Japan's National Police Agency has announced plans for drastic changes in the security arrangements for dignitaries in the wake of the fatal shooting of former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo.
Abe was shot from behind while giving an election campaign speech on July 8 in the western city of Nara.
The foreign and defense ministers of Japan and India have agreed that they will strongly oppose unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force, apparently with China in mind.
Thursday's "two-plus-two" talks held in Tokyo was the second such meeting between the two countries.
Japan's main ruling Liberal Democratic Party says its in-house survey has found that 179, or nearly half of its Diet members, had some contacts with a religious group previously known as the Unification Church.
LDP Secretary-General Motegi Toshimitsu on Thursday released the results of the survey covering the party's 379 lawmakers. It excludes the heads of both chambers.
Japan's Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and opposition lawmakers have remained at odds over holding a state funeral for former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo at out-of-session Diet meetings.
Abe was fatally shot while election campaigning in July. His state funeral is scheduled for September 27 in Tokyo.
The defense ministers of Japan and India have confirmed that their countries will work to deepen bilateral defense cooperation.
Japan's Defense Minister Hamada Yasukazu and his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh met in Tokyo on Thursday morning, before joining the foreign chiefs of their countries for a "two-plus-two" meeting.
An executive board member of the Japan Medical Association says some people with COVID-19 could infect others 10 days after developing symptoms.
Kamayachi Satoshi told a news conference on Wednesday that 10 to 20 percent of infected people could still be shedding the virus seven to ten days after the onset of symptoms.
A novel by Japanese writer Wakatake Chisako has been selected for Germany's LiBeratur Prize, the first Japanese book to win the award.
The novel "Ora ora de hitori igumo" was selected on Wednesday for the prize for non-European female writers.
The United States has announced that Vice President Kamala Harris will attend the state funeral for former Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo in Tokyo later this month.
The White House said in a statement on Wednesday that Harris will travel to Japan and South Korea from September 25 to 29.
NHK has learned that investigators probing the heatstroke death of a 3-year-old girl believe she died about three hours after she was trapped in a school bus in Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan.
Kawamoto China was left behind in the bus at Kawasaki Kindergarten in the city of Makinohara shortly before 9 a.m. on Monday and was found after about five hours. Sources told NHK that investigators believe she died before noon.
The Russian foreign ministry says it has notified the Japanese government of its decision to scrap the bilateral agreements on visa-free visits by former Japanese residents of four Russian-held islands.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the ministry also said the decision will not affect a program allowing the former residents to visit their ancestors' graves on the islands.
Japan's main ruling Liberal Democratic Party says it will soon disclose the results of an in-house survey of its lawmakers' individual relationships with the religious group formerly known as the Unification Church.
The LDP called on all 379 of its Diet members to hand in written reports on their links to the group. It says its Secretary-General Motegi Toshimitsu plans to release the results at a news conference as early as Thursday afternoon.
Japan's Diet will be convened on Thursday despite being out of session to discuss the state funeral of late former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo.
Abe was fatally shot while making an election campaign speech in July. His funeral is scheduled for September 27 in Tokyo.
Japan's health minister has announced the government now allows asymptomatic coronavirus patients to make essential outings if they take antivirus measures.
Health minister Kato Katsunobu met reporters late Wednesday and disclosed a meeting of an expert panel was convened with the aim of balancing infection prevention measures and social and economic activities.
A Tokyo court has granted bail to former executives of a business suit retailer charged with offering bribes to a former executive of the organizing committee of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The former chairman of Aoki Holdings, Aoki Hironori, his brother and former vice chairman, Aoki Takahisa, and another executive were released on bail late Wednesday.