Nagoya was assessing the damage after record-breaking rainfall exceeding 100 millimeters in one hour struck the city on September 8, causing a river to temporarily overflow into a residential area and leaving carp and catfish stranded in roadside drains.
Large volumes of floodwater poured into the Metropolitan Area Outer Underground Discharge Channel in Kasukabe, Saitama Prefecture, following heavy rain on September 7, prompting the massive underground flood-control facility known as the "Underground Temple" to go into operation.
Two 14-year-old junior high school students in Aichi Prefecture have been arrested on suspicion of obstructing traffic while performing dangerous bicycle stunts linked to group rides known on social media as Nagoya Ride.
Seven Myanmar nationals working at an agricultural corporation in Hokkaido under Japan's Specified Skilled Worker status have accused their employer of repeated violence, intimidation and financial penalties, with some workers saying they were also called by numbers instead of their names and threatened with having their residence status revoked.
Police are investigating whether a dispute between a 70-year-old man and the female owner of a cake shop in Motosu, Gifu Prefecture, was connected to a murder and arson case that left three people dead and two others injured during a middle school reunion.
Women now make up a growing share of customers at Akihabara maid cafes, reflecting a shift in Japan's "oshi-katsu" fan culture as visitors increasingly seek not only someone to support, but also a sense of two-way connection with the maids they admire.
A landslide on Mount Fuji buried three vehicles as torrential rain battered wide areas of Japan on September 9, while Nagoya continued to assess extensive flooding damage a day after the city recorded its heaviest hourly rainfall on record.
Universal Studios Japan unveiled its 2026 Halloween event to the media on September 9, a day before its public opening on September 10, featuring a record number of zombies and the park's first horror attraction restricted to visitors aged 18 and over.
Osaka Metro plans to abolish magnetic tickets and replace them with QR code-based tickets around fiscal 2031, as declining use and the cost of maintaining conventional ticket gates accelerate the shift toward digital fare systems.
JR East has unveiled three finalists to become the new image character for its Suica transportation IC card, as the long-serving Suica Penguin prepares to "graduate" in March next year after more than 20 years as the face of the service.
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.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi entered the final stretch before the Bank of Japan’s September policy meeting facing a new version of the currency problem that has shaped her summer: the yen is no longer collapsing, but its sharp rebound is now forcing her government to explain how far it is prepared to tolerate higher interest rates to restore market confidence.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is accelerating preparations for a Cabinet reshuffle that could take place as early as next week, considering ministerial posts for senior Liberal Democratic Party officials while weighing the treatment of Internal Affairs Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and a new Cabinet member from the Japan Innovation Party.
Raccoons are increasingly appearing in urban areas of Japan, including residential neighborhoods near Shin-Osaka Station, raising concerns over disease, attacks on people and agricultural damage that reached about 700 million yen nationwide last year.
Japan's men's volleyball team defeated Australia in straight sets on September 9 to complete the preliminary round of the Asian Championship with three consecutive victories, advancing to the knockout stage as pool winner and moving within three wins of securing a place at the Los Angeles Olympics.
Fluorescent lamps that have illuminated Japanese homes and workplaces for decades are approaching the end of production, with Panasonic preparing to wind down a business it has operated since 1951 while experts warn that incorrectly replacing some fixtures with LEDs could create a fire risk.
Expectations are growing for the wider use of "physical AI" robots, but concerns over hacking, breakdowns and maintenance are prompting companies to develop new security and support systems as the technology moves closer to everyday use.
More than half of the religious corporations investigated for operating temple lodgings and religious training programs at World Heritage-listed Mount Koya in Wakayama Prefecture were found to have failed to declare income totaling more than 100 million yen, according to findings by the Osaka Regional Taxation Bureau.
Closures and bankruptcies among Japanese rice farmers are running at a record pace in 2026, with 32 cases recorded from January through August as an aging workforce, rising costs and falling rice prices make it increasingly difficult for producers to remain in business.
Tokyo stocks edged lower on September 9, with the Nikkei 225 closing at 65,143, down 126.55 points, as a stronger yen and crude oil’s move toward $100 outweighed support from selected artificial intelligence and semiconductor-related shares.
South Korean semiconductor giant Samsung Electronics has begun full-scale operations at a new semiconductor research center in Yokohama, seeking to accelerate development and strengthen cooperation with Japanese suppliers as demand for chips used in artificial intelligence continues to grow.