International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach is expected to arrive in Japan on July 9 -- two weeks before the opening of the Tokyo Olympic Games.

Sources say coordination is underway for the planned visit to Japan by the IOC chief.

Japanese experts are warning of a possible resurgence of coronavirus infections in Tokyo, citing recent week-on-week increases in case numbers.

The experts advising the Tokyo Metropolitan Government decided at a meeting on Thursday to maintain the alert for the infection situation and the healthcare system in the capital at the highest level on a four-point scale.

The Japanese government says more than half of the country's elderly population had received their first shot of a coronavirus vaccine as of Wednesday.

Data released on Thursday shows that 18,130,125 people, or 51.09 percent of Japan's elderly had received their first jab, while 17.51 percent had completed the required two doses.

Russia has begun large-scale military drills on islands that Japan claims as its Northern Territories.

Russia's Eastern Military District says the exercises being conducted over five days from Wednesday are based on a scenario of hostility between two states. They're being staged on the islands of Etorofu and Kunashiri as well as Sakhalin and elsewhere.

Japan's National Police Agency plans to set up a new bureau to deal with hacking and other cybercrimes.

Hackers have been stealing highly classified data from companies and research institutions, and in some cases using the stolen data to demand ransom.

Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party is likely to postpone debate on whether legal changes should be made to allow married couples to keep their separate surnames, until after the general election due by this autumn.

The LDP's move is in response to a Supreme Court ruling on Wednesday that said the civil code article requiring married couples to have the same surname does not violate the Constitution.

More than 17,500 people with dementia were reported missing in Japan last year -- a record high for the country.

The National Police Agency says 17,565 people diagnosed with or suspected of having dementia went missing in 2020. The figure increased from the previous year by 86, and has been rising since 2012.

Japan's top government spokesperson has expressed deep concern over the closure of Hong Kong's Apple Daily newspaper.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Kato Katsunobu told reporters on Thursday the end of the newspaper is a huge setback for the freedoms of speech and the press that the people of Hong Kong have enjoyed and which are the basis of democratic and stable development.

Japan's health ministry says as of June 13 it had confirmed 11 cases of people suffering heart inflammation after receiving the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine in the country.

The ministry says their ages range from 25 to 72, and that a 72-year-old woman died, adding that it is impossible to determine if there is a link between the vaccination and her death.

Japan's Supreme Court has ruled that an article of the country's civil code that says married couples must have the same surname does not violate the Constitution.

The court's issuance of the view was its second, following one in 2015.

The organizers of the Tokyo Games unveiled spectator guidelines on Wednesday in a bid to prevent coronavirus infections during the Olympic Games.

The guidelines are aimed at restricting the activities of spectators at venues. The move is in line with the organizers' decision to reduce spectator capacity at Olympic venues.

An aging Japanese nuclear power reactor has been restarted.

Mihama nuclear power plant is located in Fukui Prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast. The plant's No.3 reactor went back online at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday. The reactor was first put into operation 44 years ago.

NHK has learned that Japan's Emperor Naruhito and his family are expected to move into the residence at the Imperial Palace as early as mid-September.

Refurbishment work on the Imperial residence is underway after the Emperor Emeritus and Empress Emerita moved out of it into a temporary residence in March last year. The move is a step toward swapping residences following the Imperial succession.

A giant panda at Tokyo's Ueno Zoological Gardens has given birth to twins. This is the first time twins have been born at the zoo.

Shin Shin gave birth to a cub a little past 1 a.m. on Wednesday and to another about an hour and a half later at Ueno zoo.