Tokyo prosecutors have searched the offices of former agriculture minister Yoshikawa Takamori over allegations that he received cash from a former corporate executive while in office.

The prosecutors on Friday searched locations including Yoshikawa's office in the Lower House office building and his local office in the city of Sapporo.

Former Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo will appear at Diet committee sessions on Friday. He is expected to explain and apologize for remarks he made at the legislature in relation to parties held by his political support group for his supporters.

One of his secretaries was indicted on Thursday for allegedly misreporting income and expenditure connected to the parties.

This is a developing story involving Japan's former prime minister Abe Shinzo. A secretary of Abe was indicted for breaking the law on control of political funds.

Abe held a news conference on Thursday. He apologized for the financial issues and for giving misleading answers about them in the Diet.

A prosecution inquest panel has decided that a former top prosecutor should be indicted for gambling on mahjong amid the coronavirus state of emergency.

The panel, composed of randomly chosen citizens, says Kurokawa Hiromu, former head of the Tokyo High Public Prosecutors Office, continued illegal gambling while he held a position with crucial responsibility to deter illegal acts.

Japan's space agency says samples collected by its asteroid probe Hayabusa2 contain some pieces of gravel measuring nearly one centimeter..

Scientists at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, have been working to open the storage device of a capsule released by Hayabusa2.

In an alleged political funds control law violation involving a secretary to former Japanese prime minister Abe Shinzo, Tokyo prosecutors have brought a summary indictment against the aide Haikawa Hiroyuki.

He is accused of misreporting incoming and outgoing sums totaling about 290,000 dollars connected to parties for Abe supporters.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government says 888 new cases of coronavirus infection, a new daily high, were confirmed in the Japanese capital on Thursday.

The previous record was 821, marked a week ago.

Tokyo prosecutors have brought a summary indictment against a secretary to former prime minister Abe Shinzo over violations of the political funds law involving the politician's support group.

Haikawa Hiroyuki is accused of misreporting incoming and outgoing sums totaling about 30 million yen, or some 290,000 dollars, connected to dinner parties for Abe supporters. The gatherings were held on the eve of government-funded cherry blossom viewing events between 2016 and 2019, while Abe was in office.

A Japanese government panel on the coronavirus has discussed anti-infection measures for the upcoming holiday season, and a new variant of the virus found to be spreading in Britain.

Members of the government subcommittee met on Wednesday amid a spike in cases across the country.

Sources say former agriculture minister Yoshikawa Takamori has admitted receiving cash from a former corporate executive while in office. He occupied the post from October 2018 to September of last year.

Yoshikawa, of the Liberal Democratic Party, faces allegations of receiving cash totaling 5 million yen, or about 48,000 dollars, from the former head of a major egg producer based in Fukuyama City in Hiroshima Prefecture.

Tokyo prosecutors have brought a summary indictment against a secretary of former prime minister Abe Shinzo over alleged political funding violations involving his support group.

The secretary is accused of failing to report about 30 million yen, or about 290,000 dollars, for dinner parties on the eve of government-funded cherry blossom viewing events while Abe was in office.

Japanese institutions have started a clinical trial for a COVID-19 drug containing antibodies collected from people who recovered from the disease, as part of an international program.

The program is funded by the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. From Japan, the National Center for Global Health and Medicine and Fujita Health University jointly launched a trial.

Japanese authorities have reported more than 3,200 new coronavirus cases so far on Wednesday -- the highest daily tally ever.

Nationwide, more than 200,000 people have tested positive. The total number of deaths is 3,058.

Japanese health ministry officials have come up with a draft vaccination plan that specifically defines which pre-existing conditions should be given priority in the country's coronavirus vaccination program. They plan to include people suffering from chronic heart diseases and cancer.

The ministry plans to start inoculating medical workers around late February, followed by the elderly in late March.