Japan's weather officials are calling on people in the northern part of the country to be on the alert for a severe snowstorm hitting the region from Tuesday to Wednesday.

The Meteorological Agency reports that a rapidly developed low pressure system is advancing westward over the Sea of Okhotsk, bringing extremely strong winds especially to northern Japan.

Japan's health ministry plans to conduct a follow-up survey of up to 3 million people who receive coronavirus vaccines to check on any side effects.

Inoculation of medical workers using the Pfizer vaccine will start on Wednesday. The elderly are due to start receiving the shots, possibly in April.

The Japan Coast Guard says four Chinese government vessels entered Japan's territorial waters off the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.

Coast Guard officials say two of the ships left the waters, but two others still appear to be approaching a Japanese fishing boat and they are on the alert.

Japanese tennis star Osaka Naomi has advanced to the women's singles semifinals of the Australian Open for the first time in two years.

Osaka won the tournament in 2019 and is now ranked third in the world. She beat Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan, who is ranked 71st, in two straight sets on Tuesday.

The Japanese government says it will keep the public well-informed about coronavirus vaccinations, which start on Wednesday.

About 10,000 to 20,000 medical workers are the first in line to get their shots, followed by elderly people and others.

Japan's health ministry will ask municipal governments to monitor the condition of people who receive COVID-19 vaccinations for at least 15 minutes after the shot.

The decision was made on Monday at a meeting of experts advising the ministry.

Working-level talks have begun for anti-coronavirus measures for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Officials from the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games and the International Olympic and Paralympic committees opened their three-day online meeting on Monday.

Members of a panel tasked with helping select the new president of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games organizing committee are expected to meet for the first time as early as Tuesday.

Sources told NHK that Mitarai Fujio, honorary president of the committee, will chair the panel. They said it consists of four men and four women, many of whom are athletes.

The East Japan Railway Company has announced that its Tohoku Shinkansen bullet trains will partially resume operation on Tuesday for the route affected by Saturday's earthquake.

JR East says service will be restarted between Ichinoseki and Morioka stations.

Rains and winds are intensifying mainly in northern Japan due to a low pressure system.

Maximum instantaneous wind speeds of about 107 kilometers per hour were observed in the Nasu Kogen highland in Tochigi Prefecture around 5:30 p.m. on Mondsay.

Japan's top government spokesperson says the country is still committed to negotiations for resolving a dispute over four islands controlled by Russia and claimed by Japan.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Kato Katsunobu spoke to reporters on Monday after Russian President Vladimir Putin indicated that Moscow will refuse to engage in negotiations in accordance with its amended Constitution.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government confirmed 266 new cases of the coronavirus in the capital on Monday.

The daily tally has remained under 500 for nine days in a row, and it's the first time the figure has fallen below 300 since last Monday.

People in parts of Japan are still assessing the damage from Saturday's powerful earthquake which injured more than 150 people. Now they're bracing for more pain...with weather officials forecasting that heavy rain and winds could trigger landslides.

The jolt was powerful enough in Miyagi Prefecture's Yamamoto Town to rupture pipes and cut water supplies to some areas.

A taskforce of the National Governors' Association has decided to share information on coronavirus vaccinations to help set up inoculation programs for each area of Japan.

Officials of the central and municipal governments joined the first meeting of the taskforce that was held online on Monday.