A 23-year-old Ground Self-Defense Force member stationed at the Ebino camp was arrested on suspicion of intruding into the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo after allegedly scaling a wall from a neighboring building, with investigators suspecting the act was premeditated following the purchase of a knife the day before. (News On Japan)

Medical institutions across Japan are coming under increasing financial strain as rising prices for plastic and rubber—key materials in essential medical supplies—begin to weigh heavily on operations, prompting the government to release national oil reserves on March 26th in an effort to curb inflation and stabilize supply. (News On Japan)

The Edo-Tokyo Museum unveiled a series of newly installed and renovated exhibits to the media on March 25th following the completion of a large-scale refurbishment that lasted four years, marking a major transformation of one of the capital’s key cultural institutions ahead of its reopening on March 31st. (News On Japan)

U.S. President Donald Trump called on Japan to "step up" its role in addressing tensions in the Middle East during a Japan-U.S. summit held on March 19th, as Iran’s ambassador to Japan also expressed expectations for Tokyo to play a constructive diplomatic role, placing renewed focus on Japan’s unique position between the two sides. (News On Japan)

Sony and Honda have decided to halt their jointly developed electric vehicle project, with their joint venture Sony Honda Mobility announcing on March 25th that it will cancel the development and launch of its new EV, the "AFEELA 1," as a reassessment of Honda’s EV strategy made it difficult to continue utilizing Honda’s technology and production support, ultimately leading to the conclusion that commercialization would be unfeasible. (News On Japan)

A massive steel pipe that suddenly emerged from underground in Osaka’s Umeda district was finally cut and removed on March 24th, bringing the two-week-long incident closer to resolution and paving the way for traffic restrictions to be lifted as early as March 25th. (News On Japan)

Japan’s first cargo-only shinkansen began operations on March 23rd, aiming to significantly expand transport capacity and help address a growing shortage of truck drivers. (News On Japan)

A government and Tokyo metropolitan task force held its first joint meeting with private-sector participants on March 25th to discuss countermeasures for a potential large-scale eruption of Mount Fuji that could blanket central Tokyo in volcanic ash and severely disrupt daily life. (News On Japan)

Seibu & Sogo announced that it will close its Seibu Shibuya store in September, bringing an end to the 58-year history of what was once a symbol of the district and marking the disappearance of traditional department stores from Shibuya. (News On Japan)

Italian furniture exports to Japan have grown steadily for over a decade, but this growth has not been driven by aggressive retail expansion. (News On Japan)

Reports of cherry blossoms blooming continued to arrive from across Japan on March 24th, with Kofu City in Yamanashi Prefecture declaring the nation’s earliest full bloom, marking the long-awaited start of the spring viewing season. (News On Japan)

Two men were arrested and indicted after allegedly racking up nearly 950,000 yen in unpaid food and drink charges at a girls bar in Suita, Osaka, while each had only a small amount of cash in their possession. (News On Japan)

As the impact of the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz spreads, the government announced it will begin releasing national oil reserves from 11 bases across the country starting March 26th, in a move aimed at minimizing disruption to economic activity. (News On Japan)

Japan’s nationwide consumer price index rose 1.6 percent in February from a year earlier, marking the first time in nearly four years that the rate has fallen below 2 percent, largely due to the abolition of a temporary gasoline tax rate and the impact of government subsidies. (News On Japan)

The Japanese government on March 24th approved a bill to revise the drone regulation law, expanding no-fly zones to roughly a 1-kilometer radius around key facilities and strengthening penalties in response to growing security risks. (News On Japan)

A 56-year-old man was arrested for allegedly slashing train seat covers on a JR line in Osaka on March 19th, with police suspecting links to around 300 similar incidents reported over the past four years. (News On Japan)

A team of divers conducted an investigation toward a depth of 100 meters on March 20th inside the Inazumi Underwater Limestone Cave in Bungoono, Oita Prefecture, where a landscape dating back hundreds of millions of years is believed to remain untouched. (News On Japan)

Animal cafes offering close interaction with a wide range of animals beyond dogs and cats are rapidly increasing in Tokyo’s Harajuku district, particularly along Takeshita Street, where a surge in inbound tourism is driving demand and even creating venues where nearly all customers are foreign visitors. (News On Japan)

A 1,400-year-old piece of pottery excavated from an ancient burial mound in Himeji shows clear paw prints, raising the possibility that they are the oldest known traces of a cat in Japan, suggesting the animal may have been present earlier than previously believed. (News On Japan)

The Osaka High Court has upheld the acquittal of a former wife accused of murder in connection with the death of a wealthy man known as the "Kishu Don Juan," dismissing the prosecution’s appeal and reaffirming the lower court’s ruling. (News On Japan)