New Products › Pepsi's at it again
The beverage maker that brought you cucumber-flavored soda has a new cola concoction. Say aloha to Blue Hawaii! This syrupy sweet combination of lemon and…
Source: Japan Today: Japan News and Discussion | 4 Jul 2008 | 10:29 pm
Sports › Ichiro gets 1,700th hit in Mariners' loss
Ichiro registered the 1,700th hit of his major league career Thursday in the Seattle Mariners' 8-4 loss to the Detroit Tigers. Ichiro reached the new…
Source: Japan Today: Japan News and Discussion | 4 Jul 2008 | 11:02 am
Crime › Only 20% of child porn sites taken down despite urging of watchdog body
Only 20% of 1,600 detected child pornography sites were taken down from the Internet in 2007 despite the urging of a Tokyo-based watchdog for harmful…
Source: Japan Today: Japan News and Discussion | 4 Jul 2008 | 10:37 am
Crime › Man arrested for allegedly raping female JR employee on train in Kanagawa
A 34-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly raping one female employee of JR and attempting to rape another one aboard local trains in March…
Source: Japan Today: Japan News and Discussion | 4 Jul 2008 | 10:05 am
Crime › 20-year-old man held for beating girlfriend's baby in Miyazaki
A 20-year-old man was arrested on Thursday for beating the 11-month-old daughter of his girlfriend, 26, at her apartment. Koji Narimatsu, 20, was arrested for…
Source: Japan Today: Japan News and Discussion | 4 Jul 2008 | 9:09 am
National › 1st 'tropical day' this year marked in Tokyo
The temperature in central Tokyo reached 30 degrees Friday morning, marking the first ''tropical day'' in the capital this year, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.…
Source: Japan Today: Japan News and Discussion | 4 Jul 2008 | 9:05 am
Picture of the Day › Darth Vader
Darth Vader, honorary store manager for the day, inspects merchandise at a FamilyMart convenience store in Tokyo's Edo Ward, as part of an event commemorating…
Source: Japan Today: Japan News and Discussion | 4 Jul 2008 | 9:04 am
Crime › Murdered woman identified in Iwate
Police on Friday said the body found in a river in Iwate Prefecture on Wednesday has been identified as Kozue Sato, 17, who lives in…
Source: Japan Today: Japan News and Discussion | 4 Jul 2008 | 8:59 am
Politics › Gov't to adopt competitive bidding with public-interest entities
The government announced Friday it will switch from discretionary contracts to competitive bidding for projects involving 42 public-interest corporations and review the operations of 82…
Source: Japan Today: Japan News and Discussion | 4 Jul 2008 | 8:46 am
National › Wild serow breaks into library in Toyama
A wild Japanese serow on Thursday afternoon broke into a public library in Funabashi, Toyama Prefecture. The serow was caught about 1 hour and 15…
Source: Japan Today: Japan News and Discussion | 4 Jul 2008 | 8:40 am
Fukuda to attend Olympic opening
Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda will attend the Aug. 8 opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, government sources said Thursday. He will travel in a 19-seat Air Self-Defense Force airplane, rather use a government aircraft, to save fuel, they said.
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Source: The Japan Times: All Stories | 1 Jul 2008 | 4:56 pm
Fans hold breath as Favre ponders return to Packers
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) Brett Favre dismissed an ESPN report that he's considering coming out of retirement. Favre responded Wednesday to the ESPN report by telling his hometown newspaper Web site, SunHerald.com in Gulfport, Miss., that "it's all rumor."
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Source: The Japan Times: All Stories | 1 Jul 2008 | 4:55 pm
Nomura receives FSA warning
The Financial Services Agency issued an order Thursday for Nomura Securities Co. to improve its management after a former employee of Japan's biggest brokerage was charged with insider trading using confidential corporate information. The financial watchdog has concluded that Nomura Securities, the core unit of Nomura Holdings Co., failed to appropriately manage undisclosed information concerning corporate merger and acquisition deals in which the group was deeply involved.
