Japan's Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has instructed his ministers to swiftly implement the economic measures in the supplementary budget of around 29 trillion yen, or over 210 billion dollars.
The government convened a task force on Tuesday to comprehensively help people's livelihoods following the Diet's passage of the second extra budget last week.
Japan's Reconstruction Minister Akiba Kenya has refused to step down from his Cabinet post amid calls from the opposition camp that he resign.
The Liberal Democrat has been mired in scandals over a possible election violation, political funds and alleged links to the controversial religious group formerly known as the Unification Church.
Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio is ordering a significant increase in defense spending in five years. It comes as the ruling coalition has been raising concerns about security around Japan.
Kishida met with the defense and finance ministers on Monday. He told them he wants defense spending to rise to 2 percent of Japan's GDP in fiscal 2027.
Japan's Reconstruction Minister Akiba Kenya has refuted a report that he allegedly violated the election law during the Lower House election campaign in October last year.
Online magazine Friday Digital reported on Wednesday that Akiba provided remuneration to his state-paid secretaries for assistance during his campaign. In addition, it said that his election expenditure report included costs for distribution of leaflets, which is also not allowed.
Japan's former transport minister Hata Yuichiro, who died on Sunday at the age of 53, has become the first incumbent lawmaker in the country to die of the coronavirus.
Hata developed a fever on Thursday and was due to take a PCR test on Sunday. His condition deteriorated suddenly while on his way to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Former Japanese agriculture minister Yoshikawa Takamori says he will resign as a lawmaker amid allegations that he received cash from a lobbyist.
Sources say a former head of a major egg production company in Hiroshima Prefecture disclosed that he gave cash totaling five million yen, or about 48,000 dollars, to Yoshikawa.
Japan's defense minister has ordered the Self-Defense Forces to send nurses to the prefecture of Hokkaido to help ease the shortage of healthcare workers due to the coronavirus.
Osaka Governor Yoshimura Hirofumi says he has asked Defense Minister Kishi Nobuo to send nurses from the Self-Defense Forces to treat serious coronavirus cases at a newly established medical facility.
Yoshimura visited the new center for treating COVID-19 patients in serious condition on Monday.
A former head of a major poultry business reportedly has said he gave cash totaling worth about 48,000 dollars to a former agriculture minister while he was in office.
The former head of Akita Foods, headquartered in Fukuyama City, Hiroshima Prefecture, served as an adviser of the Japan Poultry Association and actively lobbied Diet members and the agriculture ministry over industry matters.
Japan's health minister Tamura Norihisa says he has a sense of crisis over a record number of seriously-ill coronavirus patients across the country.
The number of patients being treated at intensive care units or with ventilators hit 472 on Monday, the highest ever.
Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide will meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Tokyo later on Wednesday. Japan is aiming to continue high-level bilateral talks.
Wang is the first Chinese high-ranking official to visit Japan since the launch of Suga's Cabinet.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is arriving in Japan on Tuesday for talks with his counterpart Motegi Toshimitsu. He is also expected to meet Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide the following day.
This will be the first time since the launch of Suga's Cabinet that a high-ranking official from China is coming to Japan.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is to arrive in Japan on Tuesday for talks with his counterpart Motegi Toshimitsu. He is also expected to meet Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide the following day.
This will be the first time since the launch of Suga's Cabinet that a high-ranking official from China has come to Japan.
Japan's minister in charge of the government's coronavirus response has expressed an intention to review guidelines for restaurants and bars, as some group infections have recently been confirmed through eating out.
The government held a meeting on Wednesday. At the meeting, Nishimura Yasutoshi said he wants authorities to revise and strengthen the guidelines as soon as possible, as parties and gatherings take place at the end of the year.