Japan

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Parents Push Toddlers Into Japan's 'Exam Hell'

Parents move back starting line for race to secure best schools

(Newser) - While most 3-year-olds romp and fingerpaint, a growing group of Japanese toddlers are working through stacks of worksheets taller than they are. Enrolled in courses called ojuken, they're studying for entrance exams to enter top-tier elementary schools. Despite Japan's declining birth rate and schools clamoring to fill seats, well-heeled parents...

Japanese Boy Band Star Found Drunk, Naked, Screaming

Incident in public park cost singer ad deals

(Newser) - A member of SMAP, Japan’s most famous boy band, was arrested today after he was found naked, drunk and screaming in a public park at 3am, Asahi Shimbun reports. Tsuoyoshi Kusanagi, 34, reportedly screamed “What’s wrong with being naked?” at an officer while being removed. He had...

Japan Pays Latin American Workers to Go, Stay Home

Plan hatched to ease recession burdens

(Newser) - Faced with rising unemployment, Japan is paying foreign workers to leave the nation for good, the New York Times reports. The offer targets some 366,000 Latin Americans of Japanese descent who perform undesirable manufacturing jobs. With industrial production at a 25-year low, many of them are out of work,...

Sun Rises on Japanese Whiskey

After claiming numerous awards, Nikka and Suntory plan global marketing push

(Newser) - Japanese whiskey is becoming a contender on the world stage, set to steal market share worldwide from the likes of Johnnie Walker and Chivas Regal, the Guardian reports. Japan’s Nikka and Suntory distilleries took the single-malt and blended whiskey awards, respectively, at last year’s world whiskey awards, and...

Jobless Japanese Work the Land

$10M government program trains new agricultural force

(Newser) - As their country struggles with its worst recession since World War II, many Japanese city slickers stymied by the job market are trying out the farming life, the Wall Street Journal reports. Aiming to rejuvenate an industry in which two-thirds of full-time workers are 65 and older, the government has...

Japan Deports Parents, Girl Stays, Sparking Outcry

(Newser) - The Japanese public witnessed the heart-wrenching results of the country’s harsh immigration laws, as one girl’s tearful goodbye to her parents was televised nationwide, CNN reports. Forced to choose between her parents—who are being deported to their native Philippines—and the home she was born in, 13-year...

Japan Tightens N. Korea Sanctions
Japan Tightens N. Korea Sanctions
Apr 10, 2009 2:24 AM CDT

Japan Tightens N. Korea Sanctions

UN fails to agree on punishment for rocket launch

(Newser) - Japan is punishing North Korea for its recent rocket launch with renewed and tightened sanctions, the BBC reports. Japan has lowered the cap on monetary transmissions to reduce the flow of money into the country. A ban on imports from North Korea remains in place, but a total ban on...

Wii Muscles Up With 'Sports Resort'

Nintendo hopes Frisbee, fencing will boost flagging console sales

(Newser) - Get ready to pull a muscle as Wii expands its offering of audience participation sports to Frisbee (with a dog), fencing and jetskiing, reports Reuters. Sports Resort is scheduled to be released in June, said Nintendo executives. The company hopes the new activities will boost flagging sales of Wii game...

Cat Cafes Court Lonely Japanese

Childless Japanese turn to cafes for companionship

(Newser) - Hordes of childless Japanese are flocking to Tokyo's cat cafes to cuddle the residents and savor furry companionship along with a cup of tea. So popular are the cafes that reservations are required on weekends, GlobalPost reports. Career-minded urbanites who don't have the time or space for pets, let alone...

UN Split Over Response to N. Korea Rocket

Russia, China resist as US, Japan call for punishment

(Newser) - The US and Japan have hit international resistance as they push for a firm response to yesterday’s North Korean rocket launch over Japan, the Guardian reports. As the second day of emergency UN talks begins today, China and Russia aren’t backing a proposed statement condemning the move from...

N. Korea Launches Rocket
 N. Korea Launches Rocket 
UPDATED
Apr 4, 2009 10:07 PM CDT

N. Korea Launches Rocket

(Newser) - North Korea told the world to go stuff it today, launching a long-range rocket over Japan in defiance of international pressure. The State Department confirmed the launch, which took place Sunday morning in the North, Reuters reports. The US thinks Pyongyang is testing a Taepodong-2 missile, which could carry a...

N. Korea 'Ready' to Launch Rocket

(Newser) - North Korea said preparations to launch a satellite were complete and liftoff was imminent, as US, Japanese, and South Korean warships with radar plied waters near the communist nation to monitor what they fear is a long-range missile test. Spy satellites trained high-resolution cameras on a coastal launch pad for...

Pitcher Is First Woman to Play in Japan Pro League

17-year-old faces 2 batters, strikes out 1

(Newser) - Eri Yoshida became the first woman to play professional baseball against men in Japan today, where the pitcher had a strikeout in her debut, the AP reports. The 17-year-old, whose signing was widely viewed as a publicity stunt, faced just two batters, walking the first and allowing a stolen base....

Japan, US Ready Defenses for N Korean Missile

Navy moves ships in as Tokoy says it will shoot down debris

(Newser) - The Japanese government ordered its military to fire on a North Korean rocket if any part of it falls into Japanese airspace, reports Reuters. North Korea has said it will launch a communications satellite but is presumed to be testing a long-range missile, which is currently on a launch pad....

N. Korea Readies Missile for Launch

UN sanctions will derail disarmament talks: Pyongyang

(Newser) - As the date of a promised “satellite launch” nears, North Korea has placed a long-range ballistic missile on the launch pad used for earlier test firings, Reuters reports. South Korea, Japan, and the US plan to seek UN sanctions if the nuclear power goes forward with what analysts believe...

'Good Nazi' Film Awakens Ugly Ghosts

Biopic sure to reopen old wounds between China, Japan

(Newser) - A new film about a hero Nazi party member is threatening to stir old tensions between China and Japan, BBC reports. John Rabe relates the true story of a German businessman who saved thousands of Chinese from a Japanese massacre during the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937. China is still...

A Strikeout In (and For) US, Classic Is World of Thrills

Tournament shows the promise of international baseball

(Newser) - After watching Japan best Korea in extra innings to defend its World Baseball Classic championship, Tom Verducci is excited about the tournament’s future, he writes for Sports Illustrated. In its second go-round, the tournament is a phenomenon worldwide. Most exciting though, is the way Japan won: with pragmatic fundamentals,...

Japanese Man, 93, Survived Both A-Bombs

Was on business in Hiroshima; lived in Nagasaki

(Newser) - At 93, a Japanese man has become the first certified survivor of both atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the AP reports. Tsutomu Yamaguchi was in Hiroshima on business Aug. 6, 1945, when the US bombed the city; after a night there, he returned home to Nagasaki, bombed Aug. 9....

Tokyo Accident Latest for Much-Derided Plane

(Newser) - A notoriously finicky airplane may have contributed to the Tokyo crash that killed two American FedEx pilots today, the Wall Street Journal reports. The McDonnell Douglas MD-11 is believed to handle poorly in high winds, which were reported at the time of the crash. Though problems with the flight-control systems...

2 Die in FedEx Plane Crash in Japan

Plane landed on its wing and exploded

(Newser) - A FedEx plane crashed at Tokyo's main international airport Monday, killing both pilots aboard. Caught in a gust of wind, the cargo plane landed on its left wing and skidded off the runway in a ball of fire, Reuters reports. Airlines have been rerouting passengers as firefighters clear the scattered...

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