Foreign tourists are filling an interactive sumo show venue in Tokyo’s Asakusa district, where former wrestlers introduce the basics, rules and history of the sport in English as Japan’s traditional pastime enjoys growing popularity at home and abroad.

Two typhoons are currently near Japan, with Typhoon No. 9, Bavi, over North China and Typhoon No. 11, Haishen, east of the Philippines, but only Bavi is expected to have any indirect impact on the country.

Demand for next-generation power semiconductors is expected to grow as artificial intelligence servers place heavier loads on power infrastructure, raising interest in technologies once viewed mainly as a component for electric vehicles.

Japan's anime industry, one of the country's leading cultural exports, is beginning to confront the arrival of artificial intelligence in production as studios grapple with labor shortages, rising output and deep concerns over copyright and the future of animators' jobs.

A 65-year-old man who spent 40 years working for a company was shocked to learn that his pension would amount to 168,000 yen a month, raising fresh concern over whether retirees in Japan can live on public pension payments alone.

A growing number of young doctors in Japan are moving directly into cosmetic medicine after obtaining a medical license and completing their initial clinical training, raising concern that the trend may be worsening staff shortages in insurance-covered medical care.

Transport disruption from Typhoon No. 9 (Bavi) continued on July 12, with airlines warning that some flights serving Okinawa’s outlying islands could still face delays, cancellations or conditional operations even after the storm moved away from the prefecture.

NTT Docomo will begin offering banking services under the new "Docomo Bank" brand in August, with plans to build a network of more than 1,500 locations by fiscal 2030, far exceeding the branch networks of Japan's major banks.

Empress Masako harvested wild silk cocoons at the Imperial Palace on July 9, continuing the long-standing sericulture tradition passed down through generations of empresses since the Meiji era.

Foreign drivers seeking to convert overseas licenses into Japanese ones are increasingly turning to driving schools after tougher rules introduced last October sharply reduced pass rates for both written and practical checks.

Plans to extend the Hokuriku Shinkansen from Tsuruga in Fukui Prefecture to Shin-Osaka have been narrowed from eight proposals to two main options, the Obama-Kyoto route and the Maibara route, as concerns grow over construction costs and the potential impact on Kyoto's groundwater and cultural heritage.

Japan welcomed a record 42.68 million foreign tourists in 2025, while spending by overseas visitors also reached an all-time high of 9.5 trillion yen, according to the 2026 Tourism White Paper approved by the Cabinet on July 10.

Mitsubishi Motors and Highlanders, a startup founded from the University of Tokyo, announced on July 10 that they will jointly develop humanoid "physical AI" robots and move toward mass production as Japan faces growing labor shortages.

Taro Yamamoto, leader of Reiwa Shinsengumi, announced on July 10 that he will resign as party leader and retire from politics, citing both a speeding violation that resulted in criminal penalties and ongoing health problems.

Small supermarkets offering lower prices than convenience stores and closer access than full-size supermarkets are expanding rapidly across the Tokyo metropolitan area, as retailers race to meet demand from older consumers, single-person households and shoppers under pressure from rising prices.

Three men have been arrested on suspicion of preparing to rob a home in Saitama City after police found new face masks and crowbars hidden in shrubbery at a coin-operated parking lot.

Foreign-born sumo wrestlers are often praised for speaking remarkably natural Japanese, a sharp contrast to many overseas athletes in other professional sports.

Japan is expected to remain under intense summer heat through next week as the Pacific high-pressure system continues to dominate the country, bringing widespread temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius and increasing the risk of heatstroke.

Japan’s domestic Corporate Goods Price Index, which measures prices charged for goods traded between companies, rose 7.1% from a year earlier to 135.4 in June, the Bank of Japan said on July 10.

Waseda Jitsugyo held off a ninth-inning rally by Hachioji to win a first-round showdown between two schools with Koshien experience in the West Tokyo high school baseball tournament on July 10.

Japanese stocks rose for a second straight session on Friday, July 10, with the Nikkei Stock Average climbing 813.88 points to close at 68,557.73 after strong gains in U.S. technology and semiconductor stocks fueled renewed buying of AI-related shares.

A credit card payment processor with liabilities of about 125.9 billion yen has become Japan’s largest bankruptcy so far in 2026, disrupting card payments at restaurants and shops across the country and forcing many businesses to accept cash only.

Akie Abe, the wife of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, has said she is only now becoming able to grieve honestly over her husband’s death, four years after he was shot and killed during an election campaign speech in Nara.

Japan national soccer team coach Hajime Moriyasu, captain Ko Itakura of Ajax, Daizen Maeda of Celtic, Yukinari Sugawara of Bremen and Japan Football Association President Tsuneyasu Miyamoto visited Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Minister Yohei Matsumoto on July 8 following Japan's campaign at the FIFA World Cup hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Japan's planned rollout of mobile phone numbers beginning with 060 has been postponed after telecom carriers said they need more time to complete system preparations.