Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide has said the government is planning to extend its Go To Travel discount campaign beyond the original expiry date of January 30 next year.

Suga discussed the subsidy program during a meeting of the government's tourism promotion taskforce.

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.

NHK has learned that the southern Japanese prefecture of Okinawa is making final arrangements to extend its state of emergency over the coronavirus for a second time.

The prefecture cites the risk of intergenerational transmission as many relatives are expected to gather to honor the spirits of their ancestors during the Bon season of the lunar calendar that begins on Monday.

Japan is set to extend its nationwide state of emergency for the coronavirus pandemic by nearly a month until the end of May. It was originally set to expire on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Abe Shinzo met his ministers in charge of the crisis and health issues on Sunday.

The Japanese government is set to extend its nationwide state of emergency for the coronavirus outbreak by nearly a month until May 31.

The government will ask an advisory expert panel for its opinion on the extension schedule on Monday. It will then inform the Diet of the plan before finalizing it at a taskforce meeting later in the day.

Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo is set to extend the nationwide state of emergency over the coronavirus outbreak by nearly a month until the end of May.

Abe received updates on the domestic situation in a meeting on Sunday from health minister Kato Katsunobu and Nishimura Yasutoshi, minister in charge of coronavirus response.

The Japanese government is finalizing the details of its planned extension to the nationwide state of emergency, ahead of a formal decision on Monday.

On Friday, Prime Minister Abe Shinzo said his government plans to keep the measure in place for about a month to contain the spread of the coronavirus. It was set to expire on Wednesday.

Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo says his government plans to make a formal decision on Monday about extending a nationwide state of emergency for about a month. The current state of emergency expires on May 6.

Abe spoke to reporters on Friday evening after being briefed on a meeting of a panel of experts advising the government.

Japan's Prime Minister, Abe Shinzo, says he will extend the declaration of a state of emergency that is due to end on May 6.

He made the announcement on Thursday after the Diet approved a supplementary budget for fiscal 2020 to fund an emergency economic package to deal with the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

Japan's Prime Minister Abe Shinzo has told ruling Liberal Democratic Party officials that he plans to extend the declaration of a state of emergency that is due to end on May 6.

He met the party's Secretary General, Nikai Toshihiro, and Deputy Secretary General, Hayashi Motoo, on Thursday.

Some of the major theme parks in Japan that have closed due to the coronavirus outbreak are planning to extend the shutdowns for even longer.

Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea will keep their doors closed beyond a planned reopening in early April. The operator Oriental Land says visitors won't be able to enjoy the parks again until April 20th at the earliest.

Japan's education minister says the nationwide school closures will not be extended beyond spring break.

Koichi Hagiuda spoke to reporters after a meeting of the government's task force on the new coronavirus outbreak on Friday.

Japan's Immigration Services Agency will allow foreign technical trainees to extend their stay if they cannot take skills tests because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Foreign technical trainees can stay in Japan for up to five years. They are required to take tests to renew their visas.

Some major theme parks in Japan have decided to extend their closure period due to the spread of the new coronavirus.

The Japanese government said on Tuesday that it will continue to ask that large-scale public events be suspended for another 10 days or so.