Prime Minister Kishida Fumio says Japan must set up a system that clearly shows its counterstrikes are not pre-emptive attacks, when the country faces missile attacks.
Kishida said at an Upper House budget committee meeting on Wednesday that Japan must be fully-equipped to protect people's lives and livelihoods amid rapidly evolving missile and other technologies.
Japan's governing parties have confirmed that they will try to reach an agreement on Friday on the country's capabilities to conduct counterattacks on enemy missile-launching sites among others.
Lawmakers from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and coalition partner Komeito discussed the issue on Wednesday at their eighth working-level talks.
An evacuation drill simulating a ballistic missile launch has been held on Yonaguni Island, Japan's westernmost remote island, for the first time.
Twenty-two residents, including children, took part in the drill jointly organized by the central and prefectural governments and Yonaguni Town in Okinawa Prefecture, on Wednesday.
Japan's health ministry says it confirmed 14,399 new cases of the coronavirus in Tokyo on Wednesday.
That is up 1,549 from a week ago, marking a sixth straight day of week-on-week increases.
Japan's hotels and other accommodation facilities are seeing rapidly rising numbers of guests from abroad.
The number of overnight stays by such visitors was up 7-fold in October from the same month a year earlier.
An NHK program featuring coexistence between people and nature in an area of Japan known for its snowy climate has won a prestigious prize from the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union.
An award presentation ceremony for the 2022 ABU Prizes took place in the Indian capital New Delhi on Tuesday.
A Japanese court has ruled that not recognizing same-sex marriages is constitutional. It dismissed plaintiffs' claim for government compensation, saying current legal provisions cannot be ruled unconstitutional.
The Tokyo District Court handed down the ruling on Wednesday in a damages suit filed against the government by eight plaintiffs, including same-sex couples. The plaintiffs argued that provisions in the civil code and other legislation that don't recognize same-sex unions are unconstitutional.
An international research group conducting final-phase clinical trials on a new treatment drug for Alzheimer's disease says it has confirmed the drug's efficacy in slowing the progression of the illness.
The Japanese pharmaceutical company Eisai has been testing the drug lecanemab together with the University of Tokyo, Yale University's School of Medicine and others.
Japan's Reconstruction Minister Akiba Kenya has refused to step down from his Cabinet post amid calls from the opposition camp that he resign.
The Liberal Democrat has been mired in scandals over a possible election violation, political funds and alleged links to the controversial religious group formerly known as the Unification Church.
A secretary of a Japanese Lower House lawmaker has reportedly told prosecutors about a failure to list income totaling about 40 million yen, or about 290,000 dollars, in a political funds report.
Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Sonoura Kentaro's political fund management group had last year corrected its report to include funds worth 2 million yen, or about 14,500 dollars, collected at a fund-raising party in 2019.
A Japanese venture firm is about to launch what could become the first privately-funded spacecraft to land on the moon. The spacecraft will be carried by a US rocket.
The unmanned lunar lander was developed by Tokyo-based start-up ispace. The rocket carrying the lander will be launched by US firm SpaceX from the state of Florida.
Tokyo police say the suspect who stabbed a university professor on Tuesday may have known the victim's work schedule in advance. The attacker is still at large.
Sociologist and Tokyo Metropolitan University Professor Miyadai Shinji was stabbed by a man at the university's Minami-Osawa campus in the city of Hachioji.
The Tokyo District Court is set to hand down a ruling in a damages lawsuit claiming that the government's non-recognition of same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.
The eight plaintiffs argued that the inability of same-sex couples to marry disregards the principles of freedom and equality guaranteed by the Constitution. The Japanese civil code does not allow such marriages. The plaintiffs include same-sex couples living in Tokyo.
Japan's squad is looking to bounce back from Sunday's loss to Costa Rica in the 2022 soccer World Cup finals in Qatar's capital of Doha.
Japan and Spain will face off on Thursday, local time, or 4 am Friday, Japan time. Japan needs at least a draw to stand any chance of reaching the knockout stages.