News On Japan

Mobile Battery Catches Fire on Yamanote Line, Injuring 5

TOKYO - A mobile battery being used to charge a smartphone caught fire inside a JR Yamanote Line train on the evening of July 20th, injuring five passengers and temporarily suspending services on multiple lines, including the Yamanote and Saikyo lines.

According to the Metropolitan Police Department and other authorities, the incident occurred at around 4:10 p.m. between Shin-Okubo and Shinjuku stations on the inner loop of the Yamanote Line. A woman in her 30s was charging her smartphone when the battery pack suddenly ignited.

The fire was quickly extinguished using a fire extinguisher, but the woman suffered burns to her hand. Four other passengers sustained minor injuries, including sprained ankles while fleeing the smoke-filled carriage.

As a result of the incident, train services on the Yamanote Line's outer loop were suspended for about one hour, while the inner loop was halted for roughly two hours. Operations were also temporarily suspended on other JR lines running through central Tokyo, including the Saikyo Line and the Shonan-Shinjuku Line.

Source: TBS

News On Japan
POPULAR NEWS

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's government approved its first annual basic economic and fiscal policy on Tuesday, pledging "responsible and proactive fiscal policy" and envisioning about 370 trillion yen in public- and private-sector investment in strategic industries through fiscal 2040.

A police officer fired a warning shot into the air after a 42-year-old woman approached officers while pointing a kitchen knife at them on a street in Eniwa, Hokkaido, on July 17.

A covert network of shuttle tankers is carrying crude through the increasingly dangerous Strait of Hormuz as renewed fighting between the United States and Iran disrupts shipping and raises concerns over how Japan will secure the oil it needs.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko has criticized moves by Japanese and Ukrainian companies to cooperate on drone technology, warning that such ties would be regarded by Moscow as a "clear hostile act."

The rainy season ended in the Kanto-Koshin and Tokai regions on July 20 as strengthening high pressure brought intense heat across Japan, with temperatures forecast to reach 38 C in Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture, and Kofu.

MEDIA CHANNELS
         

MORE Society NEWS

A 45-year-old man was arrested early July 20 after allegedly crashing a passenger car into a convenience store in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, and walking around the parking lot carrying a kitchen knife and a golf club.

More than a dozen people were injured after a massive rope suddenly snapped during a tug-of-war at a festival in Kitami, Hokkaido, sending participants falling backward onto an asphalt road.

A public housing complex in Aichi Prefecture where about 70% of households are occupied by foreign residents is showing signs of improvement after introducing multilingual communication, foreign-led neighborhood activities and a 3,000-yen fine for residents who skip community cleaning duties.

A fire that broke out at the long-established Echigo Tsurukame sake brewery in a densely populated residential district of Niigata City on July 19 destroyed the brewery and spread to at least six nearby homes, with firefighters still unable to declare the blaze fully extinguished by noon on July 20.

Two people found dead in a collapsed home following a landslide in Ashikaga, Tochigi Prefecture, have been identified as a married couple in their 60s who lived at the property, city officials said.

Bacteria found in excrement on the uniform of a former nurse arrested on suspicion of killing a hospital patient by contaminating his intravenous drip matched bacteria detected in the victim's blood, investigators have found.

A man accused of leading a group assault that killed a university student apologized to the victim and his family in court, saying he had acted out of what he described as a "distorted sense of justice."

Police are investigating a yakuza gang in Hiroshima after its members allegedly cleared about 3,000 square meters of privately owned forest and used heavy machinery to build an unauthorized access road.