Japanese figure skater Hanyu Yuzuru has won the award for Most Valuable Skater from the International Skating Union, or ISU.
The international skating body made the announcement during an online ceremony on Saturday. It also announced the winners for the last season in six other categories of the newly-established ISU Skating Awards.
Officials of Japan's professional baseball and soccer leagues have agreed to welcome back fans to stadiums from Friday as scheduled, even as coronavirus numbers continue to rise.
The two sports' organizers held a joint task force meeting online on Monday that included infectious disease experts.
Japan's Prime Minister Abe Shinzo and reelected Tokyo Governor Koike Yuriko have agreed to continue working closely together to contain the coronavirus. They also affirmed their cooperation for a successful Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Koike visited the prime minister's office on Monday morning after winning a second term in Sunday's gubernatorial election.
NHK has learned that organizers of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics have secured all venues for the games, which were postponed to next year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The organizers had been in talks with owners of the 43 venues, the athletes' village and other facilities.
The top J1 division of Japan's professional soccer league, J.League, which postponed all official matches in February in response to the coronavirus outbreak, has resumed play without spectators.
At Saitama Stadium, where the match between Urawa Reds and Yokohama F. Marinos was held, league and club officials disinfected their hands and had their body temperatures measured with a thermograph.
A senior official of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic organizing committee says a final decision on whether to hold the Games or not can wait until sometime between March and June next year.
Endo Toshiaki, special representative of the committee's president, was speaking to reporters after he met Prime Minister Abe Shinzo in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Japan's karate governing body says it will redo some of its qualification processes for next year's Tokyo Olympics following a decision by the sport's international body.
The Japan Karatedo Federation announced on Monday that it will nullify the qualification of two athletes in the kumite category.
Japanese rugby player Fukuoka Kenki says he will follow through with his decision to become a medical doctor. In return, he has given up on playing for the Japanese Rugby Sevens squad in next year's Tokyo Olympic Games.
In last year's Rugby World Cup, the 27-year-old speedster stood out for scoring four tries, that contributed to Japan's historic run to the quarterfinals.
About 80 percent of the facilities needed for next year's postponed Tokyo Olympics have been lined up, the president of the organizing committee said Friday.
Two of the largest venues have not yet been secured, however.
An NHK survey shows that about two-thirds of corporate sponsors of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics have not decided whether to extend their contracts with the Organizing Committee beyond December, following the Games' postponement to 2021.
NHK conducted a survey of 78 Olympic and Paralympic sponsor companies in May, and 57 of them responded.
NHK has learned that companies sponsoring Japan's para-sports have reduced or suggested they would reduce financial support to organizations participating in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.
Many of the organizations participating in the Paralympics do not have sufficient financial resources. More than half of them count on sponsor money or government subsidies for over 80 percent of funds they need to train athletes and promote para-sports.
NHK has learned that the International Olympic Committee plans to finalize in September a new plan for the 2020 Tokyo Games. The coronavirus pandemic forced organizers to push back the Games by one year.
The Tokyo Olympics are now scheduled to open in July next year. It is estimated that the postponement will cost several billion dollars.
The Japan Sumo Association is set to cancel its May tournament as the government is preparing to extend the nationwide state of emergency for the coronavirus outbreak until the end of the month.
Multiple sources said that it is difficult for the association to go ahead with the summer grand tournament while the state of emergency is in effect.
The Japan Sumo Association says it will reconsider its schedule for the summer grand tournament if the government extends the state of emergency.
The nationwide measure is currently due to expire on Wednesday, May 6.