Category Archives: Japan

Concern for killer whales trapped in drift ice off the coast of Hokkaido in Japan

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Japanese media report that pod of orcas became trapped in ice close to Rausu on Shiretoko peninsula

Concern is growing for the welfare of a pod of killer whales that appear to have become trapped in drift ice off the coast of Hokkaido in northern Japan.

Footage aired by the public broadcaster NHK on Tuesday showed at least 10 orcas poking out of a small gap in the surface of the water about 1 km off the coast of Rausu on the Shiretoko peninsula – a Unesco world heritage site famed for its abundant wildlife.

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You need to calm down: Taylor Swift can fly from Tokyo to Super Bowl in time, says Japan embassy

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Singer should be able to see boyfriend Travis Kelce in person despite 17-hour time change and 12-hour flight, embassy says

Japan’s embassy in Washington has assured an angsty public that Taylor Swift should make it to the Super Bowl in time to see her boyfriend Travis Kelce play in the big game – as long as her post-concert flight from Tokyo leaves on time.

The embassy’s Friday statement answered a question weighing on the minds of the pop star’s multitude of fans, who wondered if it was even logistically possible for her to be in position to cheer on Kelce in person as he seeks a third NFL championship with the Kansas City Chiefs.

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Dying man tells police he was on Japan’s most wanted list for 50 years

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Now deceased man said he was Satoshi Kirishima who was allegedly member of radical group in 1970s that bombed Japanese firms

A dying man in a Japanese hospital told police that he was one of the country’s most wanted fugitives and had been on the run for nearly 50 years for being part of a radical group that carried out bombings in the 1970s, police have said.

After receiving a tip, police went to the hospital near Tokyo last week to question the 70-year-old man. He told them he had terminal cancer and wanted to die under his real name, Satoshi Kirishima, instead of his alias, and disclosed previously unknown details about the bombings, police said.

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Japan’s former PM, 83-year-old Aso, piles insults on female foreign minister

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Taro Aso, vice-president of ruling LDP, said Yoko Kamikawa ‘not that good looking’, got her name wrong, used ageist jibe and mixed up her place in history

A Japanese former prime minister and vice-president of the ruling Liberal Democratic party has been accused of sexism after making insulting comments about the foreign minister’s appearance and age.

“She’s not that good looking,” Taro Aso, who has a long history of inappropriate remarks, said of Yoko Kamikawa during a recent speech, before awkwardly praising her abilities as a politician. “But she speaks with dignity, speaks properly in English and makes appointments with people she needs to see on her own, without help from diplomats.”

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Japan’s Slim moon lander overcomes power crisis to start scientific operations

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Moon probe starts taking pictures of lunar surface after bumpy landing left its solar cells pointing in the wrong direction

Japan’s Moon lander has resumed operations, the country’s space agency said on Monday, indicating that power had been restored after it was left upside down during a slightly haphazard landing.

The probe, nicknamed the “moon sniper”, had tumbled down a crater slope during its landing on 20 January, leaving its solar batteries facing in the wrong direction and unable to generate electricity.

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Kyoto anime studio fire: Japanese man sentenced to death for arson attack that killed 36

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Japan media reported Shinji Aoba held a grudge against the studio when he doused the entrance in petrol and set it ablaze in 2019

A court in Japan has sentenced to death a man convicted of murdering 36 people in an arson attack on an animation studio in 2019.

The attack on Kyoto Animation, better known as KyoAni, sent shock waves through Japan, where violent crime is rare, and stunned fans of the studio’s output around the world.

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Women in Japan allowed to take part in ‘naked festival’ for first time

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Women will take part in the hadaka matsuri in Inazawa, in which thousands of men dressed in next to nothing drive away evil spirits

Women in Japan have been permitted to take part in an ancient ceremony, known as the naked festival, for the first time in the event’s history, albeit with modifications.

Every February, thousands of men dressed in next to nothing take part in the hadaka matsuri at a Shinto shrine in Inazawa, a town in central Japan, to drive away evil spirits over the coming year.

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Japan’s ‘Moon Sniper’ craft makes lunar landing but is unable to generate electricity via solar power – as it happened

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Slim spacecraft landed on the moon and is communicating with earth but is not generating electricity

(I’m really enjoying the soft piano music being played in the background of this Japanese space agency live feed. Very calming in a tense situation!)

The probe is now “scanning the surface” and looking for a place to land, space agency officials say.

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The race for the moon – podcast

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The space race of the 20th century put the first person on the moon. Now a new race to the lunar surface – with new global players – is just getting going. Robin McKie reports

Robin McKie is the science editor of the Observer. Over the last 42 years, he’s covered everything from advances in genetics and new discoveries in physics to the urgent scientific issues raised by the Covid pandemic. But one topic excites him more than any other: space – and, more specifically, the moon.

He tells Michael Safi how the first crewed mission to the moon in 1969 captured the imagination of his generation and why the modern-day missions are something to be newly excited by.

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Japan’s ‘moon sniper’ lander heads for touchdown on lunar surface

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If all goes to plan, Jaxa’s lander will make Japan the fifth country ever to land on the moon

Japan is on final approach to become only the fifth country to land on the moon, in what would be a reversal of fortunes as it attempts to join a global space race centred on unravelling the mysteries of the lunar landscape.

If all goes to plan, the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (Slim) will begin its descent to the rocky lunar surface at midnight on Friday (1500 GMT) before touching down about 20 minutes later, according to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa).

