NAGOYA, Jul 22 (News On Japan) - On July 21st, Marine Day, around 3,000 fireworks lit up the night sky above Nagoya Port, drawing large crowds to the annual Nagoya Minato Festival.
The event, held in Minato Ward, Nagoya, is a longstanding summer tradition that typically attracts around 300,000 visitors each year.
The highlight of the day, the fireworks display, began at 7:30 p.m., with colorful bursts painting the night sky in rapid succession.
An Idemitsu Kosan crude oil tanker has safely passed through the Strait of Hormuz, becoming the first vessel bound for Japan to do so since attacks on Iran heightened tensions in the region and effectively disrupted maritime traffic.
Japan’s Golden Week holiday period got fully underway on April 29, drawing large crowds to major tourist destinations and airports, where long lines formed as overseas travel surged.
A series of sightings involving unusually large brown bears in Hokkaido has heightened concerns among local residents, with one 330-kilogram animal captured in Tomamae and another 280-kilogram bear attacking a hunter in Shimamaki.
Full-scale Golden Week travel began on April 29, with Chubu Centrair International Airport experiencing its busiest outbound travel day of the holiday period. The airport was crowded from the morning with vacationers heading overseas.
Electricity and gas bills for usage in May will rise slightly in Japan, with the impact of tensions involving Iran expected to appear in utility charges from June onward. Larger increases could follow in subsequent months.
A long-standing hot spring facility in Kagoshima brought down the curtain on nearly six decades of history on April 29, Showa Day, as a cameraman documented its final day, capturing memories of an era shaped by Japan’s postwar growth.
International passenger traffic at Kansai Airport reached a record high of 27.08 million in fiscal 2025, up around 2 million from the previous year and highlighting strong demand for overseas travel across western Japan.
Residents of Okinawa were given an early preview on April 27 of a new thrill ride at theme park JUNGLIA OKINAWA in Nakijin Village, Okinawa Prefecture.
A rare spring mirage appeared over Toyama Bay on April 26, creating a striking optical illusion in which a bridge seemed to transform into a flattened diamond shape floating above the water.
Regular service by an electric passenger ferry linking Tokyo's Nihonbashi and Toyosu began on April 26. It marks Japan's first scheduled service using a fully electric passenger vessel operated by a private company.
A new sightseeing train operated by Nankai Electric Railway began service on April 24, connecting Osaka's Namba Station with Koyasan, a World Heritage site, raising expectations for regional tourism growth.
Bear sightings are surging across northeastern Japan in an unusually early spring trend, prompting the fastest issuance on record of bear alerts in multiple prefectures including Aomori and Iwate. Incidents have already left a police officer seriously injured and a member of the Self-Defense Forces attacked.
The planned extension of the Hokkaido Shinkansen to Sapporo has come under renewed scrutiny after Japan's Finance Ministry said the project had reached a level at which it should, in principle, be canceled.
