Japanese commercial music juggernaut AKB48 is looking to build on its wildly successful all-girl group by adding a more mature member to its teen-dominated line-up, an advert released Wednesday said.

The collective, whose 90-plus singers and dancers are rotated in and out of the limelight according to their waxing and waning popularity, regularly pump out songs that sell more than a million copies.

Japan's super-speedy bullet train is to offer passengers a chance to soothe their tired feet as they zip through the countryside, in a carriage equipped with footbaths.

JR East will launch the service in July, with one carriage on the "shinkansen" bullet train having two 2.4-meter-long (8-foot) tubs facing windows.

It has been the ruin of many a pleasant outing: Nature calls, but there's nowhere to go.

Now, a new website is making it easier for tourists to get much needed relief when traveling in an unfamiliar city or town.

A Tokyo zoo is to shutter its panda display in an effort to encourage the famously lethargic creatures to concentrate on mating without the distraction of spectators, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.

Starting Thursday, Shin Shin and her companion Ri Ri will be given a bit of alone time at Ueno Zoo after she began exhibiting signs that she was ready to procreate.

A German court has ruled that a prospective Berlin police recruit's breast implants cannot legally be used as grounds to keep her off the force.

The woman applied in 2012 to join the Berlin police force, but was rejected after authorities said her breast implants would prevent her from wearing a protective vest or riot gear. They argued the implants would mean the protective gear put so much pressure on her chest that there was a risk of fibrosis or other health problems.

A dealer handling a $10 million treasure trove found by a US couple dismissed Tuesday a report that the horde may have been stolen and therefore have to be given back.

The California couple uncovered eight cans filled with more than 1,400 coins on their property, in what is believed to be the most valuable treasure trove ever discovered in the United States.

Hong Kong fans of British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver fell about laughing on Wednesday after he announced a new Italian restaurant for the city in Cantonese -- with a few slip-ups.

Making a stab at the local Chinese dialect in a light-hearted YouTube video, he announces: "I will open an amazing Italian submarine."

A library in high-tech Estonia is getting children to read out loud to dogs to boost their confidence, reading and social skills with a little help from man's best friend.

Tentel the long-haired Afghan Hound, a peppy Golden Retriever named Elli and a fluffy Newfoundland named Leero lend their ears at the library in the eastern city of Tartu twice a month.

A Philadelphia television news reporter covering the aftermath of a snowstorm in New Jersey has gotten pelted by snow from a passing plow.

WTXF-TV's Steve Keeley was blasted with a wall of snow from the plow Monday morning while reporting live from the side of a road in Woodstown.

A farmer in central Minnesota has created a towering tribute to winter's excess.

Greg Novak says he's invested hundreds of hours to build a 50-foot snowman named "Granddaddy" that he hopes will wake onlookers from their winter doldrums. And he admits it has some neighbors questioning his sanity.