With the Rugby World Cup kicking off Sept. 20 in Japan, communities across the country are preparing for the 500,000-plus visitors expected to attend. (Nikkei)

Japan's two largest opposition parties said Tuesday they will form a joint group in both houses of the Diet in an attempt to challenge the ruling bloc's dominance. (Japan Today)

It has always been a mystery why Summer Sonic is not held in the relative cool of June or July, but at the very height of summer, when the August sun beats down upon the festival’s outdoor stages or typhoons power through the country, threatening disruption and cancellations to the event’s packed schedule. (Japan Times)

The South Korean government says it will not extend an intelligence-sharing pact with Japan. Bilateral relations are tense over issues including trade and wartime labor. (NHK)

A Shinkansen bullet train made an emergency stop after one of its doors opened while speeding through northeastern Japan. (NHK)

The number of South Korean tourists visiting Japan fell last month to its lowest in nearly a year as visitors canceled travel plans amid deteriorating relations between the neighbors, Japanese government data showed on Wednesday. (Japan Times)

People who traveled in Japan by rail, air and road decreased from a year earlier during the Bon summer holidays due to a heavy storm. (Japan Times)

Japan has approved shipments of a high-tech material to South Korea for the second time since imposing export curbs last month, two sources told Reuters news agency, ahead of talks between government officials this week to resolve a bitter dispute stemming from their wartime past. (aljazeera.com)

Immigration authorities revoked a record 832 visas in 2018, more than double the figure of a year earlier, Justice Ministry data showed Monday. (Japan Times)

Japan's current bubble tea craze has sent tapioca imports soaring to meet the demand for the drink made with cold milk and tapioca balls. (Asahi)

Korean Air says it will suspend more flights from South Korea to Japan, due to lower travel demand amid worsening bilateral ties between the two countries. (NHK)

Up to 3.41 million people, accounting for about 5 percent of Japan’s total labor force, are estimated to be working as freelancers, according to a recent survey conducted by the government. (Japan Times)

Japan's Prince Hisahito has paid a courtesy call on the King and Queen of Bhutan. (NHK)

More than 2,000 people tested their skills at scooping up goldfish at an annual event in Nara Prefecture, western Japan, on Sunday. (NHK)

Japan's government is promoting private lodgings for tourists who will visit during the Olympic and Paralympic games next summer. (NHK)

Police in Japan have arrested a man on a national wanted list who is suspected of forcibly stopping a car and beating the driver on a highway. (NHK)

Japan will tighten control over foreign investments in domestic companies involved in semiconductors and other high-tech industries by focusing on the purchase of shares that carry voting rights, Nikkei learned Saturday. (Nikkei)

A powerful typhoon ripped through western Japan on Thursday, leaving one man dead and about 50 people injured, while greatly disrupting summer holiday traffic. (Kyodo)

An estimated 12,751 people were rushed to hospitals due to heat-related conditions across Japan over the week from Aug 5, of whom 23 died, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said Wednesday. (Japan Today)

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has skipped a visit to the controversial Yasukuni shrine for war dead, but sent a ritual offering on the 74th anniversary of Japan's World War II surrender, a gesture likely to be criticised by Asian neighbours. (aljazeera.com)

Japan's new emperor spoke Thursday (Aug 15) of "deep remorse" over the country's wartime past, in his first speech to commemorate the end of World War II since his enthronement in May. (channelnewsasia.com)

People in Japan hoping to predict the next big earthquake should ignore mysterious deep-sea fish after experts said rare sightings of the creatures on the country's beaches did not, as some had believed, foretell a seismic calamity. (theguardian.com)

Air carriers in Japan have canceled 549 domestic flights for Thursday due to a severe tropical storm approaching western Japan. (NHK)

With Severe Tropical Storm Krosa approaching western Japan, evacuation instructions had been issued to five people in three households in Wakayama Prefecture as of 4 a.m. Thursday. The instruction urges immediate evacuation. (NHK)

The Meteorological Agency is warning of heavy rain as severe tropical storm Krosa approaches western Japan. Agency officials say it could make landfall by Thursday. (NHK)