Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi moved on September 28 to strengthen Japan’s intelligence functions as her government prepared for an extraordinary Diet session that is expected to test its ability to pass tax relief, defend its economic policy and manage rising security pressure from China.

Rain fell again in central Tokyo on September 28, extending the capital's unusually long wet spell to 33 consecutive days and matching the longest run on record, while persistent rainfall is beginning to disrupt autumn tourism, fall foliage and the harvest of seasonal crops.

Japan has one of the strictest crypto rulebooks among major economies. A trader in Tokyo can open a licensed exchange app and buy USDC with yen. If the same trader searches for USDT, nothing comes up.

Japan's Asian Games campaign continued on September 27 with silver medals in men's table tennis doubles and artistic swimming, while the men's baseball team faced South Korea in the gold-medal final and the athletics program entered one of its busiest evenings.

A levee collapse at Lake Inbanuma in Chiba Prefecture following heavy rain from Typhoon No. 25 has devastated a koi breeding facility in Narita, leaving nearly 100,000 fish lost and causing an estimated 1 billion yen in damage to livestock and equipment.

Prolonged rainfall in Tokyo lasting more than 20 days, combined with heavy rain from Typhoon No. 25 during the Silver Week holidays, has disrupted vegetable supplies and driven up prices, with some retailers facing the possibility of suspending sales of popular seasonal products such as roasted sweet potatoes.

Tokyo stocks head into September 28 with the Nikkei 225 sitting at 66,364 after a five-session winning streak, as investors weigh strong artificial intelligence and semiconductor momentum against dividend-related trading, a weak yen, high bond yields and lingering uncertainty over the Bank of Japan’s next move.

Yokozuna Onosato captured his sixth career championship at the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament on September 27, defeating Ukrainian ozeki Aonishiki in a winner-takes-all showdown at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan to finish the 15-day competition with 12 wins and three losses, ending a year-long title drought after a dramatic final weekend.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is entering the autumn political season under growing pressure to show that her government can manage relations with Washington and Beijing while keeping Japan’s economic policy on a credible path after the Bank of Japan’s latest rate hike.

Japan's teenage skateboarders delivered two gold medals and two bronze medals on September 25, with 15-year-olds Mizuho Hasegawa and Ian Nagahara winning the women's and men's park competitions at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

Japan's benchmark long-term interest rate climbed to 3.115% during trading, reaching its highest level in nearly 30 years for the second consecutive day as persistent inflation concerns and expectations of further interest rate hikes fueled selling in government bonds.

Japan's overnight trains are attracting renewed attention as railway companies introduce special services that combine affordable travel with exclusive experiences, highlighted by the country's first overnight Shinkansen service, which carried passengers from Osaka to Tokyo during the Silver Week holidays on September 22.

Police in Tokyo's Shibuya district are dealing with a steady stream of thefts, drunken altercations and late-night accidents, including a 17-year-old boy who stole a sleeping man's bag on a whim, a dispute outside a karaoke bar and an injured man who lost his memory after a night of drinking.

Two men robbed a man in his 30s of a bag containing 1 million yen in cash and his shoes in Osaka City before dawn on September 24, leaving him with minor injuries after pushing him to the ground.

Tokyo stocks rose strongly on September 25, with the Nikkei 225 closing at 66,364, up 850 points, as buying in semiconductor and artificial intelligence-related shares combined with demand for dividend-paying financial stocks ahead of the September 28 interim dividend deadline.

Princess Aiko, the only daughter of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, attended the opening ceremony of the World Congress of Medical Laboratory Science in Chiba, where she expressed condolences to victims of recent natural disasters and called for a swift recovery in affected areas.

SoftBank Group announced on September 24 that it will issue approximately 1.76 trillion yen worth of foreign currency-denominated bonds, the largest simultaneous bond offering in its history, to finance a further $10 billion investment in OpenAI as founder Masayoshi Son accelerates his strategy of building a global business spanning artificial intelligence, semiconductors and data centers.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi returned to Japan on the morning of September 24 following talks with US President Donald Trump and immediately headed to the Prime Minister's Office to finalize key appointments within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party ahead of an extraordinary Diet session in October.

Prices of used condominiums in Tokyo fell for the first time in two years and four months in August, ending a 28-month streak of increases, while neighboring Chiba and Kanagawa prefectures recorded their fourth consecutive month of gains.

Japan celebrated two landmark performances on Day 6 of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on September 24, with the men's table tennis team defeating China 3-2 to claim its first gold medal in 60 years and 17-year-old swimmer Shin Ohashi breaking the men's 200-meter breaststroke world record.

Japan's transition toward an economy with higher interest rates is creating sharply different outcomes for households, with younger generations facing rising mortgage repayments while older savers stand to benefit from increased deposit interest, following the Bank of Japan's decision to raise its policy rate by 0.25 percentage points to 1.25%.

Japan is stepping up efforts to revive its shipbuilding industry, aiming to double annual construction volume by 2035 through government-backed investment in next-generation vessels, ship repair facilities and liquefied natural gas carriers, while Japanese manufacturers accelerate the development of hydrogen-powered engines and other advanced maritime technologies.

Japan's beer industry is preparing for a major transformation as a liquor tax revision takes effect on October 1, unifying tax rates across beer, happoshu and third-category beer for the first time, with conventional beer becoming cheaper while lower-priced alternatives face tax increases.

Tokyo stocks rose on September 24, with the Nikkei 225 climbing to 65,647, up 628 points, as investors returned from the Silver Week break with renewed appetite for artificial intelligence and semiconductor-related shares, while the broader TOPIX edged lower as value and financial stocks came under pressure.

Japan's Asian Games campaign produced another day of records and medals on September 23, with Shoon Mitsunaga setting a national record to win the men's 100-meter butterfly, both Japanese gymnastics teams taking silver behind China, and Toshikazu Yamanishi adding to the host nation's athletics medal haul.