Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is working mainly from the official residence beside the Prime Minister’s Office, using it as a regular workplace to increase working time and efficiency. She moved into the residence last December and says its location allows her to respond quickly in emergencies without losing time travelling. Built in 1929, the building once served as Japan’s prime ministerial office.

Takaichi said office facilities at the residence have been expanded, allowing in-person and online meetings with officials. She also works there after office hours when necessary and takes documents home to read, describing the residence as another workplace. She spends much of her time there at night and on holidays.

Her long working hours have drawn criticism after she said she sometimes sleeps from zero to three hours a night while managing work pressure and household duties. Critics say this may send a wrong message on work-life balance and gender equality. Her popularity has also fallen amid criticism over a proposed imperial-law change and delayed economic measures despite rising living costs.

A 48-year-old father was reprimanded by police after leaving his seven-year-old son alone on a bench near Mount Fuji’s sixth station in dense fog and rain. Mountain hut staff found the child at about 7 a.m. local time on Thursday and alerted police. The child had been given only a soft drink and light food while told to wait.

The father had been climbing the Fujinomiya route toward the summit with his two sons. When the younger child became tired, he told him to remain at the bench and continued upward with the older son. Police said the father was between the seventh and eighth stations, and returning to the child’s location would have taken about three hours.

Police located the father and brought him back. The child became tired and upset after waiting alone for about eight hours. An officer told the man that leaving a child alone in this way was unacceptable, and the father later apologized for what he described as a rash decision. Mount Fuji is 12,389 feet high and has seen several accidents in recent years.

A 5.9-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Japan early Sunday, injuring at least 23 people in and around Tokyo, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. The quake originated in southern Ibaraki Prefecture at a depth of about 70 kilometres. No tsunami warning was issued. The US Geological Survey measured the earthquake at magnitude 5.8.

Nine people were injured in Saitama and nine in Kanagawa, while four were hurt in Chiba and one in Ibaraki. Most injuries occurred when people, startled from sleep, fell or were struck by furniture or doors. In Yokohama, a woman in her 80s suffered a serious hip injury after falling from her bed.

Some rail services, including rapid trains serving Tokyo and Narita airports, were disrupted, though Shinkansen bullet train operations remained normal. A damaged underground water pipe flooded a road in Tokyo's Koto area before being repaired. Power was temporarily cut to about 460 homes and later restored. Nuclear regulators reported no abnormalities at nuclear plants or related facilities, while the government formed a special task force to assess damage.

Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average, or Nikkei 225, fell as rising oil prices linked to uncertainty surrounding the Iran war weighed on investors. At the Friday midday break in Tokyo, the index was down 0.3%, putting it on course for a weekly decline of about 4%, its largest weekly fall since the week ended July 17. The report was published on August 21, 2026.

The broader Topix index also slipped 0.1% and was down 3.4% for the week. Nomura Securities strategist Maki Sawada told Reuters that investors could take profits before the weekend because Middle East uncertainty had kept both oil prices and bond yields at elevated levels.

Shipping was the best-performing sector among the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s 33 sectors, with its shares rising 2.8%. Shipping companies gained on expectations that freight rates could increase after the closure of the key maritime route through the Strait of Hormuz.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s disputed visit to the Kuril Islands has renewed tensions between Japan and Russia, according to a report published on August 18, 2026. Japan responded strongly to the visit, while Moscow summoned Japan’s ambassador in a countermeasure. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi called Putin’s trip “completely unacceptable.”

Japan claims four islands in the southern part of the Kuril chain as its own territory, referring to them as the Northern Territories. Russia regards the islands as part of its Kuril Islands. The dispute has continued since the final stage of World War II, when the Soviet Union seized four islands near Japan.

The contested area is important for historical and political reasons, as well as for its rich fisheries and potential valuable mineral resources. Its location between the Sea of Okhotsk and the Pacific Ocean is strategically important to Russia and supports the movement of its Pacific fleet. The report says this was Putin’s first visit to the islands after a long time in power. Analysts say bilateral relations had already deteriorated after Japan imposed sanctions on Russia following the Ukraine war.

Japanese scientists are preparing the uncrewed Martian Moons eXploration, or MMX, mission to collect samples from a moon of Mars. The spacecraft is scheduled to launch from Tanegashima Space Center within the next few months. The mission could help investigate the formation of the solar system and the origins of life on Earth, while also potentially helping pave the way for future human travel to Mars.

