A prominent Japanese scriptwriter, Hashida Sugako, has died at the age of 95 of acute lymphoma. She was best known as the author of the legendary NHK morning drama series, "Oshin."

Hashida was born in present-day Seoul, South Korea, in 1925. She joined major Japanese film studio Shochiku in 1949 and later became a freelance scriptwriter of TV dramas. More than 500 episodes of her long-running drama series, "Wataru Seken wa Oni Bakari," were aired by a commercial network starting in 1990.

A beach opening ceremony has taken place in the southern Japanese prefecture of Okinawa, but the event was smaller than usual, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Yonaha Maehama Beach is located on the island of Miyakojima. It opened on Sunday. The beach is a popular tourist destination. It is known for its white sands and blue waters.

Rising coronavirus cases in parts of the country are triggering worries amid reflection one year after the government announced its first state of emergency. The authorities are tackling the latest spikes, while hoping the vaccine rollout will help stem the surge.

Osaka and Hyogo prefectures in the west, and Miyagi in the north have been given the green light to strengthen anti-virus measures. The new designation came into effect Monday, and will remain in place for a month.

Japan's Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide says the rise in coronavirus cases has not yet reached the level of a nationwide fourth wave, but extra vigilance is required.

Suga made the comment in response to an opposition lawmaker in an Upper House Audit Committee session on Monday.

Osaka and two other Japanese prefectures are strengthening measures to fight the coronavirus as case numbers continue to rise. The new rules come without a state of emergency, and are set to last one month.

This covers Osaka and Hyogo, in the west, and Miyagi, in the north. The prefectures are asking restaurants and bars in major cities to close by 8 p.m. and stop using karaoke machines. Customers who refuse to wear masks should be barred entry.

Japan's health ministry is starting to deliver coronavirus vaccine doses for elderly citizens on Monday, one week before the start of their inoculations.

Vaccinations for roughly 36 million people aged 65 or older will follow the start of inoculations for medical workers in February using the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government says it confirmed 355 new cases of the coronavirus on Sunday.

The figure was up 42 from a week earlier.

Japanese swimmer Ikee Rikako has qualified for the Tokyo Olympic Games after returning to the sport following her battle with leukemia.

Ikee took part in the women's 100-meter butterfly final at the national championships on Sunday.

Governors across Japan held an online meeting on Sunday in the midst of a resurgence of coronavirus cases.

They have put together emergency proposals to the central government calling for financial aid to help restaurants heavily impacted by the coronavirus measures. They also demanded ministries to provide information more quickly on COVID variants.

Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide has commented on his visit to the United States planned for next week. He said he wants to confirm that President Joe Biden is ready to work together to resolve the issue of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea.

Suga made the remarks on a TV program on Sunday.

A Japanese government survey shows that one out of four women and one out of five men have experienced domestic violence by their spouses.

The Cabinet Office conducted the survey on domestic violence and sexual assault in November and December, covering 5,000 men and women aged 20 or older. 3,438 of them responded.

A cherry blossom festival is taking place for the first time in two years in Japan's northeastern town of Tomioka near the site of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.

The town's Yonomori District is renowned for its 2.2-kilometer stretch of about 570 cherry trees.

Osaka Prefecture says a record 666 new cases of the coronavirus were confirmed on Saturday.

The number has topped 600 for three straight days, and exceeded Tokyo's number for five straight days.

The families of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea have issued a new message for the country's leader, Kim Jong Un, in the hope of persuading him to allow the abductees to return home.

Eighty-two-year-old Iizuka Shigeo, who is a brother of abductee Taguchi Yaeko and heads a group formed by the abductees' relatives, said in a meeting on Saturday that they will never give up, despite constraints imposed by the coronavirus pandemic.