Officials in Kumamoto Prefecture, southern Japan, say one person is without vital signs, another person is in critical condition and nine remain missing in areas hit by torrential rains.

The officials say the person without vital signs was found in the town of Tsunagi.

Torrential rains that lashed southern Japan on Saturday began to ease in the afternoon, prompting authorities to change a heavy rain 'emergency warning' for Kumamoto and Kagoshima prefectures to a 'warning'.

Flooding continues to cause havoc in many residential areas, and Nakamoto Yoshihisa, Japan's Meteorological Agency official, urged people to remain alert, and follow any evacuation orders from their municipalities.

Tokyo metropolitan government sources say 131 new coronavirus cases were confirmed on Saturday. That's the highest since the state of emergency was lifted on May 25.

Tokyo's daily tally of new cases surpassed 100 for the third consecutive day, bringing the total of those who have tested positive in the Japanese capital to 6,654.

Torrential rain in Japan's southern Kyushu region is causing a high risk of floods and landslides. As of 2 p.m. on Saturday, authorities had issued evacuation orders for 12 municipalities in Kumamoto Prefecture.

Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo has instructed officials to take every possible measure to deal with rain disasters in the country's southwest, with the priority on saving lives.

Abe held a meeting of ministers on Saturday morning to discuss government responses, after a heavy rain emergency warning was issued for the prefectures of Kumamoto and Kagoshima. Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga Yoshihide and other ministers attended.

Japan's newly-established subcommittee for discussing coronavirus measures is expected to hold its first meeting as early as Monday.

Nishimura Yasutoshi, the minister in charge of the national coronavirus response, spoke to reporters on Friday.

Japan's Government Pension Investment Fund says it posted a record loss for the January-March quarter as share prices plummeted worldwide due to the coronavirus pandemic. The loss for the quarter was 17.7 trillion yen, or about 165 billion dollars.

Other quarters of the year posted profits. The overall loss for the fiscal year through March was about 77 billion dollars. It is the first time since fiscal 2015 for the pension fund to record a loss for the full year, and the second largest annual loss since the global financial crisis in 2008.

It's increasingly likely that a super-fast, magnetically levitated train service in Japan will not start as planned. A local government has refused to approve preparatory work to build a tunnel.

Shizuoka Prefecture has not approved the tunnel project, citing a possible impact on local water resources.

Volcanic activity is intensifying again on a remote island far south of Tokyo. A crater is belching large volumes of magma and towering plumes of ash.

The activity has picked up at Nishinoshima since mid-June, with plumes reaching nearly 2,000 meters. The uninhabited island in the Pacific is about 1,000 kilometers south of Tokyo.

Sources say the Japan External Trade Organization, or JETRO, will tie up with Chinese internet giant Alibaba Group to help small and mid-sized companies get easier access to the world's largest online trade show run by the group.

JETRO aims to support firms that are unable to hold face-to-face business meetings overseas because of travel restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic.

NHK has learned that more than 100 new cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed in Tokyo on Thursday.

Tokyo Metropolitan Government officials say the number of new cases has reached 107. This is the first time since May 2 that the daily total has topped 100.

The Japanese Nursing Association says about 1,000 retired nurses have returned to work to fill a manpower shortage caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Since April, the association has been asking about 50,000 retired registered nurses, practical nurses and health care workers to return to work.

Torrential downpours lashed parts of southern Japan on Saturday morning.

With the rain easing, the heavy rain 'emergency warning' issued for Kumamoto and Kagoshima prefectures in the Kyushu region has been changed to a 'warning'.

Officials in Tokyo reported 124 new coronavirus cases on Friday. It's the highest daily tally in over two months. The number is sparking concerns that the capital may be in the midst of another surge in infections.

This is the second consecutive day the number of new cases has hit triple digits.