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Lost and Found? JR East Introduces AI Searches for Lost Items

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TOKYO, Apr 03 (News On Japan) –
An AI-powered service that permits customers to simply seek for misplaced gadgets is gaining traction throughout Japan, as railway operators and different transportation companies undertake new expertise to streamline the restoration course of.

Rows of umbrellas in numerous colours and shapes, numbering within the tons of and practically overflowing from cabinets, characterize only a fraction of the misplaced property collected. According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department’s Lost and Found Center, each the variety of gadgets and their whole worth reported to police in Tokyo in 2025 reached file highs.

Amid this surge, Keio Corporation’s misplaced and located workplace continues to obtain a gradual stream of tourists. People arrive to reclaim a variety of things, from baggage and commencement certificates left behind on the final prepare to umbrellas and part-time job uniforms mistakenly forgotten.

To deal with such instances extra effectively, a web-based search service known as “find,” powered by AI, has been launched, enabling customers to find misplaced gadgets with ease. The service is now being adopted extra extensively.

Akiko Tokaichi, a public relations consultant at discover Inc., mentioned the platform is already in use throughout roughly 3,500 places nationwide, primarily inside transportation networks, with round 10,000 misplaced gadgets registered day by day.

The system works by having station employees or on-site personnel {photograph} discovered gadgets utilizing smartphones and add the pictures to the platform. Meanwhile, people who’ve misplaced belongings can entry the service on-line and enter particulars resembling “white towel handkerchief with a heart pattern.”

Once the data is submitted, AI routinely cross-references the inquiry with registered gadgets primarily based on their options and descriptions. Items with a excessive probability of matching are recognized, and operators then present responses to the person.

This course of eliminates the necessity to name stations or go to in particular person, permitting customers to go looking by way of huge quantities of information just by coming into particulars on their smartphones. The service is on the market 24 hours a day.

Users have praised the system for its comfort, noting that it reduces the burden on busy station employees whereas remaining easy and intuitive to make use of.

By the tip of 2025, a cross-search service may also launch, permitting information sharing amongst roughly 20 corporations, together with Japan Taxi, enabling customers to go looking misplaced gadgets throughout a number of operators.

Furthermore, beginning April 1st within the new fiscal 12 months, the service can be launched at JR East, with plans to increase availability to JR corporations nationwide by 2026.

The misplaced merchandise search service, which is spreading primarily amongst transportation suppliers, goals for additional evolution. Tokaichi mentioned the purpose is to make the system usable in any location the place misplaced gadgets happen, with improved accuracy by prioritizing outcomes primarily based on the probability of a match.

As the expertise continues to develop, the times of feeling helpless after shedding one thing worthwhile could quickly change into a factor of the previous.

Source: FNN

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AI-generated 'Fruit Love Island' takes TikTok by storm

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Millions of individuals have been gripped by the juicy twists of an AI-generated TikTok micro-series primarily based on the tv hit “Love Island” — besides all of the members are attractive human-like fruit.

The exploits of the weird animated characters, together with “Strawberina” and a buff open-shirt “Bananito”, parody actuality TV tropes, from love triangles to emotional re-couplings.

Each brief clip is hosted by a voluptuous inexperienced apple, and the preferred, “Episode 15: New Dates… New Doubts”, has been considered 39 million instances since being posted two weeks in the past.

For comparability, the big-budget 2025 Eurovision Song Contest says it reached 166 million individuals.

Many have dismissed the fruity movies as so-called synthetic intelligence “slop” — poor-quality content material churned out to attraction to the bottom widespread denominator.

But their mass consumption additionally alerts “demand for media that helps people to switch off, to have a laugh, or to relax for a few minutes”, Ludmila Lupinacci, lecturer in digital media on the University of Leeds, instructed AFP.

That need could also be heightened when “social platforms also give us access to horrifying, stressful, violent, and overall negative experiences”, she added.

The micro-drama was began in mid-March by an account referred to as “Ai Cinema”. It doesn’t disclose who runs it or the place it’s primarily based.

“Thank you guys for watching this has been fun!” it mentioned within the caption of a sequence finale posted Wednesday.

The sudden reputation of “Fruit Love Island” has spawned many faux TikTok accounts publishing copycat episodes, whereas a number of the unique clips seem to have been faraway from the platform.

“I’m not going to lie, I didn’t expect you to be this easy to talk to,” a watermelon girl tells her dragon-fruit date over their corresponding fruit cocktails at sundown.

“Is this cannibalism?” laughed YouTuber Annamarie Forcino in a evaluation posted this week, titled “Fruit Love Island is pure AI slop”.

“Sure, AI data centers consume massive amounts of energy, contribute to air pollution, and drain the water supply from local communities,” Forcino mentioned.

“But would you rather have clean air and lower electricity bills or Cocomelon for adults?” she joked, referring to the animated kids’s channel that’s amongst YouTube’s most subscribed.

In her video, Forcino factors out the tell-tale visible inconsistencies that pepper AI-generated movies: “Why is this girl’s right arm pink, but this one green?”

ChatGPT maker OpenAI just lately mentioned it will shut down its AI video technology app Sora, barely six months after its launch, in a shift in direction of enterprise instruments.

Meanwhile, Chinese video mills, like Seedance 2.0 from TikTok creator ByteDance, have wowed customers and spooked the inventive industries with their almost-cinematic high quality.

“Fruit Love Island” is one in all a bunch of different fruit-themed content material spreading on social media, from fellow TV parody “Fruit Paternity Court” to a slew of different memes in numerous languages that usually reinforce sexist or racist stereotypes.

Fruit is an absurd but additionally easy approach to mirror the formulaic, sensationalist and stereotypical world of courting actuality TV, Lupinacci mentioned.

Its AI quirks “might indeed be actually part of the appeal, as they make it funnier, more bizarre, and potentially more engaging — even if prone to mockery and hate-watching”.

© 2026 AFP

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Tuna Prices Surge as Iran Crisis Ripples Through Japan’s Hotels

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KANAGAWA, Apr 03 (News On Japan) –
Fresh tuna, glistening in vivid purple, is served in limitless parts, however resort inns in Japan are starting to really feel the pressure as escalating tensions involving Iran push up prices throughout the provision chain.

At a lodge recognized for its signature buffet, the supervisor expressed concern over rising procurement prices, noting that costs have elevated by round 500 yen per kilogram since April.

A significant factor behind the surge is the deepening disaster involving Iran, which has contributed to instability in power markets. Footage exhibiting flashes lighting up the evening sky was posted on social media by U.S. President Donald Trump simply earlier than 10 a.m. Japan time, with the Wall Street Journal reporting that the video depicted a bunker-buster bomb strike on a big Iranian ammunition depot.

While the United States maintains a hardline stance and continues negotiations with Iran, Iranian state tv reported that parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf rejected Trump’s calls for, and newly launched footage appeared to indicate an American early warning plane destroyed in an Iranian assault, additional heightening tensions.

Against this backdrop, this system visited Miura City in Kanagawa Prefecture, going through the Pacific Ocean, on March thirty first, the place a resort lodge recognized for its pure scorching spring spa is already feeling the results of the disaster.

One space impacted is linen companies, together with sheets, pillowcases, and towels which are changed every day in visitor rooms. The lodge depends on cleansing processes that use heavy oil, and repair suppliers have approached the lodge searching for roughly a ten% worth enhance.

The impression can also be being felt within the lodge’s buffet, a significant attraction that provides limitless contemporary tuna sourced from close by Misaki Port, one in all Japan’s main tuna touchdown websites. According to the supervisor, procurement prices for tuna have risen by round 25%, largely attributable to increased gas prices affecting fishing vessels.

The buffet serves roughly 50 kilograms of tuna per day, and with costs anticipated to rise by about 500 yen per kilogram in April, the lodge faces an extra every day burden of roughly 25,000 yen for tuna alone.

