Tokyo Governor Koike Yuriko has asked the central government to designate police officers, firefighters and emergency workers as essential workers eligible for a fourth dose of the coronavirus vaccine.
Koike made the request at a meeting with Prime Minister Kishida Fumio on Friday.
Japanese weather officials are forecasting more heavy rain in the northeastern prefectures of Aomori and Akita.
The Meteorological Agency says a low-pressure system approaching northern Japan brought developed rain clouds over the two prefectures overnight into Friday.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government reported 31,247 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday.
The daily tally in the capital is down 4,092 from a week earlier and down week-on-week for a sixth straight day.
Japanese weather officials are urging people in northern parts of the country to stay vigilant for flooding and mudslides as more heavy rain is forecast for Friday.
The Japan Meteorological Agency says rainclouds have been flowing over Hokkaido and northern parts of the Tohoku region due to a low pressure system accompanied by a rain front.
Japanese weather officials say Tropical Storm Meari formed south of the country's main island of Honshu early Friday morning.
Meteorological agency officials say the storm may approach eastern Japan on Saturday, bringing intense rain to areas along the Pacific Ocean and elsewhere.
The World Health Organization says Japan reported the highest number of new COVID-19 cases of any country in the world during the week through Sunday. Japan had the highest number of new cases in the world for the third week in a row.
The WHO released its weekly update on coronavirus on Wednesday.
Torrential rain may hit the northern Japanese prefectures of Aomori and Akita again on Thursday and Friday, after record rain caused flooding in the region.
Weather officials say warm, damp air keeps flowing towards a rain front hovering near northern Japan.
Weather officials in Japan are urging people to stay alert for heat stroke due to persistently high temperatures. The mercury on Thursday has already topped 35 degrees Celsius across wide areas from Kanto to Kyushu.
The Meteorological Agency says a Pacific high-pressure system continues to cover western and eastern areas, pushing up temperatures from the morning.
The Meteorological Agency and the Environment Ministry have announced heatstroke alerts for many parts of Japan as scorching summer heat is expected on Thursday.
The daytime high in Kyoto, Toyama, Maebashi and Kumagaya cities is expected to be 37 degrees Celsius. Temperatures will likely rise to 36 degrees in Fukuoka, Tottori and Osaka cities, and 35 degrees in central Tokyo and Nagoya City.
Japan has reported a record high number of coronavirus infections totaling more than 250,000. The previous high was recorded a week earlier.
Officials confirmed 250,403 new cases on Wednesday, with 20 of 47 prefectures marking record highs.
A magnitude 5.4 earthquake has rocked Japan's northern prefecture of Hokkaido.
The quake struck shortly before 1 AM Thursday. It registered 5 plus on the Japanese seismic scale of zero to 7.
The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, formerly known as the Unification Church, says there were no political interventions nor irregularities in the approval process for its name change in 2015.
Tanaka Tomihiro, head of the Japan branch of the religious organization, held a news conference in Tokyo on Wednesday. He last spoke to reporters on July 11 following the fatal shooting of former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo.
Japan's Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has shaken up his Cabinet. He says his new lineup will address challenges at home and abroad.
He said, "I have established an experienced and capable LDP-Komeito coalition government that has the ability to overcome what is said to be the most difficult time in several decades. We are faced with various historic challenges at home and abroad such as the coronavirus, Ukraine crisis, US-China tensions over Taiwan and global surge in prices."
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government says it confirmed 34,243 new cases of the coronavirus on Wednesday.
The daily tally in the capital is down more than 4,600 from a week earlier and shows a week-on-week decline for a fifth straight day.