Shuntaro Tanikawa, giant of Japanese poetry, dies aged 92

The poet also wrote the lyrics for the Astro Boy theme song and translated Peanuts into Japanese

Shuntaro Tanikawa, who pioneered modern Japanese poetry, poignant but conversational in its divergence from haiku and other traditions, has died aged 92.

Tanikawa, who translated the Peanuts comic strip and penned the lyrics for the theme song of the animation series Astro Boy, died on 13 November, his son Kensaku Tanikawa said on Tuesday. The cause of death, at a Tokyo hospital, was old age.

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Japan’s minister visits Ukraine to stress ‘grave concern’ over North Korean troops

Tokyo to also discuss growing military links between North Korea and Russia, Japan’s foreign ministry said

Japan’s foreign minister arrived in Kyiv on Saturday to discuss North Korea’s deepening military alliance with Russia, including the deployment of thousands of troops to support Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

Takeshi Iwaya will meet his Ukrainian counterpart, Andrii Sybiha, to reaffirm Japan’s “strong support” for Ukraine against Russia’s invasion and to discuss further sanctions against Moscow, Japan’s foreign ministry said.

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Japan’s parliament re-elects PM Shigeru Ishiba despite bruising election result

Ishiba’s governing coalition lost majority and needs to find new partner or get consent from opposition to enact policy

Japan’s parliament re-elected the prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, on Monday after his governing coalition suffered the worst election loss in more than a decade.

Ishiba’s ruling Liberal Democratic party (LDP) and its junior partner, Komeito, together lost their majority in the 465-seat lower house, the more powerful of Japan’s two-house parliament, in the 27 October election amid voter outrage over financial misconduct by his party and its lukewarm response.

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Japan plans ‘conveyor belt road’ linking Tokyo and Osaka amid delivery driver shortage

It is hoped ‘innovative’ 24-hour design will also cut carbon emissions, as demand for delivery services soars

Six decades after the bullet train first whisked passengers between Tokyo and Osaka, authorities in Japan are planning to do the same for cargo, with the construction of a “conveyor belt road”.

The automated cargo transport corridor, which will connect the capital with Osaka, 320 miles (515km) away, is seen as part of the solution to soaring demand for delivery services in the world’s fourth-biggest economy.

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Kiss chaste: number of high school boys in Japan who have had first kiss falls to record lows

Polls showing downward trend in kissing indicates a move away from ‘real physical sexual activity’ that could affect country’s birthrate, experts say

Just one in five of boys at senior high school in Japan have had their first kiss, according to the Japanese Association for Sex Education – the lowest figure since the organisation conducted its first survey of sexual behaviour among young people in 1974.

In its latest poll, which covers the 2023 academic year, the association found that girls in the same age group were similarly cautious, with 27.5% saying they had experienced their first kiss, compared with 22.8% among boys – down 13.6 percentage points and 11.1 points since 2017.

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Robot retrieves radioactive fuel sample from Fukushima nuclear reactor site

Plant’s owners hope analysis of tiny sample will help to establish how to safely decommission facility

A piece of the radioactive fuel left from the meltdown of Japan’s tsunami-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has been retrieved from the site using a remote-controlled robot.

Investigators used the robot’s fishing-rod-like arm to clip and collect a tiny piece of radioactive material from one of the plant’s three damaged reactors – the first time such a feat has been achieved. Should it prove suitable for testing, scientists hope the sample will yield information that will help determine how to decommission the plant.

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Weather tracker: More rain forecast in Spain as storms push in

Heightened risk Cádiz river could overflow, with yellow and orange rainfall warnings for southern regions

The low-pressure system responsible for Spain’s most devastating floods in decades in Valencia also set new rainfall records across south-eastern Spain. In Jerez de la Frontera, 115mm of rain fell in 24 hours on Wednesday – the wettest day on record for the southern Spanish city. The deluge caused widespread flooding and road closures, and there is a heightened risk that the River Barbate in Cádiz could overflow as more rain is forecast through Friday and into the weekend.

While the rare red warning issued on Thursday for Valencia has expired, Spain’s national meteorological service, Aemet, has maintained yellow and orange rainfall warnings for southern and Mediterranean regions as storms continue to push in.

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North Korea missile test reaches record height and duration, says Japan

Test of apparent ICBM theoretically capable of striking US mainland comes amid warnings over North Korean troops in Ukraine

North Korea has test launched a long-range missile theoretically capable of striking the US mainland in another display of defiance by the regime amid growing warnings over its troops’ participation in the war in Ukraine.

US officials said they believed Thursday’s launch was that of an intercontinental ballistic missile [ICBM] but did not say how they had reached that assessment. Japan’s defence minister, Gen Nakatani, said the missile had flown higher and for longer than others tested by North Korea.

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Mount Fuji snowless for longest time on record after sweltering Japan summer

As of 29 October, the iconic mountain was still without snow, marking the longest period since records began 130 years ago

Japan’s Mount Fuji remained snowless on Tuesday, marking the latest date that its slopes have been bare since records began 130 years ago, the country’s weather agency said.

The volcano’s snowcap begins forming on 2 October on average, and last year snow was first detected there on 5 October.

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Japan election: voters have issued ‘severe judgment’, PM says after ruling coalition loses majority

Shigeru Ishiba and his Liberal Democratic party must try to find a third coalition partner after bruising election result creates political turmoil

Japan’s political future was shrouded in uncertainty on Monday after voters punished the ruling coalition over rising prices and a funding scandal, paving the way for days of wrangling as party leaders try to form a government.

The Liberal Democratic party (LDP) and its longtime junior coalition partner Komeito failed to secure a majority in the lower house on a bruising night in which the main opposition Constitutional Democratic party (CDP) made significant gains.

