The Tokyo Metropolitan Government says it has confirmed 249 new cases of coronavirus infection on Saturday.

The daily tally in the capital has exceeded 200 for three consecutive days.

Click here to watch NHK World-Japan's meteorologist give the latest details on Severe Tropical Storm Chan-hom.

Japan's Meteorological Agency says Severe Tropical Storm Chan-hom is moving east-northeast along the Pacific coast.

Officials say it is now less likely to make landfall, but could bring localized downpours of more than 50 millimeters per hour to the Kii Peninsula and Izu Islands.

Japan's labor and welfare ministry has started studying ways to encourage more men to take paternity leave.

A ministry survey last year showed that 7.48 percent of eligible men took paternity leave compared to 83 percent of women.

Another municipality in Japan has decided to take part in the first stage of a government process to select a final disposal site for high-level radioactive waste.

The mayor of Kamoenai Village in the northern prefecture of Hokkaido announced the decision to accept the so-called literature survey on Friday.

Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide has explained more about the government's decision last week to reject six candidates for the Science Council.

On Friday, he said a list of nominees he received did not include those who were rejected. He stressed the procedure has been completed, and that he does not intend to reconsider.

A typhoon is now barreling toward Japan. Weather officials say it is just south of the country and is set to take a northeasterly path along the Pacific coast.

Meteorological Agency officials say Typhoon Chan-hom is unlikely to make landfall but is expected to bring strong winds and heavy rain across wide areas.

A town in the northernmost Japanese prefecture of Hokkaido has applied for the first-stage survey for the government's selection of a final disposal site for nuclear waste.

The mayor of Suttsu, Kataoka Haruo, submitted the application to the Nuclear Waste Management Organization of Japan, or NUMO, in Tokyo on Friday.

The president of Japanese professional baseball's Hanshin Tigers is stepping down to take responsibility for a string of coronavirus infections among players and staff.

Ageshio Kenji said on Friday that he will resign at the end of the season.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government says it confirmed 203 new cases of coronavirus infection on Friday.

The daily tally in the capital has exceeded 200 for two straight days.

Japanese weather officials say a typhoon now situated over the Pacific just south of Japan will likely approach the country's western and eastern regions.

Meteorological Agency officials say that at noon on Friday, Typhoon Chan-hom was at sea some 250 kilometers south-southeast of Kochi Prefecture.

Japanese weather officials say a typhoon now situated over the Pacific just south of Japan will likely approach the country's western and eastern regions.

Meteorological Agency officials say that as of 5 a.m. on Friday, Typhoon Chan-hom was at sea some 270 kilometers south of Kochi Prefecture.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government says it confirmed 248 new cases of the coronavirus in the Japanese capital on Thursday.

The figure brings the total number of confirmed cases in Tokyo to 27,117.

A nationwide group of Japanese fisheries has opposed releasing diluted radioactive wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant into the sea.

The group's president, Kishi Hiroshi, spoke at the 7th government hearing in Tokyo on Thursday.