Japan and Asia News
Tokyo stocks end 0.16% lower
Tokyo stocks have closed 0.16 per cent lower on profit-booking after recent gains prompted by expectations that the yen would continue to weaken and benefit Japanese exporters. (ninemsn.com.au)
Categories: Japan and Asia News
7-year-old girl seriously injured by school goalpost collapse
Police said Tuesday that a 7-year-old girl was seriously injured after handball goalposts fell on her. (Japan Today)
Categories: Japan and Asia News
Reward money offered for missing Hachioji host
The family of a 45-year-old male employee at a host club in Hachioji City on Monday announced offered a three-million-yen reward for information leading to his whereabouts. (Tokyo Reporter)
Categories: Japan and Asia News
Japan visa issuance up 50 pct in 2012
A total of 1,986,539 visas were issued by Japan in 2012, up 46.5 pct from a year before, the Foreign Ministry said Monday. (Jiji Press)
Categories: Japan and Asia News
9 women register as donors with Japan's 1st egg bank
Nine women have registered with Japan's first "ovum bank" to donate their eggs to help infertile women, paving the way for fertility treatment to begin within the year at the earliest, a private group involved in the matter said Monday.
(Kyodo)
Categories: Japan and Asia News
Trove of Soseki letters donated to museum
Hundreds of letters and other items that offer valuable insights into the thinking of novelist Soseki Natsume and some of his most acclaimed work have been donated to a town government in Fukuoka Prefecture. (Yomiuri)
Categories: Japan and Asia News
'Mom, help me scam' wins MPD contest
The Metropolitan Police Department has chosen "Kaasan, tasukete sagi" (Mom, help me scam) as the top prize-winner in its contest to find a new name for increasingly sophisticated bank transfer scams. (Yomiuri)
Categories: Japan and Asia News
Park to snub Japan by visiting China first
Fresh off her visit to the United States, new South Korean President Park Geun-hye is making plans to visit China around the end of June, sources said, in an apparent snub to Japan and a break from tradition. (Asahi)
Categories: Japan and Asia News
Japan's DoCoMo to use mobile data to monitor traffic jams
NTT DoCoMo, Japan's largest mobile carrier, will use location data from its 61.5 million subscriber devices to build a platform that monitors traffic conditions across the country. (pcworld.com)
Categories: Japan and Asia News
Son talks up Silicon Valley hub plans in Sprint bid
Softbank Corp., bidding to take over Sprint Nextel Corp. in a $20.1 billion deal, is planning a new Silicon Valley office for the U.S. carrier that would employ as many as 1,000 people. (Japan Times)
Categories: Japan and Asia News
Sumo: Harumafuji stumbles on second day of basho
Yokozuna Harumafuji was sent to a shock defeat at the hands of Myogiryu on the second day of the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament on Monday. (Japan Times)
Categories: Japan and Asia News
Melting ice cap draws China, Japan to seek Arctic riches
Japan, China and South Korea are seeking to expand their influence in the Arctic as melting ice caused by global warming offers potentially lucrative access to resources and shipping shortcuts in the region. (Bloomberg)
Categories: Japan and Asia News
New thugs on block sidestep the usual suspects
Japan's underworld, namely the "boryokudan" (gangster organizations) better known as yakuza, have been targeted with crackdowns in recent years focused on cutting their funding and expanding their criminal liability. But a new type of thug appears to be acting with impunity by operating in a legal void. (Japan Times)
Categories: Japan and Asia News
Quake resistance check begins on A-Bomb Dome
Work started Monday to assess the earthquake resistance of the Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima to confirm whether there is a need to reinforce the structure, part of the UNESCO World Heritage List. (Japan Times)
Categories: Japan and Asia News
16 Asia-Pacific nations agree on framework for RCEP trade talks
Sixteen Asia-Pacific nations arranged the framework Monday for future rounds of negotiations for creating one of the world's largest free trade blocs as they concluded the first round of talks in Brunei. (Kyodo)
Categories: Japan and Asia News
Fishermen hold off decision on TEPCO's water release plan
A group of fishermen in Fukushima Prefecture on Monday postponed a conclusion on whether to approve Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s plan to release groundwater at its severely damaged Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant into the ocean. (Jiji Press)
Categories: Japan and Asia News
Hashimoto says 'comfort women' necessary for soldiers
Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, who co-heads the opposition Japan Restoration Party, said Monday he believes the system to recruit women into sexual servitude was "necessary to maintain discipline" in the Japanese military during World War II. (Kyodo)
Categories: Japan and Asia News
Kumamoto firm chairman busted for hiding 86 guns
Police have arrested the chairman of a food company in Kumamoto, southwestern Japan, for allegedly hiding 86 modified lethal handguns in his home. (NHK)
Categories: Japan and Asia News
