Japan

The bi-weekly rugby newspaper Midi-Olympique has reported the 112-test All Black will leave Paris club Racing 92 in June to take up a lucrative deal with a Japanese team.

The 35-year-old is in the final year of his contract at Racing 92 and is reportedly close to agreeing which Japanese club he'll sign with, for what's likely to be his last contract as a professional player.

Carter left New Zealand rugby after the successful 2015 World Cup campaign and last year helped his club win the Top 14, defeating Toulon in the final. 

Fox Sports Australia is reporting that the October Test against the Wallabies will be played in Japan in the lead-up to the All Blacks' match against the Brave Blossoms on 3 November.

It would also be a chance for both sides to get accustomed with Japan's facilities ahead of the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

The last time the two sides played each other outside their home nations was in 2010 in Hong Kong - where Australia won the match 26-24.

Both sides have also played each other in Japan back in 2009. Australia also won that match.

Typhoon Lan made landfall at Shizuoka, 175km (110 miles) south-west of Tokyo, at about 03:00 local time on Monday (18:00 GMT Sunday).

Gusts of up to 198km/h (123mph) hit the country, its weather agency said.

The storm, which drenched many regions over the weekend as Japan voted in its national elections, led to almost 300 flights being cancelled on Monday, after 500 were cancelled on Sunday.

What is the difference between tropical storms?

On hearing of his victory he said he would "firmly deal with" threats from North Korea.

The public broadcaster NHK put Mr Abe's Liberal Democratic Party-led (LDP) coalition at 312 seats, allowing it to retain its two-thirds "super majority".

This is vital to his ambition to revise Japan's post-war pacifist constitution.

Article 9 of the constitution, enacted by the country's American occupiers in 1947, calls for the complete renunciation of war.

Voting opened at 07:00 local time on Sunday (22:00 GMT Saturday).

Mr Abe called the election amid rebounding approval ratings after a record low over the summer and with the opposition largely in disarray.

If, as predicted, Mr Abe is re-elected, he will be on track to become Japan's longest serving post-war leader.

An early challenge from the popular governor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike, appears to be fizzling out, according to the BBC's Tokyo correspondent Rupert Wingfield-Hayes.

World Rugby concluded its third set of tournament review meetings in Tokyo this weekend, as the two-year countdown to the tournament draws closer.
 
Since the last round of meetings in June, the focus of tournament preparation moved from foundation planning to operational readiness, and the World Rugby delegation reiterated to the Japan Rugby 2019 organising committee the importance of this phase in determining the success of the tournament.
 

Japan said that the missile likely passed over its territory and has warned residents to take shelter, local media report.

South Korea and the US are analysing the details of the launch, the South's military said.

Last month, North Korea fired a missile over Japan in what Tokyo called an "unprecedented threat" to the country.

The missile launch comes just days after new sanctions were imposed on North Korea by the United Nations because of its weapons testing.

Anthony Hudson’s team, who defeated the Solomon Islands home (6-1) and drew away (2-2) for an 8-3 win on aggregate to book their place in the Intercontinental Playoff in November, will face the World No 44 Japan on Friday 6 October at Toyota Stadium in Nagoya.

While the All Whites won the OFC Stage 3 Playoff, Japan defeated Australia (2-0) in the AFC Stage Three Qualifiers to book their place in the 20118 FIFA World Cup Russia™.

No effort was made by the Japanese to shoot down the missile, which flew over Japanese territory at dawn.

The missile is reported to have broken into three pieces before it landed, local media reported.

On Saturday North Korea fired three short-range missiles into the sea.

In the latest incident the Japanese government warned people in the missile's flight range to take precautions, but public broadcaster NHK said there was no signs of any damage.

File Photo: Copyright KOREA NEWS SERVICE

The 80-year-old Tokyo market is known for its daily tuna auctions, which supply many of the capital's top sushi restaurants.

Smoke could be seen billowing from the market as dozens of fire engines tackled the flames on Thursday.

There are no reports of serious injuries at this stage.

The fire broke out at about 16:50 local time (07:50 GMT), Japanese broadcaster NHK said, in the outer region of the market and close to the surrounding area's narrow streets.

The area is home to many sushi restaurants and shops, some of which have been evacuated, NHK reports.