Tokyo Metropolitan Police are questioning a man after he brandished a knife at the Shibuya Ward office on Friday, reports the Yomiuri Shimbun (Feb. 21). (tokyoreporter.com)

Theme parks in Japan featuring Hello Kitty and other characters will close temporarily in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. (NHK)

With hay fever season ramping up and the flu still thriving, the spread of the novel coronavirus poses a challenge for medical institutions nationwide, which face the prospect of being flooded with patients who believe they have COVID-19. (Japan Times)

Two passengers who were aboard the quarantined cruise ship docked near Tokyo have died. They had been hospitalized after showing symptoms and tested positive for the new coronavirus last week. (NHK)

A wave of influenza has been significantly waning in Japan compared with last year, government data has shown, as many people have become wary of infection with a new pneumonia-causing coronavirus. (Japan Times)

Japanese authorities confirmed 705 cases of the new coronavirus as of 9:00 p.m. on Wednesday. (NHK)

The spread of the new coronavirus has prompted some Japanese companies to alter their work schedules, or even tell staff to stay home. (NHK)

Authorities in some prefectures where people are confirmed to be infected with the new coronavirus are providing multilingual information services for foreigners visiting or living in Japan. (NHK)

Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 52-year-old man who is suspected of swindling more than 100 restaurants by making false claims about cleanliness, reports the Asahi Shimbun (Feb. 19). (tokyoreporter.com)

Japanese authorities say nearly 100 people were confirmed on Tuesday to be infected with the new coronavirus, including one person under the age of 20. (NHK)

Kanagawa Prefectural Police believe a high school girl committed suicide by leaping in front of a train on Tuesday morning, an incident that she possbily broadcast on social media, reports NHK (Feb. 18). (tokyoreporter.com)

Nine people were arrested Tuesday on suspicion of illegally collecting money for a food product sales business run by a Tokyo-based mail-order service company that filed for bankruptcy in 2018, police said. (Japan Times)

A man in his 60s confirmed to have been infected with the COVID-19 virus drove a total of 10 Kyodo News staff members in a hired vehicle from late January to early February, the news service said Tuesday, confirming that it had notified member organizations. (Japan Times)

Japan's health ministry says 99 more people on board the quarantined cruise ship Diamond Princess have tested positive for the new coronavirus. (NHK)

As Japan ramps up its response to the coronavirus outbreak, one of the largest sporting events in the nation will be curtailed, with participation in the Tokyo Marathon limited to elite runners and wheelchair competitors, organizers said Monday. (Japan Times)

Japan invented the zombie company: a once proud and innovative name that has lost its way and staggers from one crisis to another. But has Asia's second biggest economy now created the zombie privatization? (Nikkei)

The number of new coronavirus infections among passengers and crew of the Diamond Princess cruise ship quarantined near Tokyo has risen by 70 to 355, the government said Sunday, while more domestic cases were also reported and experts warned the situation could worsen. (Kyodo)

As Japan grapples with the expanding new coronavirus outbreak, six more people — five in Tokyo and another in Aichi Prefecture — tested positive Sunday for the deadly virus, local authorities said. (Japan Times)

Health experts confirmed new cases of the coronavirus across Japan on Saturday. The total number of infections is now over 330, including 285 on a quarantined cruise ship. (NHK)

Health authorities in Japan are hurrying to come up with effective measures to contain the spread of the new coronavirus after they found it hard to track down the infection routes of some cases. (NHK)

The corpse of a missing man was found along the tracks at a rail station in Kumagaya City, police said, reports TV Asahi (Feb. 14) (tokyoreporter.com)

The Tokyo District Court on Friday sentenced a 57-year-old man to 18 months in prison, suspended for four years, over an incident last April in which he left knives on Prince Hisahito’s desk at his junior high school in the capital. (Japan Times)

Japan saw several new cases of coronavirus infection reported on Friday, leading health officials to try and establish just how they contracted the virus. The latest cases bring the number of infected people in Japan to 259, including 218 from a cruise ship. (NHK)

Japan has confirmed its first death of a person infected with the new coronavirus in the country. Health ministry officials say the Japanese woman in her 80s was a resident of Kanagawa Prefecture, just south Tokyo. (NHK)

Popular Japanese singer-songwriter Noriyuki Makihara was arrested Thursday for allegedly possessing illegal drugs at his home in Tokyo, police said. (Kyodo)