With the publication of a suicide note by a former Finance Ministry official and subsequent lawsuit by his widow, the Moritomo Gakuen scandal has returned to haunt Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. But with Abe saying the issue has been settled and Japan finding itself ...

Japanese izakaya dining bar chains Kushikatsu Tanaka Holdings Co. and Torikizoku Co. said Thursday they will temporarily close many outlets from Saturday to April 12 due to the novel coronavirus outbreak. Kushikatsu Tanaka, which serves kushikatsu deep-fried skewered meat and vegetables, will suspend operations at ...

A doctor of Japanese heritage working to treat COVID-19 patients in New York said Wednesday that Japan should quickly implement measures to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. "Life in New York was as usual until a month ago, but the infectivity of the ...

The health care systems in Tokyo and the four prefectures of Kanagawa, Aichi, Osaka and Hyogo are under increased strain, a panel of experts noted.

Social media has expressed shock at what they see as a tone-deaf policy.

The government is eager to help crank up output of ventilators and oxygenators and help introduce the critical equipment to hospitals.

A panel composed of infectious disease experts said that extending school closures in areas particularly hard-hit by COVID-19 could be an option.

An Australian student arrested for spying and expelled from North Korea last year said he was threatened with a firing-squad execution and told not even U.S. President Donald Trump could save his "sorry arse." Among the crimes Alek Sigley was accused of committing was posting ...

Sony Corp. said Thursday it has set up a $100 million (¥10.7 billion) fund to help the medical, education and entertainment sectors in and outside Japan fight the global spread of the new coronavirus. The fund is mainly for medical workers fighting the virus and ...

The flame for the postponed Tokyo Games was put on public display Thursday at a soccer training center in Fukushima Prefecture that served as a frontline base in the battle against the 2011 nuclear disaster. The J-Village site was to have been the grand starting ...

A town mayor admitted Thursday to having received cash last year from veteran lawmaker Katsuyuki Kawai, who is involved in money misuse allegations related to his wife's Upper House campaign. Akiota Mayor Shinji Kosaka became the first municipal leader in Hiroshima Prefecture, from which Kawai ...

North Korea remains totally free of the coronavirus, a senior health official in Pyongyang has insisted, despite mounting skepticism overseas as confirmed global infections near one million. The already isolated, nuclear-armed North quickly shut down its borders in January after the virus was first detected ...

The U.S. Navy is evacuating thousands of sailors from the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt in Guam after its captain warned a coronavirus outbreak was threatening the lives of the crew. There have been 93 COVID-19 cases discovered among the 4,800-strong Roosevelt crew so ...

With the Diet focused on responding to the worsening spread of COVID-19, the timeline for the central government to approve the nation’s first casino resorts has been thrown into doubt. Plans still officially call for proposals to be submitted by interested local governments between January ...

Social media users have been getting creative recently with images of a legendary Japanese yōkai monster said to have emerged from the sea and prophesied an epidemic. Many depictions of the monster have been uploaded alongside messages wishing for a swift end to the spread ...

A record 4,321 individuals were involved in cannabis cases in Japan last year, up 743 from the previous year for the sixth consecutive year of increases, with abuse of the drug by young people showing a marked rise, police said Thursday. The number of those ...

In an empty park overshadowed by Hong Kong's cramped apartment blocks, personal trainer Kristen Handford presses record on her phone and begins a workout for clients trying to stay fit at home during the coronavirus pandemic. "Alright guys, we'll get started with just a 10 ...

The U.N.'s COP26 climate change summit due to take place in the Scottish city of Glasgow in November has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, the British government said Wednesday. "In light of the ongoing, worldwide effects of COVID-19, holding an ambitious, inclusive COP26 ...

Fitness-tracking gadgets are selling out, home exercise classes have never been more popular and robotics crews are pivoting to making sanitation robots. The Covid-19 pandemic has triggered a seismic wave of health awareness and anxiety, which is energizing a new category of virus-fighting tech. The ...

Some countries have banned alcohol, others say liquor shops are essential services, and one top official even suggested a tipple after another long day trapped at home can be a necessary restorative. The debate around alcohol and the coronavirus pandemic touches on issues of health, ...

A six-week-old baby died of COVID-19 on Wednesday, as global agencies warned of food shortages and infections around the world neared one million. Governments expanded lockdowns to affect about half of the planet, with funeral parties banned in the Democratic Republic of Congo, New York ...

SoftBank Group Corp. is scrapping an agreement to spend $3 billion (¥322 billion) to buy WeWork stock from former CEO Adam Neumann and other shareholders, despite threats of legal action from some members of the company’s board. SoftBank had agreed to buy the shares from ...

Japan Airlines Co. executives will voluntarily take a 10 percent cut in monthly remuneration from April to June as a cost-cutting measure after the global coronavirus pandemic forced it to sharply reduce flights, a source close to the matter said Thursday. For the summer flight ...

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Wednesday the government will distribute reusable cloth face masks to roughly 50 million households as stocks of disposable masks have run out at drugstores and other shops amid the coronavirus outbreak. The distribution, which will start later this month, is ...

Doctor Daniel Brenner has had a busy week in the emergency department of Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, seeing dozens of presumed COVID-19 patients. As Maryland and other parts of the United States brace for the kind of surges seen in New York and ...

KDDI Corp. and SoftBank Corp. have set up a joint venture to promote the development of rural infrastructure for 5G ultrahigh-speed mobile communications services. The two mobile carriers will use the venture, 5G Japan Corp., to accelerate the establishment and sharing of the fifth-generation base ...

The long-standing stereotype of Japan's office-bound "salaryman" is being tested as companies cautiously embrace working from home in a bid to stem the spread of the new coronavirus. The government has been trying for years to encourage firms to implement flexible working patterns, hoping that ...

The health ministry has compiled measures to prevent pregnant women from being infected with COVID-19, sources have said. The ministry will call on companies and business organizations to promote teleworking and staggered commuting, create an environment in which pregnant women find it easier to take ...

Many major cities around the globe have implemented lockdowns, but Japan’s big cities such as Tokyo and Osaka have not yet followed suit. Because of that, a sense of crisis about the coronavirus pandemic among the public seems relatively low. In New York, a ...

As Japanese and global policymakers are rushing to design policies to counter the looming economic depression, advice from one of my favorite economists, Jean-Baptiste Say, comes to mind. In 1803 he wrote: “In policy as well as in morality, the grand secret is not ...

The government has come in for some well-earned criticism for its initial response to COVID-19. It must do better.

Regal Lily is supposed to be on tour at the moment. But instead of enjoying what the band’s members like about touring — eating hotel breakfasts, trying local dishes or simply exploring new towns — they’re staying put. There will be no early April ...

By now there are many films about single fathers, but for me the eye-opener was 1979’s “Kramer vs. Kramer.” In it, Dustin Hoffman plays a workaholic adman who struggles to raise his young son after being abandoned by his wife (Meryl Streep), but resists ...

A member of the Osaka Evessa has tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19, while several other players, club and arena staff have complained of sickness, the team announced on Thursday. The club said the player, who has requested anonymity, was found to be ...

The Japan Racing Association said Thursday it will extend its closed-door, audience-free events through April 19. The three upcoming Grade One events, the Osaka Hai, scheduled for Sunday, Oka-sho, scheduled for April 12, and Satsuki-sho, scheduled for April 19, will be among the races that ...

The fifth World Baseball Classic, scheduled to be held in March of 2021, is now under threat from the coronavirus pandemic, Nippon Professional Baseball's secretary general Atsushi Ihara said Thursday. The tournament, organized jointly by Major League Baseball and its players union, has been held ...