PayPay, Japan’s leading QR-code payment service, has announced a partnership with Visa, the world’s largest credit card network, as it looks to expand into the United States, where QR payments remain far less common and tap-to-pay dominates everyday transactions. (News On Japan)

A towering column of water reaching about 15 meters erupted in a residential area of Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture, on February 12th after a valve loosened during water pipe repair work, flooding nearby streets and startling residents. (News On Japan)

Mazda said on February 10th that it fell into a net loss of 14.7 billion yen for the nine months from April to December 2025, marking its first deficit in five years, as U.S. tariff policies under the Trump administration weighed heavily on earnings. (News On Japan)

A startup is working to curb global warming by feeding seaweed to cattle in an effort to reduce methane emissions from their burps, with plans to commercialize the technology in the coming years. (News On Japan)

Sapporo City is set to begin procedures as early as February 12th to issue a demolition order requiring the removal of all buildings at North Safari Sapporo, which closed in September 2025 over illegal construction issues, after more than 30 unauthorized structures were found to remain on the site in Minami Ward, Hokkaido. (News On Japan)

Sony is considering spinning off its television business, long symbolized by its BRAVIA brand, in a move that could mark a decisive step away from consumer electronics and toward a new identity centered on entertainment and intellectual property. (News On Japan)

A popular household adhesive known as “Bond” is disappearing from store shelves across Japan, with the shortage linked to a continuing boom in a trendy type of sticker that has become especially popular among younger consumers. (News On Japan)

A renewed water outage struck Hakone in Kanagawa Prefecture after supplies briefly resumed on February 11th morning, with authorities reinstating water restrictions from 9 p.m. as frozen pipes and low reservoir levels linked to an intense cold wave continued to disrupt supply across the region. (News On Japan)

Working from home is no longer an exception for a select group of professionals. Flexible schedules, coffee anytime, and online meetings in pajamas don't disrupt the workflow. On the contrary, they positively impact productivity. (News On Japan)

Osaka Mayor Hideyuki Yokoyama announced that the city will expand its policy of making childcare fees free for children aged zero to two, with the measure to be extended to firstborn children starting in September this year. (News On Japan)

Plum blossoms are now at their best viewing season at the plum groves of Minabe Town in Wakayama Prefecture, widely known as Japan’s leading plum-producing region. (News On Japan)

Japan’s outstanding government debt totaled 1,342.172 trillion yen as of December 2025, marking a record high, the Finance Ministry announced. (News On Japan)

An Inazawa city councilor in Aichi Prefecture known for his trademark pink mohawk has been arrested on suspicion of extortion and assault after allegedly beating a man and demanding money at a restaurant in November 2025. (News On Japan)

The arrival of pollen season has once again begun to affect large parts of Japan, but new research aimed at preventing cedar pollen from dispersing is raising hopes that the future could bring relief for millions of sufferers, with scientists working on a method to wither only the male flowers of cedar trees and stop pollen at its source. (News On Japan)

February 10, marked in Japan as Left-Handed Goods Day through a play on the numbers “0,” “2,” and “10,” has drawn renewed attention to the daily inconveniences faced by left-handed people (News On Japan)

JR Tokai has decided to begin construction on the Yamanashi Prefecture station for the Linear Chuo Shinkansen on March 11, marking the start of work on the only station along the Tokyo–Nagoya section where construction had yet to begin. (News On Japan)

A 41-year-old Chinese man arrested on suspicion of crashing a Lamborghini into a police patrol car and fleeing the scene is believed to have been driving at a speed far exceeding the legal limit, investigators said. (News On Japan)

Workers dressed as ninjas are carrying out weed removal on a castle stone wall in Koka, Shiga Prefecture, a city known as the home of ninja. (News On Japan)

A large discount retailer Don Quijote has opened its first inbound-focused specialty store in the Kansai region in Kyoto City, aiming to better serve the growing number of overseas visitors. (News On Japan)

The average asking price for newly built small detached homes in January rose 4.7 percent from the previous month to 61.54 million yen across the Tokyo metropolitan region’s four prefectures, according to a real estate research firm, marking a new high since surveys began in April 2014 and pushing prices above 60 million yen for the first time. (News On Japan)