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US-bound plane returns to Tokyo after man allegedly bites flight attendant

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Incident reportedly happened on All Nippon Airways flight with man, 55, arrested after plane brought back to Tokyo

A drunk US man allegedly bit the arm of a flight attendant on a passenger jet headed to Seattle from Tokyo on Tuesday night, forcing the plane’s return to the Japanese capital, according to local reports.

The attack happened over the Pacific Ocean on All Nippon Airways flight 118, Japan’s Kyodo News reported. Crew members restrained a 55-year-old American man accused of biting an attendant on the arm, and police arrested him after the Seattle-bound plane was brought back to Tokyo’s Haneda airport.

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Uniqlo sues Shein over ‘imitation’ banana-shaped ‘it’ bag

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Petition demands online retailer stop immediate sale of bags and compensation for damages incurred

Uniqlo is suing the Chinese online retailer Shein over the sale of items it claims copy its popular banana-shaped ‘it’ bag, the “round mini”.

The petition demands that Shein immediately stops the sale of “the imitation products” and pays compensation for damages incurred as a result of their sale. It was filed last month in the Tokyo district court against the fast-growing business’s parent groups Roadget and Fashion Choice, as well as Shein Japan.

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Japan’s salarymen opt for ultra-cheap lunches as food prices continue to rise

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Higher costs as a result of Ukraine war, supply chain issues and effects of Covid force lunching office workers to tighten belts

Even in a city of tens of thousands of restaurants, including a large number with Michelin stars, is it really possible in Tokyo to spend as little as ¥500 (£2.60) a day on lunch without eating the same modest meal day in, day out?

The answer, according to increasingly cash-strapped office workers in the Japanese capital, is a resounding yes.

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Taiwan election: global leaders draw Beijing’s ire for congratulating new president

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China urges US, UK and Japan not to interfere in ‘China’s internal affairs’ after they congratulate Lai Ching-te for election win

Global leaders have congratulated Lai Ching-te for winning Taiwan’s presidential election, praising the high turnout and democratic process – and drawing ire from Beijing, which had hoped to see Taiwan’s ruling party ousted.

Lai won an unprecedented third term in power for the pro-sovereignty Democratic Progressive party (DPP) in Saturday’s election, with more than 40% of the vote. Lai is taking over from the DPP’s Tsai Ing-wen, who has been president since 2016, promising to continue her foreign policy efforts in resisting China’s plans to annex Taiwan.

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Boeing plane returns to airport in Japan after crack found in cockpit window

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All Nippon Airways flight was en route to Toyama airport when crack found in window of Boeing 737-800

A domestic flight of Japan’s All Nippon Airways returned to its departure airport on Saturday after a crack was found on the cockpit window of the Boeing 737-800 aircraft midair, a spokesperson for the airline said.

Flight 1182 was en route to Toyama airport but headed back to the Sapporo-New Chitose airport after the crack was found on the outermost of four layers of windows surrounding the cockpit, the spokesperson said, adding there were no injuries reported among the 59 passengers and six crew.

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Japan prosecutors make first arrest in financial scandal engulfing ruling party

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Tokyo district public prosecutors’ office says it has arrested Yoshitaka Ikeda, a former vice-education minister

Prosecutors in Japan have made their first arrest in a financial scandal that has engulfed the country’s ruling party and sparked speculation about the future of the prime minister, Fumio Kishida.

The Tokyo district public prosecutors’ office said on Sunday it had arrested Yoshitaka Ikeda, a former vice-education minister, who is suspected of failing to report cash he received from fundraising events organised through his faction in Kishida’s Liberal Democratic party [LDP].

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Woman in 90s pulled alive from rubble five days after Japan earthquake

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Boy, five, among 126 people dead, after boiling water spilled on him during Monday’s 7.6 magnitude quake

A woman in her 90s has been pulled alive from a collapsed house in western Japan, 124 hours after a major earthquake hit the region, killing at least 126 people, toppling buildings and setting off landslides.

The woman in Suzu city, Ishikawa prefecture, survived for more than five days after the 7.6 magnitude quake on Monday. Nationally broadcast news footage showed helmeted rescue workers covering the view of the area with blue plastic, and the woman was not visible.

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Japan earthquake death toll reaches 100 as more survivors pulled from rubble

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Number of missing lowered to 211 as thousands of troops join rescue effort and experts warn of disease risk at evacuation centres

The death toll from a major earthquake in western Japan reached 100 on Saturday as rescue workers fought aftershocks to carefully pull people from the rubble.

Deaths had reached 98 earlier in the day, but two more were reported in Anamizu, while officials in Ishikawa prefecture – the hardest-hit region – held their daily meeting to discuss strategy and damages.

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Japan Airlines pilots in Tokyo plane crash had to be told of fire by cabin crew – report

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Flight attendants needed permission from cockpit to open emergency exits, broadcaster reports

Pilots on a Japan Airlines plane that became engulfed in flames just after all 379 passengers and crew escaped were initially unaware the aircraft was on fire, according to fresh details reported in local media.

The airliner collided with a coast guard plane after landing at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport on Tuesday evening. All but one of the six people on the smaller aircraft were killed.

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Japan jet crash: passenger plane was cleared to land, say officials

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Smaller plane on runway was not cleared for takeoff, however, say authorities as investigations begin

A passenger jet that collided with a coastguard plane at Haneda airport in Tokyo had been given permission to land, but the smaller plane was not cleared for takeoff, Japanese authorities have said, as police reportedly prepared to investigate whether the crash involved professional negligence.

Five people on the coastguard aircraft died but all 379 passengers and crew escaped to safety down emergency slides minutes before the Japan Airlines Airbus was engulfed in flames on Tuesday.

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