Japanese two-way star Ohtani Shohei has marked a Major League Baseball career high of 13 strikeouts and earned his 6th win of the season. (NHK)

PLOT: On a camping trip in Hawaii, three art students bet on who can tell the best supernatural story. According to the rules, each tale must have three items: a metaphysical piece, a character with green eyes, and a Japanese location. (JoBlo Horror Trailers)

Looking at Japan from the outside, in many ways it looks like a model country - the 3rd biggest economy in the world with world-famous companies, extremely safe cities, a healthy population, and advanced technology and automation everywhere. (Explained with Dom)

While countries like Australia and the United Kingdom have banned child sex dolls because their governments considered the products to be child abuse material, in Japan, they’re completely legal. (VICE)

The Austrian capital Vienna has made a comeback as the world's most liveable city, according to an annual report from the Economist published Thursday. (Japan Today)

Nowadays, a lot of young men put other things first over dating or sex. With the stagnated economy, salary hasn't increased while the prices have been rising. (Nobita from Japan)

Japan is famous among foreigners for anime and manga. Today I've invited my manga friend who worked as a manga artist for 10 years and asked him about the industry. (Japanese Comedian Meshida)

Indonesia early Wednesday deported a Japanese man to Tokyo where police have accused him, his family and acquaintances of participating in a fraud scheme that netted $7.3 million intended for small businesses hurt by the coronavirus pandemic. (The Telegraph)

A Japanese district court denied a retrial Wednesday for a 95-year-old woman who served 10 years in prison for the 1979 murder of her brother-in-law in Kagoshima Prefecture. (Kyodo)

A Japanese city is launching a crowdfunding campaign to help preserve a special spot of woodland: The forest that inspired the animator of beloved movie “My Neighbour Totoro.” (hurriyetdailynews.com)

Japan's communications ministry has drawn up a report on possible impacts of large-scale eruptions on the surface of the sun called "solar flares," such as disruptions in wireless communications. (NHK)

CALBEE, Japan's answer to Frito-Lay with an enormous product line-up ranging from pizza-flavoured potato chips to low-carb granola, is raising prices again as companies struggle to absorb costs that are climbing at the fastest clip in years. (Business Times)

Campaigning for Japan’s upper house election kicked off with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida fighting off criticism of the ultra-loose monetary policy he continues to support despite worries that it’s accelerating price increases. (Al Jazeera)

A 42-year-old man was arrested early Wednesday after holing himself up in an internet cafe near Tokyo with a female part-time worker as a hostage, police said. (Japan Today)

In Major League Baseball, Japanese star Ohtani Shohei hit a pair of 3-run-homers in Tuesday's game. But even "Sho-time" couldn't help the Los Angeles Angels secure victory in extra innings. (NHK)

This Bus shows how far ahead Japan is than the rest of the west, specifically the United States. Riding in this super modern / comfortable super-bus is fantastic. Its like air-travel, but without any of the hassle or boarding delays which always happen no matter what airline you use to travel. (Cash Jordan)

University of Oxford researcher Warren A. Stanislaus explains how the elements of “coldness” of Japanese pop culture, manga, anime, and games were disassembled and reassembled into grime music and, in turn, empowered the marginalized youth in the U.K. Stanislaus discussed the creation of a platform to make “Cold Japan” a source of soft power. (Asia Society)

Nearly three quarters of restaurant operators in Japan plan to raise prices in the current fiscal year, passing on the rising cost of ingredients to customers, a Nikkei survey found. (Nikkei)

A Japanese woman living in Belgium has become the mayor of Suginami, a district in Tokyo after she gained prominence through her online campaigning during the pandemic. (UNI)

Japan is the home of judo, but a brutal win-at-all-costs mentality, corporal punishment and pressure to lose weight are driving large numbers of children to quit, raising fears for the sport’s future in its traditional powerhouse. (taipeitimes.com)

Staff at a hospital in Tokushima Prefecture, western Japan, are unable to access electronic medical records after the hospital became the target of a ransomware attack. (NHK)

Japanese Food guide to Kura Sushi, a conveyor belt sushi restaurant. (SAMURAI JUNJIRO Channel)

Japan's Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has said he is planning to roll out a package of measures to fight inflation. (NHK)

Japanese weather officials say the seasonal rain front has brought downpours, especially to the Kyushu region in southwestern Japan. (NHK)

Police in Shiroishi, Miyagi Prefecture, have arrested a 27-year-old train conductor on suspicion of groping a teenage girl aboard a late night train. (Japan Today)