The administration of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has proposed a purchase price of around ¥2 billion to the owner of some of the disputed Senkaku Islands, sources said Tuesday.
However, they said the owner has no intention of accepting the offer as he is eager to move forward in negotiations with Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, who wants the metropolitan government to buy the uninhibited islets claimed by China and Taiwan.
The owner was quoted as saying, "I cannot make Mr. Ishihara lose face," underscoring the uncertainty of whether the Noda administration can pave the way for nationalizing some of the islets in the East China Sea.
A 24-year-old woman was in a serious condition Friday after being stabbed by a man whom she reported to police for stalking her in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture. (Japan Today )
China's television regulator has ordered a crackdown on dramas about the country's battles with Japan during and before World War Two and demanded they be more serious, state media said on Friday, following viewer complaints about ludicrous storylines. (Reuters )
Police said Friday they have found four dead bodies in an apartment in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, in what is believed to have been a family murder-suicide. (Japan Today )
Shukan Post (May 24) conveys the difficulties experienced by other parts of the adult-entertainment biz in servicing customers from the communist nation.
A deri heru (“delivery health”) call-girl tells the tabloid that she is often requested to arrive at major hotels in the Shinjuku and Ikebukuro entertainment areas of Tokyo by Chinese visitors. (Tokyo Reporter)
Six sailors were found dead after a fire on a foreign freighter docked at a port in Hokkaido, northern Japan.
The sailors are presumed to be Russians. (NHK )