The former chairman of a Tokyo 2020 Olympics sponsor was handed a suspended prison sentence on Friday (Apr 21) along with two others, in the first convictions in a spiralling bribery scandal surrounding the event. (CNA)

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday sent a ritual offering to the war-linked Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo, a source of diplomatic friction with China and South Korea, which regard it as a symbol of Japan's past militarism. (Japan Today)

Rakuten Bank surged 33 percent in its debut in Tokyo on Friday following Japan's largest initial public offering (IPO) since 2018. (straitstimes.comstr)

The Bank of Japan maintained its upbeat economic assessment for most regions on Thursday, saying wage hikes were broadening, underscoring its conviction that the country was on a path to sustainably meet its inflation target of 2%. (Reuters)

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry will set a goal for 60% of the people in Japan to get sufficient sleep, defined as between six to eight or nine hours depending on age, by fiscal 2032. (The Japan News)

Corporate governance in Japan has suddenly become a cause celebre, rousing the world’s third-largest stock market out of decades of lethargy and drawing in hordes of foreign investors. (financialpost.com)

Japan's trade deficit roughly quadrupled to a record 21.73 trillion yen in fiscal 2022 ended March, as increased energy costs and a weaker yen led imports to grow far more than exports, the Finance Ministry said Thursday. (Japan Today)

The average unit price of a new condominium in Tokyo and its surrounding areas rose 8.6 percent in fiscal 2022 from the previous year to 69.07 million yen, hitting a record for the second consecutive year, a research institute said Tuesday. (Japan Today)

Mutsuhiko Nomura’s football career has spanned 18 World Cups, or 70 years, to be exact. (straitstimes.com)

Japan's immigration authorities have granted a lesbian Ugandan woman refugee status after a court ruled in favor of her. (NHK)

In mid-April, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs released its Diplomatic Bluebook 2023, its most important guidebook on international affairs. (Asia Times)

A Japanese Justice Ministry panel has agreed to consider introducing a joint custody system for shared parental rights after a divorce, revising the current sole custody system. (NHK)

Police in Japan have arrested three Indonesian nationals on suspicion of abandoning the body of a man in Fukushima Prefecture, northern Japan, last month. (NHK)

The Japanese stock market has underperformed and languished against the US since the infamous burst of Japan’s property bubble in early 1990 that led to two decades of sticky deflation. (actionforex.com)

Foreign investors are buying up Japanese hotels at a scale unseen in almost a decade, as the nation's tourism recovery, weak currency and low interest rates drive appetite from abroad. (AFR)

A woman has died and a man has been left seriously injured after a large tree landed on a tent they were sleeping in at a campsite west of Tokyo on early Sunday, police said. (Kyodo)

Tokyo Disneyland on Saturday celebrated 40 years since first opening its doors to visitors, marking the milestone with colorful celebrations featuring Mickey Mouse and other iconic characters after weathering the COVID-19 pandemic. (Japan Today)

Japan's quarantine period for COVID infections will be shortened to five days from seven, starting May 8, the government said on Friday, as part of a broader shift to a nationwide reopening from the pandemic. (Nikkei)

While the top shows of the winter season are debatable, this new ranking proves that Tokyo Revengers is still king in Japan as its second-season opening song took the top spot. (epicstream.com)

Japan failed to accurately predict the trajectory of North Korea's most recent ballistic missile test on Thursday morning because it disappeared from radar after launch, as increasingly advanced missiles complicate defense efforts. (Nikkei)

Sapporo's chances of hosting the 2030 Winter Olympics are fading amid a drop in public support in Japan, sources close to the matter told Kyodo News on Friday. (Kyodo)

Japan's population has shrunk for the 12th year in a row. But, Tokyo's population has increased for the first time in two years. (NHK)

Japanese singer and songwriter Okamoto Kauan — a former client of the Johnny & Associates agency — has alleged that agency founder and long-time head Johnny Kitagawa committed numerous acts of sexual abuse against him and others. (variety.com)

Japanese weather officials say yellow sand from China's deserts has blown across much of Japan from the northern to western regions. The dust was observed in central Tokyo on Thursday. (NHK)

A major annual firework festival in Tokyo will be held this summer for the first time in four years after the display was repeatedly canceled due to COVID-19 restrictions, the event's organizer said Tuesday. (Kyodo)