China will sharply raise visa fees for Japanese nationals entering the country from September 14, with the cost of a single-entry visa increasing to 16,750 yen, about 7.4 times the current level. (News On Japan)

Tokyo's Koto Ward will conduct on-site inspections of all roughly 400 lodging facilities from January 2027 as it moves to strengthen regulations following a sharp increase in complaints over issues including garbage disposal and nighttime noise. (News On Japan)

Camping in Japan does not necessarily mean staying at the campsite all day. On a road trip, the campsite can work more like a place to return to at night. (News On Japan)

Nagoya was assessing the damage after record-breaking rainfall exceeding 100 millimeters in one hour struck the city on September 8, causing a river to temporarily overflow into a residential area and leaving carp and catfish stranded in roadside drains. (News On Japan)

Families were given a rare opportunity to explore a newly built ship about 180 meters long during a public event at Hakodate Dock in Hokkaido on September 6, as the shipbuilder prepares to celebrate its 130th anniversary. (News On Japan)

Universal Studios Japan unveiled its 2026 Halloween event to the media on September 9, a day before its public opening on September 10, featuring a record number of zombies and the park's first horror attraction restricted to visitors aged 18 and over. (News On Japan)

Osaka Metro plans to abolish magnetic tickets and replace them with QR code-based tickets around fiscal 2031, as declining use and the cost of maintaining conventional ticket gates accelerate the shift toward digital fare systems. (News On Japan)

A landslide on Mount Fuji buried three vehicles as torrential rain battered wide areas of Japan on September 9, while Nagoya continued to assess extensive flooding damage a day after the city recorded its heaviest hourly rainfall on record. (News On Japan)

JR East has unveiled three finalists to become the new image character for its Suica transportation IC card, as the long-serving Suica Penguin prepares to "graduate" in March next year after more than 20 years as the face of the service. (News On Japan)