Katsunobu Kato

Shigeru Ishiba became Japanese prime minister on Tuesday, seeking to restore the ruling party's popularity and tackle a demographic crisis, a lacklustre economy and fears over China's military build-up.

Japan will halt the use of 1.63 million doses of Moderna's COVID vaccine after reports of contamination in several vials, drugmaker Takeda and the health ministry said on Aug. 26.

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A Belarusian Olympic athlete who claimed her team was forcing her to return home spent the night under protection and may be seeking asylum, officials said on Aug. 2.

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Sprinter Kristina Timanovskaya, 24, missed her chance of competing in Tokyo when the 200 meters heats went ahead without her in the Olympic Stadium.

A 7.3-magnitude earthquake off Fukushima in eastern Japan injured more than 100 people, authorities said on Feb. 14, nearly a decade after the region suffered a devastating quake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown.

First death due to the coronavirus in Japan. According to Katsunobu Kato, the country's health, labor and social security minister, an 80-year-old woman in Kanagawa Prefecture has died from the virus, RIA Novosti reports.

Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Recep Akdağ on April 5 met Japanese Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Katsunobu Kato in Tokyo.