Japan

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Japan Orders 'Moonies' Church to Disband

Unification Church considers appealing decision, which would require the liquidation of assets

(Newser) - The controversial "Moonies" church that fell under scrutiny after the 2022 assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is to be disbanded in Japan. The Tokyo district court made the decision Tuesday after a recommendation from Japan's education and culture ministry, which accused the Unification Church of...

Longest Death-Row Inmate Gets Record Payout

Japan to pay $1.45M to Iwao Hakamata, who spent nearly 50 years on death row before a rare retrial

(Newser) - He served nearly 50 years on death row for murders he didn't commit, but now octogenarian Iwao Hakamata is about to recoup some compensation for his ordeal. The BBC reports that a judge has ordered the Japanese government to pay $1.45 million to 89-year-old Iwao Hakamata, who spent...

Cops: Follower Fatally Stabs Influencer on Livestream

Upset over unpaid debt, the man allegedly tracked down Airi Sato using her recording

(Newser) - A Japanese influencer was livestreaming on a Tokyo street on Tuesday when she was fatally stabbed by a follower with a grudge, according to police. Airi Sato, 22, could be heard screaming for help as her livestream suddenly went dark, the New York Times reports, noting viewers later heard sirens....

80 Years Ago, US Firebombing Killed 105K in Tokyo

Survivors of firebombing are still fighting to get compensation from Japan's government

(Newser) - More than 100,000 people were killed in a single night 80 years ago Monday in the US firebombing of Tokyo. The attack, made with conventional bombs, destroyed downtown Tokyo and filled the streets with heaps of charred bodies. The damage was comparable to the atomic bombings a few months...

When She Started Cutting Hair, Hoover Was President

Shitsui Hakoishi, 108, of Japan has been deemed world's oldest barber by Guinness

(Newser) - Meet the world's oldest female barber: She's 108, but the slender, white-haired Japanese woman has no plans to retire anytime soon. Shitsui Hakoishi says the formal recognition by Guinness World Records this week brought her much joy. She was presented with an official certificate from the international franchise...

'Through Her Life, We Have Seen What Human Dignity Is'

Gil Won-ok, an advocate for so-called comfort women, dies at 96

(Newser) - Tens of thousands of Korean women were forced into sexual slavery by Japan during WWII. In the 1990s, about 240 of these so-called "comfort women" publicly identified themselves. Seven of them are still alive—and until her Sunday death, Gil Won-ok had been number eight. "Through her life,...

Japanese Carmakers Scotch That Much Ballyhooed Merger

Honda, Nissan, Mitsubishi decide to end talks of business integration

(Newser) - Japanese automakers Honda, Nissan, and Mitsubishi said on Thursday they're ending talks on business integration. Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida said the talks had changed focus from setting up a joint holding company to making Nissan into a subsidiary of Honda. "The intent was to join forces to win...

2 Weeks After Sinkhole Swallowed Truck, Japan Locates It

It appears the driver is still inside the cab

(Newser) - Two weeks after a giant hole opened up on a Japanese street and swallowed a truck and its 74-year-old driver, rescue crews have managed to locate the truck's cab in a 16-foot-wide sewer pipe nearby. As the BBC reports, rescuers had previously pulled the truck's bed from the...

Japan Customs Official Has a Very Unfortunate Night Out

After drinking 9 beers, he lost bag containing sensitive documents

(Newser) - A government worker in Japan is in big trouble after a big night out with colleagues. Officials say the finance ministry worker drank nine glasses of beer over five hours in Yokohama last Thursday—and didn't realize until he got off a train in Sumida, 25 miles away, that...

After 77 Years, a US Vet's War Souvenir Returns Home

Outside has account of Japanese sword abandoned at the end of WWII

(Newser) - In the final days of World War II, an American soldier named Joseph "Benny" Kasser found an abandoned Japanese sword on a beach in Okinawa. Attached was a tag with the owner's name (Colonel Tomesuke Umeki) and a short note in English including the phrase, "I am...

With Driver Trapped, Japan Asks 1.2M to Stop Doing Laundry

74-year-old has been trapped in sinkhole for days

(Newser) - Around 1.2 million people in Japan have been asked to stop doing laundry and taking showers as rescuers race against time to save a truck driver trapped in a sinkhole. The 74-year-old has been trapped since the sinkhole swallowed his truck at a busy intersection in Yashio, north of...

