Japan's Ministry of Finance seeks to create a market enabling direct exchanges of the yen and other Asian currencies without using the dollar as an intermediary, an idea that could reduce funding costs for financial institutions and businesses. (Nikkei)

The Ibaraki Prefectural Board of Education said Tuesday that 379 students at 61 schools in the prefecture felt sick after drinking milk served during lunchtime at school the previous day. (Japan Times)

A 38-year-old woman and her two children were found dead in their home in Ogori, Fukuoka Prefecture, police said Wednesday. Police said the mother, Yukiko Nakata, her son Ryosuke, 9, and her daughter Miyu, 6, were strangled to death, Fuji TV reported. (Japan Today)

Japan's nuclear regulator says 5 workers at a nuclear research facility have accidentally been exposed to a radioactive substance. (NHK)

The rainy season appears to have started in wide swaths of eastern, central and western Japan, the weather agency said Wednesday, warning of downpours and natural disasters during the roughly six-week period. (Japan Times)

Sota Fujii, the youngest professional shogi player at age 14, extended his series of wins on Wednesday since turning pro to 23, the third-longest winning streak on record. (Japan Times)

Another reactor in Fukui Prefecture, central Japan, has been restarted, bringing to 5 the total number of Japanese reactors currently in operation. (NHK)

East Japan Railway has decided to install security cameras on all cars on the Yamanote Line, which circles central Tokyo. (NHK)

A 14-year-old boy from Osaka, western Japan, has been arrested for allegedly creating a type of computer virus called "ransomware." (NHK)

The US Defense Department says 2 aircraft carriers deployed in the Sea of Japan have now left, but that it will continue to monitor moves by North Korea. (NHK)

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says he hopes that China's "One Belt, One Road" economic initiative will be realized along the lines of international rules. (NHK)

Japan's next-generation mainstay fighter aircraft, the F35 stealth jet, has been shown to the public. (NHK)

Railway operators in and around Tokyo have jointly launched a campaign warning people accused of groping not to flee by running along the railway tracks. (NHK)

In many countries outside Japan, Hitachi is best known as a maker of TVs, PCs, and other consumer electronics. However, the company is actually involved in a wide variety of electrical and mechanical engineering endeavors, including manufacturing and installing elevators. (Japan Today)

Hyogo Prefectural Police on Tuesday arrested the top boss of the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi on charges of fraud related to a service contract for a mobile phone, reports Jiji Press. (tokyoreporter.com)

In response to the flood of complaints over past weeks, Hulu is has decided to put their money where their mouth is when it comes to contrition. (rocketnews24.com)

Looking nipple-less may just be the next fashion trend. (rocketnews24.com)

Two Japanese tourists were believed to have been murdered during a boat tour of small islands while visiting Palawan Province in the southwestern Philippines, police have said. (Japan Times)

Police in Shirako, Chiba Prefecture, on Sunday arrested a 21-year-old woman on suspicion of dangerous driving resulting in injury after she plowed into a group of 10 university students, injuring four of them. (Japan Today)

Japan's swelling ranks of working women have grape growers 10,000 miles away cheering. (Japan Times)

In Japan, where train travel can often be a perilous ordeal for women, an insurance company is reporting a sudden run on a policy that protects men falsely accused of groping. (channelnewsasia.com)

Though the prison population in Japan is remarkably small compared to other countries, there have been increases in recent years among certain demographics. The media is particularly sensitive to elderly inmates. Less remarked upon are female prisoners. (Japan Times)

Vacation rental sites like Airbnb were slow to make their way to the country, but have now become the accommodation of choice for many people doing Japan on a budget. Tujia, a Beijing-based operator of one such website, launched a Japan unit about a year ago targeting the growing numbers of Chinese tourists. (Nikkei)

The total fertility rate in Japan in 2016 fell 0.01 point from the previous year to 1.44, while the number of babies born last year slipped below one million for the first time, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said in an annual demographic survey on Friday. (the-japan-news.com)

China said on Friday a Japanese citizen was being investigated for harming national security, following a similar case last month in which China said six Japanese were being questioned on suspicion of illegal activity. (Japan Today)