Japan News

Japan's education ministry says it wants to find out how many foreign national children are living in the country but not enrolled in schools. (NHK)

Interest in a gigantic inflatable "kokeshi" Japanese doll in Kyoto ballooned recently on social media when local authorities requested exhibition organizers to display it lying on its side. (Kyodo)

Red Bull's Max Verstappen finished third at the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday, delivering a first Formula One podium for the team's engine manufacturer Honda since its return to the sport. (Kyodo)

An amusement park themed on the world of Finland's Moomin fairytale characters opened Saturday in Saitama Prefecture near Tokyo, aiming to attract 1 million visitors a year. (Kyodo)

With so many maid cafes in Tokyo it can be hard to pick just one to visit if you’re pressed for time and on a tight itinerary. (soranews24.com)

Trains in and around the Japanese capital will run later into the night during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games to allow spectators to get home easily from events. (NHK)

Chiba Prefectural Police on Friday announced the arrest of a 38-year-old man over the alleged theft of children’s slippers from schools across the country, reports the Asahi Shimbun (tokyoreporter.com)

A 7-Eleven convenience franchisee who shortened the store's business hours to 6 a.m. - 11 p.m. on Feb 1 will continue to operate those hours after the company told him it would not cancel his contract or issue a penalty. (Japan Today)

Japan will tighten oversight of pay for foreign employees through ordinances issued Friday, aiming to address major concerns over working conditions as the country prepares to accept more labor from abroad starting next month. (Nikkei)

The Tokyo District Court has sentenced the former head of a digital currency exchange to 30 months in prison suspended for four years for altering data in a Bitcoin account. (NHK)

Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 39-year-old man for allegedly filming a teenage girl in suggestive poses, the footage of which he posted on a pay-to-view site, reports the Mainichi Shimbun. (tokyoreporter.com)

A 46-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of strangling to death her six-year-old daughter at their home in Tokyo’s Itabashi Ward. (Japan Today)

For idol singer fans in Japan, the biggest event of the year isn’t the release of a single or opening of a concert tour, but the AKB48 General Election. (soranews24.com)

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe suggested Thursday he has no intention of serving another four-year term as president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party when his third term expires in September 2021. (Japan Times)

Japan has temporarily banned all flights of Boeing 737 Max aircraft in the country's airspace. (NHK)

Pierre Taki, a member of Japanese techno-pop duo Denki Groove and the Japanese voice of snowman Olaf in the hit Disney anime movie Frozen, was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of using cocaine, investigators said. (Kyodo)

In 1999, all-girl idol group Morning Musume topped the Oricon singles chart for three straight weeks with “Love Machine.” (tokyoreporter.com)

The Supreme Court has finalized high court rulings ordering owners of television-capable cellphones to pay a subscription fee to public broadcaster NHK, Kyodo News learned Wednesday. (Japan Times)

Journalists on Wednesday were given a guided tour of the Izumo — Japan’s largest flat-topped helicopter carrier — for the first time since the Defense Ministry revealed a controversial plan late last year to convert it so that it could handle fixed-wing aircraft — which critics and some opposition lawmakers say could make it capable of offensive operations. (Japan Times)

Two 12-year-old elementary school students apparently jumped to their deaths from an apartment building in Aichi Prefecture on Tuesday, leaving notes suggesting that they were being bullied, according to investigative sources. (Japan Times)