Japan-based Korean writer Yu Miri has won the National Book Award, the most prestigious literary prize in the US.

Yu's "Tokyo Ueno Station," written originally in Japanese, was announced as the winner for best translated work in an online event Thursday morning, Japan time.

The Japan National Championships for track and field events ended on Saturday after three days of competition.

As sports events have been postponed or cancelled one after another due to the coronavirus outbreak, the three-day tournament was a key test of how to manage future sporting competitions.

Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo says the government will carry out a thorough review of national security strategy, including missile defense.

Former defense minister Onodera Itsunori heads the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's national security panel. He visited Abe on Tuesday to present a proposal on missile defense formulated by the party.

Japan's Prime Minister Abe Shinzo has expressed his hope to hold a national referendum on constitutional amendment during his tenure as president of the governing Liberal Democratic Party. His time in that position will end in September of next year.

Abe spoke to former Osaka mayor Hashimoto Toru in an online program on Saturday. He said he still has one year and three months left in office as a leader of the party.

Japan's national debt has hit a new high for a fourth straight year.

The Finance Ministry says government debt stood at 1,114.54 trillion yen, or about 10.45 trillion dollars, at the end of March. That's an increase of about 104.85 billion dollars from a year earlier.