A fire ripped through more than 170 buildings and killed one person in a southern Japanese coastal city on Wednesday, with military and firefighting helicopters scrambling to extinguish the country's largest urban blaze in almost half a century.

Firefighters and army helicopters are battling a fire that has burned through a neighborhood in southwestern Japan and forced more than 170 people to evacuate.

Tension between Japan and China has escalated over the new Japanese leader's suggestion Tokyo could intervene militarily if Beijing attacks Taiwan.

Bear sightings and attacks have increased in parts of Japan, especially in municipalities close to or adjacent to populated zones,” the U.S. Embassy said in a wildlife alert.

China stepped up its economic war with Japan on Wednesday as a dispute between Asia’s two biggest economies intensified over a remark by Tokyo's new leader about a Japanese response to any Chinese military move against self-ruled Taiwan.

Yields on the benchmark 10-year bonds, which move inversely to price, climbed 2 basis points to 1.765 per cent on Wednesday — the highest level since June 2008 and the global financial crisis. The sell-off extended to longer-dated notes. Yields on 40-year JGBs rose to a record high of 3.695 per cent.

Expectations for more stimulus have been growing since Sanae Takaichi—a known fiscal expansionist—won the leadership election of Japan’s ruling party last month.

Japan's Norinchukin Bank, hit hard by mammoth losses last year, logged a small profit for a second straight quarter and said that it has begun increasing its investments in securities. But the bank, one of the world's largest investors in collateralised loan obligations (CLOs),