Japan Times

Japan Times - North Korea announced Saturday that it had suspended nuclear and longer-range missile tests and shut down its main nuclear test site as the sanctions-hit country seeks to shift its focus to shoring up its moribund economy, state media said, less than a week ahead of a key inter-Korean summit.

KYOTO, Japan Times - Japanese monkeys in Nagano Prefecture's Jigokudani valley appear to have lower levels of a stress hormone than usual when they bath in natural hot springs during winter to warm up, a study has said.

Japan is trying to expand its influence to Serbia, the Japan Times is reporting in the wake of Japanese prime minister's tour of Eastern Europe.

The Fukushima nuclear power plant may have been leaking radioactive water since April, its owner has admitted.

It would take 10 minutes for a North Korean missile to hit Japan, Tokyo estimates, as tensions between the countries grow. Guidelines on what to do if a strike actually happens have been published online and have recently seen a huge surge in interest.

According to Japan Times, a containment vessel at the destroyed Fukushima No. 1 power plant has reached off-the-chart radiation levels.

The reading of 530 sieverts per hour represents the highest level of radiation the reactor site has seen since March 2011 almost six years ago.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel reportedly told Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe last year that his country could joint NATO counting on her support.

"Shinzo, why not join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization? I can convince British Prime Minister Cameron and French President Hollande," The Japan Times, the country's biggest English-language paper, quotes Merkel as saying.

Minor tsunami hit the northern Japanese coastline early Saturday, including in a city near the Fukushima nuclear plant, reports Japan Times. 

It was caused by a strong 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck off the Pacific coast.There were no immediate reports of damage, however, and authorities lifted all advisories roughly two hours later.