Japan is sending a fact-finding team to Mauritius to determine what kind of assistance is necessary to help the local environment and fishing industry recover from a huge oil spill.
The bulk carrier Wakashio, which was registered in Panama and chartered by the Japanese shipping firm Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, ran aground off the coast of the Indian Ocean nation in July. It leaked huge amounts of oil.
A group comprising Japanese NGO members and students has launched a campaign urging the government to join the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
The group made the announcement in an online event on Friday. Its members are asking Diet legislators and prefectural governors if they favor the treaty. Their views will then be published online.
The Japanese government has contributed 2.8 million dollars for food aid in Palestine through the United Nations World Food Programme.
Representative of Japan to Palestine, Magoshi Masayuki, and the WFP Representative in Palestine, Stephen Kearney, signed an agreement on Tuesday in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
The Japanese government is considering an exemption of the quarantine requirement for business travelers entering the country for short stays of up to 72 hours.
It is considering applying the exemption to travelers from countries and regions where the coronavirus outbreak is largely under control.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has expressed readiness for formal negotiations with Japan on its share of the cost of stationing US forces in the country.
Pompeo said on Wednesday that the United States and Japan held the first consultations last week for a new host nation agreement by which Japan will take on its share of the burden for their mutual security.
Japan and China are continuing talks to resume business trips between the two countries as early as October.
The Japanese government has gradually eased entry restrictions it had in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. It has already resumed business travel with both South Korea and Singapore.
Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide and President Joko Widodo have called for continued cooperation on matters including health, security and the economy.
After the summit meeting, the leaders held a news conference.
US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer says it will soon start clinical trials of a coronavirus vaccine in Japan.
Pfizer announced on Tuesday that 160 Japanese aged 20 to 85 will take part in the trials. They are to be vaccinated twice, with a three-week interval.
The prime ministers of Japan and Vietnam will hold talks on Monday, when Suga Yoshihide meets with Nguyen Xuan Phuc at the Vietnamese Prime Minister's office in Hanoi.
Suga arrived in Vietnam on Sunday at the start of his first overseas trip since taking office. He is also scheduled to give a speech on Japan's policy regarding the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Vietnam will chair an ASEAN summit next month.
Japan's Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Kajiyama Hiroshi has said the government is seeking to reach a conclusion as early as possible on how to dispose of radioactive water stored at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
Water used to cool molten nuclear fuel from the March 2011 accident is treated to remove most of the radioactive material. However, tritium and some other substances remain in the water, and the amount of such water stored at the Fukushima plant has been increasing.
NHK has learned that Japan's Defense Ministry will mainly look into using ships in its study of offshore alternatives to the Aegis Ashore missile defense system.
The land-based Aegis Ashore is designed to use radar and interceptor missiles to stop ballistic missiles. Japan planned to deploy it in response to a surge in North Korean ballistic missile tests.
An online petition is calling for legislation in Japan banning discrimination against sexual minorities as Tokyo gears up to host the Olympics and Paralympics next year.
Groups supporting sexual minorities, along with the international non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch, started collecting signatures online on Thursday.
The Japan Coast Guard is beginning test flights of an unmanned aerial vehicle to learn whether it can be utilized to carry out the coast guard's key duties, including search and rescue and maritime surveillance.
The flights, which will take place starting Thursday, are to be conducted off the coast of Sanriku in northeastern Japan, as well as along the coasts of the Sea of Japan.
Officials of Kanagawa Prefecture, west of Tokyo, are planning to conduct an experiment at a baseball stadium to see how their coronavirus measures will work when the number of spectators exceeds the limit currently set by the central government.
The number of spectators at venues that can accommodate more than 10,000 people is now capped at 50 percent of capacity. Those venues include soccer and baseball stadiums.