The Tokyo Metropolitan Government confirmed 10,640 new cases of the coronavirus on Thursday.
The number is down more than 3,800 from a week earlier. The daily total in the capital has now fallen week-on-week for 18 straight days.
Japan's coronavirus advisory panel has approved the government's plan to shorten the self-isolation period for COVID patients.
The panel gave its approval at a meeting on Thursday afternoon.
Researchers in Japan say their 20-year-long study shows that people who eat lots of fruit and vegetables are at lower risk of death compared to those who eat little of such food.
The group says the analysis is the first to show a link between risk of death and fruit and vegetable consumption in Japanese people.
Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno Hirokazu says the government is investigating the cause of Tuesday's online service disruptions, including the possibility of a cyberattack by pro-Russian hackers.
The disruptions prevented public access to some Japanese government websites, including the Digital Agency's portal site.
Children at a Japanese elementary school in Uonuma City, Niigata Prefecture will be learning lessons on the value of life from a pair of furry visitors.
Two female alpacas were delivered to the Hirokami-higashi Elementary School from a ranch in Nagaoka City's Yamakoshi district. The three-year-old white alpaca is named Candy and the one-year-old brown one is called Kiki.
Shizuoka Prefecture in central Japan has decided to remove mounds of soil that remain after a deadly mudslide last year as the real estate company that used to own the land failed to take any measures.
The prefecture had ordered the company Shinkansen Building to start removal work by Monday to prevent further landslides. The mounds were built on a plot of land the firm owned in the city of Atami.
A leading Japanese beverage company has been called out for selling a mixed-juice product with significantly lower amounts of melon juice than its packaging suggested.
The product, Kirin Beverage's "Tropicana 100% Marugoto Kajitsukan Melon Taste," was sold from June 2020 to April this year.
A Japanese language school in Fukuoka City, southwestern Japan, has been forced to effectively stop accepting students following an act of human rights abuse.
The Immigration Services Agency removed Nishinihon International Education Institute from its list of approved Japanese language schools for foreign learners. This is the first time the agency has taken the measure since it laid out the standards for removal in 2016.
A team led by a Japanese researcher says an influenza drug designed for human use is effective in treating endangered eagles infected with bird flu.
Many birds die after contracting avian influenza. The researchers said it is the world's first case of successfully treating wild birds suffering from the disease.
Weather officials in Japan say the country has just experienced its second-hottest summer on record.
The Meteorological Agency released a report based on data from June to August. It says the average temperature was 0.91 degrees Celsius warmer than usual.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government reported 14,451 new cases of coronavirus infection on Thursday.
The number is down 8,678 from last Thursday. The daily total in the capital has now fallen week-on-week for 11 straight days.
A former resident of one of the four Russian held islands claimed by Japan, spoke to NHK about Mikhail Gorbachev's role in promoting better ties between the two countries.
Tokuno Hiroshi, 88, was born in Shikotan Island. He now lives in Nemuro City in the northern prefecture of Hokkaido.
Civic groups opposed to holding a state funeral for former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo have demonstrated outside Japan's Diet.
The organizers of the protest said about 4,000 people took part in the event on Wednesday. Uchida Masatoshi, a lawyer and one of the organizers, said mourning should be done privately among families and friends, and should not involve using taxes. He added that there is no legal basis for holding a state funeral.
The Japanese government has set out the procedure to be followed in the state funeral of former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo scheduled for September 27.
Government officials decided on the framework in a meeting on Wednesday.