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Source: The Japan Times: All Stories | 1 Jul 2008 | 4:54 pm
Kuboya takes lead at Shishido Hills
KASAMA, Ibaraki Pref. (Kyodo) Kenichi Kuboya fired a 4-under-par 67 to take the lead after the first round of the UBS Japan Golf Tour Championship on Thursday. Kuboya, whose last title came with a playoff victory at the 2002 Munsingwear Open KSB Cup, had five birdies against a lone bogey at Shishido Hills Country Club to establish a one-stroke advantage over South Korean Lee Dong Hwan and Hiroshi Iwata.
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Source: The Japan Times: All Stories | 1 Jul 2008 | 4:53 pm
Pens give Malkin huge extension
PITTSBURGH (AP) Evgeni Malkin is staying in Pittsburgh for quite some time. The Penguins signed the MVP finalist to a five-year extension worth $43.5 million on Wednesday, a deal that will keep him under contract until 2013-14. The 21-year-old forward still has one year left on his initial three-year, entry level contract.
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Source: The Japan Times: All Stories | 1 Jul 2008 | 4:52 pm
Liga tops Fluminense to win Copa Libertadores
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) Goalkeeper Jose Francisco Cevallos saved three penalties and Liga de Quito defeated Fluminense 3-1 in a shootout to become the first Ecuadorean club to win the Copa Libertadores on Wednesday. Liga clinched the title of Latin America's most important club competition despite a 3-1 loss in regulation, which tied the aggregate score at 5-5. It had won the first leg 4-2 last week in Quito and could have lifted the trophy with a draw or even a one-goal loss at Maracana stadium. The teams drew 0-0 in extra time.
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Source: The Japan Times: All Stories | 1 Jul 2008 | 4:51 pm
TSE's longest losing streak in 54 years
The key Nikkei stock index fell Thursday for the 11th straight trading session to mark its longest losing streak in more than half a century on worries over the U.S. economy ahead of the release of key U.S. jobs data. The 225-issue Nikkei stock average lost 20.97 points, or 0.16 percent, from Wednesday to 13,265.40. The broader Topix index of all first-section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange was down 3.13 points, or 0.24 percent, to 1,298.02.
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Source: The Japan Times: All Stories | 1 Jul 2008 | 4:50 pm
Bribed official wins leniency bid
OSAKA (Kyodo) A former land ministry official was handed a suspended two-year prison term Thursday by the Osaka District Court for receiving a bribe over bid-rigging in public works projects linked to a national park in the village of Asuka, Nara Prefecture. The court concluded Masahiko Takamatsu, 43, a former senior official at the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry, accepted ¥1 million in bribes from a construction firm in return for leaking the target prices for public tender bids on two construction works at the park in 2004 and 2005.
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Source: The Japan Times: All Stories | 1 Jul 2008 | 4:49 pm
LDP team seeks pension-funded SWF
A project team of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party called Thursday for establishing a ¥10 trillion sovereign wealth fund, using the nation's ¥150 trillion pension fund, to secure higher returns and increase pension payments. The group, led by former financial services minister Yuji Yamamoto, presented a blueprint for the Japanese SWF and maintained that professional asset managers should be hired by the fund, which would be a government-owned company. The team also said the entity should disband in five years if it fails to produce the expected results.
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Source: The Japan Times: All Stories | 1 Jul 2008 | 4:48 pm
Bush vows to help resolve abductions, achieve CO è deal
WASHINGTON (Kyodo) The United States will continue pressing North Korea to resolve the abductions dispute during the six-party talks aimed at disbanding Pyongyang's nuclear arsenal, President George W. Bush said Wednesday. Bush also hopes an agreement will be reached on a long-range goal for curbing greenhouse gas emissions at the Group of Eight summit in Hokkaido next week, he said in an interview with Japanese news organizations ahead of the summit.
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Source: The Japan Times: All Stories | 1 Jul 2008 | 4:47 pm