A search for a misplaced bag by a 37-year-old male teacher led to his arrest over the alleged rape of an intoxicated college student at a karaoke parlor in Sagamihara City, police said, reports the Asahi Shimbun (Aug. 9). (tokyoreporter.com)

Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo says he will work to prevent the elderly and other vulnerable people from contracting the coronavirus to avoid declaring another state of emergency. (NHK)

Sweltering heat continued in Japan on Monday, with temperatures topping 38 degrees Celsius in some eastern and western parts of the country. (NHK)

Colorful kimono are synonymous with Tokyo summer celebrations but anti-coronavirus measures have put social gatherings off-limits and led struggling department stores to push the traditional Japanese outfits as a way to make a virtual fashion statement. (Japan Times)

Despite uncertainties from COVID-19, top Japanese corporations plan to invest 15.8% more in information technology in fiscal 2020 to keep up the wave of digitization across industries. (Nikkei)

Japan's male smoking rate fell below 30 percent for the first time in 2019, slipping to 28.8 percent, down 2.3 percentage points from the previous study in 2016, according to a health ministry survey. (Japan Today)

Unreported World is in Japan to meet some of the country's 'Junior Idols'. (Unreported World)

People in the US will be able to watch Japanese pro baseball games live on cable TV and the internet soon. (NHK)

People in the western Japanese city of Tokushima are decorating shopping streets with lanterns to brighten up the mood as a major summer festival was canceled due to the coronavirus. (NHK)

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines says it believes more than 1,000 tons of oil have leaked from a bulk carrier that ran aground off Mauritius in the Indian Ocean on July 25. (NHK)

Kaushik Kumar really loves Japan and has wanted to live here long-term for a while now, even though he knew he’d always be “treated like a foreigner.” (Japan Times)

Japan was blanketed by sweltering heat on Sunday. Temperatures in many areas rose above 35 degrees Celsius, putting people's health at risk. (NHK)

Japan’s population continues to become more international, but the situation might be changing soon. (soranews24.com)

In a town with a dying population, we find hundreds of scarecrows, zero children, and a voice that I hope I never forget. (Tokyo Lens)

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government says 331 new cases of the coronavirus had been confirmed as of 3 p.m. on Sunday. (NHK)

Japan famously has one of the highest life expectancies in the world but its birth rate is also at an all time low, leaving the future of the country uncertain. (CNA)

Many Japanese will be taking their summer holiday over the weekend amid the COVID-19 pandemic. (CNA)

People in Japan are remembering the victims of a catastrophic event during World War Two. Exactly 75 years ago, an American warplane dropped an atomic bomb on the southwestern city of Nagasaki ... just three days after one leveled Hiroshima. (NHK)

A high school girl from Saitama Prefecture who used a game console to alert police after a 44-year-old man confined her inside his residence had been there for one month, police have revealed, reports TV Asahi (Aug. 7). (tokyoreporter.com)

Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested popular manga author Tatsuya Matsuki over the alleged molestation of a middle school girl in Nakano Ward earlier this year, reports Sankei Sports (Aug. 8). (tokyoreporter.com)

Toyama Prefectural Police have arrested a 22-year-old man for allegedly setting fire to the corpse of his girlfriend at their residence in Takaoka City, reports Jiji Press (Aug. 9). (tokyoreporter.com)

Japan is Asia's first industrialised economy, yet it ranks 121, below Angola on the Gender Gap Index. (CNA)

Teachers and education officials are calling for students to pay special heed to the risk of heat exhaustion this summer as schools across Japan shorten their summer holidays and hold more classes than usual to make up for closures caused by the coronavirus pandemic. (Japan Times)

Japan confirmed a record 1,597 new coronavirus infections on Friday, as cases continue to mount throughout the country, particularly in urban areas like Tokyo and Osaka. (Kyodo)

Ayumi Sato is trying to be careful. But she's had enough. Lockdown fatigue is setting in for Sato, a 34-year-old stock trader who lives in Tokyo, and she's not alone. (CNN)