Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force has held an international fleet review for the first time in 20 years, to mark the 70th anniversary of its founding.
Twenty MSDF destroyers and submarines as well as 18 vessels from the United States, South Korea and 10 other countries took part in the review on Sunday in Sagami Bay, south of Tokyo.
Japan's health ministry said 6,264 new coronavirus cases were confirmed in Tokyo on Sunday.
The tally increased by 2,566 from the same day last week and was 1.69 times the figure a week ago.
A fireworks competition returned to the city of Tsuchiura, north of Tokyo, for the first time in three years, with 20,000 fireworks lighting up the sky.
The event took place on the banks of the Sakuragawa River in Ibaraki Prefecture on Saturday, with measures in place to reduce the risk of coronavirus infections.
Japan's Defense Ministry says fighter aircraft belonging to its Air Self-Defense Force and bombers from the US military have conducted joint drills over the East China Sea.
The ministry announced on Saturday that the tactical drills had been carried out that afternoon over waters northwest of the southern Japanese island of Kyushu.
Japan's health ministry says 7,967 new coronavirus cases were reported in Tokyo on Saturday.
The tally is up 3,843 from the same day last week and is nearly double the figure a week ago.
About 1,000 residents of a coastal town in northeastern Japan took part in an evacuation drill on Saturday, which is designated as World Tsunami Awareness Day.
Otsuchi Town in Iwate Prefecture was hit by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster.
A municipal museum in northeastern Japan has been rebuilt and reopened to the public nearly 12 years after it was destroyed in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
Saturday's reopening of the Rikuzentakata City Museum in Iwate Prefecture was celebrated by a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa says Japan will lead discussions on the situation in Ukraine and regional issues in the Indo-Pacific as the chair of the Group of Seven meetings next year.
Hayashi was in Germany for a G7 ministerial-level meeting. He met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the sidelines of the gathering on Friday.
Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and his British counterpart, Rishi Sunak, have agreed to closely coordinate sanctions against Russia while supporting Ukraine.
During their phone call on Friday, Kishida congratulated Sunak on his becoming prime minister and welcomed further deepening relations between their countries in various fields. Sunak also expressed hope for closer ties.
Japan's exports of food and farm goods are continuing to rise to record levels, supported by the weak yen and a recovery in the global restaurant industry.
Shipments of agricultural, forestry and fisheries products and foodstuffs in the January-to-September period reached almost one trillion yen, or nearly 7 billion dollars. That's up almost 15 percent from the same period last year.
Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has defended the appointment of a recently resigned Cabinet minister as head of his Liberal Democratic Party's coronavirus response panel.
Kishida attended a Lower House heath committee session on Friday and responded to criticism from an opposition party about the appointment of Yamagiwa Daishiro as head of the panel.
New COVID-19 cases are once again rising across Japan, with one expert saying the country is now entering an eighth wave of infection.
NHK analyzed data from prefectural and national health authorities to find the extent to which they are growing. The results indicate a surge in all 47 prefectures.
Japanese brokerage SMBC Nikko Securities says it plans to cut the pay of its top executives. The move is connected to the firm's stock manipulation case, which prompted the Financial Services Agency to issue a partial business suspension order.
The firm announced on Friday that President Kondo Yuichiro will receive no compensation for six months.
International flights using Japanese airports have more than tripled at the start of winter from the same period last year. This follows the easing of coronavirus restrictions.
The transport ministry says 1,920 international round-trip flights had been scheduled to use airports in Japan during the first week of the winter season that began last Sunday. That's 3.2 times the figure for the same period last year.