The new coronavirus pandemic has dealt a serious blow to Japan's traditional performing arts such as Kabuki dramas and Noh plays.
More than 4,300 performances were cancelled or postponed, resulting in losses of more than160 million dollars.
Record-breaking snowfall continues to down power lines and close off traffic arteries in northern and western Japan --- with little relief in sight. For some it's meant many hours stuck on the highway --- without food and with nowhere to go.
About 2,000 vehicles were stranded on this expressway which links Tokyo to Niigata - on Wednesday.
Nissan is laying off about 10,000 workers in the U.S. as its plants sit idle. These layoffs will largely affect folks who worked at plants in Tennessee and Mississippi, according to a report by Nikkei.
As of now, Nissan has announced plant shutdowns lasting through late April. The report says Nissan plans to rehire the workers that are being laid off once work is possible again, but they won't be getting paid in the meantime. We've asked for comment from Nissan to learn if everybody will be brought back on, or if Nissan has other plans in mind for restarting its factories.
Police in Kobe, western Japan, are investigating the theft of 6,000 surgical masks from a hospital in the city. Masks are in short supply in the country due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Staff at the Japanese Red Cross Kobe Hospital noticed last Thursday that four cartons containing 120 boxes of masks were missing. The hospital notified the police on Monday.