TOKYO - A huge group of people with that exact same name have broken a world record in Japan. 178 different people, all named Hirokazu Tanaka, met up in Tokyo on Saturday.
Some people travelled from as far as Hanoi, in Vietnam, and both a toddler and an 80-year-old were in attendance.
The record had not been broken since it was set in 2005 by 164 Martha Stewarts.
The group had been trying for a while to break the record and had two failed attempts before this successful one.
Average life expectancy in Japan rose for both men and women last year for the first time in two years, with Japanese women retaining the world's top ranking for the 41st consecutive year.
Typhoon No. 12 (Noul) was moving through the Bashi Channel north of the Philippines on Friday, July 24, and is forecast to strengthen temporarily before making landfall on the Asian continent.
A 37-year-old Chinese woman has been arrested and referred to prosecutors on suspicion of operating an unlicensed taxi service that transported travelers from Kansai International Airport to a hotel in Kyoto.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency conducted a ground firing test of the second-stage engine for its Epsilon S small solid-fuel rocket at the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture on July 23.
Kuwana in Mie Prefecture recorded 40.6 degrees Celsius, the highest temperature anywhere in Japan this year, as a powerful high-pressure system and hot downslope winds combined to produce dangerous heat across a wide area.
A 61-year-old unemployed man has been arrested after allegedly subjecting a quiet Kyoto neighborhood to years of relentless radio broadcasts and amplified guitar music, leaving nearby residents with sleep disorders and other health problems.
The Japanese government is considering requiring certain stalking offenders to wear GPS tracking devices under a new system that would alert victims when an offender approaches their home, workplace or another protected location.
A police officer shot and wounded a 21-year-old man who allegedly robbed a convenience store in Koshi, Kumamoto Prefecture, and then approached officers with a kitchen knife on the evening of July 22.
An unexploded U.S.-made bomb believed to date from World War II has been discovered at a housing construction site in a residential district of Minoh, Osaka Prefecture, potentially requiring the evacuation of nearly 5,000 people during its disposal.
A 55-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly capturing an endangered butterfly in the Norikura Highlands of Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, marking Japan's first arrest involving the protected species.
A 27-year-old police officer arrested after crashing into a utility pole in Hiroshima was found to have been driving under the influence, with a blood test detecting nearly three times the legal alcohol limit.
Japan began applying a new numerical alcohol threshold for dangerous driving offenses on July 21, introducing a clearer standard for cases involving impaired driving that could lead to fatal accidents.
A police officer fired a warning shot into the air after a 42-year-old woman approached officers while pointing a kitchen knife at them on a street in Eniwa, Hokkaido, on July 17.
