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Leading translators launch award through crowdfunding

TOKYO, Japan - Ken Nishizaki, known in Japan for translating famous foreign works such as those of A. E. Coppard, shows on a smartphone screen the website for the "Best Translation Award" established by several leading translators in Japan with money raised from crowdfunding during an interview in Tokyo on Dec. 26, 2014. In the foreground are copies of translated literature that has influenced Nishizaki.

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Police publish comic to warn youths about gangsters

FUKUOKA, Japan - Police in Fukuoka Prefecture, southwestern Japan, have published a comic, shown in this file photo taken on Dec. 26, 2014, to remind young people of the dangers posed by crime syndicates.

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Waitress brings meal at Internet cafe in Akihabara

TOKYO, Japan - A waitress at an Internet cafe featuring Japanese-style interior decorations in Akihabara, Tokyo, brings a meal in this file photo taken on Dec. 26, 2014. Long famous for the presence of many electronics shops, Akihabara has more recently gained recognition as a center for Japan's "otaku" (geek) culture.

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People's Life Party joined by independent

TOKYO, Japan - Photo taken Dec. 26, 2014, at the House of Councillors chamber shows Taro Yamamoto, who joined as the fifth member of the People's Life Party. By his joining, the party has regained a political party status, becoming eligible for next year's state subsidies just ahead of the year-end deadline.

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Hanyu performs in national championships

NAGANO, Japan - Photo taken Dec. 26, 2014, shows world and Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu performing during a short program of the national figure skating championships at Nagano Big Hat in the central Japanese city of Nagano.

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Japan Post to list shares along with banking, insurance arms

TOKYO, Japan - Taizo Nishimuro, president of Japan Post Holdings Co., attends a press conference in Tokyo on Dec. 26, 2014. The company said it will list its shares sometime after the middle of the next fiscal year starting in April, together with those of its banking and insurance arms, in one of the biggest stock listings in the country.

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Holiday exodus starts in Japan

TOKYO, Japan - Travelers are ready to leave Japan on Dec. 26, 2014, from Haneda airport in Tokyo for the year-end and New Year holidays.

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Over 2.5-percentage-point cut in corporate tax eyed

TOKYO, Japan - Takeshi Noda (C), chairman of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's Research Commission on the Tax System, enters the prime minister's office in Tokyo, Japan, on Dec. 26, 2014, for talks with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Prior to their meeting, Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Akira Amari said it is "necessary" to cut Japan's 35 percent effective corporate tax rate by "more than 2.5 percentage points."

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Kitaro hangs New Year decoration on bronze statue

YONAGO, Japan - A person in a costume of Kitaro, the main character in the "GeGeGe no Kitaro" comic series, helps put a New Year ornament on the bronze statue of another character on Mizuki Shigeru Road in Sakaiminato, Tottori Prefecture, on Dec. 26, 2014. The western Japan city is the birthplace of comic author Shigeru Mizuki.

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Aceh marks decade since Indian Ocean tsunami

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia - People pray for the victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people and displaced 1.6 million in Banda Ache, Indonesia, on Dec. 26, 2014, the 10th anniversary of the tragedy.

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Trial planned to ship fresh fish with saltwater ice

TOKYO, Japan - A box of fish chilled by ice, made with seawater-like saltwater and in the consistency of snow to keep seafood fresh longer, is shown in Tokyo on Dec. 26, 2014, by supermarket chain Daiei Inc. ahead of the start of a trial from Jan. 1, 2015, using the method to transport fresh fish from Otaru on the northernmost main island of Hokkaido to one of its stores in Chiba Prefecture east of the Japanese capital.

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Purported "STAP cells" likely came from embryonic stem cells

TOKYO, Japan - Isao Katsura (far R), director general of the National Institute of Genetics and leader of a panel under the Riken research institute, attends a press conference along with other panel members in Tokyo on Dec. 26, 2014, to announce that the "STAP cells" that scientist Haruko Obokata, who left Riken on Dec. 21, claimed to have created were likely cells generated from embryonic stem cells.

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Hokkaido Shinkansen achieves speed of 260 kph

HOKUTO, Japan - Photo taken on Dec. 26, 2014, in Hokuto on Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido shows a Hokkaido Shinkansen bullet train, which is in trial run ahead of the spring 2016 launch. It achieved a maximum speed of 260 kilometers per hour.

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Pure gold Ebisu statuette displayed at Osaka jewelry shop

OSAKA, Japan - A 130-million-yen pure gold statuette of Ebisu, a Japanese deity known as the guardian of commerce, measuring around 40 centimeters in height and 32 centimeters in width, is displayed on Dec. 26, 2014, at jewelry shop Ginza Tanaka in Osaka's Shinsaibashi shopping district, western Japan. The display started the same day and will run until Jan. 12, 2015.

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Pure gold Ebisu statuette displayed at Osaka jewelry shop

OSAKA, Japan - A 130-million-yen pure gold statuette of Ebisu, a Japanese deity known as the guardian of commerce, measuring around 40 centimeters in height and 32 centimeters in width, is displayed on Dec. 26, 2014, at jewelry shop Ginza Tanaka in Osaka's Shinsaibashi shopping district, western Japan. The display started the same day and will run until Jan. 12, 2015.

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Pony passes duty to sheep

OSAKA, Japan - A pony (L), this year's animal symbol in the Oriental Zodiac, passes its duty to a sheep, assigned for the year 2015, during an annual handover ceremony at the Tsutenkaku tower in the western Japan city of Osaka on Dec. 26, 2014.

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Purported "STAP cells" likely came from embryonic stem cells

TOKYO, Japan - Isao Katsura (L), director general of the National Institute of Genetics and leader of a panel under the Riken research institute, attends a press conference along with other panel members in Tokyo on Dec. 26, 2014, to announce that the "STAP cells" that scientist Haruko Obokata, who left Riken on Dec. 21, claimed to have created were likely cells generated from embryonic stem cells.

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Purported "STAP cells" likely came from embryonic stem cells

TOKYO, Japan - Isao Katsura, director general of the National Institute of Genetics and leader of a panel under the Riken research institute, attends a press conference in Tokyo on Dec. 26, 2014, to announce that the "STAP cells" that scientist Haruko Obokata, who left Riken on Dec. 21, claimed to have created were likely cells generated from embryonic stem cells.

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Purported "STAP cells" likely came from embryonic stem cells

TOKYO, Japan - Haruko Obokata, then a researcher with the Riken research institute, announces the creation of the "STAP cells," claimed to be capable of developing into any type of tissue, in Kobe, western Japan, in this file photo taken in January 2014. A panel under the government-backed institute said Dec. 26, 2014, that the STAP cells that Obokata claimed to have created were likely cells generated from embryonic stem cells. Obokata left her job at Riken on Dec. 21.

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Pony passes duty to sheep

OSAKA, Japan - A pony (L), this year's animal symbol in the Oriental Zodiac, passes its duty to a sheep, assigned for the year 2015, during an annual handover ceremony at the Tsutenkaku tower in the western Japan city of Osaka on Dec. 26, 2014.

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Purported "STAP cells" likely came from embryonic stem cells

TOKYO, Japan - Photo shows Haruko Obokata, a former researcher with the Riken research institute. A panel under the government-backed institute said Dec. 26, 2014, that the "STAP cells" that Obokata claimed to have created were likely cells generated from embryonic stem cells. Obokata left her job at Riken on Dec. 21.

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Aceh marks decade since Indian Ocean tsunami

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia - Women gather in Banda Ache, Indonesia, on Dec. 26, 2014, to attend a 10th anniversary ceremony to commemorate the victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people and displaced 1.6 million.

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JCP vows to cancel consumption tax hike to 10%

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese Communist Party chief Kazuo Shii announces a set of campaign pledges for the Dec. 14 lower house election at the party headquarters in Tokyo on Nov. 26, 2014. The JCP promises to "cancel" another consumption tax hike in 2017 and seek other ways to secure funds for social security.

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PM Abe visits disaster-hit Iwate

RIKUZENTAKATA, Japan - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (C) visits a temporary housing facility for evacuees from the 2011 natural disaster in the northeastern Japan city of Rikuzentakata on Nov. 26, 2014. The visit comes shortly before the Dec. 14 general election.

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DPJ's Kaieda visits quake-hit Nagano

HAKUBA, Japan - Main opposition Democratic Party of Japan leader Banri Kaieda (front) inspects the central Japan village of Hakuba, which suffered extensive damage in the Nov. 22 earthquake, on Nov. 26, 2014. The visit comes shortly before the Dec. 14 general election.

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Japan minister visits Yasukuni

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese Cabinet minister Yoshitaka Shindo answers reporters' questions after visiting Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Jan. 1, 2014. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made a surprise visit to the Shinto shrine on Dec. 26, 2013, sparking sharp criticism from Japan's Asian neighbors and disappointing the United States.

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Japan minister visits Yasukuni

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese Cabinet minister Yoshitaka Shindo visits Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Jan. 1, 2014. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made a surprise visit to the Shinto shrine on Dec. 26, 2013, sparking sharp criticism from Japan's Asian neighbors and disappointing the United States.

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Peach Aviation

OSAKA, Japan - Peach Aviation Ltd. CEO Shinichi Inoue is pictured during an interview in Osaka, western Japan, on Dec. 26, 2013. He said the budget carrier aims to start a service linking Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, and a Southeast Asian city in 2014.

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Decontamination work in Fukushima

SENDAI, Japan - Photo taken Dec. 4, 2011, shows workers wearing protective suits using a high-pressure water sprayer to wash the premises of the Okuma town office in Fukushima Prefecture to reduce radioactive materials in the wake of the nuclear crisis. The Environment Ministry said Jan. 26, 2012, it plans to complete decontamination activities in part of the evacuation zones around the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant by March 2014.