Despite a proposal by legal experts, the Japanese government has ruled out setting up a commission to review capital punishment. The Cabinet Secretary cited public support for this penalty, but legal experts believe most Japanese are not adequately informed.

The 27 years the Spanish religious spent on the  mission between Tokyo and Hiroshima were remembered during the closing ceremony of the diocesan phase of his beatification process. Head of the Society of Jesus from 1965 to 1983, he loved the Japanese people and culture and provided heroic service among the thousands of injured in the atomic bomb blast of 6 August 1945.

In the town of Bando, Ibaraki prefecture, at least 20 men and women lived in a community. There was also a restaurant and a karaoke bar in the disused facilities. There are 600,000 Vietnamese working in Japan, but they are also the largest group among the nearly 10,000 trainees who have ‘disappeared’ in the country over the past year.

Sightings and attacks on people are on the rise: already 56 incidents this year, with two people killed. To curb the phenomenon, several municipalities are adopting systems based on video cameras "trained" to automatically detect if the moving figure is a bear and raise the alarm.

After its electoral defeat, the Liberal Democratic Party began talks with the Democratic Party for the People, led by Yuichiro Tamaki, who is not willing to go beyond external support for the government. Opposition leader Yoshihiko Noda has intensified efforts to gain cross-party support for his bid for the post of prime minister, but he is not likely to succeed.

The Holy See’s logo at the universal exhibition that will open on 13 April was unveiled. At the Vatican’s section, visitors will be able to admire "The Entombment of Christ" by Caravaggio, brought to Japan from the Vatican Museums. Manga artist Kan Takahama will be one of the "ambassadors" of the Vatican presence at the Expo. For the first time, the Holy Year in Rome will also have a manga-styled mascot.