Japan's Empress Emerita Michiko turns 90

A fire broke out at a four-story apartment building in Okinawa City in the early hours of April 19th, leaving one person dead, with authorities suspecting the victim may be a man in his 70s who served as chairman of a local crime group.

A 37-year-old father arrested over the alleged abandonment of his son's body in a forest in Kyoto Prefecture may have contacted associates to say the child had gone missing before the boy's school informed the family, investigators said.

A 20-year-old university student has been arrested on suspicion of breaking into an apartment in Osaka and stealing cash, with police believing he played a key role in recruiting minors for illegal work schemes.

The annual spring garden party, held at the Akasaka Imperial Gardens in Tokyo, has once again drawn attention to a pressing issue facing Japan's Imperial Household: how to maintain the number of family members as it continues to decline whenever female royals marry.

Japan is often viewed abroad as a country with an unusually visible sexual culture, shaped by adult videos, erotic manga and a wide range of related subcultures. (Japanese Comedian Meshida)

A bear that had remained in a residential area in central Sendai since early Sunday morning was euthanized last night in an emergency cull. No injuries were reported.

The family of a man granted a retrial over a robbery-murder case in Shiga Prefecture has called for revisions to Japan's retrial system, saying he was wrongfully arrested despite having an alibi.

A former elementary school teacher who managed an online group of educators involved in covert filming and image sharing has been sentenced to two years and six months in prison, in a case that has also raised concerns at universities training future teachers.