The Japanese minister in charge of coronavirus measures says the government aims to start cash handouts in May, to households suffering from falling income due to the outbreak. (NHK)

Senior Japanese ruling party and opposition officials agreed Tuesday to reduce lawmakers' salaries by 20 percent for a year as part of efforts to overcome the novel coronavirus crisis. (Japan Times)

Japan's population suffered its largest one-year drop last year, government estimates released Tuesday show, with the country's working-age labor force falling to a new low. (Nikkei)

NHK has learned that nine of Japan's 47 prefectures have almost run out of hospital beds to treat coronavirus patients. (NHK)

By staying outdoors and away from others, surfers should be relatively free from coronavirus concerns while waiting for their waves, but mixed messages about safety are troubling the surfing community as much as the rest of us. (Kyodo)

Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo has urged all businesses in the seven prefectures included in the state of emergency to reduce the number of in-office workers by at least 70%. (NHK)

Day after day, the rising number of new cases of the coronavirus in Tokyo and nationwide is making headlines. But what is even more alarming is the increasing number of instances where authorities can’t track where the patient got it from. (Japan Times)

Shrines designated as UNESCO World Heritage sites in Tochigi Prefecture's Nikko, north of Tokyo, have temporarily closed to prevent infections of the new coronavirus. (NHK)

Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways will further slash their international flight capacities amid the growing impact of the coronavirus on air travel. (NHK)

The number of confirmed coronavirus infections in Japan has exceeded 8,000 as of Tuesday evening. The figure includes people found positive in airport quarantine checks, health ministry officials and those who returned to Japan on chartered planes. (NHK)

Japan's health ministry says those who died or got seriously ill from the coronavirus were largely elderly but also included younger people. (NHK)

Only 38 percent of public and private schools across Japan managed to begin their new academic year this month with students in classrooms amid the coronavirus epidemic, the education ministry said. (Japan Times)

During tumultuous times, sometimes the best advice comes from toddlers. (Japan Times)

Imposing scene has some people now fearing the authorities. (soranews24.com)

SoftBank Group expects to book a loss of 1.8 trillion yen ($16.7 billion) on the value of its investments at its Vision Fund, the world's largest vehicle for tech startups. (Nikkei)

The spread of the new coronavirus is rattling even Japan's largest companies. (Nikkei)

A 20-year-old woman was arrested on Sunday on suspicion of abandoning a fetus in a travel bag in front of a nightclub in Nagoya, police said. (Japan Today)

The government will use Japan Post Co.'s large-scale delivery system to distribute two cloth masks to every household in the country starting next week — part of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's effort to defeat the novel coronavirus. (Japan Times)

Anyone whose ever strolled through Tokyo’s Akihabara district or comparable areas like Osaka’s Denden Town have likely encountered euliens (pronounced “eh-oo-lee-en“). (soranews24.com)

The number of confirmed coronavirus infections in Japan has exceeded 7,000 as of Sunday. (NHK)

Japanese health care facilities are getting stretched thin amid a surge in coronavirus patients. (Japan Today)

The All Japan Judo Federation said Sunday that its managing director, Soya Nakazato, has tested positive for the new coronavirus, bringing the total number of infections within the federation to nine. (Japan Times)

Nissin Foods Holdings' Cup Noodles products are catching on as an emergency food, as people are told to stay home to slow the spread of the new coronavirus. (Nikkei)

Coffeehouse chain shuts its doors to keep customers away but ends up attracting crowds instead. (soranews24.com)

When people stay away, the rats come out to play. (soranews24.com)