Winter Break Begins Across Osaka Elementary Schools

The upcoming Liberal Democratic Party leadership election will determine not only who leads Japan’s ruling party but also who is likely to become the country’s next prime minister, and the voting system itself plays a decisive role in shaping the outcome. The election is decided by a combination of votes from LDP lawmakers in the National Diet and ballots cast by the party’s grassroots members across Japan, creating a two-stage process that balances national and local influence.

A two-story wooden house collapsed in Tokyo’s Suginami Ward on the night of September 30th, with experts suggesting that the ground beneath the property, rather than the building itself, gave way, likely due to a cracked retaining wall.

Heavy rainfall battered parts of Hokkaido, with some areas receiving more than a month’s worth of precipitation in only six hours, prompting flood warnings and evacuation advisories. Meteorologists are saying the downpour was the result of a combination of unstable atmospheric conditions and moist air flowing in from the sea.

Kamakura City in Kanagawa Prefecture has approved the introduction of a bathing tax, but the measure is drawing strong criticism from local hot spring operators since only two facilities fall under the new levy.