Mainichi Daily News

The electric power supply system should be reformed in a way that will help spur competition on the market and reduce electricity charges while ensuring a stable power supply.

As I waited at the bus stop on a Tokyo street, I nervously looked around for any smokers.

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda visited China at the end of last year to meet with his Chinese counterpart, Wen Jiabao.

The chief of the Defense Ministry's Okinawa Defense Bureau was recently found to have held a "lecture" for bureau employees about the upcoming Feb.

Bills relating to a shift in the nation's nuclear power policy were approved by the Cabinet on Jan. 31.

The practice of kagezen -- literally "shadow meal" -- entails setting out meals at home for a family member who is absent, in hopes that they will be safe while traveling.

As a psychiatrist with still so much to learn, I often try to read essays written by fellow senior psychiatrists for the general public.

The Ministry of the Environment on Jan.

"A spacious X square meters," "Faces south, gets plenty of sunlight!" -- these phrases on a cemetery ad at the station made me stop and think.

Here is a difficult quiz. Even if you are shown the correct answer, you'll still wonder why? There are three boxes -- A, B and C.

After years of dispute and discussion both internal and international, a legislative commission under the minister of justice has finalized an outline for legal measures Japan will take domestically for the ratification of the Hague Convention governing cross-border child custody disputes.

The Japanese are known for their sense of quiet reserve and shyness, so when I learned that blogging is a national pastime and that Japanese tweets have garnered 14 percent of Twitter traffic worldwide (second only to English with 50 percent), I couldn't help but wonder why.

The trial has begun for a woman accused of killing three men she was dating after pretending the deaths were suicides by carbon monoxide poisoning.

Have you ever had a love / hate relationship? Maybe with someone you adore and also resent at the same time? Actually, though, this type of relationship comes in all forms.

The University of Tokyo has begun taking steps to shift enrollment from spring to fall.

How will the lessons learned from the disaster at the Fukushima No.

The green light that the nuclear power regulator has given to the reactivation of two reactors before the government issues a final report on the ongoing Fukushima crisis has sparked criticism from citizens' organizations as well as experts.

The national and Fukushima prefectural governments are required to clarify where and how much radioactive gravel shipped from a rock quarry near the tsunami-hit nuclear power station has been used and how far it was contaminated.

The government has concluded that nuclear reactors can be used for up to 60 years based on U.S.

Is it truly valid to punish teachers who don't stand for the singing of "Kimigayo" -- Japan's national anthem -- at school ceremonies, as many Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education teachers have been? The Supreme Court presented its opinion on the matter for the first time on Jan.

Why did Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda appoint former ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) Secretary-General Katsuya Okada as deputy prime minister when he reshuffled his Cabinet last week? Noda says: "Okada is a politician who draws a clear conclusion without wavering or escaping." Noda proudly told a news conference on Jan.

I spent the turning of the New Year at my parents' home in Otaru, Hokkaido.

Last year was a turning point for Terumi Tanaka, secretary-general of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Suffers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo), who turns 80 this year.

Prosecutors have arrested a top bureaucrat on suspicion of insider trading even though he gained a relatively small amount of profit from the transactions.

Last New Year's Eve, a butterfly born in Wakayama Prefecture was found in Hong Kong, the delicate insect having safely made a journey of some 2,500 kilometers to reach its winter home.