Foreign visitors to Japan may soon have the option of showing their passports when checking in to their hotels or simply undergoing a fingerprint scan. The process, aimed at easing congestion at hotel reception desks, is the result of a project between the government and the private sector. A test period will get under way […]
Court said Gregory Gumo committed ‘a systematic crime’ dumping the body of Mariko Akitaya. The Yokohama District Court on Wednesday handed an American male an 18-month prison sentence in the death of a woman in Miura City last July, reports NHK (May 25). Presiding Judge Shigeyuki Fukasawa ruled that Gregory Gumo, 41, committed “a systematic crime” in the dumping of […]
Security personnel arriving at Kudanshita Station came across a knife sitting on floor near snoozing man. A utility knife sitting on the floor near an intoxicated man’s bag caused quite a stir in a Tokyo subway station, NHK reported on Thursday (May 26). Some 20 security officials responded to an emergency call by a worker at […]
Locations known as slip-deficit regions, which could trigger powerful earthquakes, are accumulating underground in the Pacific Ocean off central Japan where the Nankai Trough quake is forecast, research by a team of Japan Coast Guard officers published Tuesday in the British science journal Nature showed. Slip-deficit regions are places where friction prevents tectonic plates from […]
World leaders are making their way to Japan for the G7 Ise-Shima Summit that begins on Thursday.A record number of police officers will be on duty during the summit. Top priority will be placed on the summit venue and soft targets such as the city of Hiroshima, which US President Barack Obama will visit on […]
A 46-year-old man was arrested Wednesday after taking a woman hostage and barricading an apartment in the western Japan prefecture of Ehime for over 16 hours, police said. The man was eventually persuaded by police officers to surrender around 1:30 p.m. The woman in her 20s, who reportedly used to go out with the man, […]
The Closeup Forever Summer Concert in the Philippines ended on a rather tragic note as five people died during and following the festival. The concert, which featured sets from Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Julian Jordan & more, was attended by around 14,000 people on Saturday, May 21. Of the deceased, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) indicated […]
Barack Obama said on Sunday his visit to Hiroshima, the first city to suffer an atomic bombing, would emphasize friendly ties between former enemies. But the US president reiterated he would not apologize for the devastating attack. Obama will become the first sitting US president to tour the site of the world’s first nuclear bombing […]
The chain will close its 53 stores in the country this year, letting it refocus on North America and China. In another sign of the San Francisco-based company’s difficulties, Gap didn’t reaffirm its earnings forecast for the year, saying the retail climate would have to improve in order to meet the target. “As the pace […]
Two men have been killed in apparent bear attacks over the weekend in the same area of a forest region in Kazuno, Akita Prefecture. According to police, the body of Noboru Takahashi, 78, was found at around 1 p.m. on Sunday afternoon. Fuji TV quoted police as saying he had bite and scratch marks on […]
