A Kyushu Shinkansen train featuring characters from Nintendo Co.’s popular “Super Mario Bros.” game began operating between JR Hakata and Kagoshima Chuo stations on Saturday. The wrapped Shinkansen will operate until the end of June.

TAIPEI — A group of Japanese nationals kicked off a cycling trip around Taiwan on Saturday to express appreciation for large donations from Taiwanese people in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011.

Local governments are increasingly using drones during emergencies such as disasters without prior permission from the central government, which would normally be required.

ISHINOMAKI, Miyagi — A book compiling the children’s newspaper reporting of elementary, junior high and high school students from Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, affected by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake was published ahead of the 15th anniversary of the disaster.

The Cabinet Office will this year begin supporting overseas expansion by startups and midsize companies developing drugs to treat intractable or rare diseases, in an effort to strengthen the nation’s pharmaceutical development capabilities. It will subsidize the costs of participating in simultaneous domestic and foreign clinical trials to confirm the efficacy of such drugs.

Niigata University and major food delivery company Oisix ra daichi Inc. plan to establish a university-corporate educational partnership program, the first of its kind in Japan, that will deliver a practical, industry-focused curriculum, The Yomiuri Shimbun has leaned.

Japan’s second round of investments in the United States under its $550 billion (about ¥86 trillion) investment package may exceed $100 billion on three projects, according to sources close to the government and negotiators.

WASHINGTON — Japan repeated a call to the United States on Friday to exclude it from the list of countries subject to a new tariff on foreign goods announced by U.S. President Donald Trump last month, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.

A proposal for easing operational guidelines for the Three Principles on Transfer of Defense Equipment and Technology, which was submitted by the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and the Japan Innovation Party on Friday, is expected to promote exports of defense equipment and help deepen cooperation with like-minded nations.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has refrained from making an assessment on the legality of U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, out of consideration of the Japan-U.S. summit meeting scheduled for March 19.

Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi conveyed Japan’s grave concerns over the United States and Israel exchanging attacks with Iran, as well as the deteriorating situation across the Middle East to Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar on Friday.

Democratic Party for the People leader Yuichiro Tamaki announced Thursday his intention for the party to take part in the national council on social security, which will consider consumption tax cuts for food items and refundable tax credits.