Japan

Stories 1421 - 1440 | << Prev   Next >>

Killing Exposes Sumo's Brutality
Killing Exposes Sumo's Brutality

Killing Exposes Sumo's Brutality

Teenager dies after routine beating

(Newser) - Seventeen-year-old sumo wrestler Takashi Saito was beaten to death 8 months ago, but the Japan Sumo Association took until last Thursday to punish the alleged culprits—Saito’s trainer and three fellow wrestlers. The dawdling response was much too slow to prevent a public relations disaster: Japan now knows that...

Nations Mull Secret Whaling Compromise

Plan would let Japan hunt legally, but decrease slaughter

(Newser) - Representatives from more than 70 governments gathered last week at a secret meeting in London to hash out a compromise that would allow Japan to resume commercial whaling for the first time in more than 20 years. Pro- and anti-whaling nations discussed plans to lift the worldwide ban on whaling,...

Japanese 'Frankenwhale' Experiments Slammed

Scientists say whale research is bizarre, useless

(Newser) - Scientists have reviewed the research Japan uses to justify hunting whales, and they've concluded that it is mostly useless—and very weird, Sydney's Daily Telegraph reports.   Researchers tried to fertilize cow and pig eggs with whale sperm, and to create test-tube whales from frozen sperm.  "It's totally...

Whaling Protester Says He Was Shot
Whaling Protester Says He Was Shot

Whaling Protester Says He Was Shot

Japanese vessel denies using bullets against activists

(Newser) - An anti-whaling activist says he was shot during a clash with a Japanese ship on the high seas, the Guardian reports. Japanese officials deny the allegations from the captain of the Sea Shepherd and say they fired only flash grenades, not bullets. Paul Watson, though, says he pulled one from...

4 Marines Face Court-Martial in Hiroshima Rape Case

Gang-rape trial to begin in spring

(Newser) - The American military has announced it will court-martial four Marines on charges of gang-raping a Japanese woman in Hiroshima last year. The first two Marines will face a general court-martial in late April or early May. Japanese prosecutors had concluded that there was not sufficient evidence to charge them in...

Michelin Guide Knocks Classic Paris Eatery

After losing crown to Tokyo, more bad news for French cuisine

(Newser) - Now that the Michelin food critics have declared Tokyo the world's culinary capital, this week's publication of the 2008 guide to France had the feeling of a day of reckoning. Sure enough, the red book reduces Paris' vaunted Le Grand Véfour from three stars to two, citing inconsistency at...

Activists Hurl 'Acid' at Whalers
Activists Hurl 'Acid' at Whalers

Activists Hurl 'Acid' at Whalers

Action draws condemnation from Japan, Australia

(Newser) - In the latest clash between Japanese whalers and activists in Antarctic waters, members of a militant anti-whaling group threw bottles of a slick, foul-smelling rancid butter concoction onto the whaling fleet's flagship. Japanese officials said three sailors were injured when butyric acid, found in spoiled butter, splashed into their eyes,...

Marine in Okinawa Rape Case Released
Marine in Okinawa Rape Case Released

Marine in Okinawa Rape Case Released

Teen victim drops charges, but US is still investigating incident

(Newser) - A US Marine was released into US custody today after Japanese prosecutors dropped rape charges against him, Reuters reports. The Okinawa arrest had sparked outrage across Japan, but prosecutors backed off when the alleged victim withdrew her accusations. The 38-year-old Marine had admitted holding down his 14-year-old accuser but maintained...

Arrest Made in 1981 LA Murder
Arrest Made in 1981 LA Murder

Arrest Made in 1981 LA Murder

Japanese businessman nabbed in Saipan for ordering hit on wife

(Newser) - The LAPD is holding a Japanese businessman on suspicion of murder in the Los Angeles shooting death of his wife more than a quarter century ago, the AP reports. In the 1981 incident Kazuyoshi Miura was shot in the leg and his wife in the head; she later died. Miura...