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Japan’s ruling coalition to lose majority in election, national broadcaster says

PM Shigeru Ishiba’s Liberal Democratic party faces losses amid voter anger over funding scandal and cost of living

Japan’s ruling coalition is certain to lose its majority in parliament in Sunday’s general election, according to the national broadcaster, after taking losses amid voter anger over a funding scandal and a cost of living crisis in the world’s fourth-biggest economy.

The outcome may force the Liberal Democratic party (LDP), which has ruled Japan almost without interruption since the mid-1950s, or the main opposition Constitutional Democratic party (CDP) into power-sharing agreements with other parties to form a government. The official result is not expected until Monday morning.

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Japan gripped by two things: a general election and Shohei Ohtani’s shoulder

Speculation about the country’s political future is competing for space with the fortunes of the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar in the World Series

The Monday morning headlines in Japanese newspapers will be dominated by the result of the previous day’s general election. But speculation about the country’s political future after a tightly contested vote will be competing for space with another event taking place thousands of miles away. And all because of one man: Shohei Ohtani.

On Tuesday in Japan, millions of people are expected to devour every pitch and hit in the next instalment of the seven-game World Series between Ohtani’s Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees, with enthusiasm reaching levels usually reserved for the climax of domestic baseball, the Japan Series.

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Japan’s new PM in precarious position as country votes in tight election

Shigeru Ishiba may struggle to win majority, undermining his position as Liberal Democratic party leader

Citizens of Japan will be voting in the country’s tightest election in years on Sunday, with new prime minister Shigeru Ishiba and his juggernaut Liberal Democratic party (LDP) facing potentially their worst result since 2009.

Opinion polls suggest the conservative LDP and its junior coalition partner may fall short of a majority, a result that could deal a knockout blow to Ishiba.

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‘They refused to let me go’: Japanese workers turn to resignation agencies to quit jobs

One in six workers has engaged a firm to hand in notice for them, as younger workers reject traditional work ethic

Mari was just two months into her new job when she decided she had had enough. The position at an online bank in Tokyo, found through a staffing agency, had looked like a perfect fit for the 25-year-old, a member of Japan’s legions of temporary workers.

But she quickly became despondent. “On my first day they gave me a thick manual to read, and when I went to my boss with questions he said: ‘What the hell are you asking me that for?’”

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Anti-whaling activist held in Greenland appeals for political asylum in France

Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd organisation faces extradition to Japan after arrest in Nuuk in July

Paul Watson, the anti-whaling activist detained in Greenland and awaiting possible extradition to Japan, has appealed to Emmanuel Macron for political asylum in France.

Watson was detained in July after a Japanese request to Interpol over his confrontational tactics aimed at disrupting whaling operations in the Antarctic, and could face up to 15 years in prison if he is extradited and convicted.

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Nobel peace prize awarded to Japanese atomic bomb survivors’ group

Nihon Hidakanyo receives accolade for campaign to rid world of nuclear weapons by ‘describing the indescribable’

Survivors of the atomic bombings of Japan almost eight decades ago have won the Nobel peace prize for their campaign to rid the world of nuclear weapons.

The Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organisations – commonly known as Nihon Hidankyo – received the accolade one year before the 80th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and at a time of growing concern about the possible use of nuclear weapons.

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Tokyo cracks down on ‘kasuhara’ amid rise in customers abusing staff

A wave of abusive consumers has prompted authorities to introduce the country’s first ordinance to protect service industry employees

Japan is celebrated for its exceptional levels of customer service. But the behaviour of a growing number of customers and clients leaves a lot to be desired.

The rise of the abusive consumer has prompted authorities in Tokyo to introduce the country’s first ordinance – a locally approved regulation – to protect service industry staff from kasuhara – the Japanese abbreviated form of “customer harassment”.

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Buried US second world war bomb explodes at Japanese airport

Unexpected blast at Miyazaki airport makes crater in taxiway and leads to grounding of 80 flights but no injuries

A US bomb from the second world war that had been buried at a Japanese airport has exploded, causing a large crater in a taxiway and the cancellation of more than 80 flights but no injuries, Japanese officials said.

Land and transport ministry officials said there were no aircraft nearby when the bomb exploded at Miyazaki airport in south-western Japan on Wednesday.

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Former Nintendo factory in Kyoto opens as nostalgia-fuelled gaming museum

Museum features consoles from 1983’s Famicom to 2017’s Switch, as well as honouring Nintendo’s pre-video-game era

Traditionally, visitors to Kyoto in October come for momijigari, the turning of the autumn leaves in the city’s picturesque parks. This autumn, however, there is a new draw: a Nintendo museum.

The new attraction, which opens on Wednesday, is best described as a chapel of video game nostalgia. Upstairs, Nintendo’s many video game consoles, from 1983’s Famicom through 1996’s Nintendo 64 to 2017’s Switch, are displayed reverently alongside their most famous games. On the back wall, visitors can also peer at toys, playing cards and other artefacts from the Japanese company’s pre-video-game history, stretching back to its founding as a hanafuda playing card manufacturer in 1889. Downstairs, there are interactive exhibits with comically gigantic controllers and floor-projected playing cards.

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Japan’s incoming prime minister Shigeru Ishiba to call snap election – reports

The 67-year-old will seek an early public mandate after seeing off a rightwing challenge to become the leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic party

Japan’s incoming prime minister Shigeru Ishiba is poised to call a snap election for the end of the month, according to media reports, days after he promised to lift his party’s dwindling fortunes and “put a smile” back on the faces of the public.

Ishiba, a moderate who saw off a rightwing challenge on Friday to become the new leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic party (LDP), will be approved as prime minister in parliament on Tuesday and appoint his cabinet later the same day.

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