Soaring fuel prices are taking a toll on business in a hot spring resort northwest of Tokyo.
The town of Kusatsu in Gunma Prefecture is a popular destination for visitors who come to see the traditional method of cooling hot spring water "yumomi" by stirring it with large wooden paddles.
Japanese health authorities are considering urging people with fevers to consult doctors online if they have a low risk of developing serious coronavirus symptoms.
The plan is aimed at reducing the burden on medical institutions, as experts at the health ministry are predicting that seasonal influenza may spread earlier than usual this winter.
Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force has announced that Japanese and Australian special operations units have conducted a joint drill. It is rare for the Japanese forces to release highly confidential information about the elite units.
The GSDF says that the drill included target practice. It says that the exercise was conducted in Australia in August.
A capybara at a wildlife park in Gunma Prefecture, northwest of Tokyo, has bitten two small children and injured one of them seriously.
Officials at Gunma Safari Park say a one-year-old boy was knocked down from behind and had his back bitten by a capybara on September 25. The child was playing in a section where visitors can have direct contact with capybaras.
Japan's health ministry says it confirmed 33,440 new cases of the coronavirus nationwide on Thursday.
The daily tally was down 8,733 from a week ago.
The winner of this year's Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, Svante Paabo, has been visiting a Zen temple in Japan regularly for more than 20 years, writing a book during his stay there in 2013.
The Swedish-born scientist was awarded the prize on Monday for his major contribution to the genetic study of human evolution through his groundbreaking work to establish technologies for deciphering the genome of Neanderthals and other extinct human species.
Atomic bomb survivors and anti-nuclear NGOs have urged senior officials at Japan's foreign ministry to take concrete measures toward abolishing nuclear weapons.
Members of the Japan NGO Network for Nuclear Weapons Abolition submitted a petition at the foreign ministry in Tokyo on Thursday.
In Major League Baseball, Ohtani Shohei of the Los Angeles Angels was a starting pitcher in the final game of the season against the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday.
The Japanese two-way star became the first player to qualify for both the batting average title and the earned run average title in the same year since Major League Baseball began its two-league system in 1901.
Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has rejected a call by an opposition party leader that a minister with links to the religious group, formerly known as the Unification Church, should be removed from his Cabinet.
Kishida answered questions from party representatives over his policy speech in the Lower House plenary session on Wednesday.
Major Japanese carrier All Nippon Airways has proposed to its labor union an increase in bonuses to be paid in the upcoming winter to pre-coronavirus pandemic levels.
In the proposal to the union on Wednesday, ANA management says they are ready to pay bonuses equivalent to two months' salary this winter.
NHK has learned that Japanese government officials are making final arrangements for Prime Minister Kishida Fumio to visit Australia this month.
Government sources say Kishida is planning the visit for late October if the Diet's deliberation schedule allows.
Japan's heath ministry says it confirmed 4,067 new cases of the coronavirus in Tokyo on Wednesday.
The daily tally is down 1,260 from a week ago.
Japan's Prime Minister Kishida Fumio appointed his eldest son as his executive secretary on Wednesday.
The move sparked speculation that Kishida is grooming his son Shotaro to become an eventual successor by exposing him to the front lines of government.
Japan's Lower House has adopted a resolution protesting the recent launches of ballistic missiles by North Korea.
The resolution was approved unanimously on Wednesday. It came after North Korea's test-firing of an intermediate-range ballistic missile that flew over Japan the day before.