Two men died on July 11 in separate water accidents in Aichi and Gifu prefectures, including an Indonesian man who apparently drowned after jumping into a waterfall basin and a fisherman swept away while trying to recover his fishing gear. (News On Japan)

An unauthorized Islamic prayer hall has been built on land in Kawagoe, Saitama Prefecture, where new construction is generally prohibited, prompting the city to order the landowner to remove the structure. (News On Japan)

Empress Masako harvested wild silk cocoons at the Imperial Palace on July 9, continuing the long-standing sericulture tradition passed down through generations of empresses since the Meiji era. (News On Japan)

A firefighter with the Toyonaka City Fire Department has been arrested on suspicion of confining his live-in partner's 6-year-old daughter at their home and causing her injury. (News On Japan)

Three men have been arrested on suspicion of preparing to rob a home in Saitama City after police found new face masks and crowbars hidden in shrubbery at a coin-operated parking lot. (News On Japan)

A 30-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after allegedly stabbing his father, a temple priest in his 70s, to death at their home in Nanao, Ishikawa Prefecture, on July 8, before going to a convenience store and telling a clerk, "I stabbed my father." (News On Japan)

A landslide that occurred directly in front of homes in Koka, Shiga Prefecture, on July 7 caused part of a garden to collapse and cut off a road, bringing down an area about 25 meters wide and 80 meters long, including residential property. (News On Japan)

Silk thread production for strings used in shamisen and other traditional Japanese instruments has reached its peak in Nagahama, Shiga Prefecture. (News On Japan)

A trainee monk has been arrested on suspicion of setting fire to Entsuji, a temple in Imari, Saga Prefecture, after a June blaze destroyed its main hall and living quarters, with the suspect telling investigators he had become dissatisfied with the amount of training and the way he was being instructed. (News On Japan)

A 49-year-old woman in Koga, Ibaraki Prefecture, has been arrested on suspicion of injuring a 42-year-old woman she lived with by sewing her upper and lower lips together multiple times with a threaded needle, police said. (News On Japan)

A 59-year-old worker died after apparently falling about 11 meters into Lake Biwa while helping set up the runway for the Birdman Contest in Hikone, Shiga Prefecture. (News On Japan)

A man believed to be a foreign national jumped into a river and swam away near the Osaka Detention House in Osaka’s Miyakojima Ward on the afternoon of July 6 while being pursued by Aichi Prefectural Police, and authorities are still searching for him. (News On Japan)

A temple in Yamagata, Gifu Prefecture, reported the theft of 11 Buddhist statues and other items on the morning of July 6, prompting police to investigate the case as a burglary. (News On Japan)

A senior figure believed to be one of the top executives of the Prince Group, described as one of Asia’s largest criminal organizations, has been rearrested in Tokyo on suspicion of violating Japan’s Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act by unlawfully handing over his residence card to others, the Metropolitan Police Department said. (News On Japan)

The growing abuse of over-the-counter drugs among young people in Japan reflects not only easy access to medicines but also loneliness, social media influence and a shortage of places where troubled youths can be safely seen and heard, according to a discussion among an addiction specialist, a former overdose user and a recovery worker with experience of drug and alcohol dependence. (News On Japan)

An Indian restaurant in a shopping street in Yokohama's Nishi Ward was destroyed by fire on Saturday morning, with 34 fire engines and other emergency vehicles sent to the scene. (News On Japan)

Recent symptoms such as fatigue and irritability may be signs of menopause, a condition often seen as a women’s health issue but one that also affects many men, especially those in their 40s and 50s who face growing responsibilities, declining recognition and physical changes that are difficult to discuss. (News On Japan)

A female music teacher at a municipal elementary school in Tokyo’s Kita Ward has told officials she was drying private clothing in a music preparation room where a fire broke out last month, injuring 11 pupils and others. (News On Japan)

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)

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)