Four astronauts have arrived at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in the southern US state of Florida for the launch of a manned private-sector spacecraft scheduled for next weekend.
The astronauts arrived on Sunday from the Johnson Space Center in Texas, where they trained for the mission.
The production of a winter delicacy, fermented mackerel sushi, has begun in a mountainous area of Fukui Prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast.
A group of eight people gathered at a facility in the town of Kitadani on Sunday to prepare the preserved food for the year-end and the New Year.
The Japanese government appears intent on collaborating with an incoming US administration to jointly lead efforts to bolster international cooperation.
Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide tweeted a congratulatory message to US Democrats Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on their projected victory in the US presidential election.
The transition to a new US administration will have worldwide implications. People in Japan have been speaking about their expectations for the next president's handling of global issues.
Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide was among world leaders who congratulated Biden. On Twitter, Suga wrote that he's looking forward to further strengthening the US-Japan alliance.
Survivors of the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have expressed hopes that US president-elect Joe Biden will promote nuclear disarmament.
Speaking to NHK on Sunday, the acting leader of the Hiroshima branch of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-bomb Sufferers Organizations, Mimaki Toshiyuki, offered congratulations on Biden's projected win.
Relatives of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea have commented on Joe Biden's victory in the US presidential election.
Eighty-two-year-old Iizuka Shigeo, whose sister Taguchi Yaeko was abducted by the North, said the relatives have met President Donald Trump and two former US presidents, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, and sought their help in resolving the issue.
Japan's Crown Prince Akishino has been proclaimed to the public as heir to the Imperial throne. It was the last in a series of ceremonies associated with the succession of the throne.
The Prince, whose given name is Fumihito, became first in the line of succession in May last year. That was when his older brother, Emperor Naruhito, ascended the throne after their father's abdication.
NHK has used artificial intelligence to analyze about 200,000 papers published around the world in English on the coronavirus. It found that at least 116 symptoms have been reported.
The symptoms include loss of taste, dryness of the eyes, nettle rash as well as fever and pneumonia.
The Chairman of the Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, Nakanishi Hiroaki, has offered his congratulations to US President-elect Joe Biden.
In a comment released on Sunday, Nakanishi said he is praying for close cooperation between the two countries' new administrations and the further development of bilateral ties.
Japan's Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide has posted on Twitter a congratulatory message for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
He wrote, "I look forward to working with you to further strengthen the Japan-US Alliance and ensure peace, freedom, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond."
The Japanese government hopes to build trust between Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide and Joe Biden, who is projected to be the next US president.
Most Japanese government officials have reacted calmly to the US media reports that Biden is certain to win the presidential election.
The Japanese government plans to raise public awareness about high-risk situations for contracting the coronavirus and provide assistance to foreign nationals in the country.
The government is warning people to be wary of five situations that could increase the risk of infection.
Officials in Japan are reporting more than 1,000 new coronavirus cases for the third consecutive day.
The surge in infections is especially high in the Tokyo and Osaka metropolitan areas and the prefectures of Kanagawa and Aichi.
International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach is expected to travel to Japan for the first time since the Tokyo Games were postponed due to the pandemic.
In March, Bach agreed with then Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo to postpone the games for one year, and later agreed to open the games on July 23rd, 2021.