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.

TOKYO — Japan may ban sales of new gasoline-engine cars by the mid-2030s in favor of hybrid or electric vehicles, public broadcaster NHK reported on Thursday, aligning it with other countries and regions that are imposing curbs on fossil fuel vehicles.

The move would follow Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's pledge in October for Japan to slash carbon emissions to zero on a net basis by 2050 and make the country the second G7 nation in a little over two weeks to set a deadline for phasing out gasoline vehicles.

NHK has learned Japan's Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide may visit Vietnam and Indonesia in mid-October if coronavirus situations allow. It would be his first overseas trip after taking office.

Recent infection curves have been relatively stable in the two nations. If Suga visits them, he is expected to meet Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

According to a rumor from last month, it was suggested that Fujifilm could be working on a couple of new mid-range cameras. Now according to the folks at Fuji Rumors, they have heard that for at least one of the models that the company will be launching, it could be known as the Fujifilm X-S10.

What’s interesting about this is that Fujifilm has used the X-S designation in the past with the Fujifilm X-S1. Back then, the camera was billed as being Fujifilm’s high-end camera and it was released in 2011, but the company has since moved on where its X-T, X-Pro, and X-H series have since taken top billing as the company’s flagship lineup.

Fujifilm is known for their high-end mirrorless cameras like the X-Pro3, X-T4, and the X-H1. However, these cameras aren’t cheap and if you are a fan of Fujifilm but don’t want to break the bank, you might be interested to learn that the company could actually have a new mid-range camera in the works.

Apart from the cameras we mentioned above, the company does have some mid-range cameras like the X-T30 and the X-E3, but according to a report from Fuji Rumors, they have heard from their sources that apparently Fujifilm has two new mid-range cameras in the works, and that at least one of those cameras will be part of a brand new lineup.

Japanese researchers say they think the coronavirus continued to spread undetected in Japan after the outbreak was thought to have been contained in May.

The National Institute of Infectious Diseases earlier this week released the outcome of its detailed genetic analysis of the coronavirus. The samples were taken from people who contracted the virus in Japan to assess how it had spread across the country.

In this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by News Editor Joel Stocksdale and Associate Editor Byron Hurd. They discuss news about the 2020 and 2021 Nissan Frontier, as well as a mystery Mustang and classic luxury coupes. After that, they talk about cars from the fleet including Chevy Silverados and the long-term Volvo S60 T8.

A lot of carmakers these days are creating electric cars or hybrids at the very least. This is because as the world starts to run out of fossil fuels, creating cars that don’t require them makes a lot of sense. In fact, Japanese carmaker Subaru has announced that by the mid 2030s, they plan to sell only electric cars.

As it stands, Subaru already sells hybrid and plug-in hybrids, but the company is expected to develop what they are calling a “strong hybrid” vehicle using Toyota’s technology. Speaking during a briefing, Chief Technology Officer Tetsuo Onuki said that despite using Toyota’s technology, they still want to make cars that are distinctively Subaru.

Subaru might be lagging behind its bigger rivals in terms of electrification but they want to make up for the lost ground with a new plan that aims to electrify its entire lineup by 2035.

Nipping infinite rumors in the bud, Subaru confirmed the Outback, the Forester, the BRZ, the WRX STI, and every other car it makes will go electric or disappear by the middle of the 2030s. The Japanese automaker announced it plans to kick gasoline-powered cars out of its global portfolio in about 15 years' time. The announcement comes in the wake of ever-stricter emissions regulations around the globe, notably in China and in the European Union. The firm isn't going to turn the tap off overnight, though. Toyota owns an 8.7% stake in Subaru, and the two partners are jointly developing a pair of electric cars due out during the 2020s. Others will inevitably follow. By 2030, hybrid and electric models will represent at least 40% of Subaru's annual global output. In the meantime, Subaru is funneling an immense amount of money into adapting Toyota's hybrid technology to its vehicles. The gasoline-electric variant of the Crosstrek introduced in 2018 a product of this collaboration. Executives outlined plans to release a "strong hybrid" again built with Toyota parts, though they stopped short of providing more details. They also stressed their goal isn't to achieve mere badge-engineering. "Although we're using Toyota technology, we want to make hybrids that are distinctly Subaru. It's not only about reducing CO2 emissions. We need to further improve vehicle safety and the performance of our all-wheel drive," affirmed Tetsuo Onuki, Subaru's chief technology officer, during a briefing Reuters attended. His comments suggest all-wheel drive will continue to define the members of Subaru's range in the electric-only era. The configuration has been one of the brand's strongest selling points for decades, and it helped it grow from a niche brand peddling obscure cars to a major mainstream automaker in the United States, so giving it up would be marketing suicide. The horizontally-opposed engine is Subaru's second signature, it's what the C-shaped daytime running lights seen on its cars are inspired by, but Onuki confirmed its rumbling days will come to an end.

Honda is debuting light updates for the S660 mid-engine roadster at the Tokyo Auto Salon.