News On Japan

Heavy rain across eastern and western Japan

Jul 01, 2021 (NHK) - A seasonal rain front is bringing downpours to eastern and western Japan. Information on heavy rain inundation and landslides has been issued for Tokyo.

Japan's Meteorological Agency says an inflow of warm, damp air toward the front has made rain clouds develop, mainly along the Pacific coast.

Niijima in Tokyo's Izu island chain is believed to have had 90 millimeters of rain between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. on Thursday.

Landslide warnings have been issued for Kagoshima and Shizuoka prefectures and the Izu Islands.

The agency says a band of rain clouds has developed over Tokyo. The weather information issued for Tokyo supplements an alert level of four or above on a scale of one to five.

Heavy rain is forecast for the Pacific coast of southwestern, central and eastern Japan thorough Friday, with localized hourly precipitation of more than 50 millimeters accompanied by thunder and lightning.

The Tokai region can expect up to 250 millimeters of rainfall through Friday morning, while southern Kyushu, the Amami region and the Kanto-Koshin region can expect up to 150 millimeters.

Through Saturday morning, 100 to 200 millimeters of rain is forecast for the Tokai region, 100 to 150 millimeters for southern Kyushu and the Amami region, and 50 to 100 millimeters for the Kanto-Koshin region.

The front will remain stationary, likely causing prolonged downpours.

The agency is urging caution for landslides, flooding in low-lying areas, swollen rivers, lightning strikes and tornadoes.

News On Japan
POPULAR NEWS

Japan’s World Cup campaign ended in the cruelest possible fashion on June 29, as Gabriel Martinelli scored in the fifth minute of stoppage time to give Brazil a 2-1 victory over the Samurai Blue in their knockout match in Houston. Japan had led in the first half and were still level at 1-1 in the final moments, but Martinelli’s late strike sent Brazil into the Round of 16 and eliminated Japan from the tournament.

Strong earthquakes have continued to shake parts of Japan in recent weeks, with 11 temblors measuring lower 5 or above on the Japanese seismic intensity scale recorded across the country since April 2026.

A Kintetsu Railway train derailed inside Kyoto Station on the morning of June 29, forcing partial suspensions on the Kintetsu Kyoto Line for the rest of the day and causing long delays that hit commuters, students and tourists.

A section of stone wall at Hikone Castle, one of Japan’s few surviving original Edo-period castles and a National Treasure whose main keep remains intact more than 400 years after its construction, collapsed after heavy rain caused by Typhoons No. 7 and No. 8, Hikone city officials said.

Japan advanced to the knockout stage of the World Cup after a 1-1 draw with Sweden on June 25, finishing second in Group F and setting up a Round of 32 clash with Brazil in Houston.

MEDIA CHANNELS
         

MORE Society NEWS

Prosecutors sought life imprisonment for Yukio Tanaka, a senior member of a gang affiliated with the Kudo-kai crime syndicate, as his trial over the 2013 fatal shooting of Osho Food Service president Takayuki Ohigashi concluded at the Kyoto District Court, with a verdict scheduled to be handed down on October 16.

Shinjuku Ward, the Tokyo metropolitan government and the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department have jointly established a Kabukicho measures council to strengthen efforts to prevent young people known as "Toyoko Kids" from being drawn into crime in Tokyo’s Shinjuku district.

A 23-year-old Chinese man has been arrested and sent to prosecutors on suspicion of dangerous driving resulting in injury after allegedly crashing a Porsche into two vehicles at an intersection in Tokyo’s Bunkyo Ward on June 9, leaving three people with minor injuries.

The number of people with dementia or suspected dementia who were reported missing to police totaled 17,345 in 2025, down by nearly 800 from the previous year but still at a high level, according to a National Police Agency summary.

Removal work has finally begun on a massive hose that washed ashore on the coast of Shika, Ishikawa Prefecture, six months ago, but crews are already facing difficulties because the structure is filled with a large volume of water.

A 50-year-old woman has been arrested in Kobe on suspicion of abandoning the dismembered body of her former husband in a large freezer at a condominium unit, where she allegedly continued paying rent for more than 14 years while hiding his death.

A 50-year-old member of an organization affiliated with the Yamaguchi-gumi crime syndicate has been arrested in Yamaguchi Prefecture after nearly nine years on the run over the 2017 fatal shooting of a bodyguard for the leader of a rival group in Kobe.

An Iranian national has been arrested on suspicion of attempting to smuggle more than 40 kilograms of stimulants from the United Arab Emirates into Japan in March, after customs officers found the drugs hidden in the bottom section of a machine used in the process of making naan bread.