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.

People gathered in Hiroshima early on Thursday morning to honor the victims of the world's first atomic bombing.

They came out to share their wishes for peace at the monument in the Peace Memorial Park.

Hiroshima is marking the 75th anniversary of the world's first atomic bombing. A ceremony will be held Thursday morning at Peace Memorial Park in the western Japanese city.

Prime Minister Abe Shinzo is scheduled to attend what will be a more muted event this year due to the coronavirus.

The head of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, or ICAN, has urged Japan to launch discussions on whether to join the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

ICAN won the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize for its contribution to the adoption of the treaty.

Governors of some Japanese prefectures are taking tougher measures to counter the spread of the coronavirus, ahead of the summer holidays.

Tokyo has the most cases across the country.

The population of Japan has fallen for the 11th straight year. The amount of the decline has set a record for six years in a row.

The internal affairs ministry compiled the country's population based on the Basic Resident Register.

Japanese executives are reluctant to spend money on plant and equipment due to the coronavirus pandemic. A survey shows growth in planned capital investment at its lowest in 11 years.

Nearly 1,800 major firms responded to the annual poll taken in May and June by the Development Bank of Japan.

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.

Tokyo Metropolitan government officials confirmed 263 new cases of the coronavirus on Wednesday.

The daily tally in Tokyo topped 200 for the ninth day in a row.

Japan's minister in charge of the coronavirus response says he hopes the government will come up with some results on how to curb infections by the end of this month, using artificial intelligence and other technologies.

Nishimura Yasutoshi on Wednesday addressed the government's expert panel, which includes Professor Emeritus at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies Kurokawa Kiyoshi and Kyoto University Professor Yamanaka Shinya.

The Osaka prefectural government in western Japan says it will launch research into whether gargling with medicine could reduce the amount of the coronavirus in saliva, making the person less infectious.

Osaka Governor Yoshimura Hirofumi on Tuesday cited a recent study that indicated gargling with the mouthwash may help reduce coronavirus infections.

People in Hiroshima have made paper cranes that symbolize peace, ahead of the 75th anniversary of the US atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

Each year, about 13,000 strings of hand-made paper cranes are given to the Peace Memorial Park ahead of the annual ceremony on August 6.

Los Angeles Angels manager Joe Maddon says Japanese two-way player Ohtani Shohei is not going to pitch this year, due to a muscle injury near his right elbow.

Maddon spoke about Ohtani during an online news conference on Tuesday. He said, "In whatever kind of throwing program, it'll be very conservative." He said, "I'm not anticipating him pitching at all this year."

Data from mobile phones show that fewer people went out at night on Monday when the Tokyo Metropolitan Government started asking establishments that serve alcohol to close early to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

IT firm Agoop estimated the number of people at specific locations across Japan based on mobile phone data gathered with users' consent. Privacy was protected.