The International Monetary Fund says Japan's policy challenge in the near term is to ensure that the 2 percent inflation target is reached durably.

One of the arrested suspects in a burglary case in a Tokyo suburb has told police that he was afraid he would be ''purged'' if he talked to investigators.

Japan's Meteorological Agency is warning of possible eruptions for the Beyonesu Rocks or Bayonnaise Rocks, a small volcano in the Pacific Ocean, hundreds of kilometers off the coast of Tokyo.

Railway officials in western Japan say they will get to the bottom of the problems that resulted in trains being left stranded for hours in heavy snowfall.

NHK has learned that police in Tokyo have arrested seven individuals linked to the theft last year of cash worth more than 270,000 dollars.