The Japanese government says the actual cost of former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo's state funeral last month was over 1.2 billion yen, or more than 8 million dollars.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno Hirokazu said on Friday that the actual cost was about 400 million yen lower than the previous estimate of 1.66 billion yen.
Police officials in Tokyo plan to ramp up their crackdown on cyclists who violate traffic rules. Their aim is to reduce the number of accidents involving bicycles.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police say the number of traffic accidents in the capital is on the decline, but the percentage of cases involving bicycles has been rising.
Japan's Defense Minister says North Korea launched at least one ballistic missile eastward early on Friday morning.
Minister Hamada Yasukazu said the missile was fired at around 1:47 a.m., Japan time, from near Pyongyang. He said it is believed to have fallen into the Sea of Japan east of the Korean Peninsula, outside Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone.
Government sources say the actual cost of former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo's state funeral last month is expected to be over 1.2 billion yen, or more than 8 million dollars, which was lower than previously estimated.
Public opinion in Japan was divided over whether the government should carry out the state funeral, which was entirely covered by taxpayers' money. The funeral was held on September 27.
Two of Japan's industrial giants Sony Group and Honda Motor launched a joint venture that aims to deliver advanced electric vehicles by 2026. The new company is called Sony Honda Mobility.
Mizuno Yasuhide, Chairman and CEO of Sony Honda Mobility said "We will try to offer high-value-added products and services that overturn conventional ideas, and build new relationships with customers."
The Japanese government's coronavirus advisory panel has come up with measures to respond to a possible double outbreak of COVID-19 and influenza.
The expert panel met on Thursday to discuss how to reduce the burden on designated fever clinics if a simultaneous outbreak occurs this winter.
Japan's defense minister says North Korea may be ready to carry out its seventh nuclear test.
Hamada Yasukazu was responding to a question by an opposition lawmaker at a foreign affairs and defense committee session of the Upper House on Thursday.
The yen has again weakened against the US dollar.
It fell to the upper-147 level for the first time in 32 years.
Finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of 20 economies have started a two-day meeting in Washington. They are gathering to discuss the growing effects of currency volatility and inflation around the world.
Surging energy prices and a global food crisis triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine were at the top of the agenda during Wednesday's session.
Japan's Defense Minister says he believes North Korea has developed small nuclear warheads designed to fit on ballistic missiles that could reach the country.
Hamada Yasukazu made the remark on Thursday at a Diet committee meeting to discuss North Korea's series of missile launches.
Kyushu Electric Power Company has applied to extend the operation of two aging reactors for another 20 years at its Sendai Nuclear Power Station in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan.
The operational life span of nuclear reactors in Japan has been limited to 40 years in principle since the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in 2011.
Japan has started coronavirus vaccinations targeting the prevailing Omicron BA.5 subvariant.
Local municipalities will give shots of the vaccine to residents, starting on Thursday. Tokyo's Minato Ward says it will offer the vaccinations from Friday.
NHK has learned that adjustments are underway to ensure that health ministers from the Group of 7 countries will visit an atomic bomb museum when they gather at the southwestern Japanese city of Nagasaki next year.
Japan will chair the G7 summit to be held in the atomic bomb-hit western city of Hiroshima in May next year. The summit will be accompanied by 14 ministerial meetings that will be held across Japan.
Japan's government has worked out safety measures for buses used by nursery schools and kindergartens. This comes in response to the death of a 3-year-old girl from heatstroke in Shizuoka Prefecture last month after she was left behind in a bus.
The government says that from next April, it will require checking children's whereabouts through roll calls when they get on and off buses regardless of who is driving or riding the vehicles.