While the lodge doesn’t at present plan to lift lodging charges, the supervisor indicated that changes could change into unavoidable, together with doubtlessly lowering the number of tuna cuts provided on the buffet.

Source: FNN

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Japan deploys long-range ‘counterstrike’ missiles for the primary time

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Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi solutions a query through the Lower House’s price range committee session on the National Diet in Tokyo, Japan, March 30, 2026. /VCG

Japan has deployed long-range missiles able to putting enemy bases for the primary time, Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi introduced on Tuesday, signaling a notable shift from the nation’s conventional “exclusive defense” posture.

The Ministry of Defense confirmed that the Type 25 land-based anti-ship missile and Type 25 high-speed glide missile had been stationed on the Kengun Garrison in Kumamoto Prefecture and Fuji Garrison in Shizuoka Prefecture, respectively.

The Type 25 land-based missile has a variety of about 1,000 kilometers, nicely past Japanese territory, underscoring its offensive potential. The Type 25 high-speed glide missile covers a number of hundred kilometers, with a 2,000-kilometer upgraded model presently in growth.

Analysts notice that Japan’s so-called “counterstrike” functionality permits the nation to reply preemptively if it believes an adversary is making ready an assault. However, any miscalculation could possibly be considered internationally as a prohibited preemptive strike. Experts say the deployment marks a transparent turning level in Japan’s protection technique.

The missile deployment sparked protests close to the Kengun Garrison, with residents holding indicators studying “Oppose Deployment” and “No Need for Missiles.” Locals expressed concern that the brand new missiles might make the area a possible goal and have repeatedly urged the Ministry of Defense to carry public briefings, which haven’t but occurred.

Source: CGTN

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Japan Among 40 Nations Urging Iran to Reopen Strait of Hormuz

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TOKYO, Apr 03 (News On Japan) –
A coalition of greater than 40 international locations, together with the United Kingdom and Japan, issued a joint assertion relating to the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has successfully blocked, calling for the restoration of steady maritime operations alongside one of many world’s most important oil delivery routes.

An on-line assembly involving over 40 nations—together with France and Italy—was held on April 2nd, after which British Foreign Secretary David Cooper introduced a coordinated assertion emphasizing the necessity to guarantee secure and uninterrupted passage by way of the strait.

The assertion known as for stronger worldwide diplomatic stress, together with efforts by way of the United Nations, urging Iran to permit vessels to go with out obstruction and to completely reject the imposition of transit charges on ships making an attempt to navigate the strait.

Amid these developments, Iranian media reported that Iran’s deputy overseas minister stated Iran and Oman are working to ascertain a framework to observe vessel visitors by way of the Strait of Hormuz. The official pressured that the initiative is meant to make sure security, to not limit navigation.

French President Emmanuel Macron, talking on April 2nd, addressed calls from some quarters to reopen the strait by way of the usage of power, stating, “Such proposals are unrealistic and not an option we support.”

Macron additionally responded to remarks made by U.S. President Donald Trump, who had steered in a speech that international locations importing oil needs to be accountable for securing the strait, emphasizing the necessity to obtain a ceasefire as shortly as potential and to pursue a diplomatic decision.

He additional criticized Trump, saying that “he should not make contradictory statements every day.”

Source: TBS

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Japan’s new textbooks replicate shift towards revanchism: Zakharova

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File picture of Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova. /VCG

The new version of Japanese college textbooks, set to be launched in 2027, displays Tokyo’s efforts to instill a way of revanchism within the youthful era and to disclaim the outcomes of World War II, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova mentioned throughout her briefing on Wednesday.

“In the updated textbooks, sections dedicated to Tokyo’s unfounded claims to the Southern Kurils have been expanded, as have those containing territorial claims against other neighboring states. There are virtually no references to the war crimes committed by militarist Japan in the first half of the 20th century,” Zakharova mentioned.

The Southern Kurils are 4 Pacific islands disputed between Russia and Japan. They are known as the Northern Territories in Japan.

Tokyo and its management are intentionally deceptive their very own youthful era, depriving them of historic reminiscence and distorting their understanding of present geopolitical realities, Zakharova added.

Source: CGTN

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ZXMoto wins WSBK races, showcasing China’s manufacturing prowess

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A Chinese motorbike model has roared into the worldwide highlight. ZXMoto, based by entrepreneur Zhang Xue, secured back-to-back victories on the Portugal spherical of the World Superbike Championship (WSBK), marking a historic first for China’s motorbike trade and breaking a 38-year dominance by established European and Japanese manufacturers.

At the middle of the win is the ZXMoto 820RR-RS, a totally domestically developed machine, from its core engine and key elements to its closing tuning. Its triumph is extensively seen as a milestone second, not just for Chinese motorsports but in addition for the nation’s broader push into high-end manufacturing.

WSBK, as one of many world’s premier motorbike racing sequence, is taken into account a proving floor for production-based efficiency. Competing bikes have to be derived from mass-produced fashions, making victories a direct reflection of real-world engineering power.

Behind the headline-grabbing result’s a two-decade journey. Zhang started as a 14-year-old apprentice in a bike restore store, steadily working his method as much as construct a model now able to competing – and successful – on the world stage. His story mirrors a deeper transformation underway in Chinese manufacturing: from scale-driven development to innovation-led development.

A piece of the ZXMoto manufacturing website, southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality, March 30, 2026. /VCG

Chongqing: The industrial spine behind the win

Zhang’s determination to construct his firm in Chongqing is pivotal. The southwestern municipality hosts considered one of China’s most full and mature motorbike provide chains, with greater than 2,000 associated enterprises and a neighborhood components matching fee exceeding 90 %.

This dense industrial community dramatically accelerates innovation. Specialized elements which may take weeks and even months to prototype elsewhere might be produced in Chongqing in a matter of days, considerably reducing prices and enabling fast iteration.

The ecosystem additionally strikes a stability between competitors and collaboration. Talent flows freely throughout firms and alongside the availability chain, permitting new applied sciences and experience to unfold rapidly, creating the atmosphere that helped form each Zhang and his crew.

Today, Chongqing has fashioned a coordinated industrial panorama. Central districts similar to Banan and Jiulongpo concentrate on upgrading fuel-powered bikes. Meanwhile, western areas, together with Tongliang and Dazu, are rising as hubs for electrical fashions. In 2025, the town produced 7.857 million bikes, accounting for 35.5% of China’s whole output.

“Chongqing’s supply chain is on par with the best in the world,” Zhang mentioned. “Give us a blueprint, and the city’s industrial ecosystem can turn it into a top-tier product.”

This mannequin is just not distinctive. Across China, industrial clusters – from Shenzhen’s electronics sector to the Yangtze River Delta’s robotics trade – are driving an analogous shift, pushing “Made in China” from mass manufacturing towards technological sophistication, innovation and model constructing.

Visitors have a look at a bike in the course of the twenty third China International Motorcycle Expo, southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality, September 20, 2025. /VCG

A metropolis that rides with its trade

Chongqing’s position extends past manufacturing. Its mountainous terrain and layered city design, dubbed an “8D metropolis,” make bikes a sensible and environment friendly mode of transport.

Unlike many neatly deliberate cities, Chongqing is a three-dimensional metropolis constructed on mountains and alongside rivers. For instance, the Huangjuewan interchange, with its 5 ranges and 20 ramps, leaves drivers scratching their heads, questioning, even with GPS, learn how to navigate it. In a metropolis like this, compact and agile bikes discover their good playground.

Local governance has bolstered this driving tradition. A balanced regulatory strategy that emphasizes licensing, helmet use, two-person limits, and right-lane driving ensures each security and accessibility. With greater than two million bikes on its roads, Chongqing is extensively seen as one of the vital motorcycle-friendly cities in China.

In parallel, motorbike racing occasions have surged lately, from nationwide championships to worldwide off-road sequence. These high-frequency competitions function real-world testing grounds, pushing technological limits and feeding innovation again into mass manufacturing.

Each September, the town additionally hosts the China International Motorcycle Trade Exhibition, Asia’s largest and China’s solely national-level motorbike expo. The 2025 occasion drew 950 exhibitors, and the 2026 version is anticipated to characteristic a devoted cross-border e-commerce part to assist world growth.

An evening view of the Huangjuewan interchange, southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality. /VCG

From scale to power on the worldwide stage

Chongqing’s motorbike trade can be accelerating its push into abroad markets. In 2025, the town exported 6.109 million items – 77.8 % of its whole output – with export worth rising 29.5% yr on yr to 26.47 billion yuan ($3.85 billion). Chongqing-based corporations now account for half of China’s prime 10 motorbike exporters.

Policy assist has performed a key position. The authorities have inspired firms to take part in main worldwide exhibitions, improved logistics by way of rail and river-sea intermodal networks, and supported the institution of abroad advertising, service facilities, and warehouses to allow localized operations.

Despite producing greater than 60 % of the world’s bikes and main world exports for 3 many years, China’s trade has lengthy been related to low-cost manufacturing. In the high-displacement section, Chinese manufacturers nonetheless compete largely on price-performance. Models from established manufacturers similar to Ducati and Yamaha typically retail for round 200,000 yuan, whereas comparable Chinese bikes are sometimes priced at 70% to 80% of that stage, or decrease.

But that notion is starting to shift.

“China’s motorcycle industry has never lacked the courage to innovate or the capability to build world-class products,” mentioned Zhang Hongbo, secretary-general of the China Chamber of Commerce for Motorcycles. “This victory is a powerful reflection of decades of accumulated strength.”

ZXMoto’s breakthrough captures that evolution. It is the results of years of regular, technology-driven progress and an indication that Chinese manufacturing is shifting past its low-cost roots towards the excessive finish of the worldwide worth chain.

Source: CGTN

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UK meets with 35 nations to search out methods to reopen Strait of Hormuz

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LONDON, U.Okay.: Almost three dozen nations met on April 2 to exert diplomatic and political stress to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a significant delivery route choked off by the U.S.-Israeli warfare towards Iran.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated the digital assembly chaired by Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper “will assess all viable diplomatic and political measures we can take to restore freedom of navigation, guarantee the safety of trapped ships and seafarers, and to resume the movement of vital commodities.”

Iran’s assaults on business ships—and the chance of extra—have virtually utterly stopped visitors in the important thing waterway linking the Persian Gulf to the world’s oceans. This has lower off a serious route for world oil provides and pushed oil costs sharply increased.

The United States didn’t attend the April 2 assembly. Donald Trump stated defending the waterway is just not America’s accountability and advised U.S. allies to safe their very own oil provides.

No nation appears able to reopen the strait by power whereas the battle continues, particularly since Iran can strike ships utilizing missiles, drones, small assault boats, and sea mines. However, U.Okay. Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated army planners from a number of nations will meet quickly to debate find out how to defend delivery as soon as the combating ends.

For now, 35 nations—together with the U.Okay., France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan, and the UAE—have signed an announcement urging Iran to cease blocking the strait and promising to assist guarantee protected passage for ships.

This assembly is seen as only the start, with extra detailed discussions deliberate amongst officers. Starmer stated restarting delivery shall be tough and would require sturdy army coordination, diplomatic efforts, and cooperation from the delivery trade.

The plan for worldwide cooperation is just like the “coalition of the willing” led by the U.Okay. and France to help Ukraine’s safety after a future ceasefire. It additionally goals to point out the Trump administration that Europe is doing extra to guard itself.

Concerns about Europe’s safety have grown after Trump once more recommended the U.S. may depart NATO. He criticized the alliance, saying it had handled the U.S. badly and will accomplish that once more, and even hinted in an interview that he may attempt to withdraw from it.

At the identical time, in a televised handle on April 1 concerning the Iran battle, Trump didn’t point out NATO instantly. Instead, he stated nations that depend on oil from the Strait of Hormuz ought to take accountability for securing it, because the U.S. wouldn’t.

