A farewell ceremony for Japanese doctor Tetsu Nakamura, who was killed in Afghanistan in December, was held Saturday attended by about 5,000 people paying respect for his longtime contribution to development of the central Asian country. (Japan Today)

A former SoftBank Corp. employee was arrested Saturday for allegedly passing proprietary information from the major phone carrier to officials at Russia’s trade representative office in Tokyo. (Japan Times)

Tokyo and Washington are making plans to evacuate Japanese and American citizens from Wuhan, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak that has claimed more than 50 lives, while Honda Motor said Sunday it was evacuating about 30 employees and family members out of the area back to Japan. (Nikkei)

Japan's health ministry says it has confirmed the country's fourth case of the new coronavirus. (NHK)

The government plans to abandon for now an amendment to the age cap under juvenile law that would lower the age when individuals can be tried as adults from 20 years old to 18, sources have said. (Japan Times)

Health authorities in Japan have confirmed the country's third case of the new coronavirus. (NHK)

A former care home worker accused of mass killings in Japan has rejected his lawyers' argument that he is mentally unfit to stand trial. (NHK)

A panel of Japanese experts says that over the next 30 years, many people living along the Nankai Trough face a higher chance of experiencing a deadly tsunami than being injured in a traffic accident. (NHK)

To encourage more customers to go digital, Japan’s largest bank is offering depositors who give up their paper bankbooks a ¥1,000 reward. (Japan Times)

Lebanon and Japan have about 40 days to decide whether ousted Nissan-Renault-Mitsubishi boss Carlos Ghosn will be extradited to Japan or stand trial in Lebanon, a judicial source and a source close to Ghosn said on Thursday. (Japan Times)

Narita Airport east of Tokyo is crowded with tourists from China as the Lunar New Year holiday period gets underway. (NHK)

A huge monument featuring the Olympic symbol has been lit up in Tokyo six months before the Japanese capital hosts the Games. (NHK)

Japan's Finance Ministry says the country's annual trade balance fell into the red in 2019 for the second-straight year, mainly due to the effects of the US-China trade war. (NHK)

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told parliament on Thursday the government will ask airlines to make announcements on flights from China urging passengers to notify cabin crew if they feel ill, as a new coronavirus continues to spread. (Kyodo)

A Japanese person with severe pneumonia has been hospitalized in Wuhan, a senior official of the Japanese Embassy in Beijing said Thursday. (Kyodo)

A 73-year-old man arrested on suspicion of animal cruelty kept 73 dogs at his home in Utsunomiya City, Tochigi Prefecture, police said. (Japan Today)

A 61-year-old postman failed to deliver thousands of postal items that he kept at his home instead, police said Thursday. (Kyodo)

The first female student was admitted to Japan’s national naval submarine academy Wednesday after the end of a ban on women on the country’s submarines. (Japan Times)

The smelt fishing season has begun at last on a frozen lake in Gunma Prefecture, central Japan. It started 10 days later than usual because of higher temperatures. (NHK)

Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 49-year-old man who is suspected of drugging and raping dozens of women over the past three years, reports NHK (Jan. 22). (tokyoreporter.com)

A group of merchants on Rakuten Inc's online shopping mall on Wednesday submitted a petition with some 4,000 signatures to the Japan Fair Trade Commission, asking it to investigate the e-commerce giant's planned "free shipping" policy. (Japan Today)

The last train schedules in and around the Japanese capital will be extended by up to two hours during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. (NHK)

A woman and three children were found stabbed to death in a car in a park in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, on Wednesday morning. (Japan Today)

Japanese Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi has called into question Japan's financing of a coal-fired power plant in Vietnam. (NHK)

Dangerous stunt by Japanese civil servant gets slammed online. (soranews24.com)