Latest Japan News
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Marubeni to set up floating wind turbine off Fukushima in world first
Breezing up: A 2.4-megawatt wind turbine developed by New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization and Tokyo Electric Power Co. stands off Choshi, Chiba Prefecture, in March. A Marubeni Corp.-led group will set up a floating wind farm off Fukushima this month. | ...
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Italy serving as training ground for chef hopefuls from Japan
Edward Snowden, the fugitive former CIA employee and NSA contractor who leaked secrets about America’s spying operations, often hung out online with foreigners in Japan who shared his interests in anime, video games, martial arts, the stock market and the expat lifestyle. Snowden, who ...
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Tablet computers thrust Thailand classrooms into digital era
In a rural classroom in the Thai highlands, hill-tribe children energetically slide their fingertips over tablet computer screens, practicing everything from English to mathematics and music. The disadvantaged students are part of an ambitious project by Thailand to distribute millions of the handheld devices in schools, in a move supporters hope will boost national education standards. For ...
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Court ruling saves Greek coalition
The Greek government has avoided collapsing over a dispute stemming from Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’ move to close the state-owned television broadcaster after a high court ruling offered a way out of a weeklong impasse that drew international criticism. Greece is implementing tough spending cuts, tax hikes and administrative reforms demanded by international creditors who are ...
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Sign-language service via iPads tested by JR East
Keeping track of your assets Money Forward is a personal financial asset management service (in Japanese) that works similar to the U.S.-based service Mint.com. With more than 160 partners including banks, credit-card companies and mobile carriers, the service automatically pulls all your financial information ...
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McDonald’s limited-time burgers going a bit upmarket
Edward Snowden, the National Security Agency leaker, defended his disclosure of top-secret U.S. spying programs in an online chat Monday with The Guardian newspaper and attacked U.S. officials for calling him a traitor. ';The U.S. government is not going to be able to cover ...
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New ethnic war feared as Kurds Sunnis clash
Taking advantage of the chaos of the civil war, Syria’s Kurdish minority has carved out a once unthinkable degree of independence in their areas, creating their own police forces, even their own license plates, and exuberantly going public with their language and culture. But by pursuing their own path distinct from both the opposition and the regime, they are also colliding with Sunni ...
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Private money pours into Syrian conflict as donors pick sides
Keeping track of your assets Money Forward is a personal financial asset management service (in Japanese) that works similar to the U.S.-based service Mint.com. With more than 160 partners including banks, credit-card companies and mobile carriers, the service automatically pulls all your financial information ...
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NTV unearths oldest TV anime film
Edward Snowden, the fugitive former CIA employee and NSA contractor who leaked secrets about America’s spying operations, often hung out online with foreigners in Japan who shared his interests in anime, video games, martial arts, the stock market and the expat lifestyle. Snowden, who ...
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Robot niche expands in senior care
Given Japan’s rapidly aging population, efforts are accelerating to devise more practical and affordable robots to help seniors handle daily tasks, as well as to cope with a projected shortage of caregivers. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government has allocated ¥2.39 billion in the fiscal 2013 budget to assist the development of such robots and increase their use. Last month, the ...
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Meltdowns haven’t killed anyone LDP bigwig
Liberal Democratic Party policy chief Sanae Takaichi has created a stir by saying the 2011 Fukushima meltdowns didn’t kill anyone and arguing the government should restart reactors nationwide given Japan’s scarce energy resources. Delivering a speech in Kobe on Monday, Takaichi said the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 plant ';has not claimed the lives of any people,'; and ...
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Tiny airport is gateway to Everest
Your adventure begins here: A passenger gasps during turbulence as her flight approaches the tiny airport in Lukla, Nepal, late last month. The airstrip has earned the reputation of being one of the most extreme and dangerous airports in the world. | ...
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Tepco minutes reveal staff exodus concerns
Tokyo Electric Power Co. executives spent dozens of meetings fretting about the utility’s future as hundreds of younger employees quit over salary cuts after the Fukushima No. 1 reactor meltdowns, according to minutes obtained by Bloomberg News. ';The company could quickly deteriorate'; as workers leave at ';a rapidly accelerating rate,'; an unidentified executive said ...
