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Obama Nominates Caroline Kennedy as Ambassador to Japan

She would be the first woman in the job

(Newser) - Caroline Kennedy is finally getting a high-profile thank-you for all the help she has given President Obama over the years: He nominated her to be the next ambassador to Japan today, reports CNN . Assuming the Senate goes along, JFK's 55-year-old daughter will become the first woman to hold the...

Passers-by Push 32-Ton Train Off Woman

Somehow, she walks away basically unscathed

(Newser) - A woman fell into the gap between a Tokyo train and the station platform yesterday during the morning rush hour as she tried to disembark, and got trapped—but fortunately for her, about 40 commuters and staffers came to her aid in a pretty wild way. They managed to push...

Fukushima Leak Finally Declared Reality

TEPCO admits radioactive water likely seeped into the sea

(Newser) - More than two years after disaster struck the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, TEPCO has confirmed what pretty much everybody thought: radioactive water that leaked from the wrecked reactors is believed to have seeped into the underground water system, TEPCO officials finally admitted today at a regular news conference. Japan's...

Japan PM's Party Wins Control of Parliament

Abe's LDP controls both chambers for 1st time since '07

(Newser) - Japanese broadcasters projected that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling coalition won a majority of seats in the upper house of parliament in elections today, giving it control of both chambers for the first time in six years. The win is seen as an endorsement of Abe's economic program,...

Russian War Games the Biggest Since USSR Days

Effort may be aimed at China, Japan: experts

(Newser) - Economic struggles following the Soviet Union's collapse hit Russia's military hard—but today, its power was on full display in the country's biggest war games since the Soviet era. Some 160,000 troops and 5,000 tanks were deployed in Siberia and far eastern Russia, the AP...

Japan Will Sell More Adult Diapers Than Baby Diapers by 2020

Aging population drives incontinence market growth

(Newser) - Hot stock tip: the market for "incontinence products" in Japan is a $1.4 billion-per-year industry, and it's growing at 6-10% a year, thanks to the country's aging population, reports Japanese newspaper Nikkei, per Quartz . Japan has the highest percentage of people over the age of 65...

Australia, Japan Take Whaling Brawl to the Hague

Legal battle in UN court could end annual hunt for good

(Newser) - Japan and Australia have begun battling it out in the UN's International Court of Justice over the former's annual whale hunt. Commercial whaling was banned in 1986, but Japan continues to kill minke and fin whales for what it argues is legitimate scientific research, reports the AP . "...

More Bad Fukushima News
 More Bad Fukushima News 
Jun 19, 2013 12:54 PM CDT

More Bad Fukushima News

Radioactive substances found in groundwater

(Newser) - The fallout from Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant disaster continues . The latest: Tests found that groundwater there contained 30 times the legal level of the radioactive substance Strontium-90, and eight times the legal amount of the radioactive isotope tritium, reports the BBC . A TEPCO official says the working theory is...

New Japanese Fad: Eyeball Licking

Not only gross—it also spreads pinkeye

(Newser) - The hot new thing amongst Japanese teens? Licking each others' eyeballs. Also known as "oculolinctus" and "worming," it's a sexual thing, and was probably inspired by a music video clip (it's at 3:30; you know you want to look), reports ABC News . Apparently, an...

Oldest Man in History Dies
 Oldest Man in History Dies 
Jun 12, 2013 4:44 AM CDT

Oldest Man in History Dies

Japan's Jiroemon Kimura was 116

(Newser) - Japan's Jiroemon Kimura has died after living longer than any man in recorded history. The 116-year-old was born in 1897, the same year as Amelia Earhart and a time when the average male life expectancy in Japan was just 44, the BBC reports. "He has an amazingly strong...

Japan's Bullet Trains Are Going to Get Way Faster

New magnetic levitation series will go 310mph

(Newser) - Japan commuters got a tantalizing glimpse this week of a train significantly faster than the bullet trains now zipping across the country, reports the Telegraph . Many of those commuters, however, will be retired by the time the train—which runs on magnetic-levitation technology rather than wheels—is in use. The...

Japanese PM Definitely Not Afraid of Ghosts

Cabinet says mansion not haunted ... but he still hasn't moved in

(Newser) - Here's a press release you don't have to issue every day. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe still hasn't moved into his official residence in Tokyo, and his Cabinet today released a formal statement assuring the public that it wasn't because the place is haunted, the AFP...

Japanese Politician: WWII Sex Slaves Were 'Necessary'

Says soldiers needed them to rest

(Newser) - Controversial Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto has defended Japan's World War II policy of forcing women to have sex with troops as a necessity of war, the BBC reports. "In the circumstances in which bullets are flying like rain and wind, the soldiers are running around at the risk...

Have Japanese Scientists Just Found Atlantis?

 Have Scientists 
 Just Found the 
 'Brazilian Atlantis'? 
in case you missed it
May 11, 2013 7:00 PM CDT

Have Scientists Just Found the 'Brazilian Atlantis'?

They detect what could be lost part of continent off Brazil

(Newser) - It's hard not to take notice when the word "Atlantis" is uttered, and though the storied island hasn't yet been found, researchers now say they may have discovered what could be the "Brazilian Atlantis." A manned Japanese submersible has taken video of a huge granite...

Okinawa Dragged Into China-Japan Island Battle

Newspaper calls for 'reconsideration' of Ryukyu islands' ownership

(Newser) - China and Japan are already locked in a territorial dispute over one group of Japanese-controlled islands—the Senkakus—and now the Middle Kingdom appears to be eying another. An editorial published today in the People's Daily newspaper, widely considered a Chinese government mouthpiece, calls for a "reconsideration" of...

Japan, Russia Move to ... End WWII

Putin, Abe say it's time to finally settle Kuril Islands dispute

(Newser) - Japan and Russia have decided to have another stab at forging a peace treaty that will bring World War II to an official end. Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Japanese PM Shinzo Abe at the Kremlin yesterday, and the first top-level summit between the countries in about a decade...

Fukushima Workers Battle Radioactive Flood

Experts warn plant is still accident-prone

(Newser) - More than two years after a quake and tsunami crippled Japan's Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, workers are battling yet another crisis, the New York Times finds. Huge amounts of groundwater have been pouring into the plant, leaving workers struggling to contain a flood of 75 gallons of radioactive water...

Kerry Wants Korea Talks; North Disses 'Crafty Trick'

US vows to defend Japan, says Pyongyang must abide by previous nuke deals

(Newser) - John Kerry is on the ground today in Japan, continuing his Asian tour and vowing that North Korea will find "ready partners" in new talks with the United States, even as Pyongyang continues to seethe. Kerry and Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida called on the North to first honor its...

North Korea to Japan: You're First

Pyongyang warns it could nuke Tokyo over the 'slightest move'

(Newser) - After threatening the United States and South Korea with nuclear strikes, North Korea nearly forgot its other favorite target—Japan. That oversight has been corrected now, though, as the Korean Central News Agency today warned that Tokyo will be its first target if Japan keeps up its "hostile posture"...

Japan Deploys Defenses Amid Korea Missile Fears

N. Koreans fail to show up at Kaesong complex

(Newser) - Japan, fearing a possible North Korean missile launch, has set up missile defense batteries at several sites in Tokyo. The deployment comes amid warnings that Pyongyang may be preparing to launch missiles as soon as Wednesday , the New York Times reports. North Korea has threatened to attack American military bases...

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