Authorities have raided Dentsu, one of Japan's major ad agencies, over alleged bid-rigging involving test events for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Tokyo prosecutors and the Japan Fair Trade Commission searched Dentsu's head office and an event-organizing firm, both in the capital, on Friday.
Giant advertising screens on buildings overlooking a popular scramble crossing near Tokyo's Shibuya Station will be turned off earlier than usual on New Year's Eve, as one of the efforts to deter people from gathering amid the coronavirus outbreak.
The Shibuya Ward Office asked operators of 13 large screens in and around Shibuya's main intersection to switch the screens off from 11 p.m. on December 31, two hours earlier than last year.
Heavy snowfall in northwest Japan stranded more than 2,000 vehicles on highways Thursday. Although that number had fallen to at least 670 by Friday afternoon (Japan time), the company that manages the highways said that it likely would take until Saturday morning for about 700 rescuers to free the remaining cars. Snow had accumulated to several feet deep in places, including at a toll complex.
Japan's Self-Defense Force has sent troops to deliver food, gasoline and blankets to stranded drivers as well as to help clear snows. According to video by NBC News, some drivers abandoned their vehicles on the road.
A giant votive tablet featuring an ox has been put on display at a shrine in Nara Prefecture, western Japan. The ox is next year's animal symbol in the Oriental zodiac.
The hanging of the huge plaque is part of a seasonal tradition at Kashihara Jingu Shrine. The plaque is 5.4 meters wide and 4.5 meters high.
Some 300 giant pumpkins weighing over 60 kilograms each have been gathered at a contest in Ibaraki Prefecture, northeast of Tokyo, ahead of the Halloween season.
The contest in the city of Hitachiomiya judges which pumpkin is the heaviest. The annual event began 12 years ago when around 40 local farmers started growing pumpkins.
A giant panda was a star attraction at Tokyo's Ueno Zoological Gardens on Tuesday, when it reopened after a four-month-long closure amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Visitors flocked to see Xiang Xiang, who was born at the zoo and turned 3 this month.