People in eastern and northeastern Japan have been hit by heavy rains and strong winds. (NHK)

EdTech, which is an abbreviation of “educational technology,” is a term that refers to the use of IT tools in the classroom. (newsonjapan.com)

“Fukushima is famous for agriculture, and its coastal region was once one of the richest rice-growing areas (in Japan),” Ryoichi Sato says, highlighting one of the prefecture’s prized assets. (Japan Times)

The Bank of Japan will consider changes to its approach to purchasing exchange-traded funds at its policy board meeting next week, a potentially significant move by the institution that has become the top holder of Japanese stocks. (Nikkei)

Last year has reshaped the business landscape entirely. Rather than a gradual change, it was more like the world has been hit by a bolt of lightning that transformed it. (newsonjapan.com)

The Suga administration recently submitted a bill to revise Japan’s Act on Special Measures to Facilitate Investment in Agricultural Corporations. (eastasiaforum.org)

It’s a documentary about child sexual abuse in Japan. (TBS NEWS)

The Japanese government will revoke the license given to a channel of a satellite broadcaster after finding the company, which was at the heart of a wining-and-dining scandal, had applied for the approval based on false information, the communications minister said Friday. (Japan Today)

Due to the fact that the world is facing regional conflicts flaring up here and there, the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) urgently needs a modern fighter jet. (Daily Aviation)

Japan’s postal system is investing 150 billion yen in an 8% stake in the e-commerce venture Rakuten to strengthen a partnership in deliveries, fintech and other areas. (Japan Today)

Japan midfielder Yuki Kobayashi has apologized to Qatar officials for a "misunderstanding", after he accused a referee of threatening to kill him. (Japan Today)

Mizuho Bank suffered its fourth system glitch in two weeks Friday, dealing a serious blow to the management of one of Japan's top banks that has a history of troubling customers with technical problems. (Japan Today)

The Azumazeki stable, sumo's first to be opened by a foreign-born sumo elder, former sekiwake Takamiyama, and home to the sport's first foreign yokozuna, Akebono, will close its doors and merge with the Hakkaku stable, the Japan Sumo Association announced Friday. (Kyodo)

Railway operators in the Tokyo metropolitan area and the Kansai region are moving up the departure times of their last trains beginning Saturday. (NHK)

A coronavirus variant reported in the Philippines has been detected in a man who arrived at Narita airport, near Tokyo, from the country. (NHK)

You’ve seen stories of foreign soldiers in Japan rehashed in films like ‘The Last Samurai’, but now a far more epic (and grounded) tale of Japan’s first samurai of African descent is coming your way in the form of a Netflix series. (timeout.com)

Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a former sumo wrestler over the alleged possession of marijuana in Toshima Ward, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Mar. 11). (tokyoreporter.com)

A capsule brought back to Earth by Japan's Hayabusa2 asteroid probe has gone on display for the first time at a museum near Tokyo. (NHK)

The head of the Japan's top auto association is getting behind a clean energy project that started in the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011. (NHK)

Japan's government plans to cap the number of people entering the country at 2,000 a day for the time being. Officials hope the measure will help prevent the spread of coronavirus variants. (NHK)

Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi vowed Thursday to do all he can to have the remaining food import restrictions imposed by foreign countries in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear accident lifted based on science. (Japan Today)

Japanese airlines operating international flights have been asked by the transport ministry to limit weekly arrivals to up to 3,400 each in a bid to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, sources familiar with the matter said Thursday. (Japan Today)

The earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011, wiped away the ancient Japanese village of Kesen. In the past decade, a small group of survivors has valiantly tried to rebuild the community, but a grim reality has set in: This emptiness will last forever. (New York Times)

The western Japanese city of Kobe says it has found that coronavirus cases caused by a variant first detected in Britain have been on the rise. The city says a recent survey shows about 39 percent of samples involved the variant. (NHK)

Fishery cooperative membership has fallen 24.4 percent in the period from the end of the 2010 fiscal year through March 2019 in three northeast Japan prefectures hit hardest by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami – Miyagi, Iwate, and Fukushima – according to a Kyodo News survey. (seafoodsource.com)