An evacuation drill simulating a ballistic missile launch has been held on Yonaguni Island, Japan's westernmost remote island, for the first time.
Twenty-two residents, including children, took part in the drill jointly organized by the central and prefectural governments and Yonaguni Town in Okinawa Prefecture, on Wednesday.
An anti-terror drill simulating a chemical attack has been held at a new commercial complex next to Tokyo's Haneda Airport that is to fully open in January.
About 100 police officers and staff from the commercial facility took part in the drill on Thursday at Haneda Airport Garden, which is directly connected to the airport.
NHK has learned that costs of anti-coronavirus measures for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics are likely to be almost equally shared by the Japanese government and the Tokyo Metropolitan government.
The anti-infection measures for the Games are expected to be about 100 billion yen, or around 960 million dollars.
The Japanese government plans to step up measures toward the end of the year to fight coronavirus infections.
The government advisory panel on its coronavirus response on Wednesday called for stronger action for a short period of around three weeks. The panel said the government should ask people to refrain from moving to or from areas where the virus is spreading rapidly, if necessary preventive steps are not taken.
The Japanese government has decided to extend by another year the Maritime Self-Defense Force's counter-piracy mission off the coast of Somalia.
Japan has deployed destroyers and patrol aircraft to guard commercial ships in the area based on the anti-piracy law since 2009. The current mission is scheduled to expire on Thursday next week.
Japan's transport ministry has approved a measure allowing some taxi operators to reject passengers who refuse to wear face masks without proper reasons.
Ten taxi operators, including a major taxi company in Tokyo, had asked the ministry to review their rules. Taxi drivers are essentially banned from refusing passengers except under some circumstances.
A center for coronavirus prevention will be in operation during the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics next summer.
Officials from the Japanese government, the Tokyo Metropolitan government and the Tokyo Organising Committee met on Tuesday at the Prime Minister's Office to discuss the matter.
An expert panel has basically approved anti-infection measures to be taken for next year's standardized university entrance exams in Japan, which would take place amid the pandemic.
The measures will allow "close contact" to an infected person to take the test under conditions.
Japan's top government spokesperson says easing of entry restrictions must be compatible with measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
The government is gradually reopening Japan to foreigners from countries and territories where the outbreak appears to be under control.
The government of Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward has started classifying restaurants and bars in terms of their preventive measures against the coronavirus.
The ward provides two types of stickers, Class I or Class II, for businesses to display and lists their names on its website.
A group of Japanese experts has come up with measures to prevent the coronavirus from spreading from nightlife districts to other areas.
The experts made proposals at Monday's meeting of a government panel on the coronavirus response.
A Japanese airline is testing a new type of doorknob for in-cabin toilets as an anti-infection measure amid the coronavirus pandemic. The door can be opened and closed using one's elbow, not one's hand.
All Nippon Airways has put a toilet with the new doorknob for trial in a lounge at Tokyo's Haneda Airport and is asking passengers to try it out.
Japan's minister in charge of the coronavirus response says he hopes the government will come up with some results on how to curb infections by the end of this month, using artificial intelligence and other technologies.
Nishimura Yasutoshi on Wednesday addressed the government's expert panel, which includes Professor Emeritus at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies Kurokawa Kiyoshi and Kyoto University Professor Yamanaka Shinya.
The Osaka prefectural government in western Japan says it will launch research into whether gargling with medicine could reduce the amount of the coronavirus in saliva, making the person less infectious.
Osaka Governor Yoshimura Hirofumi on Tuesday cited a recent study that indicated gargling with the mouthwash may help reduce coronavirus infections.