Eight people were taken to hospitals after being stabbed by the man with a knife at a factory of the tiremaker Yokohama Rubber Co. in the city of Mishima, in the Shizuoka prefecture, west of Tokyo, according to the Fujisan Nanto Fire Department.

Fourteen people were injured in a stabbing attack in a factory in central Japan in which an unspecified liquid was also sprayed, authorities said.

The Japanese government will tighten regulations and end financial support for large-scale solar power projects to protect the natural environment, ensure safety and preserve landscapes, government officials said.

Since the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011, Japan has restarted 14 reactors of its plant that remain operable as it tries to wean itself off imported fossil fuels.

A major chain-reaction crash has shut down the Kanetsu Expressway in Gunma, Japan, after trucks lost control on icy, compacted snow. The collision erupted around 7:30 p.m. near the Mizukami Interchange and stretched toward the Tsukiyono Interchange,

Japan’s industry ministry is set to nearly quadruple its budgeted support for cutting-edge semiconductors and artificial intelligence development to about ¥1.23 trillion ($7.9 billion) for the fiscal year starting in April.

"It's easy to want to drive one of these cute kei cars. It's another thing to put your family in them and travel down the highway at 70 mph," one expert said.

Once a pioneer that helped the world lay the foundations of machine learning, Japan’s renewed push into artificial intelligence reflects a search for economic resilience as much as technological relevance.

Japan’s Financial Services Agency is stepping up monitoring of regional banks that lend heavily to the booming real estate sector to make sure risks are under control, according to people familiar with the matter.