A Japanese court sentenced the former head of a parents' group at an elementary school near Tokyo to life in prison on Friday over the 2017 murder of a 9-year-old Vietnamese girl who attended the school. (Kyodo)

Princess Mako’s fiance, Kei Komuro, will attend the law school of Fordham University in New York starting in August, the school announced Thursday. (Japan Times)

A 6.0 magnitude earthquake shook Chiba Prefecture east of Tokyo on Saturday. (NHK)

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has expressed determination to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to resolve the issue of the North's abductions of Japanese. (NHK)

An agency whose clients include the popular Japanese dancing and singing group EXILE has been found to have failed to declare about 300 million yen ($2.7 million) in income for the four years through March 2017, a source close to the matter said Thursday. (Kyodo)

Shoko Asahara, founder of the doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo and mastermind behind the deadly 1995 nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system - and a number of other horrific crimes in the 1980s and ’90s - was executed on Friday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said. (Japan Times)

The latest forecast from Japan's government sees GDP growing by about 1.5 percent in fiscal 2019. Officials expect the current recovery to continue even after the planned consumption tax hike to 10 percent in October 2019. (NHK)

Personnel expenses at Japan's large corporations have grown to their highest level in 16 years as a deepening shortage of workers has forced them to increase pay for part-timers. (Nikkei)

The city of Kyoto once again saw record levels of tourists in 2017, with 15.57 million foreign and Japanese visitors spending at least one night in the former capital, city officials said Wednesday. (Japan Times)

A Japanese court has ordered the government to grant refugee status to a Sri Lankan man who entered Japan 12 years ago after fleeing his country's civil war. (NHK)

Officials in Japan have issued warnings for floods and mudslides. They're due to torrential downpours brought by a seasonal rain front over much of the country. (NHK)

A male professor at Kagawa University in Takamatsu City, Kagawa Prefecture, has caused a controversy after he posted on Twitter that his “hobby” was sexual harassment. The tweet went viral on the internet, resulting in a public apology by the university’s president on Tuesday. (Japan Today)

Some 130 people who had been stranded at a hot spring resort in Hokkaido were rescued Wednesday after torrential rains triggered landslides in the area the previous day. (Japan Times)

Japanese airline ANA Holdings Inc said it will cancel 113 domestic flights between July 6 through July 12 to inspect Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc engines for compressor issues that have led to service interruptions for airlines globally. (Japan Today)

This spring, the Fukuoka Board of Education suddenly informed the 120 "guest teachers" responsible for its elementary school English classes that they were no longer welcome. (Japan Times)

Japanese Emperor Akihito is resting for a 3rd day in a row due to cerebral anemia, although officials say his condition is improving. (NHK)

Chiba Institute of Technology unveiled Wednesday a transformable machine that can play dual roles - as both a robot, fused with artificial intelligence technologies, and a vehicle to enhance personal mobility. (Japan Times)

French wine lovers have risen up in revolt after a Japanese couple who make "outstanding" wine in southern France were threatened with deportation. (Japan Today)

Japan's first hotel featuring the cartoon character Snoopy is to open on August 1st in the western city of Kobe. (NHK)

Japan on Tuesday approved an energy plan that sets ambitious targets for nuclear energy use and sustains a struggling program for spent-fuel recycling despite setbacks after the 2011 Fukushima disaster. (Japan Today)

A Japanese tourist has died while climbing Uluru - the 37th fatality at the site since record-keeping began. (abc.net.au)

The operator of the main train network in Tokyo says it will install security cameras on all trains before the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games to prevent terrorism and other crimes. (NHK)

Weather officials say a storm moving over the Sea of Japan may bring torrential rains in many parts of Japan on Wednesday. They are warning of possible landslides, floods and tornadoes. (NHK)

A Japanese research team has discovered 3 World War Two-era submarines, including a German-made U-boat, in a bay opening towards the Sea of Japan. (NHK)

Classes resumed at an elementary school in the city of Toyama on Tuesday amid tight security, a week after a man killed a security guard who worked at the school and a police officer, with a knife and a gun, as well as firing bullets at the school. (Japan Times)