Number of people taken to hospital for heat stroke tops 30,000

The number of people rushed to hospital due to heat stroke between May 31 and Aug. 15 totaled 31,579 nationwide, of whom 132 died shortly after being hospitalized, a preliminary report by the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said Tuesday. In July alone, 17,680 people were taken to hospital fo...

China’s rich tourists bring a shopping revolution to Japan

The Japanese are feeling the impact of China's emergence as an economic superpower in many different ways. As their relative spending power declines, so that of their neighbour's rises and the relationship between the two countries changes. Japanese businesses, for example, are switching from buy...

Only 10% of suspicious deaths undergo autopsies

Only 10 percent of suspicious deaths in Japan underwent forensic autopsies in 2009, mainly because the government has failed to convince people of their importance, according to experts. Japan's autopsy rate is the lowest among advanced nations, compared with 100 percent in Finland and Sweden and...

Temperatures in greater Tokyo area hit 38 C in clear weather

Tokyo and its neighboring areas experienced intense heat on Monday, with temperatures topping 38 C in some places, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. The mercury rose to 35 C or higher in 132 locations in Japan as the weather was clear across a wide swathe of the country except for northern re...

Japanese economic recovery slows, allowing China to outrank Japan

The pace of Japanese economic recovery slowed in the quarter through June on weak consumer and business spending, allowing fast-growing China to outrank Japan as the world's second-largest economy in the period, the government said Monday. The economy expanded an annualized real 0.4 percent amid ...

Nara temple may be world’s oldest wooden structure

A Zen Buddhist hall in Nara is the oldest wooden structure still in use and a century older than famed Horyuji temple previously thought to hold the crown, according to an expert in tree-ring dating. Research by Takumi Mitsutani, a visiting professor of dendrochronology at the Research Institute ...

Police officer attacked with samurai sword near PM’s office

A young man attacked a riot police officer with a Japanese samurai sword on Sunday near the prime minister's office in central Tokyo, but was subdued by other officers. The attack at around 2:20 p.m. severed the left thumb of the 29-year-old senior officer, who belongs to a riot police unit of th...

S.Korean Christians demand Japan’s action

Tens of thousands of South Korean Christians demanded on Sunday that Japan officially nullify a 1910 accord to annex the Korean peninsula. The demand came at a rally in central Seoul to mark the anniversary of the end of Japanese colonial rule. Police said the gathering drew about 150,000 people ...

Japan Muslims worried by graveyard shortage

Many Muslims in Japan, where space is at a premium, have expressed worry about graveyard shortages, because Islamic principles stipulate deceased Muslims should be buried without cremation. New graveyard sites are difficult to obtain, as local ordinances in many parts of the nation prohibit buri...

Shrine decision draws both praise and protest

Peace activists rejoiced Sunday over the fact that Prime Minister Naoto Kan and his Cabinet didn't visit Yasukuni Shrine this year, while conservatives slammed the decision. At the Japan Education Center in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward, around 190 people welcomed Kan's decision to stay away. The group in...