Right now in Japan, more women say they do not want to get married. In 1980, the unmarried rate for women was about 4%, meaning most women eventually married. Today it is about 23%, or roughly one in four women. (Japanese Comedian Meshida)

Prince Hisahito, the eldest son of Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko and second in line to the Chrysanthemum Throne, joined children on the ski slopes during a visit to Hokkaido, where he was seen offering assistance to a child who had fallen. (News On Japan)

A cherry tree more than 10 meters tall toppled in a Tokyo park on March 7th, pinning a woman in her 70s beneath its branches and leaving her with minor injuries. (News On Japan)

An 83-year-old yakuza boss has been arrested on suspicion of collecting protection money by forcing a restaurant owner to purchase a decorative rake known as a kumade. (News On Japan)

The sight of Punch, a baby monkey often seen clutching an orangutan plush toy as a substitute mother, has captured widespread attention, but the animal’s growing popularity has also led to the emergence of fraudulent social media accounts soliciting donations in his name. (News On Japan)

A 21-year-old man has been rearrested in connection with a stabbing incident in Osaka’s Minami district that left three 17-year-old boys dead or injured, as police also launched outreach efforts for troubled youths in the area. (News On Japan)

As pollen season reaches its peak and spring approaches, a new survey shows that people in Japan are planning to spend less on cherry blossom viewing this year, while the trend of enjoying "solo hanami" is rapidly gaining popularity. (News On Japan)

A man has been referred to prosecutors by the Metropolitan Police Department for failing to attend a mandatory safety course after being cited for traffic violations while riding an electric scooter. (News On Japan)

A fire that scorched the exterior wall of a company operated by a Pakistani national was discovered in Ebetsu, Hokkaido, on March 1st, just one day after a mosque located about 400 meters away caught fire, prompting police to investigate the possibility that the two incidents may be connected. (News On Japan)

Police plan to arrest a Japanese doctor in his 60s who lives in the United States and is suspected of spraying an oil-like liquid at Naritasan Shinshoji Temple in Chiba Prefecture in 2015, with the suspect expected to arrive in Japan as early as March 4th, investigators said. (News On Japan)

Five people have been arrested after repeatedly performing dangerous drift driving on a road in Tokyo’s Ota Ward, sending up clouds of white smoke in the middle of the night and drawing police scrutiny. (News On Japan)

Large amounts of what appear to be illegally dumped garbage line the roadside at the Tokyo Metropolitan Kirigaoka Danchi in Kita Ward, where a decline in residents has left fewer eyes to monitor the sprawling public housing complex that first opened in the 1950s. (News On Japan)

A site supervisor at Fuji-Q Highland in Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi Prefecture, was referred to prosecutors on March 2nd over a fatal accident in February 2025 in which an employee died during maintenance work. (News On Japan)

A former emergency responder and foreign tourists worked together to rescue a woman in her 80s who was trapped inside an overturned light vehicle in Hakuba Village, Nagano Prefecture. (News On Japan)

A 48-year-old woman who works as a lecturer at an Osaka prefectural high school was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a man in Osaka, with the man later confirmed dead at the hospital where he was taken. (News On Japan)

The Konomiya Hadaka Festival, an unusual Shinto ritual dating back more than 1,250 years in which men wearing only loincloths collide violently with one another, was held on March 1st at Konomiya Shrine in Inazawa, Aichi Prefecture, drawing around 10,000 participants who surged toward a designated “sacred man” believed to absorb misfortune through physical contact. (News On Japan)

An avalanche struck an advanced-level course at Madarao Kogen Ski Resort, which spans Niigata and Nagano prefectures, on February 28th, leaving four people injured, including two family members. (News On Japan)

A man in his 50s died after falling while ice climbing in Gero, Gifu Prefecture, on March 2nd, after a report was made shortly after 9 a.m. from a person at the scene in Osakacho stating that he had fallen along with a sheet of ice and become trapped beneath the collapsed mass. (News On Japan)

A man indicted on murder charges over the killing of a 31-year-old nailist in Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture, is suspected of attaching a location-tracking “lost-item tag” to the victim’s car, investigative sources said, with police planning to rearrest him on March 2nd on suspicion of violating the anti-stalking law. (News On Japan)

An eight-year-old Australian girl died after a snowmobile overturned in Hakuba Village, Nagano Prefecture, at around 11 a.m. on February 28th, with authorities investigating the cause of the accident. (News On Japan)