Japan News

A Japanese group of researchers says it has conducted heart surgery using sheets of heart muscle cells made from iPS cells. (NHK)

Operations have begun to remove a rare type of spent fuel made of plutonium-uranium mixed oxide from a nuclear reactor in central Japan, operator Kansai Electric Power Co. said Monday. (Japan Times)

Between January 24 and 30, some 700,000 Chinese tourists are expected to arrive in Japan to celebrate the Chinese New Year. (tokyoreporter.com)

Will wearing a surgical mask help protect against the new coronavirus that originated in the central Chinese city of Wuhan and has so far killed more than 80 people? (Nikkei)

Japan's government is taking steps to evacuate Japanese citizens who want to leave Wuhan, the city at the center of the coronavirus outbreak. Japanese companies are preparing to repatriate employees and their families. About 160 companies are operating in and around the city. (NHK)

Japan's hotel industry is being hit hard by a large number of cancellations resulting from the spread of the new coronavirus in China. (NHK)

A farewell ceremony for Japanese doctor Tetsu Nakamura, who was killed in Afghanistan in December, was held Saturday attended by about 5,000 people paying respect for his longtime contribution to development of the central Asian country. (Japan Today)

The government plans to abandon for now an amendment to the age cap under juvenile law that would lower the age when individuals can be tried as adults from 20 years old to 18, sources have said. (Japan Times)

A former SoftBank Corp. employee was arrested Saturday for allegedly passing proprietary information from the major phone carrier to officials at Russia’s trade representative office in Tokyo. (Japan Times)

Osamu Yano, a former gang boss on death row over the killing of four persons nearly two decades ago, has died in prison in an apparent suicide, the Ministry of Justice said, reports TBS News (Jan. 26). (tokyoreporter.com)

After a victory no one would have dared predict, Tokushoryu also proved to be a champion in the afterglow on Sunday. (Kyodo)

Japan's health ministry says it has confirmed the country's fourth case of the new coronavirus. (NHK)

Tokyo and Washington are making plans to evacuate Japanese and American citizens from Wuhan, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak that has claimed more than 50 lives, while Honda Motor said Sunday it was evacuating about 30 employees and family members out of the area back to Japan. (Nikkei)

Health authorities in Japan have confirmed the country's third case of the new coronavirus. (NHK)

To encourage more customers to go digital, Japan’s largest bank is offering depositors who give up their paper bankbooks a ¥1,000 reward. (Japan Times)

Lebanon and Japan have about 40 days to decide whether ousted Nissan-Renault-Mitsubishi boss Carlos Ghosn will be extradited to Japan or stand trial in Lebanon, a judicial source and a source close to Ghosn said on Thursday. (Japan Times)

A panel of Japanese experts says that over the next 30 years, many people living along the Nankai Trough face a higher chance of experiencing a deadly tsunami than being injured in a traffic accident. (NHK)

A huge monument featuring the Olympic symbol has been lit up in Tokyo six months before the Japanese capital hosts the Games. (NHK)

Narita Airport east of Tokyo is crowded with tourists from China as the Lunar New Year holiday period gets underway. (NHK)

A former care home worker accused of mass killings in Japan has rejected his lawyers' argument that he is mentally unfit to stand trial. (NHK)