Eating at a high-end sushi restaurant in New York City can set you back by four figures these days, with the bill pushed up by costs for shipping, ingredients and labor. (Nikkein)

While the number of vending machines in Japan has been shrinking in recent years, the nation still boasts the highest number of units per capita of any country. (Japan Times)

A giant panda has received Mother's Day gifts at a theme park in Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan. (NHK)

This long established restaurant was founded in 1949. (Japanese food craftsman)

A Japanese foreign minister arrived in South Korea for the first time in four years on Monday ahead of the presidential inauguration ceremony for Yoon Suk-yeol, raising hopes for possible improvements in relations with the incoming conservative administration. (koreaherald.com)

The Japanese government will promote inbound tourism to a major cultural complex in Hokkaido dedicated to the indigenous Ainu people, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said Sunday. (Kyodo)

Around 10% of people admitted to hospitals due to coronavirus symptoms continued to suffer from aftereffects a year after they were discharged, a recent survey compiled by a health ministry research group showed. (Japan Timesj)

National Covid death rates are, inevitably, political. How could they not be when they are viewed as evidence for good or bad government on matters of life or death? (theguardian.com)

Japan's number of children has been reported to be at its lowest since 1950. (BBC News)

Mayu Iizuka sheds her soft-spoken personality and starts cackling, screaming and waving wildly in a makeshift studio in Tokyo as her avatar appears on a livestream before hundreds of fans. (Japan Times)

I’m going behind the counter at a local family owned Japanese Ramen shop, Kakitagawa Hibari. (Paolo fromTOKYO)

Japan will resume accepting some foreign tourists in June at the earliest, a government source said Friday, likely reversing a ban on their entry introduced during the coronavirus pandemic. (Japan Today)

The number of probable cases of children with acute severe hepatitis in Japan has reached seven, the health ministry said Friday. (Japan Times)

A Japanese newspaper reported that the country's ruling party lawmakers visited the Sado mine located on the island of Sado in Niigata Prefecture where Koreans were subject to forced labor during the colonial period. (KBS)

Today, we made Kurozu Dango, fried meatball with vinegarsauce! It's delicious and easy to make! (Kimono Mom)

Japanese Defense Ministry officials say North Korea has launched a projectile that is thought to have been a ballistic missile. (NHK)

Russia's defense ministry announced on Friday that the country's military had successfully tested a new anti-submarine missile system in the Sea of Japan. (NHK)

Beppu is the Japanese city with the most hot springs in the world. (Life Where I'm From)

Shocking Laws okay in Japan, but illegal around the world. (Paolo fromTOKYO)

Child victims of the major earthquake and tsunami that struck northeastern Japan in 2011 have been remembered with hundreds of streamers painted with a blue carp pattern fluttering in a clear sky. (NHK)

Japanese pharmaceutical and medical material makers are expanding domestic output of ingredients and production materials for vaccines in response to a creeping shortage of supplies globally. (Nikkei)

Japan Airlines Co. forecast a return to profit this year, betting on a pick-up in domestic and international travel as the nation signals it’s ready to loosen virus-related border controls. (ajot.com)

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he would loosen Japan's virus-related border controls in line with other wealthy democracies next month, as he sought to boost consumer spending to fight an economic slowdown. (straitstimes.com)

Kanye West was spotted in Japan alongside his new muse Chaney Jones, after laying low for a while following his public bitter divorce from ex-wife Kim Kardashian. (msn.com)

Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has announced additional sanctions on Russia, freezing the assets of about 140 more individuals, as well as more assets of Russian banks. (NHK)