Japanese authorities and experts are preparing for the next steps in the fight against the coronavirus after a crucial three-week period draws to a close.
Daily new cases continue to surge, leading the government's panel of experts to issue advice.
Japanese government's panel of coronavirus experts have issued advice on a number of measures to address a surge in infections.
The recent spikes are bringing some local healthcare systems to the brink.
The Tokyo Metropolitan government is planning to ask medical facilities in the capital to secure 50 more beds for serious coronavirus patients, for a total of 200.
Tokyo now has 70 patients with serious respiratory symptoms. It is the highest figure since the government lifted the state-of-emergency in May.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government plans to ask establishments that serve alcohol to close at 10:00 p.m. for 20 days, starting this Saturday.
In response to a resurgence of coronavirus infections in the Japanese capital, the metropolitan government plans to ask bars, restaurants and karaoke parlors in Tokyo's 23 wards and cities in the Tama area to agree to the measure.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is poised to ask bars and restaurants that serve alcohol to shorten their hours. Officials hope the measure will help curb the number of coronavirus infections, which have been rising quickly around the capital.
The affected businesses will be asked to close at 10:00 p.m. for about three weeks starting this Saturday.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is poised to ask bars and restaurants that serve alcohol to close at 10:00 p.m. for about three weeks, starting this Saturday.
Members of the family of a Japanese woman abducted by North Korea have met a top official at the US Embassy in Tokyo and asked for cooperation toward a return of Japanese nationals abducted by the North.
Yokota Megumi was abducted in 1977 on her way home from junior high school in Niigata City, on the Sea of Japan coast.
More companies in Japan are asking staff to take early, voluntary retirement, as some of them struggle to weather the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Private research firm Tokyo Shoko Research says 41 companies did so during the first half of this year. That is already more than the 35 in the whole of last year. It is also the first time since 2010 that the figure has topped 40 in a six-month period.
A group of European companies operating in Japan has called on the Japanese government to ease travel restrictions with Europe as soon as possible.
Michael Mroczek, the Chairman of the European Business Council in Japan, was speaking at a news conference in Tokyo on Monday.
Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike says she will ask the governors of Tokyo's four neighboring prefectures to cooperate in urging residents to avoid going out this weekend, to contain the coronavirus outbreak.
Koike told reporters on Thursday that she plans to hold a teleconference with the governors of Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba and Yamanashi later in the day. She said she hopes the five Tokyo metropolitan area governors will be able to issue a joint appeal.
Japan's Foreign Ministry is planning to ask citizens to refrain from traveling to almost all parts of Europe in response to the spread of the new coronavirus.
The ministry has already advised people not to visit five regions, mostly in northern Italy, by issuing a Level 3 Travel Advisory and Warning.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said the government is planning to ask all elementary, junior and senior high schools and special support schools in the country to shut down from Monday, until the start of the spring holidays, in a bid to reduce the risk of students catching the new coronavirus.
Abe unveiled the plan on Thursday at a meeting of the government's taskforce on the coronavirus outbreak.
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says he will ask all elementary and high schools across the country to temporarily close beginning Monday.
The development comes after a man in his 80s who was infected with the new coronavirus died in the northern prefecture of Hokkaido. Fifteen new cases of infection were reported there on Thursday.
Some Japanese government officials are concerned that Washington may pressure Tokyo to pay significantly more for stationing US forces in Japan.
Bilateral negotiations on the cost will likely shift into high gear as early as this summer, with the current five-year agreement on the costs of supporting US forces due to expire in March 2021.