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Japan's Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide has delivered his first policy speech in the Diet since taking office last month. Topping the agenda was the coronavirus pandemic.

Suga said, "The nationwide spread of infection has been declining since late June. But at the moment, this trend is slowing and the situation remains unpredictable. We will do everything to prevent an explosive increase in infections and protect people's health and lives. We will also resume social and economic activities and revitalize the economy."

Japan's Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide is to deliver a general policy speech on Monday when an extraordinary session of the Diet opens.

This will be the first Diet session since Suga took office in September.

An aquarium in western Japan has appointed an 11-year-old boy the director of its popular dolphin show. The boy impressed the staff with his deep love for marine animals.

Goto Takuto is in the sixth grade of an elementary school in Takamatsu City, Kagawa Prefecture. He has been regularly visiting the city's New Yashima Aquarium since he was two.

Thai people living in Japan have taken to the streets of Tokyo to show support for anti-government protests in their home country.

Protesters have been staging rallies in and around the capital, Bangkok. Their demands include the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and reform of the monarchy.

Tokyo Metropolitan Government officials confirmed 124 new cases of coronavirus infection in the capital on Sunday.

The figure topped 100 for the sixth straight day.

The mayor of Hiroshima City says the enactment of the UN treaty will be a major milestone on the road to abolishing nuclear weapons.

Mayor Matsui Kazumi noted that nuclear powers and countries under the nuclear umbrella remain opposed to signing and ratifying the treaty. He said making the treaty more effective will be the next challenge.

The mayor of Nagasaki City has repeated his call for the Japanese government to ratify the UN treaty banning nuclear weapons.

Mayor Taue Tomihisa said he wants the government to attend a signatories' meeting as an observer if it is difficult for Japan to ratify the treaty.

A key Japanese member of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, or ICAN, has expressed joy at the UN treaty to ban nuclear weapons reaching the required 50 ratifications to go into effect.

ICAN International Steering Group member Kawasaki Akira looked back on the path he took with many atomic bomb survivors during an online news conference.

The head of the atomic bomb survivors' group in Hiroshima, Tsuboi Sunao, says the news that the treaty will take effect is a big step forward.

Tsuboi said the treaty will not lead to the immediate abolition of nuclear weapons, but it will still be a major step towards achieving that goal.

A group of thirty-five people from Japan and the United States have attended a memorial ceremony for soldiers who died in a fierce battle on the Pacific island of Ioto during World War Two.

Around 21,900 Japanese soldiers and about 6,800 US servicemen lost their lives on the island, also known as Iwojima, in the closing days of World War Two.

Belarusians living in Japan held a protest in Tokyo calling for the resignation of President Alexander Lukashenko.

Unrest continues in Belarus as massive protests have swept the country for more than two months against suspected poll rigging in the August presidential election.

Relatives of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea and government officials took part in a memorial service on Saturday for Yokota Shigeru who passed in June. He was the father of abductee Yokota Megumi.

A large sign carrying a message that read "Thank you, Mr. Yokota Shigeru" was raised at the venue in central Tokyo.

Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide has vowed full support for efforts to resolve the issue of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea.

Suga was speaking at a memorial service in Tokyo on Saturday for Yokota Shigeru, the father of Yokota Megumi who was abducted by North Korea in the 1970s. Shigeru died in June.

Japan is sending a fact-finding team to Mauritius to determine what kind of assistance is necessary to help the local environment and fishing industry recover from a huge oil spill.

The bulk carrier Wakashio, which was registered in Panama and chartered by the Japanese shipping firm Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, ran aground off the coast of the Indian Ocean nation in July. It leaked huge amounts of oil.