Japan

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Japanese Told to Take Shelter as North Korea Launches Missile

Though missile did not ultimately fly over the country

(Newser) - Evacuation warnings were triggered in Japan amid North Korea's latest round of missile launches. Pyongyang fired at least three ballistic missiles Thursday, the first a presumed long-range missile that triggered warnings in the northern Miyagi, Yamagata and Niigata prefectures urging residents to shelter at home or go underground, Fox...

Multimillionaire Manga Creator Secretly Died a 'Hero'

Kazuki Takahashi drowned in Japan in July while attempting to save a girl and her parents

(Newser) - When Kazuki Takahashi, creator of the popular manga Yu-Gi-Oh!, died in July, Japanese authorities gave few details on what had happened. They said the 60-year-old, whose body was found in snorkeling gear off the coast of Nago city in Okinawa, had died by drowning. But that wasn't the whole...

Car Crashes Into Japan's Oldest Toilet

Kyoto heritage worker didn't realize it was in reverse

(Newser) - A employee of the Kyoto Heritage Preservation Association accidentally caused serious damage to part of the city's heritage—Japan's oldest toilet. Authorities say the 30-year-old man, who had parked his car outside the toilet building at Tofukuji, started his vehicle and hit the accelerator without noticing it was...

Fake Astronaut Wooed Woman to Pay for Return Ticket to Earth
Woman Duped Out of $30K
in Out-of-This-World Scam
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Woman Duped Out of $30K in Out-of-This-World Scam

Online lover convinced 65-year-old in Japan he was astronaut who needed cash to return to Earth

(Newser) - Nigerian prince scams are so 1990s—welcome to the 21st century and the Russian cosmonaut scam. Kyodo News reports that police are looking into the claims of a 65-year-old woman in Japan's Shiga prefecture who said she fell in love with a man online who tricked her into...

Rocket Ordered to Self-Destruct Minutes After Liftoff

Japan's space agency is investigating failure of Epsilon-6 satellite-carrying rocket

(Newser) - A Japanese rocket carrying eight satellites was ordered to self-destruct minutes after liftoff in the biggest failure for Japan's space agency in nearly 20 years. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency—JAXA—said in a statement that the self-destruction command was sent to the Epsilon-6 rocket because it had "...

North Korea Sends Missile Over Japan, Into Ocean

Residents in northern prefectures are told to take cover

(Newser) - North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan on Tuesday, an escalation from the barrage of tests conducted in the past few days while the US and other nations conduct military drills in the region. In a rare move, Japan told residents in two northern prefectures to seek shelter. It...

His 'Fight of the Century' Against Ali Made Him Famous

Popular Japanese wrestler and lawmaker Antonio Inoki is dead at 79

(Newser) - Popular Japanese professional wrestler and lawmaker Antonio Inoki, who faced world boxing champion Muhammad Ali in a mixed martial arts match in 1976, has died at 79. Inoki brought Japanese pro wrestling to fame and pioneered mixed martial arts matches between top wrestlers and champions from other combat sports like...

'You Were a Person Who Should Have Lived Much Longer'

Japan's Shinzo Abe was given a state funeral Tuesday

(Newser) - Japan's assassinated hawkish former leader, Shinzo Abe, was given a state funeral Tuesday, making him just the second politician to receive the honor in post-war Japan, reports the BBC . The event has deeply split public opinion. In addition to the thousands who took to the streets in protest, Japan'...

Abe's $12M State Funeral May Have Spurred Self-Immolation

Man set himself on fire near Japanese prime minister's office in Tokyo

(Newser) - A man set himself on fire outside the Japanese prime minister's office in apparent protest of a state funeral for the assassinated ex-leader Shinzo Abe. It happened on Wednesday, on what would've been Abe's 68th birthday. The elderly man, initially found unconscious with burns to his entire...

