About 200 people, including "cosplayers" dressed up as characters from manga and anime, cleaned up the Dotonbori area on Saturday, Kyodo reports. (NOJ)

After years of handling it with leniency, Japanese lawmakers have confirmed plans to impose stricter Anti-Money Laundering (AML) rules for the digital currency industry. (coingeek.com)

A Japanese singer’s explosive popularity in China after appearing on a top Chinese music show proves that Chinese audiences can separate culture from geopolitics, despite international tension and growing online nationalism, according to analysts. (scmp.com)

Japan's Nikkei share average rose on Monday to its highest level since July 1990, buoyed by optimism over a U.S. debt ceiling deal and a weaker yen. (yahoo.com)

Japanese-language instructors will have to be certified under legislation passed Friday, with a goal of ensuring that foreign workers here receive adequate language education as they become more important to an aging society. (Nikkei)

Toyota Motor Corp on Saturday entered a racing car powered by liquid hydrogen into a 24-hour endurance race in central Japan, making it the first such car in the world to participate in an official race. (Japan Today)

Regional banks in Japan saw unrealized losses surge in fiscal 2022. A new survey says the figure climbed by more than 5 times in yen terms over the previous year as investments sank. (NHK)

The Maman Spider Sculpture by the late Louise Bourgeois is a famous landmark in Roppongi Hills. (NOJ)

ビットコインの普及とオンラインギャンブルの人気が高まる中、ビットコインカジノのスロットゲームが注目を浴びています。 (newsonjapan.com)

A four-year-old boy fell to his death from the 12th floor of an apartment building in Hofu, Yamaguchi Prefecture, on Friday afternoon. (Japan Today)

A private Japanese moon lander went into free-fall while trying to land on the lunar surface last month, company officials said Friday, blaming a software issue and a last-minute switch in the touchdown location. (Japan Today)

Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force has held its annual live-fire exercises at the foot of Mount Fuji in central Japan. (NHK)

Japan's Koji Yakusho won best actor at Cannes on Saturday for "Perfect Days" by German director Wim Wenders, a touching tale about a Tokyo toilet cleaner. (Barrons)

A man in his 50s was fatally shot in a coffee shop in Machida, Tokyo, on Friday night, in what police believe was a gang-related shooting. The shooter fled with an accomplice but later turned himself in at a police station. (Japan Today)

On a service road to the Bruce Highway, one of Australia's most dangerous roads, is a lone traveller on a kick scooter. He set out from Melbourne in late January and has been making the exhausting and occasionally perilous journey almost 3,000km to Cairns in far-north Queensland. (theguardian.com)

A man remains holed up in a residence in the central Japanese prefecture of Nagano after killing a woman and two police officers. Police say the suspect is believed to be a son of the city council's chairperson, who owns the house. (NHK)

Japan's top government spokesperson says Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has reprimanded his secretary and son Shotaro over reported merrymaking in the leader's official residence. (NHK)

The operator of Japan's Narita airport plans to raise user charges for international passengers from September, including up to 330 yen for a facility fee, reflecting recent price and labor cost hikes, a source close to the matter said Wednesday. (Japan Today)

Over 97 percent of new university graduates in Japan found jobs this spring, up 1.5 points from the previous year for the first rise in three years, reflecting a labor shortage as the economy recovers from the coronavirus pandemic, the government said Friday. (Kyodo)

Police arrested a 31-year-old man Friday over a knife and gun attack in the city of Nakano, Nagano Prefecture, central Japan, that left four people dead including two policemen. (arabnews.com)

Overall prices in the Japanese capital remain high as people continue to pay more for food and some services. (NHK)

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Wednesday the country had no plans to become a NATO member but acknowledged the security alliance's plan to open a liaison office in Japan. (Japan Today)

NASA on Tuesday unveiled photos of the area of the Moon where a Japanese lander failed in what could have been the world's first lunar touchdown by a private space vehicle. (Kyodo)

A pair of premium melons in Hokkaido fetched 3.5 million yen at the year's first auction on Thursday, securing the event's second highest bid on record. (Japan Today)

A highway bus in Tokushima Prefecture has traveled about 1.6 kilometers with a passenger trapped in the luggage compartment, TV Asahi reports. (NOJ / TV Asahi)