Chinese tourists visiting Japan are buying facemasks to take home to protect themselves from the pneumonia outbreak believed to be caused by a new coronavirus.
Many Chinese travelers were buying masks at a drugstore in a departure lobby at Narita Airport, outside Tokyo, on Thursday.
Senior officials from Japan and Russia have held talks regarding joint economic activities on four Russian-controlled islands claimed by Japan.
They met in Moscow Wednesday for more than four hours. Japan sent officials from the ministries of foreign affairs, economy and the environment, as well as from tourism and fishery agencies.
The head of Japan's nuclear watchdog has stressed that the screening of a reactor at the Ikata nuclear plant in western Japan was carried out appropriately.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Chairman Toyoshi Fuketa of the Nuclear Regulation Authority, or NRA, commented on a court ruling that ordered the suspension of the No.3 reactor.
A quarantine station at Chubu international airport in central Japan is stepping up efforts to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus linked to a pneumonia outbreak in China.
The airport in Aichi Prefecture has five direct flights per week to and from the Chinese city of Wuhan, where an outbreak of pneumonia first emerged last month.
In tennis, defending champion Naomi Osaka has advanced to the third round of the Australian Open for the third straight year.
Osaka, who is No.4 in the current world rankings, beat the 42nd-ranked Zheng Saisai from China 6-2, 6-4 in Melbourne on Wednesday.
Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga says the country will continue taking steps to prevent the spread of pneumonia that is caused by a new strain of coronavirus.
Suga spoke to reporters on Wednesday. He said Japan has to be more vigilant against a possible outbreak in the country, as the disease is spreading in China.
Japan's Justice Ministry has responded to criticism of the country's criminal justice system by offering a point-by-point explanation on its website.
A section on frequently asked questions features 14 questions and answers in Japanese and English.
A patrol plane unit from Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force has begun its intelligence-gathering mission in the Middle East amid heightened tensions in the region.
The unit has two P-3C aircraft, flying from the East African nation of Djibouti to the Gulf of Aden on Tuesday.
Two Japanese opposition parties have postponed a proposed merger for the time being due to disagreements over terms for the union.
The secretary general of the Constitutional Democratic Party, Tetsuro Fukuyama, met in the Diet on Tuesday with his counterpart from the Democratic Party for the People, Hirofumi Hirano.
Japanese firms operating in China are trying to protect their employees from the newly identified coronavirus that can trigger pneumonia.
The Japan External Trade Organization says, as of October, 156 Japanese firms had bases in or around Wuhan, the city at the center of the outbreak.
A Japanese lawmaker who was arrested on suspicion of taking bribes from a Chinese company has also admitted to receiving thousands of dollars' worth of luxury brand goods.
Lower House member Tsukasa Akimoto was arrested last month on suspicion of receiving about 27,000 dollars from a Chinese firm called 500.com in 2017.
Japanese Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi has called into question Japan's financing of a coal-fired power plant in Vietnam.
Environment Ministry officials say a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corporation and others are planning to build the Vung Ang 2 power plant in Vietnam's Ha Tinh Province. The government-affiliated Japan Bank for International Cooperation is among those considering funding the project.
Health Minister Katsunobu Kato has disclosed plans to step up measures at ports of entry from China to prevent the spread of infections caused by a new strain of the coronavirus.
Questionnaires about symptoms will be distributed to passengers arriving on flights from Wuhan, China, where the deadly outbreak began.
Japan's Justice Minister Masako Mori is planning to ask her advisory panel to debate legal revisions to prevent bail-jumping.
The move comes after former Nissan Motor Chairman Carlos Ghosn fled Japan last month as well as other cases of escapes.