JR East announced on November 11th that it will retire the beloved Suica penguin mascot at the end of fiscal 2026, marking the 25th anniversary of the Suica transportation IC card service, and will introduce a new character from fiscal 2027.

The government is moving to include the use of “okome-ken,” or rice vouchers, in its upcoming package of economic measures. The vouchers can be used to purchase rice and other food items and have already been distributed by several municipalities as part of local initiatives to offset rising living costs.

NHK Party leader Takashi Tachibana was arrested in the early hours of November 9th on suspicion of defamation in connection with false statements he spread on social media regarding a former Hyogo prefectural assembly member.

Sony Group has released a free dataset designed for evaluating AI image analysis performance, opening new opportunities for developers and researchers to improve machine learning models.

Thai police have dispatched senior officers to Japan to coordinate with local authorities over the case of a 12-year-old Thai girl who was illegally employed at a massage parlor in Tokyo.

This ex-sumo fighter fought in high level sumo for over 15 years and then found his calling making hamburgers. His strength has apparently carried on to his delicious hamburgers, hidden away in the suburbs of Tokyo! (Japanese Food Craftsman)

Aerial images of Hokkaido showed a solitary round “hole” in the mountains near Mt. Yotei, leading a reporting team to Kyogoku Town where an unpaved forest road ended at a dam and, beyond a locked gate and warning signs, at a restricted facility on a ridge that turned out to be a perfectly circular reservoir built on the mountaintop.

Princess Aiko, the only daughter of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, paid her respects at the mausoleum of Emperor Showa and other imperial tombs in Hachioji, Tokyo, ahead of her official visit to Laos later this month.

The outlook for rice prices over the next three months has declined sharply amid expectations that an increase in new rice harvests will ease supply and demand pressures.

Tokyo Disneyland in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture has unveiled its first new Christmas parade in ten years, titled "Toy’s Wonderous Christmas!" Centered on the theme of Santa Claus’s toy factory, the parade brings Santa together with Mickey and Minnie, who ride on a giant float to entertain the crowds.

A special train designed to resemble a park filled with greenery ran on Tokyu lines in Tokyo, transforming the interior of an ordinary carriage into a lush, nature-themed space.

The Nikkei Average has surged past 50,000, yet many individual investors say their portfolios have barely moved, underscoring how narrowly led the rally has become as the NT ratio—Nikkei divided by TOPIX—climbs to a record, reflecting outsized strength in a handful of high-priced technology names while a broad swath of stocks lags behind, and even within the Nikkei 225 the gap between the strongest and weakest deciles over the past six months has widened to extreme levels, pushing the headline index higher while leaving many constituents flat.

Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and other researchers have discovered that female saw-toothed grain beetles cultivate fungi in a special organ on their hind legs, using it to coat their eggs with protective fungal filaments that block parasitic wasps from laying their own eggs inside.

The Budget Committee of the House of Representatives opened on November 7th, with Prime Minister Takaichi facing her first full-scale debate since taking office.

A power outage that halted operations on the Sapporo Municipal Subway on November 3rd was caused by an aluminum-coated balloon. Investigations have revealed that similar troubles have occurred across various transportation systems in Japan.

The Grand Egyptian Museum, which opened on November 1st near the Giza Pyramids outside Cairo, marks one of Egypt’s most ambitious cultural projects in decades—built with extensive Japanese financial and technical support totaling about 84.2 billion yen in yen loans.

Faint white road lines that fade over time are becoming a safety concern in Nagoya, prompting the city to test an AI-based system that automatically detects worn markings and helps determine where maintenance is needed most.

The National Police Agency announced on November 6th that it has revised the National Public Safety Commission regulations to allow police officers to use rifles for bear control. The amendment will take effect on November 13th.

Gasoline prices rose for the first time in four weeks to 173.60 yen per liter as of 2 p.m. on November 6th, up just 0.10 yen from the previous week. However, with the government’s decision on November 5th to abolish the provisional gasoline tax by the end of the year, prices are expected to fall in stages before the abolition takes full effect.

Around 1,200 investors have filed a class-action lawsuit with the Osaka District Court seeking the return of more than 11.4 billion yen from the real estate fund “Minna de Ooya-san,” which has been delaying distribution payments to its investors.

Office furniture giant Itoki announced on November 5th the development of a new maintenance system that uses artificial intelligence to detect early signs of failures in logistics warehouses.

Real wages in Japan fell 1.4% in September from a year earlier, marking the ninth consecutive month of decline, as rising prices continued to outpace wage increases, according to data released by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

Offshore wind power, seen as Japan’s key to achieving carbon neutrality, is facing a critical test following the withdrawal of major players such as Mitsubishi Corporation. While the government is preparing to reopen bidding for large-scale offshore wind projects, questions remain over what institutional reforms are needed to make renewable energy truly sustainable.

In the House of Councillors on November 6th, Prime Minister Takaichi faced her first major challenge from Sanseito leader Sohei Kamiya, who took the podium for the first time to question the government’s stance on accepting foreign workers.

A 51-year-old man has been arrested for forcing a 12-year-old Thai girl to work illegally at a private massage parlor in Tokyo’s Bunkyo Ward, in what police believe may be part of a human trafficking operation.