Uganda's Olympic team arrived at Narita Airport, east of Tokyo on Saturday.

After undergoing tests for the coronavirus, the team will take a dedicated bus to the city of Izumisano in Osaka Prefecture for a pre-Olympic training camp.

The Japanese government has decided to end the coronavirus state of emergency in most areas covered by it and replace it with focused restrictions. The challenge now is how to curb infections in the run-up to the Tokyo Olympics.

The government decided to end the declaration on Sunday for nine of the 10 prefectures. Seven of the nine prefectures will then have rigorous restrictions involving focused steps through July 11.

A group of experts says that if the coronavirus state of emergency is lifted in Tokyo as planned, the number of new cases may again rise to the level of emergency during the Olympics.

The prediction was made by Kyoto University Associate Professor Furuse Yuki and researchers from Tohoku University and the National Institute of Infectious Diseases.

The latest world rankings show that Japanese tennis stars Osaka Naomi and Nishikori Kei have secured places for the Tokyo Olympics.

The singles rankings announced on Monday reflect the results of the French Open that ended on Sunday.

A recycling box in the shape of the man-eating giant from the popular manga series "Attack on Titan" has been set up in a city in southwestern Japan. The series has been published in 21 countries and regions, and more than 100 million copies of the books have been sold.

People can throw their used cans and plastic bottles in the giant's mouth.

The International Olympic Committee says about 80 percent of athletes and coaches participating in the Tokyo Olympics will have been vaccinated by the opening of the Games.

The announcement followed the second day of an online IOC board meeting on Wednesday. The Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics organizing committee briefed the meeting on the progress of preparations for the Games, which are less than 50 days away.

Traffic control has been put in place in the vicinity of the National Stadium in Tokyo in preparation for the upcoming Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The measure is necessary for Games organizers to install security equipment and other systems in advance of the events.

Japan's Justice Minister has ordered the heads of public security intelligence bureaus across the country to gather information to protect the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics from terrorism and cyberattacks.

Kamikawa Yoko convened an online meeting on Monday ahead of the Olympics that are set to begin next month.

Multiple Olympic gymnastics gold medalist Uchimura Kohei has been picked to represent Japan in the men's horizontal bar event at the Tokyo Olympics -- his fourth straight summer Games.

The 32-year-old provisionally secured his spot through a points-based qualification system for individual events following his performance at the national apparatus championships in Takasaki City, central Japan, on Sunday. It was the final qualifying round for Japanese gymnasts seeking a place at the Tokyo Games.

The head of the Japanese government's advisory panel on the coronavirus has repeated his view that it is "not normal" for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games to be held during the pandemic, and the events should be scaled down for a successful outcome.

Omi Shigeru told a Diet committee on Thursday that it is extremely likely there will be an increase in the movement of people when the Games are held. He stressed that thorough anti-virus measures will be impossible, unless a clear message is sent to the public asking them to "watch the events quietly at home on television."

Organizers of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics say about 10,000 volunteers have withdrawn from the Games as of Tuesday.

They are among the 80,000 volunteers that the organizing committee had secured for the Tokyo Games, postponed by one year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

NHK has learned that doctors in charge of medical service at competition venues in the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics are withdrawing. Some of them have cited their busy work schedule.

The Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic organizing committee plans to assign doctors called Venue Medical Officer, or VMO, to each site.

Large-scale coronavirus vaccinations began on Monday at a soccer stadium in Kobe City in Hyogo Prefecture, western Japan. Hyogo is one of the 10 prefectures covered by the state of emergency.

People aged 65 or older started receiving their vaccinations from 10 a.m. at the Noevir Stadium Kobe, the home of the J.League soccer club Vissel Kobe.

The Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games organizing committee expects coronavirus vaccinations to begin for Japanese staff, volunteers and other non-athletes engaged in the games as early as June 20.

The committee's director general Muto Toshiro said this at a news conference on Thursday.