Oct 04 (Tokyo Lens) - In Japan, arcades are called 'Game Centers' - and they are disappearing at an alarming rate.
Countless Japanese game centers and arcades have closed over the past year or more, including 2 of Japans most legendary SEGA arcades; First the Akihabara SEGA, and now the Ikebukuro SEGA Gigo.
Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications on April 22 presented a draft outline of key issues to an expert panel examining protections for minors on social networking services, taking a cautious stance toward blanket age-based access restrictions that have been increasingly introduced overseas.
Japan is turning to foreign workers to address a deepening shortage of bus drivers that has led to route suspensions and reduced services nationwide, including in Tokyo. With the industry projected to face a shortfall of 36,000 drivers by 2030, operators are beginning to recruit and train overseas talent as a short-term solution to keep public transport running.
Four more Japanese crew members have disembarked from Japan-related vessels staying in the Persian Gulf, reducing the number of Japanese nationals still aboard ships in the area to 16.
Road cave-ins are occurring one after another across Japan. According to a survey released on April 22 by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, so-called dangerous sewer lines requiring urgent countermeasures now total 748 kilometers nationwide.
The Japanese government on April 21 revised the Three Principles on Transfer of Defense Equipment and related guidelines, in principle allowing the export of weapons with lethal capabilities. The move marks a major turning point in Japan's postwar security policy.
The Emperor and Empress hosted the annual Spring Garden Party on April 17 at Akasaka Imperial Garden in Moto-Akasaka, Tokyo, welcoming around 1,400 guests including gold medalists from the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, distinguished figures from various fields and local government representatives.
Two members of a circus troupe have been referred to prosecutors after an archaeological site dating back to the Yayoi period in Osaka was allegedly excavated without permission and damaged by the burial of a large number of trees.
At Kumata Shrine in Osaka's Hirano Ward, an inspection using a termite detection dog was carried out to help protect the site’s historic wooden buildings.
Fraud cases involving criminals impersonating police officers are increasing across Japan, with a new tactic emerging in which fake arrest warrants are mailed directly to victims' homes.
A female maintenance worker was killed after becoming trapped in amusement ride equipment at Tokyo Dome City, with investigators finding that no one was operating the control panel at the time of the accident.
A fire broke out at a four-story apartment building in Okinawa City in the early hours of April 19th, leaving one person dead, with authorities suspecting the victim may be a man in his 70s who served as chairman of a local crime group.
A 37-year-old father arrested over the alleged abandonment of his son's body in a forest in Kyoto Prefecture may have contacted associates to say the child had gone missing before the boy's school informed the family, investigators said.
A 20-year-old university student has been arrested on suspicion of breaking into an apartment in Osaka and stealing cash, with police believing he played a key role in recruiting minors for illegal work schemes.
