The UN nuclear agency says it plans to issue a report on the safety of treated water from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant before the start of its release into the sea. The release is planned to begin around next spring.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has been verifying the safety of the treated water based on international standards at the request of the Japanese government. An IAEA team of experts conducted a five-day inspection in Japan that began on Monday. They inspected the power plant and met with officials of the government and the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO.

A woman has told NHK how she spent more than 30 million yen, or about 220,000 dollars, on so-called spiritual sales and donations for the religious group formerly known as the Unification Church.

The woman, in her 60s, left the group several years ago. She says her first contact with members of the organization came when she asked a friend for advice about her husband's illness.

The Japanese government has come up with an outline of planned legislation to regulate malicious canvassing of donations by religious groups and other entities.

The move is part of efforts to provide relief to people who made large donations to the controversial religious organization previously known as the Unification Church.

As the aviation industry faces pressure to reduce its environmental impact, Japan Airlines has operated the first net-zero emission flight in the country thanks to sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF.

SAF made up 40 percent of the fuel used for a JAL charter flight on the Haneda-Naha route.

Japan's Diet has enacted a bill to redraw the electoral districts of the Lower House in an effort to reflect voters' views in a fairer way.

The draft amendment to the public offices election law has passed through the Diet after it was approved at the Upper Houser plenary session on Friday with a majority in favor.

Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has urged the leaders of other Asia-Pacific nations to denounce North Korea in the strongest possible terms for its repeated ballistic missile launches.

Kishida and leaders from the United States, South Korea, Canada, Australia and New Zealand held an emergency meeting on Friday after North Korea fired a ballistic missile earlier in the day. The leaders are in Thailand to attend the APEC summit.

The consumer price index in Japan rose last month by a margin not seen in four decades, further putting the pinch on shoppers.

The internal affairs ministry says the CPI, excluding fresh food, climbed 3.6 percent in October from a year earlier.

Major League Baseball star Ohtani Shohei has confirmed that he wishes to play for Team Japan in the upcoming World Baseball Classic.

In a post on his Instagram page on Thursday, Ohtani said he has officially informed Team Japan Manager Kuriyama Hideki that he would like to participate in next year's WBC. He also posted a photo of himself wearing the uniform of Japan's national team.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has expressed his willingness to improve ties with Japan, but reportedly stressed that matters involving Taiwan must be handled properly.

Xi met Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio in the Thai capital Bangkok on Thursday. It was the first time in about three years for the leaders of Japan and China to meet in person.

Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in Bangkok on Thursday. This marks the first bilateral in-person summit for the two countries in three years.

During the summit, Kishida said that it is important for both sides to accelerate efforts to build constructive and stable Japan-China relations. Xi said that China wants to grasp the direction of bilateral ties from a strategic point of view and build relations that meet the demands of the new era.

Myanmar's military has released a Japanese journalist from prison. The Japanese embassy in Myanmar confirmed Kubota Toru's flight has departed from the country.

Kubota had been facing a 10-year sentence for incitement and violating a telecommunications law after a military court found him guilty last month. He had been detained by security authorities in Yangon for filming protests against the junta while on a tourist visa.

FTX Japan, the Japanese unit of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has responded to demands by local authorities for a plan on how it will protect its customers' assets. Its parent company in the US, FTX Trading, and about 130 related companies filed for bankruptcy with a US court last week.

The submission by the Japanese subsidiary comes after the Japanese Finance Ministry ordered it to partly halt its activities last week as it lacked the system necessary to carry out its business.

Japan extended its run of trade deficits to 15 months in October as soaring energy prices and a weaker yen pushed up the value of imports.

The Finance Ministry says the deficit came in at 2.16 trillion yen, or about 15.5 billion dollars. That's 23.8 times the figure recorded a year earlier. It's also the biggest ever deficit in yen terms for the month of October.

Japan's health ministry says 9,755 new coronavirus cases were confirmed in Tokyo on Thursday.

The daily tally is up 1,786 from a week ago, for the 13th straight day of week-on-week increase.