Friday marks one year since Japan's Emperor Naruhito ascended the throne. He has taken part in a number of ceremonies related to his accession over the past 12 months. (NHK)

Rakuten Inc. said Thursday that it will suspend sales of a coronavirus test kit for corporate customers. (Japan Times)

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Wednesday that the Tokyo Olympics could not take place next year in its perfect shape unless the coronavirus pandemic is contained. (Japan Times)

A Japanese comedian apologized Wednesday for his recent remarks that men can look forward to seeing "pretty girls entering (the sex industry) after the coronavirus is over" as they would be in need of money and obliged to take such jobs temporarily. (Japan Today)

Disruption to the inbound flow of foreign trainees caused by the coronavirus pandemic has created labor shortages in Japan's agricultural sector and led farmers to turn to workers in the tourism industry as a stop-gap measure. (Japan Today)

Traffic was thin at major transportation hubs and highways throughout Japan at the start of the country's week-long spring holiday on Wednesday. This comes amid a government request for people to refrain from traveling due to the coronavirus outbreak. (NHK)

Food delivery companies are offering steep discounts during Japan's Golden Week holiday, as they fight for a slice an industry that is growing rapidly, partly due to the new coronavirus outbreak. (Nikkei)

Japan will begin providing the anti-flu drug Avigan for free to 38 countries as early as this week for treating patients with the new coronavirus, according to Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi. (Japan Times)

Some of Japan’s most popular and beautiful gravure models want you to stay home during the spring vacation period. (soranews24.com)

A woman her 70s living in in Tokyo’s Arakawa Ward became the victim of an apoden, or “telephone appointment,” scam after receiving a call from a man impersonating her older brother, which resulted in her being conned out of 14.2 million yen. (Japan Today)

Some 300,000 coronavirus masks sent to pregnant women in Japan as part of a government handout have been found to be faulty, media reported on Tuesday, the latest in a string of complaints about how the government has dealt with the epidemic. (Japan Today)

The Environment Ministry is gearing up to provide subsidies to help restaurants introduce high-performance ventilation systems to reduce the risk of coronavirus infection. (Japan Times)

The number of people in Japan who have been fired or otherwise had their employment terminated due to the coronavirus outbreak has surged to over 3,000. (NHK)

Japan's Defense Ministry plans to draw up procedures in the event Self-Defense Force pilots encounter unidentified flying objects, or UFOs. (NHK)

Tokyo Metropolitan Government officials reported 112 new coronavirus infections on Tuesday, after the daily tally in the capital fell below 100 for two straight days. (NHK)

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has clarified Gov. Yuriko Koike's statement that all pachinko parlors in Tokyo have complied with requests to suspend business as of Tuesday morning, after at least four were found to still be operating in the afternoon. (Japan Times)

At any given time, seven out of eight beds in the intensive care unit of St Luke's International Hospital in Tokyo are taken up by critically ill coronavirus patients. (Japan Today)

As the coronavirus outbreak leaves Japan's academic calendar in limbo, prominent figures advocate moving the start of the year from April to September, in line with common practice overseas. (Nikkei)

Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo has ordered measures to promote teleworking, in step with a nationwide effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus. (NHK)

The Bank of Japan expanded monetary stimulus on Monday and pledged to buy unlimited amount of bonds to keep borrowing costs low as the government tries to spend its way out of the deepening economic pain from the coronavirus pandemic. (Japan Times)

Although not targeted by authorities for closure requests under measures to battle the spread of COVID-19, many bookstores in major metropolitan regions of Japan have chosen to bring down the shutters or curtail opening hours, dealing a blow to book and magazine publishers alike. (Kyodo)

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Japan increased to 13,613 on Monday as 172 new cases were reported nationwide. (NHK)

A Nikkei Asian Review article last Friday reported that it took an average of 5.5 days to get a positive COVID-19 test result in Japan but that the time it takes has grown to 7.3 days because Japan was “slow to get businesses involved” in the testing. (Japan Times)

The opposition Democratic Party for the People plans to propose that the start of the new school year be delayed to September, rather than April, this year amid school closures due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Japan Times)

A unit of Japanese medical diagnostics company Miraca Holdings has applied for government approval of a coronavirus testing kit that can produce results much faster than current mainstay tests. (Nikkei)