A new variant of the coronavirus that was first detected in South Africa has been confirmed in Japan. (NHK)

Japan's former transport minister Hata Yuichiro, who died on Sunday at the age of 53, has become the first incumbent lawmaker in the country to die of the coronavirus. (NHK)

FamilyMart Co. President Takashi Sawada has said the convenience store operator will increase the number of its outlets with Amazon Hub parcel lockers sevenfold, to about 350, by the fiscal year through February 2022. (Japan Times)

A fresh ban on foreign visitors announced less than a week before New Year's Day was a telling sign of the high pressure Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga faces as he grapples with a deeply unhappy public that has sent his approval ratings tanking. (Nikkei)

The government kept its assessment of industrial production unchanged, saying it was picking up. (WION)

Princess Kako, the niece of Japanese Emperor Naruhito, turned 26 on Tuesday, while spending much of her recent time at her residence in Tokyo and performing her duties online amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, according to the Imperial Household Agency. (Kyodo)

Sakuradamon Gate Area: Remains of Edo Era Residence of Yonezawa Uesugi Family (ONLY in JAPAN)

Former transport minister Yuichiro Hata died on Sunday while being transported to a hospital in Tokyo, though the cause of his death was not immediately known, people close to him said. He was 53. (Japan Times)

Rika Kihira nailed a quad salchow in her free skate to overcome a powerful challenge from Kaori Sakamoto and capture her second straight women's crown at Japan's national figure skating championships on Sunday. (Kyodo)

Japan is developing a system aimed at keeping track of travelers from overseas as part of efforts to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus within its borders, a senior government official said Sunday. (Japan Today)

A total of 2,948 new cases of the coronavirus were confirmed across Japan on Sunday. (NHK)

Shrines across Japan would usually expect to welcome millions of people to celebrate New Year, but the novel coronavirus pandemic has dampened the celebratory mood this time as the country faces a third wave of infections. (Kyodo)

The Japanese government has suspended entry of non-resident foreign nationals to Japan to prevent the transmission of coronavirus variants. (NHK)

The Japan Meteorological Agency says a volcanic eruption occurred on Suwanosejima Island in the southwestern prefecture of Kagoshima at around 2:48 a.m. on Monday. (NHK)

Japan will ban entry from all countries to prevent the spread of the more contagious U.K. strain of the coronavirus, the government announced Saturday. (Nikkei)

A Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker attended a drinking party Friday with about 30 people in Toyama, his office said Saturday, despite authorities’ warnings to refrain from dining in large groups to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus. (Japan Times)

The Toei Oedo Line subway will temporarily reduce service after 15 drivers tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government said on Saturday, reports the Asahi Shimbun (tokyoreporter.com)

The spread of the new coronavirus is threatening the supply of blood for transfusions in the Tokyo Metropolitan area. (NHK)

The Winter Cup is Japan’s biggest high school basketball tournament, but the 2020 edition is facing an unprecedented crisis amid the COVID-19 pandemic. (Japan Times)

Tokyo 2020 organizers said Thursday that all 68 domestic sponsors for the Summer Olympics have agreed in principle to extend their contracts for the delayed games, even as growing coronavirus infections in Japan overshadow the event. (Japan Times)

Japanese airports and train stations on Saturday started seeing some lines of travelers heading to their hometowns or other places for the year-end and New Year holidays, but there was less crowding than usual because of the coronavirus pandemic. (Japan Today)

The Japanese government faces both technical and policy challenges in reaching the goals it has set to achieve net-zero emission of greenhouse gases by 2050. (NHK)

Japan's health ministry says five people who returned to Japan from Britain have tested positive for a new variant of the coronavirus. (NHK)

Japan's unemployment rate improved to 2.9% in November, dropping for the first time in five months in a sign that the impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic on the labor market is easing, government data showed Friday. (Japan Times)

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Friday said the country is prepared to introduce vaccines and is looking at February as a key decision-making point. (Nikkei)