Japan's southern prefecture of Okinawa has held a ceremony to commemorate the 74th anniversary of the end of a fierce ground battle during the final stages of World War Two. (NHK)

Foreign tourist spending in rural parts of Japan is surging faster than it is nationwide. (Nikkei)

Junior high school students have become slightly more open to the use of marijuana, in part due to the influence of the internet, an official survey suggests. (Japan Times)

Crown Prince Akishino said Friday he does not know whether the marriage between his daughter, Princess Mako, and her boyfriend, Kei Komuro, will take place, with the plan still pending following reports that Komuro’s family is involved in a financial dispute. (Japan Times)

A coed public high school in western Japan's Shiga Prefecture admitted on Friday to having required female students to verbally report to teachers how many days they were into their menstruation when needing to skip swimming class. (Kyodo)

The British science journal Nature has ranked a university in Japan's southern prefecture of Okinawa in the top ten of institutions with the highest output of top-quality research in the natural sciences. (NHK)

The Diet on Friday passed a bill stipulating for the first time the responsibility of the central and municipal governments for promoting Japanese-language education for foreign residents after Japan opened up to more overseas workers this April. (Japan Today)

The Fukuoka District Court this week handed down its verdict in a suspected pantie theft trial. Back in July of 2016, a woman in Fukuoka City’s Hakata Ward says she hung a pair of panties to dry on her balcony, and they later went missing. (Japan Today)

Attention: Spectators at the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics next year will be allowed to post their photos on social media but not video and audio. (Japan Times)

Bank of Japan Governor Haruko Kuroda said extra stimulus would be an option if prices refuse to keep rising toward the central bank's 2% inflation target. (Nikkei)

Japan's Defense Ministry says Russian military aircraft breached Japanese airspace over the Pacific Ocean twice on Thursday. (NHK)

A doctor and medical intern in custody for allegedly drugging and raping several women earlier this year have been accused in yet another case, police revealed on Thursday, reports the Sankei Shimbun (June 20). (tokyoreporter.com)

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has decided against holding simultaneous elections for both houses of the Diet this summer for fear of undermining the strength of the ruling coalition, senior administration officials said Wednesday. (Japan Times)

Weather officials are calling for continued caution against landslides in two Japanese prefectures hit by Tuesday's powerful earthquake. (NHK)

A man convicted of assault and theft fled by car Wednesday in Aikawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, as prosecutors and police were trying to take him into custody, local officials said. (Japan Times)

Japan has posted a trade deficit for the first time in four months. The shortfall comes as shipments to China and other Asian economies plunged. (NHK)

The Geospatial Information Authority of Japan has created a new map symbol that indicates monuments put up in memory of Japan's past natural disasters. (NHK)

An OECD survey shows that teachers in Japan are the busiest in the world, mainly due to time spent on extracurricular activities. (NHK)

The Tokyo District Court on Tuesday sentenced Pierre Taki, an actor and member of Japanese techno-pop duo Denki Groove, to 18 months in prison, suspended for three years, for using cocaine. (Japan Times)

The Financial Services Agency estimates couples will require up to 30 million yen in retirement savings, far higher than the amount suggested by a panel in a controversial report that questioned the credibility of the public pension system, a document showed Tuesday. (Kyodo)

The Japan Meteorological Agency says a magnitude-6.7 quake struck the northern part of the country late Tuesday night. No fatalities have been reported. Tsunami advisories issued along the Sea of Japan coast have been lifted. (NHK)

Shoplifting has long been an issue in Japan with retail staff going to great lengths to combat it, such as being dragged by cars or covering the entire ceiling with security cameras. (soranews24.com)

A 62-year-old man wanted by police on suspicion of stabbing his former wife in Noboribetsu City, Hokkaido, has been found dead in a forest, police said Monday. (Japan Today)

Almost half of singles in Japan who wish to get married are unable to find a suitable partner, with 61.4 percent of the group stating they are not doing anything to change the situation, a government survey showed Tuesday. (Japan Today)

Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten and supermarket chain Seiyu are starting a drone delivery service for summer visitors to an island off Yokosuka, near Tokyo. (NHK)