The White House, after a trading loss of more than $2 billion by JPMorgan, wants to ensure a tough interpretation of a regulation aimed at preventing banks from making bets with their own money, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Hawaii parade honors Japanese-American WWII vets
Hundreds of Japanese-American veterans of World War II were honored Saturday with a parade in Honolulu - nearly 70 years after they volunteered to fight for their country even as the government branded them "enemy aliens."
About 200 veterans rode in convertibles, troop carriers and trolleys past a cheering crowd of tourists, family and local residents. The event celebrates the Congressional Gold Medal the veterans received last month.
Thousands of Japanese-Americans served in World War II even as the government viewed them with suspicion because their ancestors were from the country that bo...
Women stabbed to death in Nagasaki
Police launched an investigation Saturday into the deaths of two women apparently stabbed to death at their home in Saikai, Nagasaki Prefecture.
Mitsuko Yamashita, 56, and her mother-in-law, Hisae Yamashita, 77, were found late Friday collapsed in the rear compartment of their minivan outside the house.
Police officers rushed to the scene after receiving an emergency call from Mitsuko Yamashita's 18-year-old son, who said windows in their home were broken and that someone had apparently rummaged through the rooms. (Japan Times)
Sony's PlayStation Vita hits stores in Japan
Sony's long-awaited PlayStation Vita portable game machine has hit stores in Japan as thousands of game enthusiasts lined up at shops from early in the morning.
Sony is predicting brisk sales, even though Saturday's launch may have missed some holiday shoppers. A successful debut would help the company offset the rest of its struggling business.
The device is a touch-interface and motion-sensitive handheld seen as a successor to the PlayStation Portable. Vita's launch will heat up competition with rival Nintendo Co.'s 3DS. (AP)
Japan says stricken nuclear power plant in cold shutdown
Japan declared its tsunami-stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant to be in cold shutdown on Friday in a major step toward resolving the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years.
The Fukushima Daiichi plant, 240 km (150 miles) northeast of Tokyo, was wrecked on March 11 by a huge earthquake and a towering tsunami which knocked out its cooling systems, triggering meltdowns, radiation leaks and mass evacuations.
In making the much-anticipated announcement, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda drew a line under the crisis phase of the emergency at the plant and highlighted the next challenges: post-di...
Osaka Prison food poisoning sickens 1,000 inmates
A bout of food poisoning sickened 1,074 inmates at Osaka Prison in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, from Tuesday to Wednesday, forcing it to serve preserved food stored for emergency use, prison and local health officials said.
The inmates began complaining of food poisoning symptoms starting Tuesday night, prompting the prison to report the matter to the health center Wednesday morning. The inmates were treated at the prison.
Osaka Prison holds around 2,500 male inmates. Their meals are cooked in the prison's kitchen by about 40 inmates who undergo sanitary inspections each month. (Japan Times)
Thursday, May 17, 15:33 (JST)
I N S I D E J A P A N
Christmas in Japan Although it is said that most Japanese are Shinto and Buddhist, few people are aware the Japanese also participate in "commercialized Christianity" in order to take advantage of those fun Christian holidays.
Christmas, with its sparkly, over-glitzed trees, a cherry-cheeked Santa Claus and the ritual of gift-giving is irresistible to the Japanese who have taken to celebrating Christmas on a superficial level. You can hardly blame them for wanting to participate in such an entertaining religion.
But the Japanese have adjusted Christmas to their own liking. Santa-san enters the house through t...
The second major typhoon in a month made its way out of Japan on Thursday after triggering landslides and floods that left at least 16 people dead or missing but sparing a crippled nuclear plant from major damage.
There had been concerns that Typhoon Roke could pose more problems for the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, which was sent into meltdown by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, but officials said the plant weathered the storm without major incident.
Hiroki Kawamata, spokesman for plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co., said several cameras set up to monitor the plant were damaged, but there had been no further leaks of radioactive water or material into the environment. (AP)
Women's football fever has gripped Japan, diverting fans from summer staples sumo and baseball, after their "Nadeshiko" side beat Sweden 3-1 to book a place in Sunday's World Cup final against the USA.
"I really want them to win, so that the victory will encourage not only Tohoku, but also the entire country," said 38-year-old businessman Seiji Eizumi, referring to the region hit by the March 11 quake and tsunami.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan joined the cheering public, telling reporters, "I sure want to see them to win the championship."
