Foreigners are descending upon the northern Japanese ski resort of Niseko in droves, lured by not only its renowned powder snow, but also land prices that remain remarkably affordable even after sharp rises in recent years. (Nikkei)

The government said Tuesday it hopes to double the country’s output of wagyu beef, known for its tenderness and marbled fat, to 300,000 tons by fiscal 2035 amid rising overseas demand. (Japan Times)

Japanese scientist Akira Yoshino accepted the Nobel Prize in chemistry on Tuesday at a ceremony in Sweden for his contribution to the development of lithium-ion batteries. (Japan Times)

Russia may be banned from the next two Olympics but the door is open for Russian participation at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games if athletes can meet the rigid criteria laid out by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). (Japan Today)

Police referred a 17-year-old high school student and two men to prosecutors on Tuesday over their alleged involvement in the online trading of uranium in violation of Japanese law regulating nuclear materials. (Japan Today)

Afghan police said Monday they have detained a total of six men in connection with the shooting death last week of a Japanese doctor who was a well-known aid worker in the central Asian country. (Japan Today)

It might be the most Japanese of political scandals: a furor over Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's guest list at a party to mark the annual cherry blossom season. (Japan Today)

Empress Masako said Monday she is happy to have completed her duties as part of Emperor Naruhito’s enthronement rituals, and pledged to continue such work and help her husband more for the happiness of the people. (Japan Times)

In Japan these days it seems that conservatives want to change things and progressives want to cling to the status quo. An apparently minor, but highly symbolic, example is Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government's proposal to change the order of Japanese names when written in the Latin or Western alphabet. (Nikkei)

Restaurant operator Kirin City Co. will introduce a new service that allows customers to place orders and make payments using smartphones, according to parent Kirin Holdings Co. (Japan Times)

The Liberal Democratic Party’s tax panel is considering giving preferential tax treatment to mobile phone carriers and others to help spread fifth-generation, or 5G, high-speed wireless communications services. (Japan Times)

Japanese scientist Akira Yoshino delivered his Nobel lecture on Sunday in Sweden. Yoshino is one of the three winners of this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry. (NHK)

When the infamous Elon Musk of electric-car company Tesla praises your business strategy, you may be on the wrong side of an issue. (Nikkei)

Jikei Hospital in the city of Kumamoto, known for its “Konotori no Yurikago” (storks’ cradle) baby hatch, will start a program allowing women to give birth while keeping their names secret, a senior official has said. (Japan Times)

House of Councilors lawmakers will be offered far lower rents than market prices for an apartment building under construction in a prime location in Tokyo, it has been learned. (Japan Times)

A Buddhist temple in Kyoto is holding its annual year-end event serving cooked Japanese radish, or daikon, to pray for the good health of visitors. (NHK)

Japanese soccer club, Yokohama F. Marinos, has clinched its first J-League championship in 15 years by defeating second-place FC Tokyo. (NHK)

Prosecutors indicted on Friday actress Erika Sawajiri on charges of possessing the illegal drugs MDMA and LSD following her arrest last month. (Japan Today)

Typical cheerleading clubs in schools, known as ōendan, consist of men clad in black gakuran stand-up collar uniforms yelling vigorously and performing synchronized, dynamic choreographed moves to support sports teams. (Japan Times)

Japanese households cut their spending for the first time in almost a year in October as a sales tax hike prompted consumers to rein in expenses and natural disasters disrupted business. (Japan Today)

Police in Kitagata, Gifu Prefecture, have arrested a 25-year-old unemployed man on suspicion of forcible obstruction of business after he pepper sprayed employees and customers at a supermarket in August. (Japan Today)

In a major privacy breach, 18 hard drives used by the Kanagawa Prefectural Government to store taxpayers’ data were auctioned online over the summer instead of being destroyed, prefectural officials disclosed Friday. (Japan Times)

Nagano became the first prefecture to declare a climate emergency Friday, joining a growing coalition of nations, regions and local municipalities around the world in vowing to take action that reflects the urgency of the crisis. (Japan Times)

SoftBank Corp. and the University of Tokyo have agreed to open artificial-intelligence centers staffed with specialists from the university and around the world, to swiftly turn research into profitable business ventures so Japan can keep up with the U.S. and China. (Japan Times)

Tokyo 2020 organizers said on Thursday two more Olympic events, the triathlon and equestrian cross-country, have been rescheduled to earlier start times to combat the expected sweltering summer heat. (Japan Today)