Japan's Empress Masako turned 60 years old on Saturday. In a statement released by the Imperial Household Agency, the Empress said she would like to express her renewed and sincere gratitude to the people for their heartwarming feelings towards her. (NHK)

Recently, in Tokyo, Japan, one of the most interesting and largest robot exhibitions in the world, IREX 2023, took place at the Big Sight exhibition center. (Carros Show)

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and several key Cabinet ministers were grilled by opposition lawmakers in parliament on Friday over a widening fundraising scandal and an alleged connection to the Unification Church which threaten to further drag down the government's sagging popularity. (ABC News)

Indonesia says it plans to send 100,000 workers to Japan over the next five years, helping Tokyo ease a pressing labor shortage as the population of the world's No. 3 economy ages. (Nikkei)

The new firm established to manage Johnny & Associates Inc. performers unveiled its company name Friday as Starto Entertainment Inc., in a bid to start afresh following a sex abuse scandal involving the late founder of the former male talent agency. (Kyodo)

The number of digital subscriptions for the 'NIKKEI online edition' and the specialized media 'NIKKEI Prime' series offered by the Nihon Keizai Shimbun has exceeded one million.

As the spotlight intensifies on the illegal export of Lexus luxury cars, believed to be intended for use in North Korea, experts are pointing to the possibility of involvement by North Korean embassies overseas.

The operator of Tokyo Disneyland on Friday apologized after clips of Minnie Mouse having her skirt lifted by another character during a recent Christmas parade went viral on social media, with some harshly criticizing the gesture as sexual harassment. (Kyodo)

The best rally in a decade for Japanese stocks is being amplified by a surge in buyouts from company executives. (Japan Times)

The Bank of Japan's leaders are indicating they could be preparing a shift in policy, and that's encouraging traders to raise bets that the central bank will scrap the world’s last negative interest-rate regime as soon as this month. Bloomberg Economics' Taro Kimura shares his views on Bloomberg Television. (Bloomberg)

Social media platform X will start hiring engineers in Japan, chief executive Linda Yaccarino said in a post on Thursday. (Reuters)

A 27-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of throwing a bicycle onto railway tracks from a footbridge.

The Bank of Japan appears to be preparing for the end of its long-held negative interest rate policy, as Deputy Gov. Ryozo Himino and other policy board members signal increasing optimism on price and wage increases. (Nikkei)

I'm taking Saphir Odoriko from Tokyo to Atami and trying the private compartment which is extremely hard to book. The train is operated by JR East. (Solo Travel Japan)

The Japanese government on Thursday finalized a plan to allow drivers with a standard license to offer taxi services using their own vehicle in an effort to address a nationwide shortage of taxi drivers. (Kyodo)

In an effort to boost persistent low birth rates, Japan's government has released a policy offering tuition-free university education to all families with three or more children, effective from fiscal 2025.

Audiences in Japan will finally get to see Oppenheimer – Christopher Nolan's hit biopic about the creator of the nuclear bomb – following criticism that it was marketed in a way that trivialised the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. (The Guardian)

Sources say Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio intends to leave the faction he heads in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party while he is serving as prime minister and LDP president. (NHK)

A man known as the "King of Toyoko" in Kabukicho, the entertainment district of Tokyo, has been arrested on suspicion of raping a junior high school girl he met in Osaka.

Four senior members of a group suspected of organizing scams and burglaries in Japan from the Philippines were served fresh arrest warrants Tuesday for allegedly orchestrating a robbery that resulted in injuries in western Tokyo last year, police said. (Kyodo)

Operators in Tokyo's Shinjuku ward of host clubs, in which male companions entertain female customers, plan to take measures to prevent clients from accumulating excessive bills. (NHK)

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has published the results of a learning achievement survey conducted in 2022, targeting 15-year-olds across 81 countries and regions.

Companies in Japan would no longer have to pay tax on unrealized cryptocurrency gains if they hold on to the digital assets under a proposal being discussed by the country's ruling coalition. (Nikkei)

Japan's Diet has enacted laws banning the use of cannabis except for medicinal purposes. (NHK)

Japan's Justice Ministry has started a trial of using artificial intelligence to translate Japanese laws into English. (NHK)