Tougher than their name suggests -- Nadeshiko is a pink flower symbolising beauty and grace -- Japan became the giant-killers of Germany 2011 when they beat the hosts in the quarter-finals and Sweden in the semi-final. (AFP)
A large, slow-moving typhoon was traveling southward off islands hundreds of kilometers south of central Tokyo on Thursday afternoon and is expected to move away from the Japanese archipelago after changing its direction to northward off Japan's eastern coast over the weekend, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
The agency warned of tidal waves and strong winds on the Pacific coast in central and eastern Japan and the Izu island chain south of Tokyo through Thursday and on the coast of northeastern Japan, which was struck by the March earthquake and tsunami, through Friday.
(Kyodo)
The hunt for a penguin at large in Tokyo after escaping from an aquarium continued for the third day Wednesday, with eight separate sightings of the feathered fugitive.
Staff from Tokyo Sea Life park were combing riverbanks in the Japanese capital for any sign of the bird, which is believed to have bolted from its enclosure at the weekend -- leaving 134 other penguins behind.
The search was raised after a photograph emerged of the one-year-old Humboldt penguin bathing in the mouth of the Old Edogawa river, which runs into Tokyo Bay, on Sunday. (AFP )
A temporary bypass was opened Thursday so that rescue supplies could be delivered to residents in the Nara Prefecture towns of Gojo and Totsukawa, which were cut off by Typhoon Talas.
Every previously isolated area except part of Totsukawa is now reachable by road.
The region's 12th storm of the year had killed 54 people and left 55 missing as of Thursday afternoon, doing most of its damage in three prefectures: Nara, Wakayama and Mie.
Although the typhoon is gone, the Meteorological Agency was warning that more heavy rain was in store for the three prefectures through Friday, and urged local residents to be alert for potential hazards, particularly mudslides. (Japan Times)
The White House, after a trading loss of more than $2 billion by JPMorgan, wants to ensure a tough interpretation of a regulation aimed at preventing banks from making bets with their own money, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The second major typhoon in a month made its way out of Japan on Thursday after triggering landslides and floods that left at least 16 people dead or missing but sparing a crippled nuclear plant from major damage.
There had been concerns that Typhoon Roke could pose more problems for the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, which was sent into meltdown by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, but officials said the plant weathered the storm without major incident.
Hiroki Kawamata, spokesman for plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co., said several cameras set up to monitor the plant were damaged, but there had been no further leaks of radioactive water or material into the environment. 
Women's football fever has gripped Japan, diverting fans from summer staples sumo and baseball, after their "Nadeshiko" side beat Sweden 3-1 to book a place in Sunday's World Cup final against the USA.
"I really want them to win, so that the victory will encourage not only Tohoku, but also the entire country," said 38-year-old businessman Seiji Eizumi, referring to the region hit by the March 11 quake and tsunami.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan joined the cheering public, telling reporters, "I sure want to see them to win the championship."
Tougher than their name suggests -- Nadeshiko is a pink flower symbolising beauty and grace -- Japan became the giant-killers of Germany 2011 when they beat the hosts in the quarter-finals and Sweden in the semi-final. 
A large, slow-moving typhoon was traveling southward off islands hundreds of kilometers south of central Tokyo on Thursday afternoon and is expected to move away from the Japanese archipelago after changing its direction to northward off Japan's eastern coast over the weekend, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
The agency warned of tidal waves and strong winds on the Pacific coast in central and eastern Japan and the Izu island chain south of Tokyo through Thursday and on the coast of northeastern Japan, which was struck by the March earthquake and tsunami, through Friday.
A temporary bypass was opened Thursday so that rescue supplies could be delivered to residents in the Nara Prefecture towns of Gojo and Totsukawa, which were cut off by Typhoon Talas.
Every previously isolated area except part of Totsukawa is now reachable by road.
The region's 12th storm of the year had killed 54 people and left 55 missing as of Thursday afternoon, doing most of its damage in three prefectures: Nara, Wakayama and Mie.
Although the typhoon is gone, the Meteorological Agency was warning that more heavy rain was in store for the three prefectures through Friday, and urged local residents to be alert for potential hazards, particularly mudslides.