Sunday, 28 April 2013

Number of elderly workers in 2012 soared to new record high

The number of workers aged 60 or above averaged 11.92 million in 2012, setting a record high for the sixth straight year, according to recently ...

Kepco mulls Takahama plant restart

Kansai Electric hopes to apply for government permission in July to restart reactors 3 and 4 at its Takahama nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture.

North Korea to try U.S. man for ‘coup plot’

North Korea says it will soon deliver a verdict on a detained American it accuses of trying to overthrow its regime, further complicating fraught ties ...

Suspected North Korean body found floating off Niigata

A near skeletal male body that authorities suspect originated in North Korea was found floating off the coast of Itoigawa, Niigata Prefecture, on Saturday afternoon, ...

South to pull out Kaesong workers

Roughly three-quarters of the 175 South Koreans still at a shuttered Kaesong factory park in North Korea were scheduled to return home later Saturday after ...

First debris from 3/11 reaches California

A barnacle-covered fishing boat that washed ashore this month in Crescent City, California, has been confirmed as the first debris from Japan's 2011 tsunami to ...

Ceremony an affront to Okinawans

The Abe government is inconsiderate for having the Emperor and Empress attend a ceremony that commemorates the restoration of Japan's sovereignty in 1952.

Consumer protection system

The Cabinet has endorsed a bill to establish a new system for helping consumers victimized by malicious sales and business practices to file suit to ...

Dispute over Preah Vihear Temple is taken up, threatening to revive Thai nationalistic fervor

The Cambodia-Thailand dispute over the Preah Vihear Temple has been taken up by the International Court of Justice, threatening to reignite nationalistic tensions.

Cook Islands paradise isn’t plain sailing for all

They span an area the size of western Europe, but the Cook Islands may seem like the ends of the Earth when viewed from Japan ...

African elephants pluck at Japan’s heartstrings

Next time you attend a shamisen performance, neither you nor most anyone else there will likely notice the elephant in the room. And those who ...

Daytime in Kin Town’s nocturnal city

The three drunken U.S. Marines who stumbled into my motorbike headlamps were clearly combat-trained, as their agility in shifting from advanced inebriation to performing a ...

Re-creating the life of a 17th-century concubine

As G.G. Rowley notes in the preface to her lovingly researched, elegantly written study of Imperial concubine Nakanoin Nakako, the history of her subject's period, ...

Enka queen sings jazz; documentary on dementia; CM of the weeek: g.u.

Aki Yashiro is known as the Queen of Enka, or "Japanese ballads," according to the standard translation. However, Yashiro started out singing jazz in hostess ...

Sanchez fans 17 for Tigers

Detroit's Anibal Sanchez sets a Tigers record with 17 strikeouts against the Atlanta Braves, breaking Mickey Lolich's mark of 16 in 1969.

Seibu’s Spilborghs relishing life experience of playing in NPB

The first thing the hero, or heroes, of a Seibu Lions home victory does is stand on a makeshift podium near the Lions dugout and ...

Aoyama gives Ventforet draw against Marinos

Naoaki Aoyama equalized with the last attack of the game to snatch a point for Ventforet Kofu and deny Yokohama F. Marinos a return to ...

Knicks push Celtics to the brink

The New York Knicks want to finish their long road back to the second round quickly. They haven't won a playoff series in 13 years, and ...

Takahashi opposes reducing marathon selections for IAAF World Championships

Sydney Olympic gold medal-winning marathoner Naoko Takahashi has an objection, saying a Japan Association of Athletics Federations decision takes irreplaceable opportunities away from ...

Warner accuses FIFA of bribery

Disgraced former soccer official Jack Warner claims FIFA gave him a gift of $6 million toward a training center in Trinidad to support Sepp Blatter's ...