• CO2 density rising above intl. standard in Japan

  Weather officials say the average density of carbon dioxide in Japan is rising above the international standard at all 3 observation points in the country. Carbon dioxide is one of the greenhouse gases associated with global ...

• Nagoya Castle structures restored

  At the Nagoya Castle compound in central Japan, restoration work has been completed on the entrance and reception room of the main residential building for the first time in 70 ...

• Abe goes to Myanmar as Japan Inc. eyes Asias cheapest wages

  Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday becomes the first Japanese leader to visit Myanmar in 36 years as his nation's companies seek to invest in the former dictatorship, which has some of the cheapest labor in ...

• Sumo Hakuho awaits ozeki rival

  Mongolian yokozuna Hakuho and ozeki Kisenosato both powered to their 13th wins on Friday to set up a mouth-watering showdown at the Summer Grand Sumo ...

• Suga Japan to watch N.Korea with US S.Korea

  Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary has indicated that Japan will closely monitor North Korea, following its senior official's expression of willingness to hold a dialogue with relevant nations on easing tensions on the Korean ...

• Japan must continue efforts to deactivate Fukushima nuclear plant - UN agency

  IAEA's Director of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology Juan Carlos Lentijo (right), speaks with Shift Superintendent Ikuo Izawain at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. Photo: IAEA/Greg ...

• The Prime Minister of Japan Wants Everyone to Know Hes Not Afraid of Ghosts

  Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s cabinet on Friday formally denied months-long rumours that the premier had not moved into his official residence over fears the mansion is haunted. The conservative leader took office in December but has yet to move into the 11-room brick home in central Tokyo, the longest holdout among any of his predecessors, according to local media. Abe’s ...

• Video South Korean comfort women want apology from Japan

  Former so-called 'comfort women' from South Korea cancel their meeting with Japan's Mayor of Osaka after he said forcing women into wartime military brothels was "necessary". Lily Grimes ...

• Does Japanese market volatility signal the end of Abenomics

  Does Thursday’s temporary 7.3 percent plunge in Japanese stocks spell the end to Abenomics? Unlikely. Since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was swept to power in December on a promise to defeat deflation and revive the world’s third-largest ...

• Yen trade volatile in Asia along with Japan market

  TOKYO--Yen trading was volatile in Asia on Friday in tandem with wild swings on the Tokyo stock market, but some analysts said the Japanese currency's weakening trend was likely to ...

• WWII sex slaves from S. Korea wont meet with Japanese politician

  Two former South Korean "comfort women" Friday called off a meeting with the mayor of Osaka, Japan, who says the wartime use of women for sex was necessary. Kim Bok Dong, 87, and Kil Won Ok, 85, who are speaking in Japan about their experiences as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during World War II, said through a representative they decided to cancel their meeting with Toru ...

• Osaka mayor under fire from international community

  Osaka mayor under fire from international community . MAY 25, 2013 00:47. . Toru Hashimoto, mayor of Osaka and co-leader of the Japan Restoration Party, has come under mounting criticism from the international community or his absurd remarks about ...

• After years of cajoling Japan inks global custody pact

  child custody situations in which parents from the United States are forced to return home without the children that the other parent took to another country without permission or legal authority to do so. That has long been a common situation where Japan is concerned, with many Japanese mothers summarily taking children back to their home country and thereafter resisting all attempts of the ...

• Rugby Fickle nature of sport drove me back to Japanese club -Ellison

  After being out injured for six months, Tamati Ellison admits the fickle nature of rugby was one of the main reasons he opted to head back to Japan. Ellison, 30, will join the Ricoh company side in Japan at the end of the Super 15, despite having played for the All Blacks last year and being seen as a test certainty this season. The midfield back said he enjoyed the Dunedin ...

• Landmark Case In U.S. Civil Court On Rape By U.S. Military In Japan Eleven Years Ago

  Catherine Fisher with a picture of her attacker. Picture: Gran Ole In a landmark case, on September 6, 2012, a Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Circuit Court Judge gave standing to an Australian woman to collect a Japanese civil judgment against a former US Navy sailor for raping her in Japan 11 years ago. A civil judgment by a Tokyo court in 2004 ordered sailor Bloke T. Deans to pay 3 million yen in ...

• All-Japan stint for karter Cabrera

  PRODIGIOUS karter Gabe Tayao-Cabrera competes today and tomorrow in the All-Japan Junior Championships at Suzuka International Circuit in Suzuka City, Mie prefecture. Cabrera, fresh off his victories in the Formula 125 Open Junior, KF2-KF3 and the Yamaha Cup Novice races of the recent Asian Karting Open at Carmona Racetrack in Cavite, will race at Suzuka as the lone Filipino recruit of ...

