Central Japan Railway Co. has said that its N700S bullet train model will go into service on the Tokaido Shinkansen in early July 2020, just before the start of the Tokyo Summer Olympics and Paralympics. (Japan Times)

Grand champion Hakuho has withdrawn from the ongoing New Year Grand Sumo Tournament due to injuries, his stablemaster announced Saturday, ending his bid for a record-extending 42nd top division championship. (Kyodo)

Chiba Prefectural Police have arrested a 32-year-old man who is alleged to have molested a woman during a fortunetelling session last year, reports TV Asahi (tokyoreporter.com)

Tokyo health officials and police are questioning whether physical complications from being infected with the influenza virus caused a woman to fall from a platform at Nakameguro Station and be fatally struck by a train earlier this week. (Japan Today)

Two men have been arrested over an alleged attempt to smuggle from Thailand five otters in a carry-on bag through customs at Tokyo's Haneda Airport last October, police said Wednesday. (Kyodo)

Graffiti on a seawall in Chiba Prefecture resembling the work of Banksy has sparked speculation on whether it is a piece by the elusive street artist and comes just about a month after another possible work by the artist was found in the nation’s capital. (Japan Times)

A data scandal at Japan's labor ministry has created further headaches for the Abe government in its protracted attempts to spur inflation. (Nikkei)

The operation of Japan's oldest monorail line will be suspended at a Tokyo zoo in November following a 62-year run as the current vehicles are getting old, the metropolitan government said Wednesday. (Kyodo)

On January 15, a 16-year-old first-year student at Tokyo’s Metropolitan Machida Sogo High School got into a heated argument with a teacher in the school hallway. Prior to the argument, the student had been disciplined for wearing an earring to school, in violation of the dress code. (Japan Today)

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on Tuesday dashed Japanese hopes of a settlement any time soon to a territorial dispute that has festered since 1945, declaring after a meeting with the visiting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan that there was still much “painstaking work” ahead. (nytimes.com)

7-Eleven Japan has announced that it is planning to phase out sales of porno mags at its roughly 20,000 locations across Japan. (soranews24.com)

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday to seek progress on a decadeslong territorial dispute over a group of islands that have remained under Russian control since the end of World War II. (Japan Times)

A minibus decorated with All Nippon Airways Co.’s signature blue and white logo motors across the tarmac at Tokyo’s Haneda airport. From the outside, it looks like an ordinary bus, with a person sitting in the driver’s seat — except no one is really operating the vehicle. (Japan Times)

Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Monday arrested a 35-year-old man over the alleged rape of a school girl last month, an incident that took place just over a week after he completed a prison term for the same crime, reports the Yomiuri Shimbun (tokyoreporter.com)

A man was fatally shot Monday in a karaoke bar in Tokyo’s famous Kabukicho entertainment district, police said. (Japan Times)

The leaders of Japan and Russia hold crunch summit talks on Tuesday, with the two countries locked in an undiplomatic war of words over a set of disputed islands. (Japan Today)

A 59-year-old amateur hunter died after being attacked by a wild boar Sunday morning on a mountain west of Tokyo, police said. (Kyodo)

A public high school in Machida City has apologized to a boy after the emergence online of a video that purportedly shows a male teacher assaulting him, reports Fuji News Network (tokyoreporter.com)

Tickets for all of host-nation Japan's Rugby World Cup 2019 pool games have sold out following the start of sales on a first-come, first-serve basis, organizers said Saturday. (Japan Today)

The Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP-11), a trade pact among 11 Pacific Rim nations, officially opened its doors to new members on Saturday in a move aimed at bolstering free trade at a time when the U.S. and China remain locked in a trade war. (Nikkei)

The body of a man struck by an oncoming train at a station in Fujimi City hit and injured two women on the platform, police said on Friday, reports TV Asahi. (tokyoreporter.com)

A glance at the World University Rankings, published last September by the Times Higher Education, reveals the following major changes in the rankings compared with the previous year. (Japan Times)

Kanagawa Prefectural Police are hunting for a gunman who shot the wife of a boss in the Inagawa-kai criminal syndicate and his male driver on a road in Kawasaki City on Thursday, reports TV Asahi (tokyoreporter.com)

The government decided Thursday only male adult imperial family members will attend one of the key ceremonies to mark Crown Prince Naruhito's ascension to the throne on May 1, following the example set by Emperor Akihito's enthronement in 1989. (Japan Today)

A Japanese court has turned down an appeal from Carlos Ghosn's defense team over a decision to deny the former Nissan Motor chairman bail. (NHK)