Policymakers at the Bank of Japan see higher wages as key to reaching a sustainable inflation target of 2 percent, according to the minutes of the BOJ's June policy meeting.
The two-day meeting through June 17 resulted in a decision to maintain massive monetary easing.
Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio says he is planning to inform the public about the characteristics of monkeypox and how to prevent its spread.
Kishida revealed his intention at a meeting of executives of his Liberal Democratic Party on Tuesday, one day after Japan confirmed its first case of the viral disease.
Japan's first case of monkeypox has been confirmed in Tokyo.
The health ministry says a Tokyo resident in his 30s with a recent history of overseas travel tested positive on Monday.
Japan's foreign minister has agreed with the chief of a UN anti-crime agency that measures against human trafficking need to be strengthened for Ukrainian evacuees.
Hayashi Yoshimasa met with Ghada Waly, executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, or UNODC, in Tokyo on Monday.
The Russian president's office says President Vladimir Putin will not attend the state funeral of former Japanese prime minister Abe Shinzo. Abe was fatally shot earlier this month during a campaign speech in western Japan.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Russian media on Monday that "Putin has no plan to visit Japan, to participate in the funeral."
A weather observatory in southwestern Japan says an on-site survey of the Sakurajima volcano has found no significant changes in the area. The volcano had an explosive eruption on Sunday night.
The observatory in Kagoshima Prefecture says the volcano erupted around 8 p.m. on Sunday, spewing large rocks as far as 2.5 kilometers east from the crater.
The Japanese health ministry has confirmed Japan's first case of monkey pox. It was detected in the Tokyo area.
A railway operator in southwestern Japan says it will cancel 120 limited express train services because of a staff shortage caused by coronavirus infections.
Kyushu Railway Company, also called JR Kyushu, said on Monday that 38 drivers and conductors are unable to report to work because they have been infected or identified as close contacts of COVID-19 patients.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government says it confirmed 22,387 new coronavirus cases on Monday. This is the first time the figure has topped 20,000 on a Monday.
The daily tally is up 9,691 from a week before. That's an increase of about 80 percent.
Japan on Monday issued a level-one alert against monkeypox amid a global outbreak of the virus.
Government officials are asking Japanese nationals around the world to take extra precautions against catching the disease. They say people who plan to travel abroad or remain outside Japan should be especially careful.
Officials in southwestern Japan are calling on people within a radius of about 3 kilometers from Sakurajima's crater to stay on high alert for large flying volcanic rocks following massive eruptions.
A weather observatory in Kagoshima Prefecture says the volcano massively erupted on Sunday evening, spewing large rocks as far as 2.5 kilometers from the crater.
Japanese prosecutors have sent the suspect in the shooting death of former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo to a detention house in Osaka City for psychiatric evaluation.
Yamagami Tetsuya arrived at the Osaka Detention House on Monday morning about one hour after leaving a police station in Nara City.
A government panel of experts has called for a wholesale review of Japan's loss-making railway lines.
The shrinking population and a drop in train usage amid the pandemic mean that some regional services are no longer viable.
Sakurajima volcano in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan, erupted on Sunday evening, spewing ash and stones and triggering an evacuation order. Officials are keeping a close watch on one of the country's most active volcanoes.
The meteorological agency does not expect another major eruption. But it has raised its alert to the highest level of 5. It is the first time that level 5 has been issued at the volcano since the system was introduced in 2007.