This morning’s Japan-related news links:

• Japanese scientists have developed an oral vaccine for Alzheimer’s disease that has proven effective and safe in mice. [Link]
• A man who suffered fatal head injuries after drinking at a company meeting died as a result of a labor-related accident, a court has acknowledged. [Link]
• The popularity of a new drama called “Vulture,” which is about a fictional New York investment fund that buys ailing Japanese companies and imposes harsh American-style management changes, underscores a new openness in Japan’s business culture, writes the New York Times. [Link]
• A National Police Agency (NPA) cyber security committee is calling for Internet cafes in Japan to check the identity of users and introduce methods to eliminate password-stealing software on computers to fight illegal computer access. [Link]
• Almost half the Japanese feel they are never too old for Hello Kitty and friends, according to a new survey translation at What Japan Thinks. [Link]
• The Japanese government failed to take action after learning about criticality accidents overseas involving slipped control rods at boiling-water nuclear reactors in the 1970s and ’80s, according to the Asahi Shinbun [Link]
• Temperatures rose to the highest level ever for March at 11 locations across Japan on Thursday as warm air flew in from the south into a low-pressure system over the Sea of Japan, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. [Link]
• Hyogo Prefecture, which was devastated by a 1995 earthquake, donated $200,000 to the New Orleans Museum of Art for programs to help children cope with the post-Hurricane Katrina devastation. [Link]
• Actress Ryoko Shinohara has been selected by new company recruits as the ideal female boss in an annual survey conducted by Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co., while Yakult Swallows baseball manager and player Atsuya Furuta secured top spot in the male category. [Link]
• Japan and China, Asia’s biggest energy users, failed to make progress in meetings on joint development of natural gas reserves in a disputed area of the East China Sea. [Link]
• Sapporo Holdings shareholders have approved anti-takeover defenses proposed by the brewer as it tries to fend off a buy-out attempt by US hedge fund Steel Partners. [Link]
• No fewer than four Chinese films about the Nanjing massacre are planned for this year, the 70th anniversary of Japan’s capture of China’s former capital, Xinhua news agency reported. [Link]

Afternoon update:

• A moderate earthquake with a magnitude of 4.7 hit Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido early this morning, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. [Link]
• What Japan thinks has a survey translation on what sort of behaviour would you most Japanese office workers like to warn new recruits against: don’t you dare “come to work just in the nick of time”! [Link]
• Japan agreed Friday to lend China 62.3 billion yen (US$532.5 million) in aid that could help warm relations between the Asian powers. [Link]
• Tokyo Midtown, the city’s newest and most ambitious complex, opened on the site of the former Defense Agency in Roppongi this morning. [Link]
• Young Prince Hisahito of Japan was on best behaviour as he arrived for a stay at the family’s farm north of Tokyo on Thursday. [Link]
• A Japanese radio program designed to send messages to any surviving Japanese victims of North Korean abductions was jammed Thursday by radio waves believed to come from North Korea, according to a civic group running the program. [Link]
• Nissan Motor Co. will recall 1,010,843 vehicles across two models including the March subcompact in Japan, according to a company filing with Japan’s transport ministry. [Link]
• The US Census Bureau turned over confidential information including names and addresses to help the Justice Department, Secret Service and other agencies identify Japanese-Americans during World War II, according to government documents released today. [Link]