Tokyo Metropolitan Police have busted a so-called "JK" (joshi kosei) school girl business that is suspected of dispatching underage female employees to hotels to provide sex services, reports the Sankei Shimbun (tokyoreporter.com)

Hokkaido Prefectural Police have arrested a former co-worker of a 23-year-old woman who was found murdered in her residence in Sapporo last year, reports Nippon News Network (tokyoreporter.com)

Eight corpses possibly belonging to North Korean nationals have been discovered aboard and near a wooden ship that washed ashore in Kanazawa City earlier this month, reports NHK (Jan. 16). (tokyoreporter.com)

Japanese confectionery maker Meiji will ramp up its production capacity of health-oriented chocolate. (NHK)

With the investigation into the rigging of arcade games widening in scale, Osaka Prefectural Police have re-arrested the president of a management company over the alleged fraud of additional persons, reports NHK (Jan. 13). (tokyoreporter.com)

Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 41-year-old man who is suspected of stealing the wallets of dozens of sleeping passengers on the Yamanote Line since last year, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Jan. 16). (tokyoreporter.com)

It was said of the California Gold Rush of the mid-19th century that the ones who made the money were those who sold the shovels. Today’s shovel sellers in Tokyo are the service providers, agents and brokers eager to entice clients with tales of gold in the hills. (Japan Times)

Chiba Prefectural Police on Wednesday re-arrested a 29-year-old man over the cultivation of marijuana in Mobara City last year, reports the Sankei Shimbun (tokyoreporter.com)

Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Wednesday arrested the former male head of a fan club for popular voice actress Ayana Taketatsu for allegedly harassing her via email last year. The crime is believed to have included the sending of tens of thousands of messages dating back to four years ago, reports the Sankei Shimbun (tokyoreporter.com)

Sumo's top-ranked referee will resign over a sexual harassment scandal, the sport's governing body said Saturday following an extraordinary meeting of its board of directors. (Kyodo)

Students and graduates of high schools across Japan are sitting the annual unified college and university entrance examinations. (NHK)

A newly appointed female judge on Japan's Supreme Court has said she will use her maiden name when handing down rulings, a legal first in a country criticised for its attitudes to gender equality. (Japan Today)

Japanese investors became less enthusiastic about buying foreign bonds last year on growing concern about rising U.S. Treasury yields. (Nikkei)

a canoeist who has been banned after admitting that he doped a fellow competitor’s drink, contrived a variety of schemes to rattle his rival, an official source said thursday. (Japan Times)

A venerable cabaret in the ritzy Ginza district of Chuo Ward closed its doors for the final time on Wednesday in what indeed is the end of an era. (tokyoreporter.com)

Japan received a record number of overseas visitors in 2017 for the fifth straight year, with the greatest growth coming from Asian countries, where low-cost air carriers are expanding service. (Nikkei)

Japan's Air Self-Defense Force, or ASDF, suspects that a metal panel may have fallen from a Japanese government aircraft during flight. (NHK)

The Kosho Hajime new year lecture event, in which leading experts from the academic community deliver lectures to Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, was held at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Wednesday. (Japan Times)

Details emerged Wednesday about significant debts faced by a kimono rental firm that went bust just before Coming-of-Age Day ceremonies, leaving scores of women celebrating adulthood without their formal attire. (Japan Times)

Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 34-year-old man for allegedly molesting a woman in Adachi Ward last year, TV Asahi. (tokyoreporter.com)

Kanagawa Prefectural Police used posts made by a city councilor in Shizuoka Prefecture to arrest him for allegedly engaging in illicit acts with an underage boy and soliciting obscene photographs from another youth last year, reports TBS News (tokyoreporter.com)

A Japanese kayak racer who drugged a rival at a national championship event has been banned from competing for 8 years. (NHK)

Toyota Motor says it is developing a self-driving electric vehicle to shuttle people between venues at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. (NHK)

Three yokozuna, or grand champion sumo wrestlers, have taken part in a ring-entering ceremony at a Shinto shrine in Tokyo to pray for safety and success at the sport's New Year tournament. (NHK)

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government plans to start a subsidy program this year to accelerate the installation of charging stations for electric vehicles at condominiums in the capital, informed sources say. (Japan Times)