Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has stressed that his country will work closely with the United States to ensure the US "extended deterrence" commitment to Japan.
Kishida was answering questions from a lawmaker from his governing Liberal Democratic Party at a Lower House committee on Thursday.
Japan's Defense Ministry says Japanese and US fighter jets have made a joint flight over the Sea of Japan.
The ministry announced on Thursday that four F-15 fighter jets from the Japan Air Self-Defense Force Chitose Air Base and four F-16s from US Misawa Air Base, both in northern Japan, flew together on Wednesday afternoon for training.
NHK has learned that the Japanese government will launch a new scholarship program for Ukrainian students who have evacuated to Japan following Russia's invasion of their country.
The government plans to accept applications for around 100 people and start the program as early as July.
Four people from Australia have visited Kanazawa, central Japan, to take part in a government-sponsored test tour aimed at resuming the acceptance of foreign tourists.
The government is considering opening the country to foreign tourists from next month in stages. The Japan Tourism Agency started test tours this month, inviting small groups of people in the tourism industry from the United States, Australia, Thailand and Singapore.
Japan's top government spokesperson says the country has conveyed serious concern to China and Russia over Tuesday's joint flight of their bombers near Japan.
Japan's Defense Ministry confirmed on Tuesday that the bombers conducted the long distance flight over the Sea of Japan, the East China Sea and the Pacific.
A salvage firm is set to make a second attempt on Thursday at raising a sunken tour boat from the seabed, off Shiretoko Peninsula in Japan's northern prefecture of Hokkaido.
On Monday, salvage workers lifted the "KAZU I" sightseeing boat from the seabed at a depth of 120 meters, reaching almost to the surface.
Corals have started spawning in the sea off Amami Oshima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan.
Oki Katsuki, a local researcher on marine organisms, captured the footage of the phenomenon last weekend.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government reported 3,929 new cases of the coronavirus in the capital on Wednesday.
The figure is down about 400 from a week ago, for a 12th straight day of week-on-week decline.
NHK has learned that fighter jets from the Japan Air Self-Defense Force and US forces in Japan have made a joint flight over the Sea of Japan.
Japanese Defense Ministry officials say four F-15 fighter jets from JASDF Chitose Air Base and several F-16s from US Misawa Air Base, both in northern Japan, made the flight on Wednesday afternoon.
The foreign ministers of Japan and Malaysia have denounced Russia's invasion of Ukraine and agreed to cooperate in dealing with its economic impact.
Japan's Hayashi Yoshimasa met with Saifuddin Abdullah from Malaysia in Tokyo on Wednesday.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government estimates that an earthquake beneath the capital could kill more than 6,000 people and trigger other disaster-related deaths in the following weeks and months.
The metropolitan government's disaster-prevention panel on Wednesday reviewed its earthquake damage estimate for the first time in a decade.
Japan began a rollout of a fourth dose of coronavirus vaccine Wednesday, targeting people aged 60 or older and others with higher risks.
The fourth doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines are intended to reduce the risk of critical illness associated with the virus. People eligible for the fourth shot will be those aged at least 60, as well as those aged at least 18 with underlying conditions or whose doctors decide they are at high risk of developing severe symptoms.
A newborn red-crowned crane chick is attracting visitors to a special facility for the nationally protected bird in northern Japan.
The facility's staff believe the chick hatched May 7 from an egg which had been incubated by birds named Kota and Shoko. They say the egg was laid by a different bird at the facility in Kushiro City, Hokkaido.
A salvage firm plans to use an unmanned robot to again try to raise a sunken tour boat from the seabed off Shiretoko Peninsula in the northern Japanese prefecture of Hokkaido.
On Monday, salvage workers lifted the "KAZU I" sightseeing boat up to around 20 meters below the surface, after deep-sea divers attached five belts to the vessel.