The Japanese Language Proficiency Test is a really intense exam that really puts your Japanese skills to the test and depending on the level that you take and the score that you get it can be a really useful tool when looking for opportunities in Japan. ( akidearest)

Japan's space agency has announced that 205 applicants have passed preliminary examinations in its latest astronaut recruitment. (NHK)

An international school building boom is underway in Japan, fuelled by top-shelf names in education seeking to attract the children of wealthy Asian families, especially from China. (straitstimes.com)

The biggest obstacle that every student studying Japanese will face… The three Japanese characters, right? Even we Japanese study kanji throughout the nine years of compulsory education, and we still sometimes misuse them. (Let's ask Shogo)

This study aimed to evaluate the sequential changes in the proportion of anemia among young women over eight years after the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011 using a prospective study of the Fukushima Health Management Survey. (Nature)

Japan's health ministry says in the last fiscal year that ended in March, a record 629 cases of depression and other mental health issues were recognized as work-related and eligible for compensation. (NHK)

A Japanese government survey shows that nearsightedness is starting to occur at an early age, affecting 6th-graders at the same level as adults. (NHK)

Japan is so different from what most Americans are used to that its very easy to get lost just by walking around. (Cash Jordan)

A Japanese city is launching a crowdfunding campaign to help preserve a special spot of woodland: The forest that inspired the animator of beloved movie “My Neighbour Totoro.” (hurriyetdailynews.com)

University of Oxford researcher Warren A. Stanislaus explains how the elements of “coldness” of Japanese pop culture, manga, anime, and games were disassembled and reassembled into grime music and, in turn, empowered the marginalized youth in the U.K. Stanislaus discussed the creation of a platform to make “Cold Japan” a source of soft power. (Asia Society)

Japan is famous among foreigners for anime and manga. Today I've invited my manga friend who worked as a manga artist for 10 years and asked him about the industry. (Japanese Comedian Meshida)

A record number of women have passed this year's national civil servant exams in Japan to become career-track bureaucrats with the central government. (NHK)

A court in western Japan has rejected a lawsuit claiming damages by plaintiffs who argued it is unconstitutional that same-sex marriage is not legally recognized in the country. (NHK)