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Saitama, which drew attention after placing last in the latest prefectural attractiveness rankings, is in fact home to an unexpectedly large number of people dedicated to promoting the prefecture — so many that residents often joke about it.
Image of Why Saitama Is Overflowing With Local Heroes

A sports car burst into flames on the Metropolitan Expressway in Yokohama on November 16th, with firefighters extinguishing the blaze about 30 minutes after the initial outbreak.

A group of eight individuals, including Chinese national and company executive Yang Xiaodong, has been arrested on suspicion of selling gold bars with counterfeit stamps from a major precious metals company and passing them off as genuine, generating what investigators believe was roughly 9.5 billion yen in sales.

A company employee was arrested on November 3rd in Kashiwara City, Osaka Prefecture, after allegedly setting fire to his car on the Nishi-Meihan Expressway, where police later discovered the burned body of a man believed to have been in his 50s or 60s, prompting investigators to consider the possibility of murder in addition to arson.

A senior Tokyo Metropolitan Police officer has been arrested on suspicion of leaking confidential investigation data to members of a decentralized criminal network known as “Tokuryu.”

Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested four men, including 41-year-old Daisuke Takehara, on suspicion of confining a man they did not know inside a car in Shibuya Ward. The suspects, including three Uzbek nationals, allegedly deceived the victim and then threatened him for money.

Police bear control units were formally deployed on November 13th in Iwate and Akita prefectures, where the number of bear attacks has become increasingly severe, following the recent authorization for officers to use rifles in bear extermination.