A bus service has been launched to transport international travelers from Haneda and Narita airports directly to hotels in Tokyo, as part of an effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

The Airport Transport Service started offering the direct bus routes on Wednesday. It is providing three trips a day from the airports to 12 hotels in Tokyo. Travelers who will stay at the hotels are eligible to use the service. Advance booking is required. Fares cost about 39 dollars from Narita and about 14 dollars from Haneda.

Authorities in Fukuoka Prefecture, western Japan, are culling about 93,500 chickens after the H5 strain of bird flu was detected in dead poultry at a farm.

The farm in Munakata City reported on Tuesday that a number of chickens had died. Tests by local authorities found that the virus is likely to be the highly pathogenic H5 strain which has a high death rate. The central government plans further examination.

A medical institution in Japan has announced initial results of a clinical study of a coronavirus treatment in which patients are given blood plasma taken from recovered people.

Dr. Kutsuna Satoshi of the National Center for Global Health and Medicine provided an update on the study at an online symposium with researchers and doctors from in and outside of Japan on Tuesday.

Two lawmakers have kicked off their campaigns for the leadership of Japan's new main opposition party. It is being created through a merger that includes the two largest opposition groups.

The race is between Izumi Kenta, the policy chief of the Democratic Party for the People, and Edano Yukio, the leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.

It's election day in Tokyo. Voters will decide who should govern the capital for the next four years, but this time around there are more face masks and social distancing.

The coronavirus also affected campaigning with mass rallies replaced by online vote-grabbing.

Prime Minister Abe Shinzo is warning against a second wave of the coronavirus outbreak in Japan. He urged people not to expect the virus to weaken in the coming hot summer months.

Abe spoke during a program streamed live on Sunday night. He said people should not be complacent this summer because the virus is spreading even in extremely hot countries in the Middle East.

Unified college and university entrance examinations are underway for high school students and graduates across Japan.

The two days of tests began on Saturday. About 550,000 applicants are sitting for this year's exams at 689 sites.