Japan's tourism minister says two cities are to be excluded from the government's Go To Travel domestic tourism campaign due to a recent surge in the number of coronavirus cases there.
Akaba Kazuyoshi said on Tuesday that the campaign will be suspended for trips to Sapporo City in the northern prefecture of Hokkaido and Osaka City, western Japan, from Tuesday until December 15.
The Japanese government will suspend travel subsidies for new bookings to the cities of Sapporo and Osaka, where coronavirus cases are increasing.
The government has been planning to exclude regions with a spike in cases from its "Go To Travel" campaign.
Officials in Japan are reporting more than 1,000 new coronavirus cases for the third consecutive day.
The surge in infections is especially high in the Tokyo and Osaka metropolitan areas and the prefectures of Kanagawa and Aichi.
UN Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Nakamitsu Izumi will attend ceremonies in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August to mark the 75th anniversary of the US atomic bombing of the Japanese cities.
Nakamitsu decided to travel after Secretary-General Antonio Guterres gave up his trip to Hiroshima due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Fewer people were seen on the streets of Japan's major cities than normal on Sunday after authorities asked residents to stay home to curb the rapid spread of the coronavirus.
In Tokyo's Shinjuku district, major department stores and clothing shops shut their doors. Notices of temporary closure were put out at karaoke parlors.