November 26, 2020
The Tokyo metropolitan government has decided to ask restaurants that serve alcohol and karaoke establishments to shorten their business hours and close by 10 p.m., in response to the spread of the novel coronavirus. Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike said at a press conference: “The number of seriously ill...
The Japanese government has welcomed U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s cabinet picks for foreign affairs and security, with a senior Foreign Ministry official commending the “group of alliance-minded officials with practical experience.” At a press conference on Tuesday, Foreign Minister To...
SENDAI — No, they’re not pulling your leg. The discovery of an octopus with nine legs in Shizugawa Bay in Minami-Sanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, has surprised even a local researcher, who said he had never seen such a phenomenon. An octopus has the ability to regenerate its eight legs, and by ...
The Tokyo metropolitan government confirmed 401 new coronavirus infections on Wednesday, exceeding 400 for the first time in four days since Nov. 21, when 539 cases were confirmed. According to the...
The ruling political parties have grown concerned in response to the voluntary questioning by Tokyo prosecutors of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s chief public secretary, among more than 20 other...
YATSUSHIRO, Kumamoto — The banpeiyu is one of the world’s largest citrus, and farms in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture, are busy sending the fruits nationwide as it is its peak shipping season. ...
An advisory body of the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, which is examining measures to combat the novel coronavirus, said Tuesday the current infection situation “is at a record level” and co...
Osaka City and Sapporo will be excluded as travel destinations for the government-subsidized Go To Travel tourism promotion campaign until Dec. 15 as part of efforts to curb the spread of the novel c...
Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Chinese counterpart Wang Yi agreed Tuesday to resume within this month the bilateral exchange of people via short-term business trips and medium- to long-term bu...
As the prefectural governor has determined that a dam is necessary for regional flood control, the prefectural government must work out an effective plan for its construction. Kumamoto Gov. Ikuo Kab...
Wednesday marked the 50th anniversary of the death of novelist Yukio Mishima, which shocked society. An exhibition focusing on the relationship between Mishima and Japan scholar Donald Keene, who died...
Local governments hosting Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic delegations are embracing both confusion and hope as they rekindle efforts to welcome their guests next year. Iwase Agricultural High School ...
It is only natural for the government to change its policy flexibly depending on the status of novel coronavirus infections. Every possible measure should be taken to prevent confusion from spreading....
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...
A metropolitan park retaining the nostalgia of Musashino, an old name for midwestern Tokyo, is located just a stone’s throw away from Jindaiji temple in Chofu, Tokyo. Jindai Botanical Gardens is a ...
YAMAGATA — The Zao Onsen hot spring and ski resort in Yamagata is famed for its spectacular “snow monsters” — alpine trees covered in snow and blown into unusual, monsterlike shapes by strong ...
Welcome to the Asian labyrinth, Golden Gai! This small area in Shinjuku, Tokyo, is packed with nearly 300 very small bars. When the lights come on at night, it becomes a sleepless, bustling area with ...
Ramen is one of Japan's most iconic, much-loved dishes. The combination of soup, noodles and toppings is diverse and continues to evolve. If you visit Japan, you'll be amazed at the countless ramen sh...
The Japanese government plans to secure enough coronavirus vaccine for every registered resident of the nation by the first half of next year. It has signed a contract or reached an agreement with P...
Two major U.S. pharmaceutical companies have released promising results from large-scale clinical trials of novel coronavirus vaccines. These companies will soon submit applications to the U.S. govern...
As a measure to reduce the burden of official duties on the declining number of Imperial family members, the government is considering a system for women who have married out of the family to continue...
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...
Ramen is one of Japan's most iconic, much-loved dishes. The combination of soup, noodles and toppings is diverse and continues to evolve. If you visit Japan, you'll be amazed at the countless ramen sh...
SENDAI — No, they’re not pulling your leg. The discovery of an octopus with nine legs in Shizugawa Bay in Minami-Sanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, has surprised even a local researcher, who said he h...
The Liberal Democratic Party, Komeito and others plan to submit legislation aimed at eliminating discrimination related to the novel coronavirus, focusing in part on medical workers and people who con...
This is the third and final installment of a series focusing on the efforts made by frontline medical workers as well as local governments to bring the pandemic under control. Yokohama City Univer...
Two major U.S. pharmaceutical companies have released promising results from large-scale clinical trials of novel coronavirus vaccines. These companies will soon submit applications to the U.S. govern...
A total of 21 countries and regions, including China, Japan and United States, took part in this year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders’ meeting on Friday, and one key takeaway...
Illegal fishing by Chinese boats has been increasing rapidly around the Yamato Bank area, a bountiful fishing ground in the Sea of Japan. The government must respond firmly to protect the interests of...
Officials at the Osaka city government’s finance bureau deliberately discarded an official document related to the recent referendum on the Osaka metropolis plan and covered up its existence in res...
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...
On a trip to Okinawa Prefecture more than a decade ago, I ate a type of food I had never had before and was fascinated by the texture. It was umibudo — literally, sea grapes — also known as green ...
Yu Miri’s novel “JR Ueno Eki Koenguchi” (Tokyo Ueno Station) has won the 2020 National Book Award for Translated Literature in the United States. In recent years, there has been a growing tren...
For a long stretch of this fall, the weather was unusually warm even for the inland region of Southern California. Day after day the outside temperature would exceed 30 C in the afternoon hours, and w...
