Japanese tourism minister Akaba Kazuyoshi says the government intends, in principle, to extend its tourism subsidy program to the end of June.
The government's "Go To Travel" campaign offers discounts for domestic travel to help the pandemic-ravaged tourism industry. It is due to expire around the end of January.
Japan's education ministry says 18 clusters of coronavirus infections have occurred at schools since they reopened in June after a nationwide closure.
The ministry says 1,166 students from elementary to senior high schools were infected with the virus during the period through the end of August. The number of teachers and staff infected was 194. And 83 children and staff at kindergartens were also infected.
Economic analysts are expecting Japan to post growth for its gross domestic product in the July-September period despite a historic downturn in the previous quarter.
Japan's Cabinet Office announced on Monday that GDP shrank at an annualized 27.8 percent in real terms in the April-June period compared with the previous quarter.
Japanese researchers say they think the coronavirus continued to spread undetected in Japan after the outbreak was thought to have been contained in May.
The National Institute of Infectious Diseases earlier this week released the outcome of its detailed genetic analysis of the coronavirus. The samples were taken from people who contracted the virus in Japan to assess how it had spread across the country.
Toyota Motor has managed to weather the global financial downturn of the coronavirus pandemic, posting a profit in the latest quarter.
The automaker's earnings report shows the group stayed in the black for the April-to-June period, despite recording a 40-percent decline in sales from a year earlier in yen terms.
Officials at Honda Motor reported a net loss in the April-to-June quarter. The coronavirus pandemic weighed heavily on global sales of cars and motorbikes.
Executives say the company lost 80.8 billion yen or around 760 million dollars in the quarter.
Sales at major restaurant chains across Japan contracted by double digits in June, the first month after the government lifted the coronavirus-related nationwide state of emergency.
The Japan Food Service Association says revenue was 21.9 percent lower than in the same month last year. It was the fourth consecutive month of a year-on-year drop, though the margin was less than in April or May when the emergency declaration was in place.
Sony started to roll June 2020 Android security patches for a variety of recent devices earlier today. Last year's flagship devices, the Xperia 1 and Xperia 5 are seeing firmware update 55.1.A.9.21 release across a couple of regions so far (Russia, SEA), but availability should widen in the coming days.
The artist line up for MUSIC STATION's June 19th broadcast has been revealed.
Lexus was set to introduce the next-generation IS on June 9, but it postponed the event to respect "the recent global situation," meaning worldwide protests in the wake of George Floyd's death in police custody. Now Lexus has rescheduled the unveiling, and given us our first look at its next entry-level sedan.
The model's global debut is scheduled for at 7 p.m. Eastern time June 15, which is 4 p.m. for West Coasters. The unveiling will take place online, and the company will stream it live on its various social media channels.
When Kunos Simulazioni first released Assetto Corsa Competizione last May, you could only get it for devices running Microsoft Windows. Now, the popular racing sim will drop for both the PlayStation 4 as well as the Xbox One gaming consoles on June 23.
The S2000's long-rumored successor is nowhere to be found. Instead, Honda is helping owners keep their aging drop-tops on the road by relaunching production of hard-to-find parts. And it's inviting enthusiasts to chime in.
Manufactured from 1999 to 2009, the S2000 became an instant classic that remains highly sought-after even a decade after it retired. The earliest examples are old enough to drink, and finding parts is becoming increasingly difficult because they don't regularly appear in junkyards, so Honda hopes to make maintaining — and, soon enough, restoring — an S2000 a breeze by offering a selection of factory-built parts through its dealer network.