Japan's two biggest airlines will offer free refunds for all tickets that have been canceled due to fears about the coronavirus. (NHK)

Patients with mild symptoms are believed to be playing an important role in spreading the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19, a government panel of experts has said. (Japan Times)

For all of Elon Musk’s domination of the burgeoning electric vehicle business, Tesla Inc. is struggling to get traction in Japan, a market he put on a pedestal early in the automaker’s early days. (Japan Times)

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed Monday to expedite the enactment of legislation needed to declare a state of emergency, in order to “minimize the impact on Japanese citizens’ livelihood” from the rapid spread of COVID-19. (Japan Times)

As Japan suffers a coronavirus-induced drop in travel, hotel chains are slashing room rates for about 30% of stays during the normally busy early spring season, a Nikkei analysis of online booking sites shows. (Nikkei)

Japan is becoming a center of concern as the coronavirus spreads globally, with the country’s official infection tally suspected to be the tip of the iceberg of a much wider outbreak. (Japan Times)

Nearly all prefectures began shutting schools Monday in a bid to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus in Japan, four days after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe surprised many with a request for schools to be closed countrywide until early April. (Japan Today)

Rakuten Inc.’s mobile phone unit will charge less than half the fees its rivals do for high data usage, hoping to entice subscribers when it launches services next month as Japan’s fourth entrant to the market, sources close to the matter said Monday. (Japan Times)

The final group of people on the Diamond Princess cruise ship quarantined at Yokohama Port, near Tokyo, disembarked on Sunday. (NHK)

A man who on Friday was found to be infected by the new coronavirus previously visited a sports club in the city of Shizuoka in central Japan. (NHK)

The number of cases of harassment and bullying targeting local communities affected by the outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus and people involved in dealing with the situation has been on the rise in Japan. (Japan Times)

A man in his 70s has died in Hokkaido, northern Japan, after being infected with the new coronavirus, the local government said Sunday, bringing the domestic death toll to 12. (Kyodo)

The coronavirus outbreak is now affecting one of Japan's favorite sports, sumo. Officials from the Japan Sumo Association say the spring tournament in Osaka will be held without any spectators. The event is scheduled to start on March 8. (NHK)

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged on Friday to take policy steps as needed to prevent the coronavirus outbreak from dealing a severe blow to the country's fragile economic recovery. (Japan Today)

Japan's airline companies are warning passengers not to carry sanitizing products containing substances prohibited by law, as the number of cases in the country of passengers taking such goods onto planes is increasing. (NHK)

The coronavirus outbreak in Japan has led the operator of Tokyo Disney Resort to close the theme park from Saturday. Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea will remain shut until March 15. (NHK)

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said the government is planning to ask all elementary, junior and senior high schools and special support schools in the country to shut down from Monday, until the start of the spring holidays, in a bid to reduce the risk of students catching the new coronavirus. (NHK)

Airlines are turning to some of the world’s hardest-hitting disinfectants, capable of stopping everything from sexually transmitted diseases to the MRSA superbug, in the fight against the coronavirus. (Japan Times)

Four-day event completely scrubbed for 2020. (soranews24.com)

A man in his 80s who was infected with the new coronavirus died on Thursday in Japan's northern prefecture of Hokkaido. Fifteen new cases of infection were reported there on the day. (NHK)

The Japan Racing Association said on Thursday that it will hold its horse races without spectators for the time being starting Saturday. (NHK)

COVID-19 claims its first major business casualty in Japan. (soranews24.com)

The Japanese government is stepping up its protective measures, with a proposed pause on large public gatherings. (NHK)

Suggestions by a senior International Olympics Committee member that the Tokyo Games could be canceled if the coronavirus outbreak is not contained by May drew a swift reaction from Japanese officials, while sponsoring companies are anxiously awaiting the fate of the world's biggest sporting event. (Nikkei)

A health ministry panel approved Wednesday the production and sale of a gene therapy for treating spinal muscular atrophy, a rare incurable disease that destroys muscle function through a decrease in motor neuron cells. (Japan Times)