A fire broke out late on August 11 at Daido Steel's Chita Plant in Tokai, Aichi Prefecture, burning through an outdoor area containing scrap metal and other materials, with no injuries reported and no flames spreading to nearby buildings. (News On Japan)

Two weeks after the Kumamoto earthquake, the spread of malicious fake images has emerged as a problem in disaster-hit communities, with one resident saying the manipulation feels like an insult to everyone in his area. (News On Japan)

Hiroko Saito was 19 years old when she left Japan for North Korea in June 1961 with her Korean husband and their one-year-old daughter, persuaded by assurances that they were heading to a "paradise on earth" and that she could return to Japan after three years. Instead, she would spend four decades in North Korea, enduring chronic hunger, the deaths of her husband and children and a desperate struggle to survive before finally escaping and returning home in 2001. (News On Japan)

Osaka Prefectural Police searched an office linked to the Yamaguchi-gumi crime syndicate in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture, on July 29 as part of an investigation into suspected receipt of money obtained through special fraud. (News On Japan)

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)

Raccoons are increasingly invading homes across Japan, damaging roofs and wiring, contaminating buildings with large amounts of urine and feces, and raising concerns over agriculture, native wildlife and the spread of disease as their population continues to expand. (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)