News On Japan

Garbage Burnoff Spreads to 3 Buildings in Okayama

Okayama, May 21, 2026 (News On Japan) - A fire that broke out in Kagamino, Okayama Prefecture, shortly after noon on May 20th destroyed three buildings, including a home, after flames from open burning spread to dead leaves and then to nearby structures.

Flames could be seen bursting through the roof as firefighters rushed to the scene. The blaze was brought under control about two hours later, but three buildings, including a residence, were completely destroyed.

According to a 69-year-old man who lived in the house where the fire started, the cause was open burning. He said he had been burning garbage and other items outdoors when the fire spread to dead leaves and then reached the house.

Six fires believed to have been caused by open burning had already occurred in the area by May 19th.

Authorities had been urging residents to exercise extreme caution when handling fire outdoors at the time of the incident.

Source: FNN

News On Japan
POPULAR NEWS

Google opened its first flagship store in Japan in Tokyo's Omotesando district at 2 p.m. on August 13, marking the company's first flagship retail location outside the United States.

Fifteen days after the Kumamoto earthquake, restoration of electricity and transport infrastructure is progressing, but thousands of people are believed to remain outside official shelters, while rising construction costs and interest rates are creating new challenges for rebuilding homes and restoring livelihoods.

A mysterious red light stretching vertically across the night sky over Kanagawa Prefecture has been identified as a rare "sprite," a brief luminous phenomenon that occurs high above thunderclouds at roughly the same time as powerful lightning strikes.

Street performances began across Tokushima on August 12 as the city's Awa Odori festival entered its second day, with leading dance groups showcasing graceful routines after months of practice.

A large new typhoon formed near the Ogasawara Islands on August 12 and could approach Honshu around the end of the Obon holiday period, while the remnants of Typhoon No. 15 continue to bring unstable weather and a risk of heavy rain across a wide area of Japan.

MEDIA CHANNELS
         

MORE Society NEWS

Two pet pythons measuring about 2 meters in length escaped from an apartment in Kawasaki's Tama Ward early on August 13, prompting police and firefighters to search the surrounding residential area and warn local residents.

Two teenage boys from Tokyo's Adachi Ward have been arrested on suspicion of stealing a motorcycle and firing aerial fireworks toward police officers at two police boxes, telling investigators they were annoyed that a new police box had opened in the area.

Hiroko Saito was 19 years old when she left Japan for North Korea in June 1961 with her Korean husband and their one-year-old daughter, persuaded by assurances that they were heading to a "paradise on earth" and that she could return to Japan after three years. Instead, she would spend four decades in North Korea, enduring chronic hunger, the deaths of her husband and children and a desperate struggle to survive before finally escaping and returning home in 2001.

A fire broke out late on August 11 at Daido Steel's Chita Plant in Tokai, Aichi Prefecture, burning through an outdoor area containing scrap metal and other materials, with no injuries reported and no flames spreading to nearby buildings.

Two weeks after the Kumamoto earthquake, the spread of malicious fake images has emerged as a problem in disaster-hit communities, with one resident saying the manipulation feels like an insult to everyone in his area.

Osaka Prefectural Police searched an office linked to the Yamaguchi-gumi crime syndicate in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture, on July 29 as part of an investigation into suspected receipt of money obtained through special fraud.

Authorities in Kyoto and Osaka have arrested three men in separate drug cases involving so-called zombie cigarettes containing the designated drug etomidate, as investigators step up efforts against the illegal trade in the Kansai region.

Raccoons are increasingly invading homes across Japan, damaging roofs and wiring, contaminating buildings with large amounts of urine and feces, and raising concerns over agriculture, native wildlife and the spread of disease as their population continues to expand.