TOHOKU Police arrested two members of Greenpeace Japan on Friday on suspicion of stealing a box of whale meat in connection with the conservationist group’s claim that crew members of a Japanese whaling ship had themselves stolen the meat. (1) [THE JAPAN TIMES]

TOHOKU People evacuated from their homes in Iwate and Miyagi prefectures following a major earthquake last week offered prayers at 8:43 a.m. Saturday, the exact time the deadly quake hit on June 14, in remembering the 12 victims of the disaster. [KYODO]

TOHOKU More than 70 percent of evacuees from the magnitude 7.2 earthquake in northeastern Japan did not take any substantial preparations for a powerful temblor, a Kyodo News survey showed Friday. [KYODO]

TOHOKU A rift extending for about 15 kilometers has appeared on the surface of the ground in five districts following the magnitude 7.2 earthquake that struck Japan’s Tohoku region on June 14, it has emerged. [MAINICHI]

TOHOKU Hundreds of rescuers and residents in areas struck by Saturday’s Iwate-Miyagi Inland Earthquake were ordered to evacuate Wednesday, as one of the dams on the lakes created by a landslide triggered by the quake appeared close to collapse. [YOMIURI]

TOHOKU The government stepped up its search on Wednesday for those who went missing following a powerful earthquake in the Tohoku region as heavy rain was forecast to hit the region. [MAINICHI]

TOHOKU A 10th victim of the deadly earthquake that struck the Tohoku Region was found here Monday morning as rescuers continued their desperate search for survivors. [MAINICHI]

TOHOKU As the Akita District Court handed down a sentence of life imprisonment to Suzuka Hatakeyama on Wednesday for murdering her daughter and a 7-year-old boy in Fujisatomachi, Akita Prefecture, the boy’s parents shook with emotion in the court’s gallery. [YOMIURI]

TOHOKU Aomori Prefecture, which for years has resisted moves to establish a site to dump radioactive waste in its backyard, is now pondering the wisdom of having such a blanket ban in place. [ASAHI]

TOHOKU A perfume that smells like cherry blossoms of Hirosaki Park, one of Japan’s most popular cherry blossom viewing spots, went on sale on Friday. [MAINICHI]

TOHOKU A giant statue of Japanese action hero Ultraman has been placed in Fukushima Airport’s terminal building with officials hoping it will boost passenger numbers. [MAINICHI]

TOHOKU The head of a post office in Odate, Akita Prefecture, was arrested Friday on suspicion of forging hundreds of 10,000 yen bills, police said. (1) [KYODO]

TOHOKU A tofu manufacturer based in Morioka has eluded sewage charges for about 20 years by manipulating a sewage meter placed at a factory in Yahaba, Iwate Prefecture, according to the Yahaba municipal government. [YOMIURI]

TOHOKU A youth arrested on suspicion of possessing a knife the day after three of his family members were found dead following a fire in their apartment in Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, earlier this month, was rearrested Sunday on suspicion of murder, mutilation of a dead body and arson. [YOMIURI]

TOHOKU Police have found a composition describing a gory murder on a computer seized from the home of a youth suspected of stabbing three of his family members to death and setting fire to their apartment in Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, earlier this month. [YOMIURI]

TOHOKU An 18-year-old youth who is being questioned over the deadly stabbing and torching of his mother, brother and sister in Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture has told investigators he hated his mother’s drinking habit. [MAINICHI]

TOHOKU A 43-year-old woman, her 15-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter were found dead after a fire in an apartment in Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, on Wednesday night, and police arrested her 18-year-old son early Thursday. [KYODO]

TOHOKU East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) has rejected calls to stick up posters promoting a local “naked festival,” saying there are many women who aren’t comfortable seeing men naked. [MAINICHI]

TOHOKU A 100-year-old-man was arrested Saturday in Sendai, Miyage Prefecture for driving without a driver’s license. The suspect said “I need the car, and driving has been my secret to longevity and to keeping senility away.” (1)

TOHOKU The father of a murdered 7-year-old schoolboy asked the Akita District Court on Wednesday to hand down the death penalty to a 34-year-old woman on trial for the killing, saying he didn’t consider her to be human. [MAINICHI]