Tokyo’s Nakano Ward said Friday that it has decided to allow female students at all municipal junior high schools to pick pants for their uniform from April. (the-japan-news.com)

Japanese director Mamoru Hosoda's film, "Mirai," won the Annie Award for Best Animated Independent Feature in Los Angeles on Saturday. (NHK)

Recent sightings of a rare, serpent-like sea creature — which in Japanese lore, is thought to be a harbinger of natural disasters — have sent Japan’s social media into a frenzy. (news.com.au)

Geisha apprentices, called "maikos," have gathered at Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto to take part in a traditional bean-throwing ritual. (NHK)

Men wearing outlandish straw costumes marched through a small community in northern Japan on Saturday. They were taking part in a centuries-old ritual. (NHK)

The government has announced standards it hopes to set for casino resorts — to be built by the mid-2020s — requiring them to have hotels and conference rooms that would be among the biggest in the country. (Japan Times)

A 27-year-old member of the U.S. Navy stationed at the Atsugi base in Kanagawa Prefecture, has been arrested for breaking and entering after he was caught taking a shower in an apartment in Ebina City on Saturday morning. (Japan Today)

In light of an increasing number of foreign customers, supermarket giant Aeon Co. on Friday launched a real-time video interpreting service. (Japan Times)

Hotels in the famed hot spring resort of Beppu, Oita Prefecture, are considering accepting tattooed visitors in October during the 2019 Rugby World Cup and possibly afterward, according to local industry sources. (Japan Times)

Japan is facing another winter flu crisis with a record-high average of 57.09 patients diagnosed last week with the ailment per medical institution conducting flu tests, the health ministry said Friday. (NHK)

Major hamburger chain operator Mos Food Services Inc. has said it will switch from plastic to paper cutlery for takeout food at its corporate-owned outlets as it joins growing efforts to tackle the issue of plastic waste littering the oceans. (Japan Times)

Flights remain disrupted at Narita airport near Tokyo. One of its runways was shut down for seven hours on Friday due to a stranded plane. (NHK)

A comprehensive free trade deal between Japan and the European Union has come into force. The pact will eventually remove tariffs on more than 90 percent of imports from both sides and liberalize rules in a broad spectrum of fields. (NHK)

A 35-year-old man was arrested Thursday after the exhumation of a body, confirmed later to be that of a missing 19-year-old female university student, east of Tokyo. (Japan Times)

Japan's National Police Agency is to raise the speed limits on parts of 2 expressways to 120 kilometers per hour in March on a trial basis. (NHK)

Earlier this month, Ariana Grande’s love of tattoos made news when it was revealed she’d gotten Pokemon’s Eevee inked onto her bicep. Today, fans around the world are talking about the relationship between Grande’s tattoos and Asian characters again, but this time it’s in a whole different context. (soranews24.com)

Japan's agriculture ministry has decided to hike imports of butter. The aim is to prevent a shortage in the face of dwindling production of raw milk. (NHK)

In a first for Japan, the city of Chiba held a ceremony Tuesday to issue certificates recognizing the partnerships of sexual minority and common-law couples. (Japan Today)

The hallmark of the Heisei Era has been peace. Yet the past three decades have been rattled by a quiet revolution in social norms, from a steady decline in the allure of marriage to a rise in the number of households with only one person. (Japan Times)

Whatever your stance, Brexit has and will continue to raise questions than answers as we move closer to the March 29, 2019, deadline. With the future of Britain and Europe only slightly clearer now than it was two years ago, political leaders are scrambling for position ahead of the forthcoming split. (newsonjapan.com)

To mark the ascension of Japan's new emperor, the government has declared an unprecedented 10-day holiday from late April to early May, worrying investors, who say a market shutdown could cause disruption and unsettle the yen. (Japan Today)

The Bank of Japan has given a glimpse into the dark days it faced following the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers. Officials released the minutes from their meetings after the crash. (NHK)

A mayor in the western Japanese prefecture of Hyogo is in hot water for calling a senior city official "stupid" and suggesting the official "burn down" a local building that stood in the way of the construction of a new road. (Kyodo)

The winter's first ice floes have reached the coast of Japan's northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido. (NHK)

Breaking with precedent, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday removed from his annual policy speech a paragraph outlining his vision for Japan’s ties with South Korea, in a possible reflection of the neighbors’ increasingly tumultuous relationship. (Japan Times)