TRAVEL

Hayabusa bullet trains began running Saturday at a new top speed of 320 kph on the Tohoku Shinkansen Line, equalling France's TGV as the world's fastest train in operation. (Japan Times)

Based on a popular comic and TV toon about a reformed samurai assassin, Keishi Otomo's live-action period swashbuckler "Rurouni Kenshin" has become a smash since its Aug. 25 bow, with Warner Entertainment Japan producing and releasing. (Variety)

Aichi and Fukui prefectural police arrested two men for the dumping of the body of bar hostess Madoka Morioka, whose corpse was discovered earlier this year in Fukui Prefecture. (Tokyo Reporter)

The Tohoku Shinkansen Line connecting Tokyo with northeastern Honshu marked 30 years in service Saturday, prompting East Japan Railway Co. to revive one of the original bullet trains from the Yamabiko service for a commemorative run between Saitama and Iwate prefectures. (Japan Times)

Police investigating the murder of a woman whose body was found in a freezer at a lake shore in Ono, Fukui Prefecture, on May 21, said Friday that messages were sent to a male acquaintances of the victim after she was reported missing. (Japan Today)

A recent nationwide survey of 74 major municipalities has found that 44 are testing school meals for radioactive cesium from the Fukushima nuclear crisis. The 44 municipal governments said they are conducting a variety of tests on school meals, while another six municipalities, including the city of Akita and Morioka, Iwate Prefecture, plan to start tests in the near future. (Japan Times)