Vaccines against a coronavirus that has killed 170 people in China probably won’t be ready by the start of the Tokyo Summer Olympics, a professor who looked at health risks ahead of the games said, adding that he hoped that there was enough time to build defenses. (Japan Times)

Japan will allow more foreign nationals, including those holding short-term visas, to take a skills test from April under the new blue-collar visa program that is aimed at addressing national labor shortages, immigration officials said Thursday. (Japan Times)

Japanese fashion billionaire Yusaku Maezawa has pulled out of a documentary search for a girlfriend to take on his voyage around the moon with Elon Musk's SpaceX, citing his "mixed feelings" about participating. (iol.co.za)

Intellectual Property High Court slams the breaks for the company once known as 'MariCar.' (soranews24.com)

Suntory Spirits Ltd. said Thursday that it will sell a 55-year-old Yamazaki brand single-malt whisky product, the company’s oldest whisky, on June 30. (Japan Times)

Tokyo prosecutors have obtained a new arrest warrant for former Nissan Motor chairman Carlos Ghosn for suspected violation of the immigration control law. (NHK)

Like a lot of big cities in the developed world, Amsterdam lost population in the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s as its inhabitants opted for newer dwellings and more space outside the city. (Japan Times)

The first group of Japanese evacuees from a virus-hit Chinese city arrived in Tokyo on Wednesday, a dozen of them with coughs and fever including two who were later diagnosed with pneumonia. (Japan Today)

All Nippon Airways Co. said Wednesday it will extend throughout February the suspension of all flights between the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the outbreak of a new deadly coronavirus began last month, and Narita Airport. (Japan Times)

The Village Plaza, which will serve as a key facility within the Athletes Village during the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, was unveiled Wednesday ahead of its planned completion in April. (Japan Times)

Japan's health ministry officials say a female bus tour guide living in Osaka has been confirmed infected with the new coronavirus. This is the eighth confirmed infection in Japan. (NHK)

The hay fever season is set to begin earlier than usual in Japan this year due to a warmer-than-average winter, a weather information provider said Wednesday. (Japan Times)

The new Harajuku Station building in Tokyo’s pop-culture hub, which is set to open on March 21 in time for the Tokyo Olympic Games, was unveiled to the media Wednesday by East Japan Railway Co. (Japan Times)

Nissan is planning aggressive cost cuts to deal with an unexpected slump in sales as the expansionist strategy it inherited from fugitive former Chairman Carlos Ghosn flounders, four people familiar with the plans said. (Japan Times)

The municipal government of Sano, Tochigi Prefecture, has launched a project to help potential settlers open ramen noodle shops in the area. (Japan Times)

Japan's health ministry announced on Tuesday that a bus driver in Japan who had not visited the Chinese city of Wuhan has contracted the new coronavirus. (Nikkei)

Japanese health ministry officials say passengers on the government-chartered flight will receive medical examinations on board. (NHK)

Japan's health ministry says a Chinese woman who visited Hokkaido has been confirmed to be infected with the new coronavirus. She is the seventh case of infection in Japan. (NHK)

Japan's Fast Retailing has temporarily closed more than 10% of its Uniqlo fast-fashion stores in China, Nikkei learned Tuesday, as retailers grapple with the country's fast-spreading coronavirus outbreak. (Nikkei)

Japan's hotel industry is being hit hard by a large number of cancellations resulting from the spread of the new coronavirus in China. (NHK)

Between January 24 and 30, some 700,000 Chinese tourists are expected to arrive in Japan to celebrate the Chinese New Year. (tokyoreporter.com)

A Japanese group of researchers says it has conducted heart surgery using sheets of heart muscle cells made from iPS cells. (NHK)

Operations have begun to remove a rare type of spent fuel made of plutonium-uranium mixed oxide from a nuclear reactor in central Japan, operator Kansai Electric Power Co. said Monday. (Japan Times)

Japan's government is taking steps to evacuate Japanese citizens who want to leave Wuhan, the city at the center of the coronavirus outbreak. Japanese companies are preparing to repatriate employees and their families. About 160 companies are operating in and around the city. (NHK)

Will wearing a surgical mask help protect against the new coronavirus that originated in the central Chinese city of Wuhan and has so far killed more than 80 people? (Nikkei)