I took the Nozomi Shinkansen from Tokyo this morning and will bring you on the last few minutes before arrival and show you Kyoto Station. (ONLY in JAPAN)

I've discovered recently that to find beautiful untouched places around Japan, or to escape the big cities even, I don't need to travel very far. (Currently Hannah)

The two airports serving Tokyo have started conducting coronavirus antigen tests for international arrivals that produce results in about an hour, helping them roughly double testing capacity. (Nikkei)

Tokyo is set to request restaurants, bars and karaoke parlors to reduce operating hours as coronavirus cases in Japan's capital hit a new daily high. (Nikkei)

The Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, Japan has been canceled for 2020. (wtatennis.com)

Vegetable prices are surging in the nation due to poor crops, blamed on unfavorable weather conditions such as a long spell of rain and a lack of sunlight. (Japan Times)

Korea’s objections to Japan’s export restrictions are being taken up by the World Trade Organization (WTO), which decided to create an arbitration panel. (koreajoongangdaily.joins.com)

A botanical garden in South Korea has set up a statue of a man kneeling and bowing his head in front of a statue of a girl symbolizing those referred to as comfort women. (NHK)

Japan's top government spokesperson says 550 clusters of coronavirus infections had been confirmed across the country as of Tuesday. (NHK)

A bodyguard of Japanese Defense Minister Taro Kono has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, but Kono himself is negative, police and the Defense Ministry said Tuesday. (Kyodo)

Japan is planning a reservation system for business people to get coronavirus tests before they go abroad. This comes as the country prepares to boost international business travel, mainly with other parts of Asia. (NHK)

Duty-free store operator Laox will close half of its locations in Japan, the company said Tuesday, seeing no recovery on the horizon from a plunge in Chinese, South Korean and other Asian tourists. (Nikkei)

Analysts at Fitch Ratings say the impact of the coronavirus pandemic has prompted them to cut their outlook for Japan's credit rating. (NHK)

Japan's government is pushing ahead with the distribution of its much derided masks even though commercially made masks are now readily available, prompting a renewed outcry on social media. (Japan Today)

The coronavirus continues to spread across Japan. Nearly 1,000 cases were reported on Tuesday with several prefectures recording new daily records. (NHK)

A Japanese research team has announced the discovery of traces of the largest impact craters in the solar system on a moon of Jupiter. (Japan Times)

Japan's ruling party will urge the government to restrict the use of Chinese-developed apps like TikTok and better protect sensitive information, aiming to ensure that the country can keep working closely with the U.S. on security matters. (Nikkei)

Torrential rain has caused the Mogami River in Yamagata Prefecture, northeastern Japan, to overflow its banks in four different locations. (NHK)

Japan's land ministry says the Mogami River in Yamagata Prefecture has overflowed its banks late Tuesday due to record rainfall in the country's northeastern part. The ministry is calling on residents to be on the highest alert. (NHK)

Tokyo Metropolitan Police estimate that a bar operator in the Roppongi entertainment district swindled foreigners out of more than 100 million yen annually since 2013, reports the Sankei Shimbun (July 28). (tokyoreporter.com)

A project is under way to breed a protected seahorse species that is widely used in traditional kampo medicine. (NHK)

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government says it confirmed 250 new cases of coronavirus infections on Wednesday. (NHK)

A high court scrapped on Tuesday a lower court ruling and acquitted an assistant nurse over a 2013 incident in which an 85-year-old woman at a care home in central Japan died after eating a doughnut she was given. (Japan Times)

If more regions are excluded from the government’s Go To Travel tourism promotion campaign, discounted portions of the fees for trips to such areas booked before their exclusions will be covered by the travelers, the Japan Tourism Agency has said. (Japan Times)

With the end of July drawing near, it is looking likely that not a single typhoon will form in the month. It would be the first typhoon-free July since the Meteorological Agency started taking records in 1951. (Japan Times)