Japan's Coast Guard continues to search for 12 people who remain missing three months after a tour boat sank off the northern island of Hokkaido.

The "Kazu I" vessel carrying 26 people, sank on April 23 in waters off the Shiretoko Peninsula. Fourteen people have been confirmed dead, while the rest remain missing.

Japan's medical system is coming under increasing strain due to a seventh wave of coronavirus infections.

Authorities nationwide reported almost 200,000 new cases on Friday. The daily tally has hit a record for three straight days.

Investigative sources say the suspect in the fatal shooting of former Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo has said he decided to carry out the attack before he ran out of money.

Yamagami Tetsuya was arrested on the spot after the shooting of Abe, who was giving a campaign speech in the western city of Nara on July 8.

Civil groups in Japan have protested the government's decision to hold a state funeral for former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo.

Abe was shot dead on July 8 while giving an election campaign speech in Nara City, western Japan.

Japan's nuclear regulator has authorized a plan to release treated water from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the ocean.

The Nuclear Regulation Authority held an extraordinary meeting on Friday during which it discussed and gave final approval of the plan drawn up by the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, in line with a government decision.

Japan has stressed in its annual defense white paper that the international community should not tolerate Russia's military invasion of Ukraine.

This year's white paper on defense was presented to the Cabinet at a meeting on Friday. The document has a new section on the Russian invasion.

The Japanese government has decided to hold a state funeral for former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo on September 27 at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo.

Cabinet ministers made the decision on Friday, agreeing that Abe assumed a heavy responsibility as the country's longest-serving prime minister and made major achievements in domestic and foreign policy.

The Japanese government may shorten the isolation period for close contacts of people infected with COVID-19 to five days, amid a rapid resurgence of cases nationwide. The move is intended to keep the country's economic and social activities going.

Currently, individuals who come in close contact with coronavirus patients are in principle asked to self-isolate for seven days.

Japan's health ministry plans to offer fourth coronavirus vaccine shots to healthcare workers and staff at facilities for the elderly from Friday amid a rapid resurgence of infections.

Currently, people who are eligible for a fourth shot are those aged 60 and older, those aged 18 and older with underlying diseases, and those aged at least 18 who are deemed by doctors to have a high risk of becoming seriously ill.

The Japanese government plans to discuss shortening the isolation period for close contacts of people infected with COVID-19 from the current seven days, amid a rapid resurgence of cases nationwide.

Prime Minister Kishida Fumio will meet with Cabinet ministers on Friday to discuss ways of responding to the spike in the number of infections around the country.

The Japanese government has decided to hold a state funeral for former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo on September 27 at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo.

Abe was shot dead on July 8 while giving an election campaign speech in Nara City, western Japan.

Members of a Ukrainian journalist organization and a group supporting journalists have called on people in Japan to stay interested in the war in Ukraine.

Serhii Shevchenko of the NSJU journalist organization and Liudmyla Mekh from the support group visited the Japanese city of Hiroshima on Thursday.

The suspect in the fatal shooting of former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo apparently posted about "revenge" and "guns" on a blog before the attack.

The post said that, in reference to a religious group, "Revenge is meaningful only when it is done by oneself," and "I desperately want guns."

Okinawa Prefecture in southwestern Japan has decided to call on residents to follow restrictive measures amid a resurgence of coronavirus infections there.

The prefectural government decided on its new requests for residents at a meeting on Thursday. Okinawa saw a record-high 5,250 new cases of the coronavirus reported for the day. The tally on the previous day topped 5,000 for the first time in the prefecture.