Kyodo -- May 21
A special six-car Mickey Mouse-themed shinkansen bullet train has begun serving southwestern Japan's Kyushu region, with images of the beloved character splashed across its yellow livery and interiors.
Kyushu Railway Co. hopes the 800-series train, nicknamed the "JR Kyushu Waku Waku Trip Shinkansen," will entice people to visit the region by bullet train. "Waku waku" means fun and exciting in Japanese.
Festooned with various images of the iconic Walt Disney Co. character, the train is scheduled to run between Hakata Station in Fukuoka and Kagoshima-Chuo Station until late November.
Mickey Mouse is just the latest popular cartoon or anime character to be used to promote bullet train travel in Japan. Trains decorated with images of Hello Kitty and popular Japanese animation series "Neon Genesis Evangelion" plied Japanese tracks last year.
News source: Kyodo
Feb 27
The Japanese government is stepping up its protective measures, with a proposed pause on large public gatherings.
(NHK) Feb 27
The organizing committee of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games has stressed it has not started discussions on whether to suspend or postpone the Games due to the ongoing new coronavirus outbreak.
(NHK) Feb 27
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) Feb 27
A court in Japan on Wednesday ruled for the first time that special trials for segregated leprosy patients set up outside of standard courtrooms in the past were unconstitutional. (Japan Times) Feb 27
More and more Japanese companies are responding to the virus by having their staff work from home.
(NHK) Feb 27
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) Feb 26
National and other public universities in Japan have begun staging their entrance exams, with precautions taken against the new coronavirus.
(NHK) Feb 26
Japan's government has decided on a basic policy for measures to protect against a domestic outbreak of the new coronavirus. It includes asking people with minor symptoms to recuperate at home, in order to secure adequate care at medical facilities for those who are seriously ill.
(NHK) Feb 26
Chitetsu Watanabe, a 112-year-old who was recognized by Guinness World Records earlier this month as the world’s oldest living man, died Sunday at the nursing home where he resided, his family said. (Japan Times) Feb 26
Black swans and domestic miscalculations push Abenomics to the brink
(Nikkei)