Japan's Air Self-Defense Force has carried out a drill to deploy ground-based PAC-3 interceptor missiles near a nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture.

The exercise was conducted on Monday along the coast in the town of Ohi, where Kansai Electric Power Company's Ohi nuclear power plant is located. It was the first time a drill involving the PAC-3 system was carried out in a municipality hosting a nuclear power plant.

Hundreds of people have gathered in a city in southwestern Japan to remember a Japanese doctor who was killed in Afghanistan three years ago while working on humanitarian projects.

Nakamura Tetsu dedicated many years helping with Afghan healthcare and farmland regeneration projects including construction of irrigation systems as a member of the Japanese NGO Peshawar-kai. The doctor was fatally shot on December 4, 2019, at the age of 73.

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.

A support group consisting of a labor union and NPOs has provided consultations in central Tokyo to people who have lost their jobs or part of their income because of the pandemic.

Scores of people showed up at the event in Hibiya Park in the capital's business district.

About 20 people wearing traditional Japanese 'hakama' clothing gathered at a shrine in Yamaguchi Prefecture, western Japan, on Sunday for a "laughing ritual" called Waraiko.

The event at the Omatahachimangu Shrine dates back to the Kamakura Period some 800 years ago.

An illumination in the shape of Shuri Castle's main hall has been set up in Okinawa Prefecture, southern Japan, as part of a project to rebuild the monument that was destroyed in a fire nearly one year ago.

Senior high school students led the countdown for the unveiling of the LED-illuminated structure at a commercial complex in Naha City on Wednesday night.

A group of thirty-five people from Japan and the United States have attended a memorial ceremony for soldiers who died in a fierce battle on the Pacific island of Ioto during World War Two.

Around 21,900 Japanese soldiers and about 6,800 US servicemen lost their lives on the island, also known as Iwojima, in the closing days of World War Two.

Relatives of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea and government officials took part in a memorial service on Saturday for Yokota Shigeru who passed in June. He was the father of abductee Yokota Megumi.

A large sign carrying a message that read "Thank you, Mr. Yokota Shigeru" was raised at the venue in central Tokyo.

The National Ainu Museum and Park in Shiraoi Town in Hokkaido has observed a traditional ceremony to pay tribute to the ancestors of the indigenous Ainu people.

The area, called Upopoy, is designed to serve as a base for promoting the Ainu culture. It is a symbolic space for ethnic coexistence.

Tokyo will host an international gymnastics event next month. It will be the first competition of an Olympic sport to be held in Japan since the outbreak of the coronavirus.

The president of the International Gymnastics Federation, Watanabe Morinari, made the announcement on Monday.

The Japanese government has decided to conduct a set of ceremonies on November 8 to proclaim Crown Prince Akishino as the heir to the throne.

The government made the decision on Thursday. The ceremonies will be held on a reduced scale due to concerns about the coronavirus.

The Japanese Northern Territories Affairs Minister has met with former residents of the Russian-controlled islands. The Japanese government says the islands are an inherent part of its territory and were illegally occupied after World War Two.

In his first visit to Hokkaido after taking a new Cabinet post, former foreign minister Kono Taro had a discussion with the former residents at the Nakashibetsu town hall on Sunday.

Some 300 giant pumpkins weighing over 60 kilograms each have been gathered at a contest in Ibaraki Prefecture, northeast of Tokyo, ahead of the Halloween season.

The contest in the city of Hitachiomiya judges which pumpkin is the heaviest. The annual event began 12 years ago when around 40 local farmers started growing pumpkins.

Tokushima Prefecture in western Japan held drills overnight on Monday based on the scenario that a mega earthquake hit the region amid the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Japan observes Disaster Prevention Day on September 1 every year to remember the Great Kanto Earthquake which struck Tokyo in 1923.