Jan 11
Japan’s weather bureau said on Thursday the El Nino weather pattern appears to be continuing and that there was an 80 percent chance it would stretch into the northern hemisphere spring. (Japan Today) Jan 10
The health ministry said Wednesday that the number of influenza patients per medical institution reached 11.17 in the week through Dec. 30, exceeding the warning level of 10. (Japan Times) Jan 07
Sky watchers across Japan have enjoyed the first partial solar eclipse over the country in three years.(NHK)
Jan 07
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is searching for a suitable site on the Ryugu asteroid that it can safely land its Hayabusa2 spacecraft as early as late this month. (Japan Times) Dec 28
Having disregarded a state instruction to kill cattle left behind in areas near the crisis-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, some local farmers have been struggling to keep about 430 cows within a 20-kilometers radius of the complex exposed to radiation. (Japan Today) Dec 27
The Japanese government officially announced on Wednesday to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission, a move that drew criticism from a global community worried about depleted whale populations. (Nikkei) Dec 26
Japan’s swine fever epidemic is spreading further with a sixth case identified Tuesday in the central part of the country, leading to the first dispatch of Ground Self-Defense Force troops and the launch of a crisis control unit by the central government.(Japan Times)
Dec 15
The government will temporarily suspend an extra medical fee that pregnant women were required to pay out of pocket to see doctors, health minister Takumi Nemoto said Friday. (Japan Times) Dec 12
The Japanese government said Tuesday it will offer free rubella vaccinations for three years to men who were unvaccinated in their childhood amid an outbreak of the disease that threatens to dampen demand for travel to Japan.(Japan Today)
Dec 06
Officials from the city of Minokamo, Gifu Prefecture, said Wednesday that a case of classical swine fever has been discovered at a public research institute — the third such case of the virus being reported this year and just over a decade since it was official declared eradicated in Japan. (Japan Times)