Japan's health ministry is set to conduct the first large-scale survey on the nation's medical services for foreign patients as part of its efforts to improve such services and boost the number of facilities friendly to them ahead of the 2020 Tokyo ... ( read original story ...)
Death from overwork in Japan shows lessons unlearned
TOKYO -- Matsuri Takahashi's dream career at Japan's top ad agency, Dentsu, ended with her suicide as her overtime pushed past 100 hours a month. "I'm emotionless and only wish to sleep," she wrote, exhausted and depressed, in a Twitter post in October ... ( read original story ...)
Strong Quake in Western Japan Knocks out Power, Injures 7
A powerful earthquake in western Japan knocked loose roof tiles, toppled store shelves and caused power outages Friday afternoon, but apparently caused no widespread damage. At least seven people were injured, one seriously. The Japan Meteorological Agency ... ( read original story ...)
X Japan's Yoshiki: Music saved my life
X Japan are one of Japan's most famous heavy metal rock bands. In the 1980s they helped pioneer the "visual kei" movement associated with brightly coloured hair and flamboyant costumes. But the band's history has been marked with tragedy, including the ... ( read original story ...)
Western Japan hit by magnitude 6.6 earthquake
A powerful earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.6 struck western Japan on Friday, but there was no risk of tsunami. The Japan Meteorological Agency said the earthquake occurred at 2:10 p.m. local time in the Tottori prefecture, about 700 kilometres ... ( read original story ...)
Japan empress 'shocked' at headlines of emperor's wish to abdicate
Japanese use extremely formal language to refer to the imperial family, and the phrase used for Akihito's stepping down is literally "abdicate while alive." Hailed as a Cinderella figure when news of her engagement broke, the most enduring image of the ... ( read original story ...)
Halloween attraction angers Japan doll makers
... Doll Association has written to Universal Studios Japan saying its haunted house makes the dolls seem "cursed or scary", and will damage the business of manufacturers and retailers, the Kyodo news agency reports. "Japanese dolls are excellent works of art. ( read original story ...)