Amid high electricity demand due to unseasonably cold weather and tight liquefied natural gas supply, Japan is scrambling to prevent a national blackout by calling on power companies to generate more and the public to use less. (Nikkei)

The Japanese government plans to suspend the entry of all foreigners as the coronavirus continues to spread around the world. (NHK)

A former SoftBank Corp. employee has been arrested on suspicion of illegally disclosing 5G trade secrets to his new employer, Rakuten Mobile Inc., as it was preparing to launch its own mobile network. (Japan Times)

The number of people infected with seasonal flu in Japan continues to remain dramatically below that of the average year. (NHK)

Tokyo reported 1,433 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday as Japan’s cumulative total of coronavirus cases topped 300,000. (Japan Times)

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said Tuesday the government will expand a state of emergency declared over the coronavirus pandemic to Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo prefectures. (Japan Times)

The Tokyo metropolitan government on Tuesday reported 970 new cases of the coronavirus, down 249 from Monday. The tally brought Tokyo's cumulative total to 77,133. (Japan Today)

Dig deeper into the story of Ashio, a former mining town in Tochigi Prefecture that’s returning to nature with the passage of time and contributions of hard-working residents. (NHK)

Medical facilities across Japan are struggling to cope with the recent surge in novel coronavirus infections, leaving the medical care system in many areas on the brink of collapse. (Japan Today)

The Japanese education ministry has opened a section on its website providing information on jobs at schools in the country as a way of supporting efforts to maintain employment by companies affected by the fallout of the novel coronavirus epidemic. (Japan Times)

Japan’s imports of spaghetti, which is easy to cook, hit a record high in 2020, apparently due to people refraining from going out amid the novel coronavirus crisis. (Japan Times)

The oldest active player in Japan's professional soccer league has renewed his contract. Miura Kazuyoshi will turn 54 during the upcoming season. (NHK)

Arthritis medication developed by Japan's Chugai Pharmaceutical provides effective treatment against the coronavirus, according to the British government, lowering mortality risk and shortening hospital stays. (Nikkei)

Men wearing traditional loin clothes and women dressed in white robes clapped and chanted before going into an ice water bath during a Shinto ritual at a Tokyo shrine on Sunday to purify the soul and pray for the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Reuters)

Meet my Japanese neighbors and see how the area is surviving without tourists. (KemushiChan ロレッタ)

Japan's health ministry says four people who arrived at Tokyo's Haneda Airport earlier this month were infected with a coronavirus variant different from those found in Britain and South Africa. (NHK)

Japanese weather officials say snowfall is forecast for the Pacific side of the country, as the heavy snow that hit Sea of Japan areas subsides. (NHK)

Japan’s new unified university entrance examination is set to take place for two days from Saturday, in an unprecedented situation amid the rapidly growing spread of the novel coronavirus, which has led the Tokyo metropolitan area to be put under a fresh state of emergency. (Japan Times)

Little change was seen in the flow of commuters at major train stations in Tokyo and three neighboring prefectures Friday morning as a fresh state of emergency came into effect in the metropolitan area to stop the spread of COVID-19. (Japan Times)

Japan is considering extending a state of emergency from the Tokyo metropolitan area to other regions as novel coronavirus cases increase but that could raise the risk of a double-dip recession for the world's third-largest economy. (Japan Today)

Around 80% of people in Japan believe the postponed Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics this summer should be canceled or rescheduled, a Kyodo News survey showed Sunday. (Japan Times)

Tochigi Prefectural Police have arrested an American woman over the alleged fatal assault at her residence in Nikko City, reports NHK. (tokyoreporter.com)

Bitcoin trading has become one of the most popular ways to make easy money. (newsonjapan.com)

At 10:09 JST an explosion was registered. It's not a strong plume so the explosion wasn't extremely forceful. (Volcano Time-Lapse)

The New Year Grand Sumo Tournament could be canceled if wrestlers continue to become infected with the novel coronavirus, the tournament's chief organizing official said Saturday after five more wrestlers tested positive for the virus. (Japan Today)