Typhoon No. 18 (Soudelor) is forecast to intensify into a "very strong" typhoon over the weekend as it moves westward from waters near the Caroline Islands, with the storm potentially approaching the Nansei Islands and Daito Islands early next week. As of 4 p.m. on August 20, the typhoon was located far south of Japan and was moving west at about 20 kilometers per hour.
Plans to bring Shinkansen service to Shikoku have taken a significant step forward for the first time in 53 years, with the transport ministry beginning preliminary studies that could eventually cut travel times from Osaka to major cities including Tokushima, Takamatsu and Matsuyama to around 90 minutes.
Firefighters battling a house fire in Narita, Chiba Prefecture, on August 19 were forced to contend with large numbers of bees swarming around the scene after an attempt to burn a bee nest apparently set the roof ablaze.
Handheld fans have become a summer essential in Japan, but a rise in accidents involving hair becoming caught in the devices is prompting warnings over injuries, potential legal liability and fires caused by lithium-ion batteries.
Seven people were injured after a Toei bus and a trailer collided in Tokyo's Koto Ward shortly after 6 p.m., leaving the bus mounted on a central median.
Tokyo is preparing to allow hunting of Asian black bears for the first time in about 20 years, with a proposed hunting season from November through February and an annual capture target of around 34 animals in parts of the Tama region, including Hachioji.
Tokyo Metro has unveiled its new headquarters ahead of a full relocation at the end of August, featuring an open office design filled with route symbols, station names and other elements inspired by the subway network.
A playful young dolphin named Yuki at Kagoshima City Aquarium has become a social media sensation after videos showed her freely sliding along the poolside, spinning around and plunging back into the water while other dolphins followed their usual routines.
All Nippon Airways has come under criticism over a new three-tier domestic fare system introduced from May 19, with complaints over seat assignments and reports that some passengers booked on the cheapest fares were unable to board their scheduled flights, prompting ANA to consider changes as it seeks to improve the profitability of a domestic network where about 60% of routes are in the red.
Nagoya City has begun individual consultations with disability advocacy groups over accessibility plans for the proposed wooden reconstruction of Nagoya Castle's main tower, as the two sides remain divided over how people with disabilities should be able to move between floors.
Hyogo Governor Motohiko Saito said on August 19 that the prefecture's shift to a status requiring central government permission to issue bonds would not immediately halt public projects, while stressing that years of high public investment, funding shortfalls and what he described as improper land-acquisition bond practices under former Governor Toshizo Ido had contributed to the deterioration of the prefecture's finances.
A Takenaka Corp. construction manager who oversaw work on the Grand Ring and other facilities at the Osaka-Kansai Expo was arrested on August 19 on suspicion of causing more than 13 million yen in losses to the major contractor through inflated construction bills, with police investigating allegations that money from the scheme was used for renovations to his home and a cafe operated by relatives.
A Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-15 fighter jet tilted to one side and came to a stop while landing at Naha Airport on August 18, forcing the closure of one of the airport's two runways and causing delays of more than an hour for some arriving commercial flights.
Ten losses in a row in Rainbow Six Siege feels personal. It isn't. It's math, matchmaking, and sometimes just a bad night for everyone on your team.
Dangerous heat returned across Japan on August 19, complicating disaster recovery efforts in earthquake-hit Kumamoto and flood-damaged Chiba while unusually low rainfall and limited snowfall pushed reservoirs in several regions toward critical levels.
Japan's delegation for the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games held a team formation ceremony at a hotel in Tokyo on August 19, exactly one month before the competition opens, with wrestler Akari Fujinami pledging that the athletes would "fight through to the very end" on home soil.
As Japan's summer vacation enters its final weeks, concern is growing over an "experience gap" that leaves children from single-parent and financially struggling households with fewer opportunities for travel, leisure and other activities that can shape their development.
Japan's labor ministry will revise its guidance on overtime from September 1, moving away from a uniform recommendation that workplaces keep overtime within 45 hours a month and placing greater emphasis on whether employers have adequate measures in place to protect workers' health.
Whistleblowers who expose suspected wrongdoing at companies and other organizations in Japan are increasingly finding themselves targeted by multimillion-yen damages claims, raising questions over whether the country's legal system adequately protects people who report misconduct.
Small businesses across Japan—from Tokyo tech startups to traditional long-standing shinise enterprises— are increasingly becoming targets for sophisticated digital scams.
Catalog House, the operator of shopping catalog magazine Tsuhan Seikatsu, has announced it will stop selling through Rakuten Market in protest over Rakuten Group's partnership with a German military drone company and its plans to support the introduction of the drones to Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force.