Scary fun preempted by scary reality of pandemic. (soranews24.com)

Japanese director Kurosawa Kiyoshi has won the Silver Lion for best director at the 77th Venice Film Festival. (NHK)

Japanese tennis star Osaka Naomi has won the women's singles title at the US Open. (NHK)

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government says it confirmed 146 new cases of the coronavirus in the capital on Sunday. The figure has exceeded 100 for the sixth day in a row. (NHK)

The Japanese government plans to draw up a new policy on missile defense by the end of the year. (NHK)

The majority of Japan’s women’s underwear thieves choose easy marks: garments hanging outside the residences of their female owners. (tokyoreporter.com)

Japan's health ministry has decided to give seasonal flu shots to elderly people first, from October 1. (NHK)

Gunma Prefectural Police launched a murder case after the female manager of a love hotel in Maebashi City was fatally stabbed on Thursday, reports Jiji Press (Sept. 10). (tokyoreporter.com)

Japan and Britain have reached a broad agreement on a new economic partnership. (NHK)

There is lots to see and experience in Europe and while it is great to have options it can also make it harder to pick and choose. (newsonjapan.com)

The Yomiuri Giants are running away with the Central League and are the clear-cut favorites to repeat as Central League champs. (newsonjapan.com)

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government says it confirmed 226 new cases of the coronavirus in the capital on Saturday. (NHK)

He has been dubbed the kingmaker and the shadow shogun, the man who used his tremendous influence within the Liberal Democratic Party to quickly convince its biggest factions to back Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga as party president and, accordingly, prime minister. Though an octogenarian, he is also expected to play a key role in a new administration most likely to be headed by Suga. (Japan Times)

Yokozuna Hakuho and Kakuryu will both miss the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament starting this weekend after deciding to pull out Friday due to injury concerns. (Japan Times)

A 16-year-old high school girl has been killed apparently by her grandfather in his house in Fukui city, police said Thursday. (Japan Today)

Eighteen sumo wrestlers at the Tamanoi stable in Tokyo have been confirmed to have the coronavirus. (NHK)

A government panel on the coronavirus outbreak says two prefectures, Okinawa and Ishikawa, still remain at the worst of the four stages in hospital bed availability. (NHK)

Amazon.com Inc's Japan unit has pledged to return around 2 billion yen ($18.8 million) to around 1,400 suppliers after having them shoulder part of the costs to cover discounts the online retailer applied on goods, the antitrust watchdog said Thursday. (Japan Today)

Crown Princess Kiko, who celebrated her 54th birthday on Friday, said she wants to "respect as much as possible" the feelings of her eldest daughter Princess Mako, whose marriage to her boyfriend has been postponed for nearly two years. (Japan Today)

Tokyo has lowered its coronavirus alert level by one notch in response to a weekly fall in new cases, after keeping the alert at its highest level on a four-point scale for nearly two months. (NHK)

A new survey shows that about 80 percent of the children who contracted the coronavirus in Japan were likely infected by family members. (NHK)

A 4-year-old boy died after choking on a large grape while eating lunch at a Tokyo kindergarten and police have launched a probe into the accident, investigators said Tuesday. (Japan Times)

Japan will consider raising the upper limit for the number of spectators at sports, concerts and other events to up to 20,000 from the current 5,000, as coronavirus cases have been moderating recently, a senior government official said Wednesday. (Kyodo)

The Tokyo metropolitan government plans to end next week its policy of asking establishments serving alcohol in the capital's central 23 wards to close by 10 p.m., as the number of coronavirus cases has been trending downward in recent days, a source familiar with the situation said Wednesday. (Kyodo)

Workers in Japan may be looking beyond the pandemic. A government survey says their view of business conditions has improved, for the fourth month in a row. One index fell and that was for restaurants. (NHK)