World champion karateka Ryo Kiyuna, who is among Japan's leading hopes for gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, has contracted coronavirus. (insidethegames.biz)

Weather officials in Japan warn of more heavy snow this weekend across many mountainous areas and the side of the country facing the Japan Sea. (NHK)

A police officer fatally shot a man armed with a knife during a confrontation at the man's house in Niigata on Friday night, police said. (Japan Times)

The Japanese man convicted this week of killing and dismembering nine people in his flat west of Tokyo has said he wants to "meet a normal girl" and get married before he is executed. (scmp.com)

The Japanese ferry Taiheiyo Ferry runs between Hokkaido and Nagoya via Sendai. (Kuga's Travel)

Japan’s roads are getting old. So much so, that certain parts are dangerous. (NHK)

Shoppers washed their hands and sterilized their smartphones in the streets of Tokyo’s posh Ginza district using handwashing stations that a Japanese start-up hopes will broaden access to clean water and better hygiene. (Reuters)

Toshiba Corp., chastened by a string of disastrous overseas acquisitions, is once again looking to buy. This time more cautiously and closer to home. (Japan Times)

The capsule brought back by the Hayabusa2 space probe contained more than 5.4 grams of soil samples from a distant asteroid, exceeding the original target of 0.1 gram, Japan's space agency said Friday. (Kyodo)

NHK has learned that Japan's health ministry has ordered local governments to prepare coronavirus vaccination programs, so that medical workers can begin receiving inoculations in February. (NHK)

Heavy snow has brought traffic chaos to much of north-west Japan, with hundreds of vehicles stuck on blocked highways. (abc.net.au)

The coronavirus hasn't stopped a street in the city of Sendai, northeastern Japan, from becoming a dazzling winter wonderland. (NHK)

Japan's Kei Nishikori married 29-year-old former model Mai Yamauchi last week, the former world No. 4 men's singles player announced Friday on his personal app. (Kyodo)

Railway operators serving the Tokyo metropolitan region, including East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) announced Friday their respective decisions not to run trains all night on New Year's Eve through New Year's Day, as a measure to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. (Japan Times)

This area has changed ever so slightly but it’s bound to lose more iconic places. We’ll explore the area and hope for the best. (ONLY in JAPAN)

The Bank of Japan on Friday unveiled a plan to probe more effective ways to achieve its 2% inflation target, following in the foot steps of its U.S. and European counterparts as a renewed spike in infections threatened to derail a fragile recovery. (Japan Times)

Researchers have found a link between wearing masks and COVID-19 immunity. (NHK WORLD-JAPAN)

Japan's decision to build two new naval vessels equipped with Aegis missile interceptors — an alternative to a scrapped plan to deploy a land-based system — could prompt further armament by potential adversaries, security experts have warned. (Japan Times)

Traditional Japanese architectural craftsmanship used in timber-framed structures was approved Thursday for addition to UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list, a committee of the U.N. cultural body said. (Kyodo)

The mayor of Unnan City in Shimane Prefecture has been arrested on suspicion of assaulting a female nurse while he was in hospital. (Japan Today)

Major U.S. drugmaker Pfizer Inc. on Friday filed for a fast-track approval in Japan of its COVID-19 vaccine, marking the first such application made in the nation, with industry sources saying the formal approval could come within months amid the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic. (Japan Times)

Japan’s biggest-ever yen corporate bond sale has made this the busiest December since at least 2009 for the market, and the flood of supply is forcing companies to pay more for money. (Japan Times)

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government reported 664 new cases of the coronavirus in the Japanese capital on Friday. (NHK)

The government said Thursday it will remove the two remaining wind power turbines it installed off Fukushima Prefecture citing lack of profit in the project, which cost ¥60 billion ($580 million). (Japan Times)

Every December people across Japan prepare to head back to their hometowns to spend the New Year holidays with family. (NHK)