According to a survey conducted by the National Center for Child Health and Development in Tokyo, the number of Japanese citizens under the age of 20 who were newly diagnosed with anorexia – an eating disorder – increased by about 160 percent in fiscal 2020 compared to the previous year. (ucanews.com)

Four of Japan's biggest rock stars formed a new band, The Last Rockstars, in a race against time to preserve the spirit of rock music. (AP)

Japan's justice minister stepped down on Friday, over a scandal in less than a month and forcing a last-minute delay for the embattled premier’s Asia tour. (sundiatapost.com)

Japanese technology investor SoftBank Group Corp. reported on Friday a 3 trillion yen ($21 billion) profit for the July-September quarter, a sharp reversal from its loss a year ago. (AP)

Japan's Imperial Household Agency has announced that an avenue inside the Imperial Palace in Tokyo will be reopened to the public for autumn foliage viewing after a three-year hiatus. (NHK)

The Japanese government on Thursday decided on a policy to allow each prefectural government to declare stepped-up coronavirus measures, amid growing concerns about the possible arrival of the eighth infection wave. (Xinhua)

Japanese Emperor Naruhito has been found to have an enlarged prostate but there is no cause for concern, the Imperial Household Agency said Thursday. (Kyodo)

Toyota Motor and around nine other Japanese companies will team up with the government to launch a new entity to develop and make next-generation semiconductors, Nikkei has learned, aiming to establish manufacturing processes by the late 2020s. (Nikkei)

Prosecutors on Wednesday brought a fourth indictment against a former Tokyo Olympic executive on charges of receiving bribes totaling around 54 million yen ($370,000) from a major advertisement company and a firm that sold stuffed dolls of the games' mascots. (Kyodo)

Police in Japan have served fresh arrest warrants for two Vietnamese men on suspicion of stealing a large quantity of peaches from farms in Yamanashi Prefecture, west of Tokyo. (NHK)

A beloved Japanese candy eaten by generations, so iconic it even appeared in a hit anime film, has come to the end of the line, a victim of surging raw material and energy prices. (theglobeandmail.com)

Japan could face a new peak in COVID-19 cases as the northernmost main island Hokkaido, where winter hits earliest, sets daily records. (Nikkei)

Japan's justice minister has come under fire for remarks widely seen as making light of his role in providing final authorization for executions of death-row inmates. (Japan Today)

Tamao Yoneyama beat over 30 other contestants to be crowned Miss International Japan 2023 on Tuesday, November 8 at the Nissho Hall in Tokyo. (pageantcircle.com)

As Elon Musk makes dramatic changes to Twitter following his $44 billion acquisition, Japanese banks that cofinanced the deal find themselves with little choice but to go along for the ride. (Nikkei)

Ferraris, Lamborghinis and other supercars are seeing an unprecedented sales boom in Japan, fueled by pent-up, post-Covid-lockdown demand from wealthy buyers, who also see the vehicles as good investments amid a weakening yen and soaring used-car prices. (theedgemarkets.com)

Foreign workers in 46% of Japanese municipalities do not have sufficient access to Japanese-language classrooms, as rural areas struggle to procure the necessary number of teachers, Nikkei has learned. (Nikkei)

Japan's foreign reserves extended declines in October, following the previous month's record drop, the Ministry of Finance said on Tuesday, reflecting the largest ever amount of yen-buying, dollar-selling intervention. (Reuters)

A magnitude 5.0 earthquake has rocked Ibaraki Prefecture, north of Tokyo. It hit at around 5:40 pm on Wednesday. (NHK)

Sky watchers across much of Japan have enjoyed an enormously rare celestial spectacle -- Uranus hidden by a totally eclipsed moon. (NHK)

Pandemic-related disruption forced universities to adopt survival measures, but the enforced changes have become unprecedented opportunities for reform in Japan’s highly traditional higher education system. (universityworldnews.com)

An advisory panel for the finance minister on Monday proposed that the Japanese government end free-of-charge coronavirus vaccinations, highlighting concerns over a further increase of its financial strain. (Xinhua)

Japan has a shrinking pool of young workers to fund retirement and healthcare. The only answer appears to be raising pension and health deductions from paychecks, but that is likely to be deeply unpopular. (msn.com)

Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has expressed hope that the ruling-opposition talks will make progress on legislation to deal with the religious group previously known as the Unification Church. (NHK)

The Hōōsai ("Phoenix Festival"), celebrating the 10th anniversary of the fifth Kabuki-za building, will take place this April, with a performance by the "goruden konbi" Tamasaburō-Nizaemon already scheduled. (Kabuki In-Depth)