A patrol robot equipped with artificial intelligence is being tested at a Tokyo railway station. (NHK)

Japan's government is considering tweaking its method for calculating defense spending, amid calls by the United States for allies to shoulder more of the burden. (NHK)

Japan will make companies responsible for explaining decisions made by artificial intelligence software they use, according to a government draft of legal guidelines shared with Nikkei. (Nikkei)

NHK has learned that former Nissan Motor Chairman Carlos Ghosn has denied underreporting his earnings in the company's securities reports. Sources say Ghosn told prosecutors in Tokyo that he had no intention of falsifying the financial statements. (NHK)

Japan plans to give a 5 percent reward-point rebate to consumers on some payments made through credit cards and other cashless means as a way of underpinning domestic demand after a planned tax increase next October, government officials said Thursday. (Japan Today)

Officials at Japan Airlines apparently started asking passengers on an overbooked flight if they were willing to take other planes only about 45 minutes before the scheduled departure time. (NHK)

A man who suffered severe burns after having his head shoved into a pot of boiling liquid at a year-end party in 2015 said Thursday that he plans to sue his former boss over the incident. (Japan Times)

Nissan Motor's board of directors has voted unanimously to oust Carlos Ghosn as chairman. The executive was arrested earlier this week on suspicion of underreporting his income by tens of millions of dollars on corporate financial statements. (NHK)

Tokyo Medical University has been stripped of its accreditation, following recent revelations that the university rigged entrance examinations against female and older applicants. (NHK)

As a part of the investigation into the distribution of adult video (AV) content deemed illegal, Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a third person for ordering the production of the material, reports TV Asahi (tokyoreporter.com)

Ibaraki Prefecture is developing a series of new PR strategies after struggling for years to move up in a private think tank survey that ranks the appeal of all 47 prefectures. (Japan Times)

Organizers of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics say applications for volunteers for the Games have surpassed the needed number of 80,000. (NHK)

Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 32-year-old man over the alleged taking of images deemed obscene of a sixth-year elementary school girl earlier this year, reports TV Asahi (Nov. 21). (tokyoreporter.com)

Three male Keio University students, one of whom was a participant in the college's "Mr Keio Contest," have been arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman and stealing her wallet after encouraging her to drink alcohol. (Japan Today)

Nissan Motor Co. employees reacted with anger, surprise and dismay Tuesday to the arrest the day before of charismatic Chairman Carlos Ghosn for allegedly underreporting his income. (Japan Times)

The number of licensed private lodgings for tourists in Japan topped 10,000 in early November, but the facilities were concentrated in urban areas, the Japan Tourism Agency said Tuesday. (Japan Times)

Seven-Eleven Japan will turn to an indoor farm to grow vegetables for salads and sandwiches sold at its convenience stores, aiming to reduce weather-related supply risks. (Nikkei)

Time seemed to have stopped inside the main control room for the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant's crippled Nos. 3 and 4 reactors -- that is how Kyodo News reporters felt when they recently became the first journalists to enter the facility since the 2011 nuclear meltdowns there.

(Japan Today)

Tokyo prosecutors on Monday arrested Nissan Motor Chairman Carlos Ghosn on suspicion of underreporting his earnings, along with another executive. (NHK)

Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko have released a special type of colored carp into a pond at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. (NHK)

Visitors to Tokyo Disneyland had to wait for up to 11 hours for one of the attractions on the 90th birthday of Mickey Mouse. (NHK)

Ikea Japan K.K. said Thursday it will open an outlet in front of Harajuku Station in Tokyo in spring 2020. (Japan Times)

Japan Airlines Co. and All Nippon Airways Co. pledged Friday to administer more stringent alcohol tests for pilots and use new testing equipment in response to recent drinking incidents involving flight crew. (Japan Times)

A Japanese national research institute said Thursday it will import strains of Ebola and four other deadly viruses to improve detection processes amid a rise in the number of foreign visitors to the country. (Japan Times)

Kyoto Prefectural Police on Friday apprehended a man after he is believed to have stabbed a woman at a supermarket in Kyoto City’s Sakyo Ward, reports Fuji News Network (tokyoreporter.com)