Toyota Motor Corp. said Tuesday it has agreed with U.S. ride-hailing firm Lyft Inc. to acquire its self-driving division for $550 million with an aim to accelerate the development of the carmaker's autonomous driving technologies. (Kyodo)

The mayor of a city in the western Japan prefecture of Osaka said Monday he will step down after finding himself in the hot seat for setting up a home sauna just next to his office for personal use. (Kyodo)

Noguchi Soichi, an astronaut preparing to leave the International Space Station for a return to Earth, has handed the baton over to fellow Japanese Hoshide Akihiko, who arrived there days ago with three other astronauts. (NHK)

Terunofuji will contest the upcoming Summer Grand Sumo Tournament as an ozeki, returning to the sport's second-highest rank for the first time in 21 meets, the Japan Sumo Association confirmed Monday in the form of its latest rankings. (Kyodo)

Ayumu Goromaru, whose 2015 Rugby World Cup performance made him a household name in Japan, marked his final match on Saturday, when his club Yamaha Jubilo lost 46-12 in the second round of the Top League playoffs to Kubota Spears. (Kyodo)

Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide and three others lifted off Friday as part of a crew rotation flight on a SpaceX-developed craft to the International Space Station. (Kyodo)

If the Japanese women's football team are to achieve their goal of a gold medal on home soil at this summer's Tokyo Olympics, they must overcome a disjointed preparation caused by the coronavirus pandemic along with a lackluster track record against elite opponents in recent years. (Kyodo)

TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a male elementary school teacher over the alleged illicit filming of children in Chofu City, reports Kyodo News. (tokyoreporter.com)

Nadal, an 11-time champion at the tournament in his home nation of Spain, reached his 14th career quarterfinal at the ATP 500-level tournament to extend his career head-to-head lead over the Japanese world No. 39 to 12-2. (Kyodo)

A health ministry panel on Wednesday approved rheumatoid arthritis drug baricitinib for COVID-19 treatment, the third such case in Japan. (Kyodo)

Japan will conduct its first large-scale survey on myopia among elementary and junior high school students, to begin as a government digital device rollout nears its conclusion, education ministry officials said Monday. (Kyodo)

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga asked U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. on Saturday to provide additional supplies of COVID-19 vaccine to Japan, Japanese officials said. (Kyodo)

Japan Airlines Co. will replace jet fuel with alternative energy sources for all domestic flights from 2040 under its plan to achieve carbon neutrality in 2050, sources familiar with the matter said Friday. (Kyodo)

Four building maintenance workers were killed Thursday in a basement parking garage in Tokyo as a fire suppression system was unintentionally activated, trapping them in an enclosed space with high levels of carbon dioxide, police and firefighters said. (Kyodo)

China on Wednesday asked Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso to drink treated radioactive water accumulated at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, after he said it is safe to drink it. (Kyodo)

The head of Japanese industrial giant Toshiba has stepped down. President and CEO Kurumatani Nobuaki's resignation comes days after the company got a buyout offer from a UK-based investment fund that he had ties to. (Kyodo)

The boyfriend of Princess Mako, the niece of Japanese Emperor Naruhito, intends to pay money to his mother's former fiance in an effort to settle a long-standing money dispute, his lawyer said Monday. (Kyodo)

Eyeing a future in which it may send poets into space to extol the beauty of the stars, Japan's national space agency is looking to expand its horizons by dropping the science major requirement for potential astronauts as it launches its first recruitment drive in 13 years. (Kyodo)

Large numbers of people on Saturday flooded transport hubs in major population centers across Japan despite the government designating Tokyo, Kyoto and Okinawa prefectures as requiring more stringent coronavirus countermeasures just a day earlier. (Kyodo)

The boyfriend of Princess Mako, niece of Japanese Emperor Naruhito, expressed his resolve to tie the knot with her in a statement released Thursday, vowing to "correct erroneous information" regarding a monetary dispute involving his mother. (Kyodo)

Sugako Hashida, a scriptwriter known for the internationally acclaimed television drama series "Oshin" in the 1980s, died Sunday of lymphoma at her home in Atami, Shizuoka Prefecture, her foundation said Monday. She was 95. (Kyodo)

Cosmic rays are causing an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 malfunctions in domestic network communication devices in Japan every year, a Japanese telecom giant found recently. (Kyodo)

Cherry blossoms covering Mt. Yoshino, renowned for its 30,000 sakura trees of 200 varieties, in the western Japan prefecture of Nara reached their peak blooms Friday, 10 days earlier than usual. (Kyodo)

Foreign tourists in Japan spent 744.6 billion yen ($6.7 billion) in 2020, the lowest since the survey began in 2010, as the coronavirus pandemic has led to restrictions on entry into the country, a government estimate showed Wednesday. (Kyodo)

A volcano on a southwestern Japan island erupted late Tuesday, sending large rocks nearly 1 kilometer from the crater, prompting the weather agency to raise its alert level. (Kyodo)