Japan's government says it will not ask people to refrain from visiting their hometowns during the mid-summer "bon" holidays altogether, but will call on them to take anti-coronavirus measures to protect the elderly.

The minister in charge of the coronavirus response, Nishimura Yasutoshi, said at a news conference on Wednesday that people will have increased chances of meeting the elderly as well as eating and drinking with them during their hometown visits. He called on people to avoid dining in large groups and to take other anti-infection measures during the holidays.

Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo says the government will carry out a thorough review of national security strategy, including missile defense.

Former defense minister Onodera Itsunori heads the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's national security panel. He visited Abe on Tuesday to present a proposal on missile defense formulated by the party.

Tokyo Governor Koike Yuriko has once again urged residents and businesses to take measures to prevent spreading of the coronavirus after daily infection cases in the Japanese capital hit a record high.

Koike made the appeal on Friday as she announced that 293 new cases were confirmed.

Sony Corp. on Friday unveiled more than two dozen titles for its upcoming PlayStation 5 console, including a sequel to its hit "Spider-Man" title and the latest "Gran Turismo" racer, as it builds anticipation ahead of the planned year-end launch.

As rival Microsoft Corp. prepares the launch of its next generation Xbox Series X console for this year's holiday season, the presentation gave a first glimpse of how games will look when played on Sony's device.

Japan's Finance Minister Aso Taro has called on Diet lawmakers to swiftly approve a supplementary budget bill to implement emergency economic measures.

The extra budget for the current fiscal year will partially fund a stimulus package worth 117 trillion yen, or about 1.1 trillion dollars, to shore up Japan's economy, which has been severely affected by the coronavirus outbreak. The package includes a cash handout of 100,000 yen to all residents in the country.

A Japanese government panel of experts has called for continuing thorough efforts to contain the coronavirus outbreak.

The experts held a meeting on Wednesday, two weeks after the government declared a state of emergency. Economic Revitalization Minister Nishimura Yasutoshi and health minister Kato Katsunobu attended the meeting. Nishimura is in charge of anti-coronavirus measures.

The Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, is calling on member companies to supply industrial masks that can be repurposed for medical use.

Keidanren put out the call to its roughly 1,400 members on Monday, in response to a government request.

The Japanese minister in charge of coronavirus measures has called for further efforts to reduce social contact by up to 80 percent to contain the spread of the virus.

Economic Revitalization Minister Nishimura Yasutoshi said on an NHK program on Sunday that there have been fewer people going out in areas covered by the state of emergency.

Tokyo governor is calling on residents in the city to stay home this coming weekend unless they absolutely need to go out.

It comes after officials confirmed more than 40 more cases of infection with the new coronavirus on Wednesday, the largest one-day spike the city has seen so far.

An infectious disease expert is calling for stepping up measures against the new coronavirus in Tokyo.

Professor Atsuo Hamada at Tokyo Medical University spoke to NHK after at least 40 new people were confirmed to be infected with the virus in Japan's capital on Wednesday.

More than a third of the calls by cruise ships at Tokyo Port scheduled for this March to December have been canceled amid the outbreak of the new coronavirus in Japan.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government says shipping companies have cancelled 13 of 36 such calls.

Japan's defense minister urged Beijing to work toward improving the situation regarding China's increasing maritime activities ahead of President Xi Jinping's planned spring visit to Japan.

Taro Kono made the call Tuesday during a speech at Washington-based think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies.