A court sentenced on Wednesday a 29-year-old former reporter for public broadcaster NHK to 21 years in prison for raping three women. (Japan Times)

Japanese animated film company Studio Ghibli has unveiled the basic design of its theme park set to open in Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, in 2022. (NHK)

Japan's Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko hosted their annual spring garden party at the Akasaka Imperial Gardens in Tokyo on Wednesday. (NHK)

After a dozen years waiting, fans have a chance to see the Kingdom Hearts/Evangelion singer live, plus a way to boost their odds of getting tickets. (soranews24.com)

Police in Hakodate, Hokkaido, have arrested an unemployed 44-year-old man on suspicion of killing a woman in his apartment on Tuesday night. (Japan Today)

Police in Nagoya have arrested a 60-year-old man on suspicion of attempted murder after he hit a 10-year-old boy on the head with a hammer. The boy lives in an apartment on the second floor above the suspect. (Japan Today)

Police have sent prosecutors papers on a 14-year-old boy for allegedly threatening a public elementary school in Tokyo’s upscale Ginza district that introduced uniforms designed by high-end Italian brand Armani. (Japan Times)

NHK has learned that Kobe Steel submitted to the Tokyo District Prosecutors Office documents related to the firm's falsified product inspection data. (NHK)

Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is launching a counteroffensive against Amazon.com and other rivals in the online fashion market, using its vast network of real-world stores to differentiate itself. (Nikkei)

A 74-year-old woman who was arrested over a fatal hit-and-run incident has told police that she thought her vehicle had hit a cardboard box. (Japan Today)

A Japanese court dismissed on Tuesday a damages suit filed by a man accused in a fraud case, after cash confiscated from him and kept in a police safe was stolen. (Japan Today)

Education minister Yoshimasa Hayashi has used an official ministry car to visit a "sexy yoga" studio in Tokyo, a weekly magazine said Tuesday, in another apparent scandal to hit the government. (Japan Today)

Former Japanese professional baseball slugger Sachio Kinugasa of the Hiroshima Carp has died. He was 71. (NHK)

Convenience store and retail chain Seven-Eleven Japan Co in a joint project with travel agency JTB Corp will launch an automated service for minpaku (private temporary rented lodging) that allows guests to check in, collect and leave room keys 24 hours a day at 7-Eleven convenience stores. (Japan Today)

King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden has expressed his hope to maintain good relations with Emperor Akihito and the rest of the Japanese Imperial family after the Emperor abdicates. (NHK)

Robots that can weld, lift and bolt are being developed to help bridge labor shortages at domestic construction sites, though their use will be limited to night shifts when no human workers will be nearby due to safety and regulatory concerns. (Japan Times)

A 43-year-old man and his 34-year-old wife have been arrested at Tokyo’s Haneda airport on suspicion of smuggling methamphetamine with an approximate street value of ¥1.8 billion ($16.7 million), police and customs officials said Monday. (Japan Times)

Japan's Emperor and Empress have joined Sweden's King and Queen in visiting an exhibition on the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in Tokyo. (NHK)

Japan's Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera has revealed that another batch of activity logs from Japan's Self-Defense Force mission in Iraq years ago has been found. (NHK)

The organizer of the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan has started recruiting about 10,000 volunteers. (NHK)

NHK has learned that prosecutors have questioned a former senior Finance Ministry official about a document-tampering scandal in connection with the discounted sale of state-owned land. (NHK)

With sakura season done in the Tokyo area, it’s time to switch from pink to blue and the 4.5 million Nemophila flowers of this amazing park. (soranews24.com)

Visitors to a park in the city of Hirosaki in northern Japan's Aomori Prefecture have been enjoying the breathtaking sight of about 2,600 blossoming cherry trees. (NHK)

The volcanic alert level for Mount Kusatsu-Shirane in central Japan have been raised due to increased activity. (NHK)

The world’s oldest person, a 117-year-old Japanese woman, has died. Nabi Tajima died of old age in a hospital Saturday evening in Kikai, Kagoshima Prefecture, town official Susumu Yoshiyuki confirmed. (Japan Times)