Japan Launches Super Speed Internet Satellite

Technology could lead to fast access across Asia

(Newser) - Japan today launched a satellite that, if successful, will be able to sling information across Japan and remote parts of Southeast Asia at high speeds and low cost, the AP reports. The satellite, dubbed “Kizuna,” won’t be used commercially–instead, scientists will run about 100 experiments on...

New Sexual Assault Charge Shocks Okinawa

After alleged rape, 2nd case threatens US-Japan ties

(Newser) - The American military is investigating a second allegation of sexual assault against a woman on the Japanese island of Okinawa. Reuters reports that a soldier has been taken into custody, accused of sexual assault against a Filipina living on the island. The new allegation comes only a week after a...

US Troops Confined to Base in Japanese Uproar

Military personnel confined to bases indefinitely

(Newser) - The US military has ordered 45,000 American troops, civilian employees and their families in Japan restricted to their military bases, homes and workplaces in a move to quell growing Japanese outrage at problem Marines. The orders, in place indefinitely, will effectively bar Marines nationwide and all military personnel on...

4 More US Marines Face Rape Charges in Japan

Men busted just days after arrest in separate case involving 14-year-old girl

(Newser) - US military authorities are charging four Marines with raping a young Japanese woman, just days after a Marine was arrested by Japanese authorities and charged with raping a 14-year-old schoolgirl in a separate case. The four men are accused of assaulting a 19-year-old woman in October after meeting her at...

Okinawa Rape Case Reignites Anti-US Ire

Citing discipline lack, angry Japanese want less military presence

(Newser) - The arrest this week of a US Marine on charges of raping a 14-year-old girl on the Japanese island of Okinawa has stirred long-simmering resentment of the nearly 50,000 American troops stationed there, Reuters reports. “Considering that such vicious, atrocious incidents have never ceased to occur, we must...

Japanese Dolphin Cuisine: Cruelty or Culture?

Activists have no right to decry slaughter of Flipper's brethren, locals say

(Newser) - One activist calls the Japanese city of Taiji "ground zero for the largest slaughter of dolphins on planet Earth," but locals want him and his cohorts to mind their own business. Residents of Taiji have been eating dolphin meat for hundreds of years and say they have as...

Russian Bombers Harry US Ship
Russian Bombers Harry US Ship

Russian Bombers Harry US Ship

Yank fighters scramble to intercept jets

(Newser) - US fighter jets intercepted Russian bombers near the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz south of Japan today, Reuters reports. In an apparently tense moment, one of the Russian "Bear" bombers flew over the deck of the carrier. Four US F18 fighters took off from the Nimitz to escort the hostile...

Japanese Fury Mounts Over US Marine Rape Case

'Unforgivable' crime threatens alliance

(Newser) - Tensions continued to mount in Japan today in the aftermath of the arrest of a US Marine accused of raping a 14-year-old schoolgirl in Okinawa. "It is unforgivable," Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda told a parliamentary panel. "It has happened over and over again in the past and...

US Marine Busted in Rape of Okinawa Schoolgirl

Governor furious as marine denies crime

(Newser) - A US Marine has been arrested on suspicion of raping a 14-year-old Japanese schoolgirl in Okinawa, where resentment is already running high against American military presence, Reuters reports. The 38-year-old Marine allegedly raped the teen in a car yesterday, officials said. "This kind of crime cannot be forgiven, especially...

Firm Pays Off Disappointed Bald Man

Japanese company couldn't deliver on hair-growth claims, pays $40K

(Newser) - If you were considering doling out 4.9 million yen (approximately $45,990) for an extensive regimen of hair-growth treatment, you might want to think again. Japan’s best-known hair-growth company, Reve 21, has agreed to pay a 4.3 million yen settlement to a man who spent four years...

Looking for a Real Recession? Try Japan

Once-booming economy stumbles, yet people are 'indifferent'

(Newser) - While economists squabble over a possible US recession, Japan has quietly slipped into one. The country’s postwar riches have all but vanished, the Washington Post reports, as its GDP tumbles from fourth to twentieth among the world’s countries and its share of the world’s economy dips from...

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