Tag - gifu

 
 

GIFU

Forbes and Unforgettable Travel Company have ranked Shirakawago in Gifu Prefecture as Asia's most beautiful village.
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2025
‘Fairytale’ Shirakawago ranked one of the world’s most beautiful villages
A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Shirakawago is famed for its verdant landscape and gasshō-zukuri farmhouses, which are hundreds of years old.
Hideo Kojima, a former mayor of the town of Ginan in Gifu Prefecture who resigned over 99 sexual harassment allegations, has been elected as a town councilor, officials said Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 9, 2025
Ex-mayor in Gifu with 99 harassment complaints wins town council seat
The election of Hideo Kojima, who stepped down last year after an official investigation, has sparked anger and outrage online.
A sign by a group working to stop people from killing themselves is seen at Aokigahara Jukai forest in Yamanashi Prefecture.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 23, 2025
Man arrested over abduction of high school girl found dead in Aokigahara forest
Yuto Kakuma has admitted to the allegations, telling investigators, “I took her with me so we could commit suicide together.”
Police arrested a man on suspicion of abandoning a body in a car that was left on a street in Aichi Prefecture.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 17, 2025
Aichi man held over abandoning body possibly of a missing teen
The man has admitted to the allegation of abandoning the body while hinting at committing murder, police said.
Scenes like this snow-covered bridge leading to the village of Shirakawa-go are what make the Three-Star Road worth traveling — its name notwithstanding.
LIFE / Travel
Mar 29, 2025
Traveling the Three-Star Road, the tourist route made from thin air
Linking mountainous Matsumoto and coastal Kanazawa, this clunkily named route includes nonetheless fantastic sites.
Tsuneo Yamaguchi, head of the Nihon Dobutsu Kaigo Center (right), takes in a border collie that was affected by the disaster in the Ishikawa town of Uchinada, from its owner.
JAPAN
Feb 10, 2025
Nonprofit continues to care for pets displaced by Noto earthquake
One owner left their dog at the center after being unable to find an evacuation center that would accommodate pets.
A car stuck in the snow in Obihiro, Hokkaido, on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Feb 5, 2025
Heavy snow in Japan to persist through Sunday, disrupting travel
The weather agency warned of blizzards, high waves and hazardous road conditions through the weekend, urging residents to avoid nonessential travel.
The Gifu Prefectural Police Headquarters. A man living in the city of Seki's Oze district called the police on Tuesday after noticing animal remains loosely buried in his garden, according to the Gifu Shimbun.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 22, 2025
Animal remains again found buried in Gifu Prefecture flower bed
Investigators suspect a connection between the two incidents, believing that the remains have been buried deliberately.
The Gifu Prefectural Police headquarters in the city of Gifu
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 1, 2024
Gifu police officer arrested over alleged sex with underage girl
The suspect, then a police academy student, was allegedly fully aware of the girl's age.
Plaintiffs in a damages lawsuit over the 2014 eruption of Mount Ontake enter the Tokyo High Court in the capital's Kasumigaseki district on Monday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 21, 2024
Tokyo High Court rejects damages claim over Ontake eruption deaths
The presiding judge overturned a lower court's finding that Meteorological Agency officials violated their duty of care in the 2014 disaster.
Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako offer silent prayers on Monday for the victims of the Jan. 1 earthquake and the September rain disaster that hit the Noto Peninsula.
JAPAN
Oct 16, 2024
Emperor and empress visit Gifu for cultural festivals
The imperial couple attended the opening ceremony of the National Cultural Festival and the National Arts and Culture Festival for Persons with Disabilities.
The Gifu Prefectural Police headquarters in the city of Gifu
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 11, 2024
Yakuza member arrested over insurance fraud after cutting off own finger
The arrest stems from an incident in which a yakuza member allegedly cut off his own finger but reported it as an accidental injury to medical personnel in Tokyo.
Families of people killed by the eruption of Mount Ontake 10 years ago offer prayers in Otaki, Nagano Prefecture, on Friday.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 27, 2024
Victims of Mount Ontake eruption remembered 10 years on
Silent prayers were offered at 11:52 a.m., the time when the country's worst volcanic disaster in the postwar era occurred on Sept. 27, 2014.
The Aichi Prefectural Police headquarters in Nagoya
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 4, 2024
Three Nagoya men arrested over series of burglaries
Numerous burglaries have been reported within Aichi Prefecture since April 2022, with the police suspecting the same three men were involved.
The 2024 Kentaro Kaneko Award ceremony will be held Oct. 15 at the International House of Japan in Tokyo’s Minato Ward.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Aug 24, 2024
America-Japan Society announces recipients of 2024 Kentaro Kaneko Award
This year's Kentaro Kaneko Award celebrating achievements in furthering U.S.-Japan relations goes to a volunteer, an educator and a legendary musician.
Officials of the transport ministry speak to a driver suspected of engaging in illegal taxi operations at a tourist spot in Shirakawa, Gifu Prefecture.
JAPAN / Society / Regional voices: Chubu
Aug 12, 2024
Gifu struggles to crack down on illegal cabs at tourist hot spots
Cashless payments make it hard to catch such drivers in the act and some are worried they may be mistaken for a legal ride-hailing service.
Bereaved family members make soap bubbles to mourn for the victims of the 2014 Mount Ontake eruption during a memorial climb on the mountain, which straddles Nagano and Gifu prefectures, on Sunday.
JAPAN
Jul 29, 2024
Bereaved families climb Mount Ontake ahead of 10th eruption anniversary
At the Kengamine peak, they observed a moment of silence at 11:52 a.m., the same time the eruption occurred on Sept. 27, 2014.
Occupational therapist Mitsuyoshi Okutsu interacts with children at Kamioka Elementary School in Hida, Gifu Prefecture.
JAPAN / Society / Regional voices: Chubu
Jul 1, 2024
Occupational therapists join the ranks of staff at Gifu schools
It is estimated that there are around 110,000 occupational therapists in Japan, working mainly at hospitals and welfare facilities.
There were a total of 219 victims of bear attacks in Japan in fiscal 2023, which resulted in six deaths, according to Environment Ministry statistics.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 26, 2024
Aomori woman, 80, killed by bear amid surge of attacks nationwide
She was foraging for bamboo shoots in the mountains when she was attacked by what local officials have determined to be an adult Asian black bear.
Gifu Prefectural Police said the victim was found bleeding in the kitchen of her house with two stab wounds on her chest. She was transported to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 14, 2024
Gifu man arrested for murder of his 89-year-old grandmother
The unemployed man is believed to have stabbed her before fleeing to another city, where he was apprehended three hours after the attack.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
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