Weather officials in Japan are urging caution against heatstroke as intense heat continues to grip wide areas of the country on Monday.

The Meteorological Agency says a high pressure system is covering western and central Japan, causing the mercury to shoot up. In some areas, the temperatures rose above 35 degrees Celsius before noon.

A heat wave continues to grip western and eastern Japan, with the daytime temperature topping 39 degrees Celsius in Hyogo Prefecture in the west on Sunday.

Temperatures rose to 39.2 degrees in Hyogo's Nishiwaki City, and over 38 degrees in the town of Hatoyama in Saitama, as well as Takahashi City in Okayama, and Ogaki City in Gifu.

Japan's Defense Minister Kono Taro and US Defense Secretary Mark Esper have agreed to oppose China's unilateral attempts to change the status quo by coercion.

In a meeting in Guam on Saturday, Esper referred to Prime Minister Abe Shinzo's announcement of his resignation and called him a great leader who worked to strengthen bilateral ties in security and other areas.

Scorching heat continued in Japan on Wednesday with temperatures in some areas topping 38 degrees Celsius.

Japan's Meteorological Agency says a very strong typhoon brought warm southerly winds and drove up temperatures mainly in areas along the Sea of Japan coast.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga Yoshihide has said the government will step up efforts to secure face mask supplies in case of a further spread of the coronavirus in the country.

Suga told reporters on Wednesday that about one billion face masks were available in Japan in August, and roughly half were produced domestically.

Japan's Defense Minister Kono Taro says he will discuss regional issues and cooperation on national security with his US counterpart on Saturday.

Kono said in a news conference on Friday that he will hold talks with US Defense Secretary Mark Esper in Guam. The trip would be Kono's first overseas in about six months.

Japan's government says it will aim to secure enough coronavirus vaccine for all citizens in the country by the first half of next year.

A government taskforce decided on a set of measures to deal with the outbreak on Friday, with Prime Minister Abe Shinzo and Cabinet ministers in attendance.

The Japanese government is urging its nationals to avoid all travel to an additional 13 countries as part of measures against the coronavirus pandemic.

The countries were added to the Level 3 Travel Advice and Warning list on Wednesday. The list had already included 146 countries and areas.

An iconic tomcat that serves as the "lord" of an ancient castle in Okayama Prefecture, western Japan, is trying to fulfill his duty of greeting tourists in the intense heat.

Bicchu Matsuyama Castle is located in the city of Takahashi, which had a daytime high of 37.1 degrees Celsius on Wednesday. Temperatures in the city topped 35 degrees for 18 days in a row.

Sony Japan has announced the Xperia 8 Lite (J3273), which is basically a SIM-free version of the Xperia 8 model that launched last year. This move follows a number of other handsets that have gone SIM-free in Japan recently, including the Xperia 1 II, Xperia 1 and Xperia 5.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga Yoshihide says the government is keeping an eye on developments involving Chinese Confucius Institutes.

The institutes are educational establishments set up by Beijing in cooperation with universities around the world, including Japan, to promote Chinese language and culture.

The ratio of women who hold senior positions at companies in Japan has inched up, but remains far below the government's target.

Credit research firm Teikoku Databank conducted a nationwide survey in July and nearly 12,000 firms responded.

Japanese authorities reported 718 new coronavirus cases nationwide on Tuesday, including 182 in Tokyo.

The total number of cases in Japan now stands at 64,714. That includes cases found during airport quarantine checks, as well as 712 from the Diamond Princess cruise ship that was docked near Tokyo earlier this year.

The sweltering heat continued in western Japan and other regions on Monday, with a maximum temperature of 37 degrees Celsius forecast for some areas.

Meteorological agency officials attribute the hot weather to a high-pressure system covering the main island of Honshu. The mercury soared from the morning in western Japan and the Tokai region.