Japan News

Garuda Indonesia, the country's flagship air carrier, has canceled planned flights connecting Tokyo and Bali due to concerns over the omicron COVID variant, dealing a further blow to the tourism-dependent island. (Nikkei)

Kabuki actor Nakamura Kichiemon has died. He was a designated Living National Treasure. (NHKn)

Princess Aiko, the daughter of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, turned 20 on Wednesday. Having come of age, the princess will now engage in her official duties as an adult member of the Imperial family. (NHK)

The Japanese government says the country's latest economic downturn bottomed out in May of last year, during the first wave of the pandemic. (NHK)

The award for Japan's buzzword of the year has gone to a phrase linked to Major League Baseball two-way star Ohtani Shohei. (NHK)

A Shinto shrine in Osaka Prefecture, western Japan, has begun allowing visitors to mark the New Year a month early to prevent overcrowding amid the coronavirus pandemic. (NHK)

Material samples from asteroids may be instrumental to figuring out humanity's next steps into the solar system. Japan's young space agency, JAXA, has become the expert at going to get them. (Bloomberg Quicktake)

Former Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that "a Taiwan emergency is a Japanese emergency, and therefore an emergency for the Japan-US alliance". (WION)

In a country renowned for its fall colours, Kyoto is singularly beautiful. Multiple light up events are hosted around the city to capture the many shades of red, yellow, and orange. (WAO RYU!ONLY in JAPAN)

Japan's weighting in MSCI Inc.'s global equity benchmark is crumbling. Japanese stocks now account for about 5.65% of the MSCI ACWI Index, down from 7.35% in November 2019, according to calculations by Mizuho Securities Co. Min Jeong Lee reports on "Bloomberg Markets: Asia." (Bloomberg Markets and Finance)

A 69-year-old man has been rescued in rough seas off Japan after spending 22 hours drifting in open water, with one official calling his survival a “miracle”. (theguardian.com)

Japanese Crown Prince Akishino has criticized the media coverage of his daughter Mako’s marriage and slammed Internet commenters for writing “particularly terrible” things about her and her husband, in unusually candid comments from a member of Japan’s royal family. (washingtonpost.com)

In Japan, Bisei, a former popular TV presenter was being bullied in such a manner that she quit her TV work and became a nun. (VPRO Metropolis)

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida reviewed troops from the country’s Ground Self-Defence Force on Saturday November 27, 2021, saying he will consider strengthening its capability. (South China Morning Post)

In 1614 Christianity was outlawed in Japan. Under the new law – missionaries were arrested and sentenced to death. However, some Christians refused to abandon their religion and went underground, continuing their faith in secret for centuries. (BBC Reel)

Officials in France have issued an international arrest warrant for a Japanese woman accused of keeping her two children from their French father, AFP news agency reports. (yahoo.com)

Japan's flag airlines halted new reservations on Wednesday and the government widened a travel ban amid escalating alarm over Omicron after a second case of the coronavirus variant was detected in the country. (Reuters)

Akita is home to Japan's most luxurious chicken called Hinai Jidori. We go in search of the juiciest chicken, the cutest Akita dogs and the scariest monsters in Japan on our road trip across the region! (Abroad in Japan)

Toyota Motor Corp.’s global output dropped by more than a quarter in October from a year earlier, as a shortage of semiconductors and other parts continued to impact automakers. (Japan Times)

Tokyo prosecutors have arrested the chairman of Nihon University, one of Japan's largest universities, on suspicion of tax evasion. (NHK)