Japan and South Korea have agreed to reopen business and other travel between the two countries on Thursday.
Japan's Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu on Tuesday announced the bilateral agreement as part of efforts to ease coronavirus entry restrictions.
Japan's Suzuki Motor says it has developed a device that enables outboard motors to collect micro-plastics, which are regarded as a potential threat to ecosystems.
Suzuki has been conducting studies for years trying to address water pollution caused by plastic waste.
Foreign ministers from Japan, the United States, Australia and India have held a meeting in Tokyo to discuss ways to realize a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
The four-party foreign ministerial meeting started on Tuesday evening. Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne and India's External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar were in attendance.
A group of advocates of the Japanese Constitution has accused Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide of violating academic freedom by refusing to appoint six nominees for membership of the Science Council.
The accusation came in a statement issued by five members of the group "Save Constitutional Democracy Japan" at a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Former senior members of Japan's leading academic body have disclosed that the prime minister's office did not accept its choice of candidates for membership four years ago.
The Science Council of Japan is designated a special organization under the jurisdiction of the prime minister, but makes policy proposals independently of the government.
Japan's Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide has met with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. It's Suga's first face-to-face diplomacy since taking office.
The two are believed to have confirmed efforts to further strengthen the Japan-US alliance.
It has been one month since a deadly mudslide, triggered by a typhoon, hit a village in Miyazaki Prefecture, southwestern Japan.
The mudslide in Shiiba Village occurred on September 6, as Typhoon Haishen was approaching Japan. The mudslide swept away the home of the construction company owner, Aioi Hideki, and the company office.
Japan's Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have agreed to work closer together to strengthen their bilateral alliance and realize a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
Motegi and Pompeo met in person over lunch in Tokyo on Tuesday ahead of four-way talks with the foreign ministers of Australia and India later in the day.
Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force says 28 of its personnel have contracted the coronavirus, probably at a barbecue party.
Officials of the GSDF say that the 28 members from 24 camps across Japan had been confirmed infected by Monday.
Japan's Meteorological Agency says Tropical Storm Chan-hom may approach the country over the weekend.
Weather officials say Chan-hom was advancing northward on Tuesday over waters south of Japan and is expected to develop a storm zone.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government says it confirmed 177 new cases of the coronavirus in the Japanese capital on Tuesday.
The figure brings the total number of confirmed cases in Tokyo to 26,727.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has arrived in Tokyo to attend a foreign ministerial meeting taking place on Tuesday with Japan, Australia and India.
Pompeo landed at a US military base in suburban Tokyo early Tuesday morning.
Analysis of a large amount of data indicates that the number of travelers from Tokyo to other prefectures over the weekend rose 7 percent nationwide from the figure for a week earlier.
This was the first weekend since trips to and from Tokyo were added to the government's "Go To" campaign to encourage tourism.
Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide has defended his decision not to appoint six scholars as members of Japan's leading academic body, a move which has drawn criticism from opposition parties.
Suga spoke to reporters on Monday about the refusal to appoint six nominees to the Science Council of Japan, the first such move since the current nomination scheme began in fiscal 2004.