Requests for rapidly constructed "instant houses" are growing across areas of Kumamoto Prefecture devastated by the recent earthquake, providing air-conditioned temporary shelter for residents who have been sleeping in tents and vehicles beside their damaged homes.
Toyota Motor has begun recruiting residents of Shizuoka Prefecture to live in Woven City, its experimental community for developing future technologies, with about 25 households expected to move into the site for two years from March 2027.
A 49-year-old man has been rearrested on suspicion of injuring six people after driving a Bentley into seven vehicles stopped at a traffic light on National Route 16 in Hachioji, western Tokyo, in March.
A 32-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of repeatedly placing massive orders for merchandise from popular manga series through Shueisha's online store and then canceling the purchases without payment, causing disruption to the retailer's operations.
A knife-wielding man died after a police sergeant shot him in the chest on a street in Kawachinagano, Osaka Prefecture, after he continued advancing toward five officers despite repeated warnings and a warning shot fired into the air.
Nine days after the Kumamoto earthquake, a supermarket in Hikawa, where the strongest seismic intensity of 7 was recorded, is moving toward reopening while providing free groundwater to residents as about 3,200 households remain without running water.
Japan is one of those countries that people visit once and then return to again and again and again, because it is unlike any other place on the planet.
The rainy season appears to have ended in the Hokuriku region and both southern and northern Tohoku, the Japan Meteorological Agency said on August 5, marking the apparent end of the season across the entire country.
A fire destroyed a wooden reception building at a subtemple within the grounds of Kodaiji in Kyoto on August 3, burning about 60 square meters but leaving no one injured and causing no damage to the temple's main buildings or cultural properties.
The legal speed limit on many residential roads will be lowered from 60 kilometers per hour to 30 kph on September 1, as police urge drivers to recognize that pedestrians should take priority on narrow neighborhood streets.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s government formally approved a plan on August 5 to reduce the consumption tax rate on food and nonalcoholic beverages from 8% to 1% for two years beginning in April 2027, setting the stage for a difficult parliamentary battle over how to cover an estimated 10 trillion yen revenue shortfall and whether the politically sensitive tax can be restored afterward.
Japan’s latest defense white paper has sparked controversy by presenting the country’s expanding military buildup not only as a national security necessity but also as a potential engine of economic growth, drawing criticism from China and raising fresh domestic questions over how far Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s government is prepared to link defense, industry and fiscal policy.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s food-tax cut plan cleared a major ruling party hurdle on August 5, intensifying debate over whether her government can deliver household relief without weakening fiscal credibility or drawing the Bank of Japan deeper into the administration’s economic agenda.
A proposal to allow children to decide whether to view graphic photographs and other harrowing materials at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum has sparked debate as the city marks the 81st anniversary of the atomic bombing.
Wakana Uchikoshi, a 27-year-old recruitment professional at Ajinomoto AGF, has built a demanding but rewarding life that combines her weekday corporate career with twice-weekly practices as a cheerleader for a company-affiliated American football team.
Water spinach, a heat-resistant leafy vegetable that can cost about half as much as spinach and be regrown at home from leftover stems, is attracting attention in Japan as households look for affordable ways to cope with rising summer vegetable prices.
University students in Shizuoka have designed a future lunar city using the globally popular game Minecraft and educational materials supervised by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, combining programming and spatial design to explore how people could live safely and sustainably on the moon.
Tokyo stocks diverged on August 6, with the Nikkei 225 closing at 65,683.26, down 617.18 points, or 0.93%, as selling in artificial intelligence and semiconductor-related heavyweights outweighed broad gains across the wider market.
The Bank of Japan's latest economic outlook has strengthened expectations that another interest rate increase could come as early as September after the central bank kept its policy rate at around 1.0% at its July meeting following a June hike, while placing greater emphasis on the risk that inflation will rise above its 2% target.
Tokyo stocks rebounded strongly on August 5, with the Nikkei 225 rising to about 66,300 in late-session trading as investors bought back artificial intelligence and semiconductor-related shares, while lower oil prices and a steadier yen helped ease concern over imported inflation.
Japan's exports of agricultural, forestry and fishery products and food reached a record 897.7 billion yen in the first half of 2026, rising 10.9% from a year earlier as global demand for green tea surged, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said on August 4.