В Японии началась сезонная охота на дельфинов: за первый день поймано около 200 особей

About 200 Dolphins Captured as Taiji Hunting Season Begins Sep 01, 2026 | News On Japan Wakayama - The traditional whale and dolphin drive hunt in Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, opened for the season on September 1, with fishermen capturing about 200 bottlenose dolphins during the first hunt. Shortly after 5 a.m., fishermen boarded nine boats and headed offshore to begin the season. Anti-whaling activists were seen in the area holding placards, but no major disturbances were reported. Drive hunting is a traditional fishing method in which boats surround groups of whales or dolphins migrating offshore and drive them into a cove, where they are captured. During the first hunt of the season, fishermen located a pod of bottlenose dolphins about 20 kilometers offshore and drove around 200 of them into a cove before capturing them. The drive-hunting season is scheduled to continue through the end of April 2027. A woman in her 60s died after her car was submerged in a flooded underpass in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, as record rainfall caused widespread flooding, landslides and transport disruption across Kanto and surrounding areas on September 7, with authorities warning that further rain was expected during the evening commute. An evacuation order has been issued for the entire city of Ishinomaki and parts of Marumori in Miyagi Prefecture as heavy rain caused by the autumn rain front disrupts transportation across the region, with a linear rainband potentially forming along the Pacific side of Tohoku through the evening. Yokohama Mayor Takeharu Yamanaka resigned on September 7 after the city assembly unanimously approved his request to step down over allegations of workplace power harassment, setting the stage for a mayoral election in October. Typhoon No. 24 (Krovahn) was near Minami-Daito Island, about 300 kilometers southeast of Okinawa, as of 3 a.m. on September 7, moving east-northeast at about 10 kilometers per hour and expected to weaken into a tropical depression by the afternoon, although strong winds and high waves were forecast to persist before its remnants move north and potentially intensify the autumn rain front over western and eastern Japan later in the week. Tokyo has unveiled the design for a major redevelopment of the plaza outside Shinjuku Station's west exit, with a landmark tree, water-play area and event space planned as part of a transformation centered on "greenery, light and people" that is scheduled for completion in 2035. Three people died and two others were injured in a suspected arson and stabbing at a cake shop in Motosu, Gifu Prefecture, where the 66-year-old female owner had gathered with nine former junior high school classmates on September 5, with police investigating whether a 70-year-old company executive who was apparently not invited to the gathering was involved. Prince Hisahito, the only son of Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko, turned 20 on September 6, as he continues to take part in a growing range of official duties as an adult member of Japan's Imperial Family. Young people recruited into illegal "dark part-time jobs" through social media and friends are increasingly becoming involved in fraud and violent robberies across Japan, with interviews at a juvenile training school revealing how the promise of easy money, a desire for recognition and fear of criminal groups can gradually leave them feeling unable to escape. Tokyo police are investigating the possibility of a serial arson spree after six suspicious fires were reported within about two weeks in the same neighborhood of Adachi Ward, leaving an 81-year-old woman with burns and damaging homes, political party posters, a vending machine and a bicycle. A 52-year-old restaurant operator was sentenced to 17 years in prison on September 4 for killing his former girlfriend by repeatedly stabbing her in the abdomen and back with two kitchen knives at his home in Higashiosaka, Osaka Prefecture. A Chinese man who received a suspended prison sentence and had his driver's license revoked after striking four elementary school students while driving drunk in 2025 admitted at his first trial on September 3 that he repeatedly drove without a license while still on probation. The Imperial Household Agency is considering holding a significantly scaled-down funeral for former Emperor Akihito at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, reflecting his wishes to minimize disruption to the lives of the public. A 17-year-old high school girl was arrested in Omihachiman, Shiga Prefecture, on September 2 after allegedly stabbing her 49-year-old father in the neck with scissors during an altercation at their home, with the father later dying at a hospital.