Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says he will fully consider the possible impact on individual rights if a state of emergency is declared over the coronavirus outbreak.

Abe was speaking on Monday at an Upper House committee that is discussing a bill that would allow the prime minister to declare a state of emergency.

A flight from South Korea has arrived in Japan hours after the country tightened its border controls to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Starting on Monday, Japan's government is asking people arriving from China and South Korea, including Japanese nationals, to self-isolate at home or other private accommodation for two weeks.

US residents of Japan voted in a Democratic Party presidential primary on Sunday that is being held in 44 countries and territories.

Ballot stations were set up in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya. Many people came to the polling station in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward when it opened at noon.

The Japanese yen has surged more than 3 percent against the US dollar on the Tokyo foreign exchange market, the highest level against the greenback since November of 2016.

Market watchers say investors rushed to sell dollars and buy yen on concerns that the spread of the coronavirus may seriously impact the global economy including the United States.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has instructed government officials to gather and analyze information on North Korea's launch of projectiles on Monday morning.

The prime minister has instructed them to provide information to the public quickly and appropriately.

The number of coronavirus infections in Japan had increased to 456 as of 8:00 p.m. on Sunday. In addition to this figure, 696 people from the Diamond Princess cruise ship have been infected, and 14 cases have been confirmed among people who returned on chartered flights from Hubei Province in China.

The tally is based on data compiled by the health ministry and local governments.

The Japanese health minister says he expects the country's capability to test people for the new coronavirus will top 7,000 a day by the end of this month.

Katsunobu Kato made the comment on an NHK talk show on Sunday.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited disaster-hit towns in Fukushima on Saturday ahead of the ninth anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami that struck northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011.

Abe laid flowers and offered silent prayers to the victims of the disaster at a cemetery in Namie Town on the Pacifc coast that morning.

Doctors at a hospital in Yamanashi Prefecture west of Tokyo, say the new coronavirus is likely to have caused meningitis in a male patient in his 20s.

The man had a fever on February 27 and visited different medical institutions on February 28 and March 2, but was not tested for the coronavirus.

Nine years after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident, more than half of the waste created by decontamination work is still kept near residents' homes.

About 14 million cubic meters of soil and vegetation has been collected in clean-up operations in areas affected by the nuclear accident in Fukushima Prefecture, except for heavily contaminated off-limit areas.

An international survey shows female representation in national parliaments around the world has almost doubled in the past 25 years. But Japan ranked low despite an increase in the proportion of female lawmakers.

The Geneva-based Inter-Parliamentary Union released the results of its survey of the number of women in the lower or single houses of parliament around the world. The publication comes ahead of International Women's Day, on March 8.

People trying to get to Japan from China and South Korea are rushing to complete the trip before the government starts quarantining all arrivals from the two countries.

The Japanese government said earlier this week that from Monday it will require everyone coming from the two neighboring countries to be isolated at designated facilities for two weeks, as part of measures to stem the spread of the new coronavirus.

The Japanese government is asking travelers from China and South Korea to self-quarantine for two weeks starting from Monday in light of the coronavirus outbreak.

It will apply to everyone entering from the two countries, including Japanese nationals, until the end of March.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga says the Japanese government will try to make its case to South Korea for Japan's request of a two-week quarantine period for those coming to Japan from South Korea and China.

Suga spoke to reporters on Friday. Seoul lodged a protest against Japan's move.