Highlights of Japan-related events for March 2-8:

March 2 (Mon)

— House of Councillors Budget Committee to start question-and-answer sessions over budget draft for fiscal 2020.

Opposition parties are expected to grill Prime Minister Shinzo Abe over the government’s initial handling of the new coronavirus outbreak that has been expanding in Japan.

— Finance Ministry to release statistics showing corporate financial results by industry for October-December period.

— Japan Automobile Dealers Association to release new motor vehicle sales for February.

Domestic sales declined for the fourth straight through January, dampened by the effect of the consumption tax hike from 8 percent to 10 percent last October. The outbreak of the new coronavirus has also disrupted some domestic production at Japanese automakers due to difficulties in procuring parts from China.

March 3 (Tues)

— Cabinet Office to release survey on consumer trends for February.

— Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten Inc. to unveil fees for mobile phone services it plans to start in April.

The company’s entry in the mobile phone market, long dominated by NTT Docomo Inc., KDDI Corp. and SoftBank Corp., is expected to spur competition.

March 4 (Wed)

— Sendai District Court to hand down ruling on former Japanese entertainer Masashi Tashiro following his arrest in November on suspicion of illegal stimulant possession.

Tashiro, who debuted in the entertainment industry in the 1980s as a doo-wop singer with The Chanels and later became popular as a comedian, has admitted to the possession after earlier denying that the drugs were his.

March 5 (Thurs)

— Official campaigning to start for Kumamoto gubernatorial election.

— Japan Automobile Dealers Association to release new motor vehicle sales data by brand for February.

March 6 (Fri)

— Cabinet Office to release preliminary composite indexes of economic indicators for January.

The key coincident index of business conditions reflecting the current state of the Japanese economy will be closely watched after the government maintained its assessment that the world’s third-largest economy is “worsening,” using the most pessimistic expression for the fifth consecutive month in December.

— Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications to release average household spending data for January.

— Award ceremony for Japan Academy Film Prize to be held in Tokyo.

March 7 (Sat)

— No major events.

March 8 (Sun)

— Nagoya Women’s Marathon to be held in Aichi Prefecture in central Japan by excluding all but elite competitors amid concerns over the coronavirus outbreak.