Noda, Abbas condemn N. Korean launch
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday and shared the view that North Korea's launch of what was believed to be a long-range ballistic missile deserves...
View ArticleHomeless below 10,000 for 1st time
The number of homeless people in the country was 9,576 as of January, dropping below 10,000 for the first time since records began in 2003, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said in a report. The...
View ArticleJapan mulling '$60 bn contribution' to IMF
Japan is considering lending about $60 billion to the International Monetary Fund to help strengthen a global firewall against contagion from the European sovereign debt crisis, Kyodo news agency said...
View ArticleAll atomic power to halt 'momentarily'
Operations at all of Japan's 54 nuclear power plants will be suspended "for a moment" starting on May 6, trade minister Yukio Edano said in a speech in the city of Tokushima Sunday. His comment...
View ArticleOne missing as MSDF chopper clips destroyer off Aomori
A Maritime Self-Defense Force officer went missing Sunday after his helicopter hit a destroyer and crashed off Aomori Prefecture with six other crew members on board. Everyone except the pilot, Lt....
View ArticleAnnual cigarette sales volume falls below 200 billion for first time
The number of cigarettes sold in Japan in fiscal 2011 dropped 6 percent from the previous year to 197.5 billion, dropping below 200 billion for the first time since statistics were first kept in 1990,...
View Article'Understand what I'm saying?' stressing out newly hired workers
Senior company officials may scratch their heads when they see the results of a recent online survey on words that cause newly hired young workers to feel pressured. In answer to the survey conducted...
View ArticleRakuten, Japan Post to form alliance for intl e-commerce
Rakuten, Inc., one of Japan's major Internet retailers, and Japan Post Group's Japan Post Holdings Co. plan to form an alliance to launch an international e-commerce service, it has been learned. The...
View ArticleWoman stabbed at front door of home in Hyogo
A 43-year-old woman was stabbed by a man when she opened the front door to her home in Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture, on Sunday afternoon, police said. The woman was quoted by police as saying that she...
View ArticleAmazon to launch Japan e-book business
U.S. online retail giant Amazon.com Inc. will introduce an e-book service using Kindle readers in the Japanese market by the end of this year, it has been learned. Amazon.com has been negotiating with...
View ArticleGolf: Jones fires 62 for 11th win in Japan
Australian Brendan Jones fired a 9-under 62 on Sunday to win the Japanese golf tour's season-opening Token Homemate Cup by two strokes. Jones, who started the final round tied for sixth, three strokes...
View ArticleJapan lifts no-entry ban for coastal city near Fukushima plant
The Japanese government on Monday lifted a no-entry ban imposed on a coastal city located near the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. A police checkpoint located about 20 km from the...
View ArticleSumo wrestlers take part in anti-yakuza parade
Sumo wrestlers Kotoshogiku and Kisenosato took part in a police-organized parade in Tokyo's Suginami Ward on Sunday to raise awareness of the National Police Agency's ongoing campaign to exclude...
View ArticlePolice probe 'killer' python in urban Japan
Police in urban Japan on Monday were probing the death of a man whose body was found next to a 21-foot python. Shoji Fujita, 66, was found dead outside his home in Ushiku city, 30 miles northeast of...
View ArticleJapan's neglected infrastructure needs fix
Japan's aging roads, bridges and other public infrastructure are in need of a huge rebuilding effort after years of neglect, according to the Nikkei newspaper editorial on Monday, which warning of a...
View ArticleArranged marriages make comeback in Japan
Until 1945 they were almost universal. They started to decline during the post war American occupation, but as late as 1960 it is estimated that 70 per cent of weddings were arranged. Westernisation...
View ArticleTokyo stocks close 1.74% down
Tokyo stocks fell 1.74 per cent on Monday, tracking declines on Wall Street, as market sentiment was also hit by a strong yen and ongoing concerns over Europe's debt problems. The Nikkei 225 index at...
View ArticleJapan deems suspect guilty for murders
The Japanese authorities have concluded that Chang Chih-yang, the 30-year-old prime suspect in the murder of two Taiwanese students in Japan, was responsible for the double homicide took place in Tokyo...
View Article'Made in Japan' engineers find second life in China
Their technical skills helped Japan's corporate giants sweep all before them in the 1980s, and now thousands of ageing Japanese engineers are finding a new lease of life in booming China. "My...
View ArticlePlaystation Vita already dropping to record low sales in Japan
Sony's latest gaming handheld is not doing well in Japan, and that likely represents a lack of interest for the device worldwide. March was not a good month for the gaming industry. Sales of video...
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