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Kim Jong-Il's Former Sushi Chef Reveals Former Supreme Leader's Favorite Fish
The world knows so little about the inner workings of the North Korean regime that the appearance of Kim Jong-Il's former sushi chef at a press conference held here at the Foreign Correspondent’s Club of Japan — well, it was bound to get scrutinized for shreds of new information.
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Japan's Finance Minister Commits Suicide on Suicide Prevention Day
Tadahiro Matsushita, the Minister of Financial Services, was found dead at his home today, on World Suicide Prevention Day in what police are investigating as a suicide.
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Forbidden Beef: Japan Takes Liver Sashimi Off the Menu
Japan is a country of exotic cuisine, much of it consumed raw—up to now. Raw beef liver, human flesh, and foie gras—have all been served to Nippon’s gourmands in the last three months, but as of July 1, one of these three is no longer on the menu, and it's not the canapés for cannibals.
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Goodnight Kitty: Curfew Curtails Tokyo's Cat Cafés
As of June 1, Tokyo cat lovers deprived of feline affection will face something of a crisis as new laws will go into effect requiring cat cafés, which provide kitty companionship for as little as $19 an hour, will be forced to close their doors at 10pm.
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TEPCO to Get Protective Custody in Nationalization Plan
TOKYO -- The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), which had been a bastion of cronyism and corruption even before the triple meltdown at its Fukushima Daichii nuclear power following the March 11 earthquake, has today begun the process of being nationalized by the Japanese government.
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Olympus Shareholder Meeting Turns Into Surprise Party
Today’s extraordinary shareholding meeting for Olympus, which is under investigation for $1.7 billion of fraudulent accounting, lasting just under three hours, was punctuated with angry shouting, protests, a motion to fire the chairman of the meeting, and one surprise.
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Handouts for Hand Grenades: Yakuza Gang War Leads to an Explosive Bounty
Japan’s Fukuoka Prefecture Police have become the first in Japan to offer cash rewards to anyone who reports finding a hand grenade (or "pineapples" in yakuza slang) starting today, April 2. -
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Seven Arrested in Olympus Scandal, Vindicating Ousted CEO
The investigation into corporate malfeasance and fraud at Japan’s troubled optical equipment maker Olympus, took a new turn on Thursday with the arrest of three former Olympus officials and four others on charges of violating financial filing regulations.
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Kitten-Sized Controversy: Is Hello Kitty from London or Japan?
A controversy is brewing among Japan’s fanatical followers of Hello Kitty: Is the character who has been plastered on everything from stickers to face massagers to toasters to panties to deodorant sprays and long officially described as an English citizen actually a Japanese national?