Fake Humans Break Sunfish Out of Its Funk

Fish in Japan seemed depressed during aquarium closure, until staff put fake people outside tank

(Newser) - A solitary sunfish at an aquarium in southwestern Japan lost its appetite, began banging into the side of the fish tank, and appeared unwell days after the facility closed last month for renovations. As a last-ditch measure to save the popular fish, its keepers set up human cutouts outside the...

Fish as Big as a Grizzly Sells for $1.3M
Fish as Big as a
Grizzly Sells for $1.3M
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Jan 12, 2025 6:31 AM CST

Fish as Big as a Grizzly Sells for $1.3M

Toyosu market's first auction of the year took place Sunday

(Newser) - It's as long as a motorcycle and weighs just as much, but it sold for far more. The annual new year auction of a bluefin tuna at Tokyo's Toyosu market went to a familiar name on Sunday: Michelin-starred sushi chain operator the Onodera Group, which won the auction...

2 Choke to Death on Japan's Favorite New Year's Food
Japan's New Year Delicacy
Turns Deadly Again
in case you missed it
Jan 11, 2025 3:45 PM CST

Japan's New Year Delicacy Turns Deadly Again

Mochi rice cakes cause a surge in choking incidents at the start of every year

(Newser) - A favorite seasonal food has once again turned deadly in Japan. Traditional mochi rice cakes are eaten around New Year's, and there is nearly always a surge in choking deaths, largely among the elderly. In Tokyo alone, nine people were hospitalized and two died in the first few days...

Biden Blocks Sale of US Steel to Nippon

President pushes back against takeover bid by Japan's Nippon Steel to scoop up US Steel

(Newser) - President Biden has long expressed his disapproval for a deal in which Japan's Nippon Steel scoops up the iconic US Steel, and this week he made that disapproval official. In a Friday morning statement, the commander in chief rebuffed the proposed $14 billion-plus deal, noting that "we need...

Sorting Trash Incorrectly? One City Will Publicly Call You Out

Come March, waste offenders in Fukushima, Japan, will be named and shamed

(Newser) - Japan has long been a leader in waste reduction, and now one city there is upping the ante for offenders of stringent trash rules. The BBC reports that come March, Fukushima will out people who shirk waste-disposal guidelines by naming and shaming them publicly. While the practice has been used...

J-Pop Star Found Dead in Bathtub
J-Pop Icon Found
Dead in Bathtub
OBITUARY
Dec 6, 2024 10:00 AM CST

J-Pop Icon Found Dead in Bathtub

Singer and actor Miho Nakayama dead at 54

(Newser) - Miho Nakayama, a Japanese teen idol of the 1980s who went on to become an award-winning actor, died Friday, shocking her management and fans. The 54-year-old was found dead in a bathtub at her Tokyo home on Friday by an acquaintance who went to investigate after Nakayama failed to show...

Bank Sorry for Worker Allegedly Trying to Kill Clients

Kentaro Okuda, CEO of Japan's Nomura, to take 30% pay cut for 3 months in response

(Newser) - The head of Japan's largest investment bank has apologized and agreed to a temporary pay cut after an ex-employee was charged with trying to kill clients. The Nomura employee, who gave asset management advice to individuals and corporations, allegedly robbed the clients before setting fire to their home during...

Kindergarten Battles an Unlikely Shoe Thief

What a weasel

(Newser) - Police were called to a kindergarten in Japan after a bunch of children's shoes were stolen and more were seemingly tossed around the property. Fifteen shoes were discovered missing from the Gosho Kodomo-en kindergarten in Koga, Fukuoka prefecture, on Nov. 6, followed by another six on Nov. 7, per...

Biden Praises Unity Against Growing Threat

Meeting in Peru addresses military partnership between Russia, North Korea

(Newser) - President Biden on Friday praised the cooperation among South Korea, Japan, and the US at countering what he described as North Korea's "dangerous and destabilizing cooperation with Russia." Biden spoke at the start of a meeting in Peru with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese...

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