Japanese trumpeter Kondo Toshinori died on Saturday. He was 71.

Kondo played in a jazz group while he was in college, and began performing in the United States in 1978.

A flower park north of Tokyo is honoring Japan's medical workers with a dazzling display of lights.

Ashikaga Flower Park in Tochigi Prefecture kicked off the annual illumination event on Saturday with five million lights decorating the grounds.

Japan's Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide has asked his Vietnamese counterpart, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, for close cooperation to realize a free and open Indo-Pacific.

Suga made the request in talks with Phuc in Hanoi on Monday. The summit was held after a ceremony to welcome the new Japanese leader.

Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc are holding talks in Hanoi. They are expected to discuss strengthening regional security and boosting economic ties.

It's Suga's first overseas trip since taking office last month. The visit comes just weeks before Vietnam is set to host the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit.

The prime ministers of Japan and Vietnam will hold talks on Monday, when Suga Yoshihide meets with Nguyen Xuan Phuc at the Vietnamese Prime Minister's office in Hanoi.

Suga arrived in Vietnam on Sunday at the start of his first overseas trip since taking office. He is also scheduled to give a speech on Japan's policy regarding the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Vietnam will chair an ASEAN summit next month.

Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide has sent a ritual offering to Yasukuni Shrine to mark the two-day autumn festival.

Suga sent a potted plant to the shrine on Saturday.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government says it confirmed 235 new cases of coronavirus on Saturday. The last time the daily tally topped 200 was on Thursday .

Officials say the newly infected are aged from below 10 to over 90.

Major Japanese film studios are reporting sharp declines in their earnings this year. The pandemic has led to the closure of theaters, forcing movie fans to stay home.

Shochiku posted a net loss of 89 million dollars in the six-month period through August. Sales dropped 60.8 percent in yen terms compared with the same period last year.

Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide has arrived in Hanoi for a summit with his Vietnamese counterpart, Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

The two leaders are scheduled to meet in the Vietnamese capital on Monday. This is Suga's first overseas trip since he assumed office.

The annual Sanja Matsuri festival linked to Asakusa Shrine in central Tokyo was held on a smaller scale on Saturday and Sunday after being postponed since May due to the pandemic.

The route and the time of the portable shrine's procession were not announced, and the number of participants from the parish was limited to about 100 to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Japan's Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide has left for Vietnam and Indonesia on his first overseas tour since assuming office.

During the four-day tour, Suga is scheduled to meet Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Indonesian President Joko Widodo. He will give a speech on Japan's policy towards ASEAN at a university in Hanoi on Monday.

Tokyo Metropolitan government officials confirmed 132 new cases of the coronavirus on Sunday.

There have now been 28,971 confirmed infections in the capital.

People in Japan's southwestern prefecture of Okinawa have flown kites to pray for an early end to the COVID-19 pandemic.

About 30 people took part in the event held at a seaside park in the town of Motobu on Saturday.

Japan's Cabinet and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party held a joint funeral service for former Prime Minister Nakasone Yasuhiro, who died last November at the age of 101.

About 650 people, including Crown Prince and Crown Princess Akishino, the Lower House speaker, the Upper House president and former prime ministers, attended the event at a hotel in Tokyo on Saturday.