The spacecraft was unveiled to media on Thursday and is expected to remain in Mars orbit for about three years. During that period, it will attempt to land on Phobos and collect at least 10 grams of material from its surface. A rover named Idefix, after the dog in the French comic character Asterix, will examine the moon's surface at the same time.

MMX will also observe Deimos, Mars's other moon, but will not land there. A return capsule is then expected to head for Earth and land in Australia around 2031. The report notes Japan's prior sample-return experience: JAXA's uncrewed Hayabusa-2 returned 5.4 grams of rock and dust collected from an asteroid in 2020.

At least eight people have died in flooding caused by record rainfall across broad areas east of Tokyo, Japan’s public broadcaster reported Friday. Heavy rain and severe storms struck Chiba Prefecture from Thursday through Friday. The Japan Meteorological Agency said Chiba City, the prefectural capital, recorded about 350 millimetres of rain in just 12 hours.

Chiba’s governor said at a Friday news conference that the rainfall was nearly three times the average precipitation for the entire month of August. It was the highest 12-hour rainfall recorded in the area since records began in 1976. From Thursday night until Friday morning, the weather agency issued its highest Level 5 heavy-rain warning for 22 municipalities in the prefecture.

The agency warned residents of unprecedented heavy rainfall and urged them to move quickly to safe locations. It was Japan’s first Level 5 warning since the warning system was revised earlier this year for greater clarity. Although the alert level was lowered Friday afternoon, rainfall was expected to continue. The downpour caused major disruption to electricity supplies and severely affected transport in several areas.

At least six people have died in unprecedented heavy rain in eastern Japan, disrupting roads and rail services and stranding thousands at Narita Airport. The report, published on August 14, said continuous heavy rain on Thursday night prompted landslide warnings. Weather authorities issued their highest-level heavy-rain alert for the Chiba region for the first time. About 26,000 households in Chiba were without electricity as of Friday morning, according to the disaster management office.

Chiba Prefecture's disaster management office said one victim, a man in his 60s or 70s, was found floating in floodwater on a road. A 66-year-old woman died after becoming trapped inside a submerged vehicle. A total of 45 homes were flooded in cities including Ichikawa, Kashiwa and Sakura, while water entered beneath the floors of another 39 homes.

About 7,000 people were stranded overnight at Narita, one of Tokyo's two main airports. Many trains to and from the airport were cancelled until Friday afternoon, while hundreds were also stranded at Chiba Station. Hundreds of people spent the night in shelters in different areas. Social media users said airport authorities provided stranded passengers with free water, food and sleeping bags.

Typhoon Dolphin left more than 50,000 buildings without electricity in Japan’s southern Okinawa and Kagoshima prefectures and injured at least six people, according to a report published on August 8. Five elderly people were injured in Okinawa on Saturday, including three who fell in strong winds, while one other person was hurt in Kagoshima. Local authorities said none of the injuries was serious.

About 39,000 buildings lost power in Kagoshima and just over 12,000 in Okinawa. The typhoon’s maximum sustained winds reached 162 kilometres per hour, with gusts up to 216 kilometres per hour. ANA and Japan Airlines cancelled several flights to and from Okinawa, while Okinawa and the Amami Islands in Kagoshima were expected to be among the areas most affected.

China issued its second-highest orange typhoon warning and raised its emergency response to Level 3 ahead of a possible landfall between Sunday night and Monday morning. Zhejiang closed port operations and suspended 162 passenger ferry routes, while Ningbo Lishe International Airport suspended all Sunday flights. Taiwan cancelled 78 international flights, and heavy rain and strong winds may affect eastern China through August 12.

Japanese authorities ordered about 260,000 residents in the Kagoshima and Okinawa prefectures to move to safe locations as powerful Typhoon No. 13 threatened the country’s southwest. More than 500 flights were cancelled on Friday because of adverse weather conditions. The report was published on August 7, 2026.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said the Category 1 typhoon had maximum sustained winds of 144 kilometres per hour and gusts reaching 198 kilometres per hour. It was moving toward island chains between the Kyushu region and Okinawa Prefecture, bringing risks of strong winds, heavy rain and rough seas.

Toyota temporarily suspended production at nine factories on Friday for safety reasons. The weather agency warned that the storm could retain its strength as it moved toward Okinawa, potentially damaging or collapsing buildings and other structures. It also warned that linear rain bands could produce extremely heavy rainfall, thunderstorms and a heightened risk of flash flooding. Temperatures in some areas could reach 36 degrees Celsius, prompting a heatstroke warning.

