The Tokyo Metropolitan Government says 393 new cases of the coronavirus were confirmed in the Japanese capital on Thursday.
The daily tally has topped 390 for the first time since August 8. It has exceeded the 300 mark for two days in a row.
Japan's Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide says US President-elect Joe Biden has suggested that Washington will help Japan defend the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea under the bilateral security treaty.
Suga and Biden spoke for the first time over the phone for about 10 minutes on Thursday morning, Japan time.
The coronavirus continues to spread across Japan with Tokyo reporting 317 new cases on Wednesday. This marks the first time since late August that the capital's daily tally has exceeded 300.
New cases have topped 100 for the ninth day in a row. So far, more than 33,000 people have tested positive in the metropolis.
The head of the Japan Medical Association has suggested the current nationwide surge in newly confirmed coronavirus cases could be a third wave of infections in the country.
Association President Nakagawa Toshio told reporters on Wednesday that there have been clear signs of a resurgence in infections since last month. He added that the situation in Hokkaido is particularly worrisome.
The governor of Miyagi Prefecture in northeastern Japan has approved the restart of the No.2 reactor at Tohoku Electric Power Company's Onagawa nuclear plant. The reactor is the first in the region affected by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami to win local consent for restart.
The assemblies of Onagawa Town and Ishinomaki City, which host the plant, as well as the Miyagi prefectural assembly had earlier agreed to allow the reactor to go back online.
Members of a Japanese government panel met for the first time on Wednesday to study ways to achieve ambitious greenhouse gas targets. The experts discussed how to take the country to net zero emissions by 2050.
The panel aims to set numeric targets for technological development, and ways to support companies that get involved. Cabinet ministers who took part in the meeting said innovation will be crucial to reaching the government's gas reduction target.
Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Kato Katsunobu says the government is on the highest alert following the recent nationwide surge in coronavirus infections and is taking steps to curb the spread.
Kato was speaking at a news conference on Wednesday afternoon.
Japan now has 16 reactors at nine nuclear power plants that have cleared government requirements adopted after the 2011 Fukushima accident.
The No.2 reactor at Tohoku Electric Power Company's Onagawa plant in Miyagi Prefecture, and the reactor at Japan Atomic Power Company's Tokai No.2 plant in Ibaraki Prefecture were affected by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Tokai No.2 has yet to win local consent to restart.
The governor of Miyagi Prefecture has announced a decision to approve the restart of a nuclear reactor in the northeastern prefecture of Japan.
The No.2 reactor of Tohoku Electric Power Company's Onagawa plant is the first in the region to win local approval to go back online. The area was hit hard by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
Tokyo Metropolitan Government officials say they confirmed 317 new cases of the coronavirus in the capital on Wednesday.
This is the first time since August 20 that the daily tally has exceeded 300. It is also the second straight day for the figure to surpass 200.
Japan and the United States have formally started working-level talks on Japan's share of the cost of stationing US forces in the country. The two sides have agreed to seek an early conclusion to the matter.
Foreign and defense officials from the two countries met in Washington on Monday and Tuesday. They also met in October.
NHK has learned that Japan's Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide plans to speak with US President-elect Joe Biden by telephone as early as Thursday.
Suga intends to directly extend his congratulations to Biden when they speak. He hopes to develop a relationship with the president-elect that is built on trust.
Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide will attend a series of Asian online meetings later this week including a summit with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
The meetings are scheduled from Thursday until Sunday.
A medical institution in Japan has announced initial results of a clinical study of a coronavirus treatment in which patients are given blood plasma taken from recovered people.
Dr. Kutsuna Satoshi of the National Center for Global Health and Medicine provided an update on the study at an online symposium with researchers and doctors from in and outside of Japan on Tuesday.