NHK has learned that Japan's Foreign Ministry is considering lowering the travel alert that has been issued for the entire world due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The ministry raised the alert to Level 2, the third-highest on a scale of 1 to 4, in March for the whole world and asked people to avoid nonessential travels.
Japan's Foreign Ministry plans to launch a research and study project to help create international rules on how to handle infectious disease outbreaks onboard cruise ships.
In February, coronavirus cluster infections were confirmed aboard the Diamond Princess, a cruise vessel registered in Britain and operated by a US company.
Tropical storm Chan-hom is moving away from Tokyo's remote southern islands. Meteorological officials say the worst of the rain is over, but call for continued caution against landslides.
Weather officials say Chan-hom was 130 kilometers south-southeast of Hachijojima Island in the Pacific ocean as of Sunday morning and moving east.
Severe tropical storm Chan-hom is skirting Japan. The Meteorological Agency has switched its heavy rain alert for Tokyo's southern remote islands from the highest emergency warning to a warning.
However, weather officials continue to urge people to remain on the alert against flooding and landslides.
Japan's Meteorological Agency says Severe Tropical Storm Chan-hom is moving east-northeast along the Pacific coast.
Officials are urging people to be on the alert for landslides, flooding in low-lying areas, swollen rivers, violent winds and high waves.
Japan's Meteorological Agency says Severe Tropical Storm Chan-hom is moving east-northeast along the Pacific coast.
Officials say it is now less likely to make landfall, but could bring localized downpours of more than 50 millimeters per hour to the Kii Peninsula and Izu Islands.
Japanese weather officials say a typhoon now situated over the Pacific just south of Japan will likely approach the country's western and eastern regions.
Meteorological Agency officials say that at noon on Friday, Typhoon Chan-hom was at sea some 250 kilometers south-southeast of Kochi Prefecture.
Japanese weather officials say a typhoon now situated over the Pacific just south of Japan will likely approach the country's western and eastern regions.
Meteorological Agency officials say that as of 5 a.m. on Friday, Typhoon Chan-hom was at sea some 270 kilometers south of Kochi Prefecture.
Typhoon Chan-hom is expected to approach western and eastern Japan in the next couple of days. Meteorological officials are warning that the storm system will bring heavy rain even before its actual arrival.
The Meteorological Agency says that as of 6 p.m. on Thursday, Chan-hom was 270 kilometers southeast of Tanegashima Island in southwestern Japan.
The Japanese government is considering exemptions of the 14-day quarantine requirement for Japanese business travelers and foreign nationals with residence status returning from overseas trips.
Officials are planning to make a decision as early as this month in a step to relax the entry restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Typhoon Chan-hom is expected to approach western and eastern Japan in the next couple of days. Weather officials warn that the typhoon will bring heavy rain even before its actual approach.
The Meteorological Agency says that at noon on Thursday, Chan-hom was 320 kilometers southeast of Tanegashima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan, and was moving north at about 15 kilometers per hour.
Japanese weather officials say Severe Tropical Storm Chan-hom may approach the country over the weekend, bringing heavy rain to western and eastern regions.
The Meteorological Agency says Chan-hom was moving west-northwest at a speed of 15 kilometers per hour over waters south of Japan as of noon on Wednesday.
Japan and South Korea have agreed to reopen business and other travel between the two countries on Thursday.
Japan's Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu on Tuesday announced the bilateral agreement as part of efforts to ease coronavirus entry restrictions.
Japan's Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide has met with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. It's Suga's first face-to-face diplomacy since taking office.
The two are believed to have confirmed efforts to further strengthen the Japan-US alliance.