensation
Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) said Wednesday it plans to sell an additional 800 buildings to raise more funds for compensation to victims of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear crisis. As part of a...
View ArticleWoodford book chronicles story of coverup
Last summer, Tsuyoshi Kikukawa, the CEO of Olympus Corp., instructed the firm's executives to keep then-President Michael C. Woodford from finding out about a magazine article that exposed the...
View ArticleIkea opens outlet No. 6 in Fukuoka
Swedish furniture giant Ikea opened a store Wednesday near the city of Fukuoka, its sixth retail outlet in Japan and the first in Kyushu, according to operator Ikea Japan K.K. About 1,300 people were...
View ArticleGolf: Ishikawa sets sights on money title
Even after a winless 2011, Ryo Ishikawa is expected to be the center of attention again on the JGTO Tour because of his ability and popularity as the season begins Thursday with the Token Homemate Cup...
View ArticleJapan govt: economy picking up, exports better
Japan's government stuck to its assessment that the economy is slowly recovering on Thursday but raised its view on exports, saying overseas shipments are showing signs of stabilising on a moderate...
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