The back-to-back women's World Cups at the Ōkurayama Ski Jump Stadium in Sapporo, scheduled for January 8 and 9, is the first to be affected, followed by the double header at the Yamagata Zao Onsen Ski Resort in Zao on January 14 and 15.

Three men's World Cups are also impacted, with the Sapporo leg of the circuit from January 21 to 23 no longer taking place.

The FIS said it is seeking alternative hosts for the World Cups.

They are the latest high-profile winter sports and events cancelled due to Japan's restrictions, with the International Skating Union's Grand Prix of Figure Skating cancelled for the second year running earlier this month.

Japan has banned the new entry of all foreign visitors for the month of December due to fears around the new variant, which is believed to be more transmissible than the Delta variant.

It has also tightened quarantine rules for Japanese residents.

The country experienced its deadliest wave of infections to date from July to September.

It hosted the Olympic and Paralympic Games earlier this year, but organisers insisted Tokyo 2020 was not linked to a spike in COVID-19 infections in the capital and across the country.

Japan has recorded more than 1.7 million infections and 18,000 deaths since the pandemic began, but case numbers declined rapidly after their peak at the end of August and have remained consistently low for the last two months.

Germany's Karl Geiger leads the men's Ski Jumping World Cup overall standings, while Marita Kramer of Austria leads the women's.