Thousands of Japanese commuters got a free train ride to work at 662 railway and subway stations in the Tokyo area on Friday morning, local newspapers reported. Train operators allowed the commuters to pass through 4,400 electronic ticket gates that temporarily failed to operate without using their prepaid access cards. The decision to give the passengers free access was to avoid confusion during rush hour.

Kimono-clad Japanese businessmen littered the busy streets of Baguio Saturday to help clean the summer capital of the Philippines. Japanese traders in kimono jackets swept the landmark Session Road and hauled trash away amidst monsoon rains and thick fog.

A Japanese plane landed on the wrong runway where another plane was to take off in Osaka, Japan while a Taiwanese plane with a faulty speedometer returned to an airport in the country's southern island of Kyushu 30 minutes after takeoff. The two near-accidents did not cause any harm, but authorities are investigating the separate incidents and reviewing airport safety procedures. According to Japan Today, miscommunication between the pilot and air traffic controllers caused the All Nippon Airways (ANA) Flight 448 with 165 passengers to land on a 3,000-meter runway at Itami Airport in Osaka. At the same time, a Japan Airlines (JAL) Corp. McDonnell Douglas MD-87 passanger plane was to take off from the runway where the ANA plane was landing. But the pilot of the JAL Flight 2441 with 147 passengers and crew saw the incoming ANA plane and decided not to fly.

The world's oldest man, who turned 112 on Tuesday, said he wants to live forever. Tomoji Tanabe of Miyazaki, Japan made the statement after a Japanese mayor, who brought him a bouquet and congratulations on his birthday, asked the centenarian how many years he would like to live. Japan Today quoted Tanabe as saying, "I want to live indefinitely. I don't want to die. "

In Japan, the Internet café has become a substitute for home. A survey of Japan's ministry of health indicated that the number of people who sleeps over at 24-hour Internet cafes for having no home or job total 5,400 nationwide, the Kyodo News reported. The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's findings disclosed on Tuesday reveals what could be a widening of the rich-poor gap in Asia's richest country.