Japan

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Locked Away for 15 Years, 42-Pound Woman Found Dead

Her parents now face charges in Japan

(Newser) - For at least 15 years, Airi Kakimoto was confined to a 32-square-foot room without windows or heat, according to police. Her suffering would only be exposed with her death. Authorities in Japan say the 33-year-old was found dead in her parents' Neyagawa home on Saturday. She died days earlier around...

World's Biggest Nuke Plant Gets a Long-Awaited OK

TEPCO gets OK to restart nuclear reactors, to the displeasure of some

(Newser) - The biggest nuclear power plant in the world sits idle, as it has for nearly seven years. But that state is set to change, and not without public trepidation. The Guardian reports that Japan's nuclear watchdog this week gave Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) the green light to restart two...

S. Korea: Parts of WWII Sex Slave Deal Were Kept Secret

Panel reviewed 2015 'comfort women' agreement with Japan, found it lacking

(Newser) - Exactly two years ago, Japan and South Korea agreed that if Japan did what it had promised, the issue of WWII sex slaves—or "comfort women," forced to work in Japanese brothels for soldiers—would be "finally and irreversibly resolved." Maybe not. A panel put together...

Man Is Responsible for Child Conceived After He Left Wife

Judge rules in case of post-separation in vitro fertilization

(Newser) - A Japanese court is holding a man legally responsible for his biological child—despite her being born long after he was in any way involved with her conception. The Japan Times reports the Nara Family Court on Friday dismissed a lawsuit from a 46-year-old foreigner seeking to avoid legal responsibility...

Japan Buying Missiles That Can Strike North Korea Bases

But defense minister says it will still mainly rely on US protection

(Newser) - While North Korea keeps up its taunting missile tests , Japan is making plans of its own, with North Korea seemingly in its sights. The Wall Street Journal reports Japan is set to purchase extended-range missiles that could hit the North's military bases. The country's Defense Ministry says it...

High Priestess of Tokyo Shrine Killed With Samurai Sword

Police say her brother also killed accomplice before taking own life

(Newser) - The former high priest of a famous Tokyo shrine killed his older sister, an accomplice, and finally himself with a samurai sword Thursday in what police believe was a feud over succession. Police say 58-year-old Nagako Tomioka, the high priestess of the Tomioka Hachimangu shrine, was killed by her brother,...

Man Who Doubts Auschwitz's Gas Buys Emperor's WWII Memoir

Dr. Katsuya Takasu paid $275K for Japanese Emperor Hirohito's recollections

(Newser) - Japanese Emperor Hirohito's WWII memoir was expected to fetch as much as $150,000 at auction in New York Wednesday. It instead sold for $275,000, but the sale price is potentially less interesting than the buyer: Dr. Katsuya Takasu, a man the BBC describes as an accused Holocaust...

Emperor's Memoir, Written at MacArthur's Request, to Be Sold

Japanese Emperor Hirohito's recollections could fetch as much as $150K

(Newser) - A memoir by Japanese Emperor Hirohito that offers his recollections of World War II is predicted to fetch between $100,000 and $150,000 at an auction in New York. The 173-page document was dictated to his aides soon after the end of the war. It was created at the...

Japan Emperor Will Be First to Abdicate in 200 Years

Emperor Akihito will step down on April 30, 2019

(Newser) - Japan's much admired Emperor Akihito is set to abdicate on April 30, 2019, at age 85 in the first such departure from the Chrysanthemum Throne in about 200 years, the government said Friday. Akihito's elder son Crown Prince Naruhito will ascend the throne a day later, beginning a...

Japan Spots Drifting Boat Carrying 10 North Koreans

Sighting comes day after 'ghost ship' washed ashore

(Newser) - Japanese authorities were preparing Thursday to inspect a decrepit boat with 10 men identifying themselves as North Koreans drifting in rough seas off the northern island of Hokkaido. Coast guard officials said they were towing the wooden boat to a safer area for inspection. Officials spotted the boat off the...

