A 12-year-old British girl who disappeared while visiting Japan with her family was found safe in Yokohama on Saturday night, about 59 hours after leaving their private lodging in Tokyo, with police saying there was no indication that she had been involved in a crime. (News On Japan)

A new Japanese-made high-speed train developed for Taiwan arrived in the southern city of Kaohsiung on August 15, with commercial operations scheduled to begin in July 2027. (News On Japan)

Mahjong is shedding its long-standing image as a smoke-filled gambling pastime for adults and emerging as a "brain sport" enjoyed by university students and children, with cleaner venues, professional competition and regulatory changes helping broaden its appeal. (News On Japan)

The Miyazu Lantern Floating and Fireworks Festival, a traditional summer event said to have a history of more than 400 years, illuminated the waterfront in Miyazu, Kyoto Prefecture, as lanterns carrying prayers drifted across the sea and fireworks lit the night sky. (News On Japan)

Osaka's Nishinari Ward, long known as a working-class neighborhood that accepted people from diverse backgrounds, is being rapidly reshaped by Chinese-led property development and a surge in special-zone private lodgings, bringing new business and tourism while displacing some longtime elderly residents. (News On Japan)

Commercial and industrial damage from the Kumamoto earthquake has already reached 117.6 billion yen, while continuing water outages are preventing many businesses from reopening. (News On Japan)

The death toll from record-breaking torrential rain in Chiba Prefecture has risen to 10, with 29 people injured, more than 1,500 homes damaged and one person still missing three days after the disaster. (News On Japan)

Donguri Village, an interactive tourist attraction in Saga city that has welcomed visitors for nearly four decades, is expected to close as early as autumn 2027 because of aging facilities and a decline in visitor numbers. (News On Japan)

An Okinawa dairy farming family is working to protect local milk production as soaring feed and utility costs, extreme summer heat and reduced demand during the school vacation place growing pressure on an industry that has seen the number of farms fall sharply over the past four decades. (News On Japan)

A fire that broke out in grassland at a fishing port in Tomamae, northern Hokkaido, spread to an adjacent warehouse and workshop on August 15, burning for about six hours before being brought under control. (News On Japan)

The University of Tokyo is expected to post a 4.4 billion yen deficit for fiscal 2026, marking its first two consecutive years in the red since becoming a national university corporation in 2004, as inflation, rising personnel costs and long-standing structural constraints place growing pressure on its finances. (News On Japan)

Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi and three other Cabinet ministers visited Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on August 15, the anniversary of the end of World War II, while Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi refrained from going in person and instead offered prayers from the Nippon Budokan. (News On Japan)

STAGE:0, one of Japan's largest esports tournaments for high school students, has opened in Osaka, bringing together more than 2,000 teams from across the country to compete for the title of national champion. (News On Japan)

Young people continue to gather at "Gurishita" in Osaka's Minami entertainment district despite persistent risks of drug abuse, prostitution and violent crime, while a nearby support center is operating around the clock during the summer vacation period to help those with nowhere else to turn. (News On Japan)

Osaka police have arrested or referred 38 men and women in their 20s to 40s over suspected dangerous group driving and other offenses on Hanna Road, a mountain route linking Daito in Osaka Prefecture with Nara, as illegal street racing continues to disturb residents despite years of enforcement. (News On Japan)

Tokyo stocks rose on August 14, with the Nikkei 225 closing at 68,714, up 0.59%, as investors continued buying semiconductor, artificial intelligence and earnings-backed shares, while the broader TOPIX gained 0.51% to 4,197 and reached another record high. (News On Japan)

A 39-year-old father was taken to a hospital in cardiac arrest on August 15 after entering the sea to rescue his two young sons who appeared to be in difficulty off the coast of Toyoura, Hokkaido. (News On Japan)

An Akita prefectural official has been suspended for six months and demoted two ranks after an investigation found he had joined an online media interview from a love hotel while with a woman who was not his wife, despite initially claiming he was at home because he was unwell. (News On Japan)

A woman believed to be a foreign visitor has drawn criticism after posting images on social media showing herself climbing and posing on an ancient camphor tree more than 800 years old at Onamuchi Shrine in Hioki, Kagoshima Prefecture, where climbing the protected tree is prohibited. (News On Japan)

Bear sightings are increasing across Japan as the animals become more active during their summer breeding season, with encounters reported near major tourist destinations, campsites and fishing areas, including an attack that left a man injured in Gunma Prefecture. (News On Japan)