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Toyota wins 4th straight Le Mans race

Aug 23, 2021 (NHK) - Japanese automaker Toyota won the Le Mans 24 Hours race in northwest France on Sunday for the fourth year in a row.

The endurance race was held with spectators for the first time in two years.

Japanese driver Kobayashi Kamui, Britain's Mike Conway and Argentina's Jose Maria Lopez took turns maneuvering Toyota's number 7 sports car on the track, which is slightly over 13 kilometers per lap.

The car started from the pole position, was stable throughout the race and finished first with the highest number of laps.

Toyota's number 8 car with Japanese driver Nakajima Kazuki placed second after stopping with problems early on in the race. Toyota had clinched a previous one-two finish in 2019.

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Typhoon No. 24 (Krovahn) was moving south near Okinawa's main island as of 9 p.m. on September 5, bringing extremely heavy rain exceeding 50 millimeters per hour in some areas north of the storm's center, which the Japan Meteorological Agency estimated to be over waters about 100 kilometers southeast of Naha with a central atmospheric pressure of 992 hectopascals.

Tokyo has unveiled the design for a major redevelopment of the plaza outside Shinjuku Station's west exit, with a landmark tree, water-play area and event space planned as part of a transformation centered on "greenery, light and people" that is scheduled for completion in 2035.

A late former professor at Asahikawa Medical University has won the Ig Nobel Prize in Medicine for scientifically examining the proper way to blow the nose, extending Japan's streak of Ig Nobel winners to 20 consecutive years.

Night trains are making a comeback across Japan, with railway operators introducing new overnight services and even experimenting with overnight Shinkansen trains as demand grows for alternatives that combine transportation, accommodation and the experience of traveling through the night.

Bear sightings and attacks have been reported across Japan throughout the summer, with animals damaging sheds, attacking livestock and injuring people, while experts warn that autumn is the most dangerous season as bears expand their range in search of food.

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Prince Hisahito, the only son of Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko, turned 20 on September 6, as he continues to take part in a growing range of official duties as an adult member of Japan's Imperial Family.

Young people recruited into illegal "dark part-time jobs" through social media and friends are increasingly becoming involved in fraud and violent robberies across Japan, with interviews at a juvenile training school revealing how the promise of easy money, a desire for recognition and fear of criminal groups can gradually leave them feeling unable to escape.

Tokyo police are investigating the possibility of a serial arson spree after six suspicious fires were reported within about two weeks in the same neighborhood of Adachi Ward, leaving an 81-year-old woman with burns and damaging homes, political party posters, a vending machine and a bicycle.

A 52-year-old restaurant operator was sentenced to 17 years in prison on September 4 for killing his former girlfriend by repeatedly stabbing her in the abdomen and back with two kitchen knives at his home in Higashiosaka, Osaka Prefecture.

A Chinese man who received a suspended prison sentence and had his driver's license revoked after striking four elementary school students while driving drunk in 2025 admitted at his first trial on September 3 that he repeatedly drove without a license while still on probation.

The Imperial Household Agency is considering holding a significantly scaled-down funeral for former Emperor Akihito at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, reflecting his wishes to minimize disruption to the lives of the public.

A 17-year-old high school girl was arrested in Omihachiman, Shiga Prefecture, on September 2 after allegedly stabbing her 49-year-old father in the neck with scissors during an altercation at their home, with the father later dying at a hospital.

Three men have been arrested on suspicion of attempting to defraud a flood victim in Chiba Prefecture of 3.2 million yen by falsely claiming that his electrical breaker panel and flooring needed urgent repairs, in a type of scam that has surged nationwide in recent years.