A Tokyo developer took visitors up the worlds tallest freestanding broadcast structure on Tuesday, a 634-meter 2,080-foot tower with special technology meant to withstand earthquakes that often strike Japan.The Tokyo Skytree is the worlds second-tallest structure behind the 828-meter 2,717-foot Burj Khalifa in Dubai, according to owner Tobu Tower Skytree Co.The needle-like radio and television tower opens to the public on May 22.
Read the rest of the story: Japans newest tower uses anti-quake technology.

Until 1945 they were almost universal. They started to decline during the post war American occupation, but as late as 1960 it is estimated that 70 per cent of weddings were arranged.
Westernisation and the increasing independence of women led to a marked decline. By 1990 the proportion of arranged marriages is thought to have fallen to around 30 per cent of the total.
But things changed in the after a swathe of the country was devastated by the tsunami and earthquake.
Read the rest of the story: Arranged marriages make comeback in …

For the young women whiling away their evenings with a cappuccino in hand and a cat on their lap, Tokyo’s “neko cafes” are the ideal place to unwind and soothe their stresses.
“After a long day at work, I just want to stroke cats and relax,” said saleswoman Akiko Harada.
“I love cats, but I can’t have one at home because I live in a small apartment. I started coming here because I really missed having fun with cats and touching them.”
For Harada and others like her, the “neko cafes” of the …

The minivan involved in a fatal accident Thursday in Kyotos Gion entertainment district was videotaped passing other vehicles on a narrow road at high speed shortly before the crash.The footage, released Sunday, was taken from a taxi near the accident site.
Police are investigating whether the driver, Shingo Fujisaki, who had been receiving treatment for epilepsy, was conscious when the vehicle rammed into pedestrians, killing seven and leaving Fujisaki dead. An investigator who saw the video said the minivan dodged other vehicles and pedestrians “in a remarkable way” while possibly going …

Twitter Inc. will “aggressively” add sales staff in Japan to attract more advertisers as local user growth exceeds the company’s global expansion, Chief Executive Officer Dick Costolo said.
The microblogging service will continue to invest and hire in Japan and will also add engineers, Costolo told reporters in Tokyo today, without specifying investment amounts or the number of people being added.
The San Francisco-based company, which lets users post 140-character messages, is expanding abroad to decrease its reliance on the U.S. market. The percentage of revenue Twitter earns from the U.S. will …

China’s move to make trading of its currency more flexible was a positive step that would help buoy the country’s domestic demand, a senior Japanese government official said on Monday.
Japanese officials also said Japan has yet to pledge its contribution to the International Monetary Fund, but was still considering an increase in funding to help it deal with Europe’s debt crisis while watching the stance of other countries.
China took a key step in turning the yuan into a global currency on Saturday by doubling the size of its trading band …

Japan may go “momentarily” without nuclear power next month when the only one reactor still in operation shuts down for maintenance work, the country’s industry minister warned Sunday.
Yukio Edano made the comment as the government prepared to restart two offline nuclear reactors amid criticism from media and environmental groups sceptical over the safety of atomic power after the Fukushima accident.
“The number of nuclear reactors operating across the country may go down to zero, perhaps momentarily, from May 6,” he said in a seminar in Tokushima, western Japan.
The government of Prime …

The story of Kennewick Man inspires a Japanese kayaker to undertake an epic paddling trip to show that ancient peoples could have traveled by boat between Japan and the Columbia River area.
By week’s end, Ryota Yamada hopes to slip his sea kayak gently into the Columbia River at Clover Island, embarking on the first leg of adventure to Japan.
The retired scientist who did nanotechnological research intends to paddle downriver from Kennewick to the Pacific, then via the Inland Passage north to Alaska, and eventually across the Bering Strait to the …

The following is the first installment of a two-part story of how Japanese transsexual TV personality Ai Haruna, 39, who suffered from and overcame gender identity disorder. Ai Haruna sometimes shows her “manly” side on TV variety programs by speaking in a loud, hoarse voice, drawing laughter from the audience. Born anatomically male, Haruna wanted clothes and toys for girls as a child. When playing house, she always played the role of the mother. “I believed that I would naturally be able to become a woman when I grew up,” …

A 35-ton piece of machinery has been found at the bottom of the spent nuclear fuel pool in the No. 3 reactor at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co TEPCO said Friday.
TEPCO officials told a news conference that the device, which is used to exchange fuel, probably toppled over after the hydrogen explosion on March 12 last year, the day after the tsunami struck the plant, Fuji TV reported.
TEPCO said the device was spotted seven meters below the water a remote-controlled camera which it has been using …