Record snowfalls for a 24-hour period have been observed in Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan, and Niigata Prefecture, on the Sea of Japan coast. (NHK)

Ever wanted to know what it's like to have lunch at a Japanese Elementary school? ( Junk Food Japan)

Japan's Defense Ministry says North Korea has fired what appears to be two ballistic missiles. Government officials say both missiles have apparently landed outside of Japan's exclusive economic zone. (NHK)

In one of the last notes in his diary, the Japanese professor Yoshio Kudo lamented working hours that started early and could last until almost midnight. Two months later, he suffered a “karoshi”, a death from overwork. (globelivemedia.com)

A railway operator in northern Japan has begun running train service along the scenic coastline equipped with a table-shaped heater called kotatsu. (NHK)

Japanese master Daiya Seto became the first swimmer ever to claim six straight world titles in the same event at a short-course championships Saturday as Lithuania’s Ruta Meilutyte smashed the women’s 50-meter breaststroke record. (Japan Times)

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida justified the drastic overhaul of Japan’s security policy on Friday as necessary, given that tabletop exercises have shown current defences to be woefully inadequate to stave off an attack. (straitstimes.com)

Japan's Cabinet has reached a major milestone in efforts to revamp its defense strategy. It approved three key documents which reimagine how the nation should be able to defend itself and provide a plan to pay for some big changes. (NHK)

n today’s episode, Bill committee removes the section stating cannabis isn’t a narcotic, Online system to control cannabis bud sales will be ready next year, Thai people wishing the princess well, Massive surge of Japanese restaurants in Thailand, Phuket cashes in as tourists return. (The Thaiger)

Japan has said it would begin a once-unthinkable $320bn military build-up that would arm it with missiles capable of striking China and ready it for a sustained conflict as regional tensions and Russia’s Ukraine invasion stoke war fears. (Al Jazeera)

Shirakami-Sanchi, often referred to as the “Forest of Gods,” is a 130,000-hectare forest that stretches across the mountains of Northern Japan’s Aomori and Akita prefectures. (JapanTravel)

Korakuen, Kita-ku, Okayama City, Okayama Prefecture, JAPAN (NIWA-Japanese Garden Collection)

Police in Japan's capital are urging people to moderate their alcohol consumption this holiday season following an increase in deaths of drinkers hit by vehicles after falling asleep on the street. (ctvnews)

International cruise ship operations resumed in Japan on Thursday after an almost three-year suspension due to the coronavirus pandemic, with a ship operated by Mitsui O.S.K. Passenger Lines Ltd. setting sail for the Indian Ocean from Yokohama port near Tokyo. (abs-cbn.com)

Japan's military on Thursday fired five servicemen and punished four others in a sexual assault case brought by a former soldier, prompting a rare investigation across the Defense Ministry that found more than 100 other complaints of harassment, officials said. (CNA)

Ikema ryuichi stands in the museum his mother built on Yonaguni, a coral-reef-fringed tropical island and south-western outpost of Japan. (economist.com)

Netflix got another boost to its growing Japanese content slate, Netflix has green-lighted a Japanese live-action film based on the classic Japanese Manga “City Hunter” created by Tsukasa Hojo, “City Hunter,” which will be available for streaming all over the world. (cinemadailyus.com)

The Tokyo assembly has enacted a local law requiring builders to install solar panels on new homes and other residential structures starting in April 2025. (NHK)

A history of Japanese timekeeping. Clocks of water, clocks of fire, and clocks of metal for you to admire. (Linfamy)

Aichi prefectural police have revealed that a 43-year-old unemployed man, who was being detained in a cell at a police station in Okazaki, died on Dec 4 after refusing to eat any food for three days. (Kyodo)

The Japanese government exercised Wednesday its "right to question" the Unification Church for the second time, as it continues investigating the controversial religious group with an eye on a court order to remove the organization's status as a religious corporation with tax benefits. (Kyodo)

Boosting military spending may be Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s best hope of reviving his sinking popularity, but there is a catch, analysts say: paying for it with unpopular new taxes could undermine an already wobbly premiership. (AP)

A Japanese court on Wednesday sentenced a man who refused to wear a face mask aboard a Peach Aviation flight as a measure to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to two years in prison, suspended for four years, for causing the aircraft to make an unscheduled landing to remove the passenger. (Kyodo)

The Japanese EV market has been quite slow compared to other markets such as Europe and China. This is despite Nissan being the early leader in the market when it produced a mass market electric car, the Nissan Leaf. (cleantechnica.com)

A new survey in Japan shows that more than 5 percent of people who were infected with the coronavirus continued to suffer aftereffects one month after developing symptoms. (NHK)