Japan

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Japan Slammed Over 'Secret Executions'

2 executed in secret hangings, common in country in support of capital punishment

(Newser) - Japan secretly executed two men today, in the fourth round of such executions since Shinzo Abe took power last December. Justice Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki signed off on the secret orders for Mitsuo Fujishima and Ryoji Kagayama, both convicted murderers, who likely would have been told of their fates only hours...

At Issue in East Asia Dispute: Underwater Rock

Socotra is under Chinese, South Korean air-defense zones

(Newser) - As China, Japan, and South Korea feud over sea and sky, what's underwater is also a matter of contention. Both China and South Korea lay claim to a submerged rock between the countries—one that's the subject of Korean legend. In English, it's called Socotra Rock. Koreans...

Biden Stirs Pot in Beijing as Tensions Simmer

He begins China visit amid soaring regional tensions

(Newser) - Joe Biden has landed in Beijing for what was meant to be a trade mission but has become a high-stakes bid to calm soaring regional tensions over China's new air-defense zone over disputed islands in the East China Sea.
  • The vice president has been attacked in state media for
...

Guy Switched at Birth Gets $317K to Make Up for It

He was born to rich family, but ended up raised in poverty

(Newser) - Imagine it: You're raised in a tiny apartment by a single mom and grow up to be a truck driver ... only to find out you were actually born to a wealthy family and accidentally switched at birth, and the baby raised in your place grew up to be the...

Japan Sparks Furor With Bill to Boost Secrecy

Newspapers, demonstrators protest leak-prosecuting measure

(Newser) - Looking to boost Japan's role in the region and the world, the country's conservative prime minister has sparked an uproar with his plan to increase state secrecy. A bill that just passed the lower house of parliament would raise penalties on civil servants and journalists who leak sensitive...

Japan, S. Korea: We Defied China's New Zone, Too

Both countries say they flew into it unannounced

(Newser) - The US may not be the only country to have dipped a toe in China's newly declared air defense zone: Japan and South Korea now say they've both flown planes through it, unannounced, as well. A rep for the Japan government describes its activity as routine "surveillance"...

2 US Bombers Defy China's New Defense Zone

Flights over disputed islands go unchallenged

(Newser) - China's newly declared air-defense zone over disputed islands in the East China Sea is apparently a defense zone in name only. Just days after Beijing announced the controversial move , two B-52 bombers from the US put it to the test by flying over the islands unannounced in defiance of...

China Sets Up Defense Zone Over Disputed Islands

Japan objects, says Beijing is raising dangerous tensions

(Newser) - The Chinese Defense Ministry today issued a map of a newly identified air-defense zone in the East China Sea that includes a chain of disputed islands also claimed by Japan. The move triggered an immediate protest from Tokyo. Beijing also issued a set of rules for the zone, saying all...

Volcano Spawns New Japanese Island
 Volcano Spawns New Island 
Nov 21, 2013 7:30 AM CST

Volcano Spawns New Island

Japan welcomes tiny new territory

(Newser) - An undersea volcanic eruption has given Japan a tiny patch of new territory—but the country is going to wait and see whether the sea swallows it before it names the new island. The island was born in a huge eruption of exploding rocks and smoke that reached one-third of...

New Ambassador Kennedy Heads to JFK-Friendly Japan

Sworn in by John Kerry; leaves US tomorrow

(Newser) - Caroline Kennedy is the US ambassador to Japan following a swearing-in ceremony at the State department yesterday. After John Kerry administered the oath, the new ambassador, the secretary of state, and others headed to the Japanese ambassador's residence for a reception, the Washington Post reports. "My husband and...

Japan's Nuclear Cleanup Enters Critical New Phase

Fuel-rod transfer poses serious danger

(Newser) - Teams working at the Fukushima power station are facing a critical—and extremely dangerous—new task: pulling 13-foot nuclear fuel rods from the Unit 4 structure slammed by the tsunami. "It's going to be very difficult, but it has to happen," an official tells the BBC . To...

Quake Rattles Fukushima Region

No damage reported on land from 7.3 temblor

(Newser) - A strong earthquake rattled Japan in the wee hours and raised alerts at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, but so far, all looks fine. The earthquake of magnitude 7.3 struck off Japan's east coast at 2:10am Saturday local time, the US Geological Survey said. Japan's emergency...

Japan's Young People Don't Want Love ... or Sex

Nation with shrinking birthrate hit by 'celibacy syndrome'

(Newser) - Japan's young people are not very interested in dating ... but they're not very interested in casual sex, either. According to a 2011 study, 61% of unmarried Japanese men and 49% of women aged 18 to 34 are not in any kind of romantic relationship—a figure that's...

14 Killed as Typhoon Lashes Tokyo Area

50 missing on island south of capital

(Newser) - The Tokyo area was hit by its fiercest typhoon in at least a decade today, leaving at least 14 people dead and forcing 20,000 to evacuate. Typhoon Wipha drenched the city of 30 million and caused the cancellation of trains and planes, but the worst damage was on Izu...

Oops: Fukushima Co. Names New Mascot 'Fukuppy'

Firm's rebrand runs into translation trouble

(Newser) - A Japanese firm with the unfortunate name Fukushima Industries found itself the target of mockery on social media after unveiling a new mascot with an even more unfortunate name: Fukuppy. The company—an Osaka-based maker of industrial cooling equipment with no connection to the nuclear plant of the same name—...

Americans Read and Math Bad
 Americans Read and Math Bad 
Oct 8, 2013 9:00 AM CDT

Americans Read and Math Bad

New study shows US adults are lagging in crucial skills

(Newser) - You've probably heard that test scores are lagging badly for America's youth, but it turns out they're just chips off the old blocks. A sweeping new study has found that American adults are below-average when it comes to literacy, basic math skills, and "problem-solving in technology-rich...

Japan's Dolphin Slaughter Town Is Opening a Marine Park...

And it will serve whale and dolphin meat

(Newser) - Taiji, the dolphin-slaughtering Japanese town documented in The Cove, has no plans to end its annual dolphin hunt ... but it is opening a super-fun-sounding amusement park, where you can swim with the dolphins and then stop by a food stand and chow down on them. "This is part of...

Now Overrunning Fukushima: Wild Boars

Disaster led to population explosion, farmers complain

(Newser) - Ravenous wild boars are making life even tougher for farmers affected by the Fukushima disaster, the Japan Times finds. The government has lifted planting bans in part of the affected regions, but farmers are finding their crops devoured by the boars—even after electric fences have been put in place....

Earthquake Rattles Fukushima Area
Earthquake Rattles Fukushima Area
Sep 19, 2013 2:51 PM CDT

Earthquake Rattles Fukushima Area

No trouble reported after 5.3-magnitude quake

(Newser) - A 5.3-magnitude earthquake has hit the Japanese prefecture that is home to the shuttered Fukushima nuclear power plant. The US Geological Survey says the quake struck at a depth of about 13 miles under Fukushima Prefecture and about 110 miles northeast of Tokyo. The Japanese news agency Kyodo News...

Japan Will Go Nuclear Power-Free (Again) Tomorrow

Last reactor will be turned off

(Newser) - Japan will soon be completely without nuclear power. Again. The country is switching off the last of its 50 nuclear reactors—reactor 4 at Oi in western Japan—for maintenance tomorrow, and it's unclear if or when it will go online again, reports CNN . The country went completely nuclear...

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