Job-seekers in the Philippines have taken tests for a new visa status in Japan that aims to increase the number of foreign workers in the country. (NHK)

A US military serviceman and his Japanese girlfriend have died at a condominium in Okinawa. (NHK)

The government plans to penalize universities with many foreign students whose whereabouts are unknown, it was revealed Thursday. (Japan Times)

People having their sexual orientation or gender identity revealed without their consent has become a deepening problem in Japan, a country known for its culture in which the "nail that sticks out gets hammered down." (Kyodo)

U.S. e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc. has raised the price of its Prime membership service in Japan for the first time since launching the service 11 years ago, citing rising costs. (Japan Times)

Kyushu Railway Co said Friday that personal and credit information on up to 8,000 customers were stolen from the goods store website for its "Seven Stars in Kyushu" luxury cruise train. (Japan Today)

The Japan Sumo Association is preparing to host U.S. President Donald Trump at an upcoming tournament after learning he wants to watch a live sumo bout during his visit to Japan at the end of May, a source with the organization said Friday. (Japan Times)

Latest data show that Japanese society continues to gray, with the percentage of the population of working age tying a record low. (NHK)

Japan's Defense Ministry says the number of times Air Self-Defense Force fighter jets were scrambled in fiscal 2018 was the second-highest on record. (NHK)

The Tokyo District Court decided Friday to extend former Nissan Motor Chairman Carlos Ghosn's detention by eight days, refusing to grant the full 10 requested by prosecutors in an unusual move. (Nikkei)

As a country that still stands behind fairly rigid gender roles, Japan has a long way to go in granting its LGBTQ citizens equal rights. Same-sex couples, for example, are still fighting for their right to get married in Japan, and many in the LGBTQ community experience discrimination and exclusion from society on a daily basis. (soranews24.com)

The punctuality of Japanese trains often makes headlines around the world, but while rail staff and the trains themselves have a lot to do with the efficiency of the system, passengers play a role in keeping the trains running on time too. (Japan Today)

A female high school student was hit and killed by a train in Yaita City on Tuesday in an apparent suicide, police have revealed, reports NHK (tokyoreporter.com)

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko marked their 60th wedding anniversary on Wednesday, with celebratory events held during the day ahead of the emperor's abdication at the end of the month. (Japan Today)

The pilot of a Lockheed Martin F-35A stealth fighter jet that crashed into the Pacific Ocean called an end to his training exercise just before the plane went down, it was learned Wednesday. (Nikkei)

Described as the Phil Taylor of women's darts, Japan's Mikuru Suzuki already has plans to dominate the sport after becoming the first Asian player to capture a world title. (Japan Today)

Japan's government on Wednesday approved plans by four mobile network operators to build superfast fifth-generation wireless networks, with investment set to total 1.6 trillion yen ($14.4 billion) over the next five years. (Nikkei)

Japan's Olympic minister resigned Wednesday after making remarks deemed offensive to the people affected by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, a gaffe that had questioned his credentials. (Japan Today)

Japan's antitrust watchdog on Wednesday raided the offices of Rakuten Inc and two other online booking operators, alleging they hurt fair trade by requiring accommodation clients offer their lowest prices on their platforms, according to a source close to the matter. (Japan Today)

An international group of scientists says it has successfully captured the first-ever image of a black hole -- an astronomical object with a gravitational pull so strong that nothing can escape it, not even light. (NHK)

Sources say the wife of former Nissan Motor chairman Carlos Ghosn has returned to Japan and is set to appear in a Tokyo court for questioning on Thursday. (NHK)

A Tokyo court on Wednesday ordered Aleph, the main successor group of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult, to pay more than ¥1 billion in damages to the victims of the Tokyo subway sarin gas attack that shook the country in March 1995. (Japan Times)

The closure of 51 Coco Juku eikaiwa (English conversation) schools in Japan last week, with more to come in June, illustrates just how unstable the English teaching market can be. (Japan Times)

Japanese defense officials are searching for a fighter jet off the coast of Aomori Prefecture, northern Japan. They lost contact while it was on a training mission. (NHK)

Japanese convenience store operator FamilyMart will recruit franchisees to test shorter hours as the industry grapples with a labor crunch that has made it harder to maintain the traditional round-the-clock model, Nikkei has learned. (Nikkei)