Japan's logistics sector is struggling with a severe driver shortage, driving efforts to develop autonomous trucks as a potential solution to a growing freight transport crisis. (News On Japan)

Japan's annual National Academic Achievement Test began on Monday for sixth-grade elementary school students and third-year junior high school students nationwide. (News On Japan)

Taxi fares in Tokyo's 23 wards, as well as Mitaka and Musashino, rose by about 10% on Monday, marking the first increase in the central Tokyo area in roughly three and a half years. (News On Japan)

A 20-year-old university student has been arrested on suspicion of breaking into an apartment in Osaka and stealing cash, with police believing he played a key role in recruiting minors for illegal work schemes. (News On Japan)

A fire broke out at a four-story apartment building in Okinawa City in the early hours of April 19th, leaving one person dead, with authorities suspecting the victim may be a man in his 70s who served as chairman of a local crime group. (News On Japan)

A bear that had remained in a residential area in central Sendai since early Sunday morning was euthanized last night in an emergency cull. No injuries were reported. (News On Japan)

North Korea launched several missiles on Sunday morning, with reports suggesting they may have included a submarine-launched ballistic missile, or SLBM. (News On Japan)

Running a business with integrity and good values is the highest road most owners strive to be on. However, sometimes being good isn’t enough to spare you from legal trouble. (News On Japan)

A shortage of naphtha, a key petrochemical feedstock used in a wide range of products, is pushing up the cost of housing materials in Japan and raising concerns that home prices could climb by as much as 30%. (News On Japan)

Japan is often viewed abroad as a country with an unusually visible sexual culture, shaped by adult videos, erotic manga and a wide range of related subcultures. (Japanese Comedian Meshida)

The annual spring garden party, held at the Akasaka Imperial Gardens in Tokyo, has once again drawn attention to a pressing issue facing Japan's Imperial Household: how to maintain the number of family members as it continues to decline whenever female royals marry. (News On Japan)

The city of Nara is preparing to search for geothermal sources, hoping onsen facilities can help increase overnight stays in the ancient capital, where the city has long struggled to turn day-trippers into hotel guests despite being one of Japan's best-known sightseeing destinations, ranking last nationwide in annual overnight visitors in 2021 and underscoring weak tourism spending. (News On Japan)

The family of a man granted a retrial over a robbery-murder case in Shiga Prefecture has called for revisions to Japan's retrial system, saying he was wrongfully arrested despite having an alibi. (News On Japan)

Typhoon No. 4, Sinlaku, moved northeast on April 19 while accelerating over waters near Minamitorishima, east of the Ogasawara Islands, according to weather officials. Although the storm is rapidly moving away from Japan, rough seas are expected to persist, prompting continued caution across the island chain. (News On Japan)

Australia has formally decided to jointly develop its next-generation frigate with Japan, marking a major step forward in defense cooperation between the two countries. (News On Japan)

An entrance ceremony was held on April 18 at the Takarazuka Music School in Hyogo Prefecture, where 40 new students took their first step toward becoming members of the famed Takarazuka Revue. (News On Japan)

A series of earthquakes struck northern Nagano Prefecture, with the strongest registering upper 5 on Japan's seismic intensity scale. (News On Japan)

The dismantling of the upper ornament of the five-story pagoda at Kofukuji, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Nara, was opened to the media on April 15 as the temple undergoes its first major restoration in around 120 years. (News On Japan)

Japan already classifies days with highs of 30C or above as manatsubi (midsummer days) and those reaching 35C or above as moshobi (extremely hot days). It has now introduced a new term for days when temperatures climb to 40C or higher. (News On Japan)

A former elementary school teacher who managed an online group of educators involved in covert filming and image sharing has been sentenced to two years and six months in prison, in a case that has also raised concerns at universities training future teachers. (News On Japan)