Japan's health ministry said it confirmed 10,454 new cases of coronavirus in Tokyo on Sunday. The figure is up 108 from a week ago.

The ministry also reported 16 deaths in the capital.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary says the government will hold a working group meeting early next year to discuss ways to alleviate Okinawa Prefecture's burden of hosting US military bases.

The southern prefecture hosts about 70 percent of the US military facilities in Japan. Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno Hirokazu is in charge of reducing this burden.

Japanese automakers are accelerating moves to equip their new models with technologies emerging from their efforts to develop fully self-driving vehicles.

Driving automation has six levels from zero to 5. The government seeks to put Level 4 mobility services into practical use by around 2025. Level 4 vehicles automatically perform all driving tasks under specific circumstances.

Children in Tokyo sampled so-called "inclusive food" for those with chewing or swallowing difficulties at an event on Sunday.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has been developing meals of this type for children in a joint project with the University of Tokyo and Tokyo Medical and Dental University.

A former Japanese abductee who returned from North Korea 20 years ago has called on Japan's government to take action to immediately bring back other people who were abducted.

Chimura Yasushi made the urgent appeal at a rally in the city of Fukui, central Japan, on Sunday.

Police in central Japan have arrested three former nursery school teachers on suspicion of assault on young children at the school.

The suspected assaults occurred when the three women were working for Sakura Hoikuen in Susono City, Shizuoka Prefecture. They all quit by the end of November.

The head of the Japan Football Association says the coach of Japan's national team may stay in his post after the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Moriyasu Hajime's current contract expires at the end of the tournament.

JFA President Tashima Kohzo spoke to reporters in Doha on Saturday after Japan secured a spot in the knockout stage for the second consecutive tournament. The Samurai Blue squad beat former champions Germany and Spain in Group E.

A survivor of the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima has again called for the total abolition of nuclear weapons.

Setsuko Thurlow, who lives in Canada, made the appeal in a video message on Saturday at an event sponsored by the Japanese NGO, Peace Boat.

Japan's government plans to promote exports of ornamental nishikigoi carp to meet its goal of increasing overseas shipments of cultivated products.

The government has drawn up a draft strategy aimed at boosting shipments of farm, forestry and fishery products, as well as processed food products, to an annual value of 2 trillion yen, or about 15 billion dollars, ahead of the original target of 2025.

Researchers in Japan have found coronavirus death rates among people aged 40 and older from the 7th wave of infections that hit the country this summer were less than half that when the 6th wave that had started early this year peaked.

The group at the Japanese Association of Public Health Center Directors compared death rates among the approximately 550,000 people aged 40 and older who contracted COVID between January and August in ten prefectures, including Osaka and Ibaraki.

The Japanese government has decided to set up a new entity to help prevent high-end domestic fruits and other farm products from being illegally grown overseas.

The decision comes after items such as high-quality "Shine Muscat" and "Ruby Roman" grapes were found growing in other countries.

Japan's health ministry says it confirmed 13,321 new cases of the coronavirus in Tokyo on Saturday.

The figure is down 248 from one week ago.

The policy chief of Japan's main ruling Liberal Democratic Party is set to visit Taiwan.

Hagiuda Koichi plans to begin a three-day trip on December 10.

Japan's Environment Ministry has decided to establish an expert panel early next year to discuss how to deal with possibly toxic compounds detected near US military bases in the country.

The panel, made up of experts in public health and other fields, is expected to decide domestic targets to keep concentrations of the organofluorine compounds PFOS and PFOA at low levels. The experts will also consider ways to monitor water quality.