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)

Wild animals are moving ever closer to human living areas, with unexpected encounters now becoming a daily reality across parts of Japan. (News On Japan)

A shaved-headed man wearing sandals, half-length pants and a black T-shirt walked through Narita Airport around noon on Friday, surrounded by investigators from the Metropolitan Police Department. He briefly glanced at the assembled cameras before repeatedly bowing his head with a tense expression. (News On Japan)

A man was arrested at the scene after multiple people were stabbed at a factory in Mishima, Shizuoka Prefecture, on Tuesday evening, leaving 15 workers injured, police said. (News On Japan)

Photos of former Aum Shinrikyo leader Shoko Asahara, whose real name was Chizuo Matsumoto, have been found inside a facility operated by Aleph, the group regarded as the successor to the Aum Shinrikyo cult, it has been learned. (News On Japan)

A man arrested in connection with the stabbing of two people in Fukuoka has told investigators that he intended to kill multiple members of the idol group HKT, according to sources close to the investigation. (News On Japan)

Objects resembling human internal organs were found discarded in large numbers of bottles at a garbage collection area inside Osaka City’s Central Wholesale Market in Fukushima Ward in September, raising suspicions that the materials may be improperly disposed medical waste, according to police. (News On Japan)

Prosecutors have sought a life sentence for Tetsuya Yamagami in the trial over the fatal shooting of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, with debate now focusing on how the defendant’s upbringing and alleged religious abuse should influence sentencing in a lay judge trial. (News On Japan)