An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.4 struck off Japan's northern coast, prompting a temporary tsunami alert across the region.

A woman’s body was found by authorities in northeastern Japan ’s Iwate prefecture, shortly after a police officer was injured in a bear encounter while searching for a missing person in the area. The 56-year-old officer suffered wounds to his arm and face after coming across the animal near a stream on Tuesday.

One day after making ritual offerings to the notorious Yasukuni Shrine, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Wednesday reportedly continued to make a monetary offering to the site, which stands as a symbol of Japanese militarism and wartime aggression,

Japan's heatstroke alert system became operational for 2026 on Wednesday. The Ministry of the Environment and the Japan Meteorological Agency will issue an alert if the heat stress index is predicted to reach 33 or higher and the risk of heatstroke is expected to be extremely high.

Japan’s exports and imports continued to rise in March but the trade outlook for the months ahead remains clouded by war in the Middle East.

Aerial footage shows tsunami waves hitting Hokkaido, Japan following a 7.7-magnitude earthquake which rocked the country on Monday.

Japan's trade deficit was 1.7 trillion yen ($10.7 billion) in the fiscal year that ended in March, the government said Wednesday, the fifth straight fiscal year of deficits. Exports rose 4% from the previous year,