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Lavrov to visit in fall talks on isle row eyed
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed Monday that Moscow would dispatch its top diplomat to Japan this fall to boost political dialogue, a Japanese official said. The leaders also confirmed that talks on an island dispute that has prevented the ...
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Bruins go up 2-1 on Blackhawks
If things go smoothly, a Kobe-based private network will begin in vitro fertilization with ova from donors by yearend. Some legal problems are ...
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Boxing Kiyota lays down gauntlet to champion Stieglitz
Japanese super middleweight Yuzo Kiyota has a message for WBO champion Robert Stieglitz: since you think I’m the underdog, you won’t mind if I bite you. Kiyota, the Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation champion, takes on Stieglitz in his first world title bout in Dresden, Germany, on July 13. By most accounts, the German fighter would appear to be the heavy favorite, but not ...
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Scherzer becomes first starter to go 10-0 since 1997
Max Scherzer has shrugged off the significance of his undefeated start, saying records are fluky statistics for pitchers and that he’s simply playing for a good team. When the Detroit Tigers right-hander found out he is the first to accomplish a couple feats since Rogers Clemens and Pedro Martinez, though, it knocked Scherzer off his humble script. ';That tickles me when you say ...
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Will Heat wilt against Spurs
The Miami Heat weren’t supposed to be in this situation. Not now, anyway. Coming home from Texas with their season on the line in 2011 was one thing. They were at the end of their first year together — LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh were still learners. But this season they were the NBA’s best team, one that lost three games in three months and made losing three ...
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Rose ends England’s long wait for major winner
Drought over: Justin Rose's victory at the U.S. Open on Sunday was the first major championship for England since Nick Faldo won the Masters back in 1996. | ...
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Nigeria rolls to 6-1 victory over Tahiti at Confederations Cup
The Toronto Comics Arts Festival, which celebrated its 10th anniversary this year, has of late made its name bringing over cutting-edge Japanese artists for signings, live drawing sessions and speaking events. The atmosphere at this year’s event, held in May, in many ways like ...
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Fighters rally past Carp in interleague finale
Staying busy: Fighters rookie Shohei Otani throws a pitch to the Carp and hits a second-inning double on Tuesday at Mazda Stadium. Otani got a no-decision in Hiroshima's 7-4 victory over Hokkaido Nippon Ham. | ...
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Web company IPOs in Japan pick up pace
Edward Snowden, the fugitive former CIA employee and NSA contractor who leaked secrets about America’s spying operations, often hung out online with foreigners in Japan who shared his interests in anime, video games, martial arts, the stock market and the expat lifestyle. Snowden, who ...
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Dragons mist and bouncy clouds await in west Tokyo
About 45 minutes from Tokyo’s skyscrapers, resting in the hinterlands of Tachikawa there is a land of mist and dragons. It’s a place where rolling hills tumble toward an Aztec pyramid, and children bounce on clouds. The place is called Showa Kinen Koen, and an afternoon there is time well spent. Take the train to Nishi Tachikawa station and walk in the main entrance. The park is ...
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Hacker game’s world now frighteningly familiar
Across the colorful show floor at last week’s Electronic Entertainment Expo, there were games on display where players could become all manner of things, like a throat-slashing 18th-century pirate, zombie killer, a guardian of the last city on Earth, music-making sorcerer, ruthless Roman general, shape-shifting creature, goblin slayer and Batman. However, the role that seems to have ...
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Iran’s presidential election augurs better future
Hassan Rowhani’s election as the new Iranian president augurs well not only for that country but also for a world tired of the senseless rhetoric from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. When, at a campaign speech, Rowhani stated, ';We have no option rather than moderation,'; he was also defining what will be one of the main characteristics of his government: a more conciliatory ...
Tokyo in Focus
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Tokyo's new international airport making waves
Haneda airport was renamed Haneda International Airport with the opening of the new International Terminal, which will see several million passengers pass through it each year as the airport regains its status as a global airport with connections to major cities across the world.
When Haneda first opened in 1931 it was the largest civilian airport in the whole country and during the Second World War became a major US Air Base after the invasion of Japan and the country’s surrender. Read more
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