Japanese film director Koreeda Hirokazu's "Broker" has been nominated for the top prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival. It is Koreeda's first film to be produced in South Korea.
"Broker" is among this year's lineup in the competition category announced on Thursday.
Russia's defense ministry says two of its submarines have successfully test-fired cruise missiles in the Sea of Japan. The move apparently aims to check an ongoing Japan-US joint exercise in the Sea of Japan.
The ministry said Kalibr missiles launched from the two diesel-powered submarines of the country's Pacific Fleet, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy and Volkhov, hit targets at sea on Thursday.
An atomic bomb museum in Hiroshima has reset its clock showing the number of days that have passed since the last nuclear test took place. The move was taken to protest the two subcritical nuclear tests that the United States conducted last year.
The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in the western Japanese city reset the "peace clock" on Wednesday evening from 499 days to 209 days.
Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio says the country will cosponsor a draft resolution that would require the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to explain decisions when they exercise their veto power.
The move is being led by Liechtenstein in response to a Russian veto in February. Russia blocked a Security Council resolution calling for the immediate withdrawal of its forces from Ukraine.
The main provider of electricity on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido says it will stop buying coal from Russia. This follows a Japanese government decision to phase out imports of the fuel as part of sanctions against Moscow.
Hokkaido Electric Power Company says the plan will not affect its operations as it has secured sufficient coal to last through the end of March next year.
The operator of a Shinkansen bullet train service in northeastern Japan resumed full operations on Thursday after a strong earthquake hit the region last month.
Some sections of the Tohoku Shinkansen line were damaged and a train was derailed by the magnitude 7.4 quake on March 16.
The Japanese government is planning to use Self-Defense Forces transport aircraft to fly relief supplies to Ukraine's neighbors.
Sources close to the government say this is in response to a request from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
New coronavirus cases are trending slightly upward in Japan. Some prefectures have even recorded daily highs.
Authorities on Wednesday confirmed nearly 60,000 new cases nationwide. That's 28 hundred more than a week ago.
Japan has enacted a law to allow its Self-Defense Forces to rescue only non-Japanese in an emergency abroad.
In August, when Afghanistan was in turmoil as US troops were pulling out, the Japanese government sent a Self-Defense Force aircraft and evacuated one Japanese national and 14 Afghans.
Wednesday marks one year since the Japanese government decided on a plan to release treated water from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the ocean.
Local fishing groups and others remain opposed to the move on concern it will damage the reputation of seafood from the area.
Japanese Justice Minister Furukawa Yoshihisa has acknowledged that a final report on the death of a Sri Lankan woman at an immigration detention facility in central Japan contained content that may have been misleading.
He indicated that he will instruct the Immigration Services Agency to submit an explanation into how the content came to be included in the report during the current session of the Diet.
Japanese researchers have created a digital map showing the destruction in Ukraine caused by Russia's invasion.
The group led by University of Tokyo graduate school Professor Watanave Hidenori released the map online.
The Japanese government plans to speed up arrangements for a summit of the Quad framework made up of Japan, the United States, Australia and India.
This comes after US President Joe Biden told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during their online summit on Monday that he is looking forward to meeting the Indian leader in Japan around May 24.
The US Navy has disclosed that one of its nuclear-powered aircraft carriers is conducting a joint drill with the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force in the Sea of Japan.
The 7th Fleet told NHK on Tuesday that the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group is conducting "routine bilateral operations."