Former Justice Minister Katsuyuki Kawai, who was arrested on suspicion of violating the Public Offices Election Law, has admitted to giving out cash to local lawmakers and supporters. However, he said he did not intend to buy votes for his wife’s Upper House election campaign last July.

The head of the Tokyo High Public Prosecutor’s Office, who was seen as close to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, submitted his resignation on Thursday following a report that he played mahjong for money with two journalists during the nationwide state of emergency.

The Osaka prefectural government on Friday disclosed the names of six pachinko pinball parlors that have defied its request to close in the fight against the coronavirus. Customers were seen forming a line at a store before it opened.

The handouts of cloth masks across Japan as part of the government’s efforts to counter the virus pandemic started in Tokyo on Friday. However, the plan has been derided on social media as ineffective and insufficient.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared a state of emergency on Tuesday in seven prefectures over a surge in coronavirus infections. But this is different from a stringent lockdown with fines and other penalties for non-compliance.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Friday that the government will provide 300,000 yen in cash to virus-hit households facing income drops as part of its emergency economic package.