Japan's social security costs hit record high in fiscal 2016 of more than one trillion dollars as the population continues to age. (NHK)

The life and times of Japan's first golfer: AMSTERDAM, 1606 (thesamuraigolfer.com)

Amazon.com will help Japan's small and midsize businesses ship to 100 overseas markets through its online mall, taking care of customs and other matters for fees comparable to domestic orders. (Nikkei)

A high court upheld Thursday a lower court ruling that found constitutional a legal provision that allows only men to file lawsuits denying legal fatherhood, dismissing a damages suit filed by a family against the state. (Japan Today)

Police in Sapporo said Thursday they have arrested a 49-year-old man on suspicion of killing his 23-year-old pregnant wife in a ward office car parking lot. (Japan Today)

Japan's Ministry of Justice on Thursday requested its largest-ever budget for fiscal 2019, including 58.8 billion yen ($528 million) to create a new agency dedicated to immigration services and to add more than 500 staffers to handle the expanded role. (Nikkei)

A bicycle thrown from a municipal apartment building hit and injured a 76-year-old woman walking below in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on Tuesday. (Japan Today)

East Japan Railway Company held the first media preview on Wednesday of its new station being built in central Tokyo. (NHK)

Keio University senior Kanako Date is Japan's representative to the Miss World 2018 competition to be held on China's Hainan Island from Nov. 9 to Dec. 8. (Kyodo)

Tokyo Metropolitan Police are searching for a man who stole a high-end bracelet affixed with a so-called “power stone” from a shop in Taito Ward last week, reports TBS News (Aug. 28). (tokyoreporter.com)

Police said Wednesday they have arrested a 49-year-old woman on suspicion of fatally stabbing a 54-year-old man in an apartment in Chofu, Tokyo. (Japan Today)

Another elderly patient at a hospital has died, police said Wednesday, following the deaths of four others possibly due to heatstroke after the air conditioners broke down. (Japan Today)

Fukushima Mayor Hiroshi Kohata announced a decision on Tuesday to remove a controversial statue of a child in a radiation protection suit that has drawn waves of criticism since it was unveiled early this month. (Japan Times)

Industry groups from Japan and China have agreed to create a unified standard for devices used to charge batteries in electric vehicles. (NHK)

Toyota Motor said it will invest 500 million dollars in US ride-hailing company Uber to help develop self-driving vehicles. (NHK)

Japan's Empress Michiko gave a piano performance at a music workshop in the resort town of Kusatsu in Gunma Prefecture, north of Tokyo. (NHK)

The Japanese manga artist famous for her character Chibi Maruko-chan has died. Her office says she passed away from breast cancer on August 15th. She was 53 years old. (NHK)

Experts have found plastic in the stomach of a dead blue whale washed ashore in eastern Japan earlier this month. They say it is an example of how marine plastic contamination is spreading. (NHK)

With the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in sight, the Japanese government aims to simplify tax-free shopping by digitizing the paperwork. (Nikkei)

Where, and how, will you spend New Year's Eve? There is one place where the party goes on throughout the night and the new year is rung in to the sound of fireworks, the Tokyo resort in Chiba that makes up two of Japan's top three theme parks, and the New Year's Eve Passport as the special ticket is known, will go on sale next month. (Japan Today)

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has officially announced he will run in the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in September. (NHK)

Air guitar enthusiasts gathered in the Finnish city of Oulu on Friday to shred and strum their imaginary instruments in pursuit of the world championship of the bizarre dance form (Japan Times)

It's getting ever more crowded in the ancient capital of Nara as record numbers of two-legged visitors encounter record numbers of four-legged residents, creating concerns about the health and safety of both groups. (Japan Times)

Japan's space agency has picked 3 locations on the Ryugu asteroid for its Hayabusa-2 probe to make its first landing. It sees the asteroid's equator as the most likely point. (NHK)

Typhoon Cimaron has been downgraded to a severe tropical storm. Weather officials in Japan say it is heading north after making landfall for the second time near the western city of Himeji in Hyogo Prefecture. (NHK)