• Japans J-League still blazing trails at 20

  TOKYO, Japan (AFP) - Japan's J-League was a trailblazer for Asian football when it debuted in 1993 and now, as it celebrates its 20th anniversary, it is still pointing the way forwards for the region.Gone are the days when J-League clubs spent lavishly to recruit the likes of Gary Lineker, Zico and Pierre Littbarski, who lit up the early years of Japan's first professional league.With ...

• McDonald’s Mega Potato Fries To Clog Arteries In Japan

  Kotaku ) that McDonald’s is now offering its largest calorie item in the history of the chain with the Mega Potato. It holds the equivalent of two large fries, but at almost half the price. Unfortunately for you McDonald’s french fry fans, the Mega Potato is only available in Japan. You could hop on a plane to grab some, but you have to be fast. The Mega Potato will only be on ...

• Cannes Sony Pictures Classics Acquires The Lunchbox for North America

  , a mistaken delivery in Mumbai's famously efficient lunchbox delivery system connects a young housewife to a stranger in the dusk of his life. They build a fantasy world together by leaving notes in a lunchbox, but their fantasy gradually threatens to overwhelm ...

• WTO to examine Japan-China steel duties dispute

  World Trade Organization said Friday its dispute settlement board had agreed to a request from Japan to create a panel to examine its dispute with China over steel duties. Japan had requested for a panel to evaluate its complaint against China for imposing duties on steel tube imports, which Beijing claims were being sold at prices below market levels. Japan charged that the duties violated ...

• Japan told to lean on Myanmar

  The Japanese government needs to ensure it's getting a return on its investments in Myanmar by making human rights a priority, Human Rights Watch said. Japanese Prime ...

• Video Market View Is the Bank of Japans message to the markets getting lost

  The Globe and Mail's Jacqueline Nelson takes a closer look at recent volatility in Asia and the Bank of Japan's efforts to assure investors over rising bond ...

• Japanese World Championship Team Impresses on Day One of Japan Open

  KANAGAWA, Japan, May 24. THE first day of the Japan open long course competition saw members of the country's world championship swim team impress in their first races since being added to the world team roster.With a world-leading 58.84 to her credit from the world championship trials in April, Aya Terakawa cruised to the win in the women's 100 back today with a 59.50. Sayaka Akase ...

• Asian Stocks End Mixed Nikkei Rises After Turbulent Trading

  Asian stocks traded mixed on Friday, with extreme volatility in Japanese shares keeping investors nervous. Japan's Nikkei index swung over 1,000 points for a second day in a row before ending notably higher on optimism over earnings growth and ...

• Japanese judo rocked again by sexual harrassment scandal

  May 24 - The All Japan Judo Federation (AJJF) is facing another scandal with director Jiro Fukuda admitting to sexually harassing an unnamed female judoka, just months after its funding was cut by the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) when coaches were found to be physically abusing female judokas. The 76-year-old, who has offered his resignation, admitted to forcibly hugging and attempting to ...

• CORRECTED-Derivatives trade booms in wake of Japan stock slide

  Fri May 24, 2013 11:27am EDT (CORRECTS stimulus amount in graf 3) By Helen Bartholomew LONDON, May 24 (IFR) - Investors betting on a continuation of Japan's six-month runaway bull market suffered their biggest scare yet on Thursday as the Nikkei 225 lost more than 7% - its largest one-day loss in more than two years. But a corresponding spike in the Nikkei Volatility Index, from 27 to 48, ...

• Ex-boyfriend intrudes stabs woman

  YOKOHAMA - A 21-year-old woman was stabbed by her ex-boyfriend Friday at her apartment in Ebina, Kanagawa Prefecture, where she lives with her current boyfriend, police said. The 25-year-old boyfriend called police around 9:20 a.m. saying, ';My girlfriend has been stabbed by a guy with a knife.'; The man told police that his girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend came to their residence, ...

• Africa’s Lincoln or a tyrant exploiting Rwanda’s tragic story

  Paul Kagame is angrier than I’ve ever seen him. Rwanda’s president is famously direct with his critics. His contempt for governments he’s crossed swords with, led by the French, is only marginally less vitriolic than his view of human-rights groups daring to lecture him, the rebel leader whose army put a stop to the 1994 genocide of 800,0000 Tutsis. But now even friends are ...

• Panel sets telecommuting target

  A government panel set out goals Friday to up telecommuting. The number of companies with telecommuting systems designed for child-care and other employees is expected to triple by 2020 from some 4,000 in fiscal 2012, which ended in March, according to the information technology promotion strategy adopted by the panel. The panel, known as the IT Strategic Headquarters, also proposed that the ...

• Care urged for split families when Japan joins Hague pact

  Throughout most of Japan, June is the rainy season. While all that rainfall is great for rice paddies so that we can have delicious new harvest rice in the fall, it makes it a rather dull month for seasonal produce: The summer’s bounty of ...

• Japan Atomic Power saw fiscal 2012 growth despite no power output

  Throughout most of Japan, June is the rainy season. While all that rainfall is great for rice paddies so that we can have delicious new harvest rice in the fall, it makes it a rather dull month for seasonal produce: The summer’s bounty of ...

• North offers new nuclear talks

  Throughout most of Japan, June is the rainy season. While all that rainfall is great for rice paddies so that we can have delicious new harvest rice in the fall, it makes it a rather dull month for seasonal produce: The summer’s bounty of ...

• More women taking to plane spotting at Centrair

  More women have joined the groups of men taking photos of landing and departing aircraft at Central Japan International Airport (Centrair). Given the nickname ';Sorami'; (Sky Beauties), these women — who own high-quality camera equipment typically used by professional photographers — are willing to wait hours just to take an original shot of their favorite aircraft. Out ...

• U.S. checks rules over leak probes

  WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama instructed Attorney General Eric Holder on Thursday to review Justice Department guidelines for leak investigations, meet with media organizations and report back to him by mid-July. In a speech to the National Defense University, Obama addressed the uproar over his administration’s numerous leak investigations, saying he is ';troubled'; that ...

• NRA forges new trail in judging reactor risk

  Throughout most of Japan, June is the rainy season. While all that rainfall is great for rice paddies so that we can have delicious new harvest rice in the fall, it makes it a rather dull month for seasonal produce: The summer’s bounty of ...

• Secrets deciphered as ancient Maya script meets the modern Internet

  WASHINGTON - Researchers began decoding the glyphic language of the ancient Maya long ago, but the Internet is helping them finish the job and write the history of the enigmatic Mesoamerican civilization. For centuries, scholars understood little about Maya script beyond its elegant astronomical calculations and calendar. The Maya dominated much of Central America and southern Mexico for 1,000 ...

• American killed in 2011 drone strike was jailed by Pakistan

  PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN - An American citizen killed in a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan in 2011 was arrested by Pakistani authorities three years earlier but escaped after being released on bail, officials said Thursday. The Obama administration revealed Wednesday that Jude Kenan Mohammad died in a drone strike in Pakistan’s tribal region, making him the fourth American citizen killed by ...

• Obama’s Gitmo plan still faces huge hurdles

  WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama’s renewed effort to close the military detention center at Guantanamo Bay faces the same steep political climb as in his first term: To make Thursday’s announcement work, Congress would have to accept a plan to move some detainees from Cuba to the United States. Obama did signal in his speech that he would restart the process of sending home or ...

• Days of Swedish riots raise issues over inequality

  Claude Regy says the team at the Shizuoka Performing Arts Center (SPAC) threw him the ';best birthday party ever'; when he arrived in Japan just days after the actual May 1 occasion. The 90-year-old French director is hoping for an even better birthday gift, ...

• Indian heat wave sparks power outages protests

  Indian cinema is being feted in Cannes on its 100th birthday, but amid the celebrations, the ';B-word'; — Bollywood — remains controversial. The French film festival has rolled out the red carpet for Indian cinema this year, with events including a gala dinner and ...

• Giant fuel depot blaze on northern outskirts of Rio de Janeiro kills one

  RIO DE JANEIRO - One person was killed in a spectacular fire that broke out in a fuel depot on the northern edge of Rio de Janeiro and spread to nearby homes Thursday. Six giant fuel containers at the storage site caught fire, sending giant flames up to 50 meters high leaping into the air and columns of thick smoke far into the sky that could be seen kilometers away. The victim was a ...

• Questions the president dodged in his address on U.S. antiterrorism drive

  WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama set out Thursday to redefine the U.S. fight against global terrorism, but despite calling for a more targeted rather than ';boundless'; theater of global operations, he left out the specifics and timelines for action, by which his success or failure could be measured. Here are some critical questions Obama did not raise or answer in his address at ...

• Hashimoto in unprecedented crisis

  OSAKA - The list of those in and out of Japan, but especially in the United States, who scorn and deride Osaka Mayor and Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) coleader Toru Hashimoto for his justification for the wartime ';comfort women'; is growing daily, presenting a unprecedented crisis for the once-popular politician. Hashimoto’s remarks that the sexual slavery ...

• ECB’s Draghi says new European agency ‘imperative’

  Throughout most of Japan, June is the rainy season. While all that rainfall is great for rice paddies so that we can have delicious new harvest rice in the fall, it makes it a rather dull month for seasonal produce: The summer’s bounty of ...

• Kuroda vows to avoid rate volatility confident deflation can be beaten

  By tightening procedures to receive livelihood assistance, a bill just submitted to the Diet could end up raising the suicide rate and the number of deaths by ...

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