World's oldest person, 118-year-old Kane Tanaka, pulls out of torch relay citing Covid-19 fears (stuff.co.nz)

A Tokyo police officer was found dead and his female colleague is missing on Mt. Tanigawa in eastern Japan, local police said Tuesday, two days after receiving a distress call. (Kyodo)

The town of Noto in Ishikawa received millions of yen due to the impact of covid-19. The money was part of a rural revitalization project to help the countryside in the wake of the virus. (kotaku.com)

It's rare to find an entire abandoned village in Japan. But what about 12 abandoned villages? Why were they abandoned? Where did everyone go? Why was so much left behind? (Tokyo Lens)

Residents of Shizuoka Prefecture west of Tokyo are clearing up debris after their communities were hit by what appeared to be a tornado. (NHK)

As Japan’s government has in recent years been making preparations to cater to diverse visitors ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, Islam has been gradually demystified there. Here is how Muslims are observing Ramadan since the country’s infrastructures improved. (TRT World)

A wealthy man in Tanabe City planned to divorce his 25-year-old wife prior to his murder three years ago, police have learned, reports NHK. (tokyoreporter.com)

Police in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, have arrested a 22-year-old woman on suspicion of attempted murder after she threw her newborn son out a window. The infant's injuries are not life-threatening, police said. (Japan Today)

A man in his 40s is suspected of killing a 21-year-old university student in her apartment and then killing himself by setting fire to his own apartment one floor below in Daito, Osaka Prefecture, on Wednesday. (Japan Today)

Have you ever thought of crying as something positive? We met a Japanese man who started a course that makes people cry on purpose with the goal to relieve their stress. So far, he has made over 50,000 people cry through his seminars. (Asian Boss)

The number of homeless people in Japan stood at 3,824 as of January, down 4.2% from a year before, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said Wednesday. (Japan Times)

CHIBA (TR) – Chiba Prefectural Police have arrested a 47-year-old who allegedly used pepper spray to molest a girl in Ichikawa City earlier this year, reports Chiba Television Broadcasting. (tokyoreporter.com)

The Japanese composer of the theme song for the popular anime "Doraemon" has died. Kikuchi Shunsuke was 89. (NHK)

Police in Japan have arrested the 25-year-old former wife of an elderly wealthy man who died of acute stimulant intoxication three years ago. The man was a company president who likened himself to Don Juan. (NHK)

NARA (TR) – Nara Prefectural Police have arrested a 37-year-old woman for allegedly stalking a police officer stationed at the Nara Police Station in Nara City. (tokyoreporter.com)

TOKYO (TR) – A court here has overturned a previous ruling and found a male Dutch national innocent of smuggling stimulant drugs, reports TBS News (tokyoreporter.com)

About two weeks ago, a man in Nagakuta City, Aichi Prefecture was arrested for stealing a pair of pumps that belonged to a music teacher. What made this theft even stranger was that when taking the shoes, he had replaced them with a nearly identical new pair. (Japan Today)

Nobuhiko Ôbayashi is the Japanese film-maker who directed the cult 1977 horror Hausu, or House, and in his long and prolific career also specialised in TV ads starring American movie actors for the domestic market (satirised in Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation). (theguardian.com)

Shinto is the native religious tradition of Japan. I think it's easy to see visual signs of it throughout Japan, from the shrines (jinja) to the gates (torii). But what I was interested in finding out was what Shinto practices can be found in everyday Japanese life that aren't so visually obvious. (Life Where I'm From)

Japan's Supreme Court overturned on Monday a high court ruling in 2019 that denied damages to hepatitis B patients with relapses citing the expiration of the 20-year eligibility period. (Jiji)