Firefighters and army helicopters battled a fire that burned through old wooden houses in a fishing town in southwestern Japan.

Tension between Japan and China has escalated over the new Japanese leader's suggestion Tokyo could intervene militarily if Beijing attacks Taiwan.

Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda and key economic ministers in the country's new government have agreed to watch market developments with a "strong sense of urgency," Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said on Wednesday.

Akio Toyoda was spotted at Toyota’s Fuji Speedway on Sunday wearing a "Make America Great Again" cap and a T-shirt supporting President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance. In the crowd, spectators waved American flags and U.S. Ambassador to Japan George Glass made an appearance.

Bear sightings and attacks have increased in parts of Japan, especially in municipalities close to or adjacent to populated zones,” the U.S. Embassy said in a wildlife alert.

Yields on the benchmark 10-year bonds, which move inversely to price, climbed 2 basis points to 1.765 per cent on Wednesday — the highest level since June 2008 and the global financial crisis. The sell-off extended to longer-dated notes. Yields on 40-year JGBs rose to a record high of 3.695 per cent.

Japan's government will include temporary payouts to families with children in a planned stimulus package that will likely exceed 20 trillion yen ($127 billion), the Asahi newspaper reported on Thursday.

Firefighters and army helicopters are battling a fire that has burned through a neighborhood in southwestern Japan and forced more than 170 people to evacuate.

The US government plans to buy and own as many as 10 large nuclear reactors, projects that could be paid for by a $550 billion pledged investment fund being offered by Japan.The new details of the unusual arrangement were outlined Wednesday by Carl Coe,