Japan's top government spokesperson says the government will promote comprehensive measures to help increase the number of childbirths.

The health ministry released a preliminary report last week that about 599,000 babies were born in the country from January through September. The figure, including births to foreign nationals, is down about 30,000 from a year earlier.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government plans to raise its coronavirus alert level to the highest of four levels on Thursday. The COVID-19 outbreak is flaring up in the Japanese capital.

Infectious disease experts and doctors are scheduled to meet on Thursday to assess the current situation.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government says it will raise the coronavirus alert to the highest level on Thursday amid a recent surge in infections.

Japan Airlines says it will issue new shares and increase its capitalization by more than 167.9 billion yen, or about 1.6 billion dollars, to shore up its finances which have been badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

JAL announced plans to issue 100 million new shares by next month in both Japanese and overseas markets.

NHK has learned that Japan's northern prefecture of Hokkaido is considering raising its alert for the coronavirus outbreak to Level 3 on Sunday.

The prefecture is expected to make a decision on Saturday.

Japan's health minister says he wants to raise the country's coronavirus testing capacity at airports to prepare for easing of travel restrictions.

Kato Katsunobu told reporters on Tuesday that he plans to raise the number of PCR tests at airports from the current maximum of 2,300 per day to 10,000 by the end of September. He said he will do so by encouraging the use of saliva in such tests.

Heavy rains in the northern part of Japan's Kyushu island are threatening the territory with landslides and flooding.

The Meteorological Agency says warm, damp air is flowing towards a seasonal rain front hovering around the Japanese archipelago, destabilizing atmospheric conditions. Rain clouds are developing in northern Kyushu and the Chugoku region.

The Japanese government will raise fines for smuggling pork and other meat products into the country on Wednesday as part of its efforts to prevent an outbreak of African swine fever, or ASF.

Fines for individuals will be tripled to as much as 3 million yen, or about 28,000 dollars. Penalties for corporations will be raised to 50 million yen, or about 470,000 dollars -- 50 times higher than the current level.

Japan's foreign ministry is to raise its travel alert for the entire world to level 2 on a four-level scale due to the global spread of the new coronavirus, urging Japanese people to refrain from non-essential overseas trips.

This level of alert for the entire world would be issued for the first time.

Britain has urged Japan to raise its reduction target for greenhouse gas emissions ahead of a UN climate change conference later this year.

All members of the Paris Agreement are required to submit their new reduction targets to the United Nations by the end of this month.

Sandaime J SOUL BROTHERS from EXILE TRIBE will release their new album "RAISE THE FLAG" on March 18. 

The album will contain "Yes we are," "SCARLET feat. Afrojack," and "Fuyuzora / White Wings," which were all released last year. The DVD and Blu-ray will include footage from 'Sandaime J SOUL BROTHERS LIVE TOUR 2019: RAISE THE FLAG' held at Nagoya Dome last November. Check out the track list below!