Japan

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Nagasaki Mayor's Killer Confesses
Nagasaki Mayor's Killer Confesses
Jan 22, 2008 1:54 PM CST

Nagasaki Mayor's Killer Confesses

Alleged gangster apologizes in court as trial opens

(Newser) - The Japanese man accused of killing the mayor of Nagasaki last April has admitted to the crime, the BBC reports. "I apologize to Mayor Iccho Ito and his family from the bottom of my heart," Tetsuya Shiroo said today on the first day of his trial. An alleged...

Asian Stocks Continue Plunge
Asian Stocks Continue Plunge
UPDATED
Jan 22, 2008 3:25 AM CST

Asian Stocks Continue Plunge

Stocks tumble for second straight day

(Newser) - Jitters over the US economy led to a major sell-off in Asian markets for the second straight day, with Australia's benchmark index closing down 7.1%—the biggest single-day loss in nearly 20 years. India's Sensex index skidded 10%, triggering a shutdown, but rallied to close down 4.6%. Japan's...

Cell Phone Novels Take Japan by Storm

Audience, sales huge for works written, read on handsets

(Newser) - Japan’s literary world has been rocked by the ascendancy of cell phone novels: serial works written mainly by young women on their phone keypads. The New York Times reports five of 2007’s 10 bestsellers were cell phone novels reprinted as conventional books—despite the fact that the country’...

10 Best Bookstores on Earth
10 Best Bookstores on Earth
Jan 17, 2008 3:35 PM CST

10 Best Bookstores on Earth

From the Netherlands to Japan to L.A., a Guardian scribe picks his faves

(Newser) - Not all bookstores are mega-style these days. Some are even built in churches, theaters, and 19-century buildings. A Guardian scribe lists his top 10 booksellers worldwide:
  1. Maastricht, Netherlands: Boekhandel Selexyz Dominicanen. Owners converted an 800-year-old church into a divine bookstore.
  2. Buenos Aires' El Ateneo. Once a theater, its stage is
...

Aussies Demand Whalers Release Eco-Warriors

Australian goverment moves to free men from belly of whaling ship

(Newser) - An Australian customs ship is steaming on it way to pick up two protesters being held on board a Japanese whaling ship, where they were lashed to a railing, CNN reports. The activists were seized by the ship's crew Tuesday after they boarded to deliver a protest letter saying that...

For Hurting US Companies, World Supplies Band-Aid

In economic sea change, 'we need the money,' one US Rep. says

(Newser) - The subprime collapse has US financial institutions in uncharted waters—asking for help from foreign investors and governments, the Wall Street Journal reports. Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, and Morgan Stanley all have recently sought bailouts, a dramatic switch from a tradition that saw US banks coming to the “rescue of...

Judge Bans Japanese Whalers in Aussie Waters

Eco-warriors 'kidnapped,' tied to ship's mast

(Newser) - An Australian judge has banned hunting by Japanese whalers in a large section of their traditional grounds in Australian-claimed waters off Antarctica. The ruling came today just hours after crew members of a militant eco-ship boarded a Japanese whaling vessel in the Southern Ocean to deliver a protest note—then...

Greenpeace Ship Scatters Japanese Whalers

Hunt for 1,000 whales disrupted in sea chase

(Newser) - The Greenpeace pursuit of Japanese whaling ships continued yesterday after a ship operated by the environmental group earlier chased down and scattered a fleet of six Japanese whaling vessels in the waters off Antarctica. The Japanese fleet plans to hunt down 1,000 whales in what operators call a "...

Risky Showdown Looms as Eco-Ships Near Whalers

High noon on high seas as rival vessels battle to save mammoth creatures

(Newser) - Fears of a deadly battle increased yesterday as a Greenpeace ship began to close in on a Japanese whaling fleet intending to kill 1,000 whales. Also steaming through the Southern Ocean off Antarctica was a far more militant "eco ship," planning to ram the whaling vessels. "...

Japan Eyes Internet Crackdown
Japan Eyes Internet Crackdown
Jan 4, 2008 12:45 PM CST

Japan Eyes Internet Crackdown

Tough new proposals protect children, copyrights

(Newser) - Japan has taken a relaxed approach to controlling the Internet in the past, but the government is planning to ratchet up regulation, Ars Technica reports. The communications ministry is looking at ways to bring web and mobile content in line with heavily regulated traditional media. Concerns are high about libelous...

