The Japan Meteorological Agency announced that satellite images from the Himawari-9 weather satellite are currently unavailable due to a communication failure. While some functions have been restored through the backup satellite Himawari-8, key nighttime observation data such as infrared imagery remain inaccessible. (News On Japan)

Tokyo has confirmed its first case of a dog infected with severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS), a potentially fatal disease transmitted by ticks. It is the first time an animal infection has been recorded in the capital. (News On Japan)

Collectors and growers in Australia have long been limited by availability. Import restrictions, shifting regulations, and supply gaps have made sourcing quality seeds a challenge. (News On Japan)

Osaka University’s Professor Shimon Sakaguchi has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering regulatory T cells that suppress excessive immune reactions, a landmark finding that has brought excitement to colleagues, students, and the medical community. (News On Japan)

TeamLab has opened a new art space, “TeamLab BioVortex Kyoto,” in Kyoto’s Minami Ward, featuring around 50 works including several unveiled in Japan for the first time. Spanning approximately 10,000 square meters, the facility offers an immersive interactive experience where light, sound, and motion respond dynamically to visitors’ movements. (News On Japan)

A magnitude 4.9 earthquake occurred off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture around 9:30 a.m. on October 7th, registering a maximum intensity of 4 on the Japanese seismic scale. According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, there is no risk of a tsunami caused by this tremor. (News On Japan)

Osaka University’s Shimon Sakaguchi, a specially appointed professor, has been awarded this year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his groundbreaking work in immunology. Sakaguchi is best known for discovering “regulatory T cells,” a type of immune cell that suppresses excessive immune responses, a finding that has had far-reaching implications in medical science. (News On Japan)

A future where people control machines simply by thinking may be closer than science fiction suggests. At the forefront of this research is Masayuki Hirata, a neurosurgeon and specially appointed professor at Osaka University’s Graduate School of Medicine, who is developing a brain-computer interface (BCI) that allows high-tech devices such as smartphones or robotic arms to be operated by thought. (News On Japan)

Vast hillsides have been cleared for the construction of a large-scale solar power facility in Kamogawa, Chiba Prefecture, leaving piles of felled trees scattered across the slopes. The development covers approximately 146 hectares, or the size of 32 Tokyo Domes, and involves cutting down about 365,000 trees to make way for 470,000 solar panels. (News On Japan)

A massive tornado-like phenomenon was observed late in the morning of October 2nd off the coast of Tsuruoka in Yamagata Prefecture’s Shonai region, with thick swirling clouds rising high into the sky as seawater was drawn upward. (News On Japan)

The Okinawa region experienced record-breaking heat in September, with average temperatures 1.6 degrees Celsius above normal, the highest since records began. (News On Japan)

A new study has shed light on the lingering condition known as brain fog, one of the most troubling aftereffects of Covid-19. Researchers at Yokohama City University found that patients experiencing this symptom showed higher levels of a key brain protein compared to healthy individuals, suggesting a potential pathway for future treatment. (News On Japan)

Across Japan, water rates are being raised as aging infrastructure and population decline place mounting pressure on municipal waterworks, with a survey by Tokai TV revealing that many operators see no path forward without structural change, prompting new approaches that go beyond conventional frameworks to address what is being called a water crisis. (News On Japan)

Saudi Arabia is advancing its national project Vision 2030 to achieve a post-oil society by the end of the decade, with the Riyadh Expo positioned as its grand culmination, and Japan is aiming to secure a foothold in the initiative by providing technologies such as decarbonization systems and expertise in hosting world expos, while also looking to translate this involvement into domestic economic growth. (News On Japan)

Ishikawa Prefecture has surpassed Fukui Prefecture in total land area after a significant increase caused by coastal uplift triggered by the 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake, according to the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan. (News On Japan)

Japan’s Earthquake Research Committee has revised its assessment of the probability of a massive Nankai Trough earthquake occurring within the next 30 years, raising the range from the previous estimate of about 80 percent to between 60 and 90 percent or higher. (News On Japan)