Hello and welcome to today’s news from Japan Daily News on October 7th, 2023. In Tokyo’s Edogawa Ward, a house fire broke out early this morning, resulting in the rescue of two individuals who were found unconscious upon evacuation. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police are currently investigating the incident. Meanwhile, in Aichi Prefecture’s Koda Town, a temple’s main hall and other buildings were engulfed in flames last night. The vice chief priest, who resides at the temple, is currently unaccounted for, and authorities are working to confirm their safety.

Moving on to environmental news, an interesting development has occurred on Nishinoshima Island in the Ogasawara Archipelago. After a massive volcanic eruption last year, the island was believed to have lost all its living organisms. However, recent surveys conducted by the Ministry of the Environment have discovered the presence of insects that were previously confirmed to inhabit the island. This suggests that the habitat range of these insects may be expanding, and further investigations will be conducted to gather more information.

Shifting our focus to sports, the prestigious Otsu High School Soccer Club in Kumamoto has announced a temporary suspension of activities. This decision comes in response to an incident of bullying, where a male member of the team was subjected to a degrading act of forced naked kneeling. The school held a press conference last night to address the issue and announced the self-imposed suspension.

In the field of mental health care, nurses and medical professionals have launched a campaign urging the government to establish a maximum time limit for unnecessary physical restraints in psychiatric hospitals. Concerns have been raised regarding the violation of patients’ rights due to frequent and prolonged use of physical restraints. The campaign aims to address this issue and ensure the protection of patients’ rights.

Moving on to entertainment news, during a press conference held by Johnny’s Entertainment on October 2nd concerning allegations of sexual misconduct by Johnny Kitagawa, it was revealed that a list of journalists to avoid calling upon had been prepared. The conference host acknowledged the existence of the list but stated that it was not used during the event, emphasizing that the selection of journalists was not influenced by the list.

Lastly, in relation to the upcoming Osaka-Kansai Expo, the organizing committee has revised the estimated construction costs for the event venues. The new projections indicate that the construction expenses will exceed the previous estimates by 500 billion yen, reaching a maximum of 2,350 billion yen. This adjustment reflects the evolving requirements and scale of the Expo, which is scheduled to take place in two years’ time. And that’s all for today’s news. Thanks for listening to Japan Daily News.