A man accused of robbing a convenience store and injuring an employee, his face marked by a prominent tattoo, gave an interview from detention ahead of his first court appearance on January 9th, saying the crime was not motivated by financial need. (News On Japan)

A photograph of a Samoyed dog taken against the backdrop of Mount Fuji has been drawing widespread attention on social media, with the striking image earning more than 48,000 likes. (News On Japan)

A car rammed into a police officer during a traffic violation crackdown in Kishiwada, Osaka, on January 7th, with the vehicle continuing to drive while the officer clung to the hood, prompting police to investigate the case as attempted murder. (News On Japan)

Graffiti has been discovered on a bamboo grove near Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto, a popular area that draws large numbers of tourists to the shrine’s famed Senbon Torii gates. (News On Japan)

Otoshidama, the New Year cash gifts traditionally given to children in Japan, is undergoing a noticeable transformation as the spread of cashless payments and persistent inflation begin to affect even this long-standing custom. (News On Japan)

The annual New Year “Karuta Hajime” ceremony was held on January 3rd at Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto’s Higashiyama Ward, where women known as “karuta-hime,” dressed in elegant Heian-period court robes, performed the opening match of the Hyakunin Isshu classical poetry card game. (News On Japan)

The way people pay respects at family graves in Japan is undergoing rapid change, driven in part by shifting lifestyles and difficult realities surrounding grave maintenance. (News On Japan)

An elderly woman died in Tokyo after choking on mochi during the first three days of the New Year, according to the Tokyo Fire Department. (News On Japan)

More people are struggling with what to do about family graves, as the number of people choosing to close ancestral burial plots continues to rise across Japan. (News On Japan)

The Imperial Family welcomed the New Year on January 1, with the Emperor releasing a message through the Imperial Household Agency expressing his hopes that the year ahead will be one in which people in Japan and around the world can move forward with hope. (News On Japan)

Nearly three decades after the end of World War II, one man finally returned to Japan. He was Hiroo Onoda, known as the last Japanese soldier, who had remained hidden in the jungles of the Philippines for 29 years after the war ended. (News On Japan)

Three men broke into a card shop in Tokyo’s Toshima Ward on the night of December 31, stealing Pokemon cards and other items worth about 30 million yen before fleeing the scene, according to police. (News On Japan)

A man has been arrested in connection with the stabbing of a female esthetic salon manager in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward on August 29, with investigators revealing that the suspect had previously used the salon multiple times and had been involved in a dispute over unpaid fees. (News On Japan)

North Safari Sapporo, a zoo located in Minami Ward, Sapporo, which closed in September, reached its deadline on December 26 to remove illegal structures from the site. (News On Japan)

A five-year-old boy died after becoming trapped in an outdoor belt-type escalator at a ski resort in Otaru, Hokkaido, on Sunday morning. (News On Japan)

In Edo period Japan, one of the most erotic parts of a woman's body wasn’t the melons, the peaches, or the buns fresh from the bakery. No, it was the neck. Specifically, the back of it. (News On Japan)

A wolf that escaped from its enclosure at Tama Zoological Park in Hino, western Tokyo, was captured on December 28, prompting the zoo to close temporarily and bring its operations for the year to an early end. (News On Japan)

A multiple‑vehicle collision involving 67 cars and trucks on the Kan‑Etsu Expressway in Minakami, Gunma Prefecture left two people dead and 26 others injured in snowy conditions on the evening of December 26. (News On Japan)

A Thai girl who was 12 years old at the time and had been illegally made to work at a massage parlor in Tokyo has departed from Narita Airport for Thailand, according to police. (News On Japan)

In response to growing calls for more places to smoke, Osaka City has announced plans to install 63 new smoking areas, including around JR Fukushima Station, after enforcing a citywide ban on smoking in public streets. (News On Japan)