Parts believed to have fallen from Japan Airlines plane hit clinic and car: police
At least 10 components apparently fell from a Japan Airlines plane and hit a window of a clinic and a car in Kumamoto Prefecture on Thursday, local police said, adding no one is believed to have been injured. According to the transport ministry, the Boeing 767, bound for Haneda Airport in ...
In Japan Inc., awareness of harassment on rise but little movement toward improvement: Reuters poll
Three-quarters of Japanese companies have made no changes to sexual harassment policies over the last year and don't plan to do so, a Reuters poll found, though awareness of harassment is on the rise. The survey results come after a top Japanese bureaucrat was toppled ...
Maritime Self-Defense Force submarine fires torpedo decoy by mistake
A submarine operated by Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force mistakenly launched a torpedo decoy off the Kii Peninsula in western Japan early Thursday. According to the Maritime Staff Office, no damage has been confirmed so far. The MSDF is searching for the decoy, while investigating the cause. The ...
Lacking direction from Tokyo, Japan's municipalities struggle to implement anti-hate speech law
With Thursday marking two years since the enactment of a law against hate speech targeting ethnic Koreans and other minorities, local governments — required to take action under the legislation — called on Tokyo to present clear standards on how to eliminate racist propaganda. Some ...
If and when a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un takes place, it will be a day of hope, especially for the people of Northeast Asia, that a lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula, technically at war ...
Abe expresses hope for peace treaty progress as he departs for summit with Putin
The Prime Minister left for Russia on Thursday to hold a meeting with the Russian president and attend an economic forum, with bilateral cooperation high on the agenda.
Nuclear policy in focus as campaign begins in Niigata governor race
The Niigata governor's race kicked off Thursday with the future of the prefecture's nuclear power plants taking center stage ahead of the June 10 election. The vote is also seen as a test for how voters view the various scandals surrounding Prime Minister Shinzo ...
Russian residents of disputed islands make first visa-free trip to Japan this year
Around 60 Russian residents of disputed islands off Hokkaido arrived Thursday in Nemuro on the first visa-free tour of 2018 under a bilateral exchange program. According to the tour organizer, participants — including teenage students and teachers from the islands, which are claimed by Japan ...
JR Tokai employee fired for allegedly embezzling money from foreign shinkansen passengers
Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai) said Thursday it fired a male employee who is alleged to have embezzled about ¥100,000 after overcharging foreign passengers for shinkansen tickets at Shin-Osaka Station on seven occasions this year. According to the operator, the 20-year-old worker collected extra ...
Japanese 100-yen chain Daiso slapped with fine, two-year import ban in Taiwan
Taiwan authorities said Wednesday that Japanese 100-yen shop Daiso has been fined 41.64 million New Taiwan dollars ($1.38 million) for falsifying import application documents and banned from importing goods from Japan for two years. Foreign Trade Bureau deputy chief Lee Guann-jyh told a legislative committee ...
Japanese government ordered to pay damages over inmate's solitary confinement
A district court on Wednesday ordered the government to pay ¥400,000 in damages to an inmate who was unjustifiably held for months in solitary confinement in a cell equipped with a surveillance camera. The Kumamoto District Court ruled it was unlawful to continue holding the ...
Japan and U.S. agree to keep pressure on North Korea ahead of Trump-Kim summit
Japan and the United States agreed Wednesday to closely cooperate on pushing North Korea to address the nuclear, missile and abduction issues as U.S. President Donald Trump prepares to meet with the North's leader Kim Jong Un next month. Meeting in Washington, Foreign Minister Taro ...
Japan to temporarily withdraw UNESCO World Heritage bid for Amami and Okinawa isles
The government plans to temporarily withdraw its proposal for the addition of Amami-Okinawa islands to the UNESCO World Heritage list, with a goal of resubmitting the application to the international cultural body next year after revamping it, informed sources said Wednesday. The move is expected ...
