August 3, 2020
The Aomori Nebuta Festival, the Akita Kanto Festival, the Morioka Sansa Odori Festival, the Sendai Tanabata Festival — summer in the Tohoku region means massive summer festivals. This year, however, the festivals have been canceled due to the spread of the coronavirus. The bustle of the festivals...
As people are increasingly working from home and exercising at home, clothes that are both functional and comfortable have become popular. Capitalizing on this trend, Canadian athletic gear brand Lululemon recently opened its largest shop in Asia in the Roppongi Hills commercial complex in Tokyo. T...
Ten prefectures have decided that bereaved relatives from their area will not attend this year’s government-sponsored memorial service for those who died in World War II, due to fear of becoming infected with the novel coronavirus, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned. This will be the first time fo...
HANOI — As the current chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Vietnam has been frustrated by its inability to host face-to-face meetings amid the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. A f...
Tokyo confirmed 258 additional coronavirus infections Monday. Although this marks the second consecutive day of the daily total falling below 300, it is the seventh consecutive day of it exceeding 200...
Seven & i Holdings Co., the world’s largest convenience store operator by number of stores, announced Monday that it will acquire Speedway, the convenience store and gas station chain of U.S. oil re...
As infections with the novel coronavirus once again surge throughout Japan, a growing number of private companies are accelerating efforts to conduct polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests and antibody...
How can invaluable relics from the horrors of war be passed on to future generations? It is necessary to appropriately select items that should be preserved, and devise ways to maintain and manage the...
U.S. economic growth has marked a historic plunge due to the spread of infections with the novel coronavirus. The U.S. Congress should come up with additional economic measures as soon as possible to ...
Two new dogs have joined the ranks of the Animal Quarantine Service at New Chitose Airport, near Sapporo. Joining the two that have been on patrol since 2014, the Hokkaido airport now has four canines...
The Tokyo Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games announced on Monday the venue and schedule for the Tokyo Paralympic Games, which will start on Aug. 24, 2021. As in the case of t...
A Yosakoi dance festival usually held in Kochi Prefecture will instead be streamed on YouTube during which enthusiasts worldwide will be able to perform together on Aug. 10-11. The Yosakoi Festival wa...
WASHINGTON — With the successful return to Earth of the SpaceX spacecraft Crew Dragon, the United States once again has its own means of manned space flights. The mission’s success also enables Am...
The volume of flood water that hit central Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto Prefecture, when the Kuma River overflowed last month could have been reduced by more than 90% if a dam had been built along one of its ...
Many families headed to the beach in Numazu, Shizuoka Prefecture, on the weekend, as the rainy season came to an end in the Kanto, Koshin and Tokai regions. To help people observe social distancing ...
Keep track of the coronavirus epidemic as it unfolds in Japan. Relevant stories and graphics appear below covering events up to and including the current state of emergency and the future outlook. ...
The following charts give a visual representation of the spread of the novel coronavirus in Japan and around the world. The first shows the extensiveness of cases in relation to a nation’s populatio...
NAGAOKA, Niigata — Four fireworks were sent up in Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture, on Sunday in place of an annual display that was canceled this year because of the novel coronavirus outbreak. Three ...
Prospects to bring the coronavirus infection under control have yet to be seen, and the virus has continued to pose a serious threat to society. In this series, politicians, local administrators and ...
Shigeru Omi, who served as vice-chair of the government’s expert panel on the new coronavirus, turned his gaze aside and folded his arms. He averted his eyes at the precise moment during the panel...
Five years after winning his only other title and just a year and a half after plunging to the second-lowest division in the sport, former ozeki Terunofuji capped a comeback for the ages by winning t...
SAGA — An exhibition featuring swords made by a craftsman and his disciples who worked for the Saga daimyo clan is being held at the Saga Prefectural Art Museum in Saga City through Sept. 13. Tada...
“I used to checkout sets of Harry Potter audiobook tapes from the public library and listen to it with my brother when I was in elementary school. Now I listen to audiobooks while commuting to work ...
The following charts give a visual representation of the spread of the novel coronavirus in Japan and around the world. The first shows the extensiveness of cases in relation to a nation’s populatio...
Keep track of the coronavirus epidemic as it unfolds in Japan. Relevant stories and graphics appear below covering events up to and including the current state of emergency and the future outlook. ...
Japanese companies planning to start new businesses in India in collaboration with local IT firms will receive financial assistance from the Japanese government, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned. The...
The blast from an explosion at a restaurant chain broke glass windows about 570 meters away in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, according to an interview on Friday. The fire department confirmed at le...
Infections of the new coronavirus are spreading rapidly, with the focus shifting from host clubs and other “nighttime establishments” to familiar places such as workplaces and households. “Inf...
Many elementary, junior high and high schools in Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba, Saitama and other prefectures started summer breaks Saturday amid the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic. According to the E...
Dotted around the Ogasawara Islands seabed, 1,000 kilometers away from central Tokyo, are many Imperial Japanese Navy vessels and ships requisitioned from the private sector and sunk by U.S. forces du...
This year’s haul of sanma saury migrating near Japan was forecast to be less than the previous year’s low, according to the Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency. As the likelihood of poor...
Japan-South Korea relations were hanging in the balance as a South Korean court was scheduled to complete proceedings Tuesday to seize the assets of a Japanese company, in accordance with the ruling t...
As the government inches toward easing entry restrictions into the country amid the coronavirus pandemic, the first step has been the restart of business travel, mainly between Asia. However, there ...
The Japan News has partnered with media startup inkl, a news service that curates articles from the world’s leading publishers for users to read on mobile devices. A selection of articles from The Japan News and The Yomiuri Shimbun is now available to read on inkl, which hosts titles from about 20 countries. 
Paint containing toxic polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) has been used in 334 of the 719 large outdoor structures such as bridges examined across the nation, according to figures compiled by the Enviro...
Southampton may be known for Japanese football player Maya Yoshida, who plays for Southampton FC, or for its famous port where the RMS Titanic departed before sinking. The reason why I am studying he...
My name is Amy Lin. I was born and raised in Taiwan, and I immigrated to the United States in 2005. I came to Japan as an Assistant Language Teacher on the JET Programme and was placed in Yokkaichi C...
Acclaimed Japanese playwright and stage director Hideki Noda has brought his masterpiece “Red Demon” back to the stage, but the events of recent months have given a fresh twist to his tale of fea...
The practice of burning incense is said to have been introduced to Japan from China in ancient times. The sweet, rich fragrances wafting through the air seem to have the power to relax even today’s ...
More and more works by leading contemporary Japanese novelists are gaining popularity after being translated and published in English. “Natsu Monogatari” (A summer story, published as “Breasts a...
