The Tokyo Metropolitan Government confirmed 868 new cases of the coronavirus in the Japanese capital on Friday.

The last time the daily tally fell below 1,000 was on Wednesday.

The head of the organizing committee of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, Mori Yoshiro, says he and the head of the International Olympic Committee have confirmed their commitment to the Games.

Mori and International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach held a telephone conversation on Thursday for the first time this year.

Professional baseball pitcher Tanaka Masahiro is headed back to his former Japanese team, Rakuten, after playing seven seasons in Major League Baseball.

Tanaka became a free agent after last season, wrapping up his seven-year contract with the New York Yankees.

Messaging app provider Line has created an online booking system for coronavirus vaccinations in Japan.

The company says two local governments have already agreed to use it and roughly 100 more are considering it.

Weather officials in Japan say a rapidly developing low-pressure system may bring snowstorms to wide areas of the country on Friday.

Meteorological Agency officials say the system is over the Sea of Japan and moving east.

A panel of experts has warned that the coronavirus situation in Tokyo is still extremely serious, despite a recent drop in the weekly average of new cases.

The experts advising the Tokyo Metropolitan Government on its coronavirus response met on Thursday for their weekly assessment of the situation.

Japan's main ruling and opposition parties have agreed on draft revisions to key anti-infectious disease laws. The revisions are aimed at ensuring the effectiveness of preventive measures.

The secretaries general of the Liberal Democratic Party and the Constitutional Democratic Party on Thursday officially agreed on the revisions that were originally proposed by the government.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government confirmed 1,064 new cases of the coronavirus in the Japanese capital on Thursday.

The last time the daily tally exceeded 1,000 was on Tuesday.

An NHK survey finds that a majority of large corporations in Japan want the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics to go ahead this summer in some form.

NHK conducted the poll on 100 leading companies from late December to mid-January. All responded.

The Japanese government is asking municipalities to make preparations for vaccination against the coronavirus, using findings from an exercise on inoculation.

The government conducted a drill in Kawasaki City, near Tokyo, on Wednesday, assuming mass vaccination. Officials confirmed a series of procedures, including reception, filling out a questionnaire, vaccination itself and follow-up observation.

Major British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca plans to shortly start producing its coronavirus vaccine in Japan.

In December, the company signed a contract with the Japanese government to provide 120 million doses of vaccine. Thirty million doses are expected to be imported to Japan by March.

Japanese Regulatory Reform Minister Kono Taro says vaccination against the coronavirus for senior citizens will start in Japan on April 1 at the earliest.

The government aims to start vaccination for medical workers in late February and intends to gradually widen the scope to the elderly, followed by people with underlying diseases and others.

Japanese manufacturers are stepping up production of ultra-low temperature freezers to store COVID-19 vaccines.

A freezer by leading medical equipment company PHC Holdings chills its contents to minus 80 degrees Celsius.

Japanese officials say the government may have to extend its state of emergency, if no major improvement is seen in the number of coronavirus infections.

A state of emergency is currently in effect for Tokyo and 10 other prefectures until February 7.