It's an underappreciated nuance of Japanese culture that the public employment office is known as "Hello Work." It's an incredibly cute and festive name that you could easily imagine Rip Taylor shouting as he fires puffs of confetti into the air. (Japan Today)

Japan's labor ministry says additional irregularities have been found in the employee work-hour data used for Diet debate on working system reform. (NHK)

Pictograms on how to use Japanese electric toilets have been registered as a global standard, the government said Monday, in a step aimed at making such signs more familiar to the growing number of foreign tourists visiting the country. (Kyodo)

The Japanese arm of German automaker Porsche says more than 28,000 email addresses have been leaked via a hack. (NHK)

Rakuten applied for a cellular frequency band with Japan's communications ministry on Monday, aiming to launch service in 2019 as the country's fourth wireless carrier. (Nikkei)

A 47-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of kidnapping a 17-year-old high school girl after he took her to his home in Tokyo’s Setagaya Ward and kept her there for six days following an online correpondence, police said Sunday. (Japan Today)

The Japanese government says it will issue the J-ALERT nationwide emergency warning system in multiple languages. (NHK)

As residents and tourists in Kyoto complain more about higher prices, hotel shortages and crowds at train stations, shrines and temples, Kansai’s corporate leaders are searching for ways to keep visitors coming. (Japan Times)

The Winter Olympics in PyeongChang just had their closing ceremony and that means the world turns it's attention to Japan. (ONLY in JAPAN)

The island of Aoshima, part of Japan’s Ehime Prefecture, is commonly considered a feline paradise. While it’s not Japan’s only cat island, it’s the most famous, attracting visitors both domestic and international who come to see the 130 kitties that roam free along the streets of the island community. (soranews24.com)

As more foreign travelers visit the historic Japanese capital of Kyoto crowded and delayed city buses have become a headache for local citizens, prompting traffic authorities to take steps to ensure smoother passenger services and encourage the use of subway lines. (Japan Times)

Mongolia lodged a diplomatic protest with Japan on Friday after a monthly kid’s comic magazine included a picture of national hero Genghis Khan with a crude sketch of male genitalia across his forehead. (Japan Times)

Hospitals and clinics in rural areas are finding it increasingly difficult to hire nurses on their own, and the amount of referral fees they are paying to private agents are significantly on the rise, a recent research report shows. (Japan Times)

Japanese police have arrested 2 men in connection with a shooting at the headquarters of a pro-North Korea organization in central Tokyo. (NHK)

Japanese automaker Honda has announced that its HondaJet won the most delivered jet title in its category last year. (NHK)

A senior Japanese official has criticized South Korea for what he calls the illegal occupation of the Takeshima Islands in the Sea of Japan. He made the remark on Thursday at a ceremony to commemorate Japan's incorporation of the islands more than a century ago. (NHK)

Japan's Crown Prince Naruhito turned 58 on Friday. (NHK)

For people living in crowded cities in Japan, nothing tugs at the heartstrings more than a picturesque image of a tiny train station in the middle of the countryside. (soranews24.com)

Japan's Self-Defense Force has begun surveying a lake in the northern prefecture of Aomori where a US fighter jet offloaded 2 external fuel tanks. (NHK)

A World Trade Organization panel has ruled in Japan's favor in a dispute over South Korea's ban on seafood imports from 8 Japanese prefectures. (NHK)

Japan tops the world as the country with the lowest rate of newborn mortality in 2016, followed by Iceland and Singapore, while Pakistan is the riskiest place to be born according to a new UNICEF report launched on Tuesday. (Japan Today)

Japanese speed skaters have won gold in the women's team pursuit event at the PyeongChang Olympics. (NHK)

An uproar in Japan over the homeland of the "Moomin" storybook characters was elevated to a diplomatic matter on Wednesday, with the Japanese and Finnish foreign ministers assuring each other the issue has been well and truly resolved. (Kyodo)

The estimated number of foreign visitors for January rose 9 percent from a year earlier to 2,501,500, a record for the month, the Japan Tourism Agency said Wednesday. (Japan Times)

While President Donald Trump’s decision to pull the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership initially put the deal on life support in January 2017, details released Wednesday revealed that the remaining 11 countries have managed to agree on terms close to the agreement’s original form. (Japan Times)