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.
The latest Japanese government figures show the average monthly wage for workers declined in April as businesses closed voluntarily to contain the coronavirus outbreak.
The labor ministry released the preliminary results on Tuesday, from its survey of more than 30,000 businesses across the country.
In the period from April 13 to 19 in Japan, hundreds of welfare service providers for people with disabilities shuttered their operations due to the effects of the coronavirus outbreak.
The health ministry says a total of 891 facilities in 35 of the country's 47 prefectures shut down during that span, including daycare and short-stay service providers.
A growing number of people who have lost, or will likely lose their jobs amid the coronavirus outbreak in Japan, have received offers to perform illegal work through social media.
The labor ministry says 1,473 people had lost their jobs, or faced the prospect of losing their jobs, for the roughly two months through April 6. The ministry cites deteriorating corporate performance as one of the reasons.
Shrines designated as UNESCO World Heritage sites in Tochigi Prefecture's Nikko, north of Tokyo, have temporarily closed to prevent infections of the new coronavirus.
Toshogu Shrine, Rinnoji Temple and Futarasan Shrine made the announcements on Monday.
Foreign residents in Japan's Kanagawa Prefecture near Tokyo are turning to a medical facility offering service in six languages for help amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Staff at the Kobayashi International Clinic in Yamato City can respond to patients in six languages, including English, Korean and Tagalog.
The Japanese yen has surged more than 3 percent against the US dollar on the Tokyo foreign exchange market, the highest level against the greenback since November of 2016.
Market watchers say investors rushed to sell dollars and buy yen on concerns that the spread of the coronavirus may seriously impact the global economy including the United States.
The declaration of a coronavirus emergency in the northern Japanese prefecture of Hokkaido has brought an abrupt halt to public activities. Streets are quiet in the prefectural capital Sapporo, one day after the measure came into effect.
Governor Naomichi Suzuki on Friday declared the three-week emergency period through March 19. He urged residents to refrain from going out over this weekend.
National and other public universities in Japan have begun staging their entrance exams, with precautions taken against the new coronavirus.
The education ministry says nearly 440,000 people have applied for the exams, down about 30,000 from last year.
China's central bank has lowered the benchmark rate by 0.1 percentage point to try and help businesses weather the coronavirus outbreak.
The People's Bank of China announced that this month's Loan Prime Rate is 4.05 percent, marking the first rate cut in three months.