The torrential rain swamping Kyushu has now hit central and eastern parts of the Japanese archipelago. Japan's Meteorological Agency has issued a heavy rain emergency warning for parts of Gifu and Nagano prefectures. The warning is the highest level of alert on the agency's scale. The areas are experiencing rainfall that hasn't been seen in several decades.

Nakamoto Yoshihisa at the Japan Meteorological Agency told reporters, "Cities and towns that have issued emergency warnings are experiencing unprecedented heavy rain. It's highly likely that some kind of disaster, such as landslides or flooding, has already occurred in landslide disaster caution zones and flood forecast zones. The situation is equivalent to the highest alert level 5. It is high time for people in affected areas be on alert and take every measure to protect their lives."

The Japan Meteorological Agency has issued a heavy rain emergency warning for parts of Gifu and Nagano prefectures in the central part of the country. The warning is the highest level of alert on the agency's scale.

The areas are experiencing rainfall that has not been seen in several decades. Agency officials say serious damage from flooding and landslides is likely.

Japan's Meteorological Agency has issued a heavy rain emergency warning for parts of Fukuoka, Saga, and Nagasaki prefectures in the country's southwestern region of Kyushu.

That's the agency's highest- level warning on the 5-step scale. Serious damage from landslides, flooding and other dangers is highly likely to have occurred already in those municipalities.

Japan's Meteorological Agency has issued a heavy rain emergency warning for Fukuoka, Saga, and Nagasaki prefectures in the country's southwestern region of Kyushu. The warning is the highest level on the agency's scale.

The prefectures are experiencing rainfall that hasn't been seen in several decades.

Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo says there is no need to declare a state of emergency again despite rising numbers of coronavirus infections.

Abe met Economic Revitalization Minister Nishimura Yasutoshi, who's in charge of the response to the national coronavirus and Health Minister Kato Katsunobu for about 30 minutes on Saturday.

Japan's Meteorological Agency has issued a heavy rain emergency warning for parts of Kumamoto and Kagoshima Prefectures in the Kyushu region. The once-in-decades deluge is the highest warning level on a scale of 1 to 5.

Authorities are calling on people in the designated areas to evacuate or remain in safe areas. The warning has been issued for 16 municipalities in Kumamoto, and 4 in Kagoshima.

Tokyo Metropolitan government officials say 67 new cases of the coronavirus were confirmed in the capital on Wednesday.

That is the highest daily tally since the state of emergency was lifted on May 25.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga Yoshihide says the government has no plans to immediately declare a state of emergency again despite a rise in new cases of the coronavirus in Tokyo.

Suga told reporters on Monday that recent confirmations of new cases at certain levels, mainly in Tokyo, are a result of enhanced testing of those who have come into close contact with infected people.

Japan's minister in charge of coronavirus response has suggested that there's no need to declare a state of emergency a second time.

Nishimura Yasutoshi spoke to reporters on Sunday, one day after the Metropolitan government reported 57 new cases of infection. That's the most since all the nationwide state of emergency was lifted last month.

Regional gaps in coronavirus infections have emerged since the state of emergency was completely lifted in Japan a month ago. Tokyo and urban areas continue to report many cases, while 17 prefectures have not had any new infections in the past month.

Thursday marks exactly one month since the emergency ended on May 25.

The Japanese government plans to decide on Thursday whether a state of emergency can be lifted in regions where the coronavirus outbreak is easing.

Prime Minister Abe Shinzo told the Diet on Monday that he will hear from experts on Thursday before announcing whether a partial easing is possible.

Japan's government says it may lift the nationwide state of emergency for the coronavirus outbreak before the planned end date of May 31. This would apply to some of the 13 prefectures now under special alert, as well as many other prefectures.

The government plans to discuss the matter at a meeting of its expert panel on Thursday.

Japan's government says it may lift the nationwide state of emergency regarding the coronavirus outbreak before the planned end date of May 31 in many of the 34 prefectures that are not under special alert.

Economic Revitalization Minister Nishimura Yasutoshi said on an NHK program on Sunday the government will consider lifting the emergency declaration after listening to the opinions of an expert panel next week.

In Japan, people are being advised to stay home this weekend after the government extended a nationwide state of emergency until the end of the month.

In Tokyo, 36 more people were confirmed to be infected with the coronavirus on Saturday. It was the seventh straight day the number of new cases in the capital was below 100.