Japan's government is counting on foreign workers to ease the labor shortage in a range of industries. (NHK)

NHK has learned that scientists now believe the asteroid Ryugu was likely formed from a collection of asteroid fragments. (NHK)

A small eruption has been confirmed on an uninhabited island in the Pacific around 1,000 kilometers south of Tokyo, the weather agency said Thursday. (Kyodo)

A woman stabbed by a male Filipino national at her residence in Hamura City earlier this week has died, police said on Wednesday, reports NHK (tokyoreporter.com)

Japan's population has fallen for 9 years in a row, while the capital, Tokyo, keeps growing. (NHK)

Yahoo Japan Corp. is blunting the impact of a large stock sale by a big shareholder, buying back about ¥221 billion ($2 billion) worth of its shares in a complicated deal with SoftBank Group Corp. (Japan Times)

Gunma Prefectural Police arrested a man after a stabbing incident at a supermarket in Maebashi City on Tuesday left two employees hurt, reports NHK (tokyoreporter.com)

In what is believed to be a first in Japan, a prestigious national women’s university officially announced Tuesday its new policy to open doors from 2020 to people who were assigned as male at birth but identify as female, saying it’s a natural decision that takes gender diversity into account. (Japan Times)

ANA Holdings Inc. said Monday it will cancel 176 domestic flights between Friday and July 22 to inspect Rolls-Royce engines on Boeing 787 aircraft, after calling off 113 domestic flights for July for the same reason. (Kyodo)

Haruka Kuwabara, at 31 currently the youngest mayor in Japan, was welcomed with flowers and applause by municipal employees in Tsunan, Niigata Prefecture, on Monday, her first day in office. (Japan Times)

SoftBank Group has filed for the listing of its mobile service unit SoftBank Corp., in an apparent bid to raise about 2.5 trillion yen ($22.6 billion) from the stock debut. (Nikkei)

In the busiest city in a country famous for working employees to death, Tokyo Workers hopes to help people find the work/life balance they desire. (soranews24.com)

Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a member of a yakuza organization over the sale of a fake remedy for the infectious disease hepatitis C, reports TV Asahi (tokyoreporter.com)

A Japanese court sentenced the former head of a parents' group at an elementary school near Tokyo to life in prison on Friday over the 2017 murder of a 9-year-old Vietnamese girl who attended the school. (Kyodo)

Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 34-year-old male glasswork artisan over the alleged sale of marijuana in Kanagawa Prefecture, reports Nippon News Network (tokyoreporter.com)

A 6.0 magnitude earthquake shook Chiba Prefecture east of Tokyo on Saturday. (NHK)

An agency whose clients include the popular Japanese dancing and singing group EXILE has been found to have failed to declare about 300 million yen ($2.7 million) in income for the four years through March 2017, a source close to the matter said Thursday. (Kyodo)

Shoko Asahara, founder of the doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo and mastermind behind the deadly 1995 nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system - and a number of other horrific crimes in the 1980s and ’90s - was executed on Friday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said. (Japan Times)

A Japanese court has ordered the government to grant refugee status to a Sri Lankan man who entered Japan 12 years ago after fleeing his country's civil war. (NHK)

Some 130 people who had been stranded at a hot spring resort in Hokkaido were rescued Wednesday after torrential rains triggered landslides in the area the previous day. (Japan Times)

The organizing committee of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics says it plans to sell tickets for children, senior citizens and people with disabilities for 2020 yen, or about 18 dollars. (NHK)

The operator of the main train network in Tokyo says it will install security cameras on all trains before the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games to prevent terrorism and other crimes. (NHK)

Princess Ayako and her fiance-to-be have jointly met with reporters after Japan's Imperial Household Agency formally announced plans for their engagement. (NHK)

Demand for new offices pulled up land values in Japan's largest cities, but the country is witnessing polarizing demand as rural areas that lack tourist attractions are left behind. (Nikkei)

One of Japan's best-known rakugo storytellers, Katsura Utamaru, has died. He was 81 years old. (NHK)