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)

During the first half of the twentieth century, the expansion of the Japanese Empire across Asia turned war into a landscape of systematic violence against civilian populations. (TRNGL)

The Imperial Hotel Kyoto is set to open on March 5th in the heart of Gion, one of Kyoto’s most renowned districts, with the interior unveiled to the media on March 2nd ahead of its debut. (News On Japan)

Tokyo Metro and Toshiba have launched Japan’s first demonstration test allowing passengers to pass through ticket gates without touching them by using their smartphones’ Bluetooth function. (News On Japan)

NTT’s next-generation optical communications infrastructure, known as IOWN, is moving toward global standardization as the company steps up efforts to promote the technology in Europe. (News On Japan)

All Nippon Airways held a press conference to announce a change in leadership, with Executive Vice President Hisaichi Hirasawa set to assume the role of president on April 1st, stating that sweeping reforms to the airline’s struggling domestic operations are urgently needed as profitability continues to deteriorate. (News On Japan)

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi called on Iran to exercise restraint during a Lower House Budget Committee session on March 2nd, as tensions escalated following attacks on Iran by the United States and Israel, underscoring Japan’s commitment to diplomatic efforts aimed at calming the situation in the Middle East. (News On Japan)

Kyoto City significantly raised its lodging tax from March 1st, increasing the maximum charge per person per night from 1,000 yen to as much as 10,000 yen, in a move aimed at tackling overtourism and funding the preservation of cultural assets, even as questions remain about its impact on visitors and the local economy. (News On Japan)