A toll road operator in Japan says it hopes to fully reopen a section of an expressway where hundreds of vehicles remain stranded in heavy snow.
East Nippon Expressway President Obata Toru held a news conference on Friday about the trouble on the Kan-etsu Expressway in Niigata Prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast.
Schools in the southwestern Japanese city of Hitoyoshi have reopened, after heavy rain caused floods and mudslides in the area recently.
The city of Hitoyoshi in Kumamoto Prefecture was devastated after the Kuma River overflowed.
The operator of Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea says the theme parks will reopen on July 1. Located just outside Tokyo, both have been closed since February 29 due to the coronavirus outbreak in Japan.
Oriental Land said on Tuesday that only people who purchase tickets in advance can gain admittance for now. The measure is to prevent infections. Tickets will be available online from 3 p.m. on Thursday.
Japan Airlines has decided to fully reopen Terminal 1 for domestic flights at Tokyo's Haneda Airport on July 1 as more passengers are beginning to travel since the state of emergency was lifted on May 25 in Japan.
The airline closed its north wing departure lobby in April after the number of passengers plunged due to the pandemic.
Businesses across Japan are slowly reopening even before the government makes its final decision on lifting a nationwide state of emergency.
More than half the country's prefectures are likely to ease restrictions put in place last month.
Some prefectures in Japan are resuming business as the government mulls lifting the state of emergency due to the coronavirus before the end of the month.
More than 30 prefectures are expected to have restrictions eased while Tokyo is likely to stay under the emergency declaration.
Public schools in Tottori Prefecture in western Japan were reopened for the first time on Thursday after they were closed on April 27.
The decision came after Japan's government allowed prefectures, other than those under a special alert, to ease some of the restrictions put in place to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Toyota will extend the current shutdown of all its plants in North America for an addition two weeks due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and decline in vehicle demand. The Japanese automaker will keep all assembly and component parts plants in Canada, Mexico and the United States closed through April 17.
"The manufacturing facilities will remain closed through April 17, resuming production on April 20," the company said in a statement. "Our service parts depots and vehicle logistics centers will continue to operate. We will continue to monitor the situation and take appropriate action in a timely manner."
Two cities in Toyama Prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast have reopened their public elementary and junior high schools after being closed for two weeks to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.
Classes resumed on Monday in the cities of Toyama and Kurobe.