New coronavirus cases are trending slightly upward in Japan. Some prefectures have even recorded daily highs. (NHK)

On March 24, footage supposedly from Google Earth went viral on TikTok, showing what appeared to be a robot with wings inside an abandoned building. (yahoo.com)

An atomic bomb museum in Hiroshima has reset its clock showing the number of days that have passed since the last nuclear test took place. The move was taken to protest the two subcritical nuclear tests that the United States conducted last year. (NHK)

The main provider of electricity on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido says it will stop buying coal from Russia. This follows a Japanese government decision to phase out imports of the fuel as part of sanctions against Moscow. (NHK)

If you live in Europe, you probably think of Baseball as an American sport – part of an unbreakable trio that also includes NFL Football and NBA Basketball. (newsonjapan.com)

Japan cut its gasoline subsidy for oil distributors to 20.3 yen ($0.16) a litre for the seven days from April 14, down from 20.7 yen a week earlier, the industry ministry said on Wednesday. (marketscreener.com)

Japanese travel agency HIS Co. says it plans to resume package holidays to Hawaii starting from May 1 departures, the first time it has operated such tours to one of Japan’s favorite destinations since halting them in March 2020 amid pandemic restrictions on travel. (staradvertiser.com)

Japan's major ruling party is seeking to restrict the veto power of UN Security Council permanent members, following Russia's use of it in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine. (NHK)

Japan has begun granting visas to a wider range of people, including family members within the first degree of kinship to foreign residents who want to come to Japan to visit their family, as well as family members within a second degree of kinship to Japanese nationals and permanent residents. (Japan Times)

Japan’s biggest steelmakers are raising prices of the metal used in everything from cars to skyscrapers and warning of more to come. (Japan Times)

Japanese children are switching on earlier than they used to, according to a survey to ascertain when kids first start to use smartphones. (Asahi)

Recovery work is still ongoing six years after a series of strong earthquakes hit the southwestern Japanese prefecture of Kumamoto. (NHK)

A new film, Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle, tells the strange story of Japan's controversial WW2 hero. (BBC)

Hotaka Suyama is set to make history this week when he takes the entrance test for new sumo recruits. (Japan Times)

The operator of a Shinkansen bullet train service in northeastern Japan resumed full operations on Thursday after a strong earthquake hit the region last month. (NHK)

Russia has upped international tension after claiming to have test-fired cruise missiles from submarines off the coast of Japan. (newsweek.com)

Tully's Coffee has announced that it will increase prices on its popular beverages such as coffee from 3 yen to 24 yen from the 27th of April. (newsonjapan.com)

The yen hit its lowest level against the dollar in two decades on Wednesday, extending recent falls as the gap widens between Japan's ultra-loose monetary policy and Fed tightening. (enca.com)

The health ministry will raise the government-set dental treatment remunerations that involve “silver” fillings containing palladium in May, as prices of the rare metal of which Russia is a major producer have soared following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, people familiar with the matter said Monday. (Japan Times)

A French court on Tuesday sentenced Nicolas Zepeda, a Chilean man, to 28 years in jail for murdering his Japanese ex-girlfriend in 2016 in eastern France, after a high-profile investigation spanning three continents. (RFI)

If you have ever wanted to play an old black and white Kurosawa movie as a video game, Flying Wild Hog and Devolver Digital want you to know that they have you covered. (thesixthaxis.com)

In the latest episode of Thermae Romae Novae, the proud bath architect of ancient Rome discovers bliss when he sits on a washlet in present-day Japan. (Netflix Anime)

As the global pandemic enters its third year, more countries in Asia are planning to reopen their borders for tourism. (CNA)

The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and its naval strike group is currently operating in the Sea of Japan for the first time in five years, the Navy said on Tuesday. (UPI)

The focus of Japan’s quest to open its first casino is a human-made island in Osaka that, if the city’s government gets its way, will end decades of wrangling over the country’s fraught relationship with poker tables and slot machines. (theguardian.com)