Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako visited Ghibli Park in Aichi Prefecture on September 20, touring exhibits that recreate famous scenes from Studio Ghibli films and posing for a photograph with the character No-Face. (News On Japan)

Police in Kanagawa Prefecture have rearrested four teenagers on suspicion of murdering a 17-year-old high school student who died after being assaulted in Sagamihara in August. (News On Japan)

Drinking parties remain a lively part of social life in Kansai even as younger generations increasingly turn away from alcohol and izakaya bankruptcies rise at a record pace, with customers describing the gatherings less as occasions to drink heavily and more as opportunities to maintain friendships, meet new people and build connections across generations. (News On Japan)

Anonymous and fluid criminal groups known in Japan as "tokuryu" are adopting increasingly elaborate tactics, including a scheme in which elderly victims are persuaded to hide cash inside refrigerators before thieves enter their homes, as authorities struggle to combat networks whose members often have no direct contact with one another. (News On Japan)

A luxury mansion in Bangkok described as resembling a palace was being used as a base for a specialized fraud operation targeting Japanese people, with Thai authorities detaining 14 people, including four Japanese men. (News On Japan)

Copper roofing has been stripped from Shinano-no-miya Shrine in Oshika Village, Nagano Prefecture, leaving the wooden structure exposed in the latest of a series of similar thefts reported at shrines across the prefecture. (News On Japan)

A second-year high school student was arrested at the scene after allegedly releasing tear gas spray inside a classroom at Osaka University of Commerce Sakai High School on September 16, leaving 24 students complaining of coughing, throat pain and other symptoms. (News On Japan)

A 27-year-old nightclub employee and influencer known online as Yamatorino was arrested at the scene on suspicion of possessing cocaine at her home in Tokyo's Roppongi district, along with her 28-year-old boyfriend. (News On Japan)

Police have arrested a 26-year-old man suspected of acting as a top-level planner in an anonymous, fluid criminal group known as a "Tokuryu," with investigators believing he was involved in a series of theft-related crimes in Kyoto and other areas between December 2025 and March 2026. (News On Japan)

A 37-year-old man was arrested at Chubu Centrair International Airport after allegedly injuring a police officer who warned him about walking two toy poodles without leashes inside the airport complex. (News On Japan)

The number of people aged 100 or older in Japan has exceeded 100,000 for the first time, reaching a record 107,677 as of September 1, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. (News On Japan)

A 29-year-old man accused of killing his pregnant former girlfriend, a nail artist in Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture, admitted the charges at his first trial on September 14, with prosecutors saying he used tracking tags to locate the woman after deciding he wanted to kill her and "reset" his life to before their relationship. (News On Japan)

Tokyo police have found that two teenage girls detained during coordinated patrols in the "Toyoko" area of Kabukicho were carrying forged student identification cards containing false ages and names. (News On Japan)

Roads around the Fushimi Otesuji Shopping Street in Kyoto's Fushimi Ward were flooded on the evening of September 13 after water began gushing from a nearby road, forcing authorities to close part of the street to traffic. (News On Japan)

Newly recovered video from a passenger's digital camera has revealed conditions aboard the Kazu I sightseeing boat before it sank off Hokkaido's Shiretoko Peninsula in April 2022, a disaster that left 20 passengers and crew members dead and six passengers still missing more than four years later. (News On Japan)

Police have rearrested a 30-year-old senior member of an organization affiliated with the Sixth Yamaguchi-gumi on suspicion of directing a loosely organized criminal group that stole smartphones and other goods worth about 4.15 million yen from stores in Chiba and Kanagawa prefectures. (News On Japan)

High-end bonsai are being stolen from gardens across Japan in a growing series of thefts, with some trees later appearing on social media overseas and industry officials saying more than 100 cases are now reported each year. (News On Japan)

Three people have been arrested in Kyoto on suspicion of operating an unlicensed underground banking service for Chinese clients, with police believing the group handled transactions worth about 600 million yen in total. (News On Japan)

Two 14-year-old junior high school students in Aichi Prefecture have been arrested on suspicion of obstructing traffic while performing dangerous bicycle stunts linked to group rides known on social media as Nagoya Ride. (News On Japan)

Police are investigating whether a dispute between a 70-year-old man and the female owner of a cake shop in Motosu, Gifu Prefecture, was connected to a murder and arson case that left three people dead and two others injured during a middle school reunion. (News On Japan)