The owner of Japan's largest cruise ship, Asuka II, said Wednesday it will build an even bigger yet eco-friendly 51,950-ton ship with completion aimed for 2025, anticipating a post-pandemic recovery in travel demand. (Kyodo)

Universal Studios Japan in the western city of Osaka marked its 20th anniversary Wednesday, but without any large-scale events to celebrate the occasion due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Kyodo)

Sumo's sole grand champion Hakuho, who withdrew from the recent Spring Grand Tournament with a knee injury, will remain subject to a stern warning over his repeated absences from competition, the sport's governing body decided Monday. (Kyodo)

Long-considered an overlooked national security vulnerability, Japan will start paying closer attention to just who is buying land close to sensitive areas, aiming to thwart hostile actors from conducting espionage or disrupting operations at defense bases, nuclear plants and other such facilities. (Nikkei)

At least 93 foreigners residing in Japan were granted permission to bring their same-sex spouses to the country under a special visa between 2013 and 2020, the first such government survey showed Friday. (Kyodok)

A total of 47 cases of anaphylaxis, a severe and potentially fatal allergic reaction, have been reported after some 580,000 shots of Pfizer Inc.'s COVID-19 vaccine were administered to health workers in Japan, the health ministry said Friday. (Kyodo)

Japan reported Friday more than 2,000 new cases of the coronavirus in one day for the first time since early February, fanning concerns of a rebound less than a week after a state of emergency was lifted in Tokyo and three surrounding prefectures. (Kyodo)

Around 80 percent of people working in Japan's art scene said they have been subjected to abuse of power or sexually harassed during the last decade, an online survey by industry insiders showed Wednesday. (Kyodo)

Tokyo and nearby prefectures decided Wednesday to extend their requests for businesses to shorten operating hours until next month as part of efforts to curb the risk of a rebound of the novel coronavirus in the metropolitan area. (Kyodo)

The Japan Patent Office rejected a trademark application by an individual in Shenzhen, southern China, for using the name of Japan's indigenous Ainu people, documents showed Tuesday. (Kyodo)

The average price of land in Japan fell for the first time in six years due to declining demand for urban commercial land spurred by the novel coronavirus pandemic, the government said Tuesday. (Kyodo)

The Bank of Japan on Friday tweaked its policy framework to continue with monetary easing in more sustainable and effective ways as economic recovery from the pandemic is still nascent and its inflation target is far off. (Kyodo)

The government has agreed to allow professional athletes and coaches, including those with pro baseball and soccer teams, to enter Japan provided they undergo strict anti-virus measures, a source with knowledge of the matter said Thursday. (Kyodo)

Former Japan soccer international Takayuki Morimoto was arrested Tuesday for driving while intoxicated and causing an accident in Paraguay, where he recently signed for first-division side Sportivo Luqueno, local media reported. (Kyodo)

A nuclear power plant on the Sea of Japan coast had been vulnerable to unauthorized entry in around a dozen locations since March last year, after its security system lost partial functionality and backups were not effective, the country's nuclear regulatory body said Tuesday. (Kyodo)

Grand champion Hakuho will have surgery for a right knee injury that forced his withdrawal Tuesday from the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament. (Kyodo)

Shuichi "Ponta" Murakami, a Japanese drummer who was a studio musician for composer Ryuichi Sakamoto and saxophonist Sadao Watanabe, died last week of thalamic bleeding at a Tokyo hospital, his office said Monday. He was 70. (Kyodo)

Grand champion Hakuho, fighting for the first time since July 30 due to injury and illness, opened the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament with a win on Sunday. (Kyodo)

The Azumazeki stable, sumo's first to be opened by a foreign-born sumo elder, former sekiwake Takamiyama, and home to the sport's first foreign yokozuna, Akebono, will close its doors and merge with the Hakkaku stable, the Japan Sumo Association announced Friday. (Kyodo)

Fishery cooperative membership has fallen 24.4 percent in the period from the end of the 2010 fiscal year through March 2019 in three northeast Japan prefectures hit hardest by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami – Miyagi, Iwate, and Fukushima – according to a Kyodo News survey. (seafoodsource.com)

People in Japan who received Pfizer Inc's COVID-19 vaccine seem to have suffered anaphylaxis at a higher rate than in the United States and Europe, the minister in charge of vaccination efforts said Wednesday. (Japan Today)

The world's fastest supercomputer went into full operation Tuesday. It's called Fugaku, and it's being used to help in the fight against COVID-19. (NHK)

Japan's major airlines have recently suspended bookings on flights to Japan from countries seeing an outbreak of coronavirus variants following the government's request to limit the number of inbound passengers, company officials said Wednesday. (Kyodo)

Japan's welfare ministry will tighten guidelines for listing babysitter matching site operators on its website following recent alleged illegal behavior by some sitters who were introduced on the site, a person familiar with the matter said Monday. (Kyodo)

Kirin Brewery Co. said Monday it will expand its home-delivery beer subscription service in May amid growing demand for its alcohol products at home in the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic. (Kyodo)