Scandal-ridden English language schools close down
October 26: Nearly a thousand British language teachers have been left fearing for their jobs after Nova, the owner of Japan's biggest chain of language schools, filed for court protection from creditors.

Kisho Kurokawa
October 16: Leading Japanese architect whose work was influenced by both east and west.
17.09.07: Miyoshi Umeki
01.09.07: Kenji Miyamoto

Woman 'found killer on internet'
October 12: Police in Japan have arrested a man on suspicion of carrying out a woman's request to kill her after she contacted him via the internet.

Japan's cyber-suicide trend takes bizarre twist
October 10: Police in Japan have arrested a man on suspicion of murdering a woman who had paid him to kill her after contacting him through the internet.

Japanese workers 'shirked duties to edit Wikipedia'
October 5: The widespread addiction to manga among Japan's salarymen has landed several civil servants in trouble after they were caught editing Wikipedia's Japanese-language site, often altering entries on comic books and other subjects that bore no relation to their work.

60-year-old single woman pregnant after IVF
October 5: A 60-year-old woman is on course to become the oldest single mother in Japan to give birth from a donated egg, after having IVF in the US.

Japan cuts aid to Burma in protest at military crackdown
October 17: ˇ Tokyo pulls plug on Ł2.3m for university project
ˇ US and other international sanctions may follow

Japan threatens to suspend aid to Burma
October 3: Japan is threatening to suspend a large chunk of aid to Burma after the fatal shooting of a Japanese journalist covering the pro-democracy demonstrations.

Japan demands answers over journalist death
September 28: Video footage has emerged which raises the possibility that a Japanese journalist may have been deliberately shot by Burmese security forces.
01.10.07, video: Japan demands Burma return Nagai camera

Tokyo dreaming
September 28, Justin McCurry: A growing number of Japanese workers can no longer afford homes of their own. But you won't find them sleeping on the streets. For many of them, 24-hour internet cafes have become a refuge.

Why sumo wrestling is now the sick man of sport
October 1, Justin McCurry: As the guardians of Japan's revered national sport, sumo wrestlers are used to their share of pushing and shoving. But now it is sumo itself that is taking a very public battering.

Charges likely over sumo wrestler's death
September 27: Police are investigating a stable master and several wrestlers in connection with the sudden death of a 17-year-old recruit.
01.08.07: Sumo champion suspended for playing football while 'injured'
In pictures: history of Sumo wrestling

Fukuda approved as Japan PM
September 26: Yasuo Fukuda was approved as Japan's prime minister and immediately pledged to improve his party's fortunes amid calls for an early general election.
25.09.07: Profile: a quiet man of compromise
24.09.07: Fukuda wins party vote to become next leader

Worldwide protests target Japan's porpoise hunts
September 25: More than 60 international environmental groups are today staging protests outside Japanese embassies across the world to demand an end to Japan's dolphin and porpoise hunts.

Censorship claim over book on Japanese princess
September 22: The author of a controversial biography of Crown Princess Masako has accused the Japanese government of censorship after newspapers refused to carry advertisements for the book.
21.09.07: Biographer accuses government of censorship

Historians gain access to Japan's imperial tombs
September 21: Opening of ancient sites could anger ultra-right
ˇ Inspections limited to parts of two mausoleums
20.09.07: Archaeologists granted access to Japan's sacred tombs

The businesswoman, the Ł17m necklace and a criminal secret
September 20: Fish trader facing Italian jail sentence named as architect of Tokyo jewel robbery.

Clear leader emerges in race to be Japanese PM
September 17: Yasuo Fukuda today emerged as the clear favourite in the race to become Japan's next prime minister as party colleagues sought a clean break with the troubled administration of the outgoing leader, Shinzo Abe.
14.09.07 Candidates emerge in Japan PM race
14.09.07: Japan's outgoing PM admitted to hospital
13.09.07: Japan's PM quits after scandals and poll defeat
12.09.07, background: Populist who seemed an ideal PM
12.09.07, audio: 'He's lost his enthusiasm for politics'
12.09.07, comment: Contradictions of a client state

Japan launches biggest moon mission since Apollo landings
September 15: Japan moved a step closer to sending someone to the moon by successfully launching the biggest lunar mission since the US Apollo flights.
14.09.04: Japan launches lunar probe
14.09.07, video: Watch the orbiter take off

Mercury scare hits schools' dolphin dinners
September 6: Schoolchildren in Japan's whaling capital have been served dolphin meat containing dangerous levels of mercury, councillors from the region have revealed, prompting warnings of a potential public health disaster as the country attempts to boost consumption of the meat.
05.09.07: Japanese schoolchildren fed toxic dolphin meat
20.08.07: Plane explodes at Japanese airport
20.08.07, in pictures: Plane in flames
14.08.07: Japanese man leaves leg behind at crash scene

Yakuza moves from street to boardroom
August 27: Japan's gangsters target stock market to raise cash
ˇ Economic unrest forces underworld to diversify
27.06.07: Yakuza daughter lifts lid on hell of gangsters' families

Japan holds interest rates to calm markets
August 24: The Bank of Japan kept interest rates in the world's second largest economy on hold yesterday, helping to calm financial markets by keeping the cost of cash cheap after the US sub-prime mortgage debacle threatened a global credit crunch.

IAEA inspectors visit Japanese plant hit by earthquake
August 6: International nuclear inspectors today began assessing the damage caused to a power station by last month's earthquake on Japan's north-west coast in a move that local officials hope will quell fears over the safety of the country's nuclear power industry.

Tokyo's political comic strip
September 13, leader: Following in Junichiro Koizumi's maverick footsteps was always going to be difficult, but even by his more halting standards, Shinzo Abe, who yesterday announced his intention to resign as Japan's prime minister, made a total mess of the job.
06.08.07, Oliver Kamm: Terrible, but not a crime
26.07.07, Simon Tisdall: A rapid descent from grace
27.07.07, leader: The gift of the gaffe

Hindsight on Hiroshima
August 11, letters: I found the letters on Hiroshima very interesting (August 8). At that time I was in the New Forest training in jungle warfare as we were expecting to go to the Far East.
08.08.07: The long shadow cast by Hiroshima

Plane in flames August 20: Passengers and crew escape a China Airlines plane as it explodes in Japan. Blood ties: the Japanese mafia In pictures

Knees up, Japan-style Justin McCurry visits a traditional Shinto festival in Fujisawa.

A quiet slaughter Join Justin McCurry on the quayside and witness locals process a whale. Read Justin's article

Japan's age-old problem Justin McCurry reports on problems facing world's greyest population. Read Justin's article

Amagasaki train crash Interactive: How and where the disaster happened. More interactive guides

Japan
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Second Front
May 16 1995: The prime suspect in the Tokyo subway gas attack, is no mere crackpot cult leader: police have uncovered a very real threat to Japan.
20.03.95: Disbelief follows rush-hour horror
20.03.95: Chaos as Nazi nerve gas fells commuters
15.08.45: World peace at last: Japan surrenders
07.08.45: Atomic bomb used on Japan