A US Navy sailor stationed in Japan has been referred to prosecutors on suspicion of negligent driving resulting in death after a car-motorcycle collision in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, last September that killed a 22-year-old man.
Across Japan, aging underground infrastructure is leading to a rising number of road collapses, with an estimated 10,000 cases annually—about 29 per day. Nearly 30% of these incidents in urban areas are attributed to deteriorating sewer pipes.
South Korean police announced the arrest of 39 individuals involved in smuggling gold from Hong Kong to Japan via Incheon Airport, disguising the metal as clay to evade detection.
Aichi’s famed Konomiya Hadaka Festival took place on February 10th at Konomiya Shrine in Inazawa City, where men clad in only fundoshi loincloths clashed in a frenzied struggle. The traditional event, which has continued for over 1,200 years, centers around the ‘Shin Otoko’ or ‘Sacred Man,’ chosen by lottery, whom participants believe will cleanse them of misfortune if they manage to touch him.
The annual Otomo Festival took place on February 6th at Kamikura Shrine, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Shingu City, Wakayama Prefecture. The event saw men clad in white robes, each carrying a flaming torch, racing down the shrine’s steep stone steps in a centuries-old tradition.
A 55-year-old demolition worker has been arrested on suspicion of violating Hokkaido’s Public Nuisance Prevention Ordinance after entering a convenience store wearing only stockings on his lower body and exposing himself to a female clerk.
A newly built public toilet in a remote village in Nara Prefecture has become the subject of controversy—not for its design, but for its staggering cost of nearly 1 billion yen.
North Safari Sapporo, a zoo in Sapporo, Hokkaido, known for allowing visitors to stay near lions and seals and often referred to as Japan’s 'most dangerous zoo,' is now facing potential closure due to a dispute over its land use.