Jan. 18, 2019: WWII-ish, Olympic Scandal, All Abeard, Cute Idol Health and Kimono Attack.

In this week’s news from Japan Today: The Russian foreign minister asks why Japan can’t accept the outcome of World War II; a French investigators accuse Japanese Olympic Committee president of bribery in order to land the event in Tokyo in 2020; two men win a lawsuit against Osaka city banning train drivers from having beards; a Japanese idol singer says mental health an issue for fetishized young girls in pop groups plus a man in Tokyo has been arrested for attacking a young women’s kimono on Coming of Age Day — with sauce. read more

Jan. 11, 2019: Ghosn Fever, Easy College Sex Ranking, LDPTQ, Naked in Mie and Justin-2-Shinzo.

In this week’s news from Japan Today: Carlos Ghosn made his first public court appearance since being detained by Japanese courts last November; a weekly tabloid’s ranking of the top universities in Japan for guys to pick up girls blows up; a Japanese politician bemoans what will happen if the whole country “goes gay;” a man was arrested for climbing up to a stranger’s third-floor apartment in Mie Prefecture completely naked plus Justin Trudeau calls Shinzo Abe directly to talk about… whaling. read more

Dec. 21, 2018: All Ghosn, Whaling, Dismembering Mother, Putin Pinup, Escalator Donts and 2018 Recap.

In this week’s news from Japan Today: A Tokyo court rejected Carlos Ghosn’s continued detention then prosecutors had him rearrested the next day; Japan will pull out of the International Whaling Commission; a man has been arrested for killing and dismembering his mother; Vladimir Putin has the top selling celebrity calendar in Japan, JR East asks riders to stop walking on the escalators plus a look at readers’ picks of the top news stories in Japan for 2018.

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Dec. 14, 2018: Still Ghosn, Brawliticians, Kanji of the Year, Backstabber and Dangerous Thoughts.

In this week’s news from Japan Today: Tokyo prosecutors formally charged ousted Nissan Motor chairman Carlos Ghosn for financial misconduct and extended his detention until Dec 20; Japan’s ruling and opposition parties brawled in the Diet over the passing of a controversial bill; the kanji for disaster has been chosen as the character best representing Japan in 2018; a man was arrested for stabbing a woman in the back at a Tokyo train station plus a look at American women’s rights and birth control advocate Margaret Sanger’s 1922 visit to Japan. read more

Dec. 7, 2018: Missing Airmen, Law & Order, Road Rage, Turning Trucks, Police Fight and more.

In this week’s news from Japan Today: 5 U.S. airmen are missing after two military planes collided midair of the coast of Japan; the shock arrest of Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn has put the spotlight on Japan’s criminal justice system; a man is on trial in Yokohama for “road rage” after his actions led to the death of two people and seriously injured their two daughters; four men have been arrested for overturning a truck near Shibuya Crossing during the Halloween craziness and animal crimes in the headlines. read more

Nov. 30, 2018: Ghosn Daddy Ghosn, Foreign Labor, Vanity Plates, Daddy Day Care and Japanese Gigolo.

In this week’s news from Japan Today: The arrest of former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn dominates the news; the Japanese ruling party ushered in a bill proposing two new statuses of visa that could allow up to 345,000 blue-collar workers in to help a labor shortage; the U.S. State of Kansas will stop issuing license plates with letters making up an offensive term for the Japanese; a woman was arrested for leaving her elderly father — who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease — at a freeway rest stop and a new trend in “compensated dating” for young men is grabbing tabloid headlines. read more

Nov. 16, 2018: Cuban ambassador ban, cyber insecurity, BTS bombs, skirt stunt and hologram wedding.

In this week’s news from Japan Today: The Cuban ambassador to Japan banned from staying at a Hilton Hotel in Fukuoka; a Japanese lawmaker in charge of cybersecurity admits to not using a computer in 25 years; popular Korean boy band BTS has fallout from the wearing of an atomic bomb shirt; a movie stuntman was arrested for cutting a girls skirt on an escalator and a Tokyo man formally marries celebrity hologram.

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Nov. 9, 2018: Unfair trade, knives out, blood money, the mummy and Japan Yesterday.

In this week’s news from Japan Today: U.S. President Donald Trump makes the news in Japan again for his treatment of a Japanese reporter; passengers will be banned from carrying knives aboard all trains in Japan starting next year; the CEO of SoftBank — one of Japan’s richest men — defends his company accepting Saudi money in the wake of the Kashoggi killing; a man who hasn’t left his house in 40 years has been arrested for abandoning the corpse of his mother plus we look at the 1934 visit to Japan by baseball legend Babe Ruth — the sultan of swat, the Great Bambino — in 1934 in our latest Japan Yesterday segment. read more

Nov. 2, 2018: JAL D.U.I., Warm Biz, get out, up in smoke and Beatlemania.

In this week’s news from Japan Today: A Japanese airline pilot was arrested for being 10 times over the legal limit for alcohol when he showed up for his flight to Tokyo; November in Japan means it’s time for “Warm Biz,” when the thermostat gets turned down and the sweaters get put on; the governor of Okinawa is headed to the U.S. with a message — get your military bases outta here!; the Japanese government is warning its citizens not to smoke weed in Canada where it’s legal plus a plethora of Paul McCartney in Japan news. read more

Oct. 26, 2018: Blogs of war, medical lawsuit, custody battles, making a murderer and fright night.

In this week’s news from Japan Today: a freelance Japanese journalist is freed from three years in captivity in Syria; women not accepted to Tokyo Medical University due to their sex are now seeking redress; the U.S. State Department says Japan is still non-compliant with the Hague Convention on international child abductions; a 15-year-old was arrested for killing his grandfather, attempting to kill his grandmother and plotting to kill a student from his school plus Halloween in Japan — it’s not celebrated like it is in the West. read more