Visa rule could scupper AirAsia X flights to Japan (Straits Times)
KUALA LUMPUR - LONG-HAUL budget airline AirAsia X is likely to drop plans to fly to Japan next year, despite several airports having welcomed it, due to tough visa rules, a top official has said.

Japan’s consumers under strain as prices surge (Zaman Online)
Inflation in Japan is rising at its fastest pace in 15 years, reducing the prospect of any serious decoupling from American and European woes and pushing the world’s second-largest economy closer to the brink of stagnation.

Japan's 'wicked women' — rounded up, pinned down (The Japan Times)
Females who fall afoul of the law in Japan are often labeled with the sobriquet dokufu (wicked woman). Flash (July 29) devotes an eight-page pullout section to 27 notorious females, from recent cases back to a mid-18th century character in a kabuki drama named Dakki no O-Hyaku. One of the most famous dokufu in the Meiji Era (1868-1912) and still remembered today was a young widow named Oden ...

No relief from sizzling heat seen as eight die in western Japan (The Japan Times)
At least eight people died Saturday as a result of heat-related injuries or recreation accidents as temperatures soared to nearly 40 degrees in western Japan, the Meteorological Agency said. The highest temperatures were recorded in Tajimi, Gifu Prefecture, which hit a sizzling 39 degrees, and Tokai, Aichi Prefecture, which hit 38.4. Read the full story

JapanToday: Japan News and Discussion ジャパントゥデイ:日本のニュースを英語で読む (Japan Today)
At least three people died Saturday as a result of the heat as temperatures soared in western Japan, with the mercury rising to 39.0 degrees in Tajimi, Gifu Prefecture, and 38.4 C in Tokai, Aichi Prefecture, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

JapanToday: Japan News and Discussion ジャパントゥデイ:日本のニュースを英語で読む (Japan Today)
Income outflows from Japan to oil producing countries in the Middle East are expected to increase by some 17 trillion yen in the current fiscal year through next March from a year earlier in the face of rises in crude oil and other resources prices, an estimate by a Japanese research institute indicated Saturday.

Flush With Cash, More Asian Tourists Flock to Japan (New York Times)
Once prohibitively expensive, Japan is suddenly drawing soaring numbers of Asian tourists a sign of big economic changes in one of the world?s most dynamic regions.

Japan complains about WTO Lamy proposal (The Economic Times)
Japan's farm minister voiced bitter disappointment about a proposed World Trade Organization deal, saying it could harm Japan's agricultural sector.

Japan's newest growth industry: Asian tourists (International Herald Tribune)
Once prohibitively expensive, Japan is now drawing soaring numbers of newly affluent visitors from across the region.

Iranian films in silver screen in Japan (Islamic Republic News Agency)
Iran - Japan - Film Three Iranian films will be screened in the Fukuoka Asian Film Festival from September 9-21 in Fukuoka in Japan.