Japan's Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has instructed ministers to raise the annual defense and other related budgets to 2 percent of the country's gross domestic product in fiscal 2027.

Kishida met with Defense Minister Hamada Yasukazu and Finance Minister Suzuki Shunichi on Monday evening. He told them he will decide how to ensure an increase in defense spending after reviewing both revenue and expenditures by yearend. He urged the two to discuss the matter with the ruling coalition parties.

A court in Japan has cleared a former high-ranking Finance Ministry bureaucrat of liability for compensation relating to the 2018 suicide of a regional official who was allegedly pressured to falsify government documents.

The Osaka District Court on Friday dismissed a claim for damages filed by the official's widow, Akagi Masako.

The coronavirus pandemic is increasingly making uncertain the future of Japan's project to set up integrated resorts that include casinos.

The government had planned to open the facilities sometime in the mid-2020s.

During a roundtable during a recent event hosted by Honda, we joined in on a roundtable interview with Honda Technical Consultant Ko Yamamoto and Honda Civic Type R Project Leader Hideki Kakinuma. Questions were asked about the Type R brand broadly, as well as the potential for some new projects. The answers were both good news and disappointing news for Honda fans.

The good news is that Honda takes the Type R name and brand very seriously. Yamamoto and Kakinuma explained that the name and its associated red "H" badge are only for vehicles with a racing connection, such as the Honda Civic Type R that has a couple of racing variants. As such, you won't be seeing a CR-V, Odyssey or Insight with the Type R name. Furthermore, the Type R name is only for Honda-badged vehicles, despite the existence of the Acura Integra Type R a couple decades ago.

Japan's Cabinet minister in charge of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics says the government will not call for the cancellation or downsizing of Games-related events despite the new coronavirus outbreak.

Seiko Hashimoto told reporters on Tuesday that the government's panel of experts has not urged restraint in organizing large-scale gatherings, and has allowed test events for the Olympics and Paralympics to go ahead as planned.

The Japanese government says it will start enforcing on Saturday ordinances that allow it to tighten immigration controls and take other measures to prevent the new coronavirus from spreading.

The government initially planned to start enforcing the ordinances next Friday. The move to fast-track their enactment came after the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern on Thursday.

Japan's government is fast-tracking the enactment of an ordinance that designates pneumonia caused by the new coronavirus as an infectious disease. It will go into force on Saturday.

The government approved the legislation this week for enactment on February 7.