Traditional rice planting was held on May 27th in Shirakawa-go, Gifu Prefecture, where women dressed as saotome carefully planted Koshihikari rice seedlings as traditional rice planting songs echoed across the historic village. (News On Japan)

People caught littering in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward will face on-the-spot fines of 2,000 yen starting June 1st under revised local regulations aimed at tackling a surge in street garbage around the busy entertainment district. (News On Japan)

Cows graze peacefully beneath the lightly snow-capped slopes of Mount Fuji at Nakatomi Farm on the Asagiri Plateau in Fujinomiya, Shizuoka Prefecture, where a picturesque rural landscape resembling a scene from a storybook has become a major attraction on social media. (News On Japan)

Skymark on May 25th unveiled its new Boeing 737-8 aircraft from the Boeing MAX series, becoming the first domestic airline in Japan to introduce the model. The aircraft will begin commercial operations on May 28th. (News On Japan)

A string of bear sightings and suspected attacks in western Tokyo is prompting urgent action from local authorities, with schools in Hachioji preparing students for possible encounters and concerns mounting that animals once associated with remote mountain regions are moving deeper into populated areas. (News On Japan)

Two historic private residences in Hyogo Prefecture dating back to the Muromachi period are expected to be designated as National Treasures, marking the first time folk houses in Japan will receive the status. (News On Japan)

Traditional Okinawan dishes made with rare seaweed are being revived by local residents and researchers racing to preserve both the region’s fading food culture and its rapidly deteriorating marine ecosystem. (News On Japan)

Three men, including a company executive, are suspected of smuggling gold from Hong Kong into Japan dozens of times last year to avoid paying consumption tax and other charges, with investigators believing the precious metal was handed over inside a toilet at Kansai International Airport. (News On Japan)

Universal Studios Japan (USJ) has begun renting out a wayfinding device for visually impaired visitors, becoming the first theme park in Japan to introduce the technology. (News On Japan)

A black bear was filmed walking directly toward a camera from only a few meters away at around 2 p.m. on May 21st in the parking lot of a tourist facility in Susono, Shizuoka Prefecture, as the person recording the scene could be heard saying, "Call someone. Wait a minute. This is bad, it is coming this way. We could get hurt." (News On Japan)

The Nozomi service on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen lines, which has already switched to all-reserved seating during extended holiday periods such as the year-end and New Year break, will also operate with reserved seats only on three-day weekends from October this fiscal year. (News On Japan)

After days of near-summer heat through May 20th, rain believed to mark the start of Japan's rainy season front swept across the country on May 21st, bringing sharp temperature drops, strong winds, and warnings for potentially heavy downpours. (News On Japan)

More people are skipping the couple's getaway in favor of booking a flight with their closest friend. It's a shift that says something about how priorities have changed. (News On Japan)

Bear sightings across Japan have already climbed to nearly twice the level recorded during the same period last year, prompting entry bans in mountain areas behind Kyoto’s Ninna-ji Temple and the cancellation of hiking events in Kansai, while new research suggests that the key to reducing encounters may lie in understanding what bears eat in each region. (News On Japan)

Traditional ukai cormorant fishing, a seasonal custom signaling the arrival of early summer, began on May 20th along the Chikugo River in Asakura, Fukuoka Prefecture, following the opening of ayu sweetfish fishing on the river that flows through southern Fukuoka. (News On Japan)

Video footage appears to show graffiti being carved into bamboo at Kyoto’s Fushimi Inari Taisha, with witnesses claiming two foreign visitors were involved in the vandalism. (News On Japan)