Those hoping to watch a tennis match featuring No. 1-ranked Naomi Osaka at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Games will likely face long odds in the upcoming ticket lottery. (Nikkei)

A pharmaceutical science professor at a university in Shikoku was referred to prosecutors Tuesday for allegedly instructing his students to produce the synthetic drug MDMA without a permit, the university said Tuesday, in an echo of hit TV series “Breaking Bad.” (Japan Times)

Airbnb and other home-sharing services are recovering in Japan in the wake of strict regulations introduced almost a year ago, and some industry experts say there is more room to flourish, especially in rural areas. (Nikkei)

British rock band Queen will perform in Japan next January as part of their 2020 Rhapsody Tour amid a wave of popularity after their biopic film "Bohemian Rhapsody" won an Academy Award, organizer Creativeman Productions Ltd. said Wednesday. (Kyodo)

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko are in the city of Ise in central Japan on their last trip to a local region before the Emperor's abdication on April 30. (NHK)

Tissue paper and other daily products sold at Osaka Prison are so expensive that inmates mostly cannot purchase them, a situation amounting to a human rights violation, according to local lawyers. (Japan Times)

Can the country welcome 60 million visitors a year without losing its culture -- and its mind? (Nikkei)

Last year, the government passed a law covering minpaku, which is when people rent out space on their properties to travelers (a la Airbnb). The law is part of an effort to regulate accommodations amid a tourism boom ahead of the 2020 Olympics. (Japan Times)

What is believed to be Japan’s largest fossilized dinosaur skeleton has been restored as a life-size replica, researchers and officials from the town of Mukawa, in Hokkaido, where the original discovery was made, said Wednesday. (Japan Times)

A senior manager with Japan Airlines Co. was arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of committing an indecent act with a female junior high school student in exchange for money, according to the Metropolitan Police Department. (Japan Times)

The Japanese government plans to proceed with printing new banknotes matching the sample designs it released, even though some people have pointed out that one of the portraits used is different from the probable source photo. (NHK)

The English-language ability of students at Japanese public secondary schools fell short of the government's target in the 2018 academic year through March, despite a slight improvement from a year earlier, a government survey showed Tuesday. (Japan Today)

For fans, athletes, and volunteers, next year's Tokyo Olympics could become known as the get-up-early games. (Japan Today)

As Japan finds itself on the cusp of a new imperial reign -- to be named Reiwa, according to the government's announcement on April 1 -- the nation's collective eyes briefly turned upwards, in the direction of the over 1,200 years of continuous, uninterrupted generations of Japan's imperial family. (Japan Today)

One week after an F-35A stealth fighter jet crashed off the northeastern coast of Japan, U.S. and Japanese military vessels are struggling to find the wreckage and protect its valuable "secrets." (Japan Today)

Mount Aso in Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, has erupted. (NHK)

Japan's Hoshino Resorts will open a luxury hotel in Okinawa next year based on the ancient fortresses that dotted the subtropical islands. (Nikkei)

The 2020 Tokyo Olympics organizing committee has announced a detailed schedule for the 17-day event. (NHK)

Police in Ikoma, Nara Prefecture, said Monday they have arrested a 24-year-old man on suspicion of stabbing his 53-year-old father to death at their home. (Japan Today)

NTT Docomo Inc said Monday it will cut its mobile phone charges by up to 40 percent from June amid the government's call on telecom carriers to lower service fees. (Japan Today)

Fujitsu Ltd. said Monday that, working with national research institute Riken, the major Japanese electronics maker has finished designing the successor to the K supercomputer. (Japan Times)

Top Japanese telecom group NTT plans to locate its new overseas headquarters in London, bucking a trend of multinational companies moving out of the U.K. amid uncertainty over Brexit, Nikkei has learned. (Nikkei)

Japan should more than double the consumption tax rate to as high as 26 percent to ensure its fiscal sustainability, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Monday. (Japan Today)

A woman was arrested Monday for attempted murder over the abandonment of a newborn baby in a toilet bowl, after giving birth in a convenience store bathroom in Saitama Prefecture, police said. (Japan Today)

Every day, half a million people are said to cross at Shibuya’s famous scramble crossing, making it one of the busiest intersections in the world. (soranews24.com)