Land prices have risen for the fourth straight year, reflecting strong demand in major cities and tourist spots driven by increasing numbers of visitors from overseas and a recovering economy, according to National Tax Agency data released Monday. (Japan Times)

Johnny Kitagawa, the 87-year-old president of influential talent agency Johnny & Associates, was hospitalized after suffering a stroke last month, the agency said on Monday, reports Fuji News Network (July 1). (tokyoreporter.com)

A 25-year-old Vietnamese man was arrested Monday on suspicion of attempted murder after a compatriot was stabbed in an apartment in Kuki, Saitama Prefecture, police said. (Japan Today)

A remark made by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during a Group of 20 dinner that the installation of elevators at Osaka Castle was a "big mistake" has been criticized as lacking consideration for disabled people and especially inappropriate ahead of the Tokyo Paralympics next year. (Japan Today)

A 26-year-old man in custody for allegedly dumping the corpse of his wife in Hiratsuka City last week has admitted to mutilating the body beforehand, police have revealed, reports Kyodo News (June 28). (tokyoreporter.com)

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made little headway in resolving a long-standing territorial dispute in talks Saturday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, with the two agreeing to have their governments continue negotiations. (Japan Today)

U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday said he told Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that a decades-old security treaty between their countries must be changed, reiterating his criticism of the pact as unfair. (Japan Today)

The body of a newborn baby, with its umbilical cord still attached, was found in high grass near the bank of the Arakawa River in Tokyo’s Adachi Ward on Thursday. (Japan Today)

Spectators at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games may be allowed to bring their own bottled drinks into event venues, marking a major departure from past security procedures, organizers indicated Thursday. (Japan Today)

Tokyo and surrounding prefectures are bracing for Tropical Storm Sepat. Weather officials are warning of heavy rain and mudslides along their coasts. (NHK)

Universities conducting classes in English, intellectual debates between foreign and Japanese students where new ideas are created — these are just some of the things the central government envisions for the nation’s higher education in order to become a magnet for talented researchers and students alike. (Japan Times)

A jogger found the legless body of a woman at a beach in the city of Hiratsuka, southwest of Tokyo, on Thursday morning, police said. (Japan Today)

See what your country and national flag look like as a samurai warrior! (soranews24.com)

A 64-year-old man was arrested Tuesday for allegedly kidnapping a teenage girl near Tokyo and demanding ¥20 million (about $186,500) in ransom, police said. (Japan Times)

Graffiti was found Tuesday morning on a stone wall that surrounds the Akasaka Estate in Tokyo, where Emperor Naruhito and his family reside, police said. (Japan Times)

Ibaraki Prefecture said Monday it would start issuing partnership certificates for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender couples from July 1. (Japan Today)

Pope Francis is set to make a four-day trip to Japan this November. It will be the first papal visit to the country since John Paul II came in 1981. (NHK)

Little over 150 years ago, on May 11, 1869, the first year of the Meiji Era, Hijikata Toshizo, charismatic vice commander of the storied Shinsengumi -- Japan's last samurai -- met his end in battle defending the group's final stronghold on Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido. (Kyodo)

Talent agency Yoshimoto Kogyo Co. on Monday announced the suspension of 11 comedians for participating in a party held by so-called “anti-social forces” group without prior clearance from the agency, reports TV Asahi (June 24). (tokyoreporter.com)

Police in Japan are implementing the highest-level security measures for the G20 Osaka Summit, which starts on Friday. (NHK)

A Japanese man convicted of assault and theft was arrested Sunday in Yokosuka, near Tokyo, four days after he escaped attempts to take him into custody. (Japan Today)

Former Empress Michiko has undergone cataract surgery on both of her eyes, the Imperial Household Agency said Sunday. (Japan Today)

Foreign tourist spending in rural parts of Japan is surging faster than it is nationwide. (Nikkei)

A 23-year-old man accused of exposing himself to several high school girls in Kita Ward last month has admitted to committing the same crime dozens of times in the past, police revealed on Saturday, reports TV Asahi (June 22). (tokyoreporter.com)

The British science journal Nature has ranked a university in Japan's southern prefecture of Okinawa in the top ten of institutions with the highest output of top-quality research in the natural sciences. (NHK)