Japan's annual summer inter-high school athletic meet has been cancelled due to the spread of coronavirus.

This is the first cancelation of the national sports event since it began in 1963.

A sports gym in Tochigi Prefecture, central Japan, remained open despite the local government's request to shut down amid the coronavirus outbreak. A member of the gym tested positive for the virus after the closure request.

The prefectural government on April 18 asked sports gyms and other facilities to suspend operations.

The Japan Sumo Association says a stable master and five wrestlers have tested positive for the coronavirus.

Stable master Takadagawa, whose ring name was Akinoshima, underwent a test on Thursday after developing a fever. His test result came back positive on Friday.

Japan's professional baseball teams have agreed to hold games without spectators this season due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Representatives of the 12 clubs reached the agreement in an online meeting on Thursday. They discussed recommendations from infectious disease experts that games be held without spectators for a while once the season opens.

NHK has learned that the International Olympic Committee has told international sports federations to apply age limits flexibly for the postponed Tokyo Games.

The Summer Olympics have been pushed back a year due to the coronavirus outbreak. The Games are now scheduled to open on July 23, 2021.

The Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics organizing committee will likely support the idea of delaying the Games to July of next year.

The committee has been working to set new schedules and secure venues for the events since they were postponed last week due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The organizers of the Tokyo Olympics have decided to keep the Olympic flame in the capital city after displaying it for a month in Fukushima Prefecture.

The flame was brought to Japan from Greece on March 20. Torch relay was scheduled to start at the J-Village soccer training center in Fukushima on March 26. But Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach agreed to postpone the Games just two days earlier.

The head of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics organizing committee says he hopes to set new dates for the postponed events by the end of next week.

The committee has been working to finalize schedules and secure venues for the Games since they were postponed from this summer in the face of the coronavirus. It wants to hold them by the summer of 2021 at the latest.

NHK has learned that three Japanese professional baseball players have tested positive for the coronavirus. They are the country's first baseball players known to be infected.

Among them is Shintaro Fujinami of the Hanshin Tigers. He was reportedly tested on Thursday after consulting with a doctor. He had been complaining of being unable to smell the aroma of coffee for several days.

A source familiar with Japanese professional baseball says a pitcher has become the country's first player of the sport to test positive for the new coronavirus.

Shintaro Fujinami of the Hanshin Tigers underwent the test at the advice of a doctor on Thursday.

The organizing committee of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics has launched a task force to sort out issues arising from the postponement of the games.

The move comes after the International Olympic Committee decided on Tuesday to put off the games until the summer of 2021 at the latest due to the coronavirus pandemic.

US President Donald Trump has welcomed the decision to delay the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics by about one year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Trump told reporters at the White House on Wednesday that he congratulated Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe over the phone on a wise decision.

Sumo wrestler Asanoyama has been promoted to Ozeki, the sport's second highest rank.

The Japan Sumo Association made the decision on Wednesday. Representatives of the association visited the wrestler and his stable master at their lodging house in Osaka City to tell them about the promotion.

After weeks of speculation, Japan's Prime Minister says the Tokyo Olympics will be postponed because of the growing coronavirus pandemic.

Shinzo Abe says: "We agreed that we will hold the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics no later than the summer of 2021. We are committed to holding the Games in a complete form when we can prove that human beings have overcome illness caused by the new coronavirus."