The U.S. Marine Corps said Sunday one of its helicopters made an emergency landing on an islet in Okinawa the previous day after an instrument reading indicated the main rotor was “moving at too high a speed.” (Japan Times)

Tokyo man arrested for forcibly tattooing his initials into the butt of a maid cafe employee (Japan Today)

Japan reported in 2017 over 5,000 syphilis patients for the first time since comparable data became available in 1999, with the number rising particularly among women in their 20s, data by a national research center showed Friday. (Japan Today)

An 405 kg (892 pound) bluefin tuna has sold for ¥36.5 million ($320,000) in what may really be Tsukiji market's final year-opening auction at its current site in downtown Tokyo, media reports said Friday. (Japan Times)

The Japanese government will launch a project to convert all traditional squat toilets in popular tourist destinations into sit-on types that are more commonly used in other developed countries. (NHK)

The price of food and drink in Japan is set to rise this year. The growing cost of raw materials and distribution, on the back of the country's labor crunch, are to blame. (NHK)

A mayor in western Japan, who has taken a hard-line stance toward news organizations he considers "biased," refused to answer questions from a reporter on Thursday, telling him "I'll kill you" before walking away. (Kyodo)

The Kumamoto Prefectural Government said Thursday it will allow foreign businesses to make and sell products featuring Kumamon, the official black bear mascot of the southwestern Japan prefecture. (Japan Times)

Many economists predict the Japanese economy will continue to expand in 2018. (NHK)

"Scientist and scholar" clinched the top spot in an annual survey on most popular jobs among Japanese boys for the first time in 15 years, following recent Nobel Prize awards to Japanese scientists, a life insurer said Thursday. (Japan Today)

South Korean President Moon Jae-in apologized to former "comfort women" Thursday, saying the 2015 agreement with Japan negotiated by his predecessor's government in an effort to bring closure to the wartime issue failed to consider the wishes of the women themselves. (Nikkei)

Councilors of the Japan Sumo Association have demoted stablemaster Takanohana from the post of director over his handling of an assault scandal. (NHK)

YouTube star Logan Paul has stepped away from posting videos following an outcry when he uploaded images of what appeared to be the body of someone who killed themselves in a Japanese forest. (Japan Today)

Japan's Financial Services Agency is planning to allow regional banks to close their branches on weekdays as part of its measures to support struggling banks. (NHK)

A Japanese man was stabbed to death and two other men were injured in separate attacks on the streets of Ireland Wednesday. Police investigating the incidents said terrorism is one line of inquiry. (Japan Today)

American blogger Logan Paul apologized Tuesday after getting slammed for a video he shared on YouTube that appeared to show a body hanging in a Japanese forest known as a suicide spot. (Japan Today)

Major department stores were inundated with bargain-hunting shoppers on their first business day of the year Tuesday. (Japan Today)

Japan's Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, along with other members of the imperial family, welcomed 2018 with a New Year's ceremony at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. (Kyodo)

The MRJ's delivery date has been postponed five times, most recently in January 2017 for design modifications that involve shifting some equipment and wiring. But a fresh design is within reach, and Mitsubishi Aircraft has resumed production of fittings for the plane, President Hisakazu Mizutani told The Nikkei in a recent interview. (Nikkei)

The number of Japanese people aged 20, the legal marker for adulthood in the country, will stand at 1.23 million on New Year's Day 2018, unchanged from a year earlier and equating to less than 1 percent of the population for the eighth straight year, a government estimate showed Sunday. (Japan Today)

A woman in her 20s was injured by two men who tried to steal her handbag as she walked home along a street in Sapporo on Saturday night. (Japan Today)

People in Japan have rung in the New Year with celebrations around the country. (NHK)

Millions on Japanese ushered in the new year early Monday by visiting shrines, as well as going to vantage spots to watch the first sunrise (hatsuhinode) of 2018. (Japan Today)

A fire broke out in a four-story building along the busy Center-gai shopping street in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward on Sunday afternoon amid reports that people were trapped inside. (Japan Times)

Millions of Japanese people will visit shrines in Japan on Sunday night and Monday morning, return to their home towns to be with their families and watch the New Year variety show "Kohaku Uta Gassen" (Red and White Song Contest) on NHK as part of the annual New Year celebration. (Japan Today)