A handmade Japanese iron kettle can cost over $300. For centuries, artisans have made kettles by pouring molten iron into molds and hammering them out once they’ve cooled. (Business Insider)

From ingestible oils and gummies to skin lotions and makeup, products made from cannabidiol, an extract of the cannabis plant devoid of its psychoactive properties, are rapidly gaining popularity in Japan. (Kyodo)

Did you know Japan made some American inventions EVEN BETTER? You might not believe it, because USA #1, but constant improvement is part of Japanese DNA! (Mrs Eats)

Jolyne Cujoh is framed for a crime and incarcerated in the maximum-security Green Dolphin Street Prison, also known as “The Aquarium.” Intent on getting her out, Jolyne’s father, Jotaro Kujo, comes to visit… but that is exactly what the mysterious Stand and mastermind Pale Snake planned for all along. (Netflix Anime)

Climbing season at Mount Fuji has started for trails in Yamanashi Prefecture, central Japan. (NHK)

Randy Bachman has performed many times on Canada Day, but the event he played this year is like no other. (CBC)

Tucked away near Shimo-Takaido station, Genkiya is a family-run izakaya dining bar. Its cozy atmosphere brings people together over good food, fun conversation, and occasional arm wrestling! (Japan by Food)

All Nippon Airways Co. said Thursday that it will resume direct flights from Beijing to Narita Airport near Tokyo on July 11, after being suspended for more than two years against a backdrop of the coronavirus spread. (Japan Times)

Apple on Thursday raised the price of iPhone models in Japan, making the product more expensive for Japanese consumers. In some cases, prices are now almost 20% higher, which may be a reflection of the local currency getting weaker against the dollar. (9to5mac.com)

Four hundred years since the collapse of modern civilization, the world is dominated by the chaos of swords and sorcery. (Netflix Anime)

Two weeks ago, investigators arrested Mitsunobu Hino, a 72-year-old resident of Matsudo, on charges of property damage after Hino was seen on security camera footage carrying a wara ningyo at a shrine shortly before one of the dolls was found nailed to the ground’s sacred tree. (soranews24.com)

Japanese researchers say they have successfully filmed a giant rare deep-sea fish in the Pacific called the "yokozuna iwashi." (NHK)

Japanese porn actress Rina Arano was reported missing on June 8 this year. (asiaone.com)

Police in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, on Thursday arrested a former member of KAT-TUN, an all-male idol group, on suspicion of violating the Stimulants Control Law, just nine days after he was convicted and given a suspended sentence for a similar crime earlier this year. (Japan Today)

Many parts of Japan had another sweltering day on Thursday, with temperatures rising dangerously close to 40 degrees Celsius in some places. The ongoing heatwave is raising the risk of heatstroke. (NHK)

Business sentiment among Japan's large manufacturers cooled for the second straight quarter amid economic headwinds, including the war in Ukraine, the extended lockdown in China, and global supply shortages and inflation, the Bank of Japan's latest Tankan survey showed Friday. (Nikkei)

Japan’s energy “interests must not be undermined”, Tokyo said Friday, after Moscow issued a decree transferring operations of a key oil and gas project to a new Russian company. (The Sun daily )

Japan's Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) reported on Friday an investment loss of $16 billion in January-March, the first quarterly negative return in two years, as higher U.S. interest rates and the war in Ukraine rattled financial markets. (channelnewsasia.com)

The average land price in Japan as of Jan. 1 was up 0.5 percent from a year earlier, the National Tax Agency said Friday, rebounding from a fall in 2021 as the country recovers from the coronavirus pandemic. (Kyodo)

The highest temperatures in at least 147 years have scorched much of eastern Japan for a week as of Friday, with the government asking citizens to cut power use as much as possible, while still running air conditioners to stay safe. (Reuters)

Today's numerous data releases, from inflation to labour to business surveys, suggest a positive outlook for Japan in the near term. The overall picture is still mixed and the figures aren't good enough to change the central bank's current stance (think.ing)

Japanese drinks giant Kirin said Monday it will withdraw from Myanmar, after a failed bid to disentangle its operations from a joint venture with a junta-owned company after last year's coup. (france24.com)

Scorching heat continued across Japan on Friday, with daytime highs exceeding 40 degrees Celsius at a record six locations. (NHK)

The Nikko Maizokin Bento is Y216,000 or $1,580. Comes with Nikko trout sushi & yuba, Tochigi wagyu steak, Hokkaido king crab, Kyushu prawns, Russian caviar, Japanese karasumi, pickles etc, and a carved, lacquered box with chopsticks. (Tokyotronic)

In Japan, gay marriage is not legal. The national government has maintained that only a man and a woman can be wedded, a position backed as recently as last month by a court in Osaka. (VICE)