TokyoHaneda.com

A Thai court began Monday hearing testimony as part of an inquest sought by public prosecutors into the slaying of a Japanese cameraman during an antigovernment demonstration in Bangkok in 2010.
Yusuke Muramoto, 43, testified at the Bangkok South Criminal Court that his elder brother Hiroyuki Muramoto was shot dead on April 10, 2010, while covering clashes between the protesters and troops for Reuters news agency.

During her talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao as part of the U.S.-China Economic and Strategic Dialogue recently, U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton asserted that "the China-U.S. relationship is stronger than it's ever been."
All the evidence, however, points to a dramatically different conclusion.

At least 16 people visited eye clinics in Japan on Monday due to pain or other eye problems after observing a solar eclipse in the morning.
Of the 16, from six prefectures, four were children between 4 and 8, while the oldest was an-80-year-old woman, the Japanese Ophthalmological Society said.

Fire burned down a studio at movie company Toei Co. in Kyoto on Sunday afternoon, injuring no one but triggering the evacuation of its adjacent theme park, police and firefighters said.
About 200 employees and other people at the scene escaped the fire, which broke out around 1:30 p.m. and was extinguished about two hours later after destroying the roughly 1,300-sq.-meter facility, which was one of 13 owned by Toei Studios Kyoto, they said.

Vending machines may be ubiquitous, but one that is selling quasi-legal hallucinogens has raised the eyebrows of police and health authorities as they clamp down on the sale and use of such drugs.
Kanagawa police last week raided a self-proclaimed "general merchandise store" in Yokohama for allegedly selling herbs containing cannabislike ingredients like those in illegal drugs like marijuana and stimulants.

You will never know how much I love you
Because you sleep and have slept in me.

Tokyo Skytree, at 634 meters the world's tallest broadcasting tower, is set to open to the public Tuesday.
Tobu Railway Co., the parent company of the operator Tobu Tower Skytree Co., expects about 200,000 visitors to flock to Tokyo Skytree Town on the first day alone to check out the newly completed 37,000-sq.-meter commercial complex in Sumida Ward.

The average Japanese family has ¥16.64 million in savings, more than twice the average annual salary in the nation of 128 million.
2011 saw a 0.4 percent increase from a year earlier, with households of two or more people holding average debt of ¥4.62 million.

Despite reporting a record ¥457 billion annual loss last year, Sony Corp. earlier this month said it would return to the black in fiscal 2012 with a ¥30 billion profit.
The Great East Japan Earthquake, Thai floods and strong yen have all been recent factors that hurt the struggling electronics giant — but does Sony finally see the light at the end of the tunnel?

Foreign Minister Koichiro Genba and his French counterpart, Laurent Fabius, agreed Sunday to strengthen nonnuclear energy cooperation.
Genba said he and Fabius, a 65-year-old Socialist heavyweight who served as France's youngest prime minister from 1984 to 1986, agreed to try to bring Japanese-French relations to the "highest levels" and arrange an extensive diplomatic meeting by year's end.

Many companies are taking the initiative in finding ways to curb power use this summer now that the government has proposed voluntary saving targets for firms and households in many parts of the nation because of the Fukushima crisis.
The toughest target, 15 percent, was set for the Kansai region, which is served by Kansai Electric Power Co.

On the afternoon of March 11, exactly one year after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, around 30 people were invited to lunch a few blocks away from the bustling Shinjuku district of Tokyo — and were deliberately served up fare containing cesium.
The guests, including couples with children and middle-aged men, sat around the table that Sunday waiting for hamburgers hot off the pan.

The butterfly effect triggered by Greek voters left its mark on Japan's economy last week as stocks took their sharpest drop of the year and the yen soared against the dollar amid deepening concern over the eurozone's debt crisis.
The wild ride may not end until the next Greek election on June 17, some warn.

Major Japanese nonlife insurers are keen to boost their presence in the Chinese automobile coverage market following recent deregulatory action in the country.
From this month, Beijing started allowing non-Chinese insurers to sell compulsory auto insurance policies.

Monday's rare annular eclipse wowed millions nationwide as they looked up in the morning sky to witness the astronomical event.
Events were held at schools, along waterfronts, at zoos, parks and rooftops to witness the point when the moon passed in front of the sun, leaving a perfect fiery ring, or annulus. The media were well-positioned to capture the event as it made its way across Japan, as well as the festivities it generated.