Japanese researchers say they think the coronavirus continued to spread undetected in Japan after the outbreak was thought to have been contained in May.

The National Institute of Infectious Diseases earlier this week released the outcome of its detailed genetic analysis of the coronavirus. The samples were taken from people who contracted the virus in Japan to assess how it had spread across the country.

Researchers in Japan say the death rate of hospitalized coronavirus patients was 7.5 percent in the country. This is about one third of the COVID-19 death rates reported in Britain and the United States.

The National Center for Global Health and Medicine on Thursday released the result of its analysis on 2,638 coronavirus patients admitted to 227 hospitals nationwide between March and early July.

Experts advising Japan's government on the coronavirus plan to set up a series of indexes to help local authorities gauge the spread of the outbreak in their regions.

Prime Minister Abe Shinzo said on Thursday that unlike in April, it is not currently necessary to declare a state of emergency.

More travelers have canceled their summer holiday bookings for Japan's iconic Shinkansen bullet trains as the coronavirus continues to spread.

East Japan Railway says Shinkansen bookings for between August 7 and 17 have dropped to just 16 percent of last year's levels. In late July, bookings for the period stood at 19 percent of 2019's level.

The governor of Tokyo has called on residents to refrain from traveling to other prefectures during the summer holiday season, amid the continued rise in numbers of coronavirus infections in the capital.

Koike Yuriko told reporters on Thursday that people should remain on heightened alert, as the situation in Tokyo is still extremely severe.

Japanese two-way player of the Los Angeles Angels Ohtani Shohei says he will work hard to return to the mound next season.

Ohtani has been diagnosed with a muscle injury near his right elbow after he pitched partway in a game against the Houston Astros on Sunday.

Japan continued to experience a sweltering summer heat wave on Thursday with daytime highs of over 35 degrees Celsius recorded in many areas.

The Meteorological Agency says a high pressure system covering vast areas from western through northeastern Japan, combined with an influx of warm air, is bringing clear skies and high temperatures to the archipelago.

Toyota Motor has managed to weather the global financial downturn of the coronavirus pandemic, posting a profit in the latest quarter.

The automaker's earnings report shows the group stayed in the black for the April-to-June period, despite recording a 40-percent decline in sales from a year earlier in yen terms.

Japan's health ministry and the British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca are expected to reach an agreement shortly on the delivery of more than 100 million doses of an experimental coronavirus vaccine.

The vaccine is being developed jointly by AstraZeneca and Oxford University. It's already in the final stage of clinical trials in Brazil and elsewhere.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government says 360 new cases of the coronavirus were confirmed on Thursday.

Officials say this is a preliminary figure as of 3 p.m.

A number of atomic-bomb survivors were unable to attend the annual memorial ceremony on Thursday because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Hamasumi Jiro, who now lives in Tokyo, was exposed to radiation in his mother's womb when the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. His father was killed in the blast.

Japanese Astronaut Hoshide Akihiko has spoken of his enthusiasm for his third trip to the International Space Station scheduled for next spring.

Last month, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency announced Hoshide will head to the ISS on the second operational flight of the US spacecraft Crew Dragon.

The Japanese government has agreed to provide Bangladesh with loans worth up to 330 million dollars for the Southwestern Asian nation's coronavirus response.

Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo and his Bangladeshi counterpart, Sheikh Hasina, participated in a teleconference call on Wednesday. They confirmed that they have reached a deal to work together in the fight against the virus.

The Russian emergencies minister has visited one of the four Russian-held islands claimed by Japan, and stressed Moscow's intention to develop the area. Tokyo has lodged a protest against the visit.

Yevgeny Zinichev attended the opening ceremony of an emergency rescue center on Kunashiri Island on Wednesday.