A new top-tier "Supreme Class" offering fully private compartments above the level of Green Car service will debut on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen on October 1, with passengers able to experience the new seating at a demonstration booth at Shin-Osaka Station.
A Japan Air Self-Defense Force Global Hawk unmanned reconnaissance aircraft went missing over international waters about 50 kilometers north of Tottori Prefecture on September 15, with floating debris and oil later found in the area where communications were lost.
The number of people aged 100 or older in Japan has exceeded 100,000 for the first time, reaching a record 107,677 as of September 1, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
A 29-year-old man accused of killing his pregnant former girlfriend, a nail artist in Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture, admitted the charges at his first trial on September 14, with prosecutors saying he used tracking tags to locate the woman after deciding he wanted to kill her and "reset" his life to before their relationship.
Tokyo police have found that two teenage girls detained during coordinated patrols in the "Toyoko" area of Kabukicho were carrying forged student identification cards containing false ages and names.
Roads around the Fushimi Otesuji Shopping Street in Kyoto's Fushimi Ward were flooded on the evening of September 13 after water began gushing from a nearby road, forcing authorities to close part of the street to traffic.
Visitors can climb to the top of the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, about 300 meters above the sea, for sweeping 360-degree views of the Akashi Strait, Kobe, Awaji Island and, in clear weather, as far as Osaka.
A mobile battery caught fire inside a Tobu Isesaki Line train in Saitama Prefecture on September 14, leaving a high school student with minor burns before another passenger extinguished the flames.
GO, Waymo and Nihon Kotsu said they aim to launch Japan's first commercial fully driverless taxi service in Tokyo during 2027, using Level 4 autonomous vehicles that can operate without a driver on board under specified conditions.
Kajima Corp. has unveiled the construction site of KAJIMA TREE, a roughly 60-meter wooden tower being built for the International Horticultural Expo that will open in March 2027.
Japan's government is set to approve tax reform guidelines on September 15 that will reduce the consumption tax on food from the current 8% to 1% for two years starting in April 2027 as part of measures to ease the burden of rising prices.
Genta Koja, a former deputy mayor of Naha who accepts the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to Henoko in Nago, won the Okinawa gubernatorial election on September 13, defeating incumbent Governor Denny Tamaki and bringing an end to 12 years of prefectural administrations committed to blocking the project.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said the victory of Genta Koja in the Okinawa gubernatorial election reflected the wishes of prefectural residents seeking stronger economic growth, with senior ruling party officials viewing the result as a boost for her administration.
Authorities are warning people not to rely on artificial intelligence, guidebooks or internet searches to decide whether wild mushrooms are safe to eat after food poisoning cases involving toxic species, including one in which AI mistakenly identified a poisonous mushroom as edible.
A cruise ship that will serve as an accommodation base for athletes and other participants in the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games arrived at Nagoya Port on September 15, ahead of the opening of the competition this week.
A groundbreaking ceremony was held in Kyoto City on September 15 for Ronald McDonald House Kyoto, a residential facility where children undergoing medical treatment will be able to stay together with their families.
Police are warning of a nationwide surge in scams involving criminals posing as officers, with evidence emerging that generative AI may now be used to create fake identities during video calls and make the deception more convincing.
Benchmark land prices released on September 15 showed continued gains in urban areas across Kansai, led by strong increases in central Osaka and parts of Kyoto, with experts expecting the upward trend to continue for the time being while warning of growing effects on housing costs and regional disparities.
As global financial markets face shifts in liquidity and heightened volatility in 2026, the demand for high-performance brokerage infrastructure in the Asia-Pacific region has reached an all-time high.
Japan's benchmark land prices rose for a fifth consecutive year on average, with commercial land posting stronger gains as demand for hotels and other properties remained firm in major cities, according to figures released by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
Tokyo stocks ended almost unchanged on September 15, with the Nikkei 225 closing around 63,485, down about 8 points, as a rebound in SoftBank Group and selected artificial intelligence-related shares offset caution over oil above $107, rising bond yields and this week’s Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan policy meetings.