Authorities in Fukuoka Prefecture, western Japan, are culling about 93,500 chickens after the H5 strain of bird flu was detected in dead poultry at a farm.

The farm in Munakata City reported on Tuesday that a number of chickens had died. Tests by local authorities found that the virus is likely to be the highly pathogenic H5 strain which has a high death rate. The central government plans further examination.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is poised to ask bars and restaurants that serve alcohol to shorten their hours. Officials hope the measure will help curb the number of coronavirus infections, which have been rising quickly around the capital.

The affected businesses will be asked to close at 10:00 p.m. for about three weeks starting this Saturday.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is poised to ask bars and restaurants that serve alcohol to close at 10:00 p.m. for about three weeks, starting this Saturday.

Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide will meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Tokyo later on Wednesday. Japan is aiming to continue high-level bilateral talks.

Wang is the first Chinese high-ranking official to visit Japan since the launch of Suga's Cabinet.

Travel agents are busy handling trip cancellations, after the government scaled back its domestic tourism campaign amid a resurgence of coronavirus infections in Japan.

The government decided on Tuesday to exclude Sapporo City in Hokkaido, northern Japan, and Osaka City in western Japan from the popular "Go To Travel" tourism promotion campaign. The two cities have recently been virus hot spots.

Otsu City in the western Japanese prefecture of Shiga has conducted a seaplane test flight over scenic Lake Biwa, aiming to revive such flights for the first time in nearly half a century.

Scenic seaplane flights over the country's largest lake had been in operation until 1972. Otsu City wants to attract tourists by reviving the flights. At the city's request, a seaplane operated by a company in Hiroshima Prefecture made three test flights on Tuesday.

Japanese companies with plants in China are welcoming the planned resumption of business travel between the two countries this month.

Japan's Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi agreed on the measure at a meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday.

An expert panel advising Japan's health ministry has warned that if the coronavirus outbreak continues to spread, medical and public health systems could be dealt a serious blow.

The panel said on Tuesday that cases are surging mainly in Hokkaido and metropolitan areas in and around Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya.

The Japanese government has scaled back a popular domestic tourism campaign due to the coronavirus, which is now spreading rapidly nationwide.

Economic Revitalization Minister Nishimura Yasutoshi said, "Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide and ministers concerned have decided to temporarily halt subsidies for travel to the cities of Sapporo and Osaka."

Japan's minister in charge of coronavirus response Nishimura Yasutoshi says the government is excluding some areas from its travel subsidy program to reduce the impact on local medical sectors.

Nishimura held a teleconference with Tokushima Governor Iizumi Kamon, who chairs the National Governors' Association, on Tuesday.

NHK has learned that hotels in Tokyo where supporters of former prime minister Abe Shinzo attended parties issued receipts annually to a fund management group that he headed.

Abe's supporters gathered for the parties on the eve of his annual cherry blossom viewing events.

Japan's tourism minister says two cities are to be excluded from the government's Go To Travel domestic tourism campaign due to a recent surge in the number of coronavirus cases there.

Akaba Kazuyoshi said on Tuesday that the campaign will be suspended for trips to Sapporo City in the northern prefecture of Hokkaido and Osaka City, western Japan, from Tuesday until December 15.

The Japanese government will scale back a popular domestic tourism campaign due to the coronavirus, which is now spreading rapidly nationwide.

Officials are expected to halt subsidies for travel to certain hot spots. The tourism minister says any affected businesses will likely be compensated for their losses.

Japan's main governing Liberal Democratic Party has rejected an opposition demand to question former prime minister Abe Shinzo in the Diet over costs for annual parties.

Media outlets have reported that Abe's office allegedly shouldered part of the costs for parties at hotels in Tokyo held on the eve of Abe's annual cherry blossom viewing events.