Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will lead Tokyo's delegation to Argentina for the Sept. 7 vote on the host city of the 2020 Olympics.
Tokyo is competing against Istanbul and Madrid. Prime Ministers Mariano Rajoy of Spain and Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey also are expected to attend.
Abe spoke to more than 800 supporters at the send-off ceremony for bid members, confirming his plans to be in Buenos Aires and adding he is "hopeful" Tokyo will win.
Tokyo enters the final days of the campaign facing concern over a leak of highly radioactive water at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant.
About 300 tons of contaminated water was found to have leaked from one of the tanks at the wrecked Fukushima Dai-ichi plant on Monday. The leak is the fifth, and the worst, since last year. But Tokyo Gov. Naoki Inose said it does not pose a threat to Olympic plans.
Participants in a large-scale May Day rally in Tokyo on Saturday called for eliminating long working hours and correcting unreasonable pay gaps. (Jiji)
As tension spikes on the Korean peninsula, a French amphibious assault carrier sailed into Japan's naval base of Sasebo on Saturday ahead of drills that risk upsetting China, which faces U.S. pressure to rein in North Korea's arms programs. (Japan Today)
The former chief of school operator Moritomo Gakuen has released an audio recording of his discussions with a Finance Ministry official about a controversial land deal. (NHK)
More than a dozen journalists in Japan have protested a government-sponsored anti-terrorism bill. They say the law could suppress freedom of thought. (NHK)
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe mentioned the "looseness" of his cabinet on Wednesday as he effectively sacked Masahiro Imamura from the post of postdisaster reconstruction minister the same day over his latest gaffe. (Jiji)
A special Imperial abdication bill planned by the Japanese government will mention Emperor Akihito's "thoughts" on stepping down from the throne, as a product of compromise with opposition parties, a draft outline of the bill showed on Tuesday. (Jiji)