Japan on Thursday confirmed 1,660 new cases of coronavirus, a record daily high since the outbreak of the virus earlier this year, amid signs of what some health experts refer to as a possible "third wave" of infections as the winter season approaches. (Kyodo)

East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) said Tuesday that it will run a reward point program for a year from next spring to further promote staggered commuting. (Japan Times)

Japan is planning to exempt foreign visitors for next summer's Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics from its 14-day quarantine requirement if they are from countries or regions with relatively fewer novel coronavirus cases, a government panel said Thursday. (Kyodo)

Japanese family-restaurant operator Skylark Holdings has announced plans to close about 200 branches by the end of next year. (NHK)

Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc started selling its next-generation PlayStation 5 video game consoles in Japan on Thursday with pre-orders received by retailers since September overwhelming supply. (Japan Today)

Japan's Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide says US President-elect Joe Biden has suggested that Washington will help Japan defend the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea under the bilateral security treaty. (NHK)

The coronavirus continues to spread across Japan with Tokyo reporting 317 new cases on Wednesday. This marks the first time since late August that the capital's daily tally has exceeded 300. (NHK)

新型コロナウイルスの影響により、多くの企業が業績に大打撃を受けている一方で、成長を遂げているオンライン事業を運営する企業もあります。 (newsonjapan.com)

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Kato Katsunobu says the government is on the highest alert following the recent nationwide surge in coronavirus infections and is taking steps to curb the spread. (NHK)

The ancient tradition of using personalised ink stamps for everything from official documents to receipts is under threat in Japan. (Aljazeera)

The governor of Miyagi Prefecture in northeastern Japan has approved the restart of the No.2 reactor at Tohoku Electric Power Company's Onagawa nuclear plant. (NHK)

Results of a private survey show that pubs and restaurants in Japan are going bankrupt at a record pace because of the coronavirus outbreak. (NHK)

Her career in the pool long behind her, retired swimmer Hanae Ito is looking to nurture future generations of female athletes in Japan by ensuring they know what she did not. (Kyodo)

These creepy Japanese Bedtime stories are even SCARIER than Urban Legends! (MostAmazingTop10)

The withdrawal of both yokozuna before the November Grand Sumo Tournament got under way meant that three of the four highest-ranked men fighting on Day 1 came from a university sumo background. (Japan Times)

Japan's top business lobby says it wants to raise the percentage of women executives in the country to at least 30 percent in the next 10 years. (NHK)

JR East has a new pass! It’s saved me $500 so far on Shinkansen travel and it’s available for non-Japanese passport holders living in Japan! (ONLY in JAPAN)

As coronavirus cases surge in a number of places in Japan, most notably Hokkaido in the far north and Tokyo, the government’s task force on the pandemic has warned that more needs to be done to head off a deeper crisis in the coming winter months. (scmp.com)

Japan's tobacco companies have long held on to an unwritten rule: never raise the cost of a pack of cigarettes more than a single coin. (Nikkei)

East Japan Railway Co. said Tuesday it will conduct autonomous test runs of its E7-series shinkansen bullet trains next fall, with the aim of operating such automated trains in the future amid a labor shortage. (Kyodo)

Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide has instructed his coronavirus taskforce to use all available means to prevent the spread of the virus, as the daily number of new cases increases ahead of the winter season. (NHK)

Japan's prime minister has instructed his cabinet to compile a third supplementary budget draft for fiscal 2020 (NHK)

The number of suicides in Japan rose for a fourth straight month in October. (NHK)

Ozeki Asanoyama withdrew from the ongoing November Grand Sumo Tournament with a deltoid muscle injury to his right shoulder, the Japan Sumo Association said Tuesday. (Kyodo)

Organizers of the Tokyo Olympics on Tuesday began taking online applications for refunds on tickets to the games, which have been postponed until next summer because of the novel coronavirus pandemic. (Kyodo)