Japan's Emperor Naruhito has planted rice seeds at the Imperial Palace. (NHK)

Japan deploys destroyer to gather information after Chinese carrier group spotted in Okinawa and Miyako islands towards the Pacific, Japan has sent its destroyer in retaliation. (WION)

Following the recent legalization of the recreational use of marijuana in New York and New Jersey, the Foreign Ministry in Japan is urging its citizens visiting or living in those states to continue to stay away from the drug. (Japan Times)

Osaka and two other prefectures in Japan are tightening coronavirus measures to curb a spike in new cases. (NHK)

Sugako Hashida, a scriptwriter known for the internationally acclaimed television drama series "Oshin" in the 1980s, died Sunday of lymphoma at her home in Atami, Shizuoka Prefecture, her foundation said Monday. She was 95. (Kyodo)

The Japanese government on Tuesday rushed to gather information about the announcement by North Korea that it will skip this summer's Tokyo Olympics in order to protect its athletes from the novel coronavirus. (Japan Times)

Police in Kasama, Ibaraki Prefecture, have arrested a 78-year-old Buddhist priest on suspicion of attempted murder after he drove his car with a woman clinging to the hood. (Japan Today)

Aichi prefectural police have arrested a 50-year-old unemployed man on suspicion of forcible obstruction of business after he refused to get off a shinkansen (bullet train) and remained inside the restroom. (Japan Today)

The president of one of Japan's major financial groups has apologized again for systems failures that shut down ATMs across the country. He said the problems have been fixed and the machines are more secure. (NHK)

Prefectural government officials in Osaka, western Japan, reported 719 new cases of the coronavirus on Tuesday. That is the highest number ever recorded in the prefecture. (NHK)

Norwegian robotics and software firm AutoStore AS said Monday that Japanese investment giant SoftBank Group Corp. will acquire 40% of its shares for $2.8 billion. (Japan Times)

Cosmic rays are causing an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 malfunctions in domestic network communication devices in Japan every year, a Japanese telecom giant found recently. (Kyodo)

At approximately 2:30 a.m. on 26 March in Nakama City, Fukuoka Prefecture, a man smashed through the fence of a yet-to-be-opened shop, and armed with two lights and a nylon net robbed the establishment of roughly 1.1 million yen (US$9,000) in merchandise. (soranews24.com)

Japan has finally launched formal discussions on how to secure a stable succession to the chrysanthemum throne amid a shrinking number of heirs, with options including allowing women or emperors from the maternal line to reign. (Japan Times)

In this video we dive into the history of samurai wielding firearms in feudal Japan with the help of Matt from the YouTube channel Gun Samurai! (The Shogunate)

Shin Okubo has many hidden spots for delicious food. ()

Osaka Prefecture says a record 666 new cases of the coronavirus were confirmed on Saturday. (NHK)

Princess Aiko, the only child of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, attended Gakushuin University’s online entrance ceremony Saturday as a second year student, after many universities canceled such ceremonies last year due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Japan Times)

Japan's sakura or cherry blossom season is feverishly anticipated by locals and visitors alike, although this year foreign tourists have been kept away by virus border restrictions. (INQUIRER.net)

A factory-sealed copy of Nintendo Co.’s Super Mario Bros. originally bought in 1986 has sold for $660,000 (about Y73.05 million) at U.S. auction house Heritage Auctions. (Japan Times)

SAKURA (cherry blossoms) season has arrived again this year. No matter what is going on in the world, the cherry blossoms always look beautiful. (Kimono Mom)

Love it or hate it, house hunting is a serious undertaking no matter what country you are in, and Japan is no exception. Planning a move to Kyoto meant it was the perfect opportunity to share with all of you just exactly what that experience is like. ()

Japan's financial services minister says regulators will look into the situation following warnings of massive losses by global banks. (NHK)

Cherry blossoms covering Mt. Yoshino, renowned for its 30,000 sakura trees of 200 varieties, in the western Japan prefecture of Nara reached their peak blooms Friday, 10 days earlier than usual. (Kyodo)

The government on Thursday decided a new policy of providing different amounts of aid to eating and drinking facilities that accept requests to cut opening hours in areas under states of emergency related to COVID-19, or new countermeasures against the disease, based on the size of their operations. (Japan Times)