The Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force has confirmed that a foreign submarine navigated an area just outside Japan's territorial waters without surfacing this week. Defense officials say they believe the submarine belongs to the Chinese Navy.

Defense Ministry officials say MSDF destroyers and patrol planes first spotted the submarine on Thursday afternoon in the contiguous zone northeast of Amami-Oshima Island in Japan's southwestern prefecture of Kagoshima. They say it was moving west and that the MSDF kept it under observation.

Sources say former Justice Minister Kawai Katsuyuki was found to have given money to local politicians in Hiroshima on multiple occasions to secure votes for his wife Kawai Anri, who won a seat in last July's Upper House election.

Both were formerly with the main ruling Liberal Democratic Party. They are suspected of giving a total of 25 million 700,000 yen or about 240,000 dollars to 94 local politicians and executives of their supporters' groups.

People in Japan are out and about on the first weekend since authorities lifted cross-country travel restrictions.

The change is proving a boon for tourist sites which are welcoming back big numbers for the first time in months.

Japanese Defense Minister Kono Taro has apologized to the governor of Yamaguchi days after the government suspended plans to deploy a new land-based missile defense system in the western prefecture.

Yamaguchi was one of two candidate prefectures to host the US-made Aegis Ashore system. The Defense Ministry says the plan was halted due to the timing and cost of drastic modifications.

Japan's defense minister says changes in the country's defense guidelines are possible, following the government's decision to suspend a plan to deploy the land-based Aegis Ashore missile defense system.

Kono Taro said at a news conference on Friday that the government's decision to halt the plan will influence the country's national security strategy.

Experts have confirmed that more than 200 ants found at Aomi Pier on Tokyo Bay on Thursday are highly venomous fire ants.

The red imported fire ants were spotted at a container yard during a survey by Environment Ministry and other officials. The variety is native to South America.

Japan's chief cabinet secretary says the government will do its utmost to recover the country's tourism industry hit hard by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Suga Yoshihide expressed a goal of attracting 60 million foreign tourists in 2030.

Investigative sources have told NHK that a former Japanese justice minister apparently deleted potential evidence of vote-buying after a magazine published an article about his alleged election law violation.

Prosecutors arrested Kawai Katsuyuki and his lawmaker wife Kawai Anri on Thursday for giving cash to local politicians and others in an Upper House election in which she ran successfully last July.

Japanese media companies have disclosed that their opinion polls included false answers given by an employee of a subcontractor.

Fuji Television Network and the Sankei Shimbun newspaper said on Friday that the misconduct concerned monthly surveys on politics, including cabinet approval ratings.

Japan's government is urging citizens to download a free coronavirus contact-tracing app that became available at app stores on Friday.

A smartphone with the app will record encrypted data sent out by other smartphones within a one-meter radius after 15 minutes of contact.

People are returning to airports and train stations in Japan, as the government lifted its restrictions on cross-prefectural travel on Friday.

At Tokyo's Haneda airport, many businesspeople and families were seen at a domestic terminal.

NHK has learned that former Justice Minister Kawai Katsuyuki did not ask for receipts when he gave cash to members of local assemblies in Hiroshima Prefecture in an alleged vote-buying scandal.

Kawai and his wife, Kawai Anri, were arrested on Thursday for a suspected violation of the election law. Prosecutors allege the couple conspired to secure votes to help Kawai Anri win her seat in the Upper House election last July.

A survey has found that many Japanese nationals living overseas are being severely affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

A Japanese company, Locotabi, conducted a survey earlier this month of around 44,000 Japanese who live abroad and are registered with the firm as local guides. A total of 2,155 people from 94 countries and territories responded.

Sources say former Justice Minister Kawai Katsuyuki and his Diet lawmaker wife Anri handed cash to dozens of local assembly members in her Hiroshima constituency.

The couple were arrested by Tokyo prosecutors on Thursday on suspicion of violating the public office election law.