Japan sees worst GDP contraction in 40 years

A Toei bus crashed into a traffic signal in Tokyo's Edogawa Ward on the morning of August 26 after the driver lost control of the steering wheel while trying to shoo away a mosquito, leaving two male passengers injured.

Kanazawa's fire department is asking residents not to straighten or rearrange shoes removed by paramedics during emergency calls, warning that the well-intentioned gesture can delay the transport of patients by around 30 seconds and potentially interfere with medical care.

Two men who stole four luxury watches worth a combined 200 million yen from a store at Tokyo's Nakano Broadway may have carefully planned the 10-second theft, with one suspect renting an electric kick scooter shortly before the crime and investigators examining whether the other man's escape on foot was intended as a decoy.

A 23-year-old man died after his car overturned and was badly damaged in Nemuro, Hokkaido, early on August 24, with police investigating whether the vehicle may have collided with a brown bear or another wild animal after black fur was found attached to the wreckage.

An 18-year-old high school student died after being trapped between a large festival lantern and a shopping arcade pillar during a traditional lantern-pushing event in Agano, Niigata Prefecture, on the evening of August 24, raising renewed questions about safety measures at festivals involving large crowds and heavy structures.

Nine people were injured, including two seriously, after a pleasure boat carrying 10 people ran aground near the mouth of the Tama River close to Haneda Airport on the evening of August 24.

An 85-year-old couple have donated a combined 400 million yen to Osaka City with a request that the money be used to create a giant Myaku-Myaku statue about 20 meters tall at the former site of the Osaka-Kansai Expo, envisioning a landmark that could become a lasting symbol of the event and of renewed prosperity for Kansai and Japan.

Four teenage boys have been arrested in Tokyo on suspicion of stealing ketchup and other goods from a supermarket before splashing the ketchup on the face and body of a woman in her 70s, with one suspect telling police he had targeted around 10 people in similar attacks.