The rising cost of living is turning into a thorny political issue ahead of Japan’s upper house election this weekend, as opposition parties peg blame for recent price hikes on Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s policies. (The Star)

Let's eat another SORABEN (bento in the sky) on ANA flight from Haneda to Okinawa airport. Afterwards, we'll get some food at the local Family Mart convenience store. ( I Will Always Travel for Food)

People found guilty of cyberbullying in Japan now face up to a year in prison under rules implemented on Thursday (Jul 7), which were toughened up after the suicide of a reality star who had been trolled online. (channelnewsasia.com)

A man with a knife attacked two junior high school girls on a street in the city of Sendai, northeastern Japan. One of the girls suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries. (NHK)

Shohei Ohtani allowed one unearned run in seven dominant innings and had the go-ahead hit in the Los Angeles Angels’ 5-2 victory over the Miami Marlins on Wednesday night. (Japan Today)

A record number of both women and LGBTQ candidates are campaigning to win over voters in the House of Councillors election on Sunday and potentially bring change to Japan's male-dominated political landscape. (Kyodo)

Japan’s motorcycle manufacturers, which cast their gaze abroad long ago to make up for shrinking domestic sales, are seeing a jump in demand from an unexpected place: their home market. (Bloomberg)

Toyota Motor is by far the leading holder of solid-state battery patents, a Nikkei study shows, demonstrating how Japanese companies have dominated the race to develop the next-generation power source for electric vehicles. (Nikkei)

Japanese Ambassador to Australia Shingo Yamagami says the decision to hike up royalties for mining companies may potentially trigger “widespread effects” on investing in Queensland. (skynews.com.au)

Simply saying the word "Japan" can bring up images of manga, maid cafes and neon lights. But for Dutch photographer Maan Limburg, Japan is a series of rural landscapes punctuated by empty houses. (CNN)

Nagoya prosecutors on Tuesday indicted a 27-year-old woman for killing her three daughters aged 5, 3 and nine months, in February. (Japan Today)

An Apple Inc. tracking device was found attached to an unmarked police vehicle in central Japan, leading to suspicions that a yakuza crime syndicate was responsible, investigative sources said Wednesday. (Japan Times)

Japanese scientists have successfully produced cloned mice using freeze-dried cells in a technique they believe could one day help conserve species and overcome challenges with current biobanking methods. (CBC News)

Japan's health ministry has asked municipalities nationwide to make sure that hospitals have enough beds and testing capacities amid the recent rise in coronavirus cases nationwide. (NHK)

Harumichi Shibasaki was nearly 70 when he began making YouTube art tutorials from his quiet home in the Japanese countryside. Five years on, he has 1.4 million subscribers. (South China Morning Post)

This time, I tried the private S class room on the Meimon Taiyo ferry from Fukuoka to Osaka. (Alone Travel in Japan)

Japanese kids don't really get educated on the LGBTQ+ topic (Japanese Ammo with Misa)

A historic June heat wave caused more than 15,000 people to be taken to hospital in an ambulance across Japan with heatstroke or heat exhaustion, a record high for the month, according to preliminary government data. (Kyodo)

Singapore Airlines (SIA) will operate more flights to Japan and India in the coming months amid strong demand for air travel. (channelnewsasia.com)

For months, Kazumi Sato, a nutritionist at a middle school in eastern Tokyo, has received notices about hikes in ingredient prices. (todayonline.com)

My Ukrainian mum tries out various Japanese snacks and ramen while wearing a yukata, this will be the real test to find out if she could live in Japan (ちゅーそんちゃんねるChuson Channel)

Z Holdings will merge Yahoo Japan's online shopping platform with its subsidiary's e-commerce service to step up competition with rivals Rakuten and Amazon, Nikkei has learned. (Nikkei)

The slump in the Japanese yen, the war in Ukraine and a heatwave in Tokyo are pushing the world's third-biggest economy toward a full-blown energy crisis. (straitstimes.com)

Early July is the cue for Japanese surfers and sun seekers to descend on beaches across the country – and one beach on the Pacific coast is turning to artificial intelligence to ensure that their time in the water is without incident. (theguardian.com)

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare’s survey on menopausal symptoms in Japan showed that 28.3% of women in their forties, 38.3% in their fifties, and 27.7% in their sixties thought they might have such symptoms. (nippon.com)