A recent survey showed that most Japanese companies plan to skip their year-end parties due to the spread of COVID-19. Annual dinners to look back on a passing year have long been a custom in Japan’s corporate culture.

US Open champion Naomi Osaka made the Time list of the 100 most influential people for the second straight year.  She walked to her matches in New York with seven different masks bearing the names of black victims of police violence in America.

Urban Dictionary has coined the trending term COVIDIOT to describe idiots who hoard groceries, don’t follow social distancing, and ignore public health advice during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Tokyo District Court ordered on Wednesday a former television reporter to pay 3.3 million yen in damages for raping journalist Shiori Ito, who has become a symbol of the #MeToo movement in Japan.

The body of a prominent Japanese doctor, who devoted his life to Afghanistan, arrived in Japan on Sunday. Tetsu Nakamura was gunned down last week along with five Afghan colleagues when an armed group ambushed their car.

Hundreds of thousands of homes in Chiba Prefecture near Tokyo remain without electricity a week after a typhoon hit the area. Tokyo Electric Power Company said it is expected to take another two weeks to restore power.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe issued an apology on Friday to family members of former leprosy patients who suffered discrimination under the state’s segregation policy. The statement came after the government decided not to appeal a recent ruling ordering compensation payments.

Japan enforced a stricter law on Friday ahead of this year’s Rugby World Cup in order to clamp down on ticket scalping. Those caught reselling tickets for a profit will face up to one year in prison or a fine of up to 1 million yen, or both penalties.

A council at the Financial Services Agency estimated that an elderly couple will need at least 20 million yen assuming they live until 95 years old. It urged workers to start investing earlier to better prepare for their retirement.