TRAVEL

Hundreds of letters and other items that offer valuable insights into the thinking of novelist Soseki Natsume and some of his most acclaimed work have been donated to a town government in Fukuoka Prefecture. (Yomiuri)

Visibly nervous, the chairman of a local construction company asks that we lower our voices at the lunch table, and that his name be withheld from publication. (Global Post)

While street food is enjoying a revival in the West thanks to the rise of gourmet food trucks, it's fighting to stay alive in Fukuoka, a city on Japan's Kyushu island. (Wall Street Journal)

The Hakata Dontaku port festival began in Fukuoka City, southern Japan, on Friday. (NHK)

On March 13, officers from the cybercrime division of the Osaka Prefectural Police arrested Yusuke Inoue, 42, for the rape of multiple elementary- and middle-school girls with ages between 11 and 15. (Tokyo Reporter)

Police and health officials in Fukuoka said Tuesday that 149 students from Muromi elementary school have suffered food poisoning since Saturday. Fuji TV reported that the students were experiencing fever, nausea and diarrhea. (Japan Today)

Japan's Toyota Motor says it will start making its Lexus luxury cars in the United States in 2015. (NHK)

An airman stationed at U.S. Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo was arrested in the southwestern Japan city of Fukuoka Saturday on charges of a theft. (Jiji Press)

If you're ever minded to dance the night away to trance music, or even old-fashioned rock, you may have a tough time finding a venue in Japan these days. In fact, you may end up waltzing away hours inside a police station, peeing into a cup after being rounded up in a raid. Yes, indeed, a War on Dance is raging. (Japan Times)

On April 1, Fukuoka Prefecture became the eighth administrative district in Japan to institute strict regulations on the sex-industry information booths that populate red-light districts. (Tokyo Reporter)

A total of 10 regional electronic fare cards operated by Japan's eleven major transport authorities on Saturday became mutually usable in all their operating areas in Japan, enabling holders to travel through Japan's key cities across the country with one card. (Kyodo)

The Japan Meteorological Agency said Friday that cherry blossoms came into full bloom in central Tokyo and the cities of Miyazaki, Kumamoto, Fukuoka, Kochi and Yokohama the same day. (Jiji Press)

In an effort to accelerate the internationalization of their institutions, Kyoto University and Kyushu University are looking to drastically boost the number of classes taught in English and educators who are foreign nationals over the next few years. (Japan Times)

The Fukuoka District Meteorological Observatory said Wednesday that cherry blossoms in this southwestern Japan city's Chuo Ward started to bloom the same day, earlier than in any other places in the nation this season. (Jiji Press)

The average daily amount of the toxic air pollutant PM2.5 was forecast to reach 42 micrograms per cubic meter in the city of Fukuoka on Friday, topping the national environmental standard of 35 micrograms, city officials said. (Japan Times)

Alfredo Despaigne hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning, helping Cuba defeat two-time defending champion Japan 6-3 Wednesday to finish first in Group A of the World Baseball Classic. (ESPN)

Reigning champions Japan beat China and Taiwan came from behind against the Netherlands as the two co-hosts neared round two of the World Baseball Classic with their second straight wins on Sunday. (france24.com)

Toxic smog that is spreading to Japan from China is estimated to exceed the allowable limit set by the central government on Saturday in the western Japan city of Fukuoka, the municipal government said. (Kyodo)

Fukuoka Prefectural Police will begin banning organized crime groups from certain business districts in the prefecture beginning in June. (Tokyo Reporter)

A bus crashed through the guardrail on an expressway and fell onto train tracks below, injuring 42 passengers, in Kokonoe, Oita Prefecture, on Sunday evening. (Japan Today)

A short story serialized in a Fukuoka newspaper that was previously unknown to scholars has been confirmed to be the work of Nobel Prize-winning author Yasunari Kawabata. (Yomiuri)

A tourist bus collided with a truck which belongs to Japanese Self-Defense Forces (SDF) on Saturday in the country's southwest prefecture of Fukuoka, leaving 34 people injured, local media reported. (Global Times)

Smog in China has reached alarming levels as its rapid industrialization spews ever-more toxic particles into the air. Over the past month or so, the problem has become particularly acute, raising health concerns in neighboring parts of Asia, including Japan. (Japan Times)

Police said Monday that a 14-year-old girl, who was found dead in an apartment car park in Fukuoka, apparently committed suicide. (Japan Today)

Japan has freed the captain and crew of a Chinese fishing boat, which had been stopped off Okinawa amid tension between Tokyo and Beijing over a territorial row, Chinese state media report. (presstv.com)