Death toll from COVID-19 tops 20,000 after Omicron spreads.
The number of deaths related to COVID-19 has sharply increased in Japan this year and surpassed 20,000 on Feb. 11.
In November, after the fifth wave of infections had subsided, the nationwide death toll was in the single digits on most days.
But on Jan. 14, after the Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus spread widely, from Feb. 8 to 10, more than 150 died each day from the disease.
Quad foreign ministers vow to support protection of sovereignty.
Japan, the United States, Australia and India on Friday vowed to support the protection of national sovereignty, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said, amid mounting fears about Moscow's possible invasion of Ukraine.
"Today, the Quad foreign ministers have reaffirmed our support for the principles of openness, the protection of national sovereignty and the observance of rules and fair play," Payne told a joint press conference after a meeting held in Melbourne, Australia.
Olympics: Ayumu Hirano wins halfpipe gold; White finishes 4th.
Japan’s Ayumu Hirano has won gold with a boundary-pushing run in the men’s halfpipe at the Beijing Olympics. Three-time gold medalist Shaun White was fourth in what he has said would be his final competition.
There was no doubt over the winner after Hirano’s electric performance as the last rider to go. His run included an intricate and unprecedented series of flips and spins that pushed a sport obsessed with progression to new heights.
Olympics: Japan brushes past Canada for 1st curling win of games.
Japan notched its first win of the Beijing Winter Olympics women's curling tournament Friday, prevailing 8-5 against a Canada team that repeatedly failed to capitalize with the hammer.
Skipper Satsuki Fujisawa and team Loco Solare scored against the hammer in the first, fourth and fifth ends on the way to a convincing victory at the National Aquatics Centre.
The result left world No. 7 Japan with a 1-1 record in round-robin play following an 8-5 defeat to reigning Olympic champion Sweden the previous day.
Olympics: ROC skater Valieva failed doping test, IOC seeks games ban.
Russian figure skating prodigy Kamila Valieva failed a doping test at a national meet last December and will have her further participation at the Beijing Winter Olympics decided by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the International Testing Agency said Friday.
The ITA said the 15-year-old Valieva, who helped the Russian Olympic Committee win figure skating team gold in Beijing, failed the test taken at the Russian national championships on Dec. 25, with her sample coming back positive on Feb. 8.
Vague Kishida dubbed ‘Mr. Consideration’ by opposition.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s habit of giving vague answers to questions in the Diet has earned him the nickname “Mr. Consideration” by at least one frustrated opposition party lawmaker.
For many of the questions, Kishida has simply replied “I will consider it.”
3 teachers indicted over deaths of 8 in avalanche in 2017.
Prosecutors in Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, have indicted three teachers over the deaths of seven students and one teacher who were caught in an avalanche during a mountain climbing lesson on a ski slope in Nasu, Tochigi Prefecture, in 2017.
Forty other students and teachers were injured in the avalanche that hit the group at around 8:30 a.m. on March 27, 2017, at Nasuonsen Family Ski Resort.
Mizuho Bank suffers ATM system failure, 11th since Feb. 2021.
Mizuho Bank experienced a system failure that disrupted ATMs on Friday, the major Japanese banking group said, marking the 11th system failure since February last year.
The bank has not made public how many ATMs were affected, but it stopped 90 ATMs to conduct maintenance and inspection work. The disruption occurred around 9 a.m. and continued until around 4:30 p.m.
47-yr-old in Japan accused of altering driver's license age to go to matchmaking events.
A 47-year-old man in the central Japan city of Toyota has been referred to prosecutors on Feb. 9 over allegations he altered his driver's license to make him appear younger when he went to matchmaking events.
The man was referred to the Nagoya District Public Prosecutors by Toyota Police Station on two allegations: counterfeiting and using official documents, and improperly obtaining a driving license.
