Light earthquake: M4.7 quake has struck near Muroran in Japan

Close country/countries that might be effected, Japan (c. 127 288 000 pop). Closest city/cities or villages, with min 5000 pop, to hypocenter/epicentrum was Ebetsu, Sapporo, Shizunai-furukawachō. Event epicenter was 87 km (54 miles) from Sapporo (c. ( read original story ...)

Abe says Japan fully behind US on pressuring North Korea

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Sunday that his government fully supports the U.S. stance on pressuring North Korea over its nuclear weapons program, with all options on the table. In a televised debate Sunday among leaders of major political ... ( read original story ...)

Solar cars begin 3,000 km journey through center of Australia

Nagoya Institute of Technology team director Hiroki Tanaka told Kyodo News they have made a variety of design changes to this year's racer and hope to improve on their previous performance in 2015, when they placed 16th. "Compared to our previous cars ... ( read original story ...)

Is the response to scams criminally slow?

Forgery of an official seal on a document earned the offender confiscation of his property and banishment ... who holed himself up in his apartment in Osaka’s Kita Ward while his lawyer tried to work a deal with the prosecutor’s office. ( read original story ...)

Finnair mulling more Japan routes as tourism climbs

The Finnish carrier has narrowed its choices of new Japanese destinations to two or three, CEO Pekka Vauramo told The Nikkei on a recent visit to Japan. Finnair already offers routes from Helsinki to Narita Airport near Tokyo, as well as Nagoya's Chubu ... ( read original story ...)

Japan’s Dentsu gets token $4,400 fine for excessive overtime

Yoshimasa Obayashi, a Tokyo-based attorney who handles karoshi, told the Nikkei Asian Review that his case load has not declined "at all." In the past year, he said he dealt with cases ranging from a medical doctor to a driver. On Wednesday, Japanese ... ( read original story ...)

Mercedes’ Hamilton secures pole position for Japanese GP

SUZUKA, Japan -- Championship leader Lewis Hamilton secured pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix, leading a 1-2 finish for Mercedes drivers on Saturday. Hamilton posted a lap record time of 1 minute, 27.319 seconds to finish 0.332 ahead of Valtteri ... ( read original story ...)

BSP, Bank of Japan renew bilateral swap arrangement

MANILA, Philippines — The central banks of the Philippines and Japan renewed a deal for easier peso to yen – vice versa – transactions to further strengthen economic and trade ties between Manila and Tokyo. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP ... ( read original story ...)