Residents near Tokyo question slow pace of effort to rescue 74-year-old as workers race to build 30-metre ramp
Fears are growing for a truck driver who has spent three days trapped inside a sinkhole in Japan, as rescue workers started building a ramp in a desperate attempt to reach him.
The 74-year-old, who has not been named, became trapped when the sinkhole opened up in a road near Tokyo on Tuesday, swallowing him and his two-tonne truck.
Continue reading...Reported move would make Japanese group largest financial backer of US startup behind ChatGPT
The Japanese investment group SoftBank is reportedly in talks to invest up to $25bn (£20bn) in OpenAI in a deal that would make it the biggest financial backer of the startup behind ChatGPT.
The lender is considering putting a sum of between $15bn and $25bn into the San Francisco-based company, according to the Financial Times.
Continue reading...Attempts in Japan to retrieve the man were temporarily halted early on Wednesday after a second sinkhole appeared
Rescue workers in Japan are battling water leaks, gas pipes and unstable ground as they attempt to reach a man whose truck fell into a sinkhole near Tokyo two days ago.
The hole, which is reportedly 10 metres across and 10 metres deep, opened up at an intersection in Yashio, Saitama prefecture, on Tuesday morning, swallowing the 74-year-old truck driver and his two-tonne vehicle.
Continue reading...Overseas tourists are blocking roads or walking onto railway tracks in Otaru to capture its views, stoking local resentment and complaints of overtourism
Authorities in Japan are stepping up measures to deter crowds of overseas visitors from taking risks in their quest for the perfect photo, in another attempt to address the negative impact of a record surge in inbound tourism.
Tourism officials in Otaru, a small city in the northernmost main island of Hokkaido, deployed security guards this week to prevent people congregating on Funami-za, a steep street and the perfect spot for photos of the port and sea in the distance.
Continue reading...Australia ranks well when it comes to total dental care expenditure. But a closer look at the numbers reveals that trips to the dentist are a luxury many people can’t afford
Australia spent $11.1bn on dental care in 2021–2022, ranking it sixth out of 31 OECD countries for per capita expenditure.
At first glance, that statistic seems pretty good. Dig deeper? Not so much.
Continue reading...Suspension of executive order until 18 June gives courts time to review steelmakers’ legal challenge
The Biden administration has delayed until June an order for Nippon Steel to abandon its $14.9bn bid for US Steel, potentially giving the companies some time to revive the politically contentious deal.
Joe Biden blocked the acquisition on national security grounds on 3 January and the treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, said this week the proposed deal had received a “thorough analysis” by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).
Continue reading...US authorities charged Takeshi Ebisawa with conspiring to traffic nuclear materials from Myanmar for expected use by Iran in nuclear weapons
A member of the Japanese criminal underworld has pleaded guilty to handling nuclear material sourced from Myanmar and seeking to sell it to fund an illicit arms deal, US authorities have said.
Yakuza leader Takeshi Ebisawa and a co-defendant had previously been charged in April 2022 with drug trafficking and firearms offences, and both were remanded.
Continue reading...Itooka, who died at a care home in Ashiya, enjoyed bananas and had been a keen mountain climber
A Japanese woman who was the world’s oldest living person has died at the age of 116.
Tomiko Itooka, who was awarded the Guinness World Record status last year, died on 29 December at a care home in Ashiya, Hyogo prefecture in central Japan.
Continue reading...Prefectures in north hit by falls of up to 30cm in a day as similar weather pattern affects parts of north America
Heavy snow fell across northern Japan on Thursday, with the prefectures of Hokkaido, Aomori, Yamagata and Niigata particularly affected. Accumulations of 20-30cm over a 24-hour period were recorded across the affected areas, with local totals of more than 30cm near Aomori City.
The snowfall was a result of heavy showers generated by a cold airmass moving in from the north-west across the relatively warm waters of the Sea of Japan. This resulted in warming of the lowest levels of the atmosphere, leading to rising motion and convective shower development caused by the increased moisture. Ascent was further aided by the mountainous terrain across northern Japan.
