The latest job ad calling for animators to help create Miyazaki's next anime feature film has drawn attention for all the wrong reasons. (rocketnews24.com)

Japan has a sex problem. The country's birthrate is shrinking year after year, to the point where deaths are outpacing births. Simply put, Japan's population is decreasing. (businessinsider.com)

A survey shows that nearly 30 percent of gas stations in sparsely populated areas of Japan are not sure if they will be able to continue their business operations. (NHK)

While the number of foreign tourists to Japan increases, operators of bathhouses and other such facilities are perplexed, after the government approved a written statement that said access to public bathing facilities should not be restricted just because customers having tattoos, at a Cabinet meeting in February. (the-japan-news.com)

The 70th Cannes Film Festival awarded its top prize, the Palme d'Or, to Swedish director Ruben Ostlund for his comedy "The Square". (NHK)

Billed as a domestically developed version of the Global Positioning System, the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) Michibiki No. 2 satellite will be launched on Thursday from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture. (the-japan-news.com)

Japan's Defense Ministry says North Korea launched a missile on Monday morning. Government officials believe it landed within Japan's exclusive economic zone in the Sea of Japan. (NHK)

Police in Kadoma, Osaka, have arrested a 19-year-old man and a 20-year-old man on suspicion of attempted murder after they drove a vehicle at high speed along a narrow road frequently used by schoolchildren, and then posted footage of the incident online. (Japan Today)

Police in Senboku, Akita Prefecture, said a 61-year-old woman was apparently killed by a bear while picking bamboo shoots in the mountains. (Japan Today)