Tag Archives: japan

Called “Tokyo Futari Story,” the city hall’s new initiative is just that: An effort to create couples, “futari,” in a country where it is increasingly common to be “hitori,” or alone. While a site offering counsel and general information for potential lovebirds is online, a dating app is also in development. City hall hopes to offer it later this year, …

Japan’s birth rate fell to a new low for the eighth straight year in 2023, according to Health Ministry data released on Wednesday. A government official described the situation as critical and urged authorities to do everything they can to reverse the trend. The data underscores Japan’s long-standing issues of a rapidly aging and shrinking population, which has serious implications …

Japanese police are searching for suspects in the spray-painting of the word “toilet” on a Tokyo shrine that commemorates the country’s war dead, in an apparent protest against the ongoing release of treated radioactive wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant, news reports said Monday. The red graffiti on a stone pillar at the entrance of Yasukuni Shrine was discovered …

The operator of Japan’s destroyed Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant demonstrated Tuesday how a remote-controlled robot would retrieve tiny bits of melted fuel debris from one of three damaged reactors later this year for the first time since the 2011 meltdown. Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings plans to deploy a “telesco-style” extendable pipe robot into Fukushima Daiichi No. 2 reactor …

North Korea unsuccessfully attempted another satellite launch this week, ending in the explosion and crash of the rocket carrying the craft into the sea. The rocket launch, conducted Monday, failed after the engine reportedly exploded midair not long after takeoff. “The launch failed due to the air blast of the new-type satellite carrier rocket during the first-stage flight,” Korean Central …

A Japanese town that erected a huge black screen last week in an attempt to stop tourists from snapping photos of Mount Fuji and overcrowding the area has discovered holes in the screen and is working to repair them, officials said Tuesday. Fujikawaguchiko, a popular spot to view and photograph the iconic mountain, put up the screen last Tuesday, but …

Leaders of South Korea, China and Japan will meet next week in Seoul for their first trilateral talks in more than four years to discuss how to revive their cooperation, South Korea’s presidential office said Thursday. Since their inaugural stand-alone trilateral summit in 2008, the three countries were supposed to hold such a meeting among their leaders every year. But …

Sorry, the screen is now up — no more snapping cute photos of Mount Fuji from a popular sidewalk spot in the Japanese town of Fujikawaguchiko. Known as a place that offers some of the best views of the iconic Japanese mountain, the town last month started erecting a large black screen on a stretch of a street to block …

Those who want to climb one of the most popular trails of the iconic Japanese Mount Fuji will now have to reserve ahead and pay a fee as the picturesque stratovolcano struggles with overtourism, littering and those who attempt rushed “bullet climbing,” putting lives at risk. The Yamanashi prefecture said in a statement via the Foreign Press Center of Japan …

Japan’s raccoon infestation has gotten considerably worse over the last decade, multiple Japanese news sources are reporting. Nearly 1,300 raccoons were captured during the 2022 fiscal year, said Tokyo’s government. This is about five times the number that were captured 10 years ago, reported Kyodo News, a Japanese news agency. In 2013, the Japanese government reiterated the need to combat …