TOKYO—American passengers on the coronavirus-stricken Diamond Princess cruise ship departed from a Tokyo airport early Monday on flights home that the U.S. government arranged after a high-level political push in Washington.
Buses carried the Americans from the ship, the site of the biggest coronavirus outbreak outside China, to Haneda airport, where they boarded two charter flights organized by the State Department. The Defense Department said one plane would go to Travis Air Force Base near Sacramento, Calif., and the other…