The draconian Sakoku-rei or Seclusion Edict, as ordered by Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu, in 1636, would seal off the country from the outside world for the next two centuries. (Japan Today)

In Japan, grass-and-straw tatami mats – once a privilege reserved for the elite – have been a key feature of home design since the Middle Ages, crafted by gifted artisans. But now, with cheap knockoffs and changing lifestyles, the industry is at a crossroads. (CBS Sunday Morning)

Suntory Beverage and Food, one of Japan's top sellers of soft drinks, will serve up its most wide-ranging price hike yet in a move expected to push rivals to follow suit in an industry squeezed by higher costs. (Nikkei)

Japan’s tallest - yet unnamed - building will be completed in 2023 in the Azabudai area of Tokyo. (ONLY in JAPAN)

A Japanese court has ruled a local government broke the law by ordering a restaurant chain to shorten its business hours to curb the spread of the coronavirus. (NHK)

Singer Tina Karol said on Monday from Japan that she and her fellow Ukrainians will not give up defending their land and culture from Russian invasion and are determined to win the war and rebuild an even more beautiful country. (dailypioneer.com)

TOKYO, May 17 (NewsOnJapan) - A 40-year-old office worker has been arrested for attempting to perform an obscene act by pushing a stun gun against a female instructor at a yoga studio in Suginami-ku, Tokyo. (NewsOnJapan)

Tokyo's luxurious accommodation knows no limits. This time we go inside a private members club with a $39,000 fee, where members are rewarded with the ultimate luxury escape. (Abroad in Japan)

The United States is poised to remove five extremist groups, all believed to be defunct, from its list of foreign terrorist organizations, including several that once posed significant threats, killing hundreds if not thousands of people across Asia, Europe and the Middle East. (13newsnow.com)

South Korea’s new President Yoon Suk-yeol is rushing to mend years of troubled relations with the country’s key neighbor Japan, but the road ahead to reconciliation is littered with detritus of history that won’t be easy to negotiate. (asiasentinel.com)

TOKYO -- Young children in Japan made 20% fewer doctor visits last year. Some experts credit widespread mask-wearing but others say many parents kept their children away from hospitals out of fear they would not be able to work if their kids contract the novel coronavirus. (Nikkei)

Okinawa marks the 50th anniversary of its return to Japan from US rule on Sunday. (NHK)

The National Police Agency issued an advisory to all prefectural police forces in December to avoid questioning people in a way that could be perceived as racially motivated, according to agency officials. (Kyodo)

A Facebook post claims that experts believe a man who travelled to Japan using a fake passport was from a parallel universe. (fullfact.org)

The number of new coronavirus infections in Japan continues to rise in some areas, after the country's spring holiday period came to an end. (NHK)

Police in Tokyo have indicted a 59-year-old woman on suspicion of violating the Stimulants Control Law after she attempted to smuggle around two kilograms of cocaine, worth the equivalent of 40 million yen, into Japan at Narita Airport. (Japan Today)

Tokyo will begin recognising same-sex partnerships from November after revising current rules, officials said Wednesday (May 11), becoming the largest city in Japan to do so. (The Star)

East Japan Railway Co. said Tuesday it will carry out test runs of automated trains with passengers aboard on Tokyo's Yamanote loop line for two months starting around October. (Kyodo)

Today, we are riding the extended Sunrise Seto Express from Tokyo to Kotohira. (Solo Solo Travel)

Japanese education experts have urged central and local governments to take urgent steps to address the chronic shortages of teachers. (NHK)

A single mother in her 40s with two children has been walking a financial tightrope since she lost her job at a restaurant in the summer of 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic. (Japan Times)

While the number of vending machines in Japan has been shrinking in recent years, the nation still boasts the highest number of units per capita of any country. (Japan Times)

Mayu Iizuka sheds her soft-spoken personality and starts cackling, screaming and waving wildly in a makeshift studio in Tokyo as her avatar appears on a livestream before hundreds of fans. (Japan Times)

I’m going behind the counter at a local family owned Japanese Ramen shop, Kakitagawa Hibari. (Paolo fromTOKYO)

A Japanese newspaper reported that the country's ruling party lawmakers visited the Sado mine located on the island of Sado in Niigata Prefecture where Koreans were subject to forced labor during the colonial period. (KBS)