Kyoto City announced plans on November 2nd to introduce tougher regulations on private lodging facilities, including a requirement for staff to be stationed permanently inside the properties or in nearby buildings, as complaints from residents continue to rise over noise and disruptive tourist behavior.
Spanish authorities have confirmed that a Japanese national was among the 69 people killed in a collision between two high-speed trains in central Spain on October 28, while Japanese officials are continuing efforts to establish the identities of victims following the disaster, which also left about 200 people injured.
Five pedestrians were injured, two seriously, when a car struck a stationary bus before plowing into a crowded sidewalk near Naruko Gorge, a popular autumn foliage destination in Osaki, Miyagi Prefecture, on November 1, with police arresting the 73-year-old driver at the scene on suspicion of negligent driving causing injury.
The family of a 16-year-old girl who died from severe malnutrition six months after being arrested and detained for 18 days over an assault allegation she denied has launched a lawsuit against Hyogo Prefecture and the Japanese government, with the first hearing held at Kobe District Court on October 21, as a separate case involving a 12-year-old girl has raised further questions about interrogation practices at the same police station.
A Japanese man believed to be the second-in-command of the criminal organization JP Dragon, which allegedly operated from the Philippines and repeatedly targeted Japanese nationals in organized fraud schemes, has been detained by Philippine authorities as part of an ongoing crackdown on the group.
A 79-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder in Kashihara, Nara Prefecture, on October 31 after allegedly driving approximately 2.2 kilometers with a 56-year-old man clinging to the hood of her car following a dispute in a condominium parking lot.
Tokyo's Shibuya Ward issued 394 fines of 2,000 yen each for littering and street smoking during Halloween celebrations on October 31, while neighboring Shinjuku Ward recorded 498 cases of street drinking and smoking despite efforts to discourage disruptive behavior.
Wild boar damage is spreading across Japan, with farmers reporting destroyed crops and increasing encounters near residential areas as record-breaking autumn rainfall and landslides are believed to have disrupted food supplies in mountain forests, driving more animals into populated areas.
Train services remain suspended on part of the JR Soya Line in Hokkaido on November 2 after a limited express train collided with a brown bear and derailed in Nakagawa on Saturday night, with replacement bus services beginning Monday morning between Asahikawa and Wakkanai.
Tokyo's Shibuya district was crowded with costumed revelers on October 31 as Halloween fell on a Saturday for the first time in six years, prompting the Metropolitan Police Department to deploy hundreds of officers and impose traffic restrictions around the area's famous scramble crossing.
The foreign ministers of Japan, the United States, Australia and India met in the United States on October 31st, reaffirming their commitment to strengthening cooperation on economic security, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence under the four-nation framework known as the Quad.
U.S. intelligence agencies suspect that a Chinese female intelligence operative developed a close relationship with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang in an attempt to obtain confidential corporate and U.S. government information, according to a report published by The New York Times on October 29th.
The city of Yubari in Hokkaido, which declared financial collapse 20 years ago, is preparing to complete repayment of approximately 35.3 billion yen in debt by March 2027, paving the way for lower property taxes, improved municipal employee salaries, and a renewed focus on public services.
Japan by Food and Shizuka head into the mountains of Nagano to explore Karuizawa, a historic highland resort just over an hour northwest of Tokyo, to see if it’s truly Worth The Trip. Join Shizuka as she strolls the iconic street food and rolls up her sleeves to make Nagano soba from scratch! (Japan by Food)
The AI Film Festival Japan 2026, one of Asia's largest international film festivals dedicated to works created using artificial intelligence, held its awards ceremony in Tokyo on November 1, attracting more than 730 submissions from over 60 countries and regions, with short films and animation accounting for the majority of entries.
Scientists at Toyo University have identified a possible weakness in alligator weed, an invasive aquatic plant described as one of the world's worst, raising hopes of finding a way to control its extraordinary ability to regenerate as it spreads through Japan's waterways, threatens agricultural land, and creates growing concerns about flooding.
Japan Post began nationwide sales of New Year postcards for 2027 on November 2nd, with a commemorative ceremony held in Kyoto featuring traditional maiko apprentices and members of the popular idol group NMB48, as the number of postcards issued continued to decline for the 16th consecutive year.
GMO Internet Group President Masatoshi Kumagai apologized at his first press conference following a cyberattack on the company's investor-oriented cloud service, acknowledging that security vulnerabilities had been identified by specialists within the group two years earlier but that the warnings had not been adequately addressed.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 208.25 points, or 0.33%, to close at 63,081.86 at 3:30 p.m. on November 2, extending its losses for a second consecutive trading session as a sharp decline in memory chipmaker Kioxia Holdings and continued uncertainty over US technology stocks outweighed gains in semiconductor equipment manufacturers.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index enters trading on November 2 after closing at 63,290.11 on October 30, down 1,369.36 points, or 2.12%, in its final session of October, as selling in artificial intelligence and semiconductor-related stocks raised concerns about the sustainability of the technology-led rally, while investors prepared for a shortened trading week dominated by corporate earnings, monetary policy developments and the US midterm elections.
A series of cyberattacks has exposed millions of personal records belonging to customers of major Japanese companies, including Muji, Matsuya and All Nippon Airways, as well as individuals connected to the Foreign Ministry, while cybersecurity experts investigating a separate attack involving GMO say a serious mistake by the hackers may provide crucial clues to their identities.