NATIONAL A total of 963 people applied to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to become astronauts, after the agency began accepting applications for the first time in 10 years, officials said. (1) [MAINICHI]

NATIONAL Over a dozen threats of murder and other crimes were posted on the Internet following the random street killings in Tokyo’s Akihabara earlier this month, police said. [MAINICHI]

NATIONAL Many people request ambulances for nonemergency purposes, according to a Yomiuri Shimbun survey of fire departments in 51 major cities. [YOMIURI]

NATIONAL As controversy grows over Japan’s whaling, the small coastal towns with a history of the hunt are sticking to their guns, fearing that their way of life is under threat. [AFP]

NATIONAL Heavy rain and thunderstorms are expected in wide areas from southwestern to eastern Japan on the Pacific side until late Sunday as a seasonal rain front hangs over areas from mainland China and Kyushu to the Kanto region, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. [KYODO]

NATIONAL Tokyo Tower will not be illuminated between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. Saturday. Nor will the Sapporo Clock Tower in the Hokkaido capital. Nor will Matsumoto Castle in Nagano Prefecture. But don’t worry; it’s not a solar storm or a rolling blackout–it’s part of the Candle Night movement. [YOMIURI]

NATIONAL The Ministry of Justice has informed an Osaka woman without family register records that it will create a new type of family register for her children, listing each child as the head person on the register, it has been learned. [MAINICHI]

NATIONAL The number of non-Japanese who began two years of skilled practical activities after a year of training under Japan’s foreign trainee program surged to a record 53,999 in 2007, a government survey has found.

NATIONAL The number of suicides in Japan hit 33,093 last year, topping 30,000 for the 10th year in a row, a report from the National Police Agency has shown. [MAINICHI]

NATIONAL Two Japan Airlines pilot unions notified the airline’s management Tuesday that their members will gone on strike this week, likely leading to a series of cancellations and delays, company officials said. [KYODO]

NATIONAL The government has urged knife manufacturers and retailers to refrain from producing or selling daggers after the suspect in the Akihabara stabbing rampage used such a weapon in his attacks, officials said. [MAINICHI]

NATIONAL Tsutomu Miyazaki, the notorious serial killer who butchered four girls and sent a letter and remains to a victim’s parents, was among three criminals executed Tuesday, the Justice Ministry said. [ASAHI]

NATIONAL The number of child abuse cases reported to consultation centers across the nation has topped 40,000 for the first time, a government survey has found. [MAINICHI]

NATIONAL Japan News Review has not been updated the past two weeks because of a staff shortage, and will remain inactive for the next month. Service will be resumed on June 10. We apologize for any inconvenience caused.

NATIONAL The school textbook screening process in 2007 is coming under fire for nit-picking over trivial matters. The problem seems to have arisen because no social studies textbooks, a major source of controversy in past screenings, were submitted for approval last year. [YOMIURI]

NATIONAL Japan will urge citizens to carry their own chopsticks instead of using disposable ones and go shopping with their own bags instead of using plastic ones, in a bid to more than halve the garbage it produces. (1) [AP]

NATIONAL Many of Japan’s high school textbooks will get more difficult in the 2009 academic year, in line with the planned scrapping of the cram-free education policy, according to the results of textbook screening released Tuesday. [YOMIURI]

NATIONAL The Education, Science and Technology Ministry has decided to introduce minimum attainment targets that university students should achieve before graduation in humanities, social sciences and natural sciences curriculums, it has been learned. [YOMIURI]

NATIONAL The Supreme Public Prosecutors Office plans to start the audio and video recording of all interrogations of suspects who have confessed to prosecutors from April in all cases that would be handled under the lay judge system to be launched next year, prosecutors said Friday. [YOMIURI]

NATIONAL The Justice Ministry will allow defendants held in custody to wear a tie and shoes when appearing in court under the lay judge system to be introduced in May 2009, according to sources. [YOMIURI]