Japan's Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko have met with Panama's President Juan Carlos Varela and his wife at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. (NHK)

A Ferrari sports car traveling toward Mt. Fuji crashed in the town of Fujikawaguchiko and caught fire on Wednesday. The driver suffered light injuries, police and fire officials said, reports TV Asahi (tokyoreporter.com)

Carlos Ghosn, the former head of the Nissan-Renault automaking alliance, maintained his innocence in a video taken before his fourth arrest in Japan Thursday on new charges of misusing corporate money. (Nikkei)

The president of a school that teaches the art of picking up women and two former students have been arrested on suspicion of rape, the seventh such case to emerge, police revealed on Thursday, reports Jiji Press (tokyoreporter.com)

Former Nissan Motor chairman Carlos Ghosn says he's ready to hold a news conference on April 11. (NHK)

Japanese authorities have recognized the October 2016 suicide of a man involved in satellite control operations at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Tsukuba Space Center as a work-related death, it was learned Wednesday. (Japan Times)

Police arrested Wednesday an associate professor of a university in Tokyo for killing pigeons in a park by feeding them food mixed with insecticide. (Kyodo)

Japan is struggling with a growing number of foreign patients who fail to pay their medical bills, according to a recent government survey. (Nikkei)

A defense lawyer for Carlos Ghosn says his legal team has asked a Tokyo court to separate the former Nissan Motor chairman's trial from the carmaker's. (NHK)

Hokkaido Prefectural Police have sent two men to prosecutors for cultivating marijuana at a residence in Sapporo earlier this year, reports Kyodo News (tokyoreporter.com)

Ibaraki Prefectural Police have arrested a 47-year-old man for allegedly coaxing his girlfriend to start a fatal fire during a quarrel at their residence in Koga City, reports TBS News (tokyoreporter.com)

Japan is relaxing work visa requirements in the food service industry to deal with a chronic labor shortage, but the number of workers who can take the first qualification exams will be limited because industry bodies responsible for developing the tests have not had enough time to prepare for the event. (Nikkei)

A 39-year-old man allegedly killed his 7-year-old son at their residence in Sendai City before attempting to take his own life, police said last week, reports the Sankei Shimbun. (tokyoreporter.com)

Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a former video game world champion over a burglary in Nerima Ward earlier this year. During questioning, he admitted to dozens of other similar break-ins, reports TBS News (tokyoreporter.com)

A nursery worker has been arrested for allegedly stabbing a colleague to death in her apartment in Tokyo last week, police said. (Japan Times)

An avenue inside the Imperial Palace in central Tokyo has been opened to the public for cherry blossom viewing. The Imperial Household Agency says more than 40,000 people visited the street on Saturday. (NHK)

Kenichi Hagiwara, a Japanese actor and vocalist in a pop band in the 1960s, died from gastrointestinal stromal tumors at a hospital in Tokyo, his office said Thursday. He was 68. (Japan Today)

Osaka Prefectural Police have arrested two persons over the alleged assault of a man in Osaka City’s Nishi Ward on Thursday, an incident that was captured by a security camera, reports the Sankei Shimbun. (tokyoreporter.com)

A man used a knife to slash open his abdomen near JR Ikebukuro Station in Toshima Ward on Thursday, police said, reports NHK (tokyoreporter.com)

In many ways, Hooters seems like a concept that would work extremely well in Japan. This is, after all, a nation that itself has produced some startling innovations in breast-related dining, such as the busty waitress Akihabara ramen joint and the “breast slash” cafe. (soranews24.com)

Cherry trees came into full bloom in central Tokyo on Wednesday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said, earlier than other cities in the country this spring amid recent warm weather. (Kyodo)

Right before the cherry blossoms start to bloom, prices went up, but it’s still a must-visit bargain. (soranews24.com)

A 10-year-old Japanese girl is set to become the youngest professional player of the Asian board game "Go" next month. (NHK)

Famous for its dozens of Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples, including Kotoku-in with its Great Buddha statue, as well as its cozy cafes and charming shopping district, the seaside resort town of Kamakura, in Kanagawa Prefecture, is one of the most popular day-trip destinations for tourists in the Tokyo area, with over 20 million tourists visiting every year. (Japan Today)

Kyoto Prefectural Police have sent a middle school girl in Kyoto City to prosecutors over the alleged possession of marijuana and Ecstasy, reports Fuji News Network (tokyoreporter.com)