The Seven School Mysteries are a staple of Japanese horror, but how did they come about and, perhaps most importantly, what are they? (Tara A. Devlin)

Okinawa marks the 50th anniversary of its return to Japan from US rule on Sunday. (NHK)

The term “Zen” has outgrown its origins as a sect of Buddhism, becoming an ubiquitous descriptor for design, lifestyle and even fashion, leaked from the East to the West and now prefixing a plethora of commodities, from “zen grey” paint to beauty products. (South China Morning Post)

Japanese audio equipment maker Onkyo Home Entertainment filed for bankruptcy at Osaka District Court on Friday, with total liabilities of around 3.1 billion yen ($24 million). (Nikkei)

Today, we made EBI Chilli, fried shrimp with spicy sauce! It's delicious and easy to make! (Kimono Mom)

“A MAN WITH A KNIFE will come to the school today.” It’s not exactly the greeting one expects upon showing up to work. But this is what the vice-principal said on my arrival at the junior high school where I taught in rural Gunma Prefecture, Japan. (atlasobscura.com)

Japan's immigration agency says the country granted refugee status to 74 foreigners last year, the largest number since record-keeping began in 1982. (NHK)

Major Japanese ruling and opposition parties Friday agreed on an outline of a planned bill to protect people who ended up appearing in pornographic videos against their will. (Jiji)

Japan's Yaskawa company has developed an industrial robot with artificial intelligence which determines the color and shape of the objects and transports them to their correct position. (ANI News)

I'm going to Kyoto city to look for some kanji. (Miku Real Japanese)

People have taken part in a peace march in Okinawa and called for a reduction of US military facilities in the southern prefecture, ahead of the 50th anniversary of its return to Japan from US rule. (NHK)

An international group of astronomers, with the participation of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, says it has captured the first image of a supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. (NHK)

The body of a woman who may be one of the missing people from a tourist boat that sank off Hokkaido has been found washed ashore on Kunashiri Island, one of four Russia-controlled, Japan-claimed islands, the Japan Coast Guard said Friday. (Japan Today)

Japan's Okinawa is set to mark 50 years since the United States ended its occupation, but there are renewed fears the East China Sea island chain will become a battlefield again. (Reuters)

Japan's defense minister says North Korea fired three ballistic missiles on Thursday evening. (NHK)

The National Police Agency issued an advisory to all prefectural police forces in December to avoid questioning people in a way that could be perceived as racially motivated, according to agency officials. (Kyodo)

Kankoh-maru is a single-stage reusable orbital passenger aircraft is a proposed vertical takeoff and landing (VTVL), single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO), reusable launch system that has been studied by the Japanese Rocket Society since 1993. (Hazegrayart)

A Facebook post claims that experts believe a man who travelled to Japan using a fake passport was from a parallel universe. (fullfact.org)

Amazon Japan is now having payment processing done by the Adyen payments platform. (retailcustomerexperience.com)

The Japanese government is considering exempting certain inbound travelers from the COVID-19 test now required at ports of entry, starting as early as June, Nikkei has learned. (Nikkei)

A Japanese town that accidentally sent a resident $360,000 in financial aid said it has been forced to file a lawsuit after the recipient refused to return the funds. (enca.com)

The number of new coronavirus infections in Japan continues to rise in some areas, after the country's spring holiday period came to an end. (NHK)

Japanese police say the mitochondrial DNA type of a human bone fragment found in a mountain area in Yamanashi Prefecture matches that of the mother of a girl who went missing three years ago. (NHK)

Wim Wenders is making a film about high-end public toilets in Japan that will have what the renowned German director calls “social meaning” about people in modern cities. (nagariknetwork.com)

Ayako Koizumi recently sent a message to her colleagues in the product development section at Japan Tobacco to thank them for the preparation of a training program for new employees. (Nikkei)