Asbestos-containing parts used in 1.64 mil vehicles
December 27, 2005Japanese automakers used three types of asbestos-containing components in a total of 1.64 million vehicles produced between 1996 and November this year, but there is no risk that the material could be discharged from the vehicles, the Japan Automobil...
Census confirms population declining
December 27, 2005Japan's total population decreased by 20,000 to 127,760,000 people as of Oct 1 from a year earlier for the first decline on available record, preliminary results of this year's national census showed Tuesday. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and...
Gov't remains mum on reported suicide of consular staffer in China
December 27, 2005The government confirmed Tuesday that a person on the staff of the Japanese Consulate General in Shanghai died last year but declined to confirm a newspaper report that the person was a man who committed suicide and left a note indicating he was unde...
Japan enters flu season
December 27, 2005Japan has entered the influenza season, six weeks earlier than in the previous winter, the health ministry announced Tuesday. The announcement is based on a poll of about 5,000 hospitals and clinics. Preliminary data for Dec 12-18 showed the total...
Part of body found in wreckage of derailed train in Yamagata
December 27, 2005Rescuers found part of a human body on Tuesday in the wreckage of a train that derailed Sunday in Yamagata Prefecture, bringing the death toll to five, police said. The police said they have yet to establish the gender or identity of the body. Ear...
Woman loses left breast after wrong diagnosis at Aichi hospital
December 27, 2005Aichi Cancer Center in Okazaki said Tuesday that one of its surgeons had removed the left breast of a patient whom it had incorrectly diagnosed as having breast cancer. According to the hospital, the woman in her 40s was found with a tumor on her lef...