YURI KAGEYAMA
A woman wearing a face mask to curb the spread of the coronavirus walks with a parasol on a street in Tokyo Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021. Japan is playing host to the Tokyo Olympics. But the capital, as well as other populous areas, are in the middle of a government-declared “state of emergency” to curb surging COVID-19 infections. (AP Photo/Kantaro Komiya)
EXPLAINER: What Olympic host Japan’s COVID ‘emergency’ means

By Yuri Kageyama Aug. 05, 2021 12:18 AM EDT
TOKYO (AP) — Japan is playing host to the Tokyo Olympics. But the capital, as

An office worker carries a plastic bag as people stand before a pedestrian crossing near Ueno Station in Tokyo Friday, July 30, 2021. Japan is set to expand the coronavirus state of emergency in Tokyo to neighboring areas and the western city of Osaka on Friday in the wake of a record-breaking surge in infections while the capital hosts the Olympics. (AP Photo/Kantaro Komiya)
EXPLAINER: Detailing Japan's new COVID state of emergency

By Yuri Kageyama Jul. 30, 2021 03:25 AM EDT
TOKYO (AP) — Coronavirus infection cases have reached daily records in Tokyo,

A woman drops off a test for the coronavirus infection at the Main Press Center for the 2020 Summer Olympics, Thursday, July 29, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. About 30,000 people are spitting into tiny plastic vials every day at the Tokyo Olympics in a routine that’s grown crucial in going ahead with the pandemic-era Games. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
In effort to curb COVID, Tokyo Olympics collect lots of spit

By Yuri Kageyama Jul. 30, 2021 01:55 AM EDT
TOKYO (AP) — They spit. They wait. They hope. About 30,000

Naomi Osaka, of Japan, leaves center court after being defeated by Marketa Vondrousova, of the Czech Republic, during the third round of the tennis competition at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 27, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Disbelief, support in Japan after Naomi Osaka's elimination

By Yuri Kageyama Jul. 27, 2021 04:06 AM EDT
TOKYO (AP) — “Masaka" — or, in English, “No way.” That's how an incredulous

FILE - In this Nov. 2, 2020, file photo, visitor wearing a face mask to help curb the spread of the coronavirus walks by the logo of Toyota Motor Corp. at its showroom in Tokyo. Toyota won't be airing any Olympic-themed advertisements on Japanese TV during the Tokyo Games despite being one of the IOC's top corporate sponsors. The unusual decision by the country's top automaker underlines how polarizing the Games have become in Japan as COVID-19 infections rise ahead of the July 23, 2021, opening ceremony.(AP Photo/Koji Sasahara, File)
Olympic sponsor Toyota pulls Games-related TV ads in Japan

By Yuri Kageyama Jul. 19, 2021 04:02 AM EDT
TOKYO (AP) — Toyota won’t be airing any Olympic-themed advertisements on

Japanese composer for Tokyo Olympics apologizes for abuse

By Yuri Kageyama Jul. 17, 2021 09:07 PM EDT
TOKYO (AP) — Keigo Oyamada, a Japanese composer whose music is part of the

Japan's Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai speaks at a news conference on the Tokyo metropolitan assembly election day in Tokyo on Sunday, July 4, 2021. Voters in Japan's capital are electing the Tokyo city assembly amid worries about health risks during the Olympics, opening in three weeks, as coronavirus cases continue to rise. (Kyodo News via AP)
Tokyo assembly split after vote amid pandemic Olympics fears

By Yuri Kageyama Jul. 03, 2021 10:55 PM EDT
TOKYO (AP) — An election in Japan’s capital has left the Tokyo city assembly

Members of Uganda’s Olympic team arrive at Narita Airport in Narita, near Tokyo Saturday, June 19, 2021. A member of the team has tested positive for the coronavirus and was barred entry into Japan, in the first detected infection among arriving athletes for the Tokyo Games opening in five weeks. (Sadayuki Goto/Kyodo News via AP)
Uganda Olympic team member tests positive for coronavirus

By Yuri Kageyama Jun. 19, 2021 09:07 PM EDT
TOKYO (AP) — A member of Uganda’s Olympic team has tested positive for the

FILE - In this Feb. 12, 2021, file photo, then Tokyo 2020 Olympics organizing committee President Yoshiro Mori announces his resignation at a meeting with council and executive board members at the committee headquarters in Tokyo. Mori, who resigned last month as the president over comments criticized as sexist, has made another remark getting slammed as disrespectful to women. Mori, speaking late Friday, March 26, 2021, at a party for a politician at a Tokyo hotel, referred to the politician’s aide as “way too old to be called a woman.” (Yoshikazu Tsuno/Pool Photo via AP, File)
Ex-Tokyo Olympics chief again criticized for sexist comment

By Yuri Kageyama Mar. 26, 2021 11:21 PM EDT
TOKYO (AP) — Former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, who resigned last

In this photo released by Japan Arts Council, Kiyokazu Kanze and other members of the Kanze School of the Japanese traditional theater of Noh perform on stage at the Kyoko Gaien National Garden near Imperial Palace, background, in Tokyo on March 14, 2021. The Japan Cultural Expo, a government-backed program set up especially to drum up tourism during the Tokyo Olympics, was planning similar events for the Games to highlight Japanese culture, but Tokyo Olympic organizers and the IOC on Saturday, March 20, 2021 announced a ban on fans from abroad attending the the games, which open on July 23. (Ken Kikaido/© Japan Arts Council via AP)
Japan spends millions on technology for absent Olympic fans

By Yuri Kageyama Mar. 23, 2021 02:49 AM EDT
TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s top telecommunications company is getting 7.3 billion yen

Japan's Yasuhiro Yamashita, center, celebrates winning gold medal at a judo match of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics in Los Angeles on Aug. 11, 1984. Yamashita overcame a leg injury to win a gold medal at the Olympics, limping to the awards-ceremony podium. He preaches judo’s appeal comes from building one’s body and character. (Kyodo News via AP)
Judo in Japan: Getting unwanted scrutiny for abuse, violence

By Yuri Kageyama Oct. 09, 2020 01:28 AM EDT
TOKYO (AP) — Japan is the home of judo, and the 19th-century martial art is

FILE - In this Jan. 9, 2020, file photo, homeless people sleep on the concrete floor of Shinjuku Station, in Tokyo. A group representing the homeless is asking to use the Athletes Village for next year’s Tokyo Olympics as a shelter during the coronavirus pandemic. An online petition addressed to Tokyo Olympic organizers and the city government has drawn ten of thousands of signatures for permission to occupy the massive housing complex going up alongside Tokyo Bay. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
Tokyo's homeless seek Olympic Athletes Village as shelter

By Yuri Kageyama Apr. 17, 2020 11:11 PM EDT
TOKYO (AP) — A group representing the homeless is asking to use the Athletes