US President Joe Biden has indicated that his wife may visit Japan for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Biden was asked by reporters on Tuesday whether First Lady Jill Biden will go to Tokyo.

A panel of experts advising the Tokyo Metropolitan Government has voiced concern about a possible resurgence of coronavirus cases in the capital, saying the situation could worsen quickly.

The experts and metropolitan officials met on Tuesday to analyze the current infection situation and discuss what steps to take. Tokyo shifted to focused coronavirus restrictions on June 21 when a state of emergency ended.

Officials in Tokyo have decided to rearrange the Olympic torch relay so that the flame is not carried on public roads in the capital for at least the first eight days of the event. The relay will go ahead in Tokyo's island regions.

The relay was originally laid out so that it would pass through all of Tokyo's municipalities, including distant islands, between July 9 and July 23 -- the opening day of the Games.

In Japan's southern prefecture Okinawa, residents of the rain-hit main island are being urged to stay on alert for landslides and flooding.

Japan's Meteorological Agency says a band of rain clouds developed over the northern part of the island early Tuesday as warm, moist air flowed in toward a stationary seasonal rain front.

A new system enabling restaurant customers to take a COVID-19 antigen test before entering the premises is being trialed in one of the busiest districts of Tokyo.

Tokyo's medical association will hold the three-day experiment from Wednesday in Shinjuku's Kabukicho district, after staging a practice run on Monday.

The foreign ministers of Japan and the Netherlands have agreed to step up cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region.

Japan's Motegi Toshimitsu and his Dutch counterpart Sigrid Kaag held talks for the first time on Monday in Matera, southern Italy, ahead of their colleagues' meeting of the Group of 20 major economies.

Japan's Supreme Court has turned down another appeal that challenges the constitutionality of legal provisions obliging married couples to use the same surname.

Presiding Justice Kizawa Katsuyuki made the decision late last week.

Japan's administrative offices have turned down a request to disclose information on why Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide refused to appoint six nominees to the Science Council of Japan, the country's leading academic body.

The six scholars requested that the Cabinet Office and the Cabinet Secretariat disclose documents on why and how their membership appointment was refused.

The United States says President Joe Biden will not attend the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. First Lady Jill Biden may lead the US delegation.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Monday that the president is not planning to attend the Games. She added, "We will have a delegation from the United States, as we have historically had."

Japan's top government spokesperson says Japan would respond appropriately if it obtains information that objects referred to as UFOs could affect the country's defense.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Kato Katsunobu made the remark at a news conference on Monday, while commenting on a recent US government report on UFOs.

A district court in southern Japan has ordered the central government to pay damages for noise from fighter jets at an Air Self-Defense Force base in Miyazaki Prefecture.

The Miyazaki District Court handed down the ruling on Monday in a lawsuit filed by 178 residents.

The head of the Japanese Olympic Committee has backed off from a target of winning a record 30 gold medals at the Tokyo Olympic Games -- a goal set three years ago.

JOC President Yamashita Yasuhiro was speaking to reporters at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo on Monday.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government confirmed 317 new cases of the coronavirus on Monday. That's up 81 from last Monday, marking a week-on-week increase for the ninth straight day.

The total number of confirmed infections in Tokyo now stands at 172,744.

Japan's Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide has inspected quarantine and other anti-virus measures at Haneda Airport in Tokyo. He instructed officials to take thorough border controls in the run-up to the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games.

In his visit on Monday morning, Suga first inspected the site where All Nippon Airways staff are being vaccinated against the coronavirus. He also tried a touchless check-in system that Japan Airlines uses to prevent infections.