High-Tech Japan Struggles to Ditch Floppy Disks

Nation's digital minister pledges to get rid of them in government use

(Newser) - Japan may be known for its tech savvy, but government offices still use the humble floppy disk for data storage. As a result, the nation's digital minister has announced that he is declaring "war" on the technology, which first surfaced in the 1960s, reports the Sydney Morning Herald ...

Japan Wants Young People to Drink More Booze

Tax agency is worried about falling revenue

(Newser) - Japan's national tax agency is trying to tackle a decline in revenue by persuading young people to change their sober ways. Younger people in Japan aren't drinking as much as previous generations did, and so the tax agency has launched a competition to find ways to boost alcohol...

Swimmers in Japan Told to Be Wary of Dolphins

Officials have counted 17 dolphin attacks on three beaches this summer

(Newser) - Some claim it’s the work of a lone “rampaging” dolphin, but that has yet to be proven. What’s known is that there has been a string of dolphin attacks this summer at three beaches in Japan’s Fukui prefecture, which faces the Sea of Japan. Per the...

Attacks Continue After Japanese Monkey Killed

At least 56 people have now been injured by macaques in Yamaguchi

(Newser) - There's one less monkey terrorizing Yamaguchi, Japan , but the problem isn't solved. One of a group of Japanese macaques thought to be responsible for attacks on 56 people in recent weeks was euthanized Tuesday after it was found on the grounds of a high school. The male simian,...

Japanese City Averaging 2.4 Monkey Attacks Per Day

At least 45 people have been bitten or scratched in Yamaguchi

(Newser) - Update: A Japanese city thought it had a problem with one wild monkey. Now, however, it appears the problem is wild monkeys, plural. At least 45 people around the Japanese city of Yamaguchi have been attacked in 19 days, according to a government official. The rare attacks have doubled in...

Killer Who Triggered Change in Japan Knife Law Is Hanged

Tomohiro Kato carried out a mass killing in 2008

(Newser) - Twenty minutes before committing a 2008 mass murder that shocked Japan, Tomohiro Kato posted a warning online that read, "It's time." Japan apparently decided the same thing for him. The 39-year-old has been hanged in the Tokyo Detention Centre, some eight years after he received a death...

Gender Parity Index Puts Japan Near Bottom

Report says world has a long way to go for equality—about 132 years

(Newser) - The World Economic Forum's new Gender Gap Report found that Japan compares well with other nations in women's access to education and health. In Japan's political and economic fields, however, women's participation is still low, driving the nation's ranking to 116th among the 146 countries...

Unification Church May Be Source of Suspect's Grudge

Mother of man held in Abe's killing is a member

(Newser) - The Unification Church confirmed Monday that the mother of the man accused of killing Shinzo Abe is a member, raising the possibility that it's the organization against which the suspect held a grudge. Japanese police have said the suspect told them he was motivated by a grudge against a...

After Assassination, Voters Give Abe's Party a Boost

Former prime minister's party on track for strong showing in parliamentary elections

(Newser) - Japan voted Sunday in the shadow of the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that brought heightened security as party leaders avoided mingling with crowds in last-minute campaign stops. Exit polls for the election for the parliament's upper house showed Abe's governing party certain to win a...

Expert: Weapon That Killed Abe Was 'No Standard Shotgun'

Police say they found homemade guns in raid of suspect's house

(Newser) - Japanese police said they found multiple homemade weapons in a raid Friday on the residence of the man held in the assassination of Shinzo Abe, several of which are similar to the one they say was used to kill the former prime minister. The murder weapon is more than a...

&#39;Hard to Think of a More Unexpected Place&#39;
'Hard to Think
of a More
Unexpected
Place'
OPINION

'Hard to Think of a More Unexpected Place'

Japanese laws mean gun violence is almost non-existent

(Newser) - There will be no erasing the scars carved into Japan with Friday's assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe, say those familiar with Japanese society. The country has been "brought to a standstill by the news," which is especially shocking given that gun crime is almost non-existent...

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