Japan News

Two rare deep-sea oarfish caught in fixed nets off Toya port on the southwest side of Okinawa stunned the local fishing community last month for simply being alive. (Japan Times)

Ichiro Suzuki fluidly went through a variety of stretches on the floor in the Seattle Mariners clubhouse even before going onto the field. Once outside, he smoothly went through fielding, hitting and baserunning drills. (Japan Times)

A movie by the Japanese director Hikari picked up two awards at the Berlin International Film Festival on Saturday. "37 Seconds" won the Panorama Audience Award and the CICAE Art Cinema Award. (NHK)

People are enjoying the first signs of spring at an annual plum flower festival at the Kairakuen garden in Mito City, north of Tokyo. (NHK)

Police in Koga, Ibaraki Prefecture, said Saturday they have arrested a 35-year-old woman on suspicion of abusing her six-year-old daughter by hitting her with a futon beater. (Japan Today)

Reservations for travel overseas are surging for this year's 10-day Golden Week period, during which the Imperial succession is set to take place, according to a JTB Corp. official. (Japan Times)

A fire broke out at a warehouse in Tokyo on Tuesday afternoon leaving three men dead and another man injured, while some flights at nearby Haneda airport were also disrupted by the incident. (Kyodo)

Soft drink companies in Japan have put aside their long-held fear of losing market shares, moving to raise prices amid soaring expenses for labor and materials. (Nikkei)

Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 58-year-old woman who while nude portrayed an elderly woman on a pay-to-view site, reports TV Asahi (Feb. 14). (tokyoreporter.com)

The Japanese government has mapped out a bill to officially recognize the Ainu ethnic minority as an indigenous people of Japan. (NHK)

Bullet train ticket machines have stopped working in many parts of Japan. (NHK)

Tokyo Metropolitan Police have apprehended a man who is suspected of slashing another man and a woman at a railway station in Bunkyo ward on Thursday, reports NHK (Feb. 14). (tokyoreporter.com)

As spring approaches in Japan, the country's weather forecasters face one of their biggest missions of the year: predicting exactly when the famed cherry blossoms will bloom. (straitstimes.com)

A new outbreak of swine fever has been confirmed on a pig farm in Aichi Prefecture, central Japan. It is the third farm in the prefecture to be hit by the highly contagious disease. (NHK)

Around the world, people use chocolate treats to express sweet nothings on Valentine's Day. (BBC)