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Taiwan detects 2 sorties of Chinese plane, 7 vessels, 2 ships round itself

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Taipei [Taiwan], April 3 (ANI): Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence detected the presence of two sorties of Chinese navy plane, seven vessels, and two official ships round its territorial waters as of 6 am on Friday (native time).

Both sorties entered Taiwan’s southwestern and japanese half ADIZ.

In a publish on X, the MND mentioned, ‘2 sorties of PLA plane, 7 PLAN vessels and a pair of official ships working round Taiwan detected up till 6 a.m. (UTC+8) at this time. 2 out of two sorties entered Taiwan’s southwestern and japanese half ADIZ. ROC Armed Forces have monitored the state of affairs and responded.’

https://x.com/MoNDefense/status/2039870503737872385?s=20

Earlier on Thursday, Taiwan detected 25 Chinese plane, 9 vessels, and two official ships working round itself.

In a publish on X, it mentioned, ’25 sorties of PLA plane, 9 PLAN vessels and a pair of official ships working round Taiwan detected up till 6 a.m. (UTC+8) at this time. 16 out of 25 sorties crossed the median line and entered Taiwan’s northern, central and southwestern half ADIZ. ROC Armed Forces have monitored the state of affairs and responded.’

https://x.com/MoNDefense/status/2039508112441557057?s=20

China’s declare over Taiwan is a posh situation rooted in historic, political, and authorized arguments. Beijing asserts that Taiwan is an inseparable a part of China, a viewpoint embedded in nationwide coverage and upheld by home legal guidelines and worldwide statements.

Taiwan, nonetheless, maintains a definite id, functioning independently with its personal authorities, navy, and financial system. Taiwan’s standing stays a big level of worldwide debate, testing the ideas of sovereignty, self-determination, and non-interference in worldwide legislation, as per the United Service Institution of India.

China’s declare to Taiwan originates from the Qing Dynasty’s annexation of the island in 1683 after defeating Ming loyalist Koxinga.

However, Taiwan remained a peripheral area beneath restricted Qing management. The key shift got here in 1895, when the Qing ceded Taiwan to Japan after the First Sino-Japanese War, marking Taiwan as a Japanese colony for 50 years. After Japan’s defeat in World War II, Taiwan was returned to Chinese management, however the sovereignty switch was not formalised.

In 1949, the Chinese Civil War resulted within the institution of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on the mainland, whereas the Republic of China (ROC) retreated to Taiwan, asserting its declare to control all of China. This led to twin sovereignty claims: the PRC over the mainland and the ROC over Taiwan. Taiwan has operated as a de facto impartial state however has prevented declaring formal independence to stop navy battle with the PRC, United Service Institution of India. (ANI)

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Video: Bus driver smashes window of automobile with lug wrench throughout dispute – TokyoReporter

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CHIBA (TR) – Chiba Prefectural Police have arrested a 57-year-old man for smashing a automobile window with a lug wrench in Chiba City and injuring the driving force, reviews TBS News (Apr. 2).

The man arrested on suspicion of property injury and different fees is Yasuyuki Yanagawa, a 57-year-old bus driver from Sanmu City.

In the early hours of March 6, he’s suspected of throwing the four-armed lug wrench on the glass window of a automobile pushed by a 45-year-old man on a prefectural street in Chiba City.

Flying glass from the impression injured the male driver’s face and different elements of his physique, police stated.

Video footage shot from the opposite different car reveals Yanagawa exiting from his automobile on the street. He then retrieves the wrench from his trunk. After the opposite automobile begins transferring, the suspect runs alongside the street and hurls the wrench.

Yanagawa partially denies the fees. He acknowledged, “I lost his temper because he felt I had been outmaneuvered.”

The incident occurred instantly after the sufferer’s automobile overtook suspect’s car, which was stopped at a inexperienced mild.

However, in keeping with investigators, one other site visitors mild 50 meters forward was crimson, and Yanagawa had mistakenly stopped following the earlier mild.

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