Airports and railway stations across Japan were crowded on September 23 as travelers returned from their hometowns and holiday destinations on the final day of the five-day Silver Week holiday, with international flight arrivals reaching their peak and many afternoon Shinkansen services fully booked.
Japan's Asian Games campaign produced another day of records and medals on September 23, with Shoon Mitsunaga setting a national record to win the men's 100-meter butterfly, both Japanese gymnastics teams taking silver behind China, and Toshikazu Yamanishi adding to the host nation's athletics medal haul.
An emu that escaped from the home of a traveling zoo operator was captured after wandering through a residential neighborhood in Moriyama, Shiga Prefecture, on September 23, following a police report from a resident who mistook the bird for an ostrich.
People aged 65 and older accounted for a record 29.6% of Japan's population in 2026, the highest proportion among major countries worldwide, while the number of elderly people in employment also reached an all-time high as Japan marked Respect for the Aged Day on September 21.
Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako visited Ghibli Park in Aichi Prefecture on September 20, touring exhibits that recreate famous scenes from Studio Ghibli films and posing for a photograph with the character No-Face.
Police in Kanagawa Prefecture have rearrested four teenagers on suspicion of murdering a 17-year-old high school student who died after being assaulted in Sagamihara in August.
Japan's first overnight Shinkansen service departed Shin-Osaka Station at around 10 p.m. on September 22, taking passengers on a special journey to Tokyo that included a six-hour stop at Shin-Fuji Station, where travelers spent the night aboard the train before enjoying views of Mount Fuji at dawn.
The road leading to Otemon Gate at Tokyo's Imperial Palace was flooded on September 22 after heavy rain from a typhoon caused water in the surrounding moat to overflow.
Extensive railway disruption continued across Chiba Prefecture on September 23 as JR East warned that several lines damaged by Typhoon No. 25 would remain closed beyond the Silver Week holiday, even as flights returned toward normal, all typhoon-related expressway closures were lifted and some highway bus services resumed. The storm has left widespread damage to railway tracks and embankments, with flooding, landslides and fallen trees complicating restoration work.
The death toll from Typhoon No. 25 rose to nine on September 23, with four people still missing in Chiba and Kanagawa prefectures, as renewed rainfall raised fears of further landslides in communities devastated by the storm.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and U.S. President Donald Trump met in New York on September 22, confirming close cooperation on security and economic issues ahead of Trump’s planned summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
China held commemorative events across the country on September 18 to mark the 95th anniversary of the Mukden Incident, the 1931 railway explosion that Japan's Kwantung Army used as a pretext to seize Manchuria and which became a major turning point in the deterioration of relations between Japan and China.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi launched her first cabinet reshuffle since taking office, keeping core economic, foreign-policy and security ministers in place while replacing a broad group of other ministers in an attempt to stabilize her government before a difficult autumn of tax, budget, monetary policy and diplomatic battles.
Families and visitors are flocking to a farm in Minoh, Osaka Prefecture, to enjoy autumn chestnut picking, with this year's harvest producing smaller but particularly sweet chestnuts due to a lack of rainfall.
Japan came within two runs of producing one of international cricket's biggest upsets on September 22, pushing reigning T20 world champion India to the final ball before losing a rain-shortened match at Sano International Cricket Ground in Tochigi Prefecture.
While millions of people across Japan enjoyed this year's five-day Silver Week holiday, workers at Kyoto's Toei Uzumasa Eigamura film studio theme park and a 24-hour smartphone repair service faced packed schedules, with some working late into the night to keep holidaymakers entertained and respond to emergencies.
High school students in Okinawa took part in a workshop organized by Okinawa Cellular on September 22, using generative AI to develop solutions to local community problems, with a focus on improving access to a public sports facility in Uruma City.
Bankruptcies among Japan's bento shops are surging, with 83 businesses failing in the first eight months of 2026, putting the industry on course to surpass last year's record of 89 as rising ingredient costs and intensifying competition from supermarkets, convenience stores and drugstores squeeze smaller operators.
Tokyo’s stock market was closed on September 21 for Respect for the Aged Day, leaving the Nikkei 225 without a cash close after finishing the previous session at 65,019, while currency and futures markets focused on the yen, the Bank of Japan’s latest rate hike and intervention risks during Japan’s Silver Week holiday.
Japan's first five-day Silver Week holiday in 11 years has put renewed attention on household finances, with persistently high food prices and a weakening yen threatening to erode the benefits of the government's planned consumption tax cut on food.
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