The Japanese government has reaffirmed its policy of enhancing its coast guard by obtaining new patrol vessels and aircraft. (NHK)

Japan's Supreme Court has ruled against more than 380 people seeking official recognition as survivors of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki in 1945. (NHK)

Japan's Toyota Motor has unveiled bold new plans to cope with the global shift toward electric cars. (NHK)

A Russian Soyuz spacecraft was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 1:21 PM, local time, on Sunday. (NHK)

Police in Abashiri, Hokkaido, have arrested a 78-year-old man on suspicion of assault after he choked a 62-year-old taxi driver. (Japan Today)

A 27-year-old man was arrested Saturday on suspicion of kidnapping a 14-year-old girl in Fukui Prefecture and taking her to his home in Aichi Prefecture, police said. (Japan Today)

A ski resort opened in western Japan's Hyogo Prefecture on Saturday, with its operator and the local government saying it is the country's first new facility to be opened to skiers and snowboarders in 14 years. (Japan Today)

The operator of Japan’s only “baby hatch” said Saturday that the nation should allow women to give birth anonymously at hospitals in cases of unwanted pregnancy, while ensuring the children’s right to learn their mother’s identity after they grow up. (Japan Times)

Japan's Coast Guard has released video footage of North Korean boats illegally fishing in Japan's exclusive economic zone. (NHK)

Police said Friday that two glass windows and a glass door on train cars on the JR Musashino Line were shattered by stones thrown through them on Wednesday and Thursday nights. (Japan Today)

The Japanese government is planning to revise steps that local governments should take to protect residents in case of armed attack. The move is in response to North Korea's continued development of ballistic missiles. (NHK)

The Japanese government has decided to add more entities to its sanctions list for North Korea, which is continuing its nuclear and missile development. (NHK)

A funeral home set to open soon in Japan plans to provide the country's first-ever drive-through service. (NHK)

The latest Tankan survey by the Bank of Japan shows the country's labor shortage is the worst that it has been in over a quarter of a century. (NHK)

Japanese authorities have found 4 bodies in 2 wooden boats that washed ashore on the Sea of Japan coast in Akita City, Akita Prefecture. (NHK)

Japan's space agency says its asteroid probe Hayabusa2 is on course to reach its target between Earth and Mars in about 6 months. (NHK)

Emperor Akihito wishes to step down in an abdication ceremony that is "as simple as possible," without inviting foreign guests and holding a parade, the head of the Imperial Household Agency said Thursday. (Japan Today)

With staff getting harder to come by, nearly 60% of top executives at major Japanese companies are inclined to invest more in training and educating personnel in fiscal 2018, according to a Nikkei Inc. survey. (Nikkei)

Officials from a Japanese train operator say a crack was found near the welded joint of one of the key parts and the undercarriage of a Shinkansen bullet train. (NHK)

Osaka University said Wednesday that personal data of around 80,000 students, graduates, staff, former workers and others may have been stolen by hackers. (Japan Times)

For the first time, a Japanese high court has ordered the operator of a nuclear plant not to restart a reactor. (NHK)

A window from a US military helicopter has fallen onto the grounds of an elementary school in Okinawa, Japan's southern prefecture. (NHK)

The American husband of a former Japanese abductee has died at the age of 77. (NHK)

About 100 police and firefighters resumed their search Monday morning for a three-year-old boy who has been missing in Echizen, Fukui Prefecture, since Saturday. (Japan Today)

Severe weather conditions are expected to continue in northern and western Japan through Wednesday. (NHK)