Interesting news and stories translated into English from Japan and the Japanese-language internet.
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UN Special Envoy Zainab Bangura comments that Japan and South Korea need to enter into a dialogue to resolve Comfort Women issue; responses from Yahoo! Japan.92 -
Man who threatened convenience store workers and extorted goods from them is arrested in Osaka after he uploaded a video of himself doing it to YouTube; responses. -
A high school student who failed the written driver's test 20 times faces criminal charges after allowing his friend to sit the exam; responses from 2ch.net. -
A court grants an innocent verdict for clinically-depressed mother who drowned her disabled daughter as part of a planned murder-suicide; Mixi netizens sympathetic. -
Sanrio announces on the 40th birthday of Hello Kitty that the popular character is not a cat but a human child who lives in London; 2ch netizens incredulous. -
Ehime Prefecture prison is painted pink to welcome incoming women inmates, and also has its own gynecologist and childcare facilities; 2ch netizens mock the idea. -
Japan's "Homework Agencies", which complete students' homework for a hefty fee, complain that they are flooded with work as students go back to school after summer. -
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An elementary school teacher from Chiba has been arrested for making bomb threats to the education committee over Saturday lessons; netizens ridicule the teacher. -
Yahoo! Japan features an article from legal website bengo4.com discussing lawyers' opinions on whether hate speech should be made illegal in Japan; responses. -
Magazine warns of the risks of adultery after a woman outed her adulterous ex and his lover on their company's Facebook page, causing the pair to lose their jobs. -
Sagami announce the world's thinnest condom, the "Sagami Original 0.01", is to go on sale in Japan from 1 September 2014; mixi netizens enthusiastic about launch. -
Asahi Shimbun CEO refuses to apologise over errors made in articles on Comfort Women 32 years ago, saying that it wouldn't change historical fact; netizens irate. -
Store issues stark warning to thief who stole model worth over $2000 that they will publish the thief's face online if model is not returned; netizens supportive. -
Following recent scares over Chinese food products, alarmist article claims Chinese-made disposable chopsticks contain chemicals harmful to humans; 2ch responses. -
Netizens ridicule the suggestion that the popular green tea, "Ooi o-cha" is sexist because of the "ooi" sound in the brand name; responses from Yahoo! and 2ch.net. -
The news that the South Korean government is to publish white paper on the Comfort Women issue at the end of next year is met with controversy in Japan; responses. -
A man has been arrested in Ibaraki Prefecture for stealing 12kg of the free ice provided by supermarkets to keep customers' food cool; 2ch netizens confused.
