Organizers of Japan's Nagano Marathon said Tuesday they will go ahead with the race as planned this weekend, despite the blasts in Boston that killed at least three people and wounded more than 100.

The United States and Japan on Sunday offered new talks with North Korea to resolve the increasingly dangerous standoff over its nuclear and missile programs, but said the reclusive communist government first must lower tensions and honor previous agreements.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Iwo Jima on Sunday to review efforts to recover the remains of those killed in fierce fighting on the Pacific island during World War II.

A 6.3-magnitude earthquake hit western Japan early on Saturday, injuring at least 24 people and destroying some houses, officials and reports said.

Japan's long-deferred aspirations for a larger role in Myanmar are getting a boost this coming week with a visit by Nobel Peace Prize laureate and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The operator of Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant said Wednesday it will abandon seven underground reservoirs storing radioactive water after three of them sprang leaks.

The company that runs a Japanese nuclear power plant destroyed by a tsunami two years ago said on Tuesday it was losing faith in temporary storage pits for radioactive water — but it doesn't have anywhere else to put it.

The operator of Japan's crippled nuclear plant said Saturday that it is moving tons of highly radioactive water from a temporary storage tank to another after detecting signs of leakage — a blow to the plant struggling with the tight storage space.

Japan and the U.S. said Friday that they have agreed on plans for returning to Japan land near Kadena Air Base on the southern island of Okinawa that is now used by U.S. troops, in an effort to balance local concerns with support for the countries' military alliance.

The cooling system for a storage pool for fuel at one of the reactors at the tsunami-damaged nuclear plant in Japan failed on Friday for the second in a month, although there was no immediate danger from the breakdown.