Features

A Japanese court has sentenced former care facility worker Satoshi Uematsu to death for killing 19 people with intellectual disabilities in Sagamihara City, near Tokyo, in 2016.

A final group of passengers and crew members who disembarked from the coronavirus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship finished their quarantine on Sunday. They will now be allowed to go home.

All passengers and crew members had left the ship moored at Yokohama Port by March 1.

A group of Japanese people who evacuated the virus-stricken Chinese city of Wuhan on the third government-chartered flight, except for one, have gone home after a quarantine period.

Japan's health ministry says when they returned to Japan on January 31st, all 145 people tested negative for the new coronavirus and exhibited no symptoms, such as fever,.

All 199 evacuees quarantined following their return from China on the second government chartered flight have been confirmed to be free of the new coronavirus. They returned home on Friday.

The people had been evacuated from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus outbreak, on January 30. At the time, they showed no symptoms and tested negative for the virus. As a precaution, they were placed under quarantine at facilities in Wako City, Saitama Prefecture, near Tokyo.

Passengers on the second plane to evacuate Japanese people from Wuhan, the epicenter of the new coronavirus outbreak, who tested negative for the virus can head home now that their quarantine period has ended.

Japan's health ministry says 197 people who have stayed in isolation after returning from Wuhan, China, on the first of the government's chartered flights from the city have tested negative for the new coronavirus.

Japanese people evacuated by a government-chartered plane from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the new coronavirus outbreak, are expected to be released from quarantine isolation this week.

The government has sent a chartered plane to Wuhan on four occasions since January 29 to bring a total of 763 people back to Japan.

A senior Japanese Foreign Ministry official says about 300 Japanese nationals in China are waiting to return home, and the number could rise.

A total of 416 people returned from the Chinese city of Wuhan on two government-chartered flights on Wednesday and Thursday.

A former care home worker accused of mass killings in Japan has rejected his lawyers' argument that he is mentally unfit to stand trial.

The Yokohama District Court began questioning defendant Satoshi Uematsu on Friday. The 30-year-old is charged with killing 19 people with intellectual disabilities and injuring 26 others at the care home in Sagamihara City in July 2016.

Nissan Motor says it intends to keep demanding that former chairman Carlos Ghosn leave a Beirut residence owned by the carmaker.

Nissan officials say the firm asked Ghosn and his family to stop using the property in January last year as part of efforts to protect its corporate assets.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is returning to Japan from a three-nation Middle East tour. He agreed with the leaders of these countries that dialogue will be crucial for stabilizing the region and de-escalating tensions.

Abe left Oman, the final leg of his tour, early Wednesday morning. His itinerary also included Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

ISHINOMAKI, Miyagi -- Here kitty, kitty! Visitors to Tashirojima Island here will have no trouble finding the fluffy winter coats of the feline inhabitants.

Often called "cat island," Tashirojima, whose perimeter is 11 kilometers, is home to some 200 cats who live alongside human residents, and are no stranger to tourists from both inside and outside of Japan. On a day in mid-December last year, this cat-loving reporter made a visit to the island and its furry citizens.