Wooden Church in Gifu Collapses Following Creaking Sounds

A drunken man caused a disturbance at a popular ramen chain in Kanagawa Prefecture on May 2nd, kicking toward the kitchen area and shouting demands over a large serving he claimed he was denied.

A fire broke out before dawn at a ryokan in the Kinosaki Onsen hot spring district in Hyogo Prefecture, engulfing the building and spreading to nearby stores. While all guests were safely evacuated, a male employee was taken to hospital.

Kazuhiko Matsumoto, a 70-year-old man on death row for killing two men in the Philippines for insurance money, has died of natural causes.

During the Pacific War, members of the Ainu community, Japan's Indigenous people, were drafted and sent to the front lines alongside ethnic Japanese under the government's assimilation policy.

A senior member of the Yamaguchi-gumi, a designated organized crime syndicate, has been arrested in connection with the theft of over 170 Rolex watches in Osaka, and is suspected of having selected where the stolen goods would be sold.

The Ise Grand Shrine in Mie Prefecture has begun preparations for its next shikinen sengu, the ceremonial reconstruction of its shrine buildings and transfer of deities held once every 20 years. The process officially commenced on May 2nd with the Yamaguchi Festival, the first in a series of sacred rites.

A chamberlain assigned to the Emperor's household has been dismissed by the Imperial Household Agency after it was discovered the aide had embezzled 3.6 million yen, or roughly 25,000 dollars, from an account used to cover the Imperial Family’s living expenses.

A man operating a bar in Shibuya, Tokyo, was arrested on April 29th for allegedly providing unlicensed entertainment services involving women in swimsuits bathing in front of customers.