Hello Kitty to Purr for Young Men, Too

Company will make girl-friendly product line palatable for teen boys

(Newser) - Will boys really say “Hello Kitty”? The company behind the sugary-sweet product line thinks so. Japan’s Sanrio Co. says it will plaster the cuddly cat on T-shirts, bags, watches, and other products for males. “We think Hello Kitty is accepted by young men as a design...

Fukuda in China to Thaw Frosty Relations

After strain, Japanese PM's charm offensive delights Beijing

(Newser) - Yasuo Fukuda is in Beijing, where the Japanese PM is hoping to solidify improved relations between two countries with a troubled past.  In contrast to his two predecessors, Fukuda is a pro-Asian leader; as he reminds his Chinese hosts, his own father brought in the Japan-China peace treaty 29...

Electronics Giants Join Forces
Electronics Giants Join Forces
Dec 26, 2007 7:08 AM CST

Electronics Giants Join Forces

Panasonic, Hitachi, and Canon announce tie-up

(Newser) - Hitachi, Canon, and Panasonic have announced plans to work to together in moving flat-panel display technology forward, PC World reports. Competition is heating up in the industry, and the companies hope the alliance will accelerate development time. The firms will work together on LCD displays and organic light emitting diode...

Tree That Survived A-Bomb Sees 70th Christmas

Japanese family kept tree through calamities

(Newser) - A Japanese soldier's Christmas tree has stayed with his family through dark times, and even survived the atomic bomb that killed his brother in Nagasaki. This year marks the 70th Christmas that Warren Nobuaki Iwatake has put up the fragile, three-foot tree, which he calls "a shining light, because...

Will Japan Flip for the iPhone?
Will Japan Flip for the iPhone?
Dec 21, 2007 11:36 AM CST

Will Japan Flip for the iPhone?

Tech-savvy nation may not be all that jazzed about Apple's bells and whistles

(Newser) - Japan’s tech-savvy market may be a tough sell for Apple’s iPhone, which will face more competition from handset makers there than it has anywhere else in the world, reports BusinessWeek. The market already has phones that send e-mail, browse the Internet, and, more important, are compatible with newer...

Japan Backs Down on Whaling
Japan Backs Down on Whaling
Dec 21, 2007 7:35 AM CST

Japan Backs Down on Whaling

Australian pressure leads Tokyo to call off humpback hunt

(Newser) - In its first-ever turnaround on whaling, the Japanese government has dropped its plans to hunt humpbacks. The about-face is a victory for Kevin Rudd, the new Australian prime minister, who had objected strenuously and ordered a patrol of the humpback hunt. Tokyo said, however, that the fleet currently en route...

Apple Plays the Field in Japan
Apple Plays the Field in Japan
Dec 18, 2007 10:34 PM CST

Apple Plays the Field in Japan

Seeks exclusive partner for iPhones

(Newser) - Apple wants to bring the iPhone to Japan to compete with some of the most futuristic phones around, but it's being choosy in its search for a partner, Reuters reports. Apple is in talks with DoCoMo and Softbank, the country's biggest and third-biggest mobile operators respectively, but they're both wary...

Japan Shoots Down Dummy US Missile

Japanese expanding missile defense systems with Yank help

(Newser) - A Japanese warship off Hawaii has shot down a US-made mock ballistic missile in flight over the Pacific Ocean, the BBC reports. The test, using a US-developed intercept missile, was the first of its kind by an American ally. Japan and the US stepped up their missile defense cooperation after...

'Rape of Nanking' Fresh, 70 Years Later

Massacre still colors Sino-Japan relations, informs China's identity

(Newser) - Seventy years have passed since the "Rape of Nanking," when Japanese soldiers brutally massacred as many as 300,000 Chinese civilians, but the effects of the trauma are still very much present in China and its relations with Japan. Memorializing the event plays a major role in cementing...

Japan Hosts Camera Phone Film Festival

48 tiny videos yield intimate close-ups from around the world

(Newser) - Featuring 48 judge-selected short movies, each of them shot using a camera phone, Japan's Pocket Film Festival marks the dawning of a new era in amateur film making. Without special effects or fancy camera-work, the pocket-flicks, like winners "Thumb Girl" and "Walkers," are all close-up and intimate...

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