Hiroshima marked the 81st anniversary of the US atomic bombing on Thursday in the western Japanese city, with Mayor Kazumi Matsui urging major powers to stop justifying nuclear weapons as a means of deterrence. At a ceremony in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, a minute of silence was observed at 8:15 a.m., the time a US B-29 aircraft dropped the bomb, as a peace bell rang.

The bomb dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, nearly destroyed the city and killed about 140,000 people. A second bombing of Nagasaki three days later killed about 70,000 more people. Japan surrendered on August 15, ending World War II.

Matsui said downplaying the inhumanity of nuclear weapons and using force for prosperity risked creating a cycle of retaliation that could end in another Hiroshima or Nagasaki. About 50,000 people and representatives from nearly 120 countries and regions, including the United States and Iran, were expected to attend. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said she would pursue a realistic approach within the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty framework toward a world in which nuclear weapons are never used.

Japan’s Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said the country must strengthen and modernize its military capabilities more rapidly in response to growing security risks from China, North Korea and Russia. Writing in the introduction to Japan’s annual defense white paper released Tuesday, he said the effort was more urgent and critical than at any previous time.

The white paper said Chinese military activity around Japan has expanded beyond the so-called first island chain to the second island chain. It cited Chinese aircraft carrier operations in 2025 and two incidents in June and July when Chinese military aircraft came very close to Japanese aircraft. In the year through March 31, 2026, Japanese fighter jets conducted 595 emergency scrambles, including 366 in response to Chinese aircraft and 214 to Russian aircraft movements.

Japan has increased defense spending, expanded security cooperation in Asia, deployed missiles on remote islands, pursued counterstrike capability and eased arms-export rules. The paper warned that limitations in the defense production sector could hinder future weapons procurement and technological innovation. Koizumi also cited stronger cooperation with the United States, the Philippines, Australia and South Korea, while China voiced concern over Japan’s military preparations.

The death toll from a powerful earthquake in southwestern Japan has risen to 34, local authorities confirmed on Friday. The 7.1-magnitude quake struck near Uki city on Kyushu island on Tuesday. Kumamoto prefectural authorities said six additional people were seriously injured in the disaster.

About 40,000 households lost electricity, rail services were widely disrupted, and emergency tsunami warnings were issued across southern areas of Japan. Nearly half of the deaths occurred in two major incidents: the collapse of an administrative structure at a Nippon Paper Industries paper mill and a possible gas explosion at an Aeon store.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi urged local residents to remain alert for the possibility of stronger aftershocks. Severe heat has also caused an acute shortage of food and drinking water in affected areas, disrupting rescue work and the delivery of relief supplies. Japan is among the world's most earthquake-prone countries; nearly a decade ago, a devastating earthquake in the Kumamoto region killed 275 people.

At least 13 people were killed after a powerful earthquake struck Japan’s southwestern Kyushu island on Tuesday, with many others believed trapped beneath rubble. More than 100 aftershocks were recorded through Wednesday. The Japan Meteorological Agency measured the quake at magnitude 7.1, while the US Geological Survey put it at 6.8. Its epicentre was 20 kilometres south of Kumamoto city at a depth of 10 kilometres.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said more than 20 hours after the earthquake, people were still waiting for help and rescuing those trapped was a race against time. More than 4,600 personnel, including military members, have been deployed. At the Aeon Mall in the Kashima area, an explosion about an hour after the quake caused part of the second floor to collapse, killing three people and leaving three workers missing.

Two people were found unconscious at a paper factory in Yatsushiro, where nine more workers were missing. Thousands of homes lost power and thousands of people moved to shelters. With temperatures at 35 degrees Celsius, 300 air-conditioning units were being sent to affected centres in Kumamoto. Authorities warned of stronger aftershocks over the coming week, especially within two to three days.

More than 9,000 people were staying in emergency shelters by early Wednesday after a powerful earthquake struck southwestern Japan, the government said. At least 13 people were killed in the quake, according to the report published on July 29.

Government spokesperson Minoru Kihara said authorities had received reports of seven people seriously injured and 29 others with minor injuries. He provided the figures while outlining the situation after the earthquake.

As of 7 a.m. Wednesday, 9,186 people had taken shelter at 506 facilities across five prefectures, including Kumamoto and Fukuoka, Kihara said. The reported shelter figures reflect the scale of displacement following the quake.