Japan's top government spokesperson says arrangements are being made for a meeting between US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu in Japan.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Kato Katsunobu said on Wednesday that Pompeo will take part in a four-way meeting with the foreign ministers of Japan, Australia and India during his visit to Tokyo.
NHK has learned the Japanese government will likely boost economic aid for remote, inhabited islands close to the country's maritime borders.
Seventy-one remote islands have the government's special designation as areas that should be kept inhabited to help protect Japan's territorial waters and exclusive economic zones.
NHK has learned Japan's Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide may visit Vietnam and Indonesia in mid-October if coronavirus situations allow. It would be his first overseas trip after taking office.
Recent infection curves have been relatively stable in the two nations. If Suga visits them, he is expected to meet Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Indonesian President Joko Widodo.
Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide has proposed resolving a bilateral territorial issue with Russia without leaving it to the next generation.
He made the proposal to Russian President Vladimir Putin as the leaders held their first talks by telephone on Tuesday.
Russia says it has started military drills on the Kuril Islands. The island chain includes Japan's Northern Territories.
Russia's Eastern Military District announced on Tuesday that more than 1,500 soldiers were taking part in drills on two islands. They are Etorofu and Kunashiri, two of the four Russian-controlled islands claimed by Japan.
Japanese officials say more than 60,000 people have lost or are about to lose their jobs - as COVID-19 takes a wrecking ball to a number of industries.
The labor ministry says this number only reflects people who have reported unemployment to regional offices. So the full picture could be even worse.
Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide has vowed to relatives of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea that he will spearhead efforts to bring their loved ones home.
Suga met with the families of abductees at the prime minister's office on Tuesday, for the first time since he assumed the post earlier this month.
The operator of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant says it has completed an 11-meter-high seawall to protect the facility from tsunami waves.
Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, erected the barrier based on a government panel warning three years ago. It said that a mega-quake along the Chishima Trench, beneath the sea near northern Japan, could cause a tsunami to hit the compound.
A Japanese organization for protecting the rights of entertainers has asked the government to institute a mental health care system for people in the entertainment industry.
The Entertainers' Rights Association made the plea in a statement entitled "Suicides by Entertainers." It was posted on the group's website on Sunday.
Tourists are enjoying the colorful autumn foliage at Mount Asahidake, the highest peak in Hokkaido, northern Japan.
Every year, large crowds visit the mountain to see Japan's first autumn foliage of the season. The top of the mountain is nearly 2,300 meters above sea level.
The torch relays of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, postponed to next year, are to be held based mostly on the original plan.
The organizing committee announced on Monday that the Olympic torch relay will start in Fukushima Prefecture on March 25 and continue for 121 days covering all parts of Japan. The starting day is one day ahead of the original plan.
Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Kato Katsunobu says the government is watching with concern the human rights situation of Uighurs in China.
Kato was speaking to reporters on Monday about China's policy for the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Last week, Chinese President Xi Jinping indicated at a meeting to discuss Xinjiang policies that Beijing will continue to exercise ideological and religious control in the region.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government confirmed 78 new cases of the coronavirus in the Japanese capital on Monday.
The daily figure fell below the 100 mark for the first time since last Wednesday.
Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Kato Katsunobu says the government will look into a minor collision between a Japanese patrol vessel and a Taiwanese fishing boat as necessary and deal with it in an appropriate way.
The Japan Coast Guard says the incident took place in Japan's territorial waters off the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea on Sunday afternoon. It says the Taiwanese boat was illegally operating in the waters.