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Pictograms on Japanese electric toilets OK'd as global standard

Feb 27, 2018 (Kyodo) - Pictograms on how to use Japanese electric toilets have been registered as a global standard, the government said Monday, in a step aimed at making such signs more familiar to the growing number of foreign tourists visiting the country.

Six kinds of pictograms -- showing instructions on which buttons to press when operating a high-tech Japanese toilets -- have been recognized by the International Organization for Standardization, according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The pictograms, designed by a Japanese industrial body of toilet makers, include those for "strong flush," "bidet" and "raise/lower the lid."

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A large and strong Typhoon No. 13 is expected to strike Okinawa's main island on August 7 and continue affecting the region through August 8, disrupting flights and ferries just as Japan's peak Obon holiday travel period begins.

Requests for rapidly constructed "instant houses" are growing across areas of Kumamoto Prefecture devastated by the recent earthquake, providing air-conditioned temporary shelter for residents who have been sleeping in tents and vehicles beside their damaged homes.

Toyota Motor has begun recruiting residents of Shizuoka Prefecture to live in Woven City, its experimental community for developing future technologies, with about 25 households expected to move into the site for two years from March 2027.

Nine days after the Kumamoto earthquake, a supermarket in Hikawa, where the strongest seismic intensity of 7 was recorded, is moving toward reopening while providing free groundwater to residents as about 3,200 households remain without running water.

Japan's Immigration Services Agency on August 4 released draft guidelines that would tighten the requirements for foreign nationals seeking permanent residency, including new income and pension standards designed to ensure applicants have economic conditions equal to or better than those of Japanese people.

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A 63-year-old man from Shizuoka Prefecture has been arrested on suspicion of selling 10 stolen metal plaques, including nameplates bearing the names of bridges, to a scrap metal dealer in Ichinomiya, Aichi Prefecture.

A 49-year-old man has been rearrested on suspicion of injuring six people after driving a Bentley into seven vehicles stopped at a traffic light on National Route 16 in Hachioji, western Tokyo, in March.

A 32-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of repeatedly placing massive orders for merchandise from popular manga series through Shueisha's online store and then canceling the purchases without payment, causing disruption to the retailer's operations.

A knife-wielding man died after a police sergeant shot him in the chest on a street in Kawachinagano, Osaka Prefecture, after he continued advancing toward five officers despite repeated warnings and a warning shot fired into the air.

Nine days after the Kumamoto earthquake, a supermarket in Hikawa, where the strongest seismic intensity of 7 was recorded, is moving toward reopening while providing free groundwater to residents as about 3,200 households remain without running water.

A 41-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after allegedly stabbing a 16-year-old high school girl in the neck with a mechanical pencil at a store in Hakodate, Hokkaido, around noon on August 4.

A former nurse has been indicted on a murder charge for allegedly killing a 75-year-old hospital patient by injecting fecal matter into his intravenous drip at a hospital in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture.

The operators of cosmetics and apparel stores at Aeon Mall Kumamoto disclosed new details on August 4 about how five employees who had initially evacuated the building later returned inside before being killed in an explosion following the earthquake.