Many Fukushima residents have expressed concern over a possible scheme to release diluted radioactive wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant into the sea or air in the prefecture.
The government on Monday held the first meeting to hear local opinions on ways to handle the wastewater accumulating at the plant.
Health officials confirmed 143 new coronavirus cases in Tokyo and 16 prefectures on Monday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 4,000.
The number includes people found to have the virus in airport quarantine checks, those who returned to Japan on chartered planes from China, and health ministry officials involved in the quarantine of the Diamond Princess cruise ship in the port of Yokohama.
Japanese Justice Minister Mori Masako says she has given instructions to isolate 40 convicts in western Japan who may have had contact with a prison officer who tested positive for the new coronavirus.
The officer in his 40s, who works at Osaka detention center in Osaka City, was confirmed to be infected on Sunday.
Tokyo Governor Koike Yuriko has said the metropolitan government is getting ready for the prime minister's possible declaration of a state of emergency over the coronavirus.
Koike made the comment to reporters on Monday as Prime Minister Abe Shinzo began final arrangements to make a declaration as early as Tuesday.
The governor of Tokyo has expressed alarm about the spread of the coronavirus as a daily record of 143 new cases was reported in the Japanese capital on Sunday.
Koike Yuriko told reporters that it's an astonishing number and what's more surprising is that nearly two-thirds of the cases had untraceable infection routes.