Full-fledged construction of facilities designed to release treated water from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant began on Thursday morning.
This comes after Fukushima Prefecture and the towns of Okuma and Futaba, which host the plant, earlier this week approved the construction of the facilities, including an underwater tunnel.
Japan has lodged a protest with China over its test fired ballistic missiles that landed within Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone. China launched nine missiles on Thursday afternoon during military exercises, five of which, Japanese officials say, landed in the EEZ.
Defense Minister Kishi Nobuo disclosed the incident when speaking to reporters on Thursday evening.
A planned meeting of the Japanese and Chinese foreign ministers has been canceled by Beijing.
Japan's Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi had been scheduled to meet on Thursday afternoon in Cambodia, where they are taking part in a series of foreign ministerial meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
In Japan, coronavirus cases are surging at unprecedented levels.
The nationwide tally for Thursday came in at 238,735. That comes after a record number on Wednesday. 516 patients across the country are in serious condition.
A Japanese journalist detained in Myanmar is facing charges that include violating the immigration law.
The charges against Kubota Toru were announced on Thursday.
Weather officials have revised their highest-level emergency rain alert for Niigata Prefecture...to a warning. They are still urging people to watch for further potential hazards, with downpours forecast to continue across parts of the Hokuriku region.
In Niigata, over 500 millimeters of rain has fallen over the past 24 hours.
Rain continues to pound parts of Niigata Prefecture, the Tohoku and Hokuriku regions, and officials are surveying the damage.
Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno Hirokazu told reporters on Thursday morning that the central government was informed by municipalities that two people were missing as of 9:30 a.m.
The World Health Organization says Japan reported the highest number of new coronavirus cases in the world during the week through Sunday.
The WHO released its weekly update on COVID-19 on Wednesday.
Japan's weather agency has lifted its level 5 emergency heavy rain warning for Sekikawa Village and the city of Tainai in Niigata Prefecture. The areas are still under a landslide alert, a level 4 warning. The change was made at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday.
The risk of overflowing rivers and mudslides has become very high in the region due to the large volume of rain that has fallen. The Meteorological Agency is advising people to stay on high alert.
As rain continues to pound parts of the Tohoku region and Niigata Prefecture, officials are now surveying the damage.
The heavy rain has caused the collapse of a railway bridge over a river in a city in northern Fukushima Prefecture. Train service was suspended there on Thursday.
Japanese weather officials have issued an emergency heavy rain warning for Niigata Prefecture, along the Sea of Japan. They are urging people there to brace for record rainfall that could trigger disasters.
The Meteorological Agency says a front accompanied by a low pressure system near the Tohoku and Hokuriku regions has brought more rain than expected to Yamagata and Niigata prefectures.
Japanese weather officials have changed a heavy rain emergency warning for Yamagata prefecture to a warning. They have kept in place the highest level-5 alert for Niigata Prefecture. People are advised to exercise great caution.
Niigata is experiencing its heaviest rainfall in decades. It's highly likely serious disasters such as flooding and landslides have already occurred.
The Russian government says it has decided to establish a new firm to take over the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project in the Far East. Japanese companies have stakes in the project.
It also said on Wednesday that the new firm will be based in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, the main city of the Sakhalin region.
Japan's Meteorological Agency has switched its heavy rain emergency warning for Yamagata Prefecture to a warning. But it is still urging people to stay alert for possible floods and landslides. The emergency warning for Niigata Prefecture remains in place.