Category Archives: Japan

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

The race for the moon – podcast

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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).

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

Japan prosecutors make first arrest in financial scandal engulfing ruling party

Posted on by

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].

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

Japan earthquake: death toll rises to 62 amid warnings of landslides and aftershocks

Posted on by

Ishikawa and its Noto peninsula, one of the worst affected areas, has been hit by more than 100 aftershocks

Japanese rescuers were scrambling to search for survivors as authorities warned of landslides and heavy rain after a powerful earthquake that killed at least 62 people.

The 7.5-magnitude quake on Monday that rattled Ishikawa prefecture on the main island of Honshu triggered tsunami waves more than a metre high, sparked a major fire and tore apart roads.

Continue reading...

Japan: plane collision at Tokyo airport leaves five dead on coastguard aircraft but Japan Airlines passengers evacuate – as it happened

Posted on by

Six coastguards were on plane, which was delivering earthquake relief supplies, which hit Japan Airlines plane at Haneda airport. This live blog is closed

Roughly 400 people on board a Japan Airlines plane that is now on fire at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport have evacuated, Reuters reports citing NHK.

Here’s what we know about the situation at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport.

A Japan Airlines plane appears to have struck a Japan Coast Guard plane as it was coming in to land at Tokyo’s Haneda airport.

Japan Coast Guard said it was looking into whether its plane collided with the airline flight.

Footage shows a Japan Airlines plane on fire and surrounded by smoke on the ground, with crews around it trying to extinguish the flames.

It is not yet clear if the coastguard plane had anything to do with rescue efforts for the quake or whether there are casualties.

A spokesperson for the airline said the plane carries more than 300 passengers, Reuters reports. It is unclear where the passengers are at the moment.

Continue reading...

Five dead after horrific runway crash at Tokyo airport leaves jet in flames

Posted on by

Hundreds evacuated from burning passenger jet after collision with coastguard plane at Haneda airport

Five crew members on a coastguard plane were killed and 379 people forced to evacuate a burning Japan Airlines jet after a horrific collision on a runway at Haneda airport in Tokyo.

JAL flight 516, an Airbus A350, was engulfed in flames soon after landing as it struck the smaller coastguard aircraft waiting to deliver aid to the earthquake-hit Noto peninsula.

Continue reading...

Japan earthquakes: tsunami alert dropped but residents told not to return to homes

Posted on by

The quakes, the largest of which had a magnitude of 7.6, started a fire and collapsed buildings on the west coast of Japan’s main island, Honshu

Japan has dropped its highest-level tsunami alert after issuing one after a series of major earthquakes on Monday but told residents of coastal areas not to return to their homes as deadly waves could still come.

The quakes, the largest of which had a magnitude of 7.6, started a fire and collapsed buildings on the west coast of Japan’s main island, Honshu. It was unclear how many people might have been killed or hurt.

Continue reading...