The Imperial Household Agency has reopened the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. The site was closed for six months, due to the coronavirus pandemic. (NHK)

The International Olympic Committee has announced that 29 refugee athletes will take part in the Tokyo Games. (NHK)

TOKYO -- A fierce battle is taking place among nations determined to ensure post-pandemic economic growth, one that centers on job retraining. (Nikkei)

The pandemic has shaken up the rankings of the world’s most livable cities, a study released Wednesday showed, with Osaka and Tokyo ranking in the top five and metropolises in Australia and New Zealand also leaping ahead of those in Europe. ()

TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police arrested a 36-year-old woman after she attempted to rob the headquarters of Mizuho Bank, Ltd. in Chiyoda Ward on Tuesday, reports TV Asahi. (tokyoreporter.com)

A court in Seoul has dismissed a lawsuit filed against 16 Japanese companies to compensate Koreans who were forced to work in factories during World War II, citing a possible violation of the 1965 treaty between the two nations. (RT)

A high-ranking official for the Japanese Olympic Committee jumped in front of a train in an apparent suicide on Monday in Tokyo, according to local reports. (nypost.com)

The coronavirus vaccine rollout is accelerating nationwide. Officials say about 70 percent of healthcare workers have been fully vaccinated, and more than 20 percent of the elderly have received their first shot. (NHK)

More than 7,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been disposed of in Japan due to mishandling, the Yomiuri newspaper said on Sunday (Jun 6), as Japan races to inoculate its people amid a fourth wave of coronavirus infections. (channelnewsasia.com)

TOKYO (TR) – A 39-year-old man in custody over the alleged drugging and sexual abuse of a boy earlier this year is to be accused in a second case, police have revealed, reports TV Asahi. (tokyoreporter.com)

Japan's Justice Minister has ordered the heads of public security intelligence bureaus across the country to gather information to protect the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics from terrorism and cyberattacks. (NHK)

There is a national debate going on in Japan right now about whether Japan should cancel the Tokyo Olympics because of the pandemic. (Asian Boss)

In the south of Japan lies the country's most active volcano. With hundreds, if not thousands of eruptions per year, it is a place often covered in volcanic ash, and smoke. (Tokyo Lens)

Japan has entered its first weekend since the coronavirus state of emergency was extended for nine prefectures, including Tokyo and Osaka. Some facilities have reopened with anti-infection measures in place. (NHK)

The government is preparing to administer COVID-19 vaccines to Japanese citizens living abroad starting as early as August, officials said. (Japan Times)

Over the decades, gaming arcades in Japan have faced a series of challenges. Typically, they’ve been in the realm of technology — namely high-tech video game consoles that first promised arcade machine-level graphics and then, eventually, surpassed them. Now, Japanese arcades are facing a new menace, one that the entire world has been combating: COVID-19. (Japan Times)

TOKYO -- Signs of a hole in Japan's measures to lock down its borders against the coronavirus have been spotted in an unexpected place: a department store in downtown Tokyo's ritzy Ginza district. (Nikkei)

A Japan Olympic Committee board member has blasted the Games' organisers for ignoring public concerns about the coronavirus. (CNA)

Representatives of sexual minorities have called on Japan's main ruling party to swiftly pass a bill designed to enhance public understanding of LGBT. (NHK)

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has announced that a person could have been infected with a coronavirus variant that has not been previously detected in Japan outside of airport quarantine stations. (NHK)

A 19-year-old boy suspected in the murder of a sex worker at a love hotel in Tachikawa City earlier this week intended to commit suicide with her, police revealed on Tuesday, reports TBS News。 (tokyoreporter.com)

Japan has rejected South Korea's objection to a Tokyo Olympics map, which marks a group of South Korean-controlled islands as Japanese territory. (ABC News)

Another important part of the upcoming Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games is taking shape. Just 50 days before the events kick off, organizers gave aspiring athletes something to dream about: a look at where and how the world's best will be given their medals. (NHK)

SAITAMA (TR) – The chief of the Fukaya Police Station has resigned after an investigation revealed his alleged theft of toilet paper last month, police said on Thursday, reports TBS News (tokyoreporter.com)

Police in Tachikawa, Tokyo, have arrested a 19-year-old man on suspicion of murder after he fatally stabbed a 31-year-old female sex worker at a hotel on Tuesday. (Japan Today)