Prince Hisahito visited Kyoto over two days from February 26th to 27th, 2026, making a private pilgrimage to sites including the mausoleum of Emperor Meiji following the completion of his coming-of-age ceremony, with previously undisclosed photos later released by the Imperial Household.
A new type of fraud exploiting multi-function copy machines at convenience stores has been reported across Japan, where victims are deceived into printing fake legal documents and handing over money.
A new “blue ticket” system for bicycles will be introduced on April 1, targeting riders aged 16 and older with monetary penalties for traffic violations, as authorities move to tighten enforcement amid rising accident numbers.
Kyoto’s traditional wooden townhouses, known as machiya, are disappearing at a pace of roughly two per day, prompting the city to allocate an unprecedented 460 million yen in its newly approved fiscal 2026 budget on March 24th in a bid to preserve the historic streetscape that has long defined the ancient capital.
A 21-year-old woman who had realized her dream of working at a Pokémon Center was fatally stabbed by her former boyfriend inside a busy store in Tokyo’s Ikebukuro district on March 26th, in a case that has drawn renewed attention to the dangers of stalking-related violence.
A hunter who had his firearm license revoked over a controversial shooting during a brown bear culling operation won a reversal in Japan's Supreme Court on March 27th, bringing an end to a seven-year legal battle and clearing the way for him to resume hunting.
A 23-year-old Ground Self-Defense Force member stationed at the Ebino camp was arrested on suspicion of intruding into the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo after allegedly scaling a wall from a neighboring building, with investigators suspecting the act was premeditated following the purchase of a knife the day before.
A deer believed to have wandered from Nara Park into Osaka was finally captured on March 26th after several days of roaming city streets, bringing an end to a widely followed incident that had raised concerns over public safety and animal welfare.