Japonia: Mainichi Shimbun

SUITA, Osaka -- One of the first-generation Shinkansen bullet trains built in the early 1960s will find a new home -- a museum.

KOFU -- The tourist association of Shosenkyo, a scenic spot in Yamanashi Prefecture that promotes itself as "Japan's most beautiful valley," has been receiving many complaints from visitors due to unkempt trees spoiling the view.

KABUL, Afghanistan -- A man under arrest in Afghanistan in connection with the abduction of a Japanese man who was later killed said his group committed the crime for political reasons, a senior local police officer has told the Mainichi.

Average yearly expenses related to sports per household in Japan, which had been decreasing year by year after the Sydney Olympics, had been rising since Japan's success at the Athens Olympics, a recent government survey has found.

Many people were probably stunned to learn that the agriculture minister is at the center of yet another scandal after it was revealed Tuesday that the office expenses reported by Agriculture Minister Seiichi Ota's political organization are problematic.

The Taliban's admission that it was involved in the abduction and murder of a Japanese NGO worker shocked an ethnic majority group in Afghanistan.

The government will subsidize operators of inns and public bathhouses if they separate methane gas from hot springs for recycling as an energy source, government sources said.

What's the future plan for sports in Japan? The Beijing Games that closed on Aug.

Nikon Corp.

FUKUSHIMA -- Prosecutors are close to dropping an appeal against the acquittal of a doctor who was charged over the death of a 29-year-old woman during a Caesarean section operation, it has been learned.

Kirin Holdings Co., Ltd. will acquire Australia's No. 2 dairy food producer Dairy Farmers, it has been announced.

The body of a man found on the outskirts of Jalalabad, Afghanistan, has been identified as a Japanese staff member of a nongovernmental organization (NGO) operating in the country, Foreign Ministry officials said.

"End-of-the-War Day"

Kirin Breweries on Tuesday unveiled a new type of beer with 7 percent alcohol content -- higher than most beers -- in a bid to gain a bigger share of the market.

Japan banned beef imports from Costa Rica after it was learned that frozen ox tongue imported from the country did not meet standards set by both countries, government officials said.

China's mythical Yellow Emperor is considered the progenitor of the Han people.

SAKURAI, Nara -- The remains of a large outer moat have been found near a large burial mound here, which some archeologists say may be the tomb of Queen Himiko, the ruler of the Yamatai Kingdom in ancient Japan, local education authorities said.

A Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry panel on Wednesday approved use of the sleeping drug Thalidomide, whose sales were halted more than 40 years ago, to treat a type of blood cancer.

Japan has received information that a body believed to be that of a Japanese man has been found in Afghanistan, a Foreign Affairs Ministry official said Wednesday.

SAGA -- A robber threatened two female workers at a convenience store here with a knife, but fled after being hit by one of them, police said.