Officials of Osaka Prefecture, western Japan, are urging residents to refrain from making nonessential outings to help curb a spike in serious coronavirus cases.
The prefecture has raised its own coronavirus alert to its highest level and is asking residents not to go out unless necessary from Friday until December 15.
NHK has learned that Miyagi Prefecture in northeastern Japan now allows its residents living near a nuclear power plant to receive iodine tablets by mail to minimize person-to-person contact and help prevent coronavirus infection.
The prefecture changed its rule in response to a call from the central government's Cabinet Office to consider ways to distribute the tablets without such contact.
A famous Buddhist temple in Japan's western city of Kyoto drew crowds of tourists on the first weekend since the government's domestic tourism incentive campaign started including Tokyo residents earlier this month.
Visitors to Kiyomizu-dera and nearby places included sightseers from Tokyo.
The Japanese Northern Territories Affairs Minister has met with former residents of the Russian-controlled islands. The Japanese government says the islands are an inherent part of its territory and were illegally occupied after World War Two.
In his first visit to Hokkaido after taking a new Cabinet post, former foreign minister Kono Taro had a discussion with the former residents at the Nakashibetsu town hall on Sunday.
The Japanese government will allow the reentry of some foreign nationals with residence status, starting on August 5.
Japan currently denies entry of foreigners from 146 countries and regions as part of anti-coronavirus measures. Foreign residents are also barred from reentering Japan once they leave the country, unless there are special circumstances.
NHK has learned that the Japanese government plans to allow foreign nationals with certain residency statuses, including students and technical trainees, to re-enter the country despite a ban imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Those who temporarily left Japan before the restrictions were imposed will be eligible, on the condition they comply with requirements such as taking a PCR virus test.
The Japanese government opened a one-stop consultation center in Tokyo on Monday to provide assistance to foreign workers.
The Foreign Residents Support Center, or FRESC, is in Yotsuya, Shinjuku Ward. Eight government-affiliated organizations have offices there, including the Immigration Services Agency and the Japan Legal Support Center.
Torrential rains that lashed southern Japan on Saturday began to ease in the afternoon, prompting authorities to change a heavy rain 'emergency warning' for Kumamoto and Kagoshima prefectures to a 'warning'.
Flooding continues to cause havoc in many residential areas, and Nakamoto Yoshihisa, Japan's Meteorological Agency official, urged people to remain alert, and follow any evacuation orders from their municipalities.
Homeless people are one particularly vulnerable group that are being affected by the state of emergency declaration by the Japanese government.
In Tokyo, about 4,000 of them sleep in 24-hour internet cafes, including a large number of women fleeing domestic violence.
Many Fukushima residents have expressed concern over a possible scheme to release diluted radioactive wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant into the sea or air in the prefecture.
The government on Monday held the first meeting to hear local opinions on ways to handle the wastewater accumulating at the plant.
The governor of Osaka Prefecture, western Japan, is calling on people to avoid nightclubs and other spots that operate during nighttime hours as a precaution amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Yoshimura Hirofumi made the remarks to reporters on Tuesday saying that the virus could spread in entertainment establishments that operate from night until early morning.
It has been disclosed that 38 people in Tokyo confirmed to be infected with the coronavirus whose infection routes remain unclear may have contracted the virus at night spots.
At a news conference on Monday, Tokyo Governor Koike Yuriko urged people not to spend time in bars and other spots operating during the nighttime hours. Koike said that such entertainment establishments are high risk, because they are closed spaces with poor ventilation.
Foreign residents in Japan's Kanagawa Prefecture near Tokyo are turning to a medical facility offering service in six languages for help amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Staff at the Kobayashi International Clinic in Yamato City can respond to patients in six languages, including English, Korean and Tagalog.
Tokyo governor is calling on residents in the city to stay home this coming weekend unless they absolutely need to go out.
It comes after officials confirmed more than 40 more cases of infection with the new coronavirus on Wednesday, the largest one-day spike the city has seen so far.