A Thai girl who was 12 at the time was forced to work illegally at a massage parlor in Tokyo, leading the Metropolitan Police Department to rearrest the store’s operator as investigators continue to examine how the girl was trafficked to Japan. (News On Japan)

As December approaches and people prepare for handwritten New Year’s cards, opportunities to pick up a pen naturally increase at this time of year, yet the nation’s enthusiasm for beautiful handwriting shows no sign of fading as calligraphy schools continue to evolve in step with the boom. (News On Japan)

Jomon pottery estimated to be more than 10,000 years old has been found almost perfectly preserved at the bottom of Lake Biwa, with researchers calling the discovery exceptionally rare. (News On Japan)

Ski resorts in Japan are stepping up precautions as bear activity remains unusually high this season, prompting operators to introduce emergency alarms, deterrent tools, and additional patrols to protect visitors as winter tourism begins in earnest. (News On Japan)

The Nikkei Stock Average climbed into the 52,000-yen range in October before swinging sharply and falling back below 50,000 yen, raising questions over whether the benchmark has already entered a correction phase or whether the market can stabilize above the 50,000-yen level and aim higher. (News On Japan)

JR East and PASMO announced on November 25th that they will introduce a new mobile payment function called 'teppay' for their Suica and PASMO smartphone apps, enabling barcode and QR code payments as part of a broader expansion of their digital services. (News On Japan)

Gifu City has unveiled the design for an ultra-luxury viewing boat that will operate during cormorant-fishing cruises on the Nagara River, with construction scheduled to be completed by next season at a cost of roughly 28 million yen. (News On Japan)

Thai police announced they have secured an arrest warrant for the mother of a 12-year-old Thai national, who was brought to Japan and allegedly forced to work illegally at a massage parlor in Tokyo. The warrant is on suspicion of human trafficking and other charges. (News On Japan)

A man believed to have been involved in a fatal hit-and-run that left one person dead and 11 others injured in Tokyo’s Adachi Ward on November 24th was taken into custody as police began questioning him on a voluntary basis. (News On Japan)

A large fire that broke out late on November 23rd at a waste plastic recycling plant in the city of Bando in Ibaraki has continued to burn for roughly 18 hours, with no clear timeline for containment. The blaze was first reported at around 10:40 p.m. on November 23rd when nearby residents alerted firefighters after seeing flames and smoke rising from the site. (News On Japan)

China’s Communist Party–affiliated media has sharply criticized Prime Minister Takai’s stated willingness to continue dialogue with Beijing, calling the approach “hypocritical and meaningless.” (News On Japan)

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has sparked uproar after declaring in parliament that a conflict in the Taiwan Strait could qualify as a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan—language that would allow Tokyo to exercise collective self-defense, including potential military action. (News On Japan)

A man arrested on suspicion of killing three members of his family at their home in Sapporo’s Kita Ward on October 31st is believed to have attacked them in the first-floor living room, where all were later found collapsed. (News On Japan)

The former JR Fukuchiyama Line track bed along the Mukogawa ravine, now a popular hiking route, has reached peak autumn colors on the trees surrounding the trail as large numbers of hikers visit the area to enjoy the seasonal foliage. (News On Japan)

A deepening labor shortage is increasingly weighing on the Japanese economy, forcing businesses to shorten operating hours or scale back services and generating massive lost opportunities that are estimated to reach 16 trillion yen in fiscal 2024. (News On Japan)

A taxi crashed onto a sidewalk in Kyoto’s Arashiyama district late in the morning on November 21st, leaving a woman in her 50s injured in an area crowded with tourists near the iconic Togetsukyo Bridge. (News On Japan)

The steady rise in food prices in Japan has become unmistakable, with some items increasing by as much as 10% in September 2025, yet the overall consumer price index shows growth of only around 3%, leaving many wondering why the gap is so large and whether official data truly reflects the burden households feel. (News On Japan)

The share of people with overseas addresses purchasing newly built condominiums in Tokyo reached 3% in the first half of this year, according to a government survey that sheds light on growing concern that short-term transactions by foreign buyers may be contributing to rising property prices. (News On Japan)

Hunter Mountain Shiobara, one of the largest ski resorts in the Greater Tokyo area, opened for a limited three-day pre-season run in Nasu-Shiobara on November 23rd after a strong cold front brought earlier-than-expected snowfall to the region. (News On Japan)

The Japanese government is moving to substantially raise fees for residence-related administrative procedures for foreign nationals, aiming to secure stable funding for its foreign resident policy as the number of foreign residents in Japan continues to grow. (News On Japan)