Rain appears to have halted the spread of Japan's worst wildfire in more than half a century, officials said Thursday, as residents expressed relief the smoke was gone. The wildfire burnt about 2,900 ...

Wet weather looked poised to offer relief Wednesday as Japan battled its worst wildfire in half a century in a northern region hit by record-low rainfall. Ofunato had just 2.5 millimetres (0.1 inches) ...

"It didn't rain or snow at all this year... Thank goodness it rained today though. I can only hope it will help contain the situation," the seaweed and scallop farmer said. Japan endured its ...

while a man said he was "very happy that we had rain yesterday". The wildfire burnt about 2,900 hectares around half the size of Manhattan making it Japan's largest in more than 50 years ...