Controversial Japanese casino tycoon Kazuo Okada has been arrested in Hong Kong over alleged and unspecified "corruption-related" offences, his former company in Tokyo said on Monday. (Japan Today)

The Tanabata Star Festival has opened in Sendai, northeastern Japan, filling the main shopping arcade in the city with colorful bamboo decorations. (NHK)

A Japanese court has begun a trial filed by a man who is seeking compensation from the government after being forced to undergo sterilization under the now-defunct Eugenic Protection Law. (NHK)

A 10-meter-long whale washed ashore at a beach in Kamakura City on Sunday, reports the Sankei Shimbun (tokyoreporter.com)

Extreme heat continues to afflict wide areas across Japan. Temperatures are expected to hit 39 degrees Celsius, or what weather officials call "life-threatening" levels, in some places on Monday. (NHK)

A French woman has been missing in eastern Japan since late last month, police announced Sunday. (Japan Today)

As Kaori Shibo bends her head down and peers at a log through a magnifying glass, she emits a delighted gasp. The object of her adoration? Moss. (Japan Times)

Holidaymakers have flocked to a maze created with sunflowers in Yamagata Prefecture, northern Japan. (NHK)

One of the largest summer festivals in northeastern Japan has started in Akita City, featuring bamboo poles decorated with dozens of lanterns. (NHK)

A Russian media report says the country's air force has deployed fighter jets on a trial basis on one of the 4 Russian-held islands claimed by Japan. (NHK)

A university hospital in southwestern Japan says that over the past 2 years, 15 patients appear to have been infected with drug-resistant bacteria. (NHK)

A 7-month-old Japanese baby has become an Internet sensation for her full head of thick black hair. (NHK)

China's stock market has been overtaken as the world's second-biggest by Japan's, having been swiped this year by the threat of a trade war with the United States and slowing economic growth. (Japan Today)

Hotel Okura Tokyo, the flagship hotel of one of Japan's top hotel chain operators, has been fully booked during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics thanks to stays by officials connected with the International Olympic Committee. (Kyodo)

Strong sunshine pushed up temperatures across most of Japan on Friday. (NHK)

Triathlon events at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will be staged on the large man-made island of Odaiba in Tokyo Bay and will start early in the morning to counter the heat that is expected in the Japanese capital. (Japan Today)

Japan’s driver’s licenses will start to indicate their expiration date using the Western calendar instead of the Japanese calendar, a draft of revised traffic law regulations showed Thursday. (Japan Times)

Japanese work notoriously hard—to which the abundance of comatose passengers on the commuter trains attests. (The Economist)

Mobile carrier NTT Docomo Inc. said Thursday it plans to review its two-year smartphone contracts by next March, a day after rival KDDI Corp. pledged to change its contracts in response to government warnings. (Kyodo)

Sharp will stop making household appliances in Japan, relocating production abroad as it turns toward markets such as China and Southeast Asia. (Nikkei)

Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Tuesday arrested a female Canadian cosplay (costume play) enthusiast for allegedly engaging in a fake marriage with a Japanese national two years ago in order to obtain residency, reports Jiji Press. (tokyoreporter.com)

Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a male Chinese national employed at a reflexology massage parlor in Ota Ward over the alleged molestation of a female customer last month, reports TBS News (tokyoreporter.com)

Japan's government has set up an office to handle next year's abdication of Emperor Akihito and the enthronement of Crown Prince Naruhito. (NHK)

One in four Japanese companies reported record-breaking profit for the quarter ended in June, marking a strong start to a fiscal year fraught with trade concerns. (Nikkei)

The Japanese government is considering splitting the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, concluding that the mammoth bureaucracy with an extensive portfolio is incapable of responding to the complex needs of an aging society. (Nikkei)