The annual New Year imperial poetry ceremony, known as Utakai Hajime, was held at the Imperial Palace, where Princess Aiko’s waka poem was recited publicly for the first time and Prince Hisahito made his debut appearance at the traditional event. (News On Japan)

A preview trailer has been released for the Hokkaido Fact program “Ainu and the Majority: Who Stands Up to Discrimination,” scheduled to air on January 18th, 2026, from 3:54 p.m. to 4:24 p.m., examining how the structure of thinking around discrimination is beginning to change. (News On Japan)

The body discovered inside the wall of a bar in Hidaka Town, Hokkaido, has been identified as that of a 28-year-old nurse who lived in the town, police said. (News On Japan)

Men wearing traditional fundoshi loincloths entered the freezing sea to pray for good health and freedom from illness at the “Severe Winter Sea Misogi Festival,” held in Numazu, Shizuoka Prefecture. (News On Japan)

Ceremonies celebrating those turning 20 were held across Japan on January 12th, with events taking place nationwide to mark Coming of Age Day. (News On Japan)

A man has been arrested on suspicion of abandoning a woman’s body inside a restaurant he operated in Hidaka, Hokkaido, with investigators now believing the business continued operating while the body remained inside the premises. (News On Japan)

What appeared to be an ordinary 100-yen coin turned out to be a counterfeit after emerging from a change machine at a capsule toy specialty store, prompting a Japanese television personality to share his experience on social media. (News On Japan)

A man accused of robbing a convenience store and injuring an employee, his face marked by a prominent tattoo, gave an interview from detention ahead of his first court appearance on January 9th, saying the crime was not motivated by financial need. (News On Japan)

A photograph of a Samoyed dog taken against the backdrop of Mount Fuji has been drawing widespread attention on social media, with the striking image earning more than 48,000 likes. (News On Japan)

A car rammed into a police officer during a traffic violation crackdown in Kishiwada, Osaka, on January 7th, with the vehicle continuing to drive while the officer clung to the hood, prompting police to investigate the case as attempted murder. (News On Japan)

Graffiti has been discovered on a bamboo grove near Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto, a popular area that draws large numbers of tourists to the shrine’s famed Senbon Torii gates. (News On Japan)

Otoshidama, the New Year cash gifts traditionally given to children in Japan, is undergoing a noticeable transformation as the spread of cashless payments and persistent inflation begin to affect even this long-standing custom. (News On Japan)

The annual New Year “Karuta Hajime” ceremony was held on January 3rd at Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto’s Higashiyama Ward, where women known as “karuta-hime,” dressed in elegant Heian-period court robes, performed the opening match of the Hyakunin Isshu classical poetry card game. (News On Japan)

The way people pay respects at family graves in Japan is undergoing rapid change, driven in part by shifting lifestyles and difficult realities surrounding grave maintenance. (News On Japan)

An elderly woman died in Tokyo after choking on mochi during the first three days of the New Year, according to the Tokyo Fire Department. (News On Japan)

More people are struggling with what to do about family graves, as the number of people choosing to close ancestral burial plots continues to rise across Japan. (News On Japan)

The Imperial Family welcomed the New Year on January 1, with the Emperor releasing a message through the Imperial Household Agency expressing his hopes that the year ahead will be one in which people in Japan and around the world can move forward with hope. (News On Japan)

Nearly three decades after the end of World War II, one man finally returned to Japan. He was Hiroo Onoda, known as the last Japanese soldier, who had remained hidden in the jungles of the Philippines for 29 years after the war ended. (News On Japan)

Three men broke into a card shop in Tokyo’s Toshima Ward on the night of December 31, stealing Pokemon cards and other items worth about 30 million yen before fleeing the scene, according to police. (News On Japan)

A man has been arrested in connection with the stabbing of a female esthetic salon manager in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward on August 29, with investigators revealing that the suspect had previously used the salon multiple times and had been involved in a dispute over unpaid fees. (News On Japan)