The fourth episode of Fuji Television's drama series "Barakamon" (Wednesdays at 10 p.m.), starring actor Yosuke Sugino (27), was aired on the 2nd and the average household rating was 5.0% (Kanto region), according to Video Research on the 3rd. The ratings were 5.9%, 5.3%, and 5.3% from the first episode. The average individual ratings were 2.8%, 3.3%, 3.1%, and 2.8% from the first episode.

Apple buyers have started bidding at the first auction of this year's crop in Aomori Prefecture's Itayanagi Town, northeastern Japan.

Eiji Akaso, Mai Shiraishi, Shuntaro Yanagi, Kazuki Kitamura, and director Yusuke Ishida attended the one-night-only interactive event "#ZonFest" of the Netflix movie "Zon 100: 100 Things I Want to Do Before I Become a Zombie" (worldwide exclusive distribution on July 3) held in Tokyo on July 1.

NHK has learned that an expert panel at Japan's health ministry will decide later this month whether to approve a new drug to treat Alzheimer's disease.

Dutch first division club Feyenoord is expected to acquire Japanese international Ayase Ueda from Belgian first division club Cercle Brugge. The Dutch media outlet FR12 also reports that the club is planning to play a match against Urawa Reds as part of their Japan tour, although the date has not yet been decided.

A Russian missile attack has killed at least six people and wounded 75 others in the hometown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as drone attacks continue on Russian territory.

Japan has triumphed at the Fencing World Championships, clinching its first ever men's team foil title with victory over China in the final.

Japanese national team defender Takehiro Tomiyasu (24), who plays for Arsenal in the English Premier League, appeared on TV Tokyo's "FOOT×BRAIN" (Saturday, 0:25 am) broadcast late on the 29th. He talked about his impression when he played against Kaoru Mitsumoto (26), a Brighton midfielder who also plays for Japan, in a league match.

Diplomatic sources say senior government officials from the Group of Seven countries and major developing nations will meet in Saudi Arabia next weekend to discuss the situation in Ukraine.

North Korea's state-run news agency says the country staged a military parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the Korean War Armistice on Thursday.

The rabbit has been carefully raised for four years and was posted on the YouTube channel "Kogarana Ampa's Bunny Ham Ch. The video has over 710,000 views at the time of writing and has garnered over 7,400 high ratings.

Workers in a town in Japan's northernmost prefecture Hokkaido are busy drying scallop muscles, which are prized as a high-end delicacy.