Japan's lawmakers are deliberating a bill that would allow the prime minister to declare a state of emergency to tackle the coronavirus. It has passed one stage in the approval process.

The minister in charge of the legislation, Yasutoshi Nishimura, was asked in a Diet committee whether the government plans to declare an emergency soon.

Some major theme parks in Japan have decided to extend their closure period due to the spread of the new coronavirus.

The Japanese government said on Tuesday that it will continue to ask that large-scale public events be suspended for another 10 days or so.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and other Cabinet Ministers mourned the victims of the earthquake and tsunami that hit northeastern Japan in March, 2011.

Abe and 20 others, including Disaster Management Minister Ryota Takeda and Reconstruction Minister Kazunori Tanaka, attended the event at the prime minister's office on Wednesday.

At 2:46 p.m., a siren sounded to mark the exact time the quake struck ... as people across Japan paused to observe a moment of silence for the thousands lives lost nine years after a major earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident struck the country's northeast.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Cabinet members did the same in Tokyo.

A Lower House committee in Japan's Diet has passed a bill that would allow the prime minister to declare a state of emergency to combat the coronavirus outbreak.

The bill was approved on Wednesday with a majority vote from the governing Liberal Democratic Party, its coalition partner Komeito, as well as the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party, Democratic Party for the People, Nippon Ishin and others.

People in Japan are taking a moment today to remember the lives lost nine years after a magnitude-9 earthquake struck the country triggering a tsunami and nuclear accident. 15,899 people died and more than 2,529 remain missing.

Early Wednesday morning, people in the disaster stricken Tohoku region gathered to pray for the souls of the victims.

People in Japan will take a moment to pause and remember the lives lost 9 years after a major earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident struck the country's northeast. Lives were changed forever -- and many are still coping with the aftermath.

On March 11, 2011 a magnitude-9 earthquake struck -- generating a tsunami more than ten meters tall.

The Japanese government is set to deny entry to visitors from the northern area of Italy which is the latest hot spot in the coronavirus crisis.

The entry ban will cover five regions including hardest-hit Lombardy and the Republic of San Marino.

An iconic large lantern in Tokyo's Asakusa area has been removed from a temple's main gate for the first time in seven years for repair work.

Many visitors in the area take photos in front of the lantern at the Kaminarimon, or Thunder Gate, of Sensoji Temple.

Japan's government has decided on its second emergency package to deal with the coronavirus outbreak.

The government taskforce on the new coronavirus endorsed the 4.2 billion-dollar package on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says foreigners coming from northern Italy, as well as some other areas where cases of the new coronavirus are surging, will be denied entry into Japan from Wednesday.

The number of confirmed infections and deaths in Italy are now second to China. On Tuesday, Italy's government extended a lockdown from the northern part of the country to the entire nation.

Japan's top government spokesperson says the current situation in the country does not require the declaration of a state of emergency.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga made the remark on Tuesday, after Cabinet ministers approved a bill that would enable the prime minister to declare a state of emergency over the new coronavirus if necessary.

A ban in Japan on the resale of face masks at marked-up prices is set to go into force from Sunday. The government has approved the measure, as the masks are in short supply amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Violators will face penalties of up to a year in prison or a fine as high as one million yen, or about 9,700 dollars.

A district court in Japan has ordered the government and Tokyo Electric Power Company to compensate citizens who say they lost their livelihoods after the 2011 accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

The Sapporo District Court handed down the ruling on Tuesday. The case was brought by 257 people of 78 households who fled to the northern prefecture of Hokkaido from evacuation zones and other areas after the accident.