Popular male idol group Arashi said on Sunday evening that they will suspend group activities indefinitely at the end of next year. The surprise announcement was triggered by 38-year-old leader Satoshi Ohno, who expressed his desire to leave show business to see views he has never seen before.
Tennis star Naomi Osaka won a dramatic Australian Open final on Saturday after missing three championship points in the second set. Her two straight grand slam titles ensure that she will rise to the new world number one.
Seven-Eleven Japan and Lawson, two major convenience store chains, announced on Monday that they decided to stop selling adult magazines this summer ahead of the Rugby World Cup and Tokyo Olympics. The move is aimed at maintaining a positive impression of the country among foreign visitors.
The Defense Ministry plans to release new evidence to prove its claim that a South Korean warship directed its fire-control radar at a Maritime Self-Defense Force plane
last month. In response, South Korea issued a statement urging Japan not to distort the facts.
Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa has set a record for the most retweeted tweet by promising to share 100 million yen among 100 randomly selected people who followed his account and retweeted the post. His tweet has been shared for over five million times so far.
Buddhist monks throughout Japan have posted videos on Twitter showing off various athletic feats to prove their religious robes do not impair safe driving. The movement began after a monk in his 40s was fined by a police officer in central Japan for driving in the traditional attire.
Japan’s three-time Olympic gold medalist in women’s wrestling Saori Yoshida announced her retirement on Tuesday at the age of 36. The 13-time world champion, who also received the People’s Honor Award, has not competed since her loss in the final at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
A fourth-grade Japanese girl will debut as the youngest professional player of the Asian board game “Go” when she turns 10 this spring, the Japan Go Association announced on Saturday. The girl, a resident of Osaka, said she wants to win a title while being in junior high school.