Aboard 'Ghost Ship' Found in Japan: Bodies Reduced to Bone

It's believed to have come from North Korea

(Newser) - Just days ago, a boat washed ashore in northern Japan . Aboard were eight men who said they were from North Korea. Now, another boat has been found just 45 miles north of the first, and it also held eight—except all are dead. The 23-foot wooden "ghost ship" was...

Japan Trade Minister on New Mitsubishi Scandal: a 'Betrayal'

Company says 3 subsidiaries falsified data

(Newser) - Last year, Mitsubishi confessed it had fudged fuel tests for the past 25 years. Now a new admission adds to Japan's list of corporate controversies, not just from Mitsubishi, but also from other major manufacturers. CNNMoney reports Mitsubishi Materials admitted in a statement Thursday at least two of its...

8 Men Washed Ashore in Japan Say They're North Korean

They told police their boat broke down

(Newser) - Japanese police are investigating eight men found on Japan's northern coast who say they are from North Korea and washed ashore after their boat broke down. Akita prefectural police found the men late Thursday after receiving a call that suspicious men were standing around at the seaside in Yurihonjo...

Mom Put 4 Newborns in Buckets of Concrete: Cops

Mayumi Saito confessed to decades-old crimes, say Japanese police

(Newser) - A Japanese woman was arrested Tuesday after police say she confessed to putting four newborns in concrete-filled buckets two decades ago and having been filled with guilt over not caring for her babies. Human remains were identified via imaging in four buckets found in her condominium, an Osaka police official...

Navy Plane Crashes in Pacific With 11 Aboard

It was on its way to aircraft carrier near Japan

(Newser) - In what is believed to be another fatal accident for the 7th Fleet, a Navy plane with 11 passengers and crew on board crashed into the Pacific Ocean Wednesday. The C-2 Greyhound was on its way to the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier. Japan's defense minister, Itsunori Onodera, said...

After Deadly Crash, US Troops in Japan Banned From Drinking

Police say Marine in Okinawa was 3 times legal limit

(Newser) - US military personnel in Okinawa have been restricted to base and banned from drinking alcohol after a Marine was arrested over a crash that killed a Japanese man. Police on the southern Japanese island arrested 21-year-old Nicholas James-McLean late Sunday on suspicion of negligent driving resulting in injury or death...

Sumo Rocked by Champ's Alleged Beer Bottle Assault

Police are investigating Mongolia's Harumafuji

(Newser) - Going after a fellow sumo wrestler in the ring is quite all right. Outside the ring, and with a beer bottle, not so much. Hence why star athlete Harumafuji of Mongolia, one of only four active wrestlers to have achieved sumo's highest rank of grand champion, has thrown the...

Sincere Apology Issued After Train Leaves 20 Seconds Early

Even though no customers actually complained

(Newser) - The Tsukuba Express was scheduled to depart Tokyo for Tsukuba at 9:44:40. Instead, it left at 9:44:20. If you're thinking, "the horror!" then you'll be glad to hear that management for the Japanese rail company has formally apologized for the train's...

S. Korea: Japan's Gripes Over Trump Dinner 'Inappropriate'

Prawns, a guest rankled Japan

(Newser) - President Trump was on Tuesday served beef ribs with gravy that had 360-year-old soy sauce as an ingredient during South Korea's state dinner, and it came served with two sides of controversy. PRI reports it was the first state visit by a US president in 25 years, so South...

Pepsi Preps for Holidays With 2 New Flavors

Salted Caramel in the US, cake-flavored Christmas Cola in Japan

(Newser) - You can now have your cake and drink it, too. Food & Wine reports on a new limited-edition dessert-flavored drink from Pepsi, though you'll have to travel to Japan to sample it. Christmas Cola, which goes on sale there Nov. 21, is a white soda that Kotaku describes as...

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