Several hundred vehicles were stranded overnight on an expressway that connects prefectures northwest of Tokyo, police said Thursday, as heavy snow hit a wide area along the Sea of Japan coast. (Japan Times)

Japan has forecast a rise of around 4% in the country's gross domestic product for fiscal 2021, up from its prediction of 3.4% growth in July, Nikkei has learned. (Nikkei)

The international Olympics committee and the Japanese govt determinant to host the Tokyo Olympics but public support for the games is waning in Japan. (WION)

A man in his 20s from Osaka Prefecture is likely to be referred to prosecutors soon for alleged abuse of Hana Kimura, a now-deceased former cast member on the popular reality TV show “Terrace House,” investigative sources said Wednesday. (Japan Times)

Two women found dead inside their residence in Osaka City last week starved to death, police have revealed, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Dec. 15). (tokyoreporter.com)

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Wednesday voiced regret over a recent year-end dinner where he appeared to flout social-distancing guidelines designed to help halt the virus’s spread as his government faces flak for its handling of the coronavirus response. (Japan Times)

Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike raised the capital’s health care alert system to its highest level on Thursday, sounding the alarm just hours before the city reported a record-breaking 822 new cases of the novel coronavirus. (Japan Times)

Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 44-year-old man over the alleged molestation of a high school girl in Edogawa Ward earlier this year, reports TBS News (tokyoreporter.com)

Tokyo prosecutors have demanded 18 months in prison for lawmaker Kawai Anri on charges of buying votes to win a seat in an Upper House election last year. (NHK)

Japan's latest efforts to block the spread of the coronavirus are not going down well with the tourism industry. (NHK)

A Japanese court on Tuesday sentenced a man dubbed Japan's "Twitter killer" to death for the 2017 murders of eight women who posted suicidal thoughts on social media, and a brother of one of the victims. (Japan Today)

A museum in Hiroshima that documents the 1945 atomic bombing of the city has been temporarily closed amid a surge in coronavirus cases. (NHK)

Seven "kawari hagoita" wooden paddles portraying prominent people of the year were put on display on Sunday. (NHK)

Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested five persons, including two members of a criminal syndicate, for allegedly assaulting a man in Shinjuku Ward earlier this year, reports the Asahi Shimbun. (tokyoreporter.com)

Nearly nine out of 10 Japanese companies plan to suspend their year-end and New Year parties to help reduce the risk of employees becoming infected with the coronavirus, a recent survey showed, in what would be another pandemic-induced disruption of the country's seasonal traditions. (Japan Today)

Japan is seeing a surge in coronavirus cases across the country. Daily cases topped 3,000 for the first time on Saturday. The spread of infections will likely affect the way people spend the year-end holidays. (NHK)

We go inside a luxury Tokyo apartment on the rooftop of a Shibuya tower, to see how far $25,000 a month's rent can go. ()

A written character that evokes everything people in Japan were urged to avoid this year -- crowds, confined spaces and close contact with others -- was on Monday voted the country's top linguistic symbol of 2020. (yahoo.com)

Marriage and childbirth go hand in hand in Japan, perhaps more so than in many other developed countries, but for Rei Kakyoin, a self-identified asexual, the former was never an option. (Kyodo)

Japan set a single-day record for COVID-19 cases on Saturday, passing the 3,000 threshold for the first time ever, NHK reported, as Tokyo also confirmed a record 621 new infections and Osaka registered 429 — a two-week high for the prefecture. (Japan Times)

The number of bankruptcies in Japan's dining industry will likely hit an all-time high in 2020 as many establishments struggle to restore their cash flow amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the results of a recent survey showed. (Japan Today)

Tokyo Metropolitan Police have referred a YouTuber to prosecutors over a stunt carried out near JR Shibuya Station earlier this year, reports TBS News (tokyoreporter.com)

Seventeen people being held at a police station in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward have been confirmed to be infected with the coronavirus. (NHK)

Prominent Japanese comedian and actor Masao Komatsu, known for the comedy song 'Shirakedori Ondo,' died of liver cancer at a Tokyo hospital on Monday. He was 78. (Japan Times)

Japanese authorities and experts are preparing for the next steps in the fight against the coronavirus as a crucial three-week period draws to a close. (NHK)