SOCIETY NEWS

Kyoto boasts Japan's largest concentration of traditional crafts. Despite the pall the COVID-19 pandemic has cast over the country, young entrepreneurs with unorthodox backgrounds are bringing new thinking and innovation to Japan's ancient capital. (Nikkei)

Police in Wakayama City have arrested a 36-year-old unemployed woman on suspicion of violating the trademark law by selling counterfeit keychains by French luxury brand Chanel. (Japan Today)

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department has decided to conduct PCR tests on all suspects upon arrest, regardless of whether they show COVID-19 symptoms or not. The move comes after multiple detainees were confirmed to be infected. (NHK)

Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 72-year-old woman who allegedly posed as the sister of enka singer Miyako Otsuki in swindling a female acquaintance, reports the Yomiuri Shimbun (tokyoreporter.com)

Osaka Prefectural Police have arrested a 42-year-old who is suspected of carrying out more than one dozen purse-snatching incidents in Osaka City, reports Mainichi Broadcasting System. (tokyoreporter.com)

An artist won a damages suit Thursday over a claim that a merchants’ association in western Japan copied one of his artworks featuring a telephone booth filled with water and goldfish. (Japan Times)

A 30-year-old man in custody for allegedly drugging and raping two women last year has been accused in a third case, police have revealed, reports TV Asahi. (tokyoreporter.com)

A 24-year-old man accused of fatally stabbing a 46-year-old police officer in a koban (police box) and shooting to death a 68-year-old school security guard with the officer’s gun in 2018 went on trial in Toyama City on Thursday, (Japan Today)

The number of Muslims living in Japan has more than doubled in the past decade, according to statistics. (Islam Channel)

Chiba prefectural police have arrested a 39-year-old unemployed man on suspicion of killing his mother and elder sister at his parents' home in Nagareyama City on Dec 31. (Japan Today)

Some Japanese celebrated Coming of Age Day on January 11 amid a record Covid-19 surge. (South China Morning Post)

Men wearing traditional loin clothes and women dressed in white robes clapped and chanted before going into an ice water bath during a Shinto ritual at a Tokyo shrine on Sunday to purify the soul and pray for the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Reuters)

Meet my Japanese neighbors and see how the area is surviving without tourists. (KemushiChan ロレッタ)

Dig deeper into the story of Ashio, a former mining town in Tochigi Prefecture that’s returning to nature with the passage of time and contributions of hard-working residents. (NHK)

The National Police Agency (NPA) is asking the public not to use the emergency 110 phone number to make non-urgent calls. (Japan Today)

Tochigi Prefectural Police have arrested an American woman over the alleged fatal assault at her residence in Nikko City, reports NHK. (tokyoreporter.com)

A 208-kilogram bluefin Tuna was deemed the highest prize at Tokyo’s annual New Year tuna auction, Tuesday, January 5. (VOA News)

People in the greater Tokyo area expressed anxiety Thursday about how their lives and businesses will be impacted by the declaration of another state of emergency in Tokyo and neighboring areas amid record numbers of COVID-19 cases. (Japan Times)

A total of 122 people in Japan died at places other than medical institutions between March and December 2020 after contracting the novel coronavirus, police data showed Wednesday. (Japan Times)

Police believe that a male employee in the construction industry was behind dozens of sexual assaults that took place over a six-year period, reports TBS News (tokyoreporter.com)