Continue reading...About 807,800 Australians visited Japan between January and November last year, nearly 200,000 more than the previous record in 2019
Japan’s tourism board has urged holidaymakers to swap Tokyo and Kyoto for towns in Tohoku and Kanazawa as Australian tourists flood Japan’s cities in record numbers.
About 807,800 Australians visited Japan between January and November last year, nearly 200,000 more than the previous record in 2019, according to provisional estimates from the Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO).
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Continue reading...Rice wine enshrined as part of ‘cultural heritage of humanity’
Sake is perhaps more Japanese than the world-famous sushi. It’s brewed in centuries-old mountaintop warehouses, savoured in the country’s pub-like izakayas, poured during weddings and served slightly chilled for special toasts.
Now, the smooth rice wine that plays a crucial role in Japan’s culinary traditions - and is a favoured tipple of celebrities such as Cate Blanchett – has been enshrined by Unesco, which has put it on its list of the “intangible cultural heritage of humanity”.
Continue reading...Donna Nelson sentenced to six years in prison after court finds her guilty of bringing methamphetamine into country
The jailing of an Australian woman in Japan is “really distressing” for her family, the federal government has acknowledged as it committed to doing all it could to help her.
The Australian federal health minister, Mark Butler, made the promise a day after Donna Nelson was sentenced to six years for smuggling methamphetamine into Tokyo in January 2023, despite her claims she had been the victim of an online romance scam.
Continue reading...Acquisition of Pittsburgh-based steel producer by Japanese company has faced opposition from steelworkers and Biden
Donald Trump said on Monday that he intends to block Japan’s Nippon Steel’s $14.9bn bid to acquire US Steel in a move that will fuel further fears about a global trade war when the Republican returns to the White House next month.
“I am totally against the once great and powerful U.S. Steel being bought by a foreign company, in this case Nippon Steel of Japan” the US president-elect said in a statement on Monday, adding: “Through a series of Tax Incentives and Tariffs, we will make U.S. Steel Strong and Great Again, and it will happen FAST! As President, I will block this deal from happening. Buyer Beware!!!”
Continue reading...Wealth management employee charged with robbery, attempted murder and arson after home visit to elderly clients
The boss of the Japanese bank Nomura has apologised and taken a voluntary pay cut after a former employee was charged with robbery and attempted murder of a customer.
Kentaro Okuda, who has led Nomura since 2020, will take a 30% pay cut over the next three months, with several other senior managers at the bank taking similar reductions, the bank said.
Continue reading...Police said 86cm stainless steel blade – mounted on a wooden plaque and sold in the hundreds – contravened Japan’s firearms and sword control law
Full-size replica swords sold as souvenirs at a popular Harry Potter exhibition in Tokyo have fallen foul of Japan’s strict weapons control law and been recalled.
The 86cm stainless steel blade, which comes mounted on a wooden plaque, is described on the Warner Bros website that promotes the event as an “authentic recreation of Godric Gryffindor’s sword”.
Continue reading...Authorities in Akita prefecture had struggled to locate the animal, which attacked a man and has eaten large quantities of meat
A bear that attacked a supermarket employee in northern Japan at the weekend before apparently holing up inside for three days has been exterminated after being found in a trap local authorities had laid near the store’s entrance.
A 47-year-old man was taken to hospital suffering from facial and other injuries after the attack in the northern prefecture of Akita on Saturday morning. His injuries are not life-threatening, according to local media.
Continue reading...Dong Yuyu was detained in 2022 after meeting Japanese diplomats named agents of ‘espionage organisation’
A veteran Chinese state media journalist has been sentenced by a Beijing court to seven years in prison on espionage charges, his family has said.
Dong Yuyu, a senior columnist at the Communist party newspaper Guangming Daily, was detained in February 2022 along with a Japanese diplomat at a Beijing restaurant.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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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