Authorities in Kyoto and Osaka have arrested three men in separate drug cases involving so-called zombie cigarettes containing the designated drug etomidate, as investigators step up efforts against the illegal trade in the Kansai region. (News On Japan)

Japan marked August 8, 2026, with a wave of weddings, special discounts and commemorative events as the date produced a rare alignment of three eights - the eighth day of the eighth month in Reiwa 8 - a combination regarded as especially auspicious because the character for eight is traditionally associated with expanding prosperity. (News On Japan)

A 41-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of fatally assaulting her brother-in-law at her home in Shibukawa, Gunma Prefecture, after allegedly telling emergency services that he had fallen from a roof. (News On Japan)

The Emperor and his family are spending time at the Nasu Imperial Villa in Tochigi Prefecture as the retreat marks 100 years since its establishment, with the visit coming as debate in the Diet over revisions related to the Imperial House Law enters a critical stage. (News On Japan)

Two kappa statues that served as symbols of a bridge in Ebina, Kanagawa Prefecture, have been stolen after being cherished by local residents for 34 years, with police investigating whether the thieves targeted the sculptures for their copper. (News On Japan)

A 63-year-old man from Shizuoka Prefecture has been arrested on suspicion of selling 10 stolen metal plaques, including nameplates bearing the names of bridges, to a scrap metal dealer in Ichinomiya, Aichi Prefecture. (News On Japan)

A 32-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of repeatedly placing massive orders for merchandise from popular manga series through Shueisha's online store and then canceling the purchases without payment, causing disruption to the retailer's operations. (News On Japan)

A 49-year-old man has been rearrested on suspicion of injuring six people after driving a Bentley into seven vehicles stopped at a traffic light on National Route 16 in Hachioji, western Tokyo, in March. (News On Japan)

A knife-wielding man died after a police sergeant shot him in the chest on a street in Kawachinagano, Osaka Prefecture, after he continued advancing toward five officers despite repeated warnings and a warning shot fired into the air. (News On Japan)

A 41-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after allegedly stabbing a 16-year-old high school girl in the neck with a mechanical pencil at a store in Hakodate, Hokkaido, around noon on August 4. (News On Japan)

Nine days after the Kumamoto earthquake, a supermarket in Hikawa, where the strongest seismic intensity of 7 was recorded, is moving toward reopening while providing free groundwater to residents as about 3,200 households remain without running water. (News On Japan)

A former nurse has been indicted on a murder charge for allegedly killing a 75-year-old hospital patient by injecting fecal matter into his intravenous drip at a hospital in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture. (News On Japan)

Six boys aged 15 and 16 have been arrested on suspicion of obstructing official duties after allegedly riding motorized bicycles and throwing raw eggs at police officers in Kasugai, Aichi Prefecture. (News On Japan)

A correctional officer at Kyoto Prison has been indicted on suspicion of agreeing to accept 200,000 yen from three inmates in return for providing them with unspecified favors, raising concerns about staff-inmate relations one year after Japan introduced its new imprisonment system focused on rehabilitation. (News On Japan)

The operators of cosmetics and apparel stores at Aeon Mall Kumamoto disclosed new details on August 4 about how five employees who had initially evacuated the building later returned inside before being killed in an explosion following the earthquake. (News On Japan)

A Tokyu train struck a truck that had been forced onto the tracks by a road collision in Yokohama on the morning of August 4, temporarily suspending all services on the Kodomonokuni Line, although none of the roughly 100 passengers and crew aboard the train were injured. (News On Japan)

Kumamoto residents struggling to recover from the magnitude 7.1 earthquake were forced to halt cleanup work on August 3 as the temperature in Kumamoto City reached 40.3 degrees Celsius, adding a second life-threatening disaster to communities already devastated by the quake. (News On Japan)

The family of a 22-year-old cosmetics store employee killed in the explosion at Aeon Mall Kumamoto said she had safely evacuated after the powerful earthquake but returned to the building under instructions from her company, calling her death a "man-made disaster." (News On Japan)

A 39-year-old woman visiting the coast of Toyooka, Hyogo Prefecture, with her family died on August 2 after a falling rock struck her in the head near the Yodo sea cave. (News On Japan)

A 36-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after allegedly stabbing a male relative in the abdomen with a small chainsaw in a parking lot in Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture. (News On Japan)