Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach agreed Tuesday to postpone this summer's Tokyo Olympics for one year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Japanese leader said. (NHK)

The International Olympic Committee is initiating talks with organizers as well as the governments of Tokyo and Japan on how to handle the Tokyo Games, including a possible postponement. (NHK)

Japan is an interesting place if you are looking to place a wager. (newsonjapan.com)

Life has stayed remarkably normal in Japan’s capital during the coronavirus outbreak, but that could be changing soon. (soranews24.com)

Japan has reported 47 more infections with the new coronavirus, bringing the total to 1,101 as of Sunday. (NHK)

Despite Japan's efforts to carry out more testing for the new coronavirus, medical experts have cast doubt on whether the country can provide adequate testing for citizens and promote effective policies to contain the outbreak. (Japan Today)

Questions about complacency are being raised as people gather at popular sakura spots in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. (soranews24.com)

The International Olympic Committee says it will begin discussions on how the Tokyo Games should be handled, including their possible postponement during the global coronavirus pandemic. (NHK)

Japan will ask travelers arriving from the United States to self-quarantine for 14 days to contain the spread of the new coronavirus, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Monday. (Japan Today)

Hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak, Japan's economy faces its biggest challenge in more than a decade, with analysts warning of a technical recession and even the worse if this summer's Tokyo Olympics is cancelled. (Japan Today)

Investors are growing increasingly skittish about the stability of Masayoshi Son’s empire. (Japan Times)

Princess Aiko, the daughter of Japan's Emperor and Empress, has attended her graduation ceremony at Gakushuin Girls' Senior High School in Tokyo. (NHK)

Police in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, said Sunday they have arrested a 44-year-old unemployed man on suspicion of killing a 70-year-old man by beating him to death with a small concrete block last week. (Japan Today)

The Tokyo Olympics are going to happen — but almost surely in 2021 rather than in four months as planned. (Japan Today)

Eldest daughter of a heartthrob graduates high school and enters the world of fashion. (soranews24.com)

The new version of Harajuku Station opened on Tokyo’s busy Yamanote loop line Saturday as visitors in masks gathered to gawk despite the coronavirus pandemic. (Japan Times)

A law, set to take full effect in April that will ban people from smoking indoors in government buildings and other places in Japan, appears to be backfiring as outdoor smoking is making a brash comeback in all the wrong places. (Kyodo)

Hakuho seized a record-extending 44th top-level championship Sunday after outlasting fellow yokozuna Kakuryu at the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament. (Japan Today)

Some time before the coronavirus outbreak put a damper on this year’s hanami (blossom viewing) parties and other social activities, the media had already noted that the decline in alcohol consumption by younger Japanese has been accelerating. This phenomenon even made the front page of the Nikkei Marketing Journal (Feb. 21). (Japan Times)

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says he wants organizers of large-scale events to continue exercising caution by assessing the risk of coronavirus infections. (NHK)

The Bank of Japan has announced that it will work with other major central banks around the world to enhance dollar swap lines. (NHK)

Hyogo Prefectural Police have disciplined a police sergeant in Amagasaki City for engaging in sex with a subordinate female officer while on duty, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Mar. 19). (tokyoreporter.com)

The history of gambling in Japan is a long and complicated one. For the best part of a century, dating back to a ruling made in the Meiji era in 1907, all gambling activity was illegal. (newsonjapan.com)

Japanese and U.S. foreign ministers on Friday agreed to closely cooperate in dealing with the coronavirus outbreak, recognizing the need to enact border controls for a certain period of time to address the global health crisis. (Kyodo)

The Olympic flame for the Tokyo 2020 Games has arrived in Japan from Greece. (NHK)