Police in Narita, Chiba Prefecture, have arrested a 23-year-old woman on suspicion of abandoning the corpse of her newborn baby in a paper bag last month. According to police, Atsuko Tanaka, who is a nurse, gave birth to a baby girl at her apartment between Nov 17 and 19, Sankei Shimbun reported. She placed the […]
Japan’s education ministry is considering ways to improve the English language ability of junior high school students. The ways may include requiring students to take new kinds of speaking tests. The ministry plans to introduce a nationwide English examination as early as fiscal 2019. That exam will assess junior high school seniors on their listening, […]
Facebook user Katie Brown, who posted a photo showing her dog muzzled with a duct tape on mouth, has caused rage in social media. Brown, whose real name is Katharine F. Lemansky, posted the photo with a caption: “This is what happens when you dont shut up!!!” After receiving negative comments, she went on to post […]
Railway workers in Japan have devised an ingenious scheme to prevent daredevil turtles from meeting a grisly end—and delaying trains—while crossing train tracks. The slow-moving reptiles in Nara Prefecture were responsible for 13 disruptions to train services between 2002 and 2014 after tumbling into the spaces between rail switches and getting squashed, according to West […]
In an annual year-end event, the 10 most memorable words and phrases of the year in Japan were announced on Tuesday. The top award went to 2 phrases. One is a baseball term, “triple three,” which means that a player had a batting average exceeding .300 , 30 homeruns and 30 stolen bases in a […]
The plaintiffs claim that the new system infringes privacy rights guaranteed by the Constitution. Around 150 citizens filed lawsuits Tuesday with five regional courts in Japan demanding the government suspend the use of identification numbers under the new My Number social security and tax number system due to be launched in 2016. The plaintiffs claim […]
Philippine distiller Emperador, one of the core businesses of Alliance Global Group, on Tuesday said it has purchased Beam Suntory’s brandy and sherry businesses in Spain in the latest deal that underscores Southeast Asian companies’ hunger for growth. Emperador, already the world’s largest brandy producer in 2013, paid 275 million euros ($291 million) for the […]
The Philippines has refuted China’s claims over islands in the South China Sea, during weeklong proceedings at an arbitration court in The Hague. China is boycotting the session, saying disputes over territories in the South China Sea should be settled by the parties concerned. A government delegation from the Philippines wrapped up its oral arguments […]
Japanese banks are trying to improve services to accommodate a growing number of foreign visitors, after many have pointed out inconveniences. Seven Bank is set to increase the number of languages available at its ATMs by mid-December. The bank operates over 20,000 cash dispensers nationwide, mostly at 7-Eleven stores.Currently users can choose to conduct their […]
Tochigi Prefectural Police on Monday arrested a 33-year-old housewife in Utsunomiya City for attempting to kill her estranged husband by poisoning his alcohol, reports Nippon News Network (Nov. 30). Yoko Kage is alleged to have entered the kitchen of her husband, a 34-year-old member of the Ground Self-Defense Forces, and inserted the poison ricin, which she had […]
