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Japan's transport minister says he is stepping up measures against a possible outbreak of the latest coronavirus. Kazuyoshi Akaba pledged an all-out effort for the expected spike in visitors from China during the Lunar New Year holiday.

The government is urging airlines and cruise ships to distribute a "health card" to all those arriving from China. The card directs people to quarantine officers if they have come from Wuhan and have symptoms, or are taking medicine for pain.

The Japanese government says the amount it has spent directly related to running the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics has so far reached 277.7 billion yen, or about 2.5 billion dollars.

The figure is for the period starting in fiscal 2013, when Tokyo was selected as the host city, until fiscal 2020 beginning in April.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has instructed his ministers to ensure that more hygienic laboratories are able to conduct tests for the new coronavirus. Only one facility in Japan is carrying out such tests at present.

Abe gave the instruction on Friday morning at a meeting of relevant ministers, including health minister Katsunobu Kato and foreign minister Toshimitsu Motegi.

Japan's health ministry has confirmed the country's second infection of the new coronavirus strain currently spreading in China. The virus was detected in a man in his 40s visiting Tokyo from Wuhan.

The inland Chinese city has been hit by a pneumonia outbreak that is likely caused by the virus.

Japanese Defense Minister Taro Kono has downplayed the danger to the Self-Defense Forces' intelligence-gathering mission in the Middle East. The government hopes the information will help safeguard commercial ships at a time of regional tension.

Kono discussed the mission in an exclusive interview with NHK World on Thursday.

Chinese tourists visiting Japan are buying facemasks to take home to protect themselves from the pneumonia outbreak believed to be caused by a new coronavirus.

Many Chinese travelers were buying masks at a drugstore in a departure lobby at Narita Airport, outside Tokyo, on Thursday.

Senior officials from Japan and Russia have held talks regarding joint economic activities on four Russian-controlled islands claimed by Japan.

They met in Moscow Wednesday for more than four hours. Japan sent officials from the ministries of foreign affairs, economy and the environment, as well as from tourism and fishery agencies.

The head of Japan's nuclear watchdog has stressed that the screening of a reactor at the Ikata nuclear plant in western Japan was carried out appropriately.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Chairman Toyoshi Fuketa of the Nuclear Regulation Authority, or NRA, commented on a court ruling that ordered the suspension of the No.3 reactor.

A quarantine station at Chubu international airport in central Japan is stepping up efforts to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus linked to a pneumonia outbreak in China.

The airport in Aichi Prefecture has five direct flights per week to and from the Chinese city of Wuhan, where an outbreak of pneumonia first emerged last month.

In tennis, defending champion Naomi Osaka has advanced to the third round of the Australian Open for the third straight year.

Osaka, who is No.4 in the current world rankings, beat the 42nd-ranked Zheng Saisai from China 6-2, 6-4 in Melbourne on Wednesday.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga says the country will continue taking steps to prevent the spread of pneumonia that is caused by a new strain of coronavirus.

Suga spoke to reporters on Wednesday. He said Japan has to be more vigilant against a possible outbreak in the country, as the disease is spreading in China.

Japan's Justice Ministry has responded to criticism of the country's criminal justice system by offering a point-by-point explanation on its website.

A section on frequently asked questions features 14 questions and answers in Japanese and English.

Two Japanese opposition parties have postponed a proposed merger for the time being due to disagreements over terms for the union.

The secretary general of the Constitutional Democratic Party, Tetsuro Fukuyama, met in the Diet on Tuesday with his counterpart from the Democratic Party for the People, Hirofumi Hirano.

A patrol plane unit from Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force has begun its intelligence-gathering mission in the Middle East amid heightened tensions in the region.

The unit has two P-3C aircraft, flying from the East African nation of Djibouti to the Gulf of Aden on Tuesday.