Japan has entered the autumn travel season, with visitors across the country enjoying colorful foliage, seasonal foods, and cultural traditions.

The usually abundant seasonal katsuo (bonito) is showing sharp regional contrasts this year, with Chiba Prefecture’s Katsuura port bustling while Kesennuma in Miyagi, Japan’s top landing site for 28 consecutive years, is seeing poor catches and soaring prices.

The second episode of the drama Delicious Divorce Notification will air on October 8th at 24:24, with a storyline centered on the most ruthless form of revenge against a top-rated, womanizing television host.

Heavy rainfall battered parts of Hokkaido, with some areas receiving more than a month’s worth of precipitation in only six hours, prompting flood warnings and evacuation advisories. Meteorologists are saying the downpour was the result of a combination of unstable atmospheric conditions and moist air flowing in from the sea.

The upcoming Liberal Democratic Party leadership election will determine not only who leads Japan’s ruling party but also who is likely to become the country’s next prime minister, and the voting system itself plays a decisive role in shaping the outcome. The election is decided by a combination of votes from LDP lawmakers in the National Diet and ballots cast by the party’s grassroots members across Japan, creating a two-stage process that balances national and local influence.

The wave of price increases continued into October, with more than 3,000 items, including beverages and food, set to rise in price, leaving supermarkets and retailers grappling with how to respond.

Osaka City decided on September 30th to suspend new applications for so-called special zone minpaku, a category of private lodging that has seen a sharp rise in disputes with local residents.

Japan is facing a troubling rise in child suicides even as overall suicide numbers decline, with a record 529 elementary, junior high, and high school students taking their own lives last year, prompting the Agency for Children and Families to launch a nationwide investigation of attempted suicides from October.

From October, Japan’s minimum wage will rise across the country to exceed 1,000 yen for the first time, a development welcomed by workers but one that is expected to squeeze retailers such as discount supermarkets where higher personnel costs could lead to losses.

A fire broke out in an apartment building in Suginami, Tokyo, shortly before 2 a.m. on September 25th, after a mobile battery being used to charge a smartphone caught fire, leaving six people hospitalized for smoke inhalation and other injuries.

Tokyo consumer prices rose 2.5% in September compared with a year earlier, with the index excluding fresh food—often subject to sharp fluctuations—reaching 110.0 across the capital’s wards, while the pace of growth remained unchanged from the previous month.

Shizuoka Prefecture saw no fatalities from mountaineering accidents this summer for the first time in three years, while deaths from water-related accidents increased sharply.

The contrast between driving in Japan and the USA can catch many travelers off guard. Americans can start driving at 16, while Japanese drivers must wait until they're 18 to get a license.

Fatal bear encounters are rising sharply across Japan, with injuries and deaths reported at a pace matching the worst year on record. Experts warn that both stricter population control and preventive measures to keep bears away from human settlements are urgently needed.

The Bank of Japan decided on September 19th to maintain its policy interest rate at 0.5 percent, marking the fifth consecutive meeting without a rate change. The decision, backed by a majority of the Policy Board, comes as the central bank monitors the impact of U.S. tariffs known as the “Trump tariffs.”

Hyogo Governor Motohiko Saito announced that the prefecture will not host a victory parade for the Hanshin Tigers, citing sharply rising costs compared with the previous event.

For decades, Japan has enforced some of the toughest cannabis laws in the world. A single joint can mean years behind bars, and public figures caught with even trace amounts often see their careers vanish overnight.

A brown bear has been captured in Sunagawa City, Hokkaido, where warnings had been issued after repeated sightings, with video footage showing the animal extending its long, sharp claws through a fence and attempting to intimidate the camera.

The Bank of Japan (BOJ) may seem like a domestic player at first glance, but its policies ripple far beyond Japan’s borders.

Shibuya was engulfed in massive crowds on September 14th as people gathered in front of SHIBUYA109, to the point where movement was nearly impossible. The draw was the Shibuya Konno Hachimangu Annual Festival, a centuries-old celebration held in the heart of the city to pray for prosperity and good harvests. It is regarded as Shibuya’s largest festival.

The benchmark land prices, a key reference point for real estate transactions, were released on September 16th. While many tourist areas across the country saw increases, Osaka is experiencing a particularly notable trend.

More than half of new employees now say they prefer a seniority-based pay system, reflecting a growing desire for stability among younger generations. Surveys show a sharp increase in those favoring traditional frameworks such as lifetime employment and seniority-based promotion, signaling a shift in mindset among workers once considered open to frequent job changes.

The Kishiwada Danjiri Festival is being over the weekend in Osaka, where around half a million people watch 4-ton floats charge through the city.

Japan’s Ministry of Finance has taken the unusual step of cutting issuance of ultra-long-term government bonds after demand from major buyers weakened, highlighting concerns among investors about Japan’s fiscal outlook.

Sapporo announced plans to open a new large-scale MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) facility in fiscal 2033, positioning the city to attract international conferences and exhibitions.