Despite tougher laws enacted last year, smokers can light up in some restaurants and bars. Tobacco advertising is allowed on television, cigarette packages don't contain graphic health warnings, and tobacco is cheap compared to other major cities. (Japan Today)

Starbucks opened a sprawling, high-end roastery cafe in Tokyo on Thursday. (NHK)

Netflix's popular reality series "Queer Eye" recently wrapped up filming for a number of special Japan-based episodes. (Japan Times)

Police arrested two doctors in their 20s Wednesday on suspicion of raping a woman after giving her a drug-laced alcoholic drink during a party in Tokyo in January. (Japan Today)

Japan's labor shortage looks anything but convenient for operators of 7-Eleven and other 24-hour outlets. The union of convenience-store owners has asked 7-Eleven Japan to allow them to open for shorter hours. Many operators say they can't find the staff to keep their stores running around-the-clock. (NHK)

The international terminal at Haneda airport in Tokyo will be renamed Terminal 3 in March 2020 as part of large-scale renovations to cope with an increase in international flights ahead of the Olympics and Paralympics, sources said Tuesday. (Japan Times)

Hokkaido in the winter is cold and if you go to the very north coast along the Sea of Okhotsk, you'll find Abashiri (網走市) 260km / 165mi north of Sapporo. (ONLY in JAPAN)

Kanagawa Prefectural Police have arrested a 22-year-old male university student over the alleged import of the gas nitrous oxide, a designated medicine commonly known as "laughing gas," reports the Sankei Shimbun (tokyoreporter.com)

A Japanese government panel says the maximum probability of a magnitude-seven earthquake occurring along the Japan Trench in the next 30 years is more than 90 percent. (NHK)

Japan's industry minister Hiroshige Seko has urged the country's antitrust watchdog to investigate whether Amazon Japan's new loyalty program will force vendors to shoulder a heavy financial burden. (NHK)

Sumo's governing body told wrestlers Tuesday they are no longer allowed to grow beards, which some competitors in Japan's ancient sport believe will bring them good luck. (Japan Times)

Two leading Japanese firms plan to launch an on-demand ride-sharing service. Toyota and Softbank see a promising market in the growing number of people who think of cars as something to use, but not to own. (NHK)

The Bank of Japan can abandon its 2 percent inflation target or suspend efforts to achieve it once the job market is tight enough because the public is better off having prices fall, not rise, an economic adviser to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said. (Japan Today)

Japan's Imperial Household Agency announced on Monday that Emperor Akihito will hold the English title of "His Majesty the Emperor Emeritus" after he abdicates on April 30. (NHK)

Golf returned to the Olympics three years ago in Rio de Janeiro after a 112-year absence. But few play golf in Brazil, which kicked up problems from the start when a top-notch course had to be built amid protests from environmentalists and ensuing court cases and charges of corruption. (Japan Today)

Maybe it's something in the gazpacho or paella, as Spain just surpassed Italy to become the world's healthiest country. (Japan Times)

Power outages disrupted train services between Tokyo and Chiba Prefecture for more than four hours on Monday morning, affecting about 280,000 commuters. (NHK)

Hiroshima Prefectural Police said Sunday they have placed a 34-year-old man on the nationwide wanted list in connection with the murder of an 86-year-old man at his house in Hiroshima last week. (Japan Today)

Japan's transport ministry says it will be testing body scanners at a busy Tokyo subway station next month. The scanners will screen dangerous objects hidden beneath clothing. (NHK)

A ceremony to celebrate 30 years of Emperor Akihito's reign has been held in Tokyo, with the attendance of the Imperial couple. (NHK)

Prominent U.S.-born Japanese literature scholar Donald Keene, who introduced a roster of talented writers from Japan to the world, died of cardiac arrest at a Tokyo hospital on Sunday. He was 96. (Japan Times)

Human bones believed to be from some 500 bodies were found at a house in Tokyo in November last year, police sources said. (Japan Times)

A 30-year-old man was sent to prosecutors last week over the alleged smuggling of liquid cannabis from the U.S., reports Kyodo News (tokyoreporter.com)

A 37-year-old truck driver has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after he injured another truck driver with a knife following a road rage incident on the Tomei Expressway in Shizuoka Prefecture. (Japan Today)

Purchases by foreign tourists at department stores in Japan have dropped, despite a record number of overseas visitors. It marks the first decrease in more than 2 years. (NHK)