China's exports of rare-earth magnets to Japan in March fell 17.3% from the previous month to 184 tons, China's General Administration of Customs said on April 20.

A 37-year-old father arrested over the alleged abandonment of his son's body in a forest in Kyoto Prefecture may have contacted associates to say the child had gone missing before the boy's school informed the family, investigators said.

Japan's annual National Academic Achievement Test began on Monday for sixth-grade elementary school students and third-year junior high school students nationwide.

LINE Yahoo announced a new 'AI Agent' service on April 20, aiming to provide an AI assistant that users can rely on in their daily lives. The service will be introduced through the LINE app and Yahoo! JAPAN platform.

A bluefin tuna sold for 510.3 million yen at the year’s first auction in January at Toyosu Market in Tokyo’s Koto Ward has been officially recognized by Guinness World Records as the 'most expensive tuna sold at auction.'

JR East has launched a preview version of its new online Shinkansen booking platform, JRE GO, promising reservations in as little as one minute and easier handling of sudden schedule changes.

The approval rating for the cabinet of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi rose 3.1 percentage points from March to 70.2%, recovering to the 70% range for the first time in two months, according to an FNN public opinion survey.

Taxi fares in Tokyo's 23 wards, as well as Mitaka and Musashino, rose by about 10% on Monday, marking the first increase in the central Tokyo area in roughly three and a half years.

In today's video, we explore the April performances at the Kabuki-za theatre in Tokyo! (Kabuki In-Depth)

A shortage of naphtha, a key petrochemical feedstock used in a wide range of products, is pushing up the cost of housing materials in Japan and raising concerns that home prices could climb by as much as 30%.

North Korea launched several missiles on Sunday morning, with reports suggesting they may have included a submarine-launched ballistic missile, or SLBM.

The annual spring garden party, held at the Akasaka Imperial Gardens in Tokyo, has once again drawn attention to a pressing issue facing Japan's Imperial Household: how to maintain the number of family members as it continues to decline whenever female royals marry.

Typhoon No. 4, Sinlaku, moved northeast on April 19 while accelerating over waters near Minamitorishima, east of the Ogasawara Islands, according to weather officials. Although the storm is rapidly moving away from Japan, rough seas are expected to persist, prompting continued caution across the island chain.

Japan is often viewed abroad as a country with an unusually visible sexual culture, shaped by adult videos, erotic manga and a wide range of related subcultures. (Japanese Comedian Meshida)

Australia has formally decided to jointly develop its next-generation frigate with Japan, marking a major step forward in defense cooperation between the two countries.

Japan already classifies days with highs of 30C or above as manatsubi (midsummer days) and those reaching 35C or above as moshobi (extremely hot days). It has now introduced a new term for days when temperatures climb to 40C or higher.

SoftBank said on April 17 that it will exclusively sell in Japan an AI-equipped smartphone developed for the Japanese market by U.S. startup Brain Technologies.

Tokyo metropolitan authorities on Friday began a trial use of AI-based tree inspections at Kinuta Park in Setagaya Ward after a series of fallen trees since last month raised safety concerns.

TOTO said on April 16 that it will gradually resume new orders for its unit bath products from April 20 after securing a clearer outlook for raw material procurement.

The fleet of 190 EV buses introduced for the Osaka-Kansai Expo has been withdrawn from plans for reuse on regular routes, with Osaka Metro abandoning efforts to redeploy the vehicles after the event.

Thirteen Japanese men detained last month at a fraud base near Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, were transferred to Japan on Thursday and arrested by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department on suspicion of fraud. It marks the first time Japanese nationals have been apprehended in a special fraud case operating out of Indonesia.

Japan's medical sector is facing an acute shortage of nurses, triggering a wave of ward closures and even hospital shutdowns. Once regarded as an admired profession and often described as 'angels in white,' nurses are now under mounting strain from long working hours and wages many say do not match the demands of the job.

Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi held telephone talks on the night of April 15 with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, conveying Japan’s hopes for the resumption of ceasefire talks between the United States and Iran and for an early agreement.

Spending by foreign visitors to Japan from January to March rose 2.5% from a year earlier to 2.3378 trillion yen, the Japan Tourism Agency said, marking the third-highest quarterly total on record, while the number of inbound visitors in March increased 3.5% to 3,618,900, setting a new record for the month.

Japan will release around 50 million stockpiled medical gloves from next month as concerns grow over shortages of medical supplies linked to tensions in the Middle East, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said.