National Topics

Ex-vice minister Katsu to head IT firm

Mar 3, 2013

Ex-vice minister Katsu to head IT firm

Former Vice Finance Minister Eijiro Katsu will be appointed president of major IT firm Internet Initiative Japan Inc., industry sources revealed Saturday. After retiring from the Finance Ministry last August, the 62-year-old Katsu, best known for working with the previous Democratic Party of Japan-led ...

Mar 3, 2013

Ishihara hospitalized till mid-March

Shintaro Ishihara, coleader of Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) and Tokyo’s former governor, has been hospitalized and isn’t likely to be discharged until mid-March, sources said Saturday. The 80-year-old Ishihara initially reported feeling ill from a severe cold after questioning Cabinet members ...

NYPD cruiser victim's kin sue

Mar 3, 2013

NYPD cruiser victim's kin sue

The family of 24-year-old Ryo Oyamada, who was struck and killed by a New York Police Department patrol car, said they have filed a notice of claim against the department and city. “My son came to America to study English and then a police ...

Tsunami dock to be hauled off U.S. beach

Mar 3, 2013

Tsunami dock to be hauled off U.S. beach

A 185-ton dock that was swept from Tohoku by the 2011 tsunami and reached a remote coastal area of Washington state will be dismantled and removed by helicopter this month, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said. The removal costs are estimated at ...

Egypt holds balloon crash memorial

Mar 3, 2013

Egypt holds balloon crash memorial

Egyptian authorities held a memorial service Friday at the site of a hot air balloon crash in the southern city of Luxor last week that killed more than a dozen foreign tourists, including four Japanese, inviting embassy officials from the countries affected. No relatives ...

Mar 3, 2013

Canada cultural group to assist disaster-zone youths

The Japanese Canadian Cultural Center said Saturday it will use the 1.5 million Canadian dollars (¥137 million) in its Japan Earthquake Relief Fund to assist the education of young people in the Tohoku region affected by the 2011 disasters. “The future of the region ...