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]

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]

KANTO An author of children’s literature who slapped an actor in the face, causing him to fall over and suffer a fatal head injury, has been arrested, police said. [MAINICHI]

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]

INTERNATIONAL Japan officially apologized to Taiwan on Friday and reiterated its willingness to offer compensation for a ship collision earlier this month that sparked a diplomatic row. [KYODO]

KANTO The Kawasaki Municipal Assembly enacted an ordinance Thursday allowing residents aged 18 or older, including foreigners who have lived in the city for three years or longer, to vote in referendums. [THE JAPAN TIMES]

KANTO A university student who posted a message on an Internet site threatening to commit mass murder in Tokyo’s Shibuya district was arrested Friday, police said. [MAINICHI]

HOKKAIDO The Hokkaido government will let members of nongovernmental organizations, including outspoken protesters, to set up base at public camping grounds near the venue of the Group of Eight Toyako Summit. [ASAHI]

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.

INTERNATIONAL Crown Prince Naruhito attended a ceremony Wednesday hosted by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Brasilia to celebrate the centennial of Japanese emigration to Brazil. [THE JAPAN TIMES]

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]

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]

KANSAI A 13-year-old girl suffered serious injuries when she was stabbed in the back several times by another girl from the same school, law enforcers said. [MAINICHI]

INTERNATIONAL A small Beijing crowd of Chinese protesters on Wednesday denounced a compromise with Japan over disputed undersea gas, saying the deal could betray national interests. [REUTERS]

KANSAI A woman in her 80s died in Hyogo Prefectural Nishinomiya Hospital in March after an intern inserted a feeding tube, which was supposed to deliver nutrients directly to the woman’s stomach, into her lung instead, the hospital said Wednesday. [YOMIURI]

KANTO A man suspected of killing seven people during an indiscriminate rampage in Akihabara, Tokyo, on June 8 apparently drove around the vicinity of the murder scene for about 20 minutes before the incident, police said Wednesday. [YOMIURI]

KANSAI The Osaka prefectural government has come under fire from residents who allege it has allowed part of a public park in Sakai to be taken over by a select group of mah-jong enthusiasts. [YOMIURI]

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]