Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide has talked with residents in Fukushima Prefecture about ongoing recovery efforts from the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident.

Suga visited the prefecture on Saturday in the lead up to the 10th anniversary of the March 11 disaster. He first visited two towns where the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is located.

Japanese astronaut Noguchi Soichi has completed a fourth spacewalk outside the International Space Station.

Noguchi and NASA astronaut Kate Rubins ventured outside the ISS to install modification kits for mounting solar arrays. The work lasted about seven hours.

An NHK survey of people affected by the massive 2011 earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan has revealed that they have mixed views about efforts to rebuild their communities.

The survey was conducted in December and January ahead of the 10th anniversary of the disaster. It targeted more than 4,000 people who were living in the three most severely affected prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima at the time of the disaster. The poll drew responses from 1,805 people.

Officials with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government say 293 new cases of the coronavirus were confirmed in the capital on Saturday.

The average number of new cases for the seven days through Saturday in Tokyo was 267.3, or 99.3 percent of the average for the preceding week.

Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide has visited Fukushima Prefecture and pledged that every resident forced to evacuate by the 2011 nuclear accident will eventually be able to return.

Suga visited the town of Okuma on Saturday, in the lead up to the 10th anniversary of the March 11 disaster. Okuma is one of two towns where the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is located.

The Japanese government has extended a state of emergency imposed to contain the coronavirus for two more weeks in Tokyo and the three neighboring prefectures of Chiba, Saitama and Kanagawa.

At a news conference on Friday evening, Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide said, "We've decided to extend the state of emergency until March 21. That timeframe is necessary to contain the spread of infections, as well as to assess the situation more carefully."

Japan's government has decided to extend the coronavirus state of emergency for Tokyo, Chiba, Saitama and Kanagawa prefectures until March 21. It was due to expire on Sunday.

A group of residents from a village in Fukushima Prefecture has filed a lawsuit to seek compensation for radiation exposure. They say the exposure was caused by the government's botched initial response to the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in March 2011.

The 29 plaintiffs filed suit with the Tokyo District Court on Friday, seeking damages worth 200 million yen, or about 1.9 million dollars, from the government and the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company.

A Japanese partner of US biotechnology firm Moderna has applied for authorization to use Moderna's coronavirus vaccine in Japan.

The Japanese government signed a contract with Moderna for 50 million doses, or enough for 25 million people, to be supplied by September.

Tokyo Metropolitan Government officials say 301 new cases of the coronavirus were confirmed in the Japanese capital on Friday.

The average number of new infections in Tokyo in the week through Friday surpassed that of the preceding seven days for the first time since January 15.

An advisory panel to the Japanese government has approved a two-week extension of the coronavirus state of emergency for Tokyo and three neighboring prefectures.

The declaration has been in place for Tokyo, Saitama, Chiba, and Kanagawa since January 7. It is due to end on Sunday.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Kato Katsunobu has commented on the European Union halting vaccine exports from the bloc for the first time.

Kato said at a news conference on Friday that it's important for Japan to steadily receive coronavirus vaccine shipments from the EU.

The countdown to the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics continues amid ongoing concerns about the pandemic. But at the same time, a growing number of municipalities across Japan are abandoning their plans to host training camps for foreign athletes.

In Saijo city, western Japan, children had been looking forward to meeting some of the world's top athletes who were supposed to be coming all the way from Austria.

Senior government officials from Japan and the United States have affirmed their continued cooperation to strengthen the bilateral alliance. They also shared concerns about China's new coast guard law.

The US State Department said on Thursday that foreign and defense officials from the two countries held security talks via video link.