A Japanese university has stopped hiring professors and teachers who light up, officials said Tuesday, as the nation steps up an anti-smoking campaign ahead of the 2020 Olympics. (Japan Today)

A pharmaceutical science professor at a university in Shikoku was referred to prosecutors Tuesday for allegedly instructing his students to produce the synthetic drug MDMA without a permit, the university said Tuesday, in an echo of hit TV series “Breaking Bad.” (Japan Times)

The English-language ability of students at Japanese public secondary schools fell short of the government's target in the 2018 academic year through March, despite a slight improvement from a year earlier, a government survey showed Tuesday. (Japan Today)

As Japan finds itself on the cusp of a new imperial reign -- to be named Reiwa, according to the government's announcement on April 1 -- the nation's collective eyes briefly turned upwards, in the direction of the over 1,200 years of continuous, uninterrupted generations of Japan's imperial family. (Japan Today)

Job-seekers in the Philippines have taken tests for a new visa status in Japan that aims to increase the number of foreign workers in the country. (NHK)

The government plans to penalize universities with many foreign students whose whereabouts are unknown, it was revealed Thursday. (Japan Times)

Latest data show that Japanese society continues to gray, with the percentage of the population of working age tying a record low. (NHK)

People having their sexual orientation or gender identity revealed without their consent has become a deepening problem in Japan, a country known for its culture in which the "nail that sticks out gets hammered down." (Kyodo)

A female high school student was hit and killed by a train in Yaita City on Tuesday in an apparent suicide, police have revealed, reports NHK (tokyoreporter.com)

As a country that still stands behind fairly rigid gender roles, Japan has a long way to go in granting its LGBTQ citizens equal rights. Same-sex couples, for example, are still fighting for their right to get married in Japan, and many in the LGBTQ community experience discrimination and exclusion from society on a daily basis. (soranews24.com)

The closure of 51 Coco Juku eikaiwa (English conversation) schools in Japan last week, with more to come in June, illustrates just how unstable the English teaching market can be. (Japan Times)

The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved legislation to expand childcare support by offering free preschool education from October as Japan struggles to reverse its falling birthrate. (Japan Today)

Only about 25 percent of universities in Japan have imposed blanket bans on smoking on all campuses, months before tighter regulations come into force, according to a recent survey. (Japan Times)

A recent survey in Japan has uncovered an alarming number of middle-aged people without work and who rarely leave home. (Nikkei)

Police arrested Wednesday an associate professor of a university in Tokyo for killing pigeons in a park by feeding them food mixed with insecticide. (Kyodo)

Japan is relaxing work visa requirements in the food service industry to deal with a chronic labor shortage, but the number of workers who can take the first qualification exams will be limited because industry bodies responsible for developing the tests have not had enough time to prepare for the event. (Nikkei)

A Japanese government survey has found that more than 600,000 middle-aged people have withdrawn from society. (NHK)

Kyoto Prefectural Police have sent a middle school girl in Kyoto City to prosecutors over the alleged possession of marijuana and Ecstasy, reports Fuji News Network (tokyoreporter.com)

Japan's government has investigated a university in Tokyo where hundreds of foreign students remain unaccounted for. (NHK)

On April 1st, 2019, major new immigration reform will take effect with a new “Middle Skilled Worker” (tokuteigino) visa status for foreign workers in Japan. (rethinktokyo.com)