After April registered a record presence of tourists coming to see the famous cherry blossoms free from COVID-19 restrictions, May saw a slight drop in the number visitors but the country remains a top tourist destination for 2023

For the first time since 2016, a typhoon made landfall on Hokkaido coast; Typhoon Nari crossed near Cape Erimo before weakening to a storm according to the Japan Meteorological Agency

Researchers from major universities, including Tokyo's Waseda, have used prompts in their papers to get positive AI-based reviews, raising concerns about integrity, amid a surge in peer-to-peer review exploitation in academic publishing

A record 21,5 million foreign visitors entered Japan in the first half of 2025 and travel demand appears to remain strong, if not constant, outside peak seasons

Japan ranked 118th out of 148 countries in the World Economic Forum’s 2025 Global Gender Gap Report, the same position as last year - the lowest among G7; political empowerment is the weakest area, while education and health register near gender parity