The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has begun administering coronavirus vaccines targeting the dominant BA.5 subvariant at large-scale venues.
The rollout began on Friday at multiple sites. Residents aged 12 or older can visit with or without appointments, along with non-residents who work or attend school in Tokyo.
Japan's Air Self-Defense Force scrambled fighter jets more often during the first half of the current fiscal year compared to the same period last year, mainly against Chinese aircraft.
The Defense Ministry says ASDF jets were scrambled 446 times against foreign aircraft approaching Japan's airspace from April through September. The figure is up 56, or 14 percent, from the same period last year.
Japanese and American business leaders have called for increased exports of US liquefied natural gas to the Indo-Pacific region to help enhance energy security.
The appeal to the governments of the two countries came in a joint statement released after the annual US-Japan Business Conference on Wednesday in Washington.
Japan's health ministry confirmed 4,338 new cases of the coronavirus in Tokyo on Thursday.
The number is up 1,296 from last Thursday. The daily total in the capital increased from a week earlier for the second day in a row.
Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has called on medical groups and local governments to prepare for a possible double outbreak of the coronavirus and influenza this winter.
Government officials on Thursday held the first taskforce meeting on measures to deal with a simultaneous outbreak.
Former sumo Grand Champion Hakuho returned to his homeland, Mongolia, for a visit for the first time since becoming a Japanese citizen and retiring last year. He told NHK he wants to build ties between the two countries.
Hakuho flew to Mongolia on Monday. It was his first homecoming in four years. Hakuho set many records before retiring last year. He won 45 tournaments, the most ever. He is now a sumo stable master.
US drug maker Pfizer has asked Japan's health ministry to approve the use of its updated coronavirus vaccine for children aged five to 11. The firm says the vaccine is effective against the prevailing Omicron BA.5 subvariant.
Pfizer said it filed the request on Thursday. The so-called bivalent vaccine targets the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants, as well as earlier strains.
The Japanese government plans to abolish health insurance cards in the fall of 2024 by integrating them into "My Number" ID cards.
Digital Transformation Minister Kono Taro made the announcement on Thursday after a discussion with Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, health minister Kato Katsunobu and internal affairs minister Terada Minoru.
Shipments of raw oysters started in Japan's northeastern prefecture of Miyagi on Tuesday, about two weeks later than usual.
Workers in Ishinomaki City, which is famous for oyster farming, skillfully removed shells of about one ton of oysters that had been unloaded on Sunday.
The main building of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government was lit up on Tuesday night in the colors of the rainbow. Those colors symbolize sexual diversity.
The lighting up of the building came after the Metropolitan Government began accepting applications for a new certificate earlier in the day. The certificate is aimed at making life easier for members of sexual minority groups.
Major Japanese banks and others have launched a money transfer service for individual clients using smartphones.
An event marking the launch was held in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Japan lifted most of its COVID-19 border controls on Tuesday. The government removed its 50,000-person cap on the number of daily arrivals. Individual tourists who are not registered with package tours are allowed to enter the country for the first time in about two and a half years.
A visa waiver program for short-term visitors from 68 countries and regions, including the United States, South Korea and the United Kingdom, are also being reintroduced. Regional airports and ports are expected to start gradually accepting international flights and vessels.
A new survey shows that many elderly Japanese people living in care homes could not be hospitalized when they were infected with the coronavirus this summer.
The social welfare council for care homes and nursing homes for elderly people in Tokyo conducted the survey online in September.
Japan's space agency JAXA and Mitsubishi Electric have developed a new Earth observation satellite, Daichi-3.
The developers say the satellite can detect objects as small as 80 centimeters on the Earth's surface. They expect Daichi-3 to become one of the key tools for creating maps for disaster management.