Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel have visited Hiroshima to offer prayers for victims of the 1945 atomic bombing.

The two visited the Peace Memorial Park on Saturday.

Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has stressed the importance of ensuring maritime safety based on the rule of law.

Kishida gave a speech on Saturday at the graduation ceremony of the Japan Coast Guard Academy in the city of Kure in Hiroshima Prefecture, western Japan.

A government survey shows that about 10,000 foreign children living in Japan are possibly not receiving school education.

The education ministry conducted the survey of more than 133,000 foreign children of elementary or junior high school age, who were registered as residents nationwide as of May last year.

Some Japanese municipalities have begun providing consultation services for Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion of their country. The officials listen to their questions concerning housing, medical care, and other matters related to their daily lives.

Hokkaido Foreign Resident Support Center in Sapporo City

The number of new cases of coronavirus has been gradually trending downward in Japan. More than 47,000 new infections were reported nationwide on Friday. That is about 1,700 fewer than a week earlier and less than half of the daily peak recorded in early February.

Quasi-emergency measures ended on Monday. The anti-virus strictures had been in place in 18 of the country's 47 prefectures, including Tokyo and Osaka.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government says it confirmed 7,289 new cases of the coronavirus and 11 deaths on Friday.

The daily case count is down more than 500 from a week ago.

Japan's justice minister has called his intended visit to Poland essential for fully grasping what support is needed for Ukrainian evacuees under severe conditions.

Furukawa Yoshihisa was speaking to reporters on Friday about the plan for him to make the visit as a special envoy of Prime Minister Kishida Fumio.

Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has strongly condemned North Korea's firing of a ballistic missile, which fell into the sea near Japan's waters.

Kishida, who was in Belgium to attend a G7 summit, talked to reporters shortly after the missile fell into the Sea of Japan off Hokkaido on Thursday.

Japan's Defense Ministry says North Korea has launched what appears to be a new type of inter-continental ballistic missile.

Japanese officials believe it fell into the sea off the northern prefecture of Hokkaido on Thursday.

Japan's Defense Ministry sources say the missile launched by North Korea on Thursday was likely of an ICBM, or intercontinental ballistic missile, class.

Defense Minister Kishi Nobuo said the missile was launched at around 2:33 p.m. on Thursday. He said it flew about 71 minutes and is believed to have fallen in waters within Japan's exclusive economic zone, 150 kilometers off Oshima Peninsula of the northern prefecture of Hokkaido.

Tokyo prosecutors have arrested a vice president of SMBC Nikko Securities for his alleged involvement in a stock manipulation scandal.

Sato Toshihiro, who is 59, was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of manipulating stock prices in violation of the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act.

The Ukrainian ambassador to Japan has asked for additional food aid, as well as farming assistance.

Ambassador Sergiy Korsunsky made the request during his meeting with Japan's agriculture minister, Kaneko Genjiro, on Thursday.

Japan's Defense Ministry says North Korea has launched what could be an inter-continental ballistic missile. The ministry says the projectile appears to have fallen into the sea off the northern prefecture of Hokkaido. This is within Japan's exclusive economic zone.

South Korean defense officials say the missile was launched on what is called a "lofted trajectory," or at a steeper angle to send the missile higher.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government reported 8,875 new cases of the coronavirus in the capital on Thursday.

The daily tally is up more than 400 from a week earlier, marking the first week-on-week increase since March 3.