Tokyo police have arrested four people, including unemployed women Mao Mizuno and Naka Namioka, on suspicion of public indecency for allegedly livestreaming obscene acts on an overseas streaming website from a hotel in Kabukicho. (News On Japan)

Kyoto’s Gion Festival, one of Japan’s three major festivals, began on July 1 with the Osendo ritual at Yasaka Shrine, where the child messenger and his attendants prayed for the safe completion of their major role in the monthlong event. (News On Japan)

Japan’s average roadside land price rose 2.9% from a year earlier, marking the steepest increase on record, as inbound tourism and redevelopment pushed up land valuations across the country. (News On Japan)

A night junior high school in Joso, Ibaraki Prefecture, where all 30 students have roots overseas, is taking on a new role as a bridge between foreign residents and local communities in Japan. (News On Japan)

A 10-year-old boy who went missing from a special needs school in Komatsu, Ishikawa Prefecture, was found submerged in a waterfall on July 2 and later confirmed dead. (News On Japan)

Former Nissan Motor Chairman Carlos Ghosn said the automaker is in a "state of emergency" and signaled he would be willing to return as chief executive officer, arguing that only a true decision-maker in the CEO role could rescue the company. (News On Japan)

A man in his 70s was injured early on June 30 after being attacked by a bear near an elementary school in Tochigi Prefecture, as bear-related incidents continue to rise across Japan ahead of the full onset of summer heat in July. (News On Japan)

More than 2,500 food items will become more expensive in July, with bread, instant noodles and other processed foods among the main categories affected as Middle East tensions and the weaker yen continue to push up costs. (News On Japan)

The entire Negishi Housing Area in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, has been returned to Japan for the first time in 79 years, ending its use as a residential district for U.S. military personnel and their families. (News On Japan)

The Asian Games, opening on September 19, will be held without a traditional athletes village, with organizers instead planning to accommodate athletes and officials in container-style housing, a cruise ship and hotels across Nagoya and surrounding prefectures. (News On Japan)

Prosecutors sought life imprisonment for Yukio Tanaka, a senior member of a gang affiliated with the Kudo-kai crime syndicate, as his trial over the 2013 fatal shooting of Osho Food Service president Takayuki Ohigashi concluded at the Kyoto District Court, with a verdict scheduled to be handed down on October 16. (News On Japan)

Japan’s political agenda on June 29 centered on Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s attempt to connect economic growth, national security and technological resilience, as the government moved toward a long-term economic blueprint while also responding to China’s expanded export controls and preparing a revision of Japan’s Arctic policy. (News On Japan)

Tokyo stocks edged higher on June 29 as investors bought back selected shares after a sharp AI-led selloff, but gains were capped by caution over high technology valuations, Middle East tensions and a weakening yen that fell to its lowest level against the dollar since 1986. (News On Japan)

Japan is set to begin its first clinical trial of xenotransplantation involving the transplant of pig kidneys into human patients, in a step that could open a new option for people with kidney failure. (News On Japan)

The Japan Meteorological Agency said at around 2 p.m. on June 29 that the rainy season appeared to have ended in Okinawa, marking a later-than-usual start to summer after an especially wet period. (News On Japan)

Strong earthquakes have continued to shake parts of Japan in recent weeks, with 11 temblors measuring lower 5 or above on the Japanese seismic intensity scale recorded across the country since April 2026. (News On Japan)

Japan’s World Cup campaign ended in the cruelest possible fashion on June 29, as Gabriel Martinelli scored in the fifth minute of stoppage time to give Brazil a 2-1 victory over the Samurai Blue in their knockout match in Houston. Japan had led in the first half and were still level at 1-1 in the final moments, but Martinelli’s late strike sent Brazil into the Round of 16 and eliminated Japan from the tournament. (News On Japan)

A Kintetsu Railway train derailed inside Kyoto Station on the morning of June 29, forcing partial suspensions on the Kintetsu Kyoto Line for the rest of the day and causing long delays that hit commuters, students and tourists. (News On Japan)

Japan remains among the world’s leading nations in seabed resource development and should accelerate work to sharpen its technology, Democratic Party for the People upper house lawmaker Yoshihiko Yamada said, calling for broader ocean policy investment, stronger protection of sea lanes and a more active Japanese role in mine-clearing operations near the Strait of Hormuz. (News On Japan)

Defense Minister Koizumi met with South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back in Seoul on the morning of June 28, with the two ministers agreeing to continue cooperation between Japan and South Korea, as well as among Japan, the United States and South Korea. (News On Japan)