Tokyo metropolitan government officials say 206 new coronavirus cases were confirmed in the Japanese capital on Thursday.

The daily tally has topped the 200 mark for two days in a row.

The Japanese government plans to offer subsidies to universities and research institutes that allow their equipment to be used for PCR tests.

The education and science ministry says that as of early August, 71 university hospitals and 27 universities and research institutes across the country had equipment that would allow up to 4,400 PCR tests to be conducted per day.

The Tokyo Metropolitan government had reported 222 new coronavirus cases in the Japanese capital as of 3 p.m. on Wednesday.

The daily tally in Tokyo topped 200 for the first time since Sunday.

A memorial ceremony has been held to mark 35 years since a Japan Airlines jumbo jet crashed in a mountainous village north of Tokyo, killing 520 people.

Ahead of the ceremony in the village of Ueno, Gunma Prefecture, 141 members of 50 bereaved families climbed a mountain trail to the crash site on Osutaka Ridge. The annual trek was spread over five days this time to prevent coronavirus infections.

A nonpartisan group of Japanese lawmakers has issued a statement protesting the arrests of pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong on suspicion of violating the new national security law for the territory.

The lawmakers include former defense minister Nakatani Gen of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and Lower House member Yamao Shiori of the opposition Democratic Party for the People.

The prefecture and the city of Hiroshima have appealed a district court ruling that legally recognizes people exposed to radioactive rain immediately after the 1945 atomic bombing as "hibakusha," or survivors of the bombing.

The local governments filed their appeal with the Hiroshima High Court on Wednesday, the deadline for appealing against last month's Hiroshima District Court ruling.

Prime Minister Abe Shinzo has pledged continued support for "hibakusha," or survivors of the 1945 atomic bombing, following an appeal by the city and prefecture of Hiroshima of a ruling on so-called "black rain."

Last month a district court in Hiroshima recognized people who were exposed to the radioactive rain immediately after the bombing as "hibakusha."

The mayor of Hiroshima City says the city and Hiroshima Prefecture have jointly appealed a district court ruling over the post A-bomb "black rain" case.

Mayor Matsui Kazumi made the announcement to reporters on Wednesday, the deadline for appealing against last month's Hiroshima District Court ruling.

Relatives of the victims of Japan's worst air disaster will remember their loved ones at the crash site on Wednesday, the 35th anniversary of the accident. This commemoration comes amid the continuing spread of the coronavirus.

A Japan Airlines jumbo jet crashed into a mountain in Gunma Prefecture, north of Tokyo, on August 12, 1985. Five hundred and twenty people on board were killed.

NHK's latest opinion poll puts the approval rating for Prime Minister Abe Shinzo's Cabinet at 34 percent. The figure is down by two points from last month.

This is the lowest support rate since the launch of Abe's second administration in December 2012, although a simple comparison is not possible as the survey method has changed.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government reported 188 new coronavirus cases in the Japanese capital on Tuesday.

The daily tally was under 200 for the second day in a row.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga Yoshihide says the Japanese government continues to watch the situation in Hong Kong with grave concern.

Suga spoke to reporters on Tuesday after Hong Kong police arrested pro-democracy activists and a media tycoon under the territory's new national security law.

Japanese weather officials are forecasting temperatures above 38 degrees Celsius for some parts of the country. They are urging people to be on the alert for heat stroke.

The Meteorological Agency says sweltering weather continued in many parts of Japan on Monday. A daytime high of 38.6 degrees, which was the highest of the season, was recorded in the city of Tajimi, Gifu Prefecture.

The Japanese tradition of visiting ancestral graves during the Bon summer holidays has been largely disrupted by the new coronavirus outbreak. Some families are asking a local cemetery headstone maker in the western prefecture of Tottori to send its staff to their family graves.

On Monday, a staff member was seen cleaning and polishing the headstone of a family grave on behalf of a woman who lives in Aichi Prefecture, central Japan.