A Japanese railway company has unveiled a new shinkansen bullet train that it plans to put into service in fiscal 2020. (NHK)

The first shipment of Japanese beef to Taiwan in 16 years passed through customs in Taipei on Saturday following the lifting of a ban earlier last month. (Japan Times)

On the morning of 26 September in Tokyo, schoolchildren on their way to a day of learning and play at Edogawa Elementary School were crossing a pedestrian land bridge. However, hanging from the rail was a little doll made of straw along with a note which read "All you f***ing brats jump from here and die." (rocketnews24.com)

Chinese authorities have ordered a Japanese singer to postpone a concert because of the upcoming Communist Party congress. (NHK)

With higher costs weighing on the conveyor-belt sushi restaurant industry, Akindo Sushiro and Genki Sushi aim through their merger to leverage greater scale to negotiate better prices for quality fish. (Nikkei)

Geisha performers and apprentices held a kyomai traditional dance rehearsal Friday for the annual Onshukai event put on by the Inoue school in Kyoto. (Kyodo)

Police have arrested a man in his 40s on suspicion of attempted murder after he stabbed a homeless man in Shinagawa Ward, Tokyo, on Saturday morning. (Japan Today)

More married women are entering the workforce — even those whose husbands are high earners — apparently because they want to, the labor ministry said Friday. (Japan Times)

Xiang Xiang, the female giant panda born in June at Japan's oldest zoo, is growing well and has added 900 grams in 10 days, Ueno Zoo said Sunday. (Japan Times)

Illegal overtime has been found at 37 of the 762 companies involved in the construction of the new National Stadium in Tokyo, the labor ministry’s Tokyo Labor Bureau has said. (Japan Times)

A survey has found that about 3.2 million Japanese may be addicted to gambling. (NHK)

Nissan Motor is temporarily halting sales of at least 60,000 vehicles after unqualified employees were found to have conducted final pre-shipment inspections. (NHK)

A rollercoaster at an amusement park in Osaka suddenly stopped in midair on Friday, leaving more than 30 passengers stuck face-down for half an hour before being rescued. No one was injured. (NHK)

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is planning to use the upcoming House of Representatives election to gauge the public’s opinion of his intention to change how increased revenue from the consumption tax hike will be used. (the-japan-news.com)

Selling painkillers in Japan used to be like pulling teeth. That was until baby boomers discovered how analgesics could take the sting from arthritis, diabetic nerve damage and the ravages of cancer. (Japan Times)

Contaminated water may have leaked from the disaster-struck Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant since April, the owner said Thursday. (Japan Times)

A 39-year-old man, arrested on Sept 5 for stalking a 27-year-old woman, has also been charged with indecently assaulting her while she slept in her apartment in Tokyo’s Adachi Ward. (Japan Today)

Tokyo Metropolitan Police have busted an operation in the Kabukicho red-light district of Shinjuku Ward that sold pornographic DVDs deemed illegal, reports TBS News. (tokyoreporter.com)

Struggling Japanese electronics company Toshiba says it has signed a deal to sell its memory chip unit to a group led by US private equity firm Bain Capital. The deal is worth about 18 billion dollars. (NHK)

Toyota Motor Corp. is establishing a new venture to develop electric vehicle technology with partner Mazda Motor Corp., seeking to catch up with rivals in an increasingly frenetic race to produce more battery-powered cars. (the-japan-news.com)

Yamato Holdings Co., a Japanese parcel delivery service group, said Thursday that it will hire 10,000 new workers, including drivers specializing in busy night deliveries, over the three years through fiscal 2019. (Japan Times)

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe dissolved the House of Representatives on Thursday, calling a general election in a bid to maintain his hold on power, while opposition parties rallied together in a major reorganization aimed at giving the administration a challenge at the polls. (Japan Times)

Heavy rain hit eastern Japan areas near Tokyo on Thursday, marking record hourly rainfalls in some municipalities, while a man was believed washed away by a swollen river in Yokohama, according to the weather agency and local authorities. (Japan Today)

Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike's new party has issued a direct challenge to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, receiving a show of support from Japan's leading opposition Democratic Party, whose chief Seiji Maehara said that he will pursue a de facto merger with Koike in the upcoming snap election. (Nikkei)

An Osaka tattoo artist was found guilty Wednesday of violating the Medical Practitioners’ Law in a case that drew international attention to Japan’s tattoo culture. (Japan Times)