Kyodo News Digest: Sept. 9, 2026

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Japan opposition alliance to decide on split format on founding party lines

TOKYO - Japan's main opposition Centrist Reform Alliance on Wednesday is expected to decide on the terms of its split, paving the way for its members to leave based on their prior affiliations with its two founding parties as three-way talks on a fuller merger collapsed.

The departing former Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Komeito party lawmakers are expected to form a caucus in the House of Representatives, in a bid to retain the bloc's status as the largest opposition group in the powerful chamber, according to sources familiar with the matter.

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BOJ to raise key interest rate by 0.25 percentage point in Sept. meeting: sources

TOKYO - The Bank of Japan plans to raise its policy rate to 1.25 percent from the current 1.0 percent at its policy meeting later this month, sources familiar with the matter said Tuesday, signaling an acceleration in the pace of rate hikes.

The move, to be decided at a two-day meeting from Sept. 17, would raise the rate to its highest level in about 31 years and follow a rate hike in June, as the BOJ seeks to address the risk of prices rising more than expected amid higher crude oil prices and a weak yen.

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Japan failed to disclose U.S. view on PFAS found near Okinawa bases: source

TOKYO - The United States, in past communications with the Japanese government about U.S. military bases in Okinawa, conveyed its view that harmful PFAS chemicals found nearby had likely originated from the bases, a government source said Tuesday.

Despite possessing this information, the Defense Ministry did not disclose it when announcing in December 2025 that the United States had refused a request for on-site inspections of the bases by Okinawa's prefectural government.

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Torrential rain hits central Japan, floods vital infrastructure in Nagoya

NAGOYA - Torrential rain pounded central Japan on Tuesday, prompting an emergency flood warning for a major river in the region, as roads, railway tracks and other infrastructure were inundated, and local authorities urged residents in some areas to immediately seek safety.

The Japan Meteorological Agency issued its highest flood warning, Level 5, for the Shonai River, which flows through Gifu and Aichi prefectures. About 104 millimeters of rain fell in an hour in Nagoya under the influence of an autumn rain front.

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3 Nepalese arrested for killing of Nepalese student in southwestern Japan

FUKUOKA - Three Nepalese nationals were arrested Tuesday in connection with the killing of a Nepalese vocational school student who was found dead in August in a river in the Tenjin district of the southwestern Japanese city of Fukuoka, police said.

The three -- identified as Sanju Tamang, 28, a vocational school student in Fukuoka, Asumita Tamang, 25, who lives in Tosu, Saga Prefecture, and Prabin Lama, 22, an international student residing in Tosu -- are suspected of killing Laxmi Rajbanshi, 25.

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Tung Chee-hwa, 1st Hong Kong chief after 1997 handover, dies at 89

HONG KONG - Tung Chee-hwa, who served as Hong Kong's first chief executive after the Chinese territory's return from British rule in 1997, died Tuesday, his office said. He was 89.

Tung died in a hospital, according to local media.

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Sake from Japan's Yamaguchi wins at International Wine Challenge contest

LONDON - Tenbi Junmai Ginjo Hotaten, a sake product from Japan's Yamaguchi Prefecture, has won the highest award in the rice-wine category at the International Wine Challenge, organizers said Tuesday.

The Tenbi variety, produced by Choshu Sake Brewery Corp. in Shimonoseki in the western Japan prefecture, was declared the Champion Sake, they said.

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Putin pen mix-up puts Japan's Pentel in spotlight

MOSCOW - A Russian state-run radio correspondent identified a pen Russian President Vladimir Putin was seen spinning over documents during a meeting last month as a Pentel product, but despite the unexpected publicity, the company operating the Japanese stationery brand said the pen in question was not one of theirs.

Following a meeting with Veronika Skvortsova, head of the Federal Medical-Biological Agency, on Aug. 27, a Kremlin correspondent for Radio Mayak posted on a messaging app that "Japan's Pentel pens spin well."