Contaminated water may have leaked from the disaster-struck Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant since April, the owner said Thursday. (Japan Times)

A 39-year-old man, arrested on Sept 5 for stalking a 27-year-old woman, has also been charged with indecently assaulting her while she slept in her apartment in Tokyo’s Adachi Ward. (Japan Today)

Tokyo Metropolitan Police have busted an operation in the Kabukicho red-light district of Shinjuku Ward that sold pornographic DVDs deemed illegal, reports TBS News. (tokyoreporter.com)

Struggling Japanese electronics company Toshiba says it has signed a deal to sell its memory chip unit to a group led by US private equity firm Bain Capital. The deal is worth about 18 billion dollars. (NHK)

A female worker at an elderly nursing home in Shimonoseki City was arrested for allegedly mixing drain cleaner into her colleague’s tea, reports the Sankei Shimbun (tokyoreporter.com)

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe dissolved the House of Representatives on Thursday, calling a general election in a bid to maintain his hold on power, while opposition parties rallied together in a major reorganization aimed at giving the administration a challenge at the polls. (Japan Times)

Heavy rain hit eastern Japan areas near Tokyo on Thursday, marking record hourly rainfalls in some municipalities, while a man was believed washed away by a swollen river in Yokohama, according to the weather agency and local authorities. (Japan Today)

Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike's new party has issued a direct challenge to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, receiving a show of support from Japan's leading opposition Democratic Party, whose chief Seiji Maehara said that he will pursue a de facto merger with Koike in the upcoming snap election. (Nikkei)

A panel weighing three kilograms fell from a plane onto a factory near Tokyo, Japanese officials said Thursday, the country's second case in a week after a similar part landed on a car. (Japan Today)

Around 1,900 students from 53 elementary and junior high schools in Tokyo’s Shinjuku, Toshima and Itabashi wards have complained of an “unusual” smell coming from milk they were given as part of their school lunches, ward authorities reported Tuesday. (Japan Today)

Shibuya's Scramble Intersection is one of Tokyo's most famous landmarks. Located directly outside Shibuya Station, where a number of train and subway lines converge, the intersection serves as the gateway to the neighborhood's hundreds of shops, restaurants, and clubs, and the mass of people that makes its way across every time the walk sign comes on is a sight to see. (rocketnews24.com)

Fukuoka Prefectural Police have arrested a 42-year-old man for allegedly beating his ailing father to death at the residence they share in Fukuoka City, reports the Yomiuri Shimbun (tokyoreporter.com)

The husband of lawmaker Seiko Noda, the newly appointed Internal Affairs and Communications Minister, is a former member of a criminal syndicate based in Kyoto, claims a weekly magazine. (tokyoreporter.com)

Shizuoka Prefectural Police are hunting for a man who robbed an outlet of a restaurant chain in Kakegawa City early Tuesday, reports the Asahi Shimbun (tokyoreporter.com)

Saitama Prefectural Police have arrested a 35-year-old man in the sexual assault of a woman and theft of her underwear in Saitama City earlier this month, reports TBS News (tokyoreporter.com)

The Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Tokyo 2020) has unveiled new graphics that are to feature on posters and banners across the city and during the planned “1,000 Days To Go” celebration period which will run from Oct 28 to Nov 29. (Japan Today)

As a part a crackdown on possession of illegal drugs by foreigners, Tokyo Metropolitan Police have re-arrested a male British national suspected of dealing cocaine in the Roppongi nightlife quarter via the virtual currency bitcoin, reports the Sankei Shimbun (tokyoreporter.com)

When it comes to fiscal reconstruction, Japan has a history of failing to deliver on its promises, largely because of economic turmoil originating abroad. (Japan Today)

Passes allowing foreign tourists unlimited travel on major expressway networks across the country will go on sale in mid-October, in hopes of luring more visitors to regional areas, the transport ministry said Tuesday. (Japan Times)

Popular Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike's decision to stake out ground opposite the ruling party ahead of next month's lower house election has come as an unpleasant surprise to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who hoped to find common ground with an ideological ally. (Nikkei)

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike has announced plans to create a new political party with her allies and become its leader. (NHK)

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has just told senior members of his party that he'll dissolve the Lower House of the Diet on Thursday, which will lead to a snap general election. (NHK)

Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Saturday arrested a former gang boss in the attempted extortion of actress Akiko Nishina, reports the Sankei Shimbun (tokyoreporter.com)

The new giant panda cub born at a Tokyo zoo has been named Shan Shan, or Xiang Xiang in Chinese, a source familiar with the case said Monday ahead of the metropolitan government's announcement on the naming later in the day. (Kyodo)

Over 60 percent of Japanese voters do not support Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's reported plan to dissolve the House of Representatives later this month to call an election, a Kyodo News poll showed Sunday. (Japan Today)