Climbers who get into trouble on Mount Fuji during the official closed season could be charged for rescue by disaster-prevention helicopters under new safety measures being considered by Yamanashi Prefecture.
Genta Koja, a former deputy mayor of Naha who accepts the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to Henoko in Nago, won the Okinawa gubernatorial election on September 13, defeating incumbent Governor Denny Tamaki and bringing an end to 12 years of prefectural administrations committed to blocking the project.
Tokyo police have found that two teenage girls detained during coordinated patrols in the "Toyoko" area of Kabukicho were carrying forged student identification cards containing false ages and names.
Roads around the Fushimi Otesuji Shopping Street in Kyoto's Fushimi Ward were flooded on the evening of September 13 after water began gushing from a nearby road, forcing authorities to close part of the street to traffic.
Newly recovered video from a passenger's digital camera has revealed conditions aboard the Kazu I sightseeing boat before it sank off Hokkaido's Shiretoko Peninsula in April 2022, a disaster that left 20 passengers and crew members dead and six passengers still missing more than four years later.
Police have rearrested a 30-year-old senior member of an organization affiliated with the Sixth Yamaguchi-gumi on suspicion of directing a loosely organized criminal group that stole smartphones and other goods worth about 4.15 million yen from stores in Chiba and Kanagawa prefectures.
Historic floats and a shrine mikoshi paraded through Tokyo's Akasaka district as the centuries-old Akasaka Hikawa Festival reached its climax with its traditional Shinkosai procession.
Prolonged rain has dramatically transformed Fukuroda Falls in Ibaraki Prefecture, sending far more water than usual over the famous cascade and drawing growing numbers of tourists eager to see the unusually powerful spectacle.
China will sharply raise visa fees for Japanese nationals entering the country from September 14, with the cost of a single-entry visa increasing to 16,750 yen, about 7.4 times the current level.
Tokyo's Koto Ward will conduct on-site inspections of all roughly 400 lodging facilities from January 2027 as it moves to strengthen regulations following a sharp increase in complaints over issues including garbage disposal and nighttime noise.
Japan has asked for changes to an Equal Earth world map that depicts the Russian-controlled Northern Territories in the same color as Russia, prompting the map's creator to say the Japanese-language version will be revised while the English version will remain unchanged.
The Fukuoka Prefectural Assembly elected a new chairman after the resignation of longtime power broker Isao Kuranouchi, while a photograph showing an opposition lawmaker striking a pose reminiscent of the movie Titanic during an overseas inspection trip has triggered a fresh political controversy.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s government faced a sharper market test on September 9 as the yen’s rapid rebound began pressuring global carry trades, turning expectations of a Bank of Japan rate hike into a political challenge for an administration still trying to balance household relief, fiscal discipline and economic security.
Authorities are warning people not to rely on artificial intelligence, guidebooks or internet searches to decide whether wild mushrooms are safe to eat after food poisoning cases involving toxic species, including one in which AI mistakenly identified a poisonous mushroom as edible.
Japan enjoyed one of its busiest sporting weekends of the year on September 12 and 13, highlighted by the men's national volleyball team winning the Asian championship and securing qualification for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, while Nippon Professional Baseball's pennant races tightened, Miyu Yamashita captured the Japan Women's PGA Championship, Kosuke Sunagawa earned his first men's tour victory, and the Asian Games moved closer to their official opening.
Tesla unveiled its Cybercab in Japan for the first time on September 11, showcasing an AI-powered autonomous taxi designed without a steering wheel or pedals.
High school students in Mishima, Shizuoka Prefecture, explored how humans and artificial intelligence might coexist in the future by interacting with an AI-powered humanoid robot during a class on September 11.
Japan's major banks are intensifying competition for household money as rising interest rates revive the appeal of deposits, prompting lenders to launch new savings products, wealth-management services and point-based incentives.
Japan is facing growing pressure over its treatment and recruitment of foreign workers, with serious allegations of abuse emerging even as companies compete for a shrinking pool of overseas labor and some industries approach government-set limits on the number of workers they can accept.
Tokyo stocks fell sharply on September 11, with the Nikkei 225 closing at 63,442, down 2.8%, as oil prices above $108, renewed Middle East tensions, U.S. rate-hike fears and expectations for another Bank of Japan increase triggered a broad selloff led by artificial intelligence and semiconductor-related shares.
Japan's corporate goods prices rose 7.6% in August from a year earlier, remaining above 7% for a third consecutive month as escalating tensions in the Middle East pushed up prices for petroleum, coal and chemical products.