Twenty children in western Japan were taken to hospital amid complaints of a sulfur-like smell at their school. Fire department officials say they are slightly ill.

The elementary school in Toyonaka City, Osaka Prefecture, notified the fire department of the odor shortly after 9 a.m. Tuesday.

A survey shows that nearly 60 percent of children in Japan's low-income households are bearing the brunt of recent higher prices in terms of education.

Kidsdoor, a non-profit organization whose mission is to address child poverty, conducted the survey this month among families it supports and 1,846 people responded.

The Japanese government on Monday decided a plan to sharply increase investment in innovative start-ups at a meeting of the Council of New Form of Capitalism Realization.

The goal of the council is to realize what Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has called "a new form of capitalism."

Two of three workers rescued on Monday who were buried under a pile of scrap wood that fell on them have died. But the third worker in the accident at a plant of a building-materials maker in central Japan is expected to fully recovery.

Firefighters say they received an emergency call from the Chiyoda Ute plant in Kawagoe Town, Mie Prefecture, around 11:20 a.m. that morning.

Japan's health ministry has decided to allow the public to buy antigen test kits that can simultaneously check for coronavirus and seasonal influenza.

The ministry made the decision at an expert panel meeting on Monday.

A former classmate of Japanese national Yokota Megumi, who was abducted to North Korea, spoke to students about her on Monday at their alma mater.

North Korean agents kidnapped her on November 15, 1977, while she was on her way home from her junior high school.

A Japanese journalist freed from prison in Myanmar earlier this month spoke to reporters in Tokyo on Monday. Kubota Toru called for more awareness about the human rights situation in the country and urged the ruling military to improve it.

Kubota was held by security authorities in Yangon in July for filming protests against the junta while on a tourist visa. He had been facing a total of 10 years' imprisonment on charges including violating the immigration law.

Selected medical institutions in Japan have begun prescribing an oral COVID-19 pill, Xocova, the first domestically-developed drug.

Xocova is made by pharmaceutical company Shionogi for treating even mild symptoms. It can be taken by patients who are at low risk of serious illness.

Japan's health ministry says it confirmed 5,767 new cases of coronavirus in Tokyo on Monday.

That is up 1,148 from a week ago. The daily tally rose week-on-week for the fourth day in a row.

Female leaders from African countries attending an international conference in Tokyo have stressed the need to take measures to ensure a stable food supply.

The first Asia Pacific Africa Women's Economic Exchange Summit opened on Monday. The conference was organized by a Japanese organization supporting African nations. Participants include female leaders from seven African countries, such as Uganda and Malawi and Japanese lawmakers.

Japan's top government spokesperson says the government will promote comprehensive measures to help increase the number of childbirths.

The health ministry released a preliminary report last week that about 599,000 babies were born in the country from January through September. The figure, including births to foreign nationals, is down about 30,000 from a year earlier.

Japan's Emperor Naruhito has left a Tokyo hospital after undergoing a prostate biopsy, or examination of tissue samples.

The Emperor bowed to people and smiled from his car as he left the University of Tokyo Hospital on Monday morning. He had entered the hospital the previous day.

Japan's Air Self-Defense Force has carried out a drill to deploy ground-based PAC-3 interceptor missiles near a nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture.

The exercise was conducted on Monday along the coast in the town of Ohi, where Kansai Electric Power Company's Ohi nuclear power plant is located. It was the first time a drill involving the PAC-3 system was carried out in a municipality hosting a nuclear power plant.

Japan's industry ministry has come out with a draft action plan that would mark a clear departure from the nuclear power policy the government has taken since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident.

The ministry presented the plan in an online meeting of an advisory panel on Monday.