Download   Dog-lovers in Japan are dismayed because increasingly many pet puppies are being disposed of once they grow up, most ending up at the pound where more than 70 percent are put down.

The idea of adopting a dog from the pound has not caught on in Japan where many strays are seen as second-hand goods.

Now a group has been formed in Japan to try to save dogs from death row.

Radio Australia’s Mark Willacy has this report.

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She's one of Asia's most famous pop princesses, she’s now also a convicted drug user.

In the most publicised drugs case in Japanese history, the singer and actress Noriko Sakai has been sentenced to a year and a half in jail for taking methamphetamines, but the judge suspended the sentence for three years.

The straight-laced Sakai's conviction has shocked fans in Japan, China, Taiwan and South Korea.

The shamed singer now says she wants to quit show business and devote herself to helping nurse the elderly.

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In Japan, Yukio Hatoyama, has been sworn in this week as its 60th Prime minister, but so far a lot of media attention is focused on his wife and her eccentric views.

In a book Miyuki Hatoyama has written about how she was whisked away to Venus in a spaceship, and in an interview on a TV talk-show she revealed she'd met the actor Tom Cruise in a previous life.

Mark Willacy of Radio Australia has the story.

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Poverty isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when we think of Japan.

But the country has been hit harder than any other major economy by the global economic crisis.

Many Japanese blamed the ruling politicians for this stagnant growth and on August 30th, voters elected a new government.

But while many accuse the outgoing leadership of ignoring their worsening livelihoods, reporter Jason Strother tells us about one aid group that never lost track of these people.

He has the story from Tokyo.