Yokozuna Hakuho, who holds the all-time record of 44 top-division titles, pulled out of the upcoming Summer Sumo Grand Tournament on Friday and will miss a sixth straight basho, the equal third-longest injury absence by a grand champion in sumo history. (Kyodo)

The International Olympic Committee announced Thursday it will provide athletes attending this summer's Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics with doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, developed by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE, free of charge. (Kyodo)

East Japan Railway Co., or JR East, said Thursday that it has decided to cancel coronavirus-linked train service reductions planned on some lines in the Tokyo metropolitan area during the morning commuting hours Friday, as the measure is now expected to create crowds. (Japan Times)

TOKYO (TR) – A 30-year-old man in custody for allegedly drugging and raping four women has been accused in a fifth case, police have revealed, reports Nippon News Network. (tokyoreporter.com)

Japanese retailer Nitori Holdings is getting into the restaurant business, where it will apply the same cost-cutting model it has honed in its furniture business to steakhouses. (Nikkei)

A harried commuter rushes through a Tokyo station hoping to catch the next train home. (Nikkei)

Mao Ichiyama won the women’s section of the Sapporo Challenge Half Marathon with a personal-best time on Wednesday, beating out fellow Japan Olympic team members Honami Maeda and Ayuko Suzuki. (Japan Times)

Trains can feel quite old fashioned, in a lot of ways. With long distance travel very much the preserve of the plane in modern culture, a long-distance train as a mode of public transport can be seen as quirky, rather than the go-to option. Japan, though, is determined to change that. (Tech Vision)

Behind the newly-minted Asian record-setter Shoma Sato in the men’s 200m breaststroke at last month’s Japanese Olympic Trials, Ryuya Mura stunningly claimed 2nd place in a huge personal best. (swimswam.com)

TOKYO -- Japan will add a provision on human rights to its corporate governance code for publicly traded companies when it is revised next month, as allegations of abuses by China in Xinjiang shine a spotlight on the issue. (Nikkei)

A Tokyo police officer was found dead and his female colleague is missing on Mt. Tanigawa in eastern Japan, local police said Tuesday, two days after receiving a distress call. (Kyodo)

World's oldest person, 118-year-old Kane Tanaka, pulls out of torch relay citing Covid-19 fears (stuff.co.nz)

LONDON – Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and his U.S. counterpart Antony Blinken held talks on Monday in London to discuss issues related to China and North Korea, following up on their leaders’ summit last month. (Japan Times)

OSAKA – Senior vice defense minister Yasuhide Nakayama said Monday that the government has decided to set up a state-run mass vaccination center at the Osaka International Convention Center. (Japan Times)

The town of Noto in Ishikawa received millions of yen due to the impact of covid-19. The money was part of a rural revitalization project to help the countryside in the wake of the virus. (kotaku.com)

Japanese healthcare workers have spurned plans to deploy 10,000 of the already overworked personnel during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics just as a fourth wave of Covid-19 infections has pushed the number severe cases to a new record. (laprensalatina.com)

About 180 torchbearers have taken part in the Okinawa leg of the Tokyo Olympic torch relay. (NHK)

Residents of Shizuoka Prefecture west of Tokyo are clearing up debris after their communities were hit by what appeared to be a tornado. (NHK)

It's rare to find an entire abandoned village in Japan. But what about 12 abandoned villages? Why were they abandoned? Where did everyone go? Why was so much left behind? (Tokyo Lens)

Our baby finally gets vaccinated in Japan. He gets the BCG vaccine from a Tokyo clinic. (Tokyo Zebra)

The Japan Sumo Association will hold a first-aid study group on May 7 following the death of a lower-division wrestler, who suffered acute respiratory failure after hitting his head during the sport's last grand tournament in March. (Japan Today)

Cape Soya is 1,000km from Tokyo at Japan's most northern point. In the height of winter we drive across a snowy Hokkaido to discover what's up there. (Abroad in Japan)

Osaka reported a record 1,262 new cases on Saturday. 41 people have died, the second largest daily figure to date. (NHK)

Japan's Golden Week holiday period began in earnest on Saturday, but the first day of five consecutive vacation days was relatively quiet in major areas as measures against COVID-19 dissuaded many people from traveling. (Kyodo)

Japan's Nippon Yusen (9101.T) subsidiary NYK Cruises Co said on Friday that its luxury cruise ship "Asuka II" was returning to port after a passenger tested positive for the coronavirus. (Reuters)