AFP - A Japanese shipping company maintained Thursday that one of its oil tankers was likely attacked in the Strait of Hormuz a day earlier, dismissing reports it might have been hit by a freak wave.

Reuters - Japanese shipper Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd said on Thursday it had hired a specialist on military attacks to help investigate damage to a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz as a Gulf port official said the vessel had been involved in a collision.

AFP - Japanese electronics giant Sony on Thursday said it returned to the black in the fiscal first quarter thanks to strong sales in televisions, its PlayStation 3 console and computers.

AFP - Japanese electronics giant Sony on Thursday said it returned to the black in the fiscal first quarter thanks to strong sales in televisions, its PlayStation 3 console and computers.

AP - Every year for the past two decades, legions of young Americans have descended upon Japan to teach English. This government-sponsored charm offensive was launched to counter anti-Japan sentiment in the United States and has since grown into one of the country's most successful displays of soft power.

AFP - Japan's industry ministry has ordered Apple to report on measures it will take regarding cases of its iPod Nano music player overheating and catching fire, an official said Thursday.

AFP - The Obama administration said Wednesday it is sending its ambassador in Tokyo to a ceremony next week marking the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, the first time a US ambassador has attended the event.

Reuters - A Japanese supertanker, which stirred fears of an attack in the Strait of Hormuz, diverted to a UAE port on Wednesday where officials said the damage was caused by a freak wave.

AFP - Japan's government said Wednesday it had no plan to delay transferring some 8,000 US marines based on the southern island of Okinawa to the US Pacific territory of Guam by 2014.

AP - Japan hanged two convicted killers Wednesday, including a man who burned six women to death, in the country's first executions in a year, and the justice minister said she wants renewed debate on whether to continue the punishment.

AFP - Japan will delay the release of an annual defence white paper to avoid angering South Korea over a territorial row ahead of the centennial of Japan's annexation of Korea, reports said Wednesday.

AFP - Japan's justice minister, a foe of capital punishment, announced a review of the death penalty Wednesday after witnessing the first executions since her centre-left government took power last year.

AFP - Japanese electronics giant Panasonic Corp. on Wednesday unveiled what it says is the world's first consumer camcorder to allow anyone to record in three dimensions using a special lens.

AFP - Japan will delay the release of an annual defense white paper to avoid angering South Korea over a territorial row, ahead of the centennial of Japan's rule of Korea, reports said Wednesday.

AFP - Japan and China agreed on Tuesday to seek an early conclusion to talks over plans to jointly exploit oil and gas fields in a disputed area of the East China Sea, officials said.

AFP - Japan's top Internet portal Yahoo! Japan on Tuesday announced a search alliance with Google, in a deal that would see both giants dominate the Japanese market in a possible blow to Microsoft.

AFP - Japan's JFE Holdings said Tuesday its steel unit plans to buy a near 15 percent stake in India's JSW Steel for around one billion dollars as it looks to boost its presence in the fast-growing market.

AFP - A blistering summer heat wave in Japan has sent 15,000 people to hospital with heat stroke and caused at least 66 deaths in the past two months, the government said Tuesday.