Japan steps up efforts to attract foreign funds

Beauty influencer and businesswoman Reika Miyazaki was sentenced on July 15 to two years and six months in prison, suspended for four years, for evading about 157 million yen in taxes, while her company was fined 40 million yen.

Convenience store operators in Japan are strengthening safety measures as bear-related damage grows more serious, with Lawson expanding the use of bear repellent spray and considering drone-based remote monitoring.

A 44-year-old man arrested after four people were injured in a knife attack in Saiki, Oita Prefecture, has told investigators in effect that "anyone would do," suggesting the victims were chosen at random, investigative sources said.

A woman arrested on suspicion of sewing shut the lips of a woman she lived with in Koga, Ibaraki Prefecture, has denied the allegation, telling investigators she has no recollection of the incident.

A 37-year-old gang member known in Tokyo's Kabukicho district by the nickname "Crazy" has been arrested on suspicion of robbing and injuring a teenage girl near Shinjuku Station after threatening her with what appeared to be an ice pick.

A wild boar repeatedly charged at a man on the grounds of a food service company in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, on July 13, injuring two people before being captured about an hour and a half later.

Two men died on July 11 in separate water accidents in Aichi and Gifu prefectures, including an Indonesian man who apparently drowned after jumping into a waterfall basin and a fisherman swept away while trying to recover his fishing gear.

An unauthorized Islamic prayer hall has been built on land in Kawagoe, Saitama Prefecture, where new construction is generally prohibited, prompting the city to order the landowner to remove the structure.