Prices continue to squeeze businesses across Japan, with the number of bankruptcies caused by rising costs reaching a record 488 cases in the first half of this fiscal year, according to data compiled by Teikoku Databank. (News On Japan)

Typhoon No. 23 (Nakri), currently located southeast of the Kanto region, is moving eastward and is expected to become an extratropical low over the far western Pacific on October 15. As of 3 p.m., the storm was positioned about 260 kilometers east of Hachijojima and traveling northeast at around 35 kilometers per hour. Although Hachijojima has now exited the typhoon’s storm zone, Nakri’s area of strong winds remains extensive and will continue to impact coastal regions even as the system moves away. (News On Japan)