Jan. 9 (UPI) -- Influenza is affecting hundreds of thousands of people in Japan and rising rapidly among that nation's population of 124.5 million and overwhelming many healthcare providers and drugmakers. The country's reported flu cases rose by more than 50% to 317,812 during the week of Dec. 23-29, which Japan's National Institute of Infectious Diseases says is three times the amount from a year ago. Advertisement It also was the 10th straight